Conan the Barbarian 180

Major Characters

 * Conan (Previous appearance in CB-179; next appearance in CB-181).

Minor Characters

 * Keiv (Previous appearance in CB-179; next appearance in CB-181).
 * Tetra (Previous appearance in CB-178; next appearance in CB-181).
 * Imhotep (Previous appearance in CB-179; next appearance in CB-182?.
 * Soto (First appearance; dies in this issue). Kothian general
 * Renrulitanit (First appearance; next appearance in ??). Queen of the Witches

Locations

 * Koth
 * The Great Forest near the Shemite border

Time Frame

 * One day

Synopsis
The demon Imhotep sits upon his steed on a mountain overlooking the Great Forest where he knows Conan is. Deep within, Conan and Keiv try to get their bearings in the dense canopy when Keiv suddenly vanished and Conan is discovered by a troop of Kothian soldiers who attack before the recognize Conan's uniform signifying a high ranking Shemite warlord, their allies. They bring him to their camp where their general Soto trades information with Conan. He warns Conan of the witch queen Ren and her daughters, active on this nocturnal equinox, and Conan tells him of Imhotep. Soto thinks it likely the witches have taken Keiv, and Conan leaves to find him. He encounters a witch and is taken deep into the swamp to meet Ren, queen of the witches, who admits to having taken Keiv. She will return him to Conan if Conan returns with the head of Soto. She also wonders if Conan is allied with flame headed girl who roams the swamp, which Conan knows nothing of. Conan returns to Soto and creates a fake head (a spiked mace top wrapped in a bloodied cloak) to take to the witch. When he comes back to the witch, she shows where she is holding Keiv - stuck to a rock submerged in the swamp. The witch looks in the cloak, realizing that Conan deceived her, and turns into a trollish monstrosity, vowing to kill Conan, who promptly whacks her in the face with the mace, then pulls her under the water to drown her and cut off her head. When he emerges, victorious, he faces the witch's daughters who prepare to attack, but Soto's men emerge from the forest to run the women off. Conan yells at Soto to leave the forest immediately, as Imhotep is on his way, but is to late as the demon and his forces darken the sky. Conan lunges for Keiv to share with him the amulet's protection, but Soto and his men are slain. Fed and full of power, Imhotep begins to fly away but suddenly the power leaves him entirely, and he and his forces plummet towards the earth, all perishing except Imhotep who realizes that he must have the amulet to be free. Tetra approaches an unconscious Conan and Keiv, the only things alive for miles, including plants and animals, and picks up the witch's head, who awakens and begins cursing her. Tetra wraps the head in a cloth and assumes command of the witch's daughters as the new Witch Queen of Shem.

Reprinted

 * The Chronicles of Conan 23 - Well of Souls and Other Stories