Conan the Barbarian 109

Major Characters

 * Conan (Last appearance in CB-108; next appearance in CB-110).

Minor Characters

 * Erfu (Last appearance in CB-108; next appearance in CB-110).
 * Niord and various Aesir (Last appearance in ST-1; next appearance in CB-110).

Locations

 * Shem
 * The grassy plains known as the Sea of Buryat

Time Frame

 * Several hours
 * It has been approximately five years since Conan encountered The Frost-Giant's Daughter.

Synopsis
Traveling through Shem on the way to Argos, Conan and Erfu are ambushed by Shemite tribesmen. Conan takes an arrow to the shoulder and manages to take down a couple of the horse-riders, but they are outnumbered and attempt to hide in the tall grass while Erfu attempts to use magic to frighten the Shemites away. However, he is attacked by an orange mist that begins to choke him until Conan manages to pull him out of the mist. He swings wildly at the mist until it dissipates and they discover the mist has slain the Shemites. Moving along the trail, Conan stops when he hears sounds of movement. He lifts Erfu over the grass and he reports a column of Aesir marching through the fields. Shocked to see northerners so far south, Conan rushes forward only to run into a group of dwarves who seem to have enslaved the Aesir. Although the dwarves attempt to use magic, he kills them and discovers the enslaved Aesir includes Niord, who he patrolled with years ago. Conan wonders how a war-chief like Niord could be captured so easily by dwarves, but Niord says their power isn't in their magic but what they summon, which becomes readily apparent when a thirty-foot angry bear appears.

Reprinted

 * The Chronicles of Conan 14 - Shadow of the Beast and Other Stories