The Conan Chronology

by J. R. Karlsson

  He saw a small point of light coming his way from the hall. Had she reconsidered? But then the light became a burning faggot borne by Ataulf, his relief. The man made his way up the ladder, yawning and scratching. Beneath the little roof, he tossed his brand into the smoking brazier. 'Any sign of foes without?' he asked sleepily.

  'You would know if there had been,' Conan said shortly. 'What took you so long to get here? I've been freezing my—'

  'Peace, Conan. I am not late. It always feels that way on night sentry. Go find your bed.'

  Conan grumbled as he descended to the yard. He would show that stuck-up, queenly wench. He wondered which of the women who had been casting longing gazes his way to try first. No, they would all be asleep now, and in no mood for amusement. What he needed was a good fight. No, what he really needed was some sleep. He went into the hall and stumbled among the snoring heaps on the floor. He found his place and was beginning to unbuckle his cuirass when the screams began from behind the arras at the end of the hall.

  'Crom's bones, what does a man have to do to get a night's sleep in this place?' He ripped out his sword and dashed for the arras. The glowing coals in the hearth illumined that end of the hall. With no patience for such niceties as formal entrance, he slashed the arras from top to bottom with his sword and leaped through.

  Brilliant, unnatural light filled the chamber. Dazzled, Conan could make out only shifting forms. Screaming came from the midst of animal-like growls.

  'Alcuina!' he shouted, sword held out before him and eyes squinted against the light. 'Where are you?' A loud chanting rose among the other sounds. Behind Conan the hall stirred, but nobody joined him. 'Alcuina!' Still no answer.

  Gradually the light faded. The screams and the animal growls faded away, but the chanting continued. At last Conan could see. The queen's chamber was utterly wrecked, its furnishings splintered and claw-slashed. The logs that formed its rear wall appeared to have been burned through. Beyond the gaping hole footprints led away through the falling snow.

  He looked to the source of the chanting and saw Rerin, his staff held stiffly before him in both hands, eyes tightly shut as he wailed out his chant. A nimbus of blue light surrounded the old man, pulsing and throbbing to his litany.

  'Cease that bawling, old man!' Conan shouted. 'Where is Alcuina?'

  Rerin's eyes sprang open and his chant broke off. The nimbus faded as he stared wildly about. 'The demons came! They came and tried to carry us both off! I cast a protective spell. It saved me, but I could not save Alcuina.' His hands trembled as he clenched them in rage and humiliation.

  'Then what good are you?' Conan demanded.

  He crossed to the gaping hole in the logs, noting that the ends of the logs were blackened; but instead of being charred, they looked as if they had melted. He shook his head. 'Wood should not melt.' He kept his words steady and offhand, as befitted a warrior; but inwardly he was repelled at the unnatural sight.

  'And demons should not bear off queens,' Rerin said. 'But it has happened. We must pursue.' Terrified, gaping faces peered in through the ruins.

  'Arm yourselves!' Conan ordered. 'We're going to gel Alcuina back.' Some moved with less alacrity than they might have had it been human enemies they faced. Conan pointed to a stableman. 'You! Saddle some horses, quickly.'

  'Do not bother,' said Rerin. 'The beasts will never go near those creatures, nor even follow on their tracks. We must pursue on foot, and we have little time.'

  Conan pushed his way back into the hall and found his cloak and his helmet. Donning both, he returned to the queen's chamber and grabbed the old wizard by the arm. 'Let's go, magician. The trail grows cold.'

  Out through the ragged hole Conan strode into the snowy night. The footprints in the snow were not quite human, but neither were they those of any beast he knew. He turned at a shout from the sentry. 'Something crosses the plain! They go toward the great stone circle.'

  With the wizard in tow, Conan followed the prints to the base of the stone wall. Through the ancient stone another passage had been melted. His hair rose on the back of his neck, but his urge to rescue Alcuina was stronger. He turned to the mob of people behind him. 'We must go get the queen!' he shouted. 'Who goes with me?' Siggeir and a few of the hardier souls came forward. 'Then curse the rest of you for nothings!' he said. 'Come on!'

