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04 - Jewels of Gwahlur by Robert E. Howard · Jewels of Gwahlur

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Speaker 1: Chapter four of Jewels of Gwalor by Robert Howard. This
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Speaker 1: LibriVox recording is in the public domain. Chapter four, The
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Speaker 1: Teeth of Gwaler baffled Wrath confused the brain of Conan
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Speaker 1: the Sumerian. He knew no more how to go about
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Speaker 1: searching for Muriella than he had known how to go
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Speaker 1: about searching for the Teeth of Gwaler. Only one thought
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Speaker 1: occurred to him, to follow the priests. Perhaps at the
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Speaker 1: hiding place of the treasure, some clue would be revealed
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Speaker 1: to him. It was a slim chance, but better than
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Speaker 1: wandering about aimlessly. As he hurried through the great shadowy
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Speaker 1: hall that led to the portico, he half expected the
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Speaker 1: lurking shades to come to life behind him with rending
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Speaker 1: fangs and talons, But only the beat of his own
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Speaker 1: rapid heart accompanied him into the moonlight that dappled the
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Speaker 1: shammering marble at the foot of the wide steps. He
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Speaker 1: cast about in the bright moonlight for some sign to
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Speaker 1: show him the direction he must go, and he found it.
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Speaker 1: Petals scattered on the sward told where an arm or
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Speaker 1: garment had brushed against a blossom laden branch. Grass had
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Speaker 1: been pressed down under heavy feet. Konan, who had tracked
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Speaker 1: wolves in his native hills, found no insurmountable difficulty in
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Speaker 1: following the trail of the Kishane priests. It led away
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Speaker 1: from the palace through masses of exotic scented shrubbery, where
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Speaker 1: great pale blossoms spread their shimmering petals, through verdant, tangled
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Speaker 1: bushes that showered blooms at the touch, until he came
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Speaker 1: at last to a great mass of rock that jutted
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Speaker 1: like a titan's castle out from the cliffs, at a
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Speaker 1: point closest to the palace, which however, was almost hidden
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Speaker 1: from view by vine interlaced trees. Evidently that babbling priest
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Speaker 1: in Keshia had been mistaken when he said that the
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Speaker 1: teeth were hidden in the palace. This trail had led
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Speaker 1: him away from the place where Muriella had disappeared. But
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Speaker 1: a belief was growing in Conan that each part of
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Speaker 1: the valley was connected with that palace by subterranean passages.
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Speaker 1: Crouching in the deep velvet black shadows of the bushes,
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Speaker 1: he scrutinized the great jut of rock, which stood out
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Speaker 1: in bold relief in the moonlight. It was covered with strange,
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Speaker 1: grotesque carvings depicting men and animals and half beesteal creatures
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Speaker 1: that might have been gods or devils. The style of
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Speaker 1: art differed so strikingly from that of the rest of
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Speaker 1: the valley that Conan wondered if it did not represent
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Speaker 1: a different era and race, and was itself a relic
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Speaker 1: of an age lost and forgotten. At whatever immeasurably distant
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Speaker 1: date the people of alk Minon had found and entered
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Speaker 1: the haunted valley, a great door stood open in the
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Speaker 1: sheer curtain of the cliff, and a gigantic dragon head
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Speaker 1: was carved about it, so that the open door was