1. Between the time when
the oceans drank Atlantis...Copy !req
2. and the rise
of the sons of Aryas,Copy !req
3. there was an age undreamed of;Copy !req
4. and unto this, Conan,Copy !req
5. destined to bear the jewelled
crown of Aquilonia...Copy !req
6. upon a troubled brow.Copy !req
7. It is I, his chronicler,Copy !req
8. who alone can tell thee
of his saga.Copy !req
9. Let me tell you of the days
of high adventure.Copy !req
10. Fire and wind
come from the sky,Copy !req
11. from the gods of the sky.Copy !req
12. But Crom is your god.Copy !req
13. Crom, and he lives
in the Earth.Copy !req
14. Once giants lived
in the Earth, Conan.Copy !req
15. And in the darkness
of chaos...Copy !req
16. they fooled Crom,Copy !req
17. and they took from him
the enigma of steel.Copy !req
18. Crom was angered,Copy !req
19. and the Earth shook.Copy !req
20. And fire and wind
struck down these giants,Copy !req
21. and they threw their bodies
into the waters.Copy !req
22. But in their rage,Copy !req
23. the gods forgot the secret
of steel and left it
on the battlefield.Copy !req
24. And we who found it...Copy !req
25. are just men.Copy !req
26. Not gods. Not giants.Copy !req
27. Just men.Copy !req
28. And the secret of steel
has always carried with it
a mystery.Copy !req
29. You must learn its riddle,
Conan.Copy !req
30. You must learn its discipline.Copy !req
31. For no one,Copy !req
32. no one in this world
can you trust;Copy !req
33. not men, not women,
not beasts.Copy !req
34. This you can trust.Copy !req
35. Conan!Copy !req
36. Kill that one first!Copy !req
37. No! No!Copy !req
38. Over there!Copy !req
39. You! Get him!Copy !req
40. The ashes were trampled
into the Earth,Copy !req
41. and the blood became as snow.Copy !req
42. Who knows what they came for?Copy !req
43. Weapons of steel?
Or murder?Copy !req
44. It was never known,
for the leader rode
to the south...Copy !req
45. while children went north
with the Vanir.Copy !req
46. No one would ever know...Copy !req
47. that my lord's people
had lived at all.Copy !req
48. His was a tale of sorrow.Copy !req
49. Sit here.Copy !req
50. Sit here!Copy !req
51. He did not care anymore:Copy !req
52. Life and death, the same.Copy !req
53. Only that the crowd
would be there...Copy !req
54. to greet him with howls
of lust and fury.Copy !req
55. He began to realize
his sense of worth.Copy !req
56. He mattered.Copy !req
57. In time,Copy !req
58. his victories could not
easily be counted.Copy !req
59. He was taken to the East,
a great prize,Copy !req
60. where the warmasters
would teach him
the deepest secrets.Copy !req
61. Hai!Copy !req
62. Language and writing
were made available:Copy !req
63. the poetry of Kitai,
the philosophy of Sung.Copy !req
64. And he also came to know
the pleasures of women...Copy !req
65. when he was bred
to the finest stock.Copy !req
66. But always there remained...Copy !req
67. the discipline of steel.Copy !req
68. My fear is that my sons
will never understand me.Copy !req
69. We've won again!Copy !req
70. This is good,
but what is best in life?Copy !req
71. The open steppe,
a fleet horse,Copy !req
72. falcons at your wrists...Copy !req
73. and the wind in your hair.Copy !req
74. Wrong!Copy !req
75. Conan, what is best
in life?Copy !req
76. To crush your enemies,
see them driven before you...Copy !req
77. and to hear the lamentation
of their women.Copy !req