  Out through the unnatural tunnel they went. Snow drifted into the tracks, but the men would remain visible for some time yet. They held torches aloft and shouted to encourage themselves and each other.

  'I spend much time tracking this woman over the same ground,' Conan muttered. 'What did they look like?'

  'Their shape was unclear,' said the old man. 'Such creatures are not intended to exist in this world, and they cannot hold any form here for long. I think they were man-sized, and almost man-shaped. More than that I could not tell.'

  'Why did they take her, and why did they want you?' The great stone circle loomed in the distance, and there was an unaccustomed glow about it.

  'I can only guess,' protested Rerin.

  'Guess, then,' Conan urged. 'It was not for your beauty they wanted you.'

  'It must be some machination of Lilma. Totila wants Alcuina, and I am her only protection from Lilma's sorcery.'

  'Cursed poor protection, if you ask me,' Conan growled. 'I want to meet this Totila. A man who is already stronger than his enemies and has plenty of warriors and still would rather use wizardry has lived too long.'

  As they reached the circle of stone they could see a crowd of odd creatures huddled near a gate-like stone trilithon. Uncanny streaks of light arced between the standing stones and whirlpools of flamelike light filled the entire circle. Borne overhead by the pack of creatures was Alcuina.

  'There she is,' he said, pointing with his sword. 'We must go take her back!' The men behind him stared with fear-widened eyes, and none came forward.

  Rerin shook loose from Conan's grasp and gathered his shaken dignity about him like a robe. 'I shall lead.' he said, chin high and only slightly quivering. 'Follow me.'

  With his staff held rigidly before him, the old man flipped within the circle. The lights whirled about him, tat none touched him. Conan followed close behind, heart pounding. The light formed into small, malevolent beings, fanged and clawed and flapping bat-wings f glittering light. They attacked him and he slashed at him with his sword, but it passed through them harmlessly. They circled around him, laughing maniacally.

  'Do not waste your strength,' the old man said. 'They are phantoms of your own mind.'

  'Then give me something I can cut, damn you!' Conan bellowed.

  'They pass through!' said Rerin in a quavering voice.

  Conan squinted into the shifting light. Something like daylight gleamed through the gateway formed by the posts and lintel of the trilithon. The things and their burden were passing beneath the lintel.

  At the gateway the old man halted. 'We dare go no farther,' he said. 'Beyond is the spirit land.'

  'By Crom, I'll not return to the hall without her, and neither shall you!' With the wizard's robe knotted in one fist and his sword gripped in the other, Conan strode into another world.

  VI

  The Shifting Land

  As Conan leaped through the gate he felt a shattering sense of disorientation. For moments that could not be measured in time, he felt suspended in a yawning gulf, with a sickening sensation of falling endlessly in some void between worlds. Such thought as he could muster he devoted to keeping his grip on his sword and upon Rerin.

  Abruptly, the transition was over, and he was staggering upon solid ground. His grip on the old man's clothes broke and he whirled, sword outstretched, ready to be set upon by enemies. His dizziness passed, and still there was no attack.

  'Alcuina!' he bellowed, but there was no answer.

  Raging, he stormed about, seeking any sign of the demons that had borne her off. There were no tracks such as the demons should have made, either. He hoped that the wizard might h
ave some answers for the things that perplexed him. Rerin sat dazed upon the ground, and the Cimmerian studied his surroundings as he went to the old man.

  Instead of the black, snowy night they had left behind, it was an oddly dim day here. Conan helped the old man to his feet and said with unaccustomed hesitation, 'I'm sorry I was so rough with you, old man. I thought that, with haste, we might save the queen.'

  'Quite understandable,' said Rerin, brushing off his robe. 'I do not suppose any more followed us?'

