Part 21 (1/2)
”And you let hi in the li worms and stormed back into the chamber No one hadever lain with her and walked away, no one! She had been lax, she had wanted to make him last, that had been her mistake! Well, she would fetch him back and none of his clever manipulations would serve him this time, no matter how pleasant! Conan, he had called himself, was a dead man!
Rey still had a small hope that somehow all this would turn out in his favor He had, after all, captured three of the loose hu about in his caves, and had melted two others As nearly as hecould tell, only the one, Conan, ree True, the prophesy seemed centered on that man, but even now, half a dozen of his cyclopes one hi that he was better off for the moment in the seat of his power Once Conan was returned, the wizard intended to slay all four of the troublemakers quickly and finish the entire unsavory episode He had thought hecertain pleasures in the slowness of it, but soether too risky Puddle theet back to business as usual
Chuntha, even knowing the risk, once again called upon the spell of the e and shaame at which she was most expert to a mere man, and a barbarian at that Theprey
As Conan and his t co caveways, they found themselves faced suddenly with a half dozen cyclopes Upon viewing Conan, the largest of the cyclops, one who seemed to be the leader, spoke sharply, obviously an order The other five cyclopes spread out anid started for Conan
The Ciht cross over into the Gray Lands, but by Cro some of them with hi one ar at Conan
The Cimmerian held the sith both hands, point ai cyclops He did not relax his stance at his companion's comment
Wikkell stepped forward and called out to the leader of the cyclopes, speaking in a harsh and choppy language that Conan did not understand The leader replied, and a short exchange of dialogue followed, at the end of which the leader ordered his troops to stop
Conan raised slightly fro stance and lowered the point of his blade ”What did you say to theainst the witch and the wizard Anyone who stood against the action would certainly die for it, as would anyone who tampered with my short friend with the sword here-that is to say, you Jalouri, the leader of Rey's guards over there, informs me that his loyalties to the wizard have never really been all that solid, and he has indicated that he and his troops would be more than happy to assist us in any way they can”
”Good of him,” Conan said
”One does not need to beafish to knohich way the tide flows,” Wikkell said
Conan sheathed his sword ”Lead on, friend”
The party, noelled by six, ht be able to slip my hands out of these manacles,” Elashi+ said ”They are very loose upon my wrists”
”A stupid idea,” Lalo said ”Neither Tull nor I can do so, and what good would it do you to be free? Do you think you can bypass the wizard and his guards?”
”Perhaps not,” Elashi+ said, irritated, ”but therein this chaht be able to strike the wizard down, can we find a weapon”
”Her idea has merit,” Tull said ”I'd rather take a few of 'em with ed and looked dubious One of his sed at the cuff on her right wrist The skin peeled back next to the rustyher hand The two ed to pull her hand loose The left hand caht to help, but blood also oozed from scrapes there when she was done Her wrists hurt, but not sowhat the alternative would shortly be
Quietly, and with great care, she stole across the chaainst the far wall
Perhaps there would be so inside it she could use
She wondered about Conan Had he met his end at the teeth of the monster that had snatched him into the air? She hoped not; for all of his faults, Elashi+ had grown to like Conan more than a little Of course he was not so witty as Lalo, who despite his curse, seemed a most clever companion Still, she would not like to think of Conan dead They had gone throughIt would be such a waste
Do not worry about that now, Elashi+, she told herself Whatever has happened to Conan, you must try to keep yourself alive
She hurried over to the chest
Twenty-four
In the largest chae thousands of occupants: worether in like groups, but here and there a few ard for kind A low rumble of conversation filled the cave as the thousands below talked ae of the shelf, and the cyclops took a deep breath and yelled at the assee: ”Ho, brothers! Listen to me!”
The drone of speech faded to silence as those below looked up at Wikkell There was a long pause, filled with anticipation, before the cyclops spoke again
”The time has come for us to restore our world to what it once was,” he said His voice boo to all parts of the cha must be removed, forever!”
A loud cheer broke froh-pitched whistles He definitely had their attention
”Your leaders will tell you of your duties The witch and the wizard will not relinquish their control easily, and they are powerful, but the time has come!”
Another wave of approbation swelled from the ranks, louder than before Wikkell turned away
”G-g-good sp-speech,” Deek said
”I hope it was not lanced at the barbarian ”Ready?”
Conan nodded ”Aye” He grinned Here was a situation he could enjoy: battle, with no complexity to it
The Whites would attack the sanctums of both witch and wizard simultaneously, followed by the bats, then a mix of worm and cyclopian troops The bats would also fly back and forth, reporting es as needed Somewhere in the midst of all that, Conan would seek to find and free his friends It was siht fail, but at least it would not do so due to some serpentine twist that went awry
Conan led Wikkell and Deek down the path toward Kataed around in the trunk, discarding items that offered no apparent use to her She found a stoppered vial and turned to show it to Lalo and Tull
”Should I open this?”
”Better you should not,” Lalo said ”We do not knohat resides within, and itould rather not know intimately”
Elashi+ nodded and tossed the vial into a pile of clothing already pulled fro produced a rod of shi+ning er and as long as the distance between her thuer There was a knobby protrusion near one end Curious as to the object's function, Elashi+ pressed the knob Fortunately, the opposite end was not pointed at any part of herself; rather, the tip of the rod was aiht and jagged white light erupted froe fire, and the pile of clothing sizzled and burst into flame
Elashi+ dropped the rod ”Mitra!”
”Best stay away fro it here”