78. That is good.
That is good.Copy !req
79. Go! Go! You're free!Copy !req
80. Go!Copy !req
81. It has been surmised...Copy !req
82. that perhaps my lord
was like a wild animal...Copy !req
83. that had been kept too long.Copy !req
84. Perhaps.
But whatever, freedom,Copy !req
85. so long an unremembered
dream, was his.Copy !req
86. Crom.Copy !req
87. There's warmth and fire.Copy !req
88. Do you not wish to warm
yourself by my fire?Copy !req
89. They said
you would come.Copy !req
90. From the north,
a man of great strength.Copy !req
91. A conqueror.Copy !req
92. A man who would someday
be king by his own hand.Copy !req
93. - One who would crush
the snakes of the Earth—
- Snakes? Did you say snakes?Copy !req
94. What is it you seek?Copy !req
95. A standard.Copy !req
96. A symbol,
perhaps on a shield.Copy !req
97. Two snakes coming together.Copy !req
98. Facing each other.Copy !req
99. But they're one.Copy !req
100. With... with a sun...Copy !req
101. and a moon below.Copy !req
102. Black sun,
Black moon.Copy !req
103. Yes.Copy !req
104. There's a price,
barbarian.Copy !req
105. Zamora.Copy !req
106. The... crossroads...Copy !req
107. of the world.Copy !req
108. You will...Copy !req
109. find... what...
you want...Copy !req
110. in Zamora.Copy !req
111. Ohh!Copy !req
112. Crom!Copy !req
113. Food.Copy !req
114. Food!Copy !req
115. I have not eaten for days.Copy !req
116. And who says you will?Copy !req
117. Give me food so I have strength
when the wolves come.Copy !req
118. Let me die not in hunger,Copy !req
119. but in combat.Copy !req
120. Who are you?Copy !req
121. I am Subotai,Copy !req
122. thief and archer.Copy !req
123. I am Hyrkanian,
the great order of Kerlait.Copy !req
124. So what are you
doing here?Copy !req
125. Dinner for wolves.Copy !req
126. What gods do you pray to?Copy !req
127. I pray
to the four winds.Copy !req
128. And you?Copy !req
129. To Crom.Copy !req
130. But I seldom pray to him.Copy !req
131. He doesn't listen.Copy !req
132. What good is he, then?Copy !req
133. Ah, it's just
as I've always said.Copy !req
134. He is strong.Copy !req
135. If I die,
I have to go before him,Copy !req
136. and he will ask me,
"What is the riddle of steel?"Copy !req
137. If I don't know it,
he will cast me out
of Valhalla and laugh at me.Copy !req
138. That's Crom.
Strong on his mountain.Copy !req
139. Ah, my god is greater.Copy !req
140. Ha-ha! Crom laughs
at your four winds,Copy !req
141. Laughs from his mountain.Copy !req
142. My god is stronger.Copy !req
143. He is
the everlasting sky.Copy !req
144. Your god lives
underneath him.Copy !req
145. Civilization,Copy !req
146. ancient and wicked.Copy !req
147. Have you ever
seen this before?Copy !req
148. No.
Let's waste no time!Copy !req
149. It's good.
You have no idea
how long it's been there.Copy !req
150. So much meat... stink.Copy !req
151. Does it always
smell like this?Copy !req
152. How does the wind
ever get in here?Copy !req
153. How about two snakes
coming together
over a black sun?Copy !req
154. A magnificent standard.Copy !req
155. The only snakes I know of
are those of Set
and those cursed towers.Copy !req
156. They have spread
to every city.Copy !req
157. Two or three years ago,
it was just another snake cult.
Now, everywhere.Copy !req
158. It is said that
they are deceivers.Copy !req
159. They murder people
in the night.
