Part 23 (1/2)
”Ah! At last!”
But whatever else the Pili would have said or done to Kleg at thatrent A fat la fuel over men and rude furniture as the wall splintered inward Men screa shook as if swatted by a giant's hand, and the froglike h the wood as if indeed the ere no stronger than the web of a garden spider
The swinekeeper, who, in his tale, was now chasing this sae, took one look at the snorting apparition that had just chewed through the wall and fainted dead away
The three Pili could not stand against the panic of thirty h the doorway by the staan to burn where the fat lay upon it
Kleg grabbed up the unconscious swinekeeper and carried the lance backwardto see that theand twisting through the dingy alleys of the village
Chapter SIXTEEN
Ti the village particularly well Perhaps cli the ould have seemed difficult to an ordinary man, but Conan found the task relatively si the punk from the decayed areas produced more than adequate hand and footholds Where the wood had resisted one enemy, others could be found: wormholes, bird attacks, terht as well have hung a ladder over the parapet If these people depended upon their wall as thein a fool's realm
For all his skill as a Cimmerian, Conan moved slowly coht ants,doide garden path
Once over the wall, Conan rejoined the others
”Nohat?” Cheen asked
”Noe go hunting for selkies,” Conan said ”Sroups, no more than two or three, so as not to attract attention”
”I shall go with you,” Cheen said
”Very well Should any of the couples discover our quarry, best they send for help”
After the remainder of the Tree Folk divided up, they started into the strangely quiet village
Conan led Cheen down an alley, ht the center of the small town Noere he a selkie, where would he be?
The answer to that was plain: in the water and on ician who had sent me Still, the obvious was not always the answer Had the selkies attained the water and theto what Cheen said Conan did not wish to be another of the men who ventured to the wizard's castle and failed to return The life of the trees hung in the balance, but when he coe, that Cheen and her kind could learn to inhabit As far as he knew, there was only one Conan of Cimmeria, and he meant to keep that one alive
He stopped and sniffed the air
”What is it?” Cheen asked
”So”
”Aye, probably a hundred fireplaces and five tirease lamps and tapers,” she said ”The stench is quite obvious”
”No, it is more than that And listen”