Conan and the Manhunters

by John Maddox Roberts

  The viceroy's face went scarlet; then he seemed to deflate, like the toad Sagobal had named him. 'You are right, my friend. The king's treasury officers are on their way hither and we must now help one another to escape the royal wrath. Find the treasure, and all will be well with the throne.'

  Sagobal smiled and bowed. 'As you say, my commander.' He turned and walked away, knowing that now he was the master here.

  In the Temple of Ahriman, the priests met in solemn conclave. Standing around the hideous altar were Tragthan. Shosq and Nikas, the latter's near-halved body now almost healed by their magical arts and the nearness of his god. The priest Umos was still embedded in the wall of the crypt, horridly alive and sentient, in a state best described as half-digested.

  'All is in turmoil,' Tragthan told -the others. 'Not only does our dread lord arrive untimely, but I sense a great power of hostile force drawing nigh, like a vast army come to besiege a city.'

  'I have felt this as well,' said Shosq. 'What can it portend? Have the enemy gods sensed the return of our lord? Do they come hither to keep him from coming into this world?'

  'It is not a gathering of such power as that,' said Nikas. 'As I lay near death, I was vouchsafed visions, and in these visions. I beheld many flames, flames of many colours, and some of them had the aspect of darkness burning, and these flames were drawing close to this place.'

  'Priests of the gods who are our lord's enemies?' Shosq asked him.

  'Nay, I think these to be the wizards, the mages and sorcerers of this age.'

  'Wizards!' Shosq exclaimed with a humourless laugh. 'The petty practitioners of sorcery in this age have no such power! Even the great ones of past ages could not contend with a god!'

  'The sorcerers of ancient Stygia could,' Tragthan intoned. 'The wizard-kings drove our lord from this plane and kept him away for untold ages.'

  'They had the aid of Set,' said Shosq. 'The sacrifices they made to gain that power were almost beyond belief. No mage of this era has such power.'

  'But so many together, with our lord so weakened...' Tragthan paused. 'We must do something about this.'

  'What action should we take?' Nikas asked.

  'First, we must search.' Tragthan told them. They all looked down and contemplated the nest of serpents that was the altar of Ahriman. Slowly, beneath the bloody light

  streaming in so unnaturally through the windows overhead, the serpents began to writhe.

  Sagobal sat brooding in his quarters, gnawing at his moustache. Things had been quiet for too long. This matter should have been settled to his satisfaction long before now. Could it be possible that a half-savage northern barbarian had outwitted him? Impossible! Accident and unforeseen circumstances must have taken a hand. From outside his door, the butt of a spear beat three times upon the floor.

  'Enter,' Sagobal said. The door opened and the guardsman stepped through.

  'A man has come to crave audience with you, sir. He said to show you this.' The guard handed him a small, folded sheet of paper. Sagobal opened it and studied the single sigil it bore.

  'Show him in, and then leave us.'

  The guard left. A few minutes later, a man in a hooded robe entered the chambers. The door closed behind him and he pushed the cowl back. The face thus exposed was that of Osman the Shangaran. He bowed ceremoniously.

  'I greet you, most valorous Commander Sagobal.'

  Sagobal glared at him. 'What has taken you so long, villain?' he asked coldly.' You should have reported to me many days ago... unless you truly do not know that which I must know. If that is the case, your death will be dreadful.'

  Osman's face took on a look of mock-hurt. 'I am shocked that you should speak to me so, to poor Osman, who has borne such hardship and degradation in your loyal service.' His eye lit upon the pitcher standing upon Sagobal's table. 'Who, indeed, has grown most shockingly thirsty in his loyalty to you.'

  'Go ahead,' Sagobal said, fuming. Osman filled a goblet, drank deep and smacked his lips.

  'Ah, my lord, you would not credit the terrible swill your poor servant has had to choke down these many days past.'

  'You would not credit how unpleasant my dungeons can be, when you occupy a cell as a true prisoner rather than as a ruse.'

  'No need to be threatening,' Osman protested. 'Has not all fallen out as planned? Have I not fulfilled all my instructions as charged?'

  'With one exception,' Sagobal said, his voice dangerously silky. 'The bandits and the treasure have eluded me. Where are they?'

