Part 4 (2/2)

”It seems that we have time We'll find your sub-stances, if they are to be found here Can you get us back to the real world?”

”Yes, through gates such as this one The ti inessentials ”Are there people here?” He gazed up at sos It took no notice of them

”Of a sort I have seen them in spirit-trance They are not trueuntil you knohere we should look for Alcuina?” Conan asked abruptly

The old ht here Doubtless the others will be nearby Then I must build a fire, perform certain cere” Conan dropped his helround Soon he was deep in sleep

Rerin shook his head in wonderhtly upon his sword hilt

Conan ahen the old man touched his shoul-der Rerin jerked back as he exploded to his feet, sword in fist ”It is only me, Conan I have found a direction where we may look for Alcuina It is not a definite location, but at least we'll not be wandering about tost”

”Good,” Conan said He sheathed his blade and began to don his armor ”At least it is not too cold here”

Indeed, it was like a h to know that winter had not wholly departed Conan folded his cloak and tossed it over one shoulder His life had taken hi an adventurer This was another strange place, and he could o find her,” he said

For soht she wasin her bower, quietly talking with old Rerin The next the log wall began to ht their loathsoht that she called herthat she had been screa voice that she was sure belonged to Conan Then there had been a period of scattered ihts and concepts so confused that now she was utterly disoriented

What was this place? For a moment she was afraid to breathe; the air appeared thick, as if it had turned to water Giving in to the inevitable, she took a deep breath, then shuddered with relief It was like any other air Perhaps so with her vision But then she realized that things nearby were perfectly clear She could have wished otherwise, for now she saw clearly the nature of her captors

Before, their outline had been unstable Now she saw that they were gaunt creatures, vaguely man-shaped but formed as obscene parodies of humankind No tere quite alike, but bird-beaked faces ed with stubby tentacles flapped and clacked with obscene laughter Their eyes were huge, bulging, and lidless, each with two slit irises and pupils The hands that gripped were ray skins coarse and pebbly, chafing her fair skin Their s, worse than their aspect They had set her upon the ground and see themselves Their attitude atchful, but they did not see just now

She sat up and exae The grass was blue-green, very short and springy She had never seen such grass Some of the trees nearby looked faed trunks Colorful birds flew overhead in panicked flight, pursued by a reptilian thing on s Whatever this place was, it was not her familiar Northland The air was cool, but not bitterly cold like the land from which she had been abducted

The creatures, deep in their deliberations, ignored her Their voices croaked and clicked, andin their furtive aspect told her that this was alien territory to theht not to draw attention She wondered who or what they were afraid of She knew better than to assume that the enemy of her enemy was her friend

That this was some machination of lilma on behalf of Totila she had no doubt What it would lead to was another matter She knew that she was on her own None of her people could have followed theht off a wave of hopeless-ness She was a queen, and she would not act like a terrified kitchen-girl Her first priority was escape from these unthinkable creatures

In the distance, over the trees, she could see hazyshape on the side of one of the nearer e hall If so, it iants such as had erected the wall surrounding her own hall That did not look like a good direction in which to flee

7776She was resolved upon flight, and the present seeood a time as any Her captors were preoccu-pied with their own bickering, and their fearful attitude was such that they ht be more solicitous of their own safety than zealous in their pursuit of her Surrepti-tiously, she gathered her legs beneath her

As the bickering ascended to a crescendo, she sprang to her feet and ran Behind her rose loud hoots of consternation, but she did not look back She had spot-ted the nearest patch of dense forest, and she headed straight for it Sounds of pursuit grew closer, and soarment, she increased her pace and heard a disap-pointed screech from behind Now she could run even faster She took her fur-triown in both hands and pulled its he there was some way for her to strip it off, too Unfortu-nately it took the help of a ar her way a her would find the terrain bewildering So far they had shown little sign of intelligence She darted between the tree trunks as lightly as a barren doe, and the sounds behind her grew frantic as the derowth

The woods were dark and mysterious, but she lirew fainter, but she did not slack her pace, although her lungs burned with the effort She leaped a small stream in which the water floith an odd slowness

At last, panting raggedly, she collapsed in a heap beneath a busy plant with dense, fleshy leaves She crawled under it as far as she could go, trying not tobreathe too loudly She was alh ahead of the pursuit that she had not been seen taking cover With every nerve stretched to the snapping point, she listened for the de sounds nearby, then nothing but the noises that apparently were common in this forest, not much different fro lu her fro she had been se, and she wondered at this since she had been wide ahen she hid Perhaps it was the shock catching up with her She still felt oddly drowsy and lethargic A bunch of the flowers of the plant she had taken refuge under hung before her face, giving off a heavy perfume Idly she tried to brush the blossorowing horror she felt her body pinioned by rootlike growths that trailed from the branches of the plant above her Eyes wide, she realized that the ground beneath the bush was carpeted with the bones of aniled for her life Gradually the roots yielded They had sent out fine, hairlike rootlets, which penetrated her clothing The rootlets stung as they pulled away fro beast had awakened her before the evil plant had had a chance to kill her

