Suddenly ten Elamite defenders rose from where they had crouched in hiding, on the catwalk behind the battlements. They flung down long, snaking siege-ropes, their ends weighted with barbed grappling hooks. The hooks hissed down around the Baru. Most missed, but one knocked the tall hat from his head, and two more snagged his robe. The Baru twisted and dropped his staff, crying out.