Thud!

dwarf. What/who am I? I am the Brothers united,’ ” said Sally carefully.
    “Well done, lance constable!” said Carrot. “That was an excellent translation!”
    “Yes, did you bite someone clever?” said Angua.
    “I am a Black Ribboner, Sergeant,” said Sally meekly. “And I’m naturally good at languages. While we’re alone, Captain, can I mention something else?”
    “Certainly,” said Carrot, trying the wheel on one of the closed doors.
    “I think a lot of things are wrong here, sir. There was something very strange about the way Ardent reacted to that skull. Why would he think the troll was still here, after all that time?”
    “A troll getting into a dwarf mine can do a lot of damage before it’s stopped,” said Carrot.
    “Ardent really wasn’t expecting that skull, sir,” said Sally, pressing on. “I heard his heart racing. It terrified him. Er…something more, sir. There’s lots of city dwarfs here. Dozens. I can feel their hearts, too. There are six grags. Their hearts beat very slowly. And there are other dwarfs, too. Strange ones, and only a few of them. Maybe ten.”
    “That’s useful to know, lance constable, thank you very much.”
    “Yes, I don’t know how we managed before you came,” said Angua. She walked quickly over to the other side of the dank room so that they wouldn’t see her face.
    She needed fresh air, not the pervasive, clinging, old-root-cellar reek of this place. Her head was full of shouting. The Temperance League? “Not One Drop”? Did anyone believe that for one minute ? But everyone wanted to fall for it, because vampires could be so charming . Of course they were! It was part of being a vampire! It was the only way to get people to stay the night in the dreadful castle! Everyone knew a leopard couldn’t change his shorts! But no, stick on a stupid black ribbon and learn the words for “Lips that touch Ichor shall never touch Mine” and they fall for it every time. But werewolves? Well, they were just sad monsters, weren’t they? Never mind that life was a daily struggle with the inner wolf, never mind that you had to force yourself to walk past every lamppost, never mind that in every petty argument you had to fight back the urge to settle it all with just one bite.
    Never mind that, because everyone knew that a creature that was a wolf and a human combined was a kind of dog. They were expected to behave.
    Part of her was shouting that this wasn’t so, that this was just PLT and the known effects of a vampire’s presence, but somehow, now, with the smells around her becoming so strong that they were approaching solidity, she did not want to listen. She wanted to smell the world, she was practically climbing into her own nose.
    After all, that was why she was in the Watch, wasn’t it? For her nose?
    New smell, new smell…
    Sharp blue-gray of lichen, the browns and purples of old carrion, undertones of wood and leather…even as a full wolf, she’d never tasted the air so forensically as this. Something else, sharp, chemical…The air was full of the smell of damp and dwarfs, but these little traces ran through it like a piccolo hornpipe through a requiem, and formed one thing…
    “Troll,” she croaked. “Troll. Troll with skull belt and head-locks. On Slab, or something like it! Troll!” Angua was almost barking at the far door now. “Open the door! This way!”
    She was barely needing her eyes now, but there on the metal of the door, in charcoal, someone had drawn a circle with two diagonal lines through it.
    Suddenly Carrot was by her side. At least he had the decency not to say “Are you sure?” as he rattled the big wheel. The door was locked.
    “I don’t think there’s water behind this,” he said.
    “Oh, really?” Angua managed. “You know that was just…to keep us out!”
    Carrot turned. Running toward them was a squad of dwarfs. They were heading for the door as though quite oblivious to the presence of the watchmen.
    “ Don’t let them go through first!” said Angua through gritted teeth. “Trail is…faint!”
    Carrot drew his sword with one hand and held up his badge with the other.
    “City Watch!” he roared. “Lower your weapons, please! Thank you!”
    The squad slowed, which meant that, in the nature of these things, those at the back piled into the hesitant ones in front.
    “This is a crime scene!” Carrot announced. “I am still the smelter! Mr. Ardent, are you there? Do you have guards on the other