I know nothing.Copy !req
160. Hey.Copy !req
161. Black lotus.
Stygian, the best.Copy !req
162. This better not be Haga.Copy !req
163. I would sell Haga
to a slayer
such as you?Copy !req
164. A pittance
to protect you
from evil.Copy !req
165. I am evil.Copy !req
166. They're all sluts!Copy !req
167. He's dead already.Copy !req
168. Can you believe that?
Huh?Copy !req
169. Can you b—Copy !req
170. You're too big
to be a thief.Copy !req
171. Come. Let's leave
this place.Copy !req
172. You're looking for snakes.Copy !req
173. They live in
the Tower of the Serpent,Copy !req
174. said to have riches without end
and the greatest jewel of all:Copy !req
175. the Eye of the Serpent.Copy !req
176. Chew it slowly!
It's the good stuff.Copy !req
177. You are not a guard.Copy !req
178. Neither are you.Copy !req
179. We are thieves...
Like yourself.Copy !req
180. We come to climb the tower.Copy !req
181. You don't even have a rope.Copy !req
182. Two fools
who laugh at death.Copy !req
183. Do you know what horrors
lie beyond that wall?Copy !req
184. No.Copy !req
185. Then you go first.Copy !req
186. Ohh! What on Earth
could smell so bad?Copy !req
187. Do you want
to live forever?Copy !req
188. That one.Copy !req
189. He's the High Priest,
second only to Thulsa Doom.Copy !req
190. They say Thulsa Doom's
a thousand years old.Copy !req
191. I'll see what's here.
Go find out what's below.Copy !req
192. Infidels!Copy !req
193. Infidels!Copy !req
194. Ahh! Kill them!Copy !req
195. Do you want to live forever?Copy !req
196. All manner of pleasures
and diversions were indulged.Copy !req
197. Wealth can be wonderful.Copy !req
198. But you know,
success can test one's mettle...Copy !req
199. as surely as
the strongest adversary.Copy !req
200. They were taken to the hall
of King Osric the Usurper,Copy !req
201. once a powerful Northman
like my lord...Copy !req
202. but now old and sotted.Copy !req
203. These are the thieves
you have requested, Sire.Copy !req
204. I thought there were three.Copy !req
205. O-O-Our companion,
he died in the gardens.
