"Yes," says Herbert and carefully hoists himself onto his hind paws, trying to get a better look at Childermass, "the rest of the local team is, occasional volunteers only and a, good portion of my team was kidnapped. Do you have to be a dragon, Lambert? I've dealt with similar injuries to his already but I would prefer him inside for the, required surgery."

Lowering back down again, he runs off to awkwardly start pushing over one of the larger stretchers in his mouth, doing his best to keep the whole thing in front of him. It's been designed to attach to animals when necessary but Herbert is still much too small to carry Childermass.