Part 4 (1/2)
He looked to the source of the chanting and saw Rerin, his staff held stiffly before hihtly shut as he wailed out his chant A ni and throb-bing to his litany
”Cease that bawling, old man!” Conan shouted ”Where is Alcuina?”
Rerin's eyes sprang open and his chant broke off The nimbus faded as he stared wildly about ”The demons came! They came and tried to carry us both off! I cast a protective spell It saved me, but I could not save Alcuina” His hands tree and huood are you?” Conan des, noting that the ends of the logs were blackened; but instead of being charred, they looked as if they had melted He shook his head ”Wood should not melt” He kept his words steady and offhand, as befitted a warrior; but inwardly he was repelled at the unnatural sight
”And demons should not bear off queens,” Rerin said ”But it has happened We h the ruined OB
”Arel Alcuina back” Soht have had it been human enemies they faced Conan pointed to a stableman ”You! Saddle some horses, quickly”
”Do not bother,” said Rerin ”The beasts will never go near those creatures, nor even follow on their tracks We must pursue on foot, and we have little time”
Conan pushed his way back into the hall and found his cloak and his helrabbed the old wizard by the arrows cold”
Out through the ragged hole Conan strode into the snowy night The footprints in the snoere not quite human, but neither were they those of any beast he knew He turned at a shout froo toward the great stone circle”
With the wizard in tow, Conan followed the prints to the base of the stone wall Through the ancient stone another passage had been e to rescue Alcuina was stronger He turned to the et the queen!” he shouted ”Who goes with eir and a few of the hardier souls cas!” he said ”Coh the unnatural tunnel they went Snow drifted into the tracks, but the men would remain visi- 6869
ble for soe the this woround,” Conan muttered ”What did they look like?”
”Their shape was unclear,” said the old man ”Such creatures are not intended to exist in this world, and they cannot hold any for I think they were man-sized, and almost man-shaped More than that I could not tell”
”Why did they take her, and why did they want you?” The great stone circle loolow about it
”I can only guess,” protested Rerin
”Guess, then,” Conan urged ”It was not for your beauty they wanted you”
”It must be some machination of lilma Totila wants Alcuina, and I am her only protection from lilma's sorcery1'
”Cursed poor protection, if you ask rowled ”I want to er than his enemies and has plenty of warriors and still would rather use wizardry has lived too long”
As they reached the circle of stone they could see a crowd of odd creatures huddled near a gatelike stone trilithon Uncanny streaks of light arced between the standing stones and whirlpools of flaht filled the entire circle Borne overhead by the pack of crea-tures was Alcuina
”There she is,” he said, pointing with his sword ”We o take her back!” The men behind him stared with fear-widened eyes, and none caathered hn shaken dignity about hih and only slightly quivering ”Follow idly before hihts whirled about him, tat none touched hiht fored and clawed and flapping bat-wings f glittering light They attacked him and he slashed at tinn with his sword, but it passed through the th,” the old iveI can cut, dah!” said Rerin in a quavering voke
Conan squinted into the shi+fting light Soateway fors and their burden were passing beneath the lintel
At the gateway the old o no farther,” he said ”Beyond is the spirit land”
”By Crom, I'll not return to the hall without her, and neither shall you!” With the wizard's robe knotted in one fist and his sword gripped in the other, Conan strode into another world
71SixChe shi+fting Land as Conan leaped through the gate he felt a shattering sense of disorientation For moments that could not be ulf, with a sickening sensation of falling endlessly in soht as he could rip on his sword and upon Rerin
Abruptly, the transition was over, and he was stag-gering upon solid ground His grip on the old man's clothes broke and he whirled, sword outstretched, ready to be set upon by enemies His dizziness passed, and still there was no attack
”Alcuina!” he bellowed, but there was no answer
Raging, he storn of the demons that had borne her off There were no tracks such as the deht have sos that perplexed hiround, 70and the Cis as he went to the old ht they had left be-hind, it was an oddly dim day here Conan helped the old man to his feet and said with unaccustoh with you, old ht save the queen”
”Quite understandable,” said Rerin, brushi+ng off his robe ”I do not suppose any ateway The trilithon was identi-cal, but instead of standing in the northern plain it stooda little h its doorway but lade ”Not one,” Conan reported ”I am not surprised They were brave men to come as far as they did It is easier to find a new ruler than to enter a demon land”
”And yet you come,” said Rerin
”I want her back,” Conan said
”And you are braver than reed ”But I was as fright-coed as any”
”It takes a hero to ignore fear in the service of his bege She did hen she hired you”
”Then it is time for me to earn my pay,” Conan barked, weary of talk ”They were only paces before us when they passed through this gate Why are they not hoe now?”
”The spirit land does not obey the saed in the same piace as we It is fortunate that you and I came across m the same place”
”That remains to be seen,” Conan said He looked round at their surroundings ”What manner of land is this?”
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If this was truly a spirit land it seelade cupped in rolling hills The light of the blue sky was slightly different than it should have been, its blue deeper and the bowl of the sky see somehow closer, and there was a haze around thes floated in the haze, but none see so far
”It's like the sea,” Conan said, ”as you see it through the crystal eye-shi+elds worn by the black pearl divers of Rush”
”We have been fortunate, if I may use such a word,” Rerin said ”I think weLand The spirit world is really many lands, as is the world of men I have been to soh never in body Some of those lands would drive you mad instantly This is one of the ate in the northern part of the world of men, and this place somewhat corre-sponds to that part of the world Had we entered through the land of Rush you le, but there are far worse places even than that in the spirit land”
”Is there so to the subject
”There ical substances, plants and minerals for the most part Let us hope that they exist in this evil place”