At the moment this is my favourite bit of dialogue:

"Is there anything you’re afraid of . . . apart from dragon hunters?"

"Dragon hunters are just men. It is iron weapons Danzi fears."

"So you don’t fear any creatures?"

The dragon was silent for a moment.

"There is just one creature dragons fear," Danzi said.

"What’s that?"

"Centipede."

"Centipedes?" Ping exclaimed. "Even I’m not afraid of centipedes."

"Centipedes crawl into ears. Find way to brain. Eat brain."

from Dragonkeeper by Carole Wilkinson, Black Dog Books, 2003.

Sydney, 7 January 2005