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"Did it work?" he said

"I thinkit didn't"

"I knew it Sorry you had to find out Things have a way of wanting to happen, see? So off andthat's it"

"But if only people would-

"Yeah You could use that as a co noise, and a hatch opened on the side of the Turtle Urn e a spanner

"What is this thing?" said Brutha

"It's a ," said Si Ephebians?" said Brutha

Urn turned around

"What?" he said

"You've built thisthis thingto fight Ephebians?"

"Wellnono," said Urn, looking bewildered "We're fighting Ephebians?"

"Everyone," said Simony

"But I neverI'm anI never-

Brutha looked at the spiked wheels and the sawedged plates around the edge of the Turtle

"It's a device that goes by itself," said Urn "We were going to use it forI meanlook, I never wanted it to'

"We need it now," said Simony

"Which we?"

"What co at the front?" said Brutha

"Steam," said Urn dully "It's connected to the safety valve"

"Oh"

"It co even , in fact"

Brutha's gaze drifted fro knives

"Very philosophical," he said

"We were going to use it against Vorbis," said Urn

"And now you're not It's going to be used against Ephebians You know, I used to think I was stupid, and then I met philosophers"

Si Brutha on the shoulder

"It will all work out," he said "We won't lose After all," he sly, "we have God on our side"

Brutha turned His fist shot out It wasn't a scientific blow, but it was hard enough to spin Simony around He clutched his chin

"What was that for? Isn't this what you wanted?"

"We get the gods we deserve," said Brutha, "and I think we don't deserve any Stupid Stupid The sanest man I've met this year lives up a pole in the desert Stupid I think I ought to join hiods," said Brutha "Everything happens because things have happened before Stupid"

II But You Are The Chosen One

"Choose soed army No one tried to stop him He reached the path that led up to the cliffs, and did not even turn to look at the battlelines

"Aren't you going to watch the battle? I need so on a rock, his hands folded on his stick

"Oh, hello," said Brutha, bitterly "Welcome to Omnia"

"It helps if you're philosophical about it," said Didactylos

"But there's no reason to fight!"

"Yes there is Honor and revenge and duty and things like that"

"Do you really think so? I thought philosophers were supposed to be logical?"

Didactylos shrugged

"Well, the way I see it, logic is only a way of being ignorant by nuht it would all be over when Vorbis was dead"

Didactylos stared into his inner world

"It takes a long time for people like Vorbis to die They leave echoes in history"

"I knohat you mean"

"How's Urn's steam machine?" said Didactylos

"I think he's a bit upset about it," said Brutha

Didactylos cackled and banged his stick on the ground

"Hah! He's learning! Everything works both ways!"

"It should do," said Brutha

Soolden comet sped across the sky of the Discworld Ole, buoyed up by the freshness, by the strength of the belief For as long as it lasted, anyway Belief this hot, this desperate, never lasted long Human minds could not sustain it But while it did last, he was strong

The central spire of Cori Celesti rises up froreen ice and snow, topped by the turrets and doods of the Discworld live

At the least, any god who is anybody And it is strange that, although it takes years of effort and work and scheet there, once there they never seee in a little overnaods are easily bored by coods can have one aiods seem to have the attention span of the coods of the Discworld were people they would think that three plaster ducks is a bit avant-garde

There was a double door at the end of the

The gods looked up vaguely froed and turned away

The doors burst inward

O around with the air of one who has a search to coht," he said

Io, God of Thunder, looked up froly

"Who are you?"

Oave a quick jab with his forehead

Hardly anyone really believes in thunder gods any more