Of Opportunist Orcs

"That will not be a problem," Astra assured her. "You are welcome to have anything of the mage's that you want, so long as I can have the knight's armour - if it will fit me - and his sword."

But when they re-entered the chamber they found that, though Checkers had been away for no more than twenty minutes, the knight's body had gone! A trail of blood showed that it had been dragged away in the opposite direction to that which Checkers had taken, and up a passage leading out of the chamber.

"Orcs probably," Astra said. "They see humans as good eating. They wouldn't have dared enter this chamber whilst the mage was alive, but they obviously wasted no time once he was dead. At least they've left the sword behind." She picked it up, and made a few thrusts with it. "Nice weapon," she said, looking pleased. "Good balance. I'll take it."

"As the armour's gone, would you like the necromancer's robe?" Checkers asked, pointing at where it still lay on the floor.

"No," Astra said decisively. "Blood stains I don't mind, but anything that's been worn by some foul necromancer is likely to be too tainted to be safe. I wouldn't want it next to my skin."

1. Not put off by Astra's remark, Checkers searched the pockets of the robe.
2. Astra looked through the mage's books and scrolls, though she touched them as little as possible. Unlike Checkers, she could read some of them.
3. "Let's go after the orcs," Astra went on.

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