"L. Sprague De Camp - Conan 26 - The Castle of Terror" - читать интересную книгу автора (De Camp L Sprague)
The Castle of Terror
Before he can bring off his plans for building a black, empire with himself at its head, Conan is thwarted
by a succession of natural catastrophes and the intrigues of his enemies among the Bamulas, many of
whom resent the rise to power in their tribe of a foreigner, forced to flee, he heads north through the
equatorial jungle and across the grassy veldt toward the semicivilized kingdom of Kush.
1. Burning Eyes
BEYOND THE trackless deserts of Stygia lay the vast grasslands of Kush. For over a hundred leagues,
there was' naught but endless stretches of thick grass. Here and there a solitary tree rose to break the
gently rolling monotony of the veldt: spiny acacias, sword-leaved dragon, trees, emerald-spired lobelias,
and thick fingered, poisonous spurges. Now and then a rare stream cut a shallow dell across the prairie,
giving rise to a narrow gallery forest along its banks. Herds of zebra, antelope, buffalo, and other
denizens of the savanna drifted athwart the veldt, grazing as they went
The grasses whispered and nodded in the wandering winds beneath skies of deep cobalt in which a fierce
tropical sun blazed blindingly. Now and then clouds boiled up; a brief thunderstorm roared and blazed
with catastrophic fury, only to die and clear as quickly as it had arisen.
Across this limitless waste, as the day died, a lone silent figure trudged. It was a young giant, strongly
built, with eliding thews that swelled under a sun-bronzed hide scored with the white traces of old
wounds. Deep of chest and broad of shoulder and long of limb was he; his scanty costume of loincloth
and sandals revealed his magnificent physique. His chest, shoulders, and back were burnt nearly as black
as the natives of this land. The tangled locks of an unkempt mane of coarse black hair framed a grim,
to side as he marched with a limber, tireless stride across the level lands. His wary gaze pierced the
thick, shadowy grasses on either side, reddened by the angry crimson of sunset. Soon night would come
swiftly across Kush; under the gloom of its world-shadowing wings, danger and death would prowl the
waste.
Yet the lone traveler, Conan of Cimmeria, was not afraid. A barbarian of barbarians, bred on the bleak
hills of distant Cimmeria, the iron endurance and fierce vitality of the wild were his, granting him
survival where civilized men, though more learned, more courteous, and more sophisticated than he,
would miserably have perished. Although the wanderer had gone afoot for eight days, with no food save
the game he had slain with the great Bamula hunting bow slung across his back, the mighty barbarian
had nowhere nearly approached the limits of his strength.
Long had Conan been accustomed to the Spartan life of the wilderness. Although he had tasted the
languid luxuries of civilized life in half the walled, glittering cities of the world, he missed them not. He
plodded on toward the distant horizon, now obscured by a murky purple haze.
Behind him lay the dense jungles of the black lands beyond Kush, where fantastic orchids blazed amid
foliage his way for many weary leagues northward, until he reached the region where the crowding
forest thinned out and gave way to the open grasslands. Now he meant to cross Ac savanna on foot to
reach the kingdom of Kush, where his barbaric strength and the weight of his sword might find him
employment in the service of the dusky monarchs of that ancient land.
Suddenly his thoughts were snatched away from contemplation of the past by a thrill of danger. Some
primal instinct of survival alerted him to the presence of peril. He halted and stared about him through
the long shadows cast by the setting sun. As the hairs of his nape bristled with the touch of unseen
file:///H|/eMule/Incoming/Conan%20026.2%20-%20The...%20L%20Sprague%20de%20Camp%20&%20Lin%20Carter.txt (1 of 10)14-8-2005 23:54:33
file:///H|/eMule/Incoming/Conan%20026.2%20-%20The%20Castle%20of%20Terror%20-%20L%20Sprague%20de%20Camp%20&%20Lin%20Carter.txt
| © 2025 Библиотека RealLib.org (support [a t] reallib.org) |