Part 1 (2/2)
”Then they fight like all the other northern people of my acquaintance,” Conan said with satisfaction ”That is well, since 1 aht that way too”
One of Dawaz's servants called to hi!” Dawaz looked inland, toward the tree line A little knot of ainst the dark trees
”Four”All armed Do you think they et here,” said Dawaz uneasily ”If they are Odoac's men they will probably not rob 's men,” Conan said, ”you may rest easy There are only four”
Dawaz stared at hi if not confi-dent” Conan just sirt warriors rode stocky ponies with uncut y, with brown or yellowish hair and beards spilling from their helmets over their shoulders and breasts All wore ar-mor similar to that which Conan noore They rode into the little co his helmet rode a little forward He addressed Dawaz, but his eyes were on Conan
”Greeting, trader We are Odoac's ht of value ashed ashore during the great storht but the driftwood and trash of the sea,” said Dawaz [s the coast?”
The s tied over the back of one of the horses ”Soazed at hily ”But who is this? He is no man of our nation, by his look”
Before Conan could speak, Dawaz said: ”Just an unfortunate sea came ashore but the stuood firewood”
”Did you not hear ht of value came ashore? If he washed up then he is part of the sea's bounty and belongs to the king A fine, strapping rogue tike that will fetch a good price from the slave traders”
There had been a time when Conan would have instantly split the ht hie land He said simply: ”I have no desire to depute with you here in the home of my friend But if you really want to sell o over yonder field, and I'll carve your guts out and strangle your friends with them” Dawaz paled, but the spokes-man smiled
”You speak loudly for a man outnumbered four to one”
”I'll kill you first,” Conan said, ”then it will be fate to one I've often fought three to one, and it has seldom taken me more than three blows to settlefool!” blustered the rider ”It is your good fortune that this trader enjoys the king's protec-tion Best for you that we never encounter you away fro Conan a chance to answer, he wheeled his mount and rode out of the compound, followed by the others
”That was a close ht have slain you out of hand for your words”
”What would you have oods for the slavers? Besides, there was never aught to fear That one with the raven on his hel but wind, albeit encased in bronze And a little wind never hurt anybody” He clapped Dawaz on the shoulder, causing the slight er a few steps ”Co I'll be off to seek my fortune!”
Two
The Queen of the Snows
Conan trudged in a vaguely northerly direction Just now King Odoac's court did not seem to be the best place to sell his sword, but that did not bother hi Totila a try One employer was much Eke another He was three days' h the silent forest aid using his spear as a walking stick Snow had been Calling heavily since the night before, and he was happy at his friend had pressed upon hi-sleeved undertunic, and a pair of trews His recent sojourn in the balmy lands to the south had somewhat oftened his innate resistance to cold weather His Cily to see hirew thick on every hand in these low Mb, and the quiet of the forest was broken only occa-swoally by the eerie howling of wolves This caused on no anxiety It was too early in the winter for the orves to be desperately hungry enough to attack ahis full strength, had little to fear from wolves in any case
Thus Conan proceeded, perfectly contented and even happy The Northlands were his hoh the seductive South had its attractions, he found these cold lands veryhe would be half- for the soft, southern lands, but for noas ready for a winter of fighting as It took him several minutes to realize that the sounds of battle he had been hearing were not solely in his head but were real
Conan grinned and ran toward the sounds The song of clashi+ng weapons was the peculiar music of his life Even at a distance he could discern the sound of iron sword crunching into bronze ar froainst wooden shi+eld The shouting was loud and continuous He knew that it was a s a few fight If he knew his northerners, though, there would be few laggards
Conan crested a rise and saw a road winding through the shallow vale below In the ely Conan studied them to see whether it would be worth his while to join one side or the other
As he descended the hillside he began to see details One group of fighting raybeard, the other a wo warriors were more numerous, but identical in look to the defenders Here here a civilized army's use of standards and uniforht
He was about to sit down and enjoy the shohen his gaze sharpened upon one of the attackers He recog-nized the raven-crested helm of the man who had dared to consider him as slave material That decided him
Conan leaped to his feet, screeched a wild Ci stopped below, and charged Some of the attackers turned to face hih Without breaking stride Conan cast his spear The man raised his shi+eld to block it, but the iron point sh the wood and pierced hih to stand out a handsbreadth past the back of his neck
As the ner!” he shouted ”I warned you not to stray fro, fool! Now col” shouted Conan, s ”I am Conan of Cimmeria, and I will take any or all of you on!”
