What should he choose? As if it made a difference. The only weapon Jig had ever held more than once was a kitchen knife, and he suspected Barius was as skilled with knives as he was with the sword. Either way, Jig would soon be bleeding his life all over the nice, polished marble.

“Choose.”

He can’t just kill me. Not with everyone watching. That means he has to play by the rules. Jig glared at him. “If I win, will you let me carry a weapon again? And no more of your stupid ropes, either.”

Barius laughed. “Anything you like. Ask for my future barony or my firstborn child, it matters not. But ask and let us done with it.”

What would Jig do with a human newborn? Even goblins didn’t eat babies. Too little meat. Did humans typically go around swapping their children? He shook his head and decided he was better off not knowing. “Freedom and my sword. I don’t want anything else.”

“Very well.” Barius appeared close to losing his temper. His cheek twitched, and each word shot out through gritted teeth. “Select your weapon.”

“Fangs.”

Barius blinked. “What? You can’t choose fangs.”

“Why not? It’s a game goblin children play. We call it Rakachak. You bite one another on the arms and legs, and the winner is the one who goes the longest without crying.” He smiled and fingered the three-inch fangs on his lower jaw. “If you want, you can go first.”

Jig patted the short sword at his side, reassured by its weight. Not that it would be much use if they were attacked again. Darnak had told him about the fight, how Barius had cut down his first opponent, only to have it rise again and slash Barius’s shoulder from behind. Stabbing the creature in the throat hadn’t even inconvenienced it. Whatever these things were, they needed to be hacked apart, bludgeoned to a pulp, or dealt with by magic. Or by a hungry fire-spider, Jig had added silently.

Ahead, Ryslind raised his hand and brought the party to a halt. He gestured at the right wall. “Another passageway . . . here.” He spoke in the same dual-toned voice Jig had heard before.

Jig didn’t like it. He didn’t like any of it. Well, he had liked watching Barius sputter and curse after Jig named his weapon for the duel. Darnak had to physically stop Barius from slicing Jig’s head from his body. Seeing the haughty prince back out of his “duel” and formally ask Jig’s forgiveness was worth almost all the pain and indignity he had endured on this quest.

Afterward, they still faced the same problem. Amidst whatever traps and tricks filled this place, how could they find the Necromancer without dying in the process? In the end, they turned again to Ryslind.