"Between the years when the oceans drank Atlantis and the rise of the sons of Aryas, there was an age undreamed of when shining kingdoms lay spread across the world." "Then came the dark empire of Acheron, where cruel Necromancers sought secrets of resurrection." "They crafted a mask from the bones of kings and awakened its wrath with the pure blood of their daughters." "The mask summoned spirits of unspeakable evil, giving them power no mortal men should possess." "Acheron enslaved the civilized world." "Only the Barbarian tribes were left to rise up against them." "The mask was shattered and Acheron fell." "Each tribe kept a single shard so that no man might attempt to join them back together and drive the world once again into chaos and ruin." "Their pieces were scattered across the land and remained hidden for ages." "But prophecy spoke of a man who would some day try to reassemble the mask and rule the world." "So came the dawn of Hyborian Age, a time both bleak and brutal." "And so came a child." "Born of battle." "Fialla!" "Fialla." "Do not speak, my love." "Do not speak." "I must see my child before I die." "Name your son." "His name is Conan." "Slow down, Conan!" "When a Cimmerian feels thirst, it is the thirst for blood." "When he feels cold, it is the cold edge of steel." "But the courage of the Cimmerian is tempered." "He neither fears death nor rushes foolishly to meet it." "But to be a Cimmerian warrior, you must have both cunning and balance, as well as speed and strength." "Conan." "I gave you chores, boy." "Finished, Father." "First to circle the hills and return the egg unbroken earns the right to fight with the warriors." "Well, by Crom, boy, what are you waiting for?" "We go back." "Conan!" "Make way." "Make way." "Come." "Time to forge a blade." "This sword we make will be yours one day." "But before you wield it, you must understand it." "The sword must bend or it will break." "It must be tempered." "What is most important when forging a blade, fire or ice?" "Fire." "Ice?" "Are you certain?" "Fire and ice together." "This is the mystery of steel." "You're still all fire, boy." "No." "Slow down." "Find your footing." "Enough!" "You're not ready for this sword." "Fire!" "Fire!" " Father!" " Conan!" "Father!" "Conan!" "Die!" "Father!" "Barbarian." "There's no shame in kneeling before me." "Each of these brave warriors has surrendered, left their lands, sworn allegiance to me." "They do so because they know one day I will be a god." "One day... the other clans of Cimmeria will gather for vengeance, and then god or no god, you will fall." "You know why I'm here." "One piece is missing from the mask." "You know its power." "Give it to me now... or die and I'll find it for myself." "I prefer death." "Oh, my nose!" "No!" "This is your son." "I like him." "Come here, my daughter." "Father, I sense the bone shard is close." "Will you find it for me, Marique?" "Barbarian, your son has courage." "But my daughter has talents as well." "Find it, Marique." "These Cimmerians, they do not pray." "This is their church." "This is what they worship." "It will be here!" "The shard." "She found the bone shard." "Your mother would be proud." " Remo." " Yeah?" "Gather the men." "Burn everything." "But, Zym!" "Not the boy." "Not yet." "Not yet." "Look what he did to my face!" "Now, how do I punish you, huh?" "You fear not pain, nor death." "Father!" "No!" "Father!" "No!" "Worse than death, eh, Cimmerian?" "Watching your son die." "Because he loves you." "It is complete." "Marique, we're halfway there." "When we find the pureblood, your mother, my beloved, will return." "The mask is complete!" "Conan, you cannot save me." "Let go of the chain, boy." " I'm not afraid to die!" " Nor I." "I love you, Son." "No!" "No!" "Conan left Cimmeria and wandered the edges of the world, slaying, thieving, surviving, storming the high walls of Venarium and prowling the dark seas among pirates." "But the nameless man who slaughtered his village and killed his father remained in shadow." "These are common slavers, Conan." "Not the man you seek." "Why attack?" "No man should live in chains." "Fight!" "Stay and fight, you pink-bellied motherless goat-lovers!" "Go." "You're free." "Go." "Your masters are dead." "You are no longer slaves." "But you've taken all our food, all our weapons." "Where would you have us go?" "Come on." "We sail to Messantia." "Come on." "Call it." "Come on, old man." "I win!" "I still win." "When I first met him, he was no bigger than you." "Just a scrawny little rat picking pockets in Zamora." "Even SO, it was he who stole the Elephant's Heart and slew the sorcerer Yara." "Come." "Hey, mama." "Need more mead." "Who's