Conan the Barbarian 68

Major Characters

 * Conan (Last appearance in MF-7; appears next in CB-69).
 * Belit (Last appearance in MF-7; appears next in CB-69).
 * Red Sonja (Last appearance in MF-7; appears next in ??).
 * King Kull (Last chronological appearance in ??; chronological next appearance next in ??)
 * Thoth-Amon (Last chronological appearance in CB-7; chronological next appearance next in CB-74).

Minor Characters

 * Karanthes (Last appearance in MF-7; appears next in ??).
 * Brule (Last chronological appearance in ??; chronological next appearance next in ??).
 * Members of the Black Legion of Valusia (Last chronological appearance in ??; chronological next appearance next in ??); Bulgar and Dalzan are named.
 * The Hooded Priest (Last appearance in MF-7; dies in this issue).

Location

 * The deserts outside Messentia and the palace of Valusia.

Time Frame

 * Several hours.

Synopsis
The transformed priest is attacked by Conan and Sonja, but their weapons pass right through its magical body. It grabs the page from the Book of Skelos from Karanthes and flies away. Karanthes gives Conan a fire-red jewel to aid in the pursuit of the bat-creature, and Conan and Sonja give chase. Outside the temple, they meet up with Belit, who, after sniping a bit with Sonja, joins them on the chase. The creatures flies towards a palace in the middle of the desert, and the companions are aproached by guards who reveal themselves to be time-lost members of King Kull's court. Upon meeting the king, Kull is goaded to attack Conan by his Pict advisor, Gonar. The battle rages for some time, both men nearly equal, until Conan realizes that Kull is missing a magical jewel from his crown, which turns out the be the fire-red gem given to him by Karanthes. Upon replacing the jewel in the crown, a spell disguising the Hooded Priest as Gonar falls, and the priest reveals himself to be an agent of Thoth-Amon, whose visage appears to express his disappointment in his minion's failed plan. Conan kills the priest as he attempts to transform into the bar creature again, and the palace and Valusians disappear into the past. The three companions return to Karanthes for their pay, and part as friends with Belit realizing that Sonja isn't interested in Conan's love.

Reprinted

 * Conan Saga 86