Part 14 (1/2)
”Aye After that last episode, our plans changed somewhat”
”They did?” Tull and Elashi+ said
Conan continued ”Aye, they did We now have insome of the valuables amassed by either the witch or the wizard or both, to pay for our troubles hereThen ill leave”
”Are you mad?” Elashi+ asked
”Not at all You will recall Tull telling us that both the witch and the wizard have assorted jewels and gold, collected in their caves through centuries of robbing passersby”
”Aye,” Elashi+ said ”So? You cannot expect to siician and steal such valuables”
”And why not? The witch and wizard are both out here looking for us, are they not? Recall that worm raftThink about it-where is the last place you would expect them to look?”
”He is hed ”Perhaps, but there is nothing wrong with his plan, despite the fact that it was hatched by him When the farmer is in the field, the hens are ripe for the fox”
”You have taken leave of your senses as well,” Elashi+ said
Lalo nodded ”Doubtless after years of sht suspect, I have little love for wizards, and being coh et aith it A rich man can buy companions ithstand e who can lift the spell With great wealth coreat respect I shall be happy to assist you, you barbarian buffoon” Conan smiled ”Glad to have your help, Lalo”
Elashi+ and Tull looked at each other
”Maybe Conan does have so,” Tull said
Elashi+ said, ”Oh, he has so!”
”I aestions,” Conan said
Despite herself, Elashi+ grinned She shook her head ”All right, I take your point I have no better idea
At the moment, anyway”
”Then we shall do it,” Conan said ”I think I can direct us back to Tull's hideaway Can you lead us to the wizard or the witch's chambers from there, Tull?”
”Aye”
”Then let us be on our way”
Conan felt good about his plan He figured that they owed the witch and the wizard rief those two had caused them What better blow to strike than one that would provide financial benefit in the process? As Lalo had said, sufficientbalrown used to each other's company, Wikkell and Deek decided that it would be best to return to their own people as soon as possible With the witch and the wizard away from their chambers, the time would never be better for the worm and the cyclops to approach their own kind with their plans to depose the evil humans
So when Chuntha and Katamay Rey went deeper into the far reaches of the Sunless Sea searching for the three humans, Deek and Wikkell turned -their craft ho until both were hungry and tired, then stopped to i and to rest themselves
”It will not be easy, you realize”
”N-n-no O-our p-p-people ill b-be a-afraid”
Wikkell nodded and htly so Both the wizard and the witch are powerful Many of usI fearto save h”
”Certainly But in the long run, it will be better for us without such tyrants as rulers”
”I-in th-the l-long r-r-run, e a-are a-all d-d-dead” ”Yes, to be sure But look at us, for instance We get along well enough, though I confess I had s early on”
”A-as d-d-did I”
”But there is no reason your people and mine cannot be friends, save for those tho rule”
”A-a-agreed”
”Weview, Deek Why, we ht even create some kind of joint council, your folk and mine, with input fro prosperity to the caves, instead of the boots of Rey and Chuntha upon our throats”
”Am-am-ambitious i-idea”
”True But united, we could certainly defeat even such powerful beings as those two”
”O-one ould h-hope”
Wikkell sht played upon his thick teeth ”Here, have some of this sliht the succulent fungus in the gash that served his kind for a mouth Norh epider the orifice except to the most trusted of friends or a mate At this point Deek felt that if he could not trust Wikkell the one-eye, he likely could not trust anyone
”Wefor another slimeball
”O-or i-into th-the l-l-lime pits,” Deek said
Yes There was that, too
Katah hier in the caves-Conan, he had heard the fe the crystal's prophesy Of course it was the Witch's fault So to fall in almost upon them, and her construct or thrall, whichever it had been, had very nearly hit its target, save for Rey's quick warding action The following attack, with its blasted fog and his counter, had depleted the ical flux ”so that he had been unable to deal the witch the crushi+ng blow she so justly deserved In fact, had a bit ies been drained, the very dock upon which he stood would have dissolved, and that would have been a fine predica had cleared, both witch and quarry where nowhere to be seen There was barely enough flux left to construct the never-ending dock to chase the was slow at first, until the wizard and his cyclopes departed froion, back into the farther reaches of the Sunless Sea Oh, she was going to pay, Chuntha was, and twist properly in the doing of it