Emmaline’s blue eyes widened at the sight of the massive ogre. For a moment she considered whether she could crush him with her coils and then realised that she wasn’t actually a snake. The creature rubbed at its enormous paunch as it regarded Amal with naked hunger.

“Would you care to join us for dinner?” Emmaline asked politely. The ogre paused and looked down at her speculatively, cantaloupe sized eyes narrowing. He made a contemptuous gesture at the remains of their supper.

“That tidbit, by the maw woman…”

“No no, I wouldn’t insult you with a meal so paltry,” Emmaline interjected smoothly, leaning down she grabbed one of the dead bandits by the tunic and heaved him forward, making scant progress but bringing the corpse to the attention of the giant creature.

“See? Nice and fresh, butchered not an hour ago,” she enticed. The ogre took a step towards her and with unnerving speed for something so large snatched up corpse and bit the head off with a terrifying crunch of bone and a spritz of sluggish blood spattered in the fire, trailing long tendrils of smoke up towards the ceiling of the cavern. The ogre crunched for several thoughtful moment and then sat down on a large boulder to pull off an arm with a jerk of his head. Shakily and trying not to look horrified Emmaline resumed her own seat beside the staff, though there was food left she found she was no longer hungry, though she did take rather a large swig of arrak. Amal slipped the knife back into his sash and took his own seat.

“Well Acmed is dead, and I suppose partially digested,” Emmaline conceded.

“How much did he owe you?”

“Fifty sovereigns,” the ogre said around a mouthful that included a flopping hand. Trying to keep her gorge down, she stood up and counted out fifty sovereigns, wrapping it in a silk shirt and hauling it over to the creature. The ogre chose that moment to pluck a bloody tibia from its mouth, snap the bone in two and noisily suck the marrow. Emmaline shuddered and turned pale.

“Well Master Ogre, now that your contract is complete, are you available for hire? We are in need of a body guard for the road to Coppher, and there may be other Acmed’s along the way.”