  Osman went to a chair and seated himself. 'You do not ask me, Sagobal.'

  The guard commander's eyes went wide with amazement. 'Wherefore should I trust you, villain?'

  'Nonetheless, you assured me that I would have free rein to bring matters to a satisfactory conclusion, that I was to be allowed to operate free from interference.' The small man leaned forward and spoke intently. 'And yet I have learned that you hired foreign man-hunters to comb the district for me and my erstwhile companions.'

  'I conduct my affairs as I see fit,' Sagobal said. 'You are a hireling. Do not presume to comment upon my arrangements.'

  'You had done better had you trusted me. By now, Conan knows about your jackals and he may be taking further precautions. Ere now, he thought that time was all he needed, that before much longer, you and Torgut Khan would be dragged away in chains for punishment, leaving him free to make off with the treasure. Now he is alerted, and he is a man who has his own way of dealing with things.'

  'My patience is—' Sagobal stopped speaking when the spear-butt struck the floor without the door three times. Once again the guard opened the door, this time to only lean in.

  'The Aquilonian is here, Commander.'

  'Send him in,' Sagobal instructed.

  The hulking man entered, the spiked plates covering the backs of his hands scraping the door frame as he passed through. He flexed his fingers slightly and the leather straps encasing his forearms creaked. His blue eyes took in Osman with a cool, idle glance.

  'Your little dog has returned, I see,' said Berytus.

  'Somewhat in advance of his big jackal,' Osman said. 'You have never seen me from so close. How did you know me?'

  Berytus smiled contemptuously. 'You think I need to see you in a golden turban to know you? Once I have a look at a man, from however far away, I will know him at midnight in the bottom of a pit.'

  'That arrow came damnably close,' Osman complained.

  'Bahdur does not make mistakes with His bow. I would have told him to nick your ear, but I feared you would faint with terror and ruin my employer's plan.'

  'What have you to report?' Sagobal broke in.

  'There is -civil war across the Iranistan border,' Berytus said, 'and the Cimmerian is mixed up in it. That rogue makes himself known wherever he goes. But he and his men had no treasure when they crossed the border, nor had they any when they came back.'

  'I could have told you all that, my lord,' said Osman. 'You did not need this foreign brute.'

  'But I feel much better hearing these things from two sources,' said Sagobal.

  'Some four or five of the bandits stopped not far from here in a tin-mining village—' Berytus began.

  'I know the place,' Sagobal interrupted. 'Was the Cimmerian with them? Or the wizard?'

  'Nay. That was how they were able to escape suspicion, for all were asking about the big Cimmerian and the mage. Then, a few days later, three more crossed the river, right after a fight on the southern side between a party of royal troops and a band of insurgents. The three were mounted on your horses. We tracked them back to the mining town.' He jerked a thumb toward Osman. 'He was with them, ere they fled again.'

  'Aye,' said Osman. 'With Conan gone and the others

  drunk, saw my opportunity to make my escape and report to you, my lord.'

  'Was the Cimmerian among the three who rode from Iranistan?' Sagobal demanded.

  'Aye,' Berytus affirmed. 'It was he, and the sorcerer, and a woman.'
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br />   'Woman?' Sagobal said. 'We saw a woman when they made their way from the temple, but I had thought her a hostage.'

  'She is the wizard's daughter, Commander,' said Osman.

  Sagobal snorted through his predatory, beak-like nose. 'This is a strange band to have running loose in my territory!'

  'There are only four bandits now, besides Conan,' Berytus pointed out. 'And the wizard and his daughter. Seven against my band portend favourable odds.'

  'Conan is more than one man in a fight,' Osman pointed out.

  'Who cares that there be seven or seven hundred?' said Sagobal. 'What matters is the location of the treasure. Osman, can you tell me that?'

  'Aye, my lord, I can,' the Shangaran said languidly.

  Sagobal leaned forward across the table, his fingers laced before him. 'Then tell me swiftly, else I will have Berytus begin cropping your fingers until you have yielded all your knowledge to me.'

  'But of course. It is no great mystery, after all. I am surprised you have not deduced it already.'