next?" "Guards!" "There." "And check there." "Hey." "Why are they looking for you?" "No." "No, no, no." "No, wait." "You don't understand." "They'll be happy to take us both to prison if you don't let go!" "Maybe I wanna go to prison." "You take the one in the middle?" "Me?" " You." " I'll take him." "I am your prisoner." "You're calm for somebody who's about to die." "Move!" "Where's the captain?" "The hill ape can speak." "The captain is currently occupied." "Don't worry." "Everyone can get their chance." "Hey!" "Stop him!" "Come here!" "Where is the captain of the guard?" "His door's sealed from within." "He can only open it for me." "Guards!" "The door!" "All right." "What?" "Guards!" "Guards!" "You remember me?" "Who are you?" "I'm the one who made you pretty." "You can't do this!" "Do you know who I am?" "Where is the man who killed my father?" "You seek Khalar Zym?" "Zym." "No." "My people were slain by a common bandit, not a king." "He was a bandit then." "He's a legend now." "A Shadow Lord." "A Shadow Lord, huh?" "Speak." "I will not kill you." "You know the Forbidden Forest?" "Nothing there but dead bodies and the animals who feed on them." "Even as we speak, Khalar leads his legions through the mist." "More." "Not good enough." "Wait!" "The forest is large, I know." "But as he returns to his stronghold at Khor Kalba, he returns by way of the ravine at Shaipur." "That's a perfect place for an ambush." "What does Khalar want there?" "He's with his witch daughter." "They're searching for a young girl." "A pureblood." "Are you leading me into a trap?" "No." "I wouldn't lie to you." "He's mad." "He's obsessed with Acheronian sorcery." "I hold no loyalty to him." "Well, Northerner, I've upheld my part of the deal." "No!" "Yes." "By Mitra, what are you doing?" "Toasting to our deal." "Hey!" "Northerner!" "Hey, hey, wait for me!" "Oh, god!" "Prisoners of Messantia!" "The key to your freedom sits in your captain's gut." "You gave me your word!" "You swore you'd spare my life!" "I said I would not kill you." "Free yourselves." "Northerner!" "My name is Ela-Shan." "Perhaps you've heard that there is no lock I cannot break or vault I cannot enter." "If you are ever foolish enough to pursue this man to Khor Kalba, come see me in Argalon so I can talk you out of it." "Ask anyone you meet there for Ela-Shan!" "What do you see in my future, Master Fassir?" "It is unclear." "I see a journey." "A man crossing the sands." "A knight?" "A warrior." "Your paths will merge." "He will take you home to your birthplace." "Is that all that you see, Master?" "The pureblood is close." "I can taste her in the air." "There'll be rioting in Messantia for days, thanks to you." "Khalar Zym." "What?" "That's the name of the man who killed my father." "Zym?" "Do you know who that is?" "I am told he's the angel of death." "I leave tonight to pursue him in Shaipur." "We can sail as far as the bay near the Shaipur Outpost." " You can wait for me there." " Wait?" "I'm not your sewing maid." "I will go with you." "Not this time, Artus." "This is something I must do alone." "Go to the temple." "Go!" "Go!" "Protect the master." "Go!" "Go!" "Tamara, come with me." "Get into the carriage." "No, I want to stay here and defend our home." "For the sake of your people, you must leave this place and go to the monks in Hyrkania." "It is your duty." "Do not hesitate and do not waver." "I don't want to leave you." "Do you trust me, Tamara?" "Yes." "With my life." "Everything I have." "Then ask no more questions and do as I say." "Go!" "Let's go!" "Let none escape!" "Zym." "Who are you?" "Where's Khalar?" "Who is Khalar?" "Hey!" "Come here!" "Come on." "Step aside, Northerner." "The woman is property of Khalar Zym." "She is my property now." "Well, you have no claim to her." "No." "But I have a claim to you." "And what claim is that?" "Death." "Who are you?" "When you fight a Cimmerian, even a boy, you best kill him." "I killed hundreds of Cimmerians." "Yes." "An entire village." "But I did not burn in my father's forge." "Run from me and I will tear apart the mountains to find you." "I will follow you to hell." "Woman!" "Come here." "I said, come here." "Which one of you is the pureblood?" "Whoever reveals her, gets to live." "And you smell." "Are you the one I seek?" "Could it be you?" "None of them are pure." "You know who I've come for." "Why suffer for it?" "None of the ancient bloodline remain." "Well, if this is true, tell me why have you and these monks chosen to hide here like vermin for a thousand years?" "We live here in peace." "We have no riches." "We do not make war." "We value life." "You value life." "Do you forget what happened in the forests of Ophir?" "When all the nations