Lions ate him.Copy !req
206. Lions ate him?Copy !req
207. The lions ate him.Copy !req
208. Do you know
what you've done?Copy !req
209. Why, Rexor himself
has come before me,
threatened me, a king!Copy !req
210. What daring!
What outrageousness!Copy !req
211. What insolence!
What arrogance!Copy !req
212. I salute you.Copy !req
213. Thulsa Doom.Copy !req
214. I've chafed for years
at this demigod.Copy !req
215. Snakes in my beautiful city.Copy !req
216. To the west:
Nemedia, Aquilonia.Copy !req
217. To the south:
Koth, Stygia, snakes.Copy !req
218. Everywhere
these evil towers.Copy !req
219. You alone have stood up
to their gods.Copy !req
220. And what are you?
Thieves!Copy !req
221. See this?Copy !req
222. They call it the
"Fangs of the Serpent. "Copy !req
223. And this one...Copy !req
224. was thrust into a father's
heart by his very son.Copy !req
225. And my own daughter...Copy !req
226. has fallen under this
Thulsa Doom's spell.Copy !req
227. Is there a dagger
such as this...Copy !req
228. in her hand for me?Copy !req
229. She follows him
as a slave,Copy !req
230. seeking for the truth
of her soul...Copy !req
231. as if I could not
give it to her!Copy !req
232. As we speak...Copy !req
233. my daughter travels east...Copy !req
234. to Thulsa Doom
and his Mountain of Power.Copy !req
235. She is to be his!Copy !req
236. Steal my daughter back.
Take all you can carry.Copy !req
237. There's more.
Much more.Copy !req
238. Enough to become
kings yourselves.Copy !req
239. There comes a time,
thief,Copy !req
240. when the jewels
cease to sparkle,Copy !req
241. when the gold
loses its luster,Copy !req
242. when the throne room
becomes a prison,Copy !req
243. and all that is left...Copy !req
244. is a father's love
for his child.Copy !req
245. To the hell fires
with Thulsa Doom.Copy !req
246. He's evil, a sorcerer
who can summon demons.Copy !req
247. His followers' only purpose
is to die in his service.Copy !req
248. There are thousands
of them.Copy !req
249. This Mountain of Power
where he lives is said
to be impregnable.Copy !req
250. I have talked to Subotai
and he agrees.Copy !req
251. Let's take what we have
while we live.Copy !req
252. I have never had
so much as now.Copy !req
253. All my life
I've been alone.Copy !req
254. Many times I face my death
with no one to know.Copy !req
255. I would look into the huts
and the tents of others
in the coldest dark...Copy !req
256. and I would see figures
holding each other
in the night.Copy !req
257. But I always passed by.Copy !req
258. You and I...Copy !req
259. we have warmth.Copy !req
260. That's so hard to find
in this world.Copy !req
261. Please, let someone else
pass by in the night.Copy !req
262. Let us take the world
by the throat...Copy !req
263. and make it give us
what we desire.Copy !req
264. The children of Doom.Copy !req
265. Doom's children.Copy !req
266. They told my lord the way
to the Mountain of Power.Copy !req
267. They told him
to throw down his sword...Copy !req
268. and return to the earth.Copy !req
269. Hah!Copy !req
270. Time enough for the earth
in the grave.Copy !req
271. Ohhh!Copy !req
272. Once great men lived here.Copy !req
273. Giants, gods.Copy !req
274. Once, but long ago.Copy !req
275. It was here
that I met my master.Copy !req
276. It was no accident.Copy !req
277. Noris it mere chance...Copy !req
278. that I am the teller
of his tale.Copy !req
279. Hey!Copy !req
280. I'm a wizard, mind you.Copy !req
281. This place is kept
by powerful gods...Copy !req
282. and spirits of kings.Copy !req
283. Harm my flesh, and you will
have to deal with the dead.Copy !req
284. Can you summon demons,
wizard?Copy !req
285. Yes!Copy !req
286. If I strike at you,
I would summon the demon...Copy !req
287. more ferocious
than all in hell!Copy !req
288. The mounds have been here
since the time of the Titans.Copy !req
289. Kings buried in them.
Great kings.Copy !req
290. Domains once glittered
like the light on a windy sea.Copy !req
291. Fire won't burn there.
No fire at all.Copy !req
292. That's why I live
down here in the wind.Copy !req
293. Do you care
for these places?
