Part 23 (2/2)
With harsh, grating roars, the dragon hurled hi that was the citadel of his 205
eneh the branches, snapping vainly on eainst the rock until it vibrated froripped it with his front legs like a man and tried to tear it up by the roots, as if it had been a tree
This exhibition of primordial fury chilled the blood in Valeria's veins, but Conan was too close to the pri interest To the barbarian, no such gulf existed between himself and other men, and the animals, as existed in the conception of Valeria The monster below the from himself mainly in physical shape He attributed to it characteristics similar to his own, and saw in its wrath a counterpart of his rages, in its roars and bellowings merely reptilian equivalents to the curses he had bestowed upon it Feeling a kinshi+p with all wild things, even dragons, it was impossible for him to experience the sick horror which assailed Valeria at the sight of the brute's ferocity
He sat watching it tranquilly, and pointed out the various changes that were taking place in its voice and actions
”The poison's taking hold,” he said with conviction
”I don't believe it” To Valeria it see, however lethal, could have any effect on that mountain of muscle and fury
”There's pain in his voice,” declared Conan ”First he wasin his ja he feels the bite of the poison Look! He's staggering He'll be blind in a few more on had lurched about and went crashi+ng off through the bushes
”Is he running away?” inquired Valeria uneasily
”He's alvanized into swift activity ”The poison makes him thirsty Come on! He'll be blind in a few , and if our scent's here still, he'll sit there until he dies And others of his kind o!”
”Down there?” Valeria was aghast
”Sure! We'll make for the city! They may cut our heads off there, but it's our only chance We ons on the way, but it's sure death to stay here If ait until he dies, we may have a dozen more to deal with After me, in a hurry!”
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He went down the raile companion, who, until she saw the Cimmerian cli of a shi+p or on the sheer face of a cliff
THEY descended into the glooh Valeria felt as if the pounding of her heartand lapping beyond the dense thicket indicated that the dragon was drinking at the pool
”As soon as his belly is full he'll be back,” muttered Conan ”It may take hours for the poison to kill him if it does at all”
So to the horizon The forest was a ripped Valeria's wrist and glided away fro Hethe tree-trunks, but Valeria felt as if her soft boots were betraying their flight to all the forest
”I don't think he can follow a trail,” muttered Conan ”But if a wind blew our body-scent to hirant that the wind blow not!” Valeria breathed
Her face was a pallid oval in the glooripped her sword in her free hand, but the feel of the shagreen-bound hilt inspired only a feeling of helplessness in her
They were still soe of the forest when they heard a snapping and crashi+ng behind them Valeria bit her lip to check a cry
”He's on our trail!” she whispered fiercely
Conan shook his head
”He didn't sh the forest trying to pick up our scent Co now! He could tear down any tree we'd climb If only the wind stays down ”
They stole on until the trees began to thin out ahead of them Behind them the forest was a black i still sounded behind theon blundered in his erratic course
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”There's the plain ahead,” breathed Valeria ”A little more and we'll ”
”Crom!” swore Conan
”Mitra!” whispered Valeria
Out of the south a wind had sprung up
It blew over them directly into the black forest behind them Instantly a horrible roar shook the woods The aied to a sustained crashi+ng as the dragon caht toward the spot from which the scent of his ene like those of a trapped wolf ”It's all we can do!”
Sailors' boots are not , and the life of a pirate does not train one for a runner
Within a hundred yards Valeria was panting and reeling in her gait, and behind the thunder as the round
Conan's iron arm about the woman's waist half lifted her; her feet scarcely touched the earth as she was borne along at a speed she could never have attained herself If he could keep out of the beast's way for a bit, perhaps that betraying ould shi+ft but the wind held, and a quick glance over his shoulder showed Conan that the alley in front of a hurricane He thrust Valeria fro a dozen feet to fall in a crumpled heap at the foot of the nearest tree, and the Ci titan
Convinced that his death was upon hi to his instinct, and hurled hi down on hi like a wildcat, felt his sword cut deep into the scales that sheathed theand tu for fifty feet with all the wind and half the life battered out of hiained his feet, not even he could have ever told But the only thought that filled his brain was of the wo dazed and helpless al fiend, and before the breath ca over her with his sword in his hand
She lay where he had thrown her, but she was struggling to a sitting posture Neither tearing tusks nor tra feet had touched her It had been a shoulder or front leg that struck Conan, 208
and the blindthe victiony of its death throes Headlong on its course it thundered until its low-hung head crashed into a gigantic tree in its path The impact tore the tree up by the roots and must have dashed the brains froether, and the dazed humans saw the branches and leaves shaken by the convulsions of the creature they covered and then grow quiet
Conan lifted Valeria to her feet and together they started away at a reeling run A few ht of the treeless plain
CONAN paused an instant and glanced back at the ebon fastness behind them Not a leaf stirred, nor a bird chirped It stood as silent as it must have stood before Man was created
”Co his coons come out of the woods after us ”
He did not have to finish the sentence
The city looked very far away across the plain, farther than it had looked fro
Valeria's heart hale her At every step she expected to hear the crashi+ng of the bushes and see another colossal night disturbed the silence of the thickets