Chapter 8. Conajohara No More
There had been fighting on Thunder River; fierce fighting before the walls of Velitrium; ax and torch had been plied up and down the bank, and many a settler's cabin lay in ashes before the painted horde was rolled back.
A strange quiet followed the storm, in which people gathered and talked in hushed voices, and women with red-stained bandages drank their ale silently in the taverns along the river bank.
There, to Conyn the Cimmerian, moodily quaffing from a great wine-glass, came a gaunt forester with a bandage about her head and her arm in a sling. She was the one survivor of Fort Tuscelan.
"You went with the soldiers to the ruins of the fort?"
Conyn nodded.
"I wasn't able," murmured the other. "There was no fighting?"
"The Picts had fallen back across Black River. Something must have broken their nerve, though only the devil who made them knows what."
The woodsman glanced at her bandaged arm and sighed.
"They say there were no bodies worth disposing of."
Conyn shook her head. "Ashes. The Picts had piled them in the fort and set fire to the fort before they crossed the river. Their own dead and the women of Valannus."
"Valannus was killed among the last--in the hand-to-hand fighting when they broke the barriers. They tried to take her alive, but she made them kill her. They took ten of the rest of us prisoners when we were so weak from fighting we could fight no more. They butchered nine of us then and there. It was when Zogara Sag died that I got my chance to break free and run for it."
"Zogara Sag's dead?" ejaculated Conyn.
"Aye. I saw her die That's why the Picts didn't press the fight against Velitrium as fiercely as they did against the fort. It was strange. She took no wounds in battle. She was dancing among the slain, waving an ax with which she'd just brained the last of my comrades. She came at me, howling like a wolf--and then she staggered and dropped the ax, and began to reel in a circle screaming as I never heard a woman or beast scream before. She fell between me and the fire they'd built to roast me, gagging and frothing at the mouth, and all at once she went rigid and the Picts shouted that she was dead. It was during the confusion that I slipped my cords and ran for the woods.
"I saw her lying in the firelight. No weapon had touched her. Yet there were red marks like the wounds of a sword in the groin, belly, and neck--the last as if her head had been almost severed from her body. What do you make of that?"
Conyn made no reply, and the forester, aware of the reticence of barbarians on certain matters, continued: "She lived by magic, and somehow, she died by magic. It was the mystery of her death that took the heart out of the Picts. Not a woman who saw it was in the fighting before Velitrium. They hurried back across Black River. Those that struck Thunder River were warriors who had come on before Zogara Sag died. They were not enough to take the city by themselves.
"I came along the road, behind their main force, and I know none followed me from the fort. I sneaked through their lines and got into the town. You brought the settlers through all right, but their men and children got into Velitrium just ahead of those painted devils. If the youth Balthusa and old Slasher hadn't held them up awhile, they'd have butchered every man and child in Conajohara. I passed the place where Balthusa and the dog made their last stand. They were lying amid a heap of dead Picts--I counted seven, brained by her ax, or disemboweled by the dog's fangs, and there were others in the road with arrows sticking in them. Gods, what a fight that must have been!"
"She was a woman," said Conyn. "I drink to her shade, and to the shade of the dog, who knew no fear." She quaffed part of the wine, then emptied the rest upon the floor, with a curious heathen gesture, and smashed the goblet. "The heads of ten Picts shall pay for hers, and seven heads for the dog, who was a better warrior than many a woman."
And the forester, staring into the moody, smoldering blue eyes, knew the barbaric oath would be kept.
"They'll not rebuild the fort?"
"No; Conajohara is lost to Aquilonia. The frontier has been pushed back. Thunder River will be the new border."
The woodsman sighed and stared at her calloused hand, worn from contact with ax-haft and sword-hilt. Conyn reached her long arm for the wine-jug. The forester stared at her, comparing her with the women about them, the women who had died along the lost river, comparing her with those other wild women over that river. Conyn did not seem aware of her gaze.
"Barbarism is the natural state of mankind," the borderer said, still staring somberly at the Cimmerian. "Civilization is unnatural. It is a whim of circumstance. And barbarism must always ultimately triumph."
THE END
Artwork by Roberto Rizzato
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Also by Jekkara press
The Adventures of Bulays and Ghaavn currently include:
01 Blood Demons of Titan - Tara Loughead
The warriors Bulays and Ghaavn hunt demons and their master through the dim and dusty streets of Barnes, on Titan. Can they stop him before he completes a devastating ritual?
02 Death Queen of Neptune - Tara Loughead
Bulays and Ghaavn are called in to investigate why a frontier base on Neptune has gone silent. Ice monsters and an ancient, beautiful evil await.
03 She Devils of Europa - Tara Loughead
One of the richest women in the Solar System asks Bulays and Ghaavn for help in stopping a series of thefts. There is a mystery to solve at the most
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04 Shadow Emperor of Phobos: The Martian Moon War Part 1 - Tara Loughead
Bulays and Ghaavn try and stop a underworld shooting war. First they must get past a Martian Shadowcat, employ surprising combat techniques, and try and reason with Ghaavn's criminal mentor.
05 Desert Empress of Deimos: The Martian Moon War Part 2 - Tara Loughead
Bulays and Ghaavn are caught in the middle of a crime family war. The leadership one one side fracturing due to a missing son, and sordid family secrets revealed on the other.
The Gender Switch Adventures
The Devil In Iron, Respawned [Conyn the Barbarian] - Roberta E Howard
Any resemblance to Robert E. Howard's Conan is completely intentional. A resurrected demon menaces Conyn on an island fortress, along with other monsters.
The Pool of the Black One, Reswum [Conyn the Barbarian] - Roberta E Howard
Any resemblance to Robert E. Howard's Conan is completely intentional. Conyn, a pirate, puts herself in charge and investigates a strange island with mystic waters.
Jewels of Gwahlur, Reboxed [Conyn the Barbarian] - Roberta E. Howard
Any resemblance to Robert E. Howard's Conan is completely intentional. Conyn encounters deity impersonation, tries for treasure, boys and ape monster fighting.
Queen of the Black Coast, Recrowned [Conyn the Barbarian] - Roberta E. Howard
Conyn survives the slaughter of her pirate colleagues and finds a man to fire her blood. Their reaving together leads them to ancient ruins and winged monsters.
Red Nails, Polished [Conyn the Barbarian] - Roberta E. Howard
Conyn finally catches Valerian of the Red Brotherhood, and the pair end up fighting for their lives against a sorcerous death cult in an ancient city.
Beyond the Black River, Recrossed [Conyn the Barbarian] by Roberta E. Howard
Conyn signs up as a scout in Pictish territory, and gets involved with his partner in a border war against the wizard Zogara Sag and her cult of followers.
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A very short horror story about a very different restaurant.
Coming Soon
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06 Heart Breakers of Hyperion – Tara Loughead
The Gender Switch Adventures
Queen of the Martian Catacombs, Recrowned (Erica Joan Stark) - Lee Brackett
Black Male Amazon of Mars (Erica Joan Stark) - Lee Brackett
Song In A Minor Key, Retuned (Norawest Smith) - Cathan L. Moore
The Tree of Life, Revisited (Norawest Smith) - Cathan L. Moore
The Valor of Cappea Verra, Recapped (Cappea Verra) - Poula Anderson
Beyond the Black River Again Page 8