I sing to them.Copy !req
294. On nights
when they wish...Copy !req
295. I sing of the tales
of battles,Copy !req
296. heroes, witches
and women.Copy !req
297. Nobody bothers me
down here.Copy !req
298. Not even... Thulsa Doom.Copy !req
299. Do flowers grow
around here?Copy !req
300. Flowers?Copy !req
301. Flowers.Copy !req
302. You've not come here
as a pilgrim, have you?Copy !req
303. Oil the sword
and feed the horse.Copy !req
304. Have you ever ridden
one of those things before?Copy !req
305. No!Copy !req
306. Warrior!
What are the flowers for?Copy !req
307. For a girl.Copy !req
308. Doom, doom, doom, doomCopy !req
309. DoomCopy !req
310. DoomCopy !req
311. DoomCopy !req
312. Where do you think
you're going, brother?Copy !req
313. I'm afraid.Copy !req
314. Afraid?
To bare yourself?Copy !req
315. Why?Copy !req
316. You're so big
and so well grown.Copy !req
317. You should be proud
of your body.Copy !req
318. How do you expect
to reach emptiness...Copy !req
319. without knowing
your own body?Copy !req
320. Could we talk
over there...Copy !req
321. where the others
do not see?Copy !req
322. Why, yes, brother.Copy !req
323. Of course.Copy !req
324. I'm afraid and I'm shy.Copy !req
325. Is this, uh, your robe?
A priest's robe?Copy !req
326. Yes, it's all I have.Copy !req
327. Good.Copy !req
328. That's all you'll ever need.Copy !req
329. Brother.Copy !req
330. What do you see?Copy !req
331. Uh, infinity.Copy !req
332. Good.Copy !req
333. I see you.Copy !req
334. I have watched you.Copy !req
335. For a thousand years
I have watched you.Copy !req
336. Doom!Copy !req
337. Doom!Copy !req
338. Doom!Copy !req
339. Doom!Copy !req
340. Who among you
still fears death?Copy !req
341. Who will not face
emptiness?Copy !req
342. Infidel!Copy !req
343. I wish to speak
to you now.Copy !req
344. Where is the
Eye of the Serpent?Copy !req
345. Rexor says that you
gave it to a girl.Copy !req
346. Probably for a mere
night's pleasure.Copy !req
347. What a loss.Copy !req
348. People have no grasp
of what they do.Copy !req
349. You broke into my house,
stole my property,Copy !req
350. murdered my servants
and my pets.Copy !req
351. And that is what
grieves me the most!Copy !req
352. You killed my snake.Copy !req
353. Thorgen is beside himself
with grief.Copy !req
354. He raised that snake
from the time it wasborn.Copy !req
355. You killed my mother!Copy !req
356. You killed my father!
You killed my people!Copy !req
357. You took my father's sword.Copy !req
358. Ah.Copy !req
359. It must have been
when I was younger.Copy !req
360. There was a time, boy,
when I searched for steel,Copy !req
361. when steel meant more to me
than gold or jewels.Copy !req
362. The riddle... of steel.Copy !req
363. Yes.Copy !req
364. You know what it is,
don't you, boy?Copy !req
365. Shall I tell you?
It's the least I can do.Copy !req
366. Steel isn't strong, boy.Copy !req
367. Flesh is stronger.
Look around you, here.Copy !req
368. There, on the rocks.Copy !req
369. That beautiful girl.Copy !req
370. Come to me, my child.Copy !req
371. That is strength, boy.Copy !req
372. That is power.Copy !req
373. The strength and power
of flesh.Copy !req
374. What is steel compared to
the hand that wields it?Copy !req
375. Look at the strength of your
body, the desire in your heart.Copy !req
376. I gave you this.Copy !req
377. Such a waste.Copy !req
378. Contemplate this
on the Tree of Woe.Copy !req
379. Crucify him.Copy !req
380. He said you were a wizard.Copy !req
381. Do the gods
owe you any favors?Copy !req
382. Yeah.Copy !req
383. There are dangers.Copy !req
384. But I see you care
little for those.Copy !req
385. The spirits of this place
extract a heavy toll.Copy !req
386. Then I will pay them.Copy !req
387. Drink.Copy !req
388. Drink.Copy !req
389. Sometime soon,
perhaps tonight...Copy !req
390. they'll try to take him,
and if they succeed—Copy !req
391. If they succeed,
you'll follow.Copy !req
392. No! No!Copy !req
393. Stop! Stop!Copy !req
394. Stop! No!Copy !req
395. Stop! Stop!Copy !req
396. They're gone!Copy !req
397. They're gone!Copy !req
398. All the gods,
they cannot sever us.Copy !req
399. If I were dead, and you were
still fighting for life,
I'd come back for you.Copy !req
400. Back from the pit of hell
to fight at your side.Copy !req
401. The old man says
the Mountain of Power
is hollow.Copy !req
402. Thulsa Doom
lives in the mountain.Copy !req
403. What else does he say?Copy !req
404. That in the back of the mountain
there's a gorge.Copy !req
