"and the rise of the sons of Aryas, there was an age undreamed of;" "and unto this, Conan, destined to bear the jeweled crown of Aquilonia... upon a troubled brow." "It is I, his chronicler, who alone can tell thee of his saga." "Let me tell you of the days of high adventure." "Fire and wind come from the sky, from the gods ofthe sky." "But Crom is your god." "Crom, and he lives in the Earth." "Once giants lived in the Earth, Conan." "And in the darkness of chaos... they fooled Crom, and they took from him the enigma of steel." "Crom was angered, and the Earth shook." "And fire and wind struck down these giants, and they threw their bodies into the waters." "But in their rage, the gods forgot the secret of steel and left it on the battlefield." "And we who found it... are just men." "Not gods." "Not giants." "Just men." "And the secret of steel has always carried with it a mystery." "You must learn its riddle, Conan." "You must learn its discipline." "For no one, no one in this world can you trust;" "not men, not women, not beasts." "This you can trust." "Conan !" "Kill that one first !" "No !" "No !" "Over there !" "You!" "Get him !" "The ashes were trampled into the Earth, and the blood became as snow." "Who knows what they came for?" "Weapons of steel?" "Or murder?" "It was never known, for the leader rode to the south... while children went north with the Vanir." "No one would ever know... that my lord's people had lived at all." "His was a tale of sorrow." "Sit here." "Sit here !" "He did not care anymore:" "life and death, the same." "Only that the crowd would be there... to greet him with howls of lust and fury." "He began to realize his sense of worth." "He mattered." "In time, his victories could not easily be counted." "He was taken to the East, a great prize, where the warmasters would teach him the deepest secrets." "Hai !" "Language and writing were made available.:" "the poetry of Kitai, the philosophy of Sung." "And he also came to know the pleasures of women... when he was bred to the finest stock." "But always there remained... the discipline of steel." "My fear is that my sons will never understand me." "We've won again !" "This is good, but what is best in life ?" "The open steppe, a fleet horse, falcons at your wrists... and the wind in your hair." "Wrong !" "Conan, what is best in life ?" "To crush your enemies, see them driven before you... and to hear the lamentation of their women." "That is good." "That is good." "Go !" "Go !" "You're free!" "Go !" "It has been surmised... that perhaps my lord was like a wild animal... that had been kept too long." "Perhaps." "But whatever, freedom, so long an unremembered dream, was his." "Crom." "There's warmth and fire." "Do you not wish to warm yourself by my fire ?" "They said you would come." "From the north, a man of great strength." "A conqueror." "A man who would someday be king by his own hand." " One who would crush the snakes of the Earth" " Snakes ?" "Did you say snakes ?" "What is it you seek ?" "A standard." "A symbol, perhaps on a shield." "Two snakes coming together." "Facing each other." "But they're one." "With... with a sun... and a moon below." "Blacksun, blackmoon." "Yes." "There's a price, barbarian." "Zamora." "The... crossroads... of the world." "You will... find... what..." "you want... in Zamora." "Ohh !" "Crom !" "Food." "Food!" "I have not eaten for days." "And who says you will ?" "Give me food so I have strength when the wolves come." "Let me die not in hunger, but in combat." "Who are you ?" "I am Subotai, thief and archer." "I am Hyrkanian, the great order of Kerlait." "So what are you doing here ?" "Dinner for wolves." "What gods do you pray to ?" "I pray to the four winds." "And you ?" "To Crom." "But I seldom pray to him." "He doesn't listen." "What good is he, then ?" "Ah, it's just as I've always said." "He is strong." "If I die, I have to go before him, and he will ask me, "What is the riddle of steel?"" "If I don't know it, he will cast me out of Valhalla and laugh at me." "That's Crom." "Strong on his mountain." "Ah, my god is greater." "Ha-ha !" "Crom laughs at your four winds, laughs from his mountain." "My god is stronger." "He is the everlasting sky." "Your god lives underneath him." "Civilization, ancient and wicked." "Have you ever seen this before ?" "No." "Let's waste no time !" "It's good." "You have no idea how long it's been there." "So much meat... stink." "Does it always smell like this ?" "How does the wind ever get in here ?" "How about two snakes coming together over a black sun ?" "A magnificent standard." "The only snakes I know of are those of Set and those cursed towers." "They have spread to every city." "Two or three years ago, it was just another snake cult." "Now, everywhere." "It is said that they are deceivers." "They murder people in the night." "I know nothing." "Hey." "Black lotus." "Stygian, the best." "This better not be Haga." "I would sell Haga to a slayer such as you ?" "A pittance to protect you from evil." "I am evil." "They're all sluts !" "He's dead already." "Can you believe that ?" "Huh ?" "Can you b" "You're too big to be a thief." "Come." "Let's leave this place." "You're looking for snakes." "They live in the Tower of the Serpent, said to have riches without end and the