Part 10 (1/2)
”Your squeals an to sully my blade with your uncouth barbaric blood! Besides, Captain Rogar here has requested the pleasure of separating your unsightly head from your shoulders”
From behind the two archers stepped a short, heavyset man with a face flat and square, as if chiseled froe chest, and he carried a auntlets adorned his wrists He flexed his bare, apelike,stumpy, yellowed teeth The archers backed up behind hilance at Rogar whilst skewering the last of the guards He recognized the man as one of Valtresca's handpicked mercenaries In fact, not one of the ar was little ar's rank by citing the body count the rossly fat man was deadly with his
”Conan, avoid his shi+eld! Do not strike it!”
The cry caar's shi+eld, hoping to crush it and bury his blade in the ut
Instead, he found with a start that the shi+eld had caught his blade; he could not withdraw it The odd-looking shi+eld was a powerful lodestone!
Cursing, he wrenched at his trapped blade with all his ar's spiked mace This was evidently what the Zaonally, catching the side of Conan's head with a terrific blow Stunned, the Cio of his hilt and lurched into the corridor wall, staggering froar hefted the er, praying for Hanu knife was not knocked aside; it sank to the hilt in Rogar's beefy arn that he even felt the dagger Conan's sword popped free with a clang
Rogar's small, black eyes sparkled as he turned to lash out at Salvorus with the mace Heat Rogar with his sword His blade clanged har past his opponent, Salvorus noted with dis their crossbows again Conan would be easy prey for their bolts if Salvorus could not dispatch thishis desperation, the captain dropped his sword and hurled hie Zamoran flailed futilely at Salvorus with his mace, but the heavy weapon was useless in close quarters Salvorus locked his powerful hands on Rogar's throat and squeezed with all histo pull the for several moments, until Salvorus saw the bowainst the wall, his hand pressed to his ringing skull With a ar and used his superior strength to push the shorterwas perfect Once again the bowmen fired, but this tiar's back, bringing a yowl of pain The other bolt flew over the short rip on Rogar loosened ih his bruised windpipe and clutching at the shaft protruding from his back He pulled it out and raised it over his head as if to plunge it into the captain's bare neck
His thrust went astray as Conan at last recovered his senses, kicking Rogar in the knee and sending hi from the pain of the bolt in his shoulder, Salvorus tore the shaft out and fought to recover from the shock of the wound Conan reached down to retrieve his dropped sword as Rogar stretched his hand toward his ar, still scra at Conan He looked up just in time to see the Ci It sliced the handle of Rogar's mace in two and bit deep into the Zaaped stupidly at the stub of lazed over and his head fell backward, tu, decapitated corpse pitched forward, spewing gouts of thick blood Conan kicked the gory head aside and rushed straight for the t Ci than before, assu stance and retreated a few paces ”Quickly, you fools!” he shouted to the bowmen
”Ready your blades and dispose of this lout!”
The two men dropped their crossbows and reached for their hilts, but the sight of a Ci for them was more than they could stomach They turned and sprinted down the corridor past Valtresca, leaving the general to stand alone Cursing, Valtresca ran after them, but his armor slowed him down The bowmen slammed the corridor's iron door shut behind them, and Valtresca swore vehemently as he heard the heavy outer bolt and iron crossbar fall into place He was trapped
”Cowardly swine! I will flay the useless flesh from your spineless bodies and feed you to the rats for this outrage! Open the door, I command you! Come back at once, I say!” He continued to rant, but the only sound fro footfalls of the fleeing guards
Valtresca turned to face Conan and resueneral's jaas set with deterlitter of fear shone in his eyes He held his ornate sword deftly in his ht in the passageway glinted on the gauntlet's metal studs, and his eyes were pools of menace
With his left hand, he reached into a belt pouch Conan approached warily, suspecting that Valtresca's bragging was backed by expert swordseneral would resort to dirty tricks
Farther back in the corridor, Salvorus picked up his sith his good ar his wounded shoulder He hastened to catch up with Conan, but ary of Valtresca He knew that the general was a y and tactics, and was a lethal threat even without his guards
The Ciainst the barred door He was closer than a dozen paces when Valtrescaout with his blade Conan parried quickly, then -quick riposte His blade scraped across the general's solid breastplate, digging a deep groove in its decorative crestwork Valtresca stepped back and tossed the s for Conan's head
Conan, expecting this, ducked the tiny projectile It flew past his head and struck Salvorus, shattering against his chainforward, disregarding the i an acrid scent He glanced doith horror at the front of his ony as the strange liquid burned into his flesh, hissing like water duhtly off balance, but Conan eneral's arh the general's ashed the arm beneath
”Swine!” Valtresca snarled ”Prepare tomotion, he chopped at the hilt crosspiece of Conan's sword, which had snagged slightly in the tough mail of the sleeve The crosspiece was no match for Valtresca's keen, expertly teeneral's blade sank into Conan's hand, knocking the blade frorip
Valtresca raised his blade iht at the Ci the thrust, but his blood-slimed feet slipped out from under hileah the air toward his exposed neck Defiantly, he put his arm up in a desperate effort to protect himself
A loud scream sounded in the corridor Valtresca's blade continued its descent toward Conan's neck, but spun wide of its intended target The general's arer attached to Valtresca's body but still gripping the blade Salvorus, severely wounded but finally reaching the battle, had swung his sith bearlike strength, shearing through Valtresca's ain to finish the general off, but his great strength finally failed him, and he slumped heavily to the floor, overcome by his wounds
For a heartbeat, Valtresca's eyeson the floor between the to determine if the other was closer to the weapon
Conan's hand, though cut deeply, bled only a little His dented head throbbed hotly, as if it were a chunk of iron on a sh The Cimmerian felt no pain from these injuries, which would have devastated a lesser warrior