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