405. Many caves.Copy !req
406. Good thief could get in there.
Steal the princess.Copy !req
407. Be off before she's missed
in the darkness.Copy !req
408. Good thieves could do that,
but not vengeful ones.Copy !req
409. Only the girl.
We kill Thulsa Doom another day.Copy !req
410. Agreed?Copy !req
411. Conan?Copy !req
412. So this is paradise.Copy !req
413. Princess.Copy !req
414. Yee-aah!
Uuh!Copy !req
415. Yee-uuh!Copy !req
416. Get them!Copy !req
417. Come on!Copy !req
418. You.Copy !req
419. Yee-ah!Copy !req
420. Help him.Copy !req
421. Infidel defilers.Copy !req
422. They should all drown
in lakes of blood.Copy !req
423. Now they will know why
they are afraid of the dark.Copy !req
424. Now they will learn
why they fear the night.Copy !req
425. Seek.Copy !req
426. Uuh!Copy !req
427. The Wizard— I told him
I would pay the gods.Copy !req
428. Hold me.Copy !req
429. Kiss me.Copy !req
430. Kiss me.Copy !req
431. Let me breathe my last breath
into your mouth.Copy !req
432. I'm so cold.Copy !req
433. So cold.Copy !req
434. Keep... me...Copy !req
435. warm.Copy !req
436. Keep...Copy !req
437. me... warm.Copy !req
438. Hey. Fire won't burn
up there. No fire at all.Copy !req
439. Why do you cry?Copy !req
440. He is Conan. Cimmerian.Copy !req
441. He won't cry...Copy !req
442. so I cry for him.Copy !req
443. He will kill you!
He has seen your fires.Copy !req
444. He will come for me,
and when he does
he will kill you!Copy !req
445. I remember days like this,
when my father
took me to the forest...Copy !req
446. and we ate
wild blueberries.Copy !req
447. More than
20 years ago.Copy !req
448. I was just a boy
of four or five.Copy !req
449. The leaves
were so dark
and green then.Copy !req
450. The grass
smelled sweet
with the spring wind.Copy !req
451. Almost 20 years
of pitiless combat!Copy !req
452. No rest!
No sleep
like other men!Copy !req
453. And yet the spring wind
blows, Subotai.Copy !req
454. Have you ever felt
such a wind?Copy !req
455. They blow
where I live too.Copy !req
456. In the north
of every man's heart.Copy !req
457. It's never too late,
Subotai.Copy !req
458. No!Copy !req
459. It would only
lead me back here
another day.Copy !req
460. In even worse company.Copy !req
461. For us there is
no spring—Copy !req
462. just the wind
that smells fresh
before the storm.Copy !req
463. Hey, old man.
Where'd you get
this stuff?Copy !req
464. The dead. Our gods
are pleased with you.Copy !req
465. No.
Well, then tell them
to stay out of the way!Copy !req
466. Crom.Copy !req
467. I've never prayed to you before.
I have no tongue for it.Copy !req
468. No one,
not even you will remember...Copy !req
469. if we were good men
or bad.Copy !req
470. Why we fought
or why we died. No.Copy !req
471. All that matters
is that two stood against many.Copy !req
472. That's what's important.Copy !req
473. Valor pleases you, Crom,
so grant me one request.Copy !req
474. Grant me revenge.Copy !req
475. And if you do not listen,
then the hell with you!Copy !req
476. Aghh!Copy !req
477. Hey-ya! Heh!Copy !req
478. Yah!Copy !req
479. Yee-ee-ee-ah!Copy !req
480. Aaah!Copy !req
481. Yaah! Yaah!Copy !req
482. Aaa-aaa-aah!Copy !req
483. That's how we do it!
I did it with my
spear! Aha!Copy !req
484. Do you want
to live forever?Copy !req
485. Doom!Copy !req
486. Don't leave me!
My Lord!Copy !req
487. No, don't kill me!Copy !req
488. Father!Copy !req
489. Aaah!Copy !req
490. Ah!Copy !req
491. Yuck! Ecch!Copy !req
492. Doom! Doom!Copy !req
493. Purging is at last at hand.
Day of Doom is here.Copy !req
494. All that is evil:
all their allies.Copy !req
495. Your parents,
your leaders:Copy !req
496. those who would call them selves
your judges.Copy !req
497. Those who have lied...Copy !req
498. and corrupted the Earth.Copy !req
499. They shall all be cleansed.Copy !req
500. Doom!Copy !req
501. You, my children,
are the water...Copy !req
502. that will wash away
all that has gone before.Copy !req
503. In your hand
you hold my light.Copy !req
504. The gleam
in the eye of Set.Copy !req
505. This flame will burn away
the darkness;Copy !req
506. burn you the way
to paradise!Copy !req
507. Doom! Doom!Copy !req
508. My child.Copy !req
509. You have come to me,
my son.Copy !req
510. For who now is your father
if it is not me?Copy !req
511. Who gave you
the will to live?Copy !req
512. I am the well spring
from which you flow.Copy !req
513. When I am gone,
you will have never been.Copy !req
514. What will your world be
without me...Copy !req
515. my son?Copy !req