of Hyboria hunted a woman as if she were an animal?" "When both I and my daughter were forced to watch Maliva, my innocent wife, be lashed to the wheel and set aflame?" "No." "What you value is death." "The monks here had no part in her death." "Where is the pureblood?" "Not to fear, Father." "He will tell me his secrets." "They all tell me their secrets." "Your vain pursuit for the secrets of Acheron is a lust for power, not a love of life." "Your innocent wife sought to enslave all of Hyboria with her sorcery." "She deserved to burn." "You will never rule, and Maliva will never rise again!" "Die!" "My lord!" "Remo is searching for the one that got away." "She is the pureblood." "Remo will capture her for me." "Come here!" "Get off." "My master said I would meet you." "He said our paths would merge." "You're the one Khalar Zym seeks." "I know nothing about it." "Those were his men chasing you." "They attacked our monastery." "So, will you escort me to Hyrkania?" "We will wait for Khalar." "We?" "There is no we." "I will go to Hyrkania as my master instructed." "I said, we will wait." "I said, I win go to Hyrkania." "Why must I be tied up?" "Keep quiet and do as you're told." "What are you going to do with him?" "I will wait for him to awaken." "I wanna look him in the eyes when I kill him." "Do you have a name?" "My name is Tamara Amaliat Jorvi Karushan." "And yours is?" "Conan." "Conan." "That's it?" "How many names do I need?" "Why would you save me only to tie me up?" "Khalar's a hard man to find." "If I possess you, he must come to me." "Possess?" "I am not your property." "Go to sleep." "I take instruction from no man." "I am a monk of the Order of Shaipur." "My people have never been conquered by anyone the likes of you and I'm not about to..." "Open." "What?" "Quiet." "Still no word from Remo and his scouts?" "They're gone." "Remo will bring her here." "He has never disappointed me." "The prize is near, Father." "Soon you will have not only the mask, but the blood to fill it." "Marique, how your mother yearned for the sorcery of Acheron." "Imagine the secrets she will bring back from the realm of the dead." "And imagine how indomitable I will become when she's once again by my side." "Father..." "If the girl is lost, or the ritual fails..." "It will not fail." "If it does..." "It will not!" "Your mother will return to me." "My powers are growing inside of me." "My mother's blood flows through me." "I can help you uncover the secrets of Acheron, just as she did." "I can have them all kneeling before you, just as I kneel before you now." "My Marique, you are like your mother." "In so many ways." "But you are not her." "Here." "Drink." "The truth this time." "Why does Khalar want you?" "I am a simple monk." "I am of no value to a warlord." "She's lying!" "It's her blood." "Her blood is special." "She's last of the bloodline of Acheron." "Wait." "Don't kill him yet." "You are mistaken." "That bloodline ended a thousand years ago." "You lie, whore." "You can kill him now." "No, please." "For her, I can get you a king's ransom." "It is true." "Khalar has been searching for a pureblood descendant for 20 years." "Then we will wait for Khalar." "No." "He will not come this way." "Zym will be camped in the Shaipur Ravine waiting for me." "I can show you." "Yeah." "Come." "Come on!" "You see?" "I speak the truth." "If you want, he will give your weight in gold for this woman." "I will arrange everything." "I will deliver the message." "Yes, you will." "Remo returns." "What does it say?" ""The Shaipur Outpost at midday."" ""Come alone."" "It's hers." "You're bold, Northerner." "I admire courage, even when it's foolish." "Your reward." " I do not want your gold." " No?" "Then what?" "I want your head." "Yes, of course you do." "Kill him." "Then bring me the pureblood." "Conan!" "Come on!" "Who are you?" "You left me behind to watch my father die." "Cimmerian." "That was your chance, boy." "You won't get another." "Wouldn't your father be ashamed of you?" "Yeah." "Come on!" "Huh?" "Boy?" "Run!" "No!" "By Mitra, jump!" "I had him." "Artus, I had him." "The gods are cruel." "Blast the gods." "This was not their doing." "It was I who failed." "Are the tales they tell true?" "Does he have eyes red as fire and a hide of golden scales?" "He is just a man." "Then it is he who has failed." "In fact, you may be the only man in Hyboria to fight Khalar Zym and live." "I need to go ashore and find him." "After I go, you must take her some place safe." "She saved my life." "For that, she has my loyalty." "Then she has mine as well." "Charming man, your friend." "Most men are born to mother's milk." "His first taste was of his mother's blood." "He was