Part 11 (2/2)
”Hold a moment,” Conan called to his friends
Neither slowed, and Conan knew that the shadow of danger lay upon them That voice-he had not heard it with his ears, but within his head! It was a trap of some kind
Conan drew his blued-iron sword and leaped forward
”Tull! Elashi+! Stop!”
The Harskeel and its h the narrow corridor They were of necessity strung out some distance since the bats could not fly were they bunched too close together If Red's information held true, they would shortly come upon Conan and his friends
It was all the Harskeel could do to keep froreater speed
”There,” Wikkell said, pointing to the shore
The dead fish bobbed slightly as it slowly spun along the edge of the ay Now that he looked closer, Wikkell could see the indentations thatother than the teeth of a predator
The cyclops rowed the boat ashore He and Deek exited the craft ”There is almost no current in the water They must be around here somewhere”
”B-b-back th-the -we c-c-caested
”That makes sense We did not pass them beyond Let us return to the water We can reed”
Conan's protective reaction was sohted He leaped past his friends and turned to face the in the quiet cave But what if they did not? What was heto do, cut them down?
Fortunately, both Elashi+ and Tull see just as they reached the floor covering and shook their heads, as if awakening fro for you
The heretofore velvet-toned voice seemed somewhat terse and irritated in Conan's mind
”Move back,” Conan said He looked down and noted that he now stood on the strange overlay upon the stone floor
Elashi+ screa Cireen-tinted rope hurtling toward him The cable flew true, but as it would have draped itself over Conan's shoulder, he swung the sharp iron and hit the thing solidly The hawser seemed as solid as wood, but the force of Conan's shoulders and ared sword; the rope sheared cleanly on i Conan's wrist and tearing away a patch of skin as it fell He felt so sticky on his hand where the rope had touched
Elashi+ had drawn her oord, and Tull his dagger, and all three strove to er Another rope was launched-from a hole in the trunk of the nearest plant, Conan saw-and then a third and a fourth
”Quick, it's so to attain the bare rock, as did Elashi+, but Tull slipped on the s over the floor and fell As he did, one of the cast lines landed on him The rope adhered to Tull's tunic as if a part of it, and the slack in the cable vanished Tull began to slide toward the plants
Conan sprang toward the capturedthe rope It took two cuts to sever it
In his mind, Conan heard:Sisters! Aid me! These are the ones worth months' of foodThere was no seduction in that voice, only menace
Five, six, a dozen more sticky ropes jetted toward the trio Tull scrabbled to his hands and knees and ran doglike away fro him and Conan, and the Ci was of the same material as the lines and, as well, a measure of the extent of the lines' reach He darted past Tull, scooped him up with one arm, and leaped for the closest patch of bare rock One of the ropes tore a leather scrap froe
”Gods all!” Elashi+ said
The three stared at the plants
Wait, caainThis is all a mistake Come to me and feel the depths of pleasure
Conan looked at Elashi+ ”Do you hear that?” She nodded ”The powerful voice of a desert chief,” she said ”Asking lanced at Tull ”And what do you hear?”
”A wench ould render me unconscious with her lusts,” Tull said
Conan nodded He understood it now The plants emitted some kind of lure to attract victims Those so attracted would no doubt become sustenance for the plants in short order
No, came the voiceYou are not to be eaten Believe us
”I think not,” Conan said He turned back to his friends ”Best we go back and find another route”
But as the trio turned to go back the way they had come, a bat chittered and swooped out of the tunnel toward them After a moment more bats followed, and there came the cries of men
Conan shook his head and raised his sword Was there no end to this madness?
Thirteen
It was Deek who spotted the exits froled in toward the shore, beached the craft, and he and Deek alighted
”Th-they one th-there”
”What makes you so certain?”
”L-l-look”
Wikkell quickly noted what the as indicating The shore, such that it was, virtually disappeared a short distance past the three holes in the rock above theht into the water They would have to have the agility of flies to stick to that wall If their prey had truly come this way, the only method left to them would be to swim a considerable dis tance, and Wikkell did not think that likely They had not gotten this far by being particularly stupid
”Aye But which hole?”
”O-o-one i-is a-as g-g-good a-a-as a-another”
Wikkell nodded ”The one to the right, then?”