Savage Sword of Conan 93

=The World Beyond the Mists!=

Writer: Michael Fleisher

Art: Val Mayerik

Major Characters

 * Conan (Previous chronological appearance in SSOC-84; next chronological appearance in CB-5).

Minor Characters

 * Vatessa (First and only appearance to date). Aquilorian slave girl.
 * Zenoria (First appearance; next appearance in first story of SSOC-104). Queen of Aquiloria.
 * Konar (First appearance; next appearance in first story of SSOC-104). Conan lookalike and ruler of alterante reality country of Aquiloria.
 * Count Galen (First and only appearance to date). Aquilorian count.
 * Derben (First appearance; dies in this issue). One of Galen's henchmen.
 * Alyessa (First and only appearance to date). Aquilorian servant girl.
 * The Brotherhood of the Falcon (Previous appearance SSOC-84; next appearance in first story of SSOC-104).

Location

 * Shadizar and the alternate reality country Aquiloria.

Time Frame

 * A week.

Synopsis
In Shadizar, the Brotherhood of the Falcon pay homage to three of their number felled by Conan. They also pledge to destroy the barbarian, who secretly watches the whole ceremony. He is soon discovered, though, and escapes by setting fire to the castle, managing only to steal one of the gems he was after. He runs his horse out into the desert, but a freak eclipse opens a vortex between Conan's world and another, and he suddenly finds himself under the light of three blazing suns. Conan investigates a scream from over a ridge and finds a pack of ghouls attacking a woman. The monsters are no match for the Cimmerian, but the girl, Vateesa, acts oddly when she sees Conan close up, calling him Sire. She takes him to a nearby palace where he is greeted as Konar by a woman, Zenoria, who claims to be his wife. Conan decides to roll with it and soon is bathed and spoiled by the palace staff. Meanwhile, a palace servant runs to the nearby Count Galen to reveal that the king is alive, much to Galen's chagrin, because he thought his agent Derben had sealed the king in a cave. One of Galen's men floats the possibility the returned king is an imposter. Back at the palace, Zenoria, still believing Conan is her missing husband Konar, explains that the ghouls have become more and more brazen since Konar vanished. The discussion is interrupted by a servant who tells them Count Galen is claiming the king is an imposter and has raised a challenge. Conan brazenly accepts the challenge, which will be a duel with Galen's champion, a giant named Yargak, who lasts nearly two minutes in mortal combat with the displaced barbarian. To everyone's surprise, Conan walks off with Zenoria, leaving the count's head attached to his body. This is enough to tell Zenoria that the man she believes is her ruthless, cruel husband is not, in fact, truly him, which doesn't bother her much in the King's bed that night. Galen, however, will not let the matter lie and sends his men to the cave where Konar was sealed. They open the cave and are promptly slaughtered by an enraged king. Back at the palace, Conan is finding kingly duties a bit of a boor, but is intrigued by Alyessa, a beautiful woman Konar apparantly had a thing for. He is desperate, however, for something more than arbitration, so he decides to hunt ghouls, and leaves the town just as Konar, having discovered that he has apparantly already returned, sneaks In. Back in Conan's world, the Brotherhood of the Falcon accidentally falls into the same portal the barbarian did and arrives in the alternate world. Konar tracks down Alyessa, explains the situtaion, and begins to take back his throne. When Conan returns victorious from a campaign against the D'rrg ghouls he finds himself thrown in irons. He is released, however, by Zenoria, and winds up in combat with his evil doppleganger. A lengthy battle ends when Conan realizes Konar may be his better, and he doesn't really want to stay in this world anyway. He flees on horseback to where he entered the world. Konar pursues with his men, only to run into an ambush by the Brotherhood of the Falcon, who believe Konar to be the barbarian they are after. In the midst of battle, Conan enters the portal and his world as Konar, after defeating the Brotherhood, vows to find the imposter someday.