greatest jewel of all:" "the Eye of the Serpent." "Chew it slowly !" "It's the good stuff." "You are not a guard." "Neither are you." "We are thieves..." "like yourself." "We come to climb the tower." "You don't even have a rope." "Two fools who laugh at death." "Do you know what horrors lie beyond that wall ?" "No." "Then you go first." "Ohh !" "What on Earth could smell so bad ?" "Do you want to live forever ?" "That one." "He's the High Priest, second only to Thulsa Doom." "They say Thulsa Doom's a thousand years old." "I'll see what's here." "Go find out what's below." "Infidels !" "Infidels !" "Ahh !" "Kill them !" "Do you want to live forever ?" "All manner of pleasures and diversions were indulged." "Wealth can be wonderful." "But you know, success can test one's mettle... assurely as the strongest adversary." "They were taken to the hall of King Osric the Usurper, once a powerful Northman like my lord... but now old and sotted." "These are the thieves you have requested, Sire." "I thought there were three." "O-O-Our companion, he died in the gardens." "Lions ate him." "Lions ate him ?" "The lions ate him." "Do you know what you've done ?" "Why, Rexor himself has come before me, threatened me, a king !" "What daring !" "What outrageousness !" "What insolence !" "What arrogance !" "I salute you." "Thulsa Doom." "I've chafed for years at this demigod." "Snakes in my beautiful city." "To the west:" "Nemedia, Aquilonia." "To the south:" "Koth, Stygia, snakes." "Everywhere these evil towers." "You alone have stood up to their gods." "And what are you ?" "Thieves !" "See this ?" "They call it the "Fangs of the Serpent. "" "And this one... was thrust into a father's heart by his very son." "And my own daughter... has fallen under this Thulsa Doom's spell." "is there a dagger such as this... in her hand for me ?" "She follows him as a slave, seeking for the truth of her soul... as if I could not give it to her !" "As we speak... my daughter travels east... to Thulsa Doom and his Mountain of Power." "She is to be his !" "Steal my daughter back." "Take all you can carry." "There's more." "Much more." "Enough to become kings yourselves." "There comes a time, thief, when the jewels cease to sparkle, when the gold loses its luster, when the throne room becomes a prison," "and all that is left... is a father's love for his child." "To the hell fires with Thulsa Doom." "He's evil, a sorcerer who can summon demons." "His followers' only purpose is to die in his service." "There are thousands of them." "This Mountain of Power where he lives is said to be impregnable." "I have talked to Subotai and he agrees." "Let's take what we have while we live." "I have never had so much as now." "All my life I've been alone." "Many times I face my death with no one to know." "I would look into the huts and the tents of others in the coldest dark... and I would see figures holding each other in the night." "But I always passed by." "You and I... we have warmth." "That's so hard to find in this world." "Please, let someone else pass by in the night." "Let us take the world by the throat... and make it give us what we desire." "The children of Doom." "Doom's children." "They told my lord the way to the Mountain of Power." "They told him to throw down his sword... and return to the earth." "Hah !" "Time enough for the earth in the grave." "Ohhh !" "Once great men lived here." "Giants, gods." "Once, but long ago." "It was here that I met my master." "It was no accident." "Nor is it mere chance... that I am the teller of his tale." "Hey!" "I'm a wizard, mind you." "This place is kept by powerful gods... and spirits of kings." "Harm my flesh, and you will have to deal with the dead." "Can you summon demons, wizard ?" "Yes !" "If I strike at you, I would summon the demon... more ferocious than all in hell !" "The mounds have been here since the time of the Titans." "Kings buried in them." "Great kings." "Domains once glittered like the light on a windy sea." "Fire won't burn there." "No fire at all." "That's why I live down here in the wind." "Do you care for these places ?" "I sing to them." "On nights when they wish... I sing of the tales of battles, heroes, witches and women." "Nobody bothers me down here." "Not even..." "Thulsa Doom." "Do flowers grow around here ?" "Flowers ?" "Flowers." "You've not come here as a pilgrim, have you ?" "Oil the sword and feed the horse." "Have you ever ridden one of those things before ?" "No !" "Warrior !" "What are the flowers for ?" "For a girl." "Doom, doom, doom, doom" "Doom" "Doom" "Doom" "Where do you think you're going, brother ?" "I'm afraid." "Afraid ?" "To bare yourself?" "Why ?" "You're so big and so well grown." "You should be proud of your body." "How do you expect to reach emptiness... without knowing your own body ?" "Could we talk over there... where the others do not see ?" "Why, yes, brother." "Of course." "I'm afraid and I'm shy." "is this, uh, your robe ?" "A priest's robe ?" "Yes, it's all I have." "That's all you'll ever need." "Brother." "What do you see ?" "Uh, infinity." "Good." "I see you." "I have watched you." "For a thousand years I have watched you." "Doom !" "Doom !" "Doom !" "Doom !" "Who among you still fears death ?" "Who will not face emptiness ?" " lnfidel!" "I wish