Conan The Indomitable by Steve Perry Page A

cheap enough. If all of the bats were as gullible as Red, the transaction
would be as smooth as a looking glass. They could be easily bluffed and tricked;
Zate’s skill with a pike, for instance, was such that he would be most lucky to
hit a man-sized target at two paces, much less a flying bat at five times that
distance. Pikes were not meant to be thrown; it would take a stronger man than
Zate to manage such a task.
     
    “This river seems to go on forever,” Elashi said.
    “Aye,” Conan responded. “And it seems also to be curving to
our right.”
    “Best hope we come to a stopping point soon,” Tull said.
“Look.”
    Conan and Elashi followed the direction of Tull’s pointing finger. Conan saw
what the man meant immediately, although Elashi did not. “What?” she
asked. “I see nothing amiss.”
    “The fish rides lower in the water,” Conan said. “Observe
the’steps’ I cut out.”
    Indeed, it was obvious that their boat was sinking, albeit slowly; several
of the steps nearest the edges of the great fish were under the water.
    “Why is it doing that?” Elashi asked.
    Conan shrugged. He knew little of such things.
    Tull said, “Perhaps other fishy predators were at the bottom during the
night. Or perhaps our mount is becoming waterlogged.”
    “Can we do anything about it?”
    “Find a good spot to start walking, I should think,” Tull said.
“Although we can probably get another day or two out of it before it goes
under for good.”
     
    An hour later Conan shook his head. “I like
this not,” he said.
    “What now?” Elashi asked.
    “We have turned almost back in the same direction whence we came.”
    “I see no signs of that. How can you know this?”
    Conan shrugged again. He had an innate sense of direction, had had it as
long as he could remember. It was possible for him to get lost, of course, but
some inner guide usually oriented him quickly, no matter what the surroundings.
    “Well, it does not really matter, does it? Anyone following us will
have to take the same waterway. So it loops and twists a bit, so much the
better—we shall be harder to find and see for that.”
    Conan did not speak to this. Perhaps Elashi was right. He had no logical
reason to feel trepidatious; still, some atavistic sense stirred within him,
and he prepared himself for the worst.
     
    Rey was surprised as he entered the breeding cave of the Bloodbats: the
place was virtually empty. Well, of living things, in any event. The floor
showed signs of a fairly active stour : the dessicated
bodies of several Blind Whites and men lay strewn carelessly about, as well as
a number of slain bats. Hmm. It seemed that his prey
had passed this way. But… where were the bats who normally clung to the walls and ceilings? There were only a few of them dead
upon the floor, and the wizard could not imagine the remainder abandoning their
cave over such trifles. A little blood never bothered the bats.
    Rey laughed, amused by his own joke. Blood did not bother the bats. That was
a good jest! He would have spoken it aloud, but he realized that his escort of cyclopes would likely see little humor in it. Stupid
creatures, one and all, and fit only for thralls.
    Yes, well, that was all fine and good, but he had business to which he must
attend. The bats had obviously gotten off somewhere to do something, and he
would likely discover that purpose eventually. Besides, that was not the
primary reason for his trip by any means. No, and the presence in the cave of
dead men other than those he sought did not seem a benevolent augury. One had
to wonder who they were and how they had gotten here, and in what way were they
connected to the ones Rey sought. That a connection existed he doubted not at
all. He had not lived as long as he had by trusting coincidence any farther than
he could pitch a cyclops one handedly.
    Rey waved, and the pair of cyclopian chair-carriers bent and lifted his
sedan from the ground. Well, he would get to the root