Guards! Guards!

expect.”
    They stared at the greasy gray surface.
    “It was probably that Protective,” said Nobby. “P’raps it filled with water and dragged him down.”
    Colon nodded gloomily.
    “I’ll hold your helmet,” said Nobby, after a while.
    “But I’m your superior officer!”
    “Yes,” said Nobby reasonably, “but if you get stuck down there, you’re going to want your best man up here, ready to rescue you, aren’t you?”
    “That’s…reasonable,” said Colon eventually. “That’s a good point.”
    “Right, then.”
    “Drawback is, though…”
    “What?”
    “…I can’t swim,” Colon said.
    “How did you get out of that, then?”
    Colon shrugged. “I’m a natural floater.”
    Their eyes, once again, turned to the dankness of the pond. Then Colon stared at Nobby. Then Nobby, very slowly, unbuckled his helmet.
    “There isn’t someone still in there, is there?” said Carrot, behind them.
    They looked around. He hoicked some mud out of an ear. Behind him the remains of the brewery smoldered.
    “I thought I’d better nip out quickly, see what was going on,” he said brightly, pointing to a gate leading out of the yard. It was hanging by one hinge.
    “Oh,” said Nobby weakly. “Jolly good.”
    “There’s an alley out there,” said Carrot.
    “No dragons in it, are there?” said Colon suspiciously.
    “No dragons, no humans. There’s no one around,” said Carrot impatiently. He drew his sword. “Come on!” he said.
    “Where to?” said Nobby. He’d pulled a damp butt from behind his ear and was looking at it with an expression of deepest sorrow. It was obviously too far gone. He tried to light it anyway.
    “We want to fight the dragon, don’t we?” said Carrot.
    Colon shifted uncomfortably. “Yes, but aren’t we allowed to go home for a change of clothes first?”
    “And a nice warm drink?” said Nobby.
    “And a meal,” said Colon. “A nice plate of—”
    “You should be ashamed of yourselves,” said Carrot. “There’s a lady in distress and a dragon to fight and all you can think of is food and drink!”
    “Oh, I’m not just thinking about food and drink,” said Colon.
    “We could be all that stands between the city and total destruction!”
    “Yes, but—” Nobby began.
    Carrot drew his sword and waved it over his head.
    “Captain Vimes would have gone!” he said. “All for one!”
    He glared at them, and rushed out of the yard.
    Colon gave Nobby a sheepish look.
    “Young people today,” he said.
    “All for one what?” said Nobby.
    The sergeant sighed. “Come on, then.”
    “Oh, all right.”
    They staggered out into the alley. It was empty.
    “Where’d he go?” said Nobby.
    Carrot stepped out of the shadows, grinning all over his face.
    “Knew I could rely on you,” he said. “Follow me!”
    “Something odd about that boy,” said Colon, as they limped after him. “He always manages to persuade us to follow him, have you noticed?”
    “All for one what?” said Nobby.
    “Something about the voice, I reckon.”
    “Yes, but all for one what?”

    The Patrician sighed and, carefully marking his place, laid aside his book. To judge from the noise there seemed to be an awful lot of excitement going on out there. It was highly unlikely any palace guards would be around, which was just as well. The guards were highly-trained men and it would be a shame to waste them.
    He would need them later on.
    He padded over to the wall and pushed a small block that looked exactly like all the other small blocks. No other small block, however, would have caused a section of flagstone to grind ponderously aside.
    There was a carefully chosen assortment of stuff in there—iron rations, spare clothes, several small chests of precious metals and jewels, tools. And there was a key. Never build a dungeon you couldn’t get out of.
    The Patrician took the key and strolled over to the door. As the wards of the lock slid back in their well-oiled grooves he wondered, again, whether he should have told Vimes about the key. But the man seemed to have got so much satisfaction out of breaking out. It would probably have been positively bad for him to have told him about the key. Anyway, it would have spoiled his view of the world. He needed Vimes and his view of the world.
    Lord Vetinari swung the door open and, silently, strode out into the ruins of his palace.
    They trembled as, for the second time in a couple of minutes, the city rocked.

    The dragon kennels