Conan the Barbarian 161

Major Characters

 * Conan (Previous appearance in CB-160; next appearance in CB-162).

Minor Characters

 * Fafnir (Previous appearance in CB-20; next appearance in CB-162).
 * Borg and his friend (First appearance for both; both die in this issue).
 * Sireena and her friend (First appearance for both; Sireena dies in this issue).
 * Unnamed witch (First appearance; dies in this issue).

Locations

 * Border Kingdoms
 * Belglat

Time Frame

 * Two days

Synopsis
Conan is jumped by a gang of thieves in the hamlet Belglat. They get a lucky blow and knock Conan down, about to finish him, when a hooded man appears and beats back the thieves. Conan is shocked to discover it's his old companion Fafnir, who he thought was dead, tossed into the ocean by Yezdigerd years ago. Fafnir explains he kept afloat by staying on top of a bloated, bobbing corpse for two days, and eventually washed to shore. For some time he has searched for a way to replace his missing arm, and has discovered a local witch who he believes can heal him. Conan tags along with his old friend to the witch's hut, but it is protected by living trees who grab the men in their branches. The witch emerges from her hut and releases them, and they enter her home. The witch opens a chest to reveal a large, fur covered arm, which she magically attaches to Fanfir's stump. Fafnir is thrilled and doesn't notice the men in the back rooms who have some sort of bargain with the witch. Soon, the two men encounter slavers chasing some women, and they attack. Fafnir's arm has a mind of its own and chokes one of the slavers to death. The two thankful women make camp with Fafnir and Conan, as the witch and the two men magically spy on them. They demand that she use her control over the arm to kill Conan, but the witch wants one more test, and has a cloud of madness overcome Fafnir as he begins to kill Sireena. Conan attempts, too late, to stop him, and Fafnir savagely attacks his friend. However, Conan manages to keep Fafnir at bay so the witch and the two men teleport to the site and the witches uses her magical glass to blast a beam of power at Conan, knocking him down. Conan throws a rock, which causes the witch to drop the glass and with it her magical control...she crumbles to dust and the arm disappears. One of the men, Borg, attacks Conan in a rage but is stabbed in the back by the other girl in revenge for causing Sireena's death as Conan puts down the other plotter. Fafnir, Conan, and the remaining girl ride away in silence.

Reprinted

 * The Chronicles of Conan 21 - Blood of the Titan and Other Stories