Fabien ran through the halls to the master's office, he stopped just outside the door to catch his breath and then threw himself into the room. His master looked up in surprise from his morning cup of tea, but before he could get a word out, Fabien had pinned him to the floor, shielding him with his body. Suddenly, they were both lifted off the wooden pannels by a huge wave of hot air that was followed by a large ball of flame and, finally, a deafening roar. They clung to each other, flying through the air and landed in an abandoned barrel of tomatoes. As he watched, Master Gruddle, head of the Guild of Clockwork Clocks, Water-Powered Clocks, Sundials and other types of time-keeping machines, saw the building that had housed the guild since it had come to exist burst into flame. The flames spared nothing, for the guild house had been built in the traditional Ankh-Morpork style, with dry wood for insulation and a thatched roof, painted with tar to keep the rain out. Gruddle saw his desk fly out of the mass of burning wreckage and land on one of the golem fire brigade that had just arrived to stamp out the fire. The golem in question snapped the desk in two and proceeded to stamp on it till it was nothing but chars and wood chippings, though definitely without fire.
Once it was all over, Gruddle stared at the apprentice, Fabien, who was cowering in ketchup. He took a deep breath,
-"What he hell was that?!" he yelled at the whimpering novice.
-"mumblemumble mstr Gdl..." came the answer.
"What? Speak up boy!" Gruddle was red in the face, but whether it was anger or the heat, the student couldn't quite figure out. Whatever it was, it was scary.
He took a breath and said:
"Kevin Googe Master Gruddle..."
Gruddle gave him a look, Fabien took another breath,
"He was trying to... to... to... umm..," he faltered but his master gave him another look. He found some courage and tried again, "to combine umm... clockmaking with umm... ", he said something that would possibly be heard by a dog with a hearing aid.
"Spit it out boy!" said Gruddle.
Fabien took a last breath, this was the big one,
"... with alchemy sir." and with that, he passed out.