When his blackened head was finally out there under the open sky, a wave of disappointment and confusion struck Habb: he expected at least [i]some [/i]freshness of the air, and a light breeze perhaps, but all he got was smoke and fumes rising up and a foul scent of death -- though not as strong as in the room-- in his nostrils. What caused his confusion, and awe too, was the landscape: an alien landscape, strange to his eyes, but peculiarly beautiful... Or so it would have been if the bloodshed below hadn't spoiled the impression it left. Puzzled, Habb rubbed his face with his cloak to remove the soot from his eyes and lips.

Being one of the last people to reach the roof through the dark chimney shaft, Habb had little time to rest before their descend began. The girl who had first seen the chimney route as a means of escape was already down -- [color=004b80][i]How did she...?[/i][/color] -- and was waving at them. Habb knew that without his bag of utilities he would have to take the good old way down instead of using more tricks to ease the path; but there was nothing he could do about it, so he went to the ramp, trying to figure out the safest way to reach the bottom.

Carefully, he tested the ramp, knocking down a brick. 
[color=007236]"Whew... That is not as safe as it looks,"[/color] he said and the brick that had fallen shattered as it hit the ground.
[color=007236]"Somewhere between 1500 and 2000 feet, I would say."[/color]
Having mustered his courage and collected his thoughts, he warily stepped onto the menacing ramp, and his steady drop began. It certainly took him more time and more sweat than it took the agile girl down below. When his feet finally touched the grass after what to Habb seemed to be hours of playing with his life, he lay down, breathing deeply in relief, enjoying a weak ray of sunshine that penetrated the grayness that almost blotted the sky.