A strangled cry sounded from the other end of the plank as Yago finally caught hold of a guard. Atreus shouted a warning to the people below, then shoved the basket into Rishi's startled face.

The Mar had no choice but to release the board and grab the treasure basket. As it dropped away, Atreus flung himself forward and caught hold of the sill. His body swung down and smashed into the wall, leaving him dangling from the window like a rag hung out to dry. The plank tumbled into the alley below, demolishing two pairs of window shutters as it bounced off the tenement walls on the way down.

"Good sir?" Rishi's voice came from the other side of the window. "Are you there?"

"Of course." Atreus pulled himself up onto the sill. "You'll have to work harder than that if you want my treasure."

"How can you say such a thing?" Rishi demanded. He was sitting on the floor with both arms wrapped around the heavy basket. "I am only trying to help."

"And you've done so much. Being a hunted killer is bound to be a great help in finding Langdarma."

Atreus swung his feet into the corridor, then looked back to see Yago's hand hanging through a hole in the ceiling. The ogre was smashing a hapless guard about the hallway as though the man's body were a war-hammer.

"Yago!" Atreus called. "Come on."

The ogre dropped his victim, then pulled his hand back through the ceiling and disappeared behind the roof line. An instant later he came hurtling across the alley, flailing his arms and legs as though he were trying to fly. Atreus took an instant to judge where Yago would land, then grabbed Rishi's ankle and jerked him back toward the window.

"Good sir!" Rishi screeched. "Good sir, I am not some sack of rice to be dragged-"

The ceiling exploded into a spray of splinters and plaster. then Yago crashed down where Rishi had been sitting a moment before. The floor bucked and shook from the impact of the ogre's ten-foot body, and Rishi's indignation turned to shock.