battle born." "So all he can do is kill?" "Oh, no." "He has the heart of a king, the loyalty of a bloodhound." "The Barbarians may be warriors, but they do not sacrifice their children or enslave their allies like the priests and princes of the civilized world." "As for his manners..." "You look like a harlot." "Yes." "And apparently I'm the only woman you've ever met who isn't one." "Cimmerian women dress as warriors." "Give her the leather and the armor." "I think he likes you." "Wake up!" "Wake up!" "All hands on deck!" "No!" "How many Cimmerians died at the edge of that blade?" "Catch!" "Not bad." "Farewell, good friend." "May you find what you seek, Conan." "It would seem our friend has forgotten his map of the shoreline." "You should take it to him." "And say goodbye." "We set sail at dawn." "Don't be late." "You should go back to the ship." "Do you ever wonder if our actions serve some plan?" "Some purpose spun by the gods?" "Or are we all just doomed to chaos and ruin?" "I know not and I care not." "I live, I love, I slay, and I am content." "Goodbye." "Conan!" "The elusive one." "Welcome." "You have made a mistake." "I am not the person you are looking for." "It is she." "The pureblood descendent of the Necromancers of Acheron." "I'm looking for a thief." "Argalon is a city of thieves." "I'm looking for a thief named Ela-Shan." "Who are you to ask, Barbarian?" "Stand down, you fools!" "Fast as Yezud, he will gut you like a fish." "I owe this man my life." "Well, Ela-Shan, you will have your chance to repay it." "Come." "This is madness." "Breaking into Khalar Zym's fortress is like reaching under a sleeping dragon to steal her eggs." "Why go in?" "There's a woman inside." "She must be really pretty." "My mother wore this gown on her wedding day." "It flatters you." "I'm not your mother." "No?" "But you will be." "Imagine that your body is a vessel." "And your soul is the water that fills it." "When your blood seeds the mask, my father will empty you." "Then I welcome death." "Your death shall herald a new age of Acheron." "The spirits I raise will melt flesh from the bones of kings." "And my wife will make me a god, and we will cast all rivals into oceans of blood." "Please." "I beg you one last time." "Do not do this." "Let us turn back." "Come on." "Did you know I met your Barbarian when he was a boy?" "That I took this sword from him?" "I'm told Cimmerian steel is sharper and harder than any other, that when it cuts, the pain is close to pleasure." "I know that will please you." "That was the last gate." "I told you, you see?" "I told you I can get you in." "You!" "A feast for my sword." "No!" "A feast for the Dweller!" "Hey!" " Watch out!" " No!" "No!" "Conan!" "Conan, watch out!" "No!" "Hey!" "Conan!" "Oh, Shit!" " Get me out of here!" " Use a key!" " I can't!" "I dropped them!" " Then pick the lock!" "With what?" "Hey!" "Help me!" "Careful!" "Be careful!" "Drop!" "Hey!" "Hey!" "Hurry up!" "Hurry up!" "Hey!" "Help me." "Hey!" "Get me out of here!" "I'm dying!" "I'm gonna die!" "You scream like a woman." "I think it's this way." "Hey, hey, wait for me." "Yeah, I think he's headed to Skull Cave." "I see no more locks down there." "Your debt is paid." "Farewell, my friend." "If you ever need me again, you know where to find me!" "As a victorious Barbarian sword once shattered the mask, so shall a vanquished Barbarian sword revive it." "Pureblood." "Behold and despair" "your new master." "Maliva!" "My queen!" "Hear my call!" "Barbarian." "I don't like you any more." "Jump to the ledge!" "Get up!" "Hide!" "That was your chance, Khalar." "And you won't get another." "I smell you." "Conan!" "Barbarian!" "You're too late." "She belongs to me!" "Die!" "Get out!" "Tamara, run!" "Run!" "I'm going to kill you with your own father's blade." "You are not worthy of my father's sword." "Come." "Come on." "Get up." "Go!" "Run!" "Barbarian!" "I'm coming for you!" "Tamara!" "Maliva!" "I summon you here." "His witch possesses me." "I can't fight her." "No!" "Drop me, Conan, please!" "Once again, the little Cimmerian boy is caught holding a chain." "Let me go!" "Let me go!" "Boy." "There is no shame in kneeling before me." "Conan, please!" "She will live forever." "Drop the chain." "Let go of the chain, Conan." "And let another die in your place?" "Like your father?" "Drop me!" "I warned him that one day" "I would become a god." "And my father warned you, god or not..." "Let me go!" "You will fall!" "Maliva!" "Give me your hand." "Thank you for bringing me home." "I know you have to leave." "Live well, Tamara." "Till we meet again." "This sword we make will be yours one day." "But before you wield it, you must understand it." "TheFalcon007"