  Conan scanned the gateway. The trilithon was identical, but instead of standing in the northern plain it stood a little mountain glade. Nothing was visible through its doorway but more of the glade. 'Not one,' Conan reported. 'I am not surprised. They were brave men to come as far as they did. It is easier to find a new ruler than to enter a demon land.'

  'And yet you come,' said Rerin.

  'I want her back,' Conan said.

  'And you are braver than most men.'

  'That may be,' Conan agreed. 'But I was as fright-coed as any.'

  'It takes a hero to ignore fear in the service of his liege. She did well when she hired you.'

  'Then it is time for me to earn my pay,' Conan barked, weary of talk. 'They were only paces before us when they passed through this gate. Why are they not hoe now?'

  'The spirit land does not obey the same rules as our own world. They may not have emerged in the same place as we. It is fortunate that you and I came across the same place.'

  'That remains to be seen,' Conan said. He looked round at their surroundings. 'What manner of land is this?'

  If this was truly a spirit land it seemed to be common enough. They stood in a glade cupped in rolling hills. The light of the blue sky was slightly different than it should have been, its blue deeper and the bowl of the sky seeming somehow closer, and there was a haze around them, as if they were under water. Unclear things floated in the haze, but none seemed to be threatening so far.

  'It's like the sea,' Conan said, 'as you see it through the crystal eye-shields worn by the black pearl divers of Rush.'

  'We have been fortunate, if I may use such a word,' Rerin said. 'I think we may be in the Shifting Land. The spirit world is really many lands, as is the world of men. I have been to some of these lands in spirit-trance, although never in body. Some of those lands would drive you mad instantly. This is one of the more bearable ones. We came through a gate in the northern part of the world of men, and this place somewhat corresponds to that part of the world. Had we entered through the land of Rush you mentioned, we might have come out into a hideous jungle, but there are far worse places even than that in the spirit land.'

  'Is there some way we may find Alcuina?' Conan asked, cleaving to the subject.

  'There may be, but it will require time. And a number of magical substances, plants and minerals for the most part. Let us hope that they exist in this evil place.'

  'It seems that we have time. We'll find your substances, if they are to be found here. Can you get us back to the real world?'

  'Yes, through gates such as this one. The time must be right, and—'

  'Good,' Conan said, dismissing inessentials. 'Are there people here?' He gazed up at something that flew overhead on membranous wings. It took no notice of them.

  'Of a sort. I have seen them in spirit-trance. They are not true men such as you and I, though. They—'

  'How long until you know where we should look for Alcuina?' Conan asked abruptly.

  The old man looked about. 'I see some of the plants I need right here. Doubtless the others will be nearby. Then I must build a fire, perform certain ceremonies and chants—'

  'Wake me when you know something.' Conan dropped his helmet, stripped off his corselet, and flung himself on the ground. Soon he was deep in sleep.

  Rerin shook his head in wonderment. Even in slumber the Cimmerian's hand still rested lightly upon his sword hilt.

  Conan awoke when the old man touched his shoulder. Rerin jerked back as he exploded to his feet, sword in fist. 'It is only me, Conan. I have found a direction where we may look for Alcuina. It is not a definite location, but at least we'll not be wandering about lost.'

  'Good,' Conan said. He sheathed his blade and began to don his armour. 'At least it is not too cold here.'

  Indeed, it was like a mild spring day in the North, just cool enough to know that winter had not wholly departed. Conan folded his cloak and tossed it over one shoulder. His life had taken him to many strange places, ft was a consequence of being an adventurer. This was another strange place, and he could make his way anywhere.

  'Let us go find her,' he said.

  For some time Alcuina thought she was mad. One moment she had been sitting in her bower, quietly talking with old Rerin. The next the log wall began to melt and flow, and a pack of nightmare demons entered in a burst of light, laying their .loathsome hands upon her. She had thought that she called her men in her usual commanding voice, only later realizing that she had been screaming. As she was borne out she heard a bellowing voice that she was sure belonged to Conan. Then there had been a period of scattered impressions, of sounds and sights and concepts so confused that now she was utterly disoriented.

