Conan The Freelance by Steve Perry Page A

by humans, there were also others of his own kind here and there, and all paid obeisance to He Who Creates. Once he reached the Sargasso, he could Change and wend his way through the weed paths to the underwater castle entrance, the talisman held safely in his teeth. There were creatures in the weed who would challenge even a Changed selkie, but not many, and none who could catch one in open water. Yes. A few more hours and he would be in the clear.
    As darkness painted the earth with her colors of gray and black, Kleg ran, calling on all his strength and speed. He could rest when he got home; to tarry now would mean death.
    When it was determined that Conan and the human boy were nowhere to be found inside the caves, Thayla assembled a dozen of the remaining males into a tracking force.
    “We must find the escaped man and boy,” she said. “It is most important.”
    Some of the males snickered at this, but Thayla cut their laughter short with a baleful stare. “Should they not be caught, I shall explain to the king that you allowed them to escape.
    The dozen young males became serious. She knew what they would be thinking: whatever else happened, she was the queen, and she had the king firmly gripped where a male was most sensitive. If it came to it, whom was he more likely to believe?
    Very serious indeed.
    “I shall lead this expedition myself,” she said. Thayla allowed a moment for this to sink in, a female leading males, but if there were any objections, no one voiced them. She could not trust them to return and tell her that Conan had been slain; she had to see it for herself.
    “Let us depart, then,” the Queen of the Pili said.
    And depart they did.
    Deep in his strong room, Dimma had a sudden premonition. His Prime servant was somehow in danger.
    Dimma willed himself toward the door. He could move slowly in this fashion, though even a stray breeze could divert him. He felt that if Kleg were dead, he would know it, and it did not seem that such was the case; still, if Kleg had obtained the prize he sought, he must return with it. To that end, Dimma could send other of his thralls to ensure that if Kleg had collected the magic Seed, he would be certain to finish the remainder of his journey, albeit he might not be alive to do it. The life of one selkie meant nothing, even if the selkie did happen to be the Prime. There were always others who could be elevated to that position.
    All who served Dimma knew the penalty for failure and it would not do to allow any to forget it, even for an instant. One could not have too many examples made to remind all of such things. If Kleg had failed, whatever remained of his corpse would be hung where all could see. If he accomplished his labor, then he would be sent to the deep with honor, his reputation secure. What else could he wish for other than the thanks of his god?

Chapter Eleven
    Conan and Hok had not run far when they noticed pursuit.’ Conan made to draw his sword, then stopped.
    “Hold here,” the Cimmerian said.
    A party of about ten figures came toward them, and as they drew nearer, Hok’s face broke into a wide smile.
    “Cheen!”
    Indeed, as Conan had seen, the followers were of the Tree Folk.
    A few moments later, the group arrived. Cheen hugged her brother, and there were smiles all around.
    Cheen clasped Conan tightly. “Thank you, Conan, for saving my brother!”
    Despite his recent encounter with the lizard queen, Conan felt himself warm to Cheen’s embrace. Conan’s own arms seemed to surround the woman unbidden by thought.
    Cheen moved from Conan’s embrace to look up into his face. “We were trying to devise a way into the Pili’s mound when we saw you and Hok flee. How did you manage it?”
    “The queen took him away,” the boy said before Conan could speak. “He won’t tell me how he did it, but they were gone a long time and-“
    “I shall explain it all later;” Conan interrupted hastily. “Now it would be best if we