Coraine's mouth sets in a hard line at the guard's words.
"An ogre? What can you tell us about him? What sort of armour does he have? What weapons? What are his tactics? And where will we find him?"
He listens carefully to the man's replies, nodding at each salient point, frowning ferociously whenever the guard hesitates or is vague. Then, when it seems that he's told as much as he knows, he says to him, "All right. Sit down, over there!" He then turns and follows Ragnok from the room.
Closing the door behind him, he goes over to the scowling dwarf and says in a quiet voice, "Ragnok, you and I must talk."
"You are enraged at your brother's treatment by this scum. I understand that. You long to strike out and to hurt those who have hurt him. I understand that, too. But just so that we are very clear - you seek vengeance but I seek justice. Your vengeance may get in the way of my justice. My justice may get in the way of your vengeance."
"If you attempt to fight the Master in single combat, you are fooling yourself if you think that is somehow fair. You are a fighter - he is a priest. How can he match you in combat alone? Or are you prepared to face his spells as well as his weapons? For only in that way would such a contest be balanced. But to face a fully recovered foe like him - as treacherous and dangerous as him - is also foolishness."
"Setting aside the fact that he has already killed two of our number - and that as easily as looking at them - it would be madness for us to allow him to regain his freedom. We would only have to capture him again - for we certainly couldn't leave him at liberty."
"Now you may be victorious - but think! We already know that he has not killed your brother. Do you intend to leave a bloody trail all the way from here to your brother's corpse? Or worse, will you slay every foe without pity, only to find at the end of your journey that your brother is still alive? What does that make you, then?"
"I cannot allow such a contest, between you and him. Let us take him back to Hommlet and continue our task. Then, at the end, both justice and vengeance may together be served!"