  'Speak!' Sagobal barked.

  'The treasure is in the house of the wizard Volvolicus.'

  Sagobal raised his face and glared at Berytus. 'Heard you that, dog? Yet you claimed that it was not there!'

  Osman turned and looked up at the Aquilonian who towered above him. 'Say you so, Commander? Allow me to guess what happened. This hulking brute and his minions went to the wizard's house and tiptoed daintily to his door. Then they were frightened by the spectres he left behind to

  scare off fearful, superstitious tribesmen. Did he say to you that he had searched the house?'

  'Nay,' said Sagobal, 'he did not claim even that.'

  Berytus grasped Osman by the neck and lifted him bodily from his chair as he drew a broad, curved knife from his belt. He laid the razor-edge beneath the Shangaran's nose.

  'I can occupy a pleasant hour just whittling a man's nose away,' he said, almost crooning. 'And a noseless man can make his living as a beggar, claiming he lost the appendage to some loathsome disease. True, it makes life difficult for him if he has been in the habit of seducing women to support himself in comfort.'

  'Master!' Osman squawked. 'Would you let this evil man mistreat your servant thus?'

  'Silence, both of you!' Sagobal ordered. 'Osman, are you certain of this? Have you seen it with your own eyes?'

  Berytus slowly lowered Osman into his chair, and the smaller man massaged his neck, which bore the marks of the Aquilonian's thick fingers.

  'Well, Master, I have not actually seen it, so to speak, since it went soaring away so majestically from the temple.'

  'I'd have sheared your head from your bony shoulders had you claimed so,' said Berytus. 'For I know that none of you have been to the mage's house since you fled Shahpur.'

  'Peace, Berytus,' said Sagobal. 'Go on, Osman.'

  'But I have keen ears, and in the nights I have heard the Cimmerian and the mage plotting. From the first, they planned to send the treasure to the wizard's house, but none of the other bandits were to know this. They believed that the treasure was to go to their hideout in the hills at the edge of the desert, and they stole many camels, taking them to their hideout to await the arrival of the treasure, so that each man could load his share upon one of the beasts and go where he wished.

  'But when we got there, the camels were gone! The Cimmerian and the wizard pretended to be surprised, though in truth, Volvolicus had used his magical arts to guide the villagers to their stolen animals. They assured the men that the treasure had been transported to a nearby cave, and that we would return to fetch it with more beasts after the pursuit had died down.'

  'And those outlaws believed this?' Berytus said sceptically, 'Without being taken to this cave to behold the treasure for themselves?'

  'Naturally, there was some murmuring,' Osman said. 'But the wizard claimed that pursuit was close behind us. We even saw the plume of dust rising above the nearby hills, coming our way. We could even hear the sound of hooves and the clink of arms.' Osman shrugged and spread his hands. 'Of course, I now realize that it was but another of the wizard's illusions, but at the time, I was convinced. Conan urged upon us that we must flee forthwith into Iranistan, and not return until Torgut Khan was replaced with another viceroy and yourself executed. Then, while the new officers were still learning their territory, we would have opportunity to return and bear away our loot. We were confused and afraid, so we took his words to heart and fled.'

  'I would not have credited that crude barbarian with such cleverness,' Sagobal said.

  'He is not as simple as he sometimes seems,' said Osman. 'He has travelled widely and served in many armies. And he has the wizard to advise him. Doubtless it was Volvolicus who suggested to him that there was no need to split the treasure with his confederates. And I dare say the plot would have worked, except for two factors unknown to them: There was civil war in Iranistan, and you had an agent in their midst. I think I can flatter myself that they never suspected me.'

  'I think this one lies, Commander,' Berytus said, his cold gaze steady upon the Shangaran. 'He has the tongue of a serpent. I still do not believe the mage would have fled with them if the treasure were in his own house.'

  'But the outlaws would have it no other way,' Osman protested. 'They said that all must stay together until the share-out.'

  'You said yourself that they would think thus, Berytus,' Sagobal pointed out.

  'Why then did the Cimmerian and the magician not kill the others?' Berytus asked.