to speak to you now." "Where is the Eye of the Serpent ?" "Rexor says that you gave it to a girl." "Probably for a mere night's pleasure." "What a loss." "People have no grasp of what they do." "You broke into my house, stole my property, murdered my servants and my pets." "And that is what grieves me the most !" "You killed my snake." "Thorgen is beside himself with grief." "He raised that snake from the time it was born." "You killed my mother !" "You killed my father !" "You killed my people !" "You took my father's sword." "Ah." "It must have been when I was younger." "There was a time, boy, when I searched for steel, when steel meant more to me than gold or jewels." "The riddle... of steel." "Yes." "You know what it is, don't you, boy ?" "Shall I tell you ?" "It's the least I can do." "Steel isn't strong, boy." "Flesh is stronger." "Look around you, here." "There, on the rocks." "That beautiful girl." "Come to me, my child." "That is strength, boy." "That is power." "The strength and power of flesh." "What is steel compared to the hand that wields it ?" "Look at the strength of your body, the desire in your heart." "I gave you this." "Such a waste." "Contemplate this on the Tree of Woe." "Crucify him." "He said you were a wizard." "Do the gods owe you any favors ?" "Yeah." "There are dangers." "But I see you care little for those." "The spirits of this place extract a heavy toll." " Then I will pay them." "Drink." "Drink." "Sometime soon, perhaps tonight... they'll try to take him, and if they succeed-- lf they succeed, you'll follow." "No !" "No !" "Stop !" "Stop !" "Stop !" "No !" "Stop !" "Stop !" "They're gone !" "They're gone !" "All the gods, they cannot sever us." "If I were dead, and you were still fighting for life, I'd come back for you." "Back from the pit of hell to fight at your side." "The old man says the Mountain of Power is hollow." "Thulsa Doom lives in the mountain." "What else does he say ?" "That in the back of the mountain there's a gorge." "Many caves." "Good thief could get in there." "Steal the princess." "Be off before she's missed in the darkness." "Good thieves could do that, but not vengeful ones." "Only the girl." "We kill Thulsa Doom another day." "Agreed ?" "Conan ?" "So this is paradise." "Princess." "Yee-aah !" "Uuh !" "Yee-uuh !" "Get them !" "Come on !" "You." "Yee-ah !" "Help him." "Infidel defilers." "They should all drown in lakes of blood." "Now they will know why they are afraid of the dark." "Now they will learn why they fear the night." "Seek." "Uuh !" "The Wizard-- l told him I would pay the gods." "Hold me." "Kiss me." "Kiss me." "Let me breathe my last breath into your mouth." "I'm so cold." "So cold." "Keep... me... warm." "Keep... me... warm." "Hey." "Fire won't burn up there." "No fire at all." "Why do you cry ?" "He is Conan." "Cimmerian." "He won't cry... so I cry for him." "He will kill you !" "He has seen your fires." "He will come for me, and when he does he will kill you !" "I remember days like this, when my father took me to the forest... and we ate wild blueberries." "More than 20 years ago." "I was just a boy of four or five." "The leaves were so dark and green then." "The grass smelled sweet with the spring wind." "Almost 20 years of pitiless combat!" "No rest!" "No sleep like other men!" "And yet the spring wind blows, Subotai." "Have you ever felt such a wind?" "They blow where l live too." "In the north of every man's heart." "It's never too late, Subotai." "No!" "It would only lead me back here another day." "In even worse company." "For us there is no spring-- just the wind that smells fresh before the storm." "Hey, old man." "Where'd you get this stuff ?" "The dead." "Our gods are pleased with you." "They will watch the battle." "Heh !" "Are they going to help ?" "No." "Well, then tell them to stay out of the way !" "Crom." "I've never prayed to you before." "I have no tongue for it." "No one, not even you will remember... if we were good men or bad." "Why we fought or why we died." "No." "All that matters is that two stood against many." "That's what's important." "Valor pleases you, Crom, so grant me one request." "Grant me revenge." "And if you do not listen, then the hell with you !" "Aghh !" "Hey-ya !" "Heh !" "Yah !" "Yee-ee-ee-ah !" "Aaah !" "Yaah !" "Yaah !" "Aaa-aaa-aah !" "That's how we do it !" "I did it with my spear !" "Aha !" "Do you want to live forever ?" "Doom !" "Don't leave me !" "My Lord !" "No, don't kill me!" "Father !" "Aaah !" "Ah !" "Yuck !" "Ecch !" "Doom !" "Doom !" "Purging is at last at hand." "Day of Doom is here." "All that is evil:" "all their allies." "Your parents, your leaders:" "those who would call them selves your judges." "Those who have lied... and corrupted the Earth." "They shall all be cleansed." "Doom !" "You, my children, are the water... that will wash away all that has gone before." "In your hand you hold my light." "The gleam in the eye of Set." "This flame will burn away the darkness;" "burn you the way to paradise !" "Doom !" "Doom !" "My child." "You have come to me, my son." "For who now is your father if it is not me ?" "Who gave you the will to live ?" "I am the well spring from which you flow." "When I am gone, you will have never been." "What will your world be without me... my son ?"