Part 10 (1/2)
iei>en fl Bunfer Co, old ed ahead of the other two, his eyes alert for solid, fightable eneer
”As certain as one ate lies in our path soh which we may return to our world, somewhere near where we left it Beyond that, I know little”
They were traversing a forest of towering trees, the ground aled for above the treetops, but creatures on the ground were for thehuet there soon,” said Alcuina
She noore Conan's tunic and trehich she had roughly altered to fit her smaller for- 161
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163gings Alcuina had fashi+oned crude boots from the excess of Conan's fur cloak The relatively arments adequate
They had not eaten that day and had only had the carcass of a s themselves the day before Still, they were northerners and used to extended periods of deprivation
”Black Erlik's throne, but I hope we find so loudly
”Wait,” interjected Rerin
”What is it?” Conan asked
”I feel--I aed with the evil of this world”
”Know you anything of its nature?” asked Alcuina
”I cannot say It is nothing I have ever seen in the spirit-trance It is not like the folk of the castle, nor is it like the demons who bore you hither More than that I cannot say”
”I hope it is not another of those scorpion things,” Conan said ”One of those was enough”
”No,” Rerin said, ”I think not, but--” Then he looked upward, beyond Conan ”Look!”
The others followed his pointing finger Far ahead, on a high ridge of ground beyond the trees, was acloak billowed in the wind as it stared down at the, silver hellow shone from within its vision-slots Of its arreat a distance, but its warlike aspect was nonetheless apparent Conan was minded of what the demon he had questioned about Alcuina had told him: ”A hunter coer er horse than the coood”
”Do you think it is human?” Alcuina asked Rerin
”I do not think that there are any true humans here,” Rerin said, ”save for ourselves and perhaps captives brought here from the world of , the creature whirled its e, away froht
”I like not the look of that rider,” said Alcuina
Conan shrugged ”I could tell little in this accursed thick air It looked like a giant, but that ht or the air”
Inwardly he was not so sure He saw no reason for coh If this thing boded ill, which he did not doubt, then tier was directly upon therad-ually gave way to a etated upland where stands of smaller trees predominated, separated by small valleys and meadows It looked to Conan inally entered the dehtly more comfort-able here, as visibility was sos There was little he feared, even in a place such as this, as long as he had a clear field of view and tiht they carilled cuts of ht Conan had brought down a vaguely deerlike aniht sapling trimmed of its branches, its thicker end 164
165whittled to a point by Conan's dagger It proved suffi-cient for a short cast, and they all ate well for a change
”We shall reach the gate early tomorrow,” Rerin said ”I can feel its nearness much more clearly now It is not far”
”What of that ridertoday?” asked Conan ”Can you feel his presence now?”
Rerin concentrated for a few moments ”I cannot tell for certain,” he said at last ”Everything ical casts a certain aura, and this may be detected by one who is trained in these arts However, soer, and a weaker one ht cast by a candle is hidden within that cast by the sun Here there are so ical auras that it is difficult to separate one fro and is uned--”his aura is not so strong, al-though it is intensely evil”
”Conan,” Alcuina said, ”think you that you can best this weird horseman?”
”If it is mortal, I can slay it And it must be mortal”
”How can you be sure of that?” she asked
”Because it wears a helm,” he said imperturbably ”Immortals have no need of armor It wears a helm because it does not want a cleft skull”
”I hope you are right,” said Rerin ”I feel we shall know upon thethrough the upland into a high valley of great stone formations and scat-tered, low trees The air was still dense and waterlike to vision, causing shapes and shadows to waver subtly Once, distantly, they seereat hooves They moved warily, for their eneate
”There!” shouted Rerin as they crested a sround, was a stone gate such as the one they had colade that seemed to be devoid of ani
”How much time will you need?” Conan asked
”An hour, perhaps two, but no longer,” said Rerin From his pouch he took plants he had collected on their way, and bits of stone, aniather fuel and kindle a fire I h the spell too rapidly If so in all over again”
”Is there aught Ipart in sorcerous doings, but he ill-ing to overco except to keep watch If our pursuer ar-rives, he must not be allowed to interrupt me”
”I'll try to keep hi sourly ”Get to work I shall go to the top of yonder , he walked to the indicated elevation Fro except ht be his powers? Conan found hih he rarely let himself depend on ar-mor, Conan knew that the extra protection could be crucial in a close-fought combat As it was, he had sword and helht with considerably less, and he was yet alive He sat and waited
Much s careat stone gate
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167The colors of the sate the view shi+fted and wa-vered The old wizard's voice ca, at others as a deep rue, and it was alreat hooves
Conan rose froed position and drew his sword Idly he thu of the rider
From the tree line it came, a man-shape mounted upon a horse-form But as it neared, Conan saw that rider and mount were neitherarh much of thewalked slowly forward, and its gait was not quite that of a natural beast Its eyes gleah the sh,” Conan called out ”State your business Do not attempt to interfere with these peo-ple” He jerked his head in the direction of his coaze fro hollowly fro ”I have coht that be?” Conan asked He really was not interested in the answer, but every second he kept the thing occupied was
”I serve the Lord of the Demon Land Come with me”