“You goblins are as stubborn as . . . as that dwarf.” With that pronouncement, she turned her back on him and stared into the tunnel.

Jig sat there confused, and eventually decided goblins simply weren’t meant to understand the minds of surface-dwellers. He had almost fallen back to sleep when he heard her ask, “Do you think we’ll make it?”

“Not really,” Jig mumbled, and then he was asleep.

When Jig next awoke, he found Darnak’s face hovering over him.

“Argh,” Jig muttered, trying not to cringe. Waking from a dream to see Riana had been startling. Darnak was a nightmare all by himself. The dwarf had pulled his hair and beard into numerous rope-like braids, and Jig felt like he was under attack by a floating monster with black tentacles and a crooked nose.

“Get up. You’ve had yourself a better night’s sleep than the rest of us, and it’s time we were moving.” He tossed a chunk of something round and brown onto Jig’s lap, followed by a few strips of dried meat. “You’re lucky to be getting any meat at all. His majesty wanted you to have nothing but bread. He said you’d be sharing Riana’s waterskin. Don’t get greedy—I don’t know when we’ll find fresh water, and Earthmaker’s a busy god who doesn’t like to waste time on water purification magic.”

Jig nodded. He tore the meat with his teeth, and his mouth watered instantly. How long had it been since he last ate? His stomach protested that it had been weeks. Could it have been only yesterday that he was back in the lair, suffering through muck duty?

A few seconds later, the meat was gone, and Jig stared warily at the bread. He had heard of this crusted stuff from Golaka, but had never encountered it himself. Golaka said adventurers often carried it as a part of their rations, but that it was unsuitable for goblin palates. Studying the bread, Jig was inclined to agree with her. A dark brown shell covered a lighter interior of dry foam, visible where Darnak had torn the chunk from a larger loaf. He touched it to the tip of his tongue, but the bread had no taste. Like licking a rock.

He tried a nibble. Like chewing a rock, too. But the others were eating it, and those two strips of meat weren’t going to keep his stomach happy. Jig shrugged to himself and smashed the crusted side of the bread onto one of his fangs. He swiftly tore it into manageable chunks, and soon the bread joined the meat in his belly.