Roc takes a step toward the ogre, sword drawn, but Theranion quickly puts a hand out in front of him, signaling him to wait a second. While it looks like the ogre just slaughtered these boys, Theranion notes several inconsistencies. First, he notices the injuries sustained by the teenagers are all slash wounds, yet he knows ogres almost always use clubs or their fists in combat. Plus, this ogre in particular is unarmed, meaning he could not have made the type of wounds on the boys. The ogre's injury is also a slash wound; yet none of the teenagers' wooden swords show any signs of blood on them.

Theranion takes a cautious step forward, and announces his presence. The ogre, half-blind and distracted by the pain of his injuries, lets out a surprised grunt. After several tense moments, Theranion manages to talk with the ogre, and discovers the ogre followed the teenagers into cave after he heard them scream. The ogre says that two huge, green monsters were attacking the teenagers, and he charged in to attack the creatures. He managed to critically injure one, and chased the other away, but not before they had inflicted severe injuries to the teenagers and several painful ones to the ogre.

While Theranion talks with the ogre, Nataya tends to the teenagers' bodies, and discovers that two of them are still alive, but barely. She tends to their wounds, and heals their injuries, but is currently unable to revive them from their comatose condition. While cleaning their wounds, she discovers a small sliver of green exoskeleton, similar in color and texture to the shell of the umber hulk that the party faced earlier. This bit of evidence helps confirm the ogre's story, though not everyone is ready to hear it.

It is the party's (or is that the ogre's?) bad luck that a group of local hunters shows up at the cave, looking for the overdue teenagers. When one of the hunters sees the dead teenager's body (apparently, the teenager was his son), he flies into a fit of rage. It takes all of Roc's strength to restrain him and prevent further harm to the ogre. The hunters openly argue with the party, their anger fueled by the father's grief and the damning evidence against the ogre.

After the party members try to prove the ogre's innocence and Roc wrestles with the dead teenager's father some more, the other hunters grudgingly leave, carrying the bodies back to the village with them. The party tends to the ogre's wounds, and cautions it to be discreet on its way back to its own encampment. Meanwhile, the party decides to explore more of the cave, trying to return to their original mission.

There isn't much else in the cave, save for a lone mimic that almost makes a meal out of Zendril (he seems to have the worst luck). After turning up nothing in the cave, the party decides it best to return to the village, and check to make sure the hunters haven't raised a mob to chase down the ogre. When they get back to the village, what they see isn't very encouraging.

The dead teenager's father is surrounded by a large group of villagers, calling for action against the ogres he believes are responsible for his son's death. Theranion steps forward, and begins challenging the validity of the father's claims. One after another, he begins informally presenting evidence to the crowd; evidence which shows the teenagers were attacked by an umber hulk, not an ogre. The teenager's father continues to protest, but the last few doubts are laid to rest when Roc dumps the pieces of fresh umber hulk shell onto the ground in front of the crowd.

The crowd slowly disperses, having finally been won over by Theranion's words and Roc's dramatic demonstration, leaving a dejected and mourning father to contemplate his loss. His two hunting companions slowly escort him away to the inn, where they can drown their pain in drink. It proves to be a muted victory for the party, for they know that despite being right, there is little they can do to ease the hunter's woes.

When morning comes, the two surviving teenagers recover enough that they are able to relate what happened. When all is said and done, it turns out the ogre was a hero, and is the only reason the teenagers survived at all. Even the father of the dead teenager finally accepts the truth, and humbly asks the party to apologize to the ogre on his behalf should they ever come across him again...