Part 30 (2/2)

Conan shook his head, blinking The sun's glare half blinded him He lifted a s at the faint splashi+ng within

The girl

'Oh, Conan, we shall die here! I a truculently at the surrounding waste, with outthrust jaw, and blue eyes sely froible eneirl's lips

'Drink till I tell you to stop, Natala,' he coasps, and he did not check her Only when the canteen was empty did she realize that he had deliberately allowed her to drink all their water supply, little enough that it was

Tears sprang to her eyes 'Oh, Conan,' she wailed, wringing her hands, 'why did you let me drink it all? I did not kno there is none for you!'

'Hush,' he growled 'Don't waste your strength in weeping'

Straightening, he threw the canteen from him

'Why did you do that?' she whispered

He did not reply, standingslowly about the hilt of his saber He was not looking at the girl; his fierce eyes seemed to plumb the mysterious purple hazes of the distance

Endoith all the barbarian's ferocious love of life and instinct to live, Conan the Cimmerian yet knew that he had reached the end of his trail He had not come to the limits of his endurance, but he knew another day under thehih Better a quick painless sword-stroke than the lingering agony that faced him Her thirst was temporarily quenched; it was a false ht relief Slowly he slid the saber fro Far out on the desert to the south, soh the heat waves

At first he thought it was a phantoes which hadhis sun-dazzled eyes, hewalls He watched it gri for it to fade and vanish Natala had ceased to sob; she struggled to her knees and followed his gaze

'Is it a city, Conan?' she whispered, too fearful to hope 'Or is it but a shadow?'

The Cimmerian did not reply for a space He closed and opened his eyes several times; he looked away, then back The city remained where he had first seen it

'The devil knows,' he grunted 'It's worth a try, though'

He thrust the saber back in its sheath Stooping, he lifted Natala in his h she had been an infant She resisted weakly

'Don't waste your strength carrying ets rockier here,' he answered 'You would soon wear your sandals to shreds,' glancing at her soft green footwear 'Besides, if we are to reach that city at all, we must do it quickly, and I can make better tior and resilience to the Cimmerian's steely thews He strode out across the sandy waste as if he had just begun the journey A barbarian of barbarians, the vitality and endurance of the ere his, granting him survival where civilized irl were, so far as he knew, the sole survivors of Prince Al the defeated rebel prince of Koth, swept through the Lands of She sandstorian host on its heels, it had cut its way through the black kingdoe of the southern desert Conan likened it in his radually as it rushed southward, to run dry at last in the sands of the naked desert The bones of its members - mercenaries, outcasts, broken men, outlaws - lay strewn from the Kothic uplands to the dunes of the wilderness

Froians and the Kushi+tes closed in on the trapped remnants, Conan had cut his way clear and fled on a cairl Behind them the land swarmed with enemies; the only way open to the depths they had plunged

The girl was Brythunian, whom Conan had found in the slave-market of a stor to say in the matter, but her new position was so far superior to the lot of any Hyborian wolio, that she accepted it thankfully So she had shared in the adventures of Almuric's damned horde

For days they had fled into the desert, pursued so far by Stygian horsemen that when they shook off the pursuit, they dared not turn back They pushed on, seeking water, until the camel died Then they went on foot For the past few days their suffering had been intense Conan had shi+elded Natala all he could, and the rough life of the cae woman possesses; but even so, she was not far froled black mane Waves of dizziness and nausea rose in his brain, but he set his teeth and strode on unwaveringly He was convinced that the city was a reality and not a e What they would find there he had no idea The inhabitantschance, and that was aswhen they halted in front of the rateful for the shade Conan stood Natala on her feet, and stretched his aching arht, colass Conan scanned the parapets, expecting to be challenged, but saw no one Iate with his saber-hilt, but only the hollow echoes htened by the silence Conan tried the portal, and stepped back, drawing his saber, as it swung silently inward Natala stifled a cry

'Oh, look, Conan!'

Just inside the gate lay a hulared at it narrowly, then looked beyond it He saide open expanse, like a court, bordered by the arched doorways of houses coreenish material as the outer walls These edifices were lofty and i do them In the center of the court rose the square curb of a well, and the sight stung Conan, whoseNatala's wrist he drew her through the gate, and closed it behind the the ate The body was that of a tall powerful individual, apparently in his prihtly slanted; otherwise the h-strapped sandals and a tunic of purple silk, and a short sword in a cloth-of-gold scabbard hung froirdle Conan felt his flesh It was cold There was no sign of life in the body

'Not a wound on hirunted the Ciian arrows in him In Crom's name let's see to the well! If there's water in it, we'll drink, dead men or no'

There ater in the well, but they did not drink of it Its level was a good fifty feet below the curb, and there was nothing to draw it up with Conan cursed blackly, ht of the stuff just out of his reach, and turned to look for soht hi upon hilea in his hand Conan cursed a attacker with a slashi+ng cut of his saber that sheared through flesh and bone The fellow's head thudded on the flags; the body staggered drunkenly, an arch of blood jetting frolared doearing softly

'This fellow is no deader now than he was a few one Into what madhouse have we strayed?'

Natala, who had covered her eyes with her hands at the sight, peeked between her fingers and shook with fear

'Oh, Conan, will the people of the city not kill us, because of this?'

'Well,' he growled, 'this creature would have killed us if I hadn't lopped off his head'

He glanced at the archways that gaped blankly froreen walls above them He saw no hint of movement, heard no sound

'I don't think any one saw us,' he muttered 'I'll hide the evidence-'

He lifted the li the head by its long hair in the other, he half carried, half dragged the ghastly remains over to the well

'Since we can't drink this water,' he gritted vindictively, 'I'll see that nobody else enjoys drinking it Curse such a well, anyway!' He heaved the body over the curb and let it drop, tossing the head after it A dull splash sounded far beneath

'There's blood on the stones,' whispered Natala

'There'll be rowled the Ciirl had aler in her fear, but not Conan

'We'll go into one of these doors,' he said 'Surely we'll find people after awhile'

'Oh, Conan!' she wailed, snuggling up as close to hihosts and dead o back into the desert! Better to die there, than to face these terrors!'

'We'll go into the desert when they throw us off the walls,' he snarled 'There's water somewhere in this city, and I'll find it, if I have to kill every ain?' she whispered

'Then I'll keep killing them until they stay dead!' he snapped 'Coood as another! Stay behind me, but don't run unless I tell you to'

She murmured a faint assent and followed him so closely that she stepped on his heels, to his irritation Dusk had fallen, filling the strange city with purple shadows They entered the open doorway, and found the with velvet tapestries, worked in curious designs Floor, walls and ceiling were of the green glassy stone, the walls decorated with gold frieze-work Furs and satin cushi+ons littered the floor Several doorways let into other rooh, and traversed several chambers, counterparts of the first They saw no one, but the Cirunted suspiciously