Part 1 (2/2)
On the other side of the camp, colossal redwoods, which had been old when Atlantis sank beneath the waves eight thousand years before, rose amid thickets of bamboo and clumps of rhododendron A small stream meandered out of the woods, ain Overhead, a layer of haze or high fog drifted across the tops of the cliffs, drowning the light of the fainter stars andabout this place, thought Conan, stank of fear and of death
He could almost smell the acrid odor of terror on the breeze The horses felt it, too They nickered plaintively, pawed the earth, and rolled white eyeballs at the dark beyond the circle of the fire The beasts were close to nature So was Conan, the young barbarian warrior from the bleak hills of Cimmeria Like his, their senses were more delicately turned to the aura of evil than were the senses of city-bred men like the Turanian troopers he had led into this deserted vale
The soldiers sat about the fire, sharing the last of this night's ration of wine frohed and boasted of the ahrapur upon their return Others, weary fro at the fire and yawning Soon they would settle down for the night, rolled in their heavy cloaks With their heads pillowed on saddlebags, they would lie in a loose circle about the hissing fire, while two of their nu and ready They sensed nothing of the sinister force that hovered about the valley
Standing with his back to the nearest of the giant redwoods, Conan wrapped his cloak hts Although his troopers ell-built ood size, he towered half a head over the tallest of them, while his enormous breadth of shoulder made them seem puny by coes of his spired, turban-wound helht glints of red froloo but weak Turanian monarch who had sent him on this ill-omened mission Over a year had passed since he had taken the oath of allegiance to the king of Turan Six 's favor; with the help of a fellow-hter Zosara froht the princess, rooar horde
When Conan returned to Yildiz's glittering capital of Aghrapur, he had found the ratitude Both he and Juma had been raised to captain But, whereas Juma had obtained a coveted post in the Royal Guard, Conan had been rewarded with yet another arduous, perilous mission Now, as he recalled these events, he sourly contemplated the fruits of success
Yildiz had entrusted the Cidom in western Khitai At the head of forty veterans, Conan had accomplished the iues of bleak Hyrkanian steppe and skirted the foothills of the towering Talakh the windy deserts and swa the mysterious realm of Khitai, the easternmost land of which the men of the West had heard
Arrived in Kusan at last, Conan had found the venerable and philosophical King Shu a splendid host While Conan and his warriors were plied with exotic food and drink and furnished illing concubines, the king and his advisers decided to accept King Yildiz's offer of a treaty of friendshi+p and trade So the wise old king had handed Conan a gorgeous scroll of gilded silk Thereon were inscribed, in the writhing ideographs of Khitai and the gracefully slanted characters of Hyrkania, the for
Besides a silken purse full of Khitan gold, King Shu had also furnished Conan with a high noble of his court, to guide them as far as the western borders of Khitai But Conan had not liked this guide, this Duke Feng
The Khitan was a sli voice He wore fantastical silken gar, and drenched his exquisite person in heavy perfu-nailed hands with any of the camp chores, but instead kept his two servants busy day and night nity
Conan looked down upon the Khitan's habits with a hard-bitten barbarian'svoice reminded him of a cat, and he often told hi for treachery On the other hand, he secretly envied the Khitan his exquisitely cultivated manners and easy charm This fact led Conan to resent the duke even iven Conan soht polish, he was still at heart the blunt, boorish young barbarian He would have to be careful of this sly little Duke Feng
Chapter Two
”Do I disturb the profound meditations of the nobly born commander?”
purred a soft voice
Conan started and snatched at the hilt of his tulwar before he recognized the person of Duke Feng, wrapped to the lip in a volurowl a conte his ambassadorial duties, he turned the oath into a for even in his own ears
”Perhaps the princely captain is unable to sleep?” raciousness Feng spoke fluent Hyrkanian This was one reason for his having been dispatched to guide Conan's troop, for Conan's coue was littlecontinued:
”This person is so fortunate as to possess a sovereign reifted apothecary concocted it for round into cinnarowled Conan ”I thank you, Duke, but it's so about this accursed place So day's ride, I should be as weary as a stripling after his first night's bout of love”
The duke's features moved a trifle, as if he winced at Conan's crudity-or was it ht? In any case, he suavely replied, ”I think I understand the s of the excellent co eht valley Many runted Conan
The duke's narrow shoulders twitched beneath the green cloak ”Nay, nothing like that, my heroic Western friend This spot lies near the to Hsia of Kusan He caused his entire royal guard to be beheaded and their heads buried with him, that their spirits should continue to serve him in the next world The couardsmen march in review, up and down this valley” The soft voice dropped even lower ”Legend also states that a old and precious jeas buried with him; and this tale I believe to be true”
Conan pricked up his ears ”Gold and gems, eh? Has it ever been found, this treasure?”
The Khitan surveyed Conan for areached some private decision, he replied, ”No, Lord Conan; for the precise location of the trove is not known-save to one man”