Part 32 (1/2)

Conan lifted his reins and rode toward the river that shone like silver in thesun

Behind hiaze of each, as he passed a certain spot, turned impersonally and with the desert ure that hung there, black against the sunrise Their horses' hoofs beat out a knell in the dust Lower and loept the wings of the hungry vultures

278

Miscellanea 279

Untitled Synopsis (The People of the Black Circle) The king of Vendhya, Bundha Chand, died in his palace in the royal city of Ayodhya His young sister, Yasmina Devi, could not understand why he should die, since he had neither been poisoned nor wounded As he died he called to her with a far away voice that seeulfs, and said that his soul had been trapped by wizards in a stone roo peaks that shouldered the stars They were drawing his soul into the body of a foul night-weird, and in a olden-guarded dagger into his heart, to send his soul to Asura before the wizards could draw it back to the tower on the

While he was dying, tes and conch shells brayed and thundered in the city, and in a roo street where torches tossed luridly, a man who called hi thousands cryptically, and speaking to a man in a plain camel-hair robe, called Khe could not have been thus accoo To which Kheoverned by the stars The stars were properly placed for the destruction of Bhunda Chand the Serpent in the House of the King He said that a lock of the king's black hair had been obtained and sent by a cauards the Zhaibar Pass, up the Zhaibar into the hills of Ghulistan The lock of hair, in a golden case crusted with jewels, had been stolen from a princess of Khosala, who had vainly loved Bhunda Chand, begging fro a point of contact between himself and them for discarded portions of the hu body a cult of wizards called Rakhashas, and by themselves the Black Seers, had perfor of life, and almost his soul Kerim Shah revealed in his conversation, what Khemsa already knew, that he was not a prince from Iranistan, but a Hyrcanian, a chief of Turan, and ehtiest e on the shores of the Sea of Vilayet Bhunda Chand had defeated the Turanians in a great battle on the River Jhu his destruction, had sent Kerim Shah to Vendhya, to try to conquer the Kshatriya warriors by sorcery where force had not succeeded Meanwhile, in the palace, Yasmini Devi had stabbed her brother to save his soul, and then fallen prostrate on the reed-strown floor, while outside the priests howled and slashed thes thundered with a strident clamor Then the scene shi+fted to Peshkhauri in the shadow of the mountains of Ghulistan The tribes of Ghulistan were kin to those of Iranistan, but h their valleys but had not conquered the hill tribes The chief cities, Hirut, Secunderam, Bhalkhan, were in the hands of the Turanians but Khahabhul, where dwelt the king of Ghulistan, whose rule the tribes seldoe, was free, and the Turanians made no atteovernor of Peshkhauri had captured seven Afghulis, and according to 280

instructions from Ayodhya, had sent word into the mountains that their chief, Conan, a wanderer from the ho had becoain for their release But Conan ary, for the Kshatriyas had not always kept their bargains with the hill tribes On a night the governor was in his chamber theof which, open to allow the cool mountain breeze to temper the heat of the plains, was adjacent to a battleht, dotted with great white stars He riting a letter on parcholden pen dipped in the juice of crushed lotos, when to hiossairdle and trousers beneath; her slippers were cloth-of-gold, and her head-dress, supporting the veil which fell below her breasts, was bound about with a gold-worked cord, adorned with a golden crescent The governor recognized her as the Devi, and expostulated with her, citing the unrest of the hill tribes and the turbulence of their foreign chief, Conan, who had raided to the very walls of Peshkhauri This indeed was not within the walls, but in the great fortress outside, near the foothills She replied that she had learned that her brother's destruction was accomplished by the wizards known as the Black Seers, and since it would be folly to lead a Kshatriya areance through a chief of the tribes She ordered the governor to dehulis, the destruction of the Black Seers Then she left, but she had not gotten to her apart else she wished to tell him, and she returned Perhaps she saw a stallion tied under the outer wall Meanwhile, the governor had heard some one drop upon the battle through the ith a yard-long Zhaibar knife in his hand, and bade the governor hulis; he was a tall, strongly and supply built ruous, for he was not an Eastern, but a barbaric Ciovernor wished with him, and when told, he was suspicious At that instant the Devi entered, the governor cried out her na who she was, struck the governor doith the hilt of his knife, caught up the Devi, leaped through theonto the parapet, gained his horse and rode for the overnor ordered out a party of horseirl who acted as Khemsa's spy, took him the word He and Keried hie forbidden him by his masters without their permit and make himself rich Her idea was that they should destroy the seven men in prison for she knew that part of the ransom Conan would demand for the Devi would be their release and then follow Conan into the irl away from hi the prisoners was to gain time for themselves So he went to the prison and destroyed theirl went into the mountains In the overnor tried to keep it a secret and he sent a rider to Secunderam to infor enough to take the Devi away from the hillmen He himself went into the hills with some Irakzai tribes for the country of the Afghulis, which lay adjacent to the Zhaibar Pass, la Kshatriyas that he was forced to take refuge a the Wazulis The chief of the 281