  What was this place? For a moment she was afraid to breathe; the air appeared thick, as if it had turned to water. Giving in to the inevitable, she took a deep breath, then shuddered with relief. It was like any other air. Perhaps something had gone wrong with her vision. But then she realised that things nearby were perfectly clear. She could have wished otherwise, for now she saw clearly the nature of her captors.

  Before, their outline had been unstable. Now she saw that they were gaunt creatures, vaguely man-shaped but formed as obscene parodies of humankind. No two were quite alike, but bird-beaked faces mocked her. Beaks fringed with stubby tentacles flapped and clacked with obscene laughter. Their eyes were huge, bulging, and lidless, each with two slit irises and pupils. The hands that gripped were many-fingered and their grey skins coarse and pebbly, chafing her fair skin. Their smell was, if anything, worse than their aspect. They had set her upon the ground and seemed .to be conferring among themselves. Their attitude was watchful, but they did not seem threatening just now.

  She sat up and examined her surroundings. The turf beneath her felt strange. The grass was blue-green, very short and springy. She had never seen such grass. Some of the trees nearby looked familiar, others had feathery fronds and ringed trunks. Colourful birds flew overhead in panicked flight, pursued by a reptilian thing on membranous wings. Whatever this place was, it was not her familiar Northland. The air was cool, but not bitterly cold like the land from which she had been abducted.

  The creatures, deep in their deliberations, ignored her. Their voices croaked and clicked, and multi-jointed hands gestured excitedly. Something in their furtive aspect told her that this was alien territory to them as well, and that they sought not to draw attention. She wondered who or what they were afraid of. She knew better than to assume that the enemy of her enemy was her friend.

  That this was some machination of Lilma on behalf of Totila she had no doubt. What it would lead to was another matter. She knew that she was on her own. None of her people could have followed them here. How could they? She fought off a wave of hopelessness. She was a queen, and she would not act like a terrified kitchen-girl. Her first priority was escape from these unthinkable creatures.

  In the distance, over the trees, she could see hazy mountains. She thought she could descry a hulking shape on the side of one of the nearer mountains, like some unthinkably huge hall. If so, it must be inhabited by giants such as had erected the wall surrounding her own hall. That did not look like a good direction in which to flee.

  She was resolved upon flight, and the present seemed to be as good a time as any. Her captors were preoccupied with their own bickering, and their fearful attitude was such that they might be more solicitous of their own safety than zealous in their pursuit of her. Surreptitiously, she gathered he
r legs beneath her.

  As the bickering ascended to a crescendo, she sprang to her feet and ran. Behind her rose loud hoots of consternation, but she did not look back. She had spotted the nearest patch of dense forest, and she headed straight for it. Sounds of pursuit grew closer, and something tugged at her fur robe. Shrugging out of her garment, she increased her pace and heard a disappointed screech from behind. Now she could run even faster. She took her fur-trimmed gown in both hands and pulled its hem above her knees as she ran, wishing there was some way for her to strip it off, too. Unfortunately it took the help of a maid just to lace her into the

  garment.

  Then she was among the trees, winding her way among the densest of them in hopes that the demons chasing her would find the terrain bewildering. So far they had shown little sign of intelligence. She darted between the tree trunks as lightly as a barren doe, and the sounds behind her grew frantic as the demons crashed through the undergrowth.

  The woods were dark and mysterious, but she limited herself to one fear at a time. The sounds of pursuit grew fainter, but she did not slack her pace, although her lungs burned with the effort. She leaped a small stream in which the water flowed with an odd slowness.

  At last, panting raggedly, she collapsed in a heap beneath a busy plant with dense, fleshy leaves. She crawled under it as far as she could go, trying not to breathe too loudly. She was almost certain that she was far enough ahead of the pursuit that she had not been seen taking cover. With every nerve stretched to the snapping point, she listened for the demons. Once she thought she heard shuffling sounds nearby, then nothing but the noises that apparently were common in this forest, not much different from the woodland sounds she was used to.