Conan the Barbarian 8

Major Characters

 * Conan (Last chronological appearance in first story of SSOC-161; next chronological appearance in CB-9).

Minor Characters

 * Burgun (First appearance; next appearance CB-10). Corinthian Captain.
 * Jenna (Previous appearance CB-6; next appearance CB-9).

Location

 * Along the Nemedian/Corinthian border in the lost city Lanjau.

Time Frame

 * One day. This story takes place "two winters" after the Battle of Venarium.

Synopsis
While Conan is being tracked by Corinthian soldiers at the request of Nemedia (because of events in CB-7). All but one of the soldiers is killed by an avalanche, but the remaining soldier, Captain Burgun, a survivor of the Battle of Venarium, is quickly knocked out by Conan, who heads deeper into Corinthia. He finds an abandoned city guarded by a giant gila monster. Conan scrambles up a ruined building and pitches rocks down on the creature until he weaked it enough to plunge his sword into its back. He begins to poke around the city, but is surprised by the reappearance of Burgun. The two decide the treasure of the city, and the possibility of more monsters, is more important than any feud they might have so they explore the city together. They find a vast reasure room stocked high with gold and jewels. As they start to divide the horde, six mummified guardians step from their resting places and attack. The two men flee and the midday sun destroys the undead guardians when they leave the room. But this starts a chain reaction that crumbles the entire city. Conan makes it out, but Burgun seems to be trapped inside the city as it falls. Conan makes his way to a village tavern and encounters Jenna, who he is still mad at regarding her stealing his loot in Shadizar, which she spent to buy the tavern. Conan is less angry with her than he normally would be, since he has a whole new bag of gold to spend, but is chagrined when he finds it has turned to dust. A jade serpent crown he also took has turned into a true serpent, which is actually to Conan's advantage as it distrcats the Corinthian soldiers who have finally caught up with him. Conan and Jenna flee the village on horseback.

Reprinted

 * Conan Classic #8
 * Conan Saga #3
 * Essential Conan
 * The Chronicles of Conan Volume One: Tower of the Elephant and Other Stories