Part 1 (1/2)
CONAN AND THE GodS OF THE MOUNTAIN
Roland Green
Prologue
The hunter was of the Leopard Clan of the Kwanyi He had been born with eyes and ears almost as keen as those of the clan totem He had sharpened both further by many years spent in the forests between the Gao River to the west and the forbidden city of Xuchotl to the east
Neither eyes nor ears now told of any menace close to him Nor was it likely that this stretch of the forest held any It was near the foot of Thunder Mountain itself The hunter had learned its paths and strea holes and fallen trees, even before his h all the kin of the dragon he had found in the forest near Xuchotl were ravening on his trail
He had kept up this pace every waking moment for three days now He had run until he could neither run, walk, nor stand, only fall senseless to the ground and sleep like a serpent with a pig in its belly Then he would wake, to drink of the nearest clean water and run once more
The pace had taken its toll His dark skin was so caked with dirt that the hunter's tattoo of a leopard's paw on his right shoulder and the warrior's tattoo of a spear on his breast had all but vanished Only the clan scarifications on both heels remained visible, to mark him and his footprints as of the Kwanyi
His breath ca sobs His eyes stared ahead, next to blind, so that fro vine slapped his skin Once a stub of branch tore away his loinguard, leaving him to run on naked save for anklets of sodden feathers and the spear in his hand
He could have run faster without the spear, for it was the stout weapon of the Kwanyi, a ular iron head as broad as a ht never entered his mind While he bore the spear, no warrior of the Kwanyi could doubt his courage
The end of the hunter's run caht his ankle, and even above the rasp of his tortured lungs, he heard bone snap Then pain struck hiainst a rotten stump and once in the ankle as sundered bones cried out
The hunter lay still until the pains eased and he knew that he would not at once become senseless That would be death This part of the forest held few dangers for a healthy hunter with both wits and weapons It was otherwise for a s
When he dared move his head, the hunter rolled over and looked at his ankle It was already swelling, and the pain was a spear of fire thrust up his leg He would not be walking on that ankle again before the rains caive hie oainst such ruin to bone and an to doubt that he would even live to be spurned by the God-Men Where he had seen only vines and thick-trunked trees, four men now stood Each carried a spear; one carried a boell Their loinguards, headbands, anklets, and tattoos alike na to raise the hunter's spirits Chabano, Paramount Chief of the Kwanyi, was himself of the Monkey Clan He would not have been chief for twelve years had he allowed his clansmen to feud at ith the Leopards, the Spiders, or the Cobras Yet he had been known to turn a blind eye when those clans suffered some small hurt-such as the disappearance of a hunter whose fate neither Gods nor ain, ignoring the pain in his head and ankle as he drew up his legs and raised his spear
”Ha, what have we here?” the tallest of the four Monkeys said ”One of the Little Cats, it seems”
The hunter bit back a reply of equal sharpness, on the order of ”Speak for yourself, Gelded Baboon” It would be time to seek an honorable death when he had told the four warriors where he had been and what he had seen there ”Brothers-” the hunter began
Spear-butts thudded on rowled
”Chabano says otherwise,” the hunter replied, then started his story before anyone else could find insults He began with finding the dead dragon outside Xuchotl, slain by no cause the hunter could discover
That gained him the tallest Monkey's attention ”There have been tales of a dragon in that part of the forest Yet there are on Perhaps the cause you could not discover was old age, or a bellyache!”
”Listen to the rest of what I have to say, then think that if you wish,” the hunter said ”I will say only what I saw, and that as swiftly as I can”
The hint for silence was not lost on the Monkey leader The next time one of his warriors tried to interrupt the hunter, a spear-butt calare cut short his muttered ill wishes, and allowed the hunter to continue
He told of wondering if accursed Xuchotl on dead All life seemed to have fled the city-huh which the jungle was already creeping, to claio?” the leader asked
”Not as far as I wished,” the hunter admitted ”I, too, had heard the tales of the fire-stones within the city I sought them and found-” He sed ”-I found that Xuchotl's curse had at last destroyed its own people”
He spoke of the bodies of men and women slain no more than a handful of days before Some bore the wounds of human weapons, swords and spears and knives, or even of teeth and nails Others seeround cha could reach save by sorcery
”It was then that I knew Xuchotl was still accursed, and that I er within its walls,” the hunter concluded ”I ran from the chamber and from the city Yet as I ran, I saw that others had co before”
”The slayers of the folk of Xuchotl?” It was the man who had been silenced who spoke Now his tone held respect and curiosity, as well aswon over his listeners alet the pain in his ankle
”That I do not know I can only say that one was a giant, another as large as a common warrior of the Kwanyi Both seemed well-laden, and both wore boots”
The Monkey warriors stared at one another, then at the jungle around them It seehts as he spoke
”I think that is why the talking drums have not spoken of this The sorcerers who ruined Xuchotl ht have other enemies in our land Warned that they were discovered”
The leader nodded The hunter wondered if he, too, had a throat too dry to let words pass One of the other Monkeys loosened his drinking gourd from his belt and passed it to the hunter
The hunter poured the ritual drops into his palm and scattered them to the earth, then drank When his throat was fit for speaking again, he handed the gourd back
”Brother, I hear truth in your words,” the Monkey leader said to the hunter He turned to his companions ”Make a litter We bear him to the God-Men If the drums have not spoken, he must do their work, with our help”
”If the God-Men are as they say-” began a warrior
”Guard your tongue, lest it wag you into the Cave of the Living Wind,” the leader snarled
”If the God-Men are as they say,” the h know already”
”Then we can do no har that we coic ain
”Then they have need of our help against sorcerers who can slay dragons and scour life froht silenced the warrior, but did not see briefly upon the matter, the hunter decided that this was no shame to the Monkey warriors The notion of sorcerers more powerful than the God-Men of Thunder Mountain did not please him either
ONE
In the forest between dead Xuchotl and the foot of Thunder Mountain, the boot-wearers whose tracks the hunter had seen followed a game trail
One was a woman, and no southern hills or forests had ever been birthplace to one so fair of skin and hair She wore a shi+rt and trousers of silk that had once been whole and white, but were now neither Rents in both displayed the fairness of her skin; and a rag of red silk bound up her hair The garb, though tattered, still fitted snugly enough to display the splendor of her breasts and hips
Her boots had the look of the sea about the tops, easily kicked off if one found one's self in the water That they were not doritted her teeth
About her slender waist a silken sash upheld a well-used sword and two knives
One knife was a seaer whose hilt writhed with creatures out of nightmare