Wazulis was his friend, but Khe close, destroyed the chief, and the warriors tried to take the Devi fro her with hiic and saw hiic

The Black Seers were taking notice at last The girl was taken from him, and carried to their tower He fell in with Keri that the Black Seers had turned against hi the tower, all were destroyed except Conan and Keriirl, and Conan won In the meantime the force had advanced fro the up a valley, and the Devi won her freedo her warriors into the battle to crush and rout the Turanians Then he returned her safely to her people

282

The Story Thus Far

(The October and November 1934 installments of The People of the Black Circle in Weird Tales were headed by a short recap of the preceding chapters Such paragraphs were usually written by the azine's staff; those for this particular Conan story ritten by Howard himself, for reasons unknown) (The People of the Black Circle) Robert E Howard

THE STORY THUS FAR

Yaseance for her brother, King Bhunda Chand, who had h the sorcery of the Black Seers of Yiicians elt on a mountain in Ghulistan She did not know that his death was part of a plot of King Yezdigerd of Turan to conquer Vendhya Yezdigerd had enlisted the aid of the Black Seers and sent to Vendhya a spy, Kerim Shah, accompanied by Khemsa, an acolyte of the Black Seers, to destroy the royal family

Yasmina wished to secure the assistance of Conan, a Cihulis of Ghulistan, a wild country of barbarians At her orders the governor of Peshkhauri, a border city, captured seven Afghuli head them unless Conan put his forces at her disposal But Conan caht and kidnaped the Devi herself and carried her into the hills, as a hostage for the release of his men

Gitara, Yasainst his masters, the Black Seers, and try to capture Yase ransom frohuli captives, so they could not be used by the governor to obtain Yasmina's release, and with Gitara, followed Conan and his prisoner into the hills Kerie to to the satrap of Secunderahulistan to capture the Devi from Conan, and rode into the hills with a band of Irakzai, to uide it

In the ht shelter with his friend Yar Afzal, chief of the Wazulis Kheic, and tricked the Wazulis into attacking Conan, ht But Conan escaped 283

fro Yash a defile in the hills, was surprized and knocked down by the rush of the horse The Wazulis, pursuing Conan, attacked Kheic

(The People of the Black Circle) Robert E Howard THE STORY THUS FAR

(First Eight Chapters) Yaseance for her brother, who had h the sorcery of the Black Seers of Yiicians elt on a mountain Ghulistan, a wild barbaric hill country

To secure the assistance of Conan, chief of the Afghulis of that country, she had the governor of Peshkhauri capture seven Afghuli heades But Conan kidnaped Yasmina and carried her into the mountains Three others desired to secure possession of Yas of Turan, who plotted the conquest of Vendhya; Khemsa, a former acolyte of the Black Seers, and his sweetheart, Gitara, Yase ransoic to kill the seven Afghuli headmen so they could not be used to buy Yasmina's release from Conan, and he and he and Gitara followed Conan into the hills

