Part 10 (2/2)
”If ished to visit your master,” Conan said, ”ould not be here Now be on your way If you wish to live, do not seek to hinder us”
With no further negotiation, the hunter charged Conan was alhtly, digging in its rear hooves before spring-ing forward The hunter'sin as one and the beast was co speed The rider made no motion to draeapon, but suddenly there was a blade in its right hand, and the long, narrow length of keen steel was descending upon Conan almost before the startled Ci blade, and it but sheared away a piece of wolfskin fro a backhand blow against the side of the beast, seeking to chop off one of the rider's legs The blade rang hollowly against armor, and Conan darted a few paces away Not only had he failed to cripple the rider, there had been nothing be-neath his sword that even felt like a leg
Mightily puzzled, Conan awaited the thing's next ht defensively, but he knew that it would be unwise to carry the fight to the eneths and weaknesses
The thing charged again, the rider leaning forward along the neck of the mount, blade at full extension to skewer Conan like a bird on a cooking spit This tied to the left, planting his feet for a powerful blow to the rider's left side He barely began to bring his sword from behind his shoulder when suddenly a four-foot blade appeared in the rider's left hand, co down to split Conan's skull Desperately Conan stopped his blade inhis sword at an angle sufficient to deflect 168
169his ene a painful cut on his left shoulder
”Crom!” Conan shouted as he darted away once more ”Where did that blade come from?” He ran to where Rerin and Alcuina seerowled
”Just a few more moments,” Rerin said ”The spell is finished, but its effect requires soed ”This thing fights like nothing I've ever encountered”
Then the thing was charging again, and Conan ran to ht be more sensible than battle, but he was duty-bound to keep this hunter away froed with ar to either side, ready to strike Conan halted and braced hiht shoulder If he could not dodge to the side, then he would split the mount's skull He had never encountered armor that would not split when he struck with his full force
When the hunter was nofroan to rotate, transfored, saw-toothed steel into a silver blur Conan stooped, picked up a heavy rock, and cast it at the rider It struck full across the vision-slots, and for an instant the mount broke stride and the blades wavered Conan dove forward into a tu ”horn” ithin a handsbreadth of his chest He sprang to his feet at the rider's side and hewed at his shoulder joint The rider wavered slightly, but the blade made little impression on the steel arrasped his cloak and hauled back, hoping to unseat his, and for the first ti The ss Sis covered shoulders and ar bands covered chest and midsec-tion, and a complicated joint covered the place where the hued with the horse-body The mount was likewise made up of steel bands and plates Not le creature So far his weapons had not left so e, Conan sought for any kind of weakness in the thing Its arh to repel a needle, but there had to be some access to its vulnerable innards The only possibility Conan could iht not be eyes behind theer that they would be less i the hunter
As it came toward hi now, and he sidestepped the horn and ducked the right-hand sword as it carasped the hunter around the waist and swung hier as he did so
He was about to eer point when a row of viciously-edged blades erected itself along the thing's spine In-stantly Conan tumbled over the crupper of the horse part, and not a second too soon, for a sier, shot up fro He snatched up his sword and wondered when this night of helplessness
170
171”Coate opens!” Conan ran for it In the ateway, the air flickered and boiled withhilance to see how close the hunter followed He ran up the h, then he whirled to face the hunter He could not leave their vulnerable backs exposed to the thing
It was bearing down upon theh distance for him to stride a few paces backward, beneath the lintel
First there was a whirling disorientation, then a sense of cold, and he realized that he was standing in ankle-deep snow The air was chill and blessedly thin He continued to back away froate, and he are that they were surrounded by people He risked a quick glance around and saw that they were on the field of Giants' Stones, surrounded by Alcuina's arth
”Back!” Conan shouted ”Away froate!” There was a collective shout of awe and terror as the hunter burst froly disoriented Slowly its head turned, as if searching out its prey fro this mass of mortal flesh Desperately Conan scanned the crowd as well Then he saw the weapon he wanted A man stood by with a twelve-foot spear, the kind used by footainst mounted men
”Reccared!” Conan called ”Giveeyes from the hunter, the man tossed the spear to Conan With the weapon in hishands Conan quickly exa and narrow, just what he needed
The hunter had turned its head at the sound of Conan's voice, and now it dug its steel hooves into the snow for a charge This ti from the flanks of the horse-body and a pair of barbed spears shot forth fros Its movements did not seem to be quite so swift or sure as before
There was an awed sigh froly unstoppable monster bore down upon the relatively small form of Conan How could mere flesh and blood stand up to such a terrible machine? They looked for hiripping the spearshaft He would have one try, then he would be victorious or dead He made sure that the spear-blade was turned flat The eyeslots were narrow, and a vertical blade would ja
In the very e, Conan thrust Unerringly the blade went into the left eyeslot, crunching through so, then the for-ward htened his grip on the spearshaft, although an unearthly tingle shot through it It would do hi only to fall beneath its toppling, razor-edged bulk
Sparks and se odor filled the air, as when lightning strikes near The hunter reeled and thrashed wildly, swinging Conan on the end of the shaft like a boy swishi+ng a wand, but the strong ash held Abruptly a great gout of blue flame shot from the eyeslot and 172
173sed while the horse stood and trerip The forwas dead, if it had ever been truly alive
”What was it?” asked Alcuina wonderingly She had co around as well
”We saw the lights coeir ”We ca to us Coer here in the open”
”Danger?” Alcuina said With the passing of the hunter, she could not ier
”Our eneet behind the walls, where we can meet them on equal terms”
”Look!” said someone
They all looked at theacross it with unearthly speed, and it began to groan and creak froave way, and the thing ca down It split open, and out poured a spill of gears, levers, wheels, and other things no one there could put a naan to rust or crumble
”This was not its place,” commented Rerin
”I rejoice to see you safe, my lady” They looked up fro ild, nephew of King Odoac of the Thungians”
Alcuina glared at hiarth been taken by ene my men?”
”I am his heir no more,” the youth assured her ”And I swear that I aarth, where you may find more suitable raiment, and where weregally to the young arth The others fell in behind Last of all was Conan, feeling a little put out that the glory of his recenthad been eclipsed by these new political developments Rerin came up to him and sur-veyed the remains of the hunter, now little more than a pile of reddish powder ”Come, Conan There will be warlory, you should have arranged for a bard to stand by during your battle”
”Does she hold my services so cheap?” Conan de-manded ”That downy lad will need a few years before he's any kind of warrior”
”Warriors coo,” Rerin reasoned as they walked, ”but Alcuina is a queen, and has the welfare of her people to think about Actually, I had discussed with her the possibility of selecting you for her consort--”
”Hah!” Conan broke in ”I'll be on the first shi+p heading south codom, I'll conquer it, by Crom! I'll not marry one”
”It may be just as well, then He is of royal blood, as is she Between them, they may save their peoples”
175Cweioe Blood on the Snows Conan sat brooding into his ale cup as the queen of the Gaians held counsel Much as he hated to adhtly, if somewhat too cautiously for Conan's taste He noticed that Alcuina'she would not have expected from people as clannish as this Of course, royalty was never treated in quite the sas and queens virtually had to ith foreigners, lest the stock grow degenerate
”Alcuina, we face two eneians, led by erous, Totila and the Tore, but Totila is a great warrior in his prih inaction The Caht hold off either one of your enemies here within your stone wall, but not both”
174
”Need it coeir ”Perhaps the Torht one another instead of coainst us”