Part 19 (1/2)
”There is no road for hway,” said Xaltotun ”But first we must crush Conan I do not kno he escaped e of what happened while I lay in the slumber of the black lotus is deniedan army It is his last, desperate blow, made possible only by the desperation of the people who have suffered under Valerius Let them rise; I hold theainst us, and then ill crush him once and for all
”Then we shall crush Poitain and Gunderland and the stupid Bossonians
After theara, Koth-all the nations of the world we shall weld into one vast empire You shall rule as s are now I am unconquerable, for the Heart of Ahriain”
Tarascus averted his gaze, lest Xaltotun read his thoughts He knew the wizard had not looked into the golden chest with its carven serpents that had seee as it seemed, Xaltotun did not know that the Heart had been stolen; the strange jeas beyond or outside the ring of his dark wisdom; his uncanny talents did not warn him that the chest was empty Tarascus did not believe that Xaltotun knew the full extent of Orastes' revelations, for the Pythonian had notof a new, earthly empire Tarascus did not believe that Xaltotun was yet quite sure of his power; if they needed his aid in their aic depended, to a certain extent after all, on sword strokes and lance thrusts The king read lance; let the wizard use his arts to help theh then to turn against hiht yet be a way to cheat this dark power they had raised
XXI Drums of Peril ------------------
Confirmation of the war ca,banners and shi+iant figure in black arold upon the breast of his rich silken surcoat Conan lived! The king lived!
There was no doubt of it in men's minds nohether friend or foe
With the news of the invasion fro couriers, that a host of Gunder southward, reinforced by the barons of the northwest and the northern Bossonians Tarascus marched with thirty-one thousand men to Galparan, on the river shi+rki, which the Gundermen must cross to strike at the towns still held by the Nemedians The shi+rki was a swift, turbulent river rushi+ng southard through rocky gorges and canyons, and there were few places where an army could cross at that time of the year, when the strea of the snows All the country east of the shi+rki was in the hands of the Neical to assume that the Gundermen would attempt to cross either at Galparan, or at Tanasul, which lay to the south of Galparan
Reinforcements were daily expected fro hostile demonstrations on Nemedia's southern border, and to spare any more troops would be to expose Nemedia to the risk of an invasion from the south
Amalric and Valeriusas large a garrison as they dared to discourage revolts in the cities during their absence They wished to meet and crush Conan before he could be joined by the rebellious forces of the kingdo and his Poitanians had crossed the mountains, but there had been no actual clash of arms, no attack on towns or fortresses Conan had appeared and disappeared Apparently he had turned ard through the wild, thinly settled hill country, and entered tie Bossonianrecruits as he went Amalric and Valerius with their host, Neades, and ferociousfor a foe which did not appear
Aeneral tidings about Conan'sout and never returning, and it was not uncommon to find a spy crucified to an oak The countryside was up and striking as peasants and country-folk strike-savagely, murderously, and secretly All that Ae force of Gundermen and northern Bossonians was somewhere to the north of him, beyond the shi+rki, and that Conan with a smaller force of Poitanians and southern Bossonians was sorow fearful that if he and Valerius advanced farther into the wild country, Conan ht elude them entirely, march around them and invade the central provinces behind them Amalric fell back from the shi+rki valley and camped in a plain a day's ride from Tanasul
There he waited Tarascus maintained his position at Calparan, for he feared that Conan's maneuvers were intended to draw hido
To Amalric's camp came Xaltotun in his chariot drawn by the uncanny horses that never tired, and he entered Amalric's tent where the baron conferred with Valerius over a map spread on an ivory ca aside
”What your scouts cannot learn for you,” quoth he, ”ely blurred and iainstthe shi+rki river with ten thousand Poitanians, three thousand southern Bossonians, and barons of the west and south with their retainers to the number of five thousand An army of thirty thousand Gunder southward to join him They have established contact by means of secret communications used by the cursed priests of Asura, who see me, and whom I will feed to a serpent when the battle is over-I swear it by Set!
”Both ar at Tanasul, but I do not believe that the Gundermen will cross the river I believe that Conan will cross, instead, and join them”
”Why should Conan cross the river?” dee to delay the battle The longer he waits, the stronger he will become, the more precarious our position
The hills on the other side of the river sith people passionately loyal to his cause-broken itives frodoly and by companies Daily, parties from our armies are arows in the central provinces, and will soon burst into open rebellion The garrisons we left there are not sufficient, and we can hope for no reinforce I see the hand of Pallantides in this brawling on the Ophirean frontier He has kin in Ophir
”If we do not catch and crush Conan quickly the provinces will be in a blaze of revolt behind us We shall have to fall back to Tarantia to defend e have taken; and we h a country in rebellion, with Conan's whole force at our heels, and then stand siege in the city itself, with enemies within as well as without
No, we cannot wait We reat, before the central provinces rise With his head hanging above the gate at Tarantia you will see how quickly the rebellion will fall apart”
”Why do you not put a spell on his army to slay them all?” asked Valerius, half in mockery
Xaltotun stared at the Aquilonian as if he read the full extent of themadness that lurked in those ard eyes