Conan, in the ht shelter with his friend Yar Afzal, chief of the Wazulis

Kheic, and tricked the Wazulis into driving Conan froht to take Yasht between the two, the Black Seers themselves arrived on the scene They destroyed Gitara and Khemsa, and carried Yasian girdle of great ather his followers to rescue Yas him They had learned of the death of the seven head from the to h the hills to capture Yashulis

Striking a teether toward Yimsha

284

In the meantiure called the Master, who told her she was to be his slave To terrify her into subjection he forced her to relive all her past reincarnations, and when she awoke, she saw a hooded shape near her in the gloom It clasped her in its bony ar from the shadow of the hood

285

Untitled Synopsis Areat house of Valerus, of western Aquilonia, halted at a pal in the desolate vastness of the desert that lies south of Stygia, with two coro race mixed with Shemitish blood

The Ghanatas with Amalric were named Gobir, and Saidu Just at dusk, as they prepared to eat their frugal meal of dried dates, the third iant, famous for his ferocity and swordsmanshi+p He carried across his saddle-bow an unconscious white girl, who with exhaustion and thirst out on the desert as he hunted for the rare desert antelope He cast the girl down beside the spring and began reviving her

Gobir and Saidu watched Aned inidifference, and asked theirl after Tilutan wearied of her That started an arguamble for her As they crouched over the dice, he drew his sword and split Gobir's skull Instantly Saidu attacked hi his terrible sci Saidu to receive the thrust instead of hirappled with the giant Tilutan bore A him, and threw him down, and rose to procure his sword and cut off his head But as he ran at hiirdle became unwound and he tripped and fell over it His sword flew froht it up and slashed his head nearly off Then he reeled and fell senseless He ca hie akin to the Kothic, and they could understand each other She said her naster, white soft white skin, violet eyes, and dark wavy hair Her innocence sha soldier of fortune, and he forwent his intention of raping her She supposed that he had fought his companions merely to rescue her, and he did not disillusion her She said that she was an inhabitant of the city of Gazal, lying not far to the southeast She had run away froiven out, and she had fainted just as she was discovered by Tilutan Amalric put her on a ca broken away and bolted into the desert during the fight and dawn found the Gazal Amalric was astounded to find the city a mass of ruins, except for a tower in the southeastern corner When he spoke of it, Lissa turned pale, and begged him not to talk of it He found the people were a dreaiven to poetry and day drea race They had coo a cultured, scholarly race, not given to war They were never attacked by any of the fierce and brutal nomadic tribes, because these people looked on Gazal with superstitious awe, and worshi+pped the thing that lurked in the southeastern tower Amalric told Lissa his story that he had been a soldier in the araran Prince Zapayo da Kova, which had sailed in shi+ps down the Kushi+te coast, landed in southern Stygia, and sought to invade the kingdom from that direction, while the armies of Koth invaded from the north But Koth had treacherously ia, and the army in the south was trapped They found their escape to the sea cut off, and tried to fight their way eastward, hoping to gain the lands of the Shemites But the army was annihilated in the desert Aiant Ci brown-skinned e dress and appearance, and Conan was cut down Aht, and wandered in the desert, suffering froer and thirst, until he fell in with the three vultures of the Ghanata He spoke of the unreality of the city of Gazal, and Lissa told him of her childish yet passionate desire to break way fro of the world She gave herself to hiether on a silk- covered couch in a chaht, they heard awful cries froated, but Lissa clung to hi, and told him the secret of the lonely tower There dwelt a supernatural monster, which occasionally descended into the city and devoured one of the inhabitants What the thing was, Lissa did not know But she told of bats flying fro before dawn, and of piteous cries from victims carried up into the nized the thing as a ro tribes

