Part 16 (2/2)

Conan rested his chin on his fist, and stared gri

Albiona watched hi bewildered in the mazes of the problem that confronted hiic to fight Xaltotun's ic?' he asked at last

Hadrathus shook his head 'If there were, we of Asura would know of hiian serpent-worshi+p

That is a lie Our ancestors came from Vendhya, beyond the Sea of Vilayet and the blue Himelian mountains We are sons of the East, not the South, and we have knowledge of all the wizards of the East, who are greater than the wizards of the West And not one of theht of Xaltotun'

'But he was conquered once,' persisted Conan

'Aye; a cosain in his hands, and he will see that it is not stolen again'

'And what is this damnable source?' demanded Conan irritably

'It is called the Heart of Ahriman When Acheron was overthrown, the priainst Xaltotun hid it in a haunted cavern and built a small temple over the cavern Thrice thereafter the tereater and more elaborately than before, but always on the site of the original shrine, though ot the reason therefor Memory of the hidden symbol faded from the minds of common men, and was preserved only in priestly books and esoteric volumes Whence it came no one knows Some say it is the veritable heart of a God, others that it is a star that fell froo Until it was stolen, none had looked upon it for three thousand years

'When the ic of Xaltotun's acolyte, Altaro, they reh priest and an acolyte went down into the dark and terrible crypt below the temple into which no priest had descended for three thousand years In the ancient iron-bound volumes which speak of the Heart in their cryptic symbolism, it is also told of a creature of darkness left by the ancient priest to guard it

'Far down in a square cha off into immeasurable blackness, the priest and his acolytes found a black stone altar that glowed dimly with inexplicable radiance

'On that altar lay a curious gold vessel like a double-valved sea-shell which clung to the stone like a barnacle But it gaped open and eone While they stared in horror, the keeper of the crypt, the creature of darkness, cah priest so that he died But the acolyte fought off the being--a uard the Heart--and escaped up the long black narrow stairs carrying the dying priest, who before he died, gasped out the news to his followers, bade them submit to a power they could not overcome, and commanded secrecy

But the word has been whispered about a the priests, and we of Asura learned of it'

'And Xaltotun draws his power from this symbol?' asked Conan, still skeptical

'No His power is drawn froulf But the Heart of Ahriainst it the powers of darkness cannot stand, when it is in the hands of an adept It is like a sword that ht smite at him, not a shich he can smite It restores life, and can destroy life He has stolen it, not to use against his eneainst hiold on a black altar in a deep cavern,' Conan e 'That re I have heard or seen But what, in Crom's nareat jewel, like a ruby, but pulsing with blinding fire hich no ruby ever burned It glows like living flaht fist into his left palm like a thunderclap

'Crom!' he roared, 'What a fool I've been! The Heart of Ahridoreen smoke, the jehich Tarascus stole from Xaltotun while he lay in the sleep of the black lotus!'

Hadrathus was also on his feet, his cal? The Heart stolen from Xaltotun?'

'Aye!' Conan boomed 'Tarascus feared Xaltotun and wanted to cripple his pohich he thought resided in the Heart Maybe he thought the wizard would die if the Heart was lost By Croust he dropped his clenched hand to his side

'I forgot Tarascus gave it to a thief to throw into the sea By this time the fellow must be almost to Kordava Before I can follow hin the Heart to the bottom of the ocean'

'The sea will not hold it!' exclai with excite ago, had he not known that the first storht it not land!'

'Well,' Conan was recovering some of his resilient confidence, 'there's no assurance that the thief will throw it away If I know thieves--and I should, for I was a thief in Zamora in my early youth--he won't throw it away He'll sell it to sorowing excite for! Zelata bade dom, and all else she showed me proved to be truth Can it be that the power to conquer Xaltotun lurks in that crimson bauble?'

'Aye! My head upon it!' cried Hadrathus, his face lightened with fervor, his eyes blazing, his fists clenched 'With it in our hands we can dare the powers of Xaltotun! I swear it! If we can recover it, we have an even chance of recovering your crown and driving the invaders from our portals It is not the swords of Nemedia that Aquilonia fears, but the black arts of Xaltotun'

Conan looked at him for a space, impressed by the priest's fire

'It's like a quest in a nightht of Zelata, and all else she said was truth I'll seek for this jewel'