Part 17 (1/2)

7 Flight froians were on their feet Hardbitten ravagers though they were, the sight was frightful enough to wring yells of terror fro at the first scream, the sentry rushed back into the hall to hack at thecommands, the leader snatched up the nearest weapon and fell to The rest, although unarmored, disheveled, and confused, seized sword and spear to defend the theed into the swollen, swaying belly Clutching hands and ar, to the floor But, see to feel no pain, the ians had their heads twisted off by strangling hands Others were seized by the feet and battered to gory reainst the pillars

As the Ciians were battered or torn to death The ghastly wounds inflicted on the ians instantly closed up and healed Severed heads and arms were replaced by newthat the Stygians had no chance against thewas still occupied with the slavers and before it turned its attention to hiht a h aThis let on to a roof terrace of broken tiles, where a false step could drop hiround level

The rain had slackened to a drizzle The ain Looking down from the parapet that bounded the terrace, Conan found a place where the exterior carvings, together with clirace of an ape, he lowered himself hand over hand down the weirdly carven facade

Now thethe courtyard belohere the Stygians' horses stood tethered,uneasily at the sounds of reat hall

Over the roar of battle sounded screaony as man after htly on the earth of the courtyard He sprinted for the great black ed to the leader of the slavers He would have liked to linger to loot the bodies, for he needed their armor and other supplies The mail shi+rt he had worn as Belit's piratical partner had long since succuht from Bamula had been too hasty to allow him to equip himself more completely But no force on earth could have drawn hi death still stalked and slew

As the young Ciure burst fro across the courtyard toward him Conan saw that it was the ian's helh to enable him to survive the massacre of his comrades

Conan opened his mouth to speak There was no love lost between hiian were the only survivor of his party, Conan would have been willing to forues'

alliance with him, however temporary, until they could reach more settled country

But Conan had no chance to make such a proposal, for the experience had driven the burly Stygian ht, and foaht upon Conan, whirling a sci, ”Back to your hell, O demon!”

The primitive survival instinct of the wilderness-bred Ciht By the ti distance, Conan's oord had cleared its scabbard

Again and gain, steel clanged against steel, striking sparks As the wild-eyed Stygian swung back for another slash, Conan drove his point into the led, swayed, and toppled

For an instant, Conan leaned on theThe duel had been short but fierce, and the Stygian had been no onist

From within the ancient pile of stone, no ht but an o footsteps Had the ogreish thing slaughtered the its e into the courtyard?

Conan did not wait to find out With treers he unlaced the dead man's hauberk and pulled the ian's helmet and shi+eld, the latter reat, thick-skinned beasts of the veldt He hastily tied these trophies to the saddle, vaulted upon the steed, wrenched at the reins, and kicked the alloped out of the ruined courtyard into the region of withered grass With every stride of the flying hoofs, the castle of ancient evil fell behind

Sory lions still prowled But Conan did not care After the ghostly horrors of the black citadel, he would gladly take his chances with mere lions

The Snout in the Dark ---------------------

Continuing his northward trek, now speeded by his possession of a horse, Conan at last reaches the sedom of Kush This is the land to which the nah Conan, like other northerners, tends to use the terro countries south of the deserts of Stygia Here an opportunity to display his prowess at ar in the Dark

Aish froht before For a muddled ht, streah up on one wall, shone on unfa in the upper cell of the prison into which Queen Tananda had thrown hi in his wine While he sprawled helplessly, barely conscious, two black giants of the queen's guard had laid hands upon him and upon the Lord Aahmes, the queen's cousin, and hustled the he remembered was a brief statement from the queen, like the crack of a whip: ”So you villains would plot to overthrow me, would you? You shall see what befalls traitors!”

As the giant black warrior moved, a clank of metal made him aware of fetters on his wrists and ankles, connected by chains to massive iron staples set in the wall He strained his eyes to pierce the fetid glooht, he still lived Even Tananda had to think twice about slaying the commander of the Black Spearmen-the backbone of the ardoe of conspiracy with Aahood friends They had hunted and guzzled and gaether, and Aahmes had complained privately to A and treacherous as her dusky body was desirable But things had never gotten to the point of actual conspiracy Aahood-natured, easygoing young felloith no interest in politics or power So to advance his own prospects at the cost of others, must have laid false accusations before the queen

Ath, he knew he could not break them, nor yet the chains that held them Neither could he hope to pull the staples loose from the wall He knew, because he had overseen their installation himself