Стража! Стража!

           "Imean,heateourkettleandeverything,"saidColonuncertainly."Hewouldn’tjustrunawayaftereatingakettle.Standstoreason.Anyonewhocouldeatakettlewouldn’trunawayfromanything."

           "Andmyarmourpolish,"saidCarrot."Itwasnearlyawholedollarforthetin."

           "Thereyouarethen,"saidColon."It’slikeIsaid."

           "Look,"saidVimes,aspatientlyashecouldmanage."He’sanicedragon,Ilikedhimasmuchasyou,averynicelittlechap,buthe’sjustdonethesensiblething,forgods’sake,he’snotgoingtogetburnedtobitsjusttosaveus.Lifejustdoesn’tworklikethat.Youmightaswellfaceit."

           Overheadthegreatdragonstruttedthroughtheairandflamedanearbytower.Ithadwon.

           "I’veneverseenthatbefore,"saidLadyRamkin."Dragonsnormallyfighttothedeath."

           "Atlastthey’vebredonewho’ssensible,"saidVimesmorosely."Let’sbehonest:thechancesofadragonthesizeofErrolbeatingsomethingthatbigareamillion-to-one"

           Therewasoneofthosesilencesyougetafteroneclearbrightnotehasbeenstruckandtheworldpauses.

           Theranklookedatoneanother.

           "Million-to-one?"askedCarrotnonchalantly.

           "Definitely,"saidVimes."Million-to-one."

           Theranklookedatoneanotheragain.

           "Million-to-one,"saidColon.

           "Million-to-one,"agreedNobby.

           "That’sright,"saidCarrot."Million-to-one."

           Therewasanotherhigh-tonedsilence.Themembersoftherankwerewonderingwhowasgoingtobethefirsttosayit.