Part 16 (1/2)
Aduarantee that this idea would positively work, but certainly it was a better idea than awaiting the certain end that would befall Wikkell and Deek whenever their respectiveabout theht, was better than none at all
Several times as they neared the witch's chambers, Deek and Wikkell passed other worms in the main corridor, and each time those other worms readily accepted Deek's fabricated story It looked as if this planeach other and the, Chuntha realized, was a the edge of the Sunless Sea with a search hornet If there was even a suspicion of an exit, she had sent one of her ical insects to check it So far, each that reported back had failed to detect her prey Sorow restless Unless this barbarian could sos of his own, it was impossible for him to have traveled this far Her boat's speed far exceeded that of a walkingsuch a pace for long But if it were not possible for the man and his companions to have passed where she now floated, it could one the other way
Chuntha slapped her bare thigh, sending a quiver through the taut ht of that before? She had assumed that they would flee from pursuit back the way they had comeThat assumption could be, she realized now, a mistake
She wondered if the wizard had also been taken in by the ploy Had he done so, he would be approaching her even as she sat bestilled thinking of it
Chuntha sighed deeply If that were the case, she would have to prepare to battle him now, even without the powerful essence of the barbarian There was no way to slip past Rey did he coht hiood as any
Chuntha bent over her assean to lay out her most potent items
At least she had surprise on her side, She would find a quiet cove shrouded in shadow and await the wizard's arrival With luck, she could strike him down before he became aware of her
Rey reached the conclusion that hedirection before he had dispatched his third wasp seeker It was not a logical and reasoned decision, but a deeply felt reaction frout Heknew , by some manner that he could not precisely say, that the one called Conan and the others had gone in the opposite way
The wizard lost no ti his error Ied his cyclopian uarded, of course, but these newly arrived trouble dread brought on by the crystal's prophesy sprang to the fore of his thoughts What uards be overcoht There were spells in his inventory that could do great dae in untrained hands In fact, maybe the best solution to this entire affair would be to scurry home as fast as possible and barricade himself into his chambers, backed by the full powers he kept there
The ht about it, the surer he became If only it was not yet too late!
”Faster!” Rey cohest speed, and he was jolted back and forth in the sedan by the cadence of their running steps Of a moment Rey had a dark premonition about all this and he liked it not in the least
Eighteen At the turning of the corridor approaching the witch's chambers, Conan and Tull suddenly leaped into view of the four large wor his sword overhead
Tull also hopped about,his arot the point The four of the across the rocky floor with a speed Conan found rather an ofthe wor the rocky floor of the corridor, Conan said, ”They move faster than you led me to believe” ”Faster than I believed myself,” Tull panted
Indeed, as Conan and Tull rounded another turning of the corridor, the wor in pursuit Conan said, ”It appears that on't have to slow to avoid losing thelanced over his shoulder as the worms slithered into view behind them ”Mitra! Who would have expected the so quickly?”
BothThey ed tonoould allow their pursuers to catch them all too quickly
Elashi+ and Lalo waited until the guard worht, then quickly darted to the entrance of the witch's chambers Lalo took the lead and in a us covered the walls and the as easy to discern
”I hope that the witch did not think to leave ical wards in place,” Lalo said, his voice a whisper
”Nowyou think of this!”
”I did not hearyou voice such a concern earlier, Elashi+ dear Perhaps you have been with Conan too long some of his lack of wit may have tainted you”
”I have not the ti fool,” she said ”We have a job to do”
They e and high-ceilinged rooe bed of silken cushi+ons, and various iteainst the walls: chests, dressers, trunks, and an assorte and small
”This must be the place,” Elashi+ said
”As always, your perception amazes me Certainly this is the place”
”Shut up and look for jewels!”
Quickly, the pair of them moved forward
The Harskeel did not plan to be thwarted this tiardless of the cost, it intended to have Conan and his blade Its idea was not overly complex When Conan was spotted, the Harskeel intended to launch all of the fifteen or so bats still in its command at the barbarian lout That Conan would die and be drained of blood quickly was a given, but before he was couineous, the Harskeel would dart in and seize the barbarian's sword and blood it A few drops would suffice; it was, after all, not the quantity but the quality of the fluid that mattered True, the Harskeel would not have the pleasure of watching Conan die slowly, suffering for the grief he had caused, but at this stage of the gao the lesser pleasures for the greater All that the Harskeel desired at this point was to achieve its oal and then depart these cursed caves forever It hurried along the path, eager for the finish to its quest
Tian to worry anew That bastard should have arrived by now That the wizard had not reatly She sao possibilities: one, that he had somehow been made aware of her and held back, or two, he had also discerned that the quarry he and Chuntha ht had taken another route
The witch decided that she must knohich was the case, and quickly She plucked one of the red hornets froed it, and dispatched it with instructions: ”Go along this ay until you see Katamay Rey the wizard Do not allow him to see you, and return immediately and report”
In an eyeblink the enchanted hornet was gone
Chuntha sat back down upon the raft and waited
Rey's thralls ressed rapidly At one point, over the clop-clop of his Cyclopes' heavy tread upon the never-ending dock, he thought he heard a buzzing sound, but when looked around, he saw nothing It did not matter That bitch was still in the area so direction Surely she had made the same mistake as he, and that was her probleained upon the two running lanced over his shoulder and realized that it would be only a iant beasts overtook hi fairly soon; the oldertold the Cimmerian that Tull neared exhaustion
”Can they clied
”Not well,” Tull said, his voice alht”
This last phrase came as the two reached a fork in the tunnel If Conan's memory served, they had already taken that tunnel once and circled back, and there was a rather sheer wall leading up to a narrow ledge not far ahead Several boulders lay upon that ledge, itself four or five tiht of a tall man
True to his recall, the steep wall loo since sheathed his blade for , pointed at the wall ”There! Climb!”
Tull needed no clarification, and neither did he waste his breath on answering He an to ascend Conan, whose early years had been spent in the cold cli that offered even the sers Within a few heartbeats he was to the ledge Tull, for all his advanced age and lack of practice, arrived upon the ledge not far behind Conan Climb or die seemed to bestow a certain skill upon the older ed between labored breaths ”We are trapped, even though they cannot reach us”
Conan, alreadytoward a boulder twice the size of his head, said, ”Perhaps not A hard enough rain ht persuade them to leave”
Tull took Conan's intent quickly and htly smaller rock