Conan the Barbarian 56

Major Characters

 * Conan (Last appearance in CB-55; next appearance in CB-57).

Minor Characters

 * Tara and Yusef (Last appearance in CB-55; next appearance in CB-57).
 * Mad Jakk (First and only appearance to date). Deformed sorceror.

Location

 * On the road between Ophir and Messentia.

Time Frame

 * One day.

Synopsis
Conan and his allies encounter a shining city in the middle of nowhere, one that is not on any maps and none had ever heard of before. The inhabitants of the city, all male, observe the trio with mild disinterest. Suddenly, a woman appears, and just as suddenly, a bat creature flies from the sky to grab the woman and take her to a high tower. Conan, furious that the men of the city ignore the kidnapped woman's screams, heads to the tower with Tara and Yusef. Inside the tower, they split up and take two different passages. Tara and Yusef encounter a deformed man, Mad Jakk, chained to a chair, and he begs them to release him. Conan finds the bat creature and the woman, and as he battles the creature, every blow he makes seems to have repercussions on the city itself. Conan finally defeats the monster, and notices that the woman has vanished, and that the tower is crumbling around him. He meets up with Tara and Yusef, and they flee the city as it dissolves. Tara and YUSef explains that Mad Jakk had magically created the city eons ago, in order to find a life away from the stares and insults of society. But the city developed a life of its own, and vanished from reality, appearing only to entrap lone warriors who it lured with the bat creature and woman. When one was defeated by the creature, he was cursed to become an inhabitant of the city. Conan's defeat of the city caused the foundations to crumbled, and the freed Mad Jakk finished the job,losing his own life in the process. The companions contine their journey...

Reprinted

 * Conan Saga 84
 * The Chronicles of Conan Volume Eight: Brothers of the Blade and Other Stories