Conan the Barbarian 141

Major Characters

 * Conan (Previous appearance in CB-140; next appearance in CB-142).

Minor Characters

 * Captain Lupos Davalte (Previous appearance in CB-140; dies in this issue).
 * Fhrank (Previous appearance in CB-140; dies in this issue).
 * Theta (Previous appearance in CB-140; next appearance in CB-142).
 * Reimos (First and only appearance to date).

Locations

 * Border Kingdom
 * Shikri River

Time Frame

 * A few hours

Synopsis
The spiders attack and kill most of the crew, though Conan, an injured Fhrank, Theta, and a mad captain Davalte survive. Davalte runs off screaming that Reimos is behind this, and when Conan asks what he means, Theta and Fhrank explain that Reimos was Theta's father, and the pirate crew kidnapped him and all his daughters in the city of Vargas, torturing and throwing the Reimos into the ocean and selling his daughters for slaves. Conan, Theta, and Fhrank follow Davalte's trail to a castle covered in spider webs and cautiously enter. They find the captain's corpse in a cocoon watched over by Reimos, who has been driven mad by allegiance to black gods like Cthulu and now commands the spiders. He sends the spiders after the group, but Conan manages to snatch Davalte's pouch of gems and light the webs on fire. They flee back to the ship but are pursued by the risen undead crew members who follow them on board. Fhrank and Theta hide in the cabin as Conan deals with the zombies, but to his horror when he cuts one down spiders pour from the wound. Meanwhile, Fhrank has succumbed to his injuries and died, rising again to strangle Theta. Conan enters the cabin and bars the door, and cuts down Fhrank. A giant spider emerges from Fhrank's body and shoots a web at Conan's face, blinding him. Theta tells Conan when and where to strike and he kills the beast. When he peeks out the door he sees thousands upon thousands of spiders crawling on the boat, trapping them in the cabin. He covers them both in cloaks, which he then lights on fire, becoming living torches as they rush onto the deck and dive into the ocean. They climb into the small skiff as the rest of the boat goes down in flames, taking the spiders with it, and they begin the journey to Vargas in order to rescue Theta's enslaved sisters.

Reprinted

 * The Chronicles of Conan 18 - Isle of the Dead and Other Stories