King Conan 8

=Framing Story=

Major Characters

 * Conan (Last appearance in KC-7; next appearance KC-9).
 * Conn (Last appearance in KC-7; next appearance KC-9).

Minor Characters

 * Trocero (Last appearance in KC-7; next appearance ??

Locations

 * On the road to Aquilonia

Time Frame

 * One evening

Synopsis
Trocero finishes his story and Conn vows to live up to the legacy of his father.

=A Queen Reclaimed!=

Major Characters

 * Conan (Last appearance in King Conan #7 Flashback; Next appearance in ??
 * Zenobia (Last appearance in ??; Next appearance in ??

Minor Characters

 * Kang Hsiu (First appearance). Head of Kang clan
 * Lyco of Khoeshemish (First and only appearance to date). Kothian mercdenary
 * Yah-Chieng (Last appearance ??); dies in this issue.

Locations

 * Himelian Mountains
 * Wahuan Desert
 * Khitai
 * Paikang, largest city of Khitai

Time Frame

 * Two weeks

Synopsis
Conan makes his way into the Himelian mountains where he reconnects with the hillmen tribes there. They warn him of snow demons in the mountains, but as circumventing the range would cost him two months time, he determines to go forward. After days of trudging through the snowy mountains, he is attacked by and defeats a snow leopard, but is then set upon by a yeti-like creature that begins to magically dominate him. Conan lashes out blindly and strikes the creature with the Ring of Rakhamon he was given by Pelias, which distracts and harms the creature, and Conan is able to send it over a cliff. Eventually, he passes through the mountains and skirts the southern end of the Wuhuan Desert until he reaches the Great Wall of Khitai, which he traverses and enters that eastern country. He treks through the jungles and comes across a Khitan girl being tied to a tree by soldiers of Yah-Chieng, the wizard Conan believes has kidnapped Zenobia. He kills the soldiers and the giant lizard they intended to sacrifice the girl to, and she leads Conan back to her clan, Kang, and the head, Kang Hsiu. Kang Hsiu explains to Conan how Yah-Chieng has decimated the land and killed his wife, who with her dying words predicted a savior, a king in his own land, would come. Upon learning that Conan is, in fact, a king, he gathers the village elders to form a battle plan, which begins to take shape when Conan learns a small battalion of Turanians have recently been captured and imprisoned. Several days later, disguised as part of a dancing lion costume, Conan makes his way into the palace and releases an old comrade, Lyco, and tells him to release the others and cause havoc. Conan makes his way through the castle, killing a gargoyle and evading traps with the help of his magical Ring of Rakhamon, until he reaches the lair of Yah-Chieng, who is preparing to sacrifice Zenobia. He uses his power of illusion to make Conan believe Zenobia is transformed into a tiger, and in the process Conan loses the ring. This allows Yah-Chieng to bring the full brunt of his magic on Conanm, trapping him in a hallucinatory terrain of blue mists. But Conan finds himself in the domain of Crom himself, who grants Conan the power to shake off the mists and kill Yah-Chieng.

Note

 * Adaptation of Conan the Avenger

Reprinted

 * King Conan Volume Two - Vengeance from the Desert and Other Stories