He urged Lissa to flee with him before dawn the inhabitants of Gazal had so far lost their initiative that they were helpless, unable to fight or flee likeAquilonian believed to be the case He went to prepare their ive an awful scream He rushed into the chamber and found it empty Sure she had been seized by the monster, he rushed to the tower, ascended a stair, and found himself in an upper chae beauty Re an ancient incantation repeated to him by an old Kushi+te priest of a rival cult, he repeated it, binding the demon into his human form A terrific battle then ensued, in which he drove his sword through the being's heart As it died it screaeance and was answered by voices from the air Then it altered in a hideous manner, and Amalric fled in horror He htened by a glih the corridors, and had run away in ungovernable panic and hidden herself

Realizing that her lover had gone to the tower to seek her, she had come to share his fate He crushed her briefly in his arms, and led her to where he had left their mounts It was dahen they rode out of the city, she upon the ca city, in which there were no animals at all, they saw seven horse them Panic assailed them, for they knew those were no human riders All day they pushed their steeds mercilessly, ard, toward the distant coast They found no water, and the horse becaures had followed relentlessly, and as dusk fell they began to close in rapidly Ahoulish creatures summoned from the abyss by the death cry of the athered, the pursuers were close upon theitives could smell the charnel-house reek of their hunters Suddenly the camel stumbled and fell, and the fiends closed in Lissa shrieked

Then there causty voice roared, and the fiends were swept away by the headlong charge of a band of horsemen The leader of these disirl, and as the moon came out, he swore in a familiar voice It was Conan 287

the Ciiven food and drink The Ci brown men who had attacked him and Amalric They were the riders of Toated the tribes of the southwestern desert and the negro races of the steppes Conan told them that he had been knocked senseless and carried to the distant city to be exhibited to the kings of Toh one was generally s, he was dooiven his roundly At that, one of thero, while the other was a lean brown-skinned reeted him by the name of Amra, the Lion The black man's name was Sakumbe, and he was an adventurer from the West Coast who had been connected with Conan when the latter was a corsair devastating the coast He had becos of Toro population, partly because of the machinations of a fanatical priest, Askia, who had risen to power over Zehbeh's priest, Daura

He had Conan instantly freed, and raised to the high position of general of all the horse the present incumbent, one Kordofo, poisoned In Tombalku were various factions Zehbeh and the brown priests, Kordofo's kin who hated both Zehbeh and Sakumbe, and Sakumbe and his supporters, of whom the most powerful was Conan himself All this Conan told Amalric, and the next day they rode on toward To to drive from the land the Ghanata thieves In three days they reached Toe fantastic city set in the sands of the desert, beside an oasis of ues The dominant caste, the founders of the city, were a warlike brown race, descendents of the Aphaki, a Shemitish tribe which pushed into the desert several hundred years before, and ro races The subject tribes included the Tibu, a desert race, of ola, Bornu, and other negro tribes of the grasslands to the south They arrived in Tombalku in time to witness the horrible execution of Daura, the Aphaki priest, by Askia The Aphaki were enraged, but helpless against the deterht the arts of war Sakue, vitality and statescraft, had degenerated into aexcept woot drunk with hiested that they eli of Tombalku himself So Askia was persuaded to denounced Zehbeh, and in the bloody civil war that followed, the Aphaki were defeated, and Zehbeh fled the city with his riders Conan took his seat beside Sakuro the real ruler of the city, because of his ascendency over the black races Meanwhile, Askia had been suspicious of Amalric, and he finally denounced him as the slayer of the God worshi+pped by the cult of which he was a priest, and deiven to the torture Conan refused, and Sakumbe, completely dominated by the Cimmerian, backed him up Then Askia turned on Sakuic

Conan, realizing that with Sakumbe slain, the blacks would rend hih the bewildered warriors As the companions strove to reach the outer walls, Zehbeh and his Aphaki attacked the city, and in a wild holocaust of blood and 288

flame, Tombalku was almost destroyed, and Conan, Amalric and Lissa escaped

289

Untitled Draft