One by one the roots tore away froed herself with her hands toward the open With a flinging wrench, the roots binding her legs ripped loose QojckJy she scra and exhausted, upon the ground

The darkness increased rapidly even as the fumes 7978froht reone What kind of place was this? She had been afraid of the demons It had occurred to her to fear the beasts or people of this place She had not expected that she would have to fear the plants as well For the first tier was borne in upon her Never had she been so lost and alone She shi+vered upon the ground and not entirely froo from here? She was utterly exhausted, yet she dared not sleep, as ot to her feet and exas where the roots had torn away, exposing far more flesh than a well-bom northern lady was accustomed to display Her fair skin was covered elts where the rootlets had been pulled fro, she reflected, that the weather here was so er as the moon rose over the trees It looked er, and its color was greenish She had never traveled far from her home, but she was fairly certain that people saw the same moon in all lands

She could neither smell nor hear the demons any-where nearby, and direction seeo downhill There were many clear pathways in the forest She chose one that descended alongside one of the sloing streams There was little sound in the forest except for the occasional splash of a fish leaping in the strea by it for so was odd about the stream She stepped closer to the water and squinted at it Unsure of her sight in the diht-colored leaf and tossed it in She had been correct The stream flowed uphill None of the widely-traveled people she had spoken with had everin the far places of the world

In a half trance she staggered on for some time, until she wandered fro the unyielding trunk jolted her into wakefulness It was plain that she must rest, but where could she do it safely? She caetation except the short, springy grass She went to its center, as far as she could get froue that she was unaware of the chill air or anything else Gratefully she allowed sleep's black wings to enfold her

She awoke stiff and sore Her body was bruised and scratched, and she was chilled to the bone, but she was rested and clearheaded A night such as she had spent would have killed or at least seriously weakened a highborn woman of the more civilized parts of the world, but in the frozen North even the queens were hard as steel

She looked around her and gasped when she saw that a -sized tree stood near her It had not been there when she had lain down to sleep, and noas only a few paces froled roots, and she no that the roots were , Aorny, vinelike growths hung from its branches, and she had little doubt of their purpose

She rose hastily and walked away froht, she saw that she was at the foot 8081

of a reat structure she had seen when she was still in the hands of the demons That seemed iues away, and she could have covered only a fraction of that distance in her flight Could it be a similar hall on another mountain? And yet she had been sure that there were no mountains nearby when she made her escape It was another mys-tery, but she put it fro near that stronghold It looked oht live in such a place

The rising sun, which at least appeared to be norry, but what did she dare eat? In a place where plants walked and ate living victis were poisonous? She had no weapons for hunting and no skill at trapping, no hooks, line, or net for fishi+ng She could endure much privation, but if she did not eat today, she would weaken,her easier prey

A lengthy, tiring trek brought her to level ground below the reat co she cursed her carelessness She should have skirted it, keeping close to the tree line The trees erous, but at least they see prey She broke into a run, striving to reach the tree line straight ahead, when she looked back to see a panicked beast break into the clearing It was the size of a horse and had lyre-curved horns Its hide was dappled white and brown It ran straight for her but she could tell by its rolling eyes that it did not see her She knew a hunted animal when she saw one

She had not reached the far trees when the hunters entered the glade Flight was now out of the question; she turned to face them They appeared to be men, and the animals they rode seemed to be horses, but she could not be sure The riders were clothed in fantastic costumes of leather and cloth and n hid their faces The aily in bards of silken cloth, and their heads were adorned with horns and antlers and other outlandish ornamentation, clearly artificial Little of the beasts was visible but for their hooves, which looked like true horse hooves except for their bright colors

One of the riders drew a short bow, and an arro fro beast's side It staggered on a few more steps, then collapsed almost at Alcuina's feet The riders rode up to her and reined in Their speech sounded like the twitter- of birds, and one of them seemed to address her

She shook her head ”I do not understand you”

They seemed taken aback The one who had ad-dressed her wore a hawk-mask covered with feathers, nd now he lifted it from his head, like a helmet His features were elfin and his hair like spun silver His eyes were featureless silver balls and his skin pale as ”Are you from the world of men?” he asked His ~ : revealed small, even teeth

What other world is there?” she askedlaughed pitchedand uproariously, the sound of their laughter high-and warbling Now the others reht 8382have been siblings Some appeared to be women, but in their heavy, fanciful costuroup of dwarfish figures eed from the tree line, but die riders paid thenored her as well and set about cutting up the dead beast with great efficiency

”What kind of person are you?” asked the one who had spoken before

”I am Alcuina, queen of the Ca as well

”What are Cambres?” asked another

”They are my people, my nation I do not knohat place this is, nor how I arrived here, but I must return home I crave the boon of your hospitality until I may find a way to return” She had no idea who these people were, but their horses and rich clothing sug-gested that they were nobles The tradition of hospital-ity between persons of high birth was observed every-where that she had ever heard of, so she presumed that it would be so here as well