Conan The Hero Read Online Free PDF Page A

them.
    Just as the acolyte Azhar scuttled back, and the others gathered themselves to spring away, the projectile halted. It now filled most of the window: a brightly ornamented skull, cast or plated in purest silver and lavishly inlaid with crystals and precious stone. Its teeth were chisel-pointed diamonds and its sinister eye-sparks smoldering rubies, while green jade and yellow topaz framed the hard, fleshless planes of its face.
    “Bismillah!” The wizard Ibn Uluthan, giving vent to the oath, left off fumbling in his mortar of black liquid. “That skull is Mojurna’s emblem, his personal fetish, may Tarim wither him! Emperor Yildiz, my deepest apologies!”
    “Hmm… does that mean our enemy is back in control of the sorcerous aether, Mage? And so soon?” Yildiz glanced from window to wizard with an air of mild disappointment.
    The sorcerer hesitated, watching Yildiz. All present knew that the emperor’s disappointment, though understated, could easily prove fatal in one commanding such vast power.
    Azhar the acolyte, who had been yearning to speak, finally dared to anticipate his master. “It is a strong spell, Your Resplendency, cast either by Mojurna or some very formidable apprentice of his, I would say.”
    “Probably the warlock himself,” Ibn Uluthan added, “since he is known to be jealous and unsharing of his powers. The general’s detachment must have failed to kill him.”
    “Damn your insinuations, wizard!” Abolhassan, by contrast with the emperor’s mildness, lashed out suddenly. “There is no reason to assume that my troops failed; anyway, is your power so feeble that a toothless old witch-man scattering parched herbs and moth-wings can overmaster you anytime it doesn’t happen to slip his doddering mind?”
    “You speak too hastily, General!” Ibn Uluthan, still standing by his podium, glanced apologetically over his shoulder at the garish skullface. “Remember, the Gulf of Tarqheba is far, far south of Aghrapur. Our mystical powers are rooted here, in our people’s faith in the god Tarim, the holy temples and imperial relics we worship, even in the sacred stones of this palace. Those powers are vast, but not absolute. Each mile further from Turan, across the Colchian Mountains and into the southern jungles, our own power weakens and our enemy’s grows stronger!”
    “Fah, lame excuses!” The general shot a self-righteous glance at Yildiz, then turned again to upbraid the sorcerer. “You have been given all the wealth and authority you requested, Ibn Uluthan… and more, against the counsel of some of us. That should enable you to do your part! Are you saying that the mightiest empire in the world cannot impose its mystic will on a band of jungle savages and ignorant rice-puddlers?”
    “General Abolhassan.” Yildiz’s voice, soft but resonant, restrained the warrior. “It ill befits you to be so wroth when I, your emperor, am not. Surely we are well on our way to victory in Venjipur in any case? All my counselors have assured me of this, including you.” The emperor nodded at the seer, then turned toward the door. “When I see fit to administer a rebuke to Ibn Uluthan, I will do so. Meanwhile, I hope that he will continue his most able efforts.”
    “Certainly, Your Resplendency!” Scowling, the general nodded curtly at the sorcerer, then turned to follow Yildiz and his guard to the inner passage. Azhar and Ibn Uluthan watched them depart. As they left, their backs were lit by the window’s surreal glow and the jeweled skull’s eerie, radiant smile.
     

Chapter 3
Fort Sikander
    As the tropic sun climbed higher its hot weight increased; the ruthless orb mounted the sky like the sweaty bulk of a wrestler, slowly strangling his opponent and forcing him down to the hot, dry earth.
    Since his arrival in Venjipur, Conan had often wondered at the sharpness of the contrast between steaming jungle miasmas and the parched heat of the compounds. Here, where the invaders had