  'You will notice that there are far fewer of the bandits now than when they rode into Shahpur,' Osman observed. 'Their numbers were halved in the fighting here in the city, then halved again in the fighting and fleeing since. They will have no trouble taking care of the rest. Probably the mage intends to do away with Conan, unless his daughter fancies the barbarian too warmly.'

  'Then we must strike at the wizard's house,' Sagobal said.

  'I do not like this, Commander,' Berytus protested.

  Sagobal regarded him contemptuously. 'Are you just a hunter, then? Have you no stomach for a fight?'

  'I do not fear the Cimmerian or his friends,' said the Aquilonian. 'I would welcome a tussle with them. But the wizard is powerful, that I saw for myself. His wards are no mere illusions, whatever this wretched parasite claims.'

  'Perhaps there is a way out of this quandary,' Osman put in smoothly.

  'If so, I fain would hear it,' Sagobal said, 'even from a source so polluted.'

  'To combat magic,' Osman pointed out, 'the best weapon is greater magic, is that not so?'

  'Aye, it is,' the commander answered. 'But this Volvolicus is the only wizard of any power to be found in this district. I have none to call upon.'

  'Not so, Master,' said Osman.

  'What do you mean?'

  'You must go and solicit the aid of the priests of Ahriman, in the new temple.'

  Sagobal stared at him as if he suspected the man's sanity. 'What? Those wretched mountebanks of an unclean god? Away with you! In the first place, they were helpless to prevent the violation of their crypt. In the second, upon the day

  of the raid, I hewed down one of them, the purple-faced priest called Nikas.'

  'And yet I heard Volvolicus tell his daughter that he had a great dread of these priests. When he was in the crypt, working his spell to raise the treasure deposited therein, he understood that these are not the mere parasitic priests of a filthy deity, but sorcerers of great might. They will be furious over the profanation of their temple, burning for revenge. They might well lend a sympathetic ear to your request for aid. In their lust to destroy Volvolicus, they just may be willing to overlook your understandable fit of temper.'

  'I do not like this, Chief,' said Berytus. 'Do not listen to him.'

  Sagobal jabbed an accusing finger at the Aquilonian. 'Be still. You do not stand high in my favour just now. You have done little more thus far than keep track of the movements of these wretched outlaws, while Os
man has infiltrated their ranks. If he is right, you were wholly mistaken in dismissing the wizard's house as the most likely hiding place of the treasure.'

  'I still hold that I am right, and even if these priests give you aid, it would put you in their debt, and I've no doubt but that they have unpleasant means of extracting recompense.'

  'Allow me to worry about that,' Sagobal said. He rose and began to belt on his weapons. 'Come, both of you. We shall make a call upon the Temple of Ahriman.'

  Osman smiling, Berytus grumbling, the three left the chambers of the commander and walked through the nighted streets of Shahpur to the great temple. As they crossed the square, flooded with the- light of the moon that seemed to be impaled upon the spire of an ancient tower, they were watched by evaluating eyes.

  Atop the steps, they found the iron grate lowered. Berytus hammered upon it with the spiked knuckles of his half-gauntlet. The metal rang hollowly, the clashing notes reverberating through the cavernous, unnaturally red interior.

  Minutes later, a tall, skeletal figure appeared on the other side.

  'What would you have?' asked the priest named Shosq, the red light flowing repellently over the mottled skin of his face.

  'I wish to speak with Tragthan,' Sagobal said. 'Let us in!'

  'You are bold to come here so,' said the priest. 'Yet I will allow you entrance.' He neither spoke nor moved, but the portcullis began to creak upward until it was high enough for the three to pass beneath. They stepped through and it began to lower once more.

  'Follow me,' said Shosq. They passed the beautiful, tortured caryatids, which Osman examined appreciatively. In the back, near the ghastly altar, two more figures stood.

  A shudder went through Sagobal when he realized that one of the priests was Nikas. 'You!' he said involuntarily. 'I had thought you dead!'

  The priest's cold, reptilian eyes regarded him unblinking. 'You thought that your puny sword could slay a priest of Ahriman?' His laugh had nothing human about it. Through the open mouth they could just see a tongue that seemed to have more than a single tip and glistened blackly in the horrid light.