The e or suffer loss of status in the eyes of his peers, so he strode forward, shaking his sword ”I aians, and I fear to meet no ood occasion to take a rest fro, so they low-ered their arht the cool, gray eyes of the woman upon him, and made a sketchy salute with his sword Then he was fully occupied with the ilulf advanced in the fashi+on of a practiced sword-and-shi+eld fighter: legs bent, spine erect, shi+eld held well before the body, ready to drop to protect the legs or raise to cover the head His sword arh and bent so that the blade slanted across his back With only a slight shi+fting of that arth at head, at side, or at the leg below his ene-hly individualistic style He fairly ran in, crouched low, shi+eld before him and held almost horizontally His sas held low and well to the rear His opponent could see little except the shi+eld and Conan's eyes above its riilulf struck first, for Conan's helhtly and at the sa The raven-crested warrior dipped his shi+eld to catch the blade and both swords clattered against the shi+elds Agilulf leaned far over and tried to strike past Conan's shi+eld at the briefly exposed shoulder, but Conan side-stepped and threw a powerful, looping blow at his eneilulf interposed his shi+eld in time and neither blow found itswarriors shouted ac-claie
The two circled warily, now having a bit of each other's ilulfs helmet, but he was as windy as ever ”Not so easy to defeat the charin was hard between his cheekplates Then he struck The watchers saw only a ind of h shi+eld as if it were parch the arm beneath with a loud snap
The second blow divided the raven between the iags, cleaving doard through the hel at the top of the s Conan needed a powerful wrench to free his froilulf, chaians
Conan shook the clotted blood and brains frolared at the attackers ”Who else ooJd play at swordstrokes? I stand here, dogs, coians were shaken by the sudden demise of rteir hero, but they were brave Besides, there were any of theed on kirn In their preoccupation with hi their backs on act erstwhile victims The encircled men attacked theanize, the tide had turned and they were at a cad vantage
This turnabout did not h, especially for Conan He was quickly surrounded by ene quickness nved hi over blows or dipping beneath the in his favor was his enemies' lack of coordination and the deterner
Then the attacks on Conan abated asfarce At length he found himself opposed by only one am: a yellow-bearded swordsman in an elkhide jerkin A fes sufficed to splinter his shi+eld, and Conan 18finished him with a quick jab to the throat, the or around hi about in the grotesquely stiff poses of death There was round than white, and survivors went fro to their oounded with bandages and to eneers
Conan stuck his sword into the earth, dropped his shi+eld, and untied the chin strap of his helm As he pulled the helm off, his thick black hair tumbled almost to his shoulders Fro in armor was always a warraybeard in tow She stopped before him and looked him up and down for a few ray eyes were cool to the point of iciness ”How cahty a wo tiant pose
”I was looking for ehtly ”I heard the sounds of battle, and 1 caone, and he spoke ill to me I was minded to improve his manners”
”So you did He is not nearly so talkative now”
”Why did these rogues fall upon you, lady?” Conan pulled his sword froan to clean it carefully
”Are you my peer that I er Your counsel I do not need Find a mount and ride with raybeard seeht better of it and followed the wo to his weap-ons and went to look for an unda to catch their scattered mounts Apparently, these people did not have the art of ht With so many dead, there were plenty of spare horses Conan diht, he would go look for King Totila after all
As they rode through the lengthening shadows of afternoon Conan uard As an experienced soldier, Conan was careful to learn all their names