Conan the Barbarian 54

Major Characters

 * Conan (Last appearance in CB-53; next appearance in CB-55).

Minor Characters

 * Murilo, Tara, Yusef, Vanni, Belzamo and Yvonne (Last appearance for all in CB-53; next appearance for all in CB-55).
 * Murilo's soldiers (Many appeared last in CB-53; next appearance for many in CB-55).
 * Mustapho (First and only appearance to date). High priest of the Oracle of Ophir.
 * Renquis (First and only appearance to date). The mad, hunchbacked Oracle of Ophir.

Location

 * Ronnoco.

Time Frame

 * One day.

Synopsis
The Crimson Company has returned to Ronnoco with their prisoner Yvonne just in time to witness the arrival of Yusef, who reports on the shadow creature that decimated their comrades. Murilo sends Conan, Tara and Yusef to an oracle for information on how to defeat the shadow while Belzamo prepares to force Yvonne to marry his son Vanni in order to create an alliance between Ronnoco and Pergona. Conan meets and is forced to kill Mustapho, the oracle's high priest, and, after taking Mustapho's fine sword, comes face to face with the oracle. The living skeleton gives Conan cryptic advice on how to defeat the shadow, and when Conan flees, the hunchback Renquis, who is the true oracle and speaks through the skeleton, emerges from hiding to converse with hiself. As Conan tries to flee the cave, he is stopped by a magical barrier, and realizes that since he slayed the high priest, he has been cursed to become the new high priest. Conan struggles to move forward and break the spell and finally succeeds, only to discover a magical clone of him has been created to guard the oracle, and the clone swiftly attacks him. Conan barely survives the encounter, and only does so by returning the sword to Mustapho's dead hand. The priest returns to life and slays the clone, then turns on Conan and his companions, only to see they are safely out of range. The three companions race back to Ronnoco with their information...

Reprinted

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