Part 18 (1/2)
They shi+ed away, until she reh to show them who she was
The worms looked vastly relieved The leader reported their encounter with the barbarian ”H-he m-m-must b-be a d-demon! He s-s-slew C-c-cook and T-t-tuma!”
She waved the tor; the i Was that the barbarian was nearby No time to stop and rest, then
She did not ask of further uard ”When I change back into the winged creature, you are to use yourWithout waiting for a reply, Chuntha donned the scaled garain assuuard, no less so for having been told this would happen, lashed his tail sharply, catapultingthe ensorceled witch into the air like a rock hurled fros flut-tered and snapped out, and Chuntha sailed down the long corridor
There were several ways the barbarian could have taken, but she knew at least one that he had not and others that were less than likely She Was near, she felt it, and she would have hi since attained the shore, and now his cyclopian carriers bore hi run down theof being late to the party, and tardiness in this case”Hurry, you useless lu, the continuation of Wikkell and Deek's plan went suarded Rey's chas; apparently the wizard had not bothered to enlighten theht that the cyclops had counted upon The wizard thought they were allthat did not directly concern theht that little, if any, of his business concerned anyone save hiuards would attempt to stop Wikkell had been a s behind him on the leash, the two of them entered the wizard's chaue cyclops and renegade worm quickly selected a talisuards, it was Wikkell's turn to demonstrate to Deek the instrument they had just stolen
It seeh Frolittery shower upon the floor before the worm
”Wh-what d-d-does i-it d-d-do?”
”Crawl over it and see”
Had he shoulders, Deek would have shrugged; lacking thehtly and started to slither over the fine power Quickly the worain any purchase on the floor He couldhis muscles, but there was no friction between his body and the underlying rock It was as if the solid stone had turned to air for all the resistance it offered
Wikkell grinned down at his friend ”A special lubricant,” he said ”You cannot move upon a surface coated with it, nor can anybody do anything but slip and slide upon it Here”
With that, Wikkell leaned toward Deek and gave hientle shove Deek slid across the rock more easily than had their web boat over the surface of the water He hit a patch of north behind, and hastened to inch himself back onto it
”Im-im-impressive,” Deek said ”I-is i-it p-p-permanent?”
”No It lasts but an hour or so, then vanishes Still, with these two iteenerate more support” ”Un-un-d-doubtedly”
”Then let us waste no more time My folk or yours?”
”M-m-mine a-a-are cl-closer”
”Then lead on, friend”
Conan's sharp hearing caught the high-pitched sound of the cluttering bats before his companions noted their approach The Ci the others with the suddenness of his an
”Bats, behind us!” Conan said
The bats, ht toward theun to narrohere Conan and the others stood A few more paces and they could attain a short tunnel that would force the onco bats to fly in tandem to enter it
Tull pulled his knife and Elashi+ her sword, while Lalo bent for a fist-sized rock
”Into the tunnel,” Conan ordered ”I shall hold thean
”Do as I say, quickly!”
The three obeyed, and Conan could hear the fear in their thoughts, along with their reluctance to leave hi hi their minds He raised his sword for the first cut
The first bat to arrive felt the shock of cold iron slicing through him but realized hiscreature careened into a stalagtite and expired
The second and third attackers fared no better as a backstroke with the sharped blue iron took one's head from its furry shoulders and the return stroke sheared the hindquarters froh Before Conan could ready the sword for another cut, four of the bats barreled into hiht and h to knock hi one of the bats
One of the other attackers dragged its claws over Conan's shoulder, drawing blood to fill the gouges
Conan grabbed the thing's neck with his free hand and squeezed Se cracked wetly as the Ciled bat away fro of the bats, Conan saw the forht have suspectedthat one was still around
The Harskeel darted toward Conan, a thin blade drawn for action, but it could not get close enough to bring its blade into play-the flurry of bats darting hither and yon impededit
Behind him, Conan heard Tull, Elashi+, and Lalo yell
”We are co, Conan!”
As Conan punched one of the bats square in the face with his knotted fist, shattering that poor creature's teeth and jaw, he thought that the odds now seemed more in their favor A fewscrea the Ci roar that made the skin of his neck chill and bulance upward and noticed that the bats and the Harskeel did the sa , thin head and a ers, and its wings seemed to stretch halfway across the breadth of the cave
Conan jerked his sword back to strike at the thing-Croet away fro horror, flitted behind him just as the Cirip on the handle The edge of the blued iron bit into the bat's skull, effectively stopping further voluntary activity by the bat; unfortunately, the blade stuck in the wet bone, and the weight of the bat was enough to pull the sword froht He turned to sprint toward his friends, but it was too late The talons of the flyinghis ar in the leather of his belt Conan felt himself lifted into the air as easily as a newborn child picked up by its s fanned the air, stirring up a stinging spray of rocky grit and mold from the cavern floor
”Run!” Conan yelled to his friends
In answer, Lalo took aim and hurled his rock Unfortunately, his aih
”Go!” Conan yelled
Conan was already too high for his friends to reach They needed no further urging The three of theher into the air by the de beast
Beneath him, the Harskeel screamed in a voice that started deep but quickly rose to a wo Conan banked to the left and flapped away Conan did not struggle To be dropped from this altitude upon the rocky floor could hardly help his cause Better to see where this thing would end its flight than to be dashed to jelly upon the surface below
The Harskeel's rage evaporated in an instant as it realized that which had dropped upon it from the monster above was none other than Conan's blood Only a few drops, to be sure, but certainly that would be enough? And the sword lay eround, not three paces away!