The rank looked at one another again.
'Million-to-one,' said Colon.
'Million-to-one,' agreed Nobby.
'That's right,' said Carrot. 'Million-to-one.'
There was another high-toned silence. The members of the rank were wondering who was going to be the first to say it.
Sergeant Colon took a deep breath.
'But it might just work,' he said.
'What are you talking about?' snapped Vimes. 'There's no…'
Nobby nudged him urgently in the ribs and pointed out across the plains.
There was a column of black smoke out there. Vimes squinted. Running ahead of the smoke, speeding over the cabbage fields and closing fast, was a silvery bullet.
The great dragon had seen it too. It flamed defiance and climbed for extra height, mashing the air with its enormous wings.
Now Errol's flame was visible, so hot as to be almost blue. The landscape rolled away underneath him at an impossible speed, and he was accelerating.
Ahead of him the king extended its claws. It was almost grinning.
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