Conan the Barbarian 32

Major Characters

 * Conan (Previous appearance CB-31; next appearance CB-33).

Minor Characters

 * Kassar. (First appearance and only appearance to date). Khitain shepherd.
 * Narim-Bey (First appearance; next appearance CB-36). Commander of the Aghrapur garrison.
 * Amytis (First appearance; next appearance CB-36). Narim-Bey's woman.
 * Tsien Hui (First appearance and only appearance to date). Black marketeer in Wan Tengri.
 * Bourtai (First appearance; seen only in shadow; next appearance CB-33). Begger in Wan Tengri.
 * Unnamed Wizard (First appearance; next appearance CB-33). Member of the ruling Seven Wizards of Wan Tengri.

Location

 * The city of Wan Tengri in Khitai.

Time Frame

 * One day.

Synopsis
Conan, on a mission from Narim-Bey, his commanding officer in Aghrapur, is smuggled into Wan Tegri by a shepherd. The sky above the city is covered in a reddish, harmless flame, and Conan's job is to assess if Wan Tengri is worth King Yildiz's efforts to conquer. Upon his arrival in he city, Conan steals a purse from a passerby, and is surprised that the magical flame wind whispers to him to halt. The wind also tells the guards where Conan is, and soon he is chased by several soldiers. He shakes them and heads to Tsien Hui to cash in the gems he has stolen. Unfortunately, the purse belonged to a wizard, who magically teleports the gems away and replaces them with a viper. Frustrated, Conan kills the viper just as the soldiers find him once again. He escapes into Tsien Hui's harem chamber and lingers a few moments with the women there. A beautiful blonde explains that the only exit is through a secret passage under the pool, and she takes Conan underwater. True to her word, a cavern leads her and Conan out, but while they are under, she reveals her true monstrous form, that of a tentacles sea creature. She entangles Conan and stings him repeatedly with her suckers until he finally frees his sword and slays her. Desperate for air, Conan swims toward a light source and climbs out of a pool elsewhere on the estate. He collpases in pain and exhaustion, not noticing the slouching, shadowed form moving towards him...

Reprinted

 * Conan Saga #70
 * The Chronicles of Conan Volume Five: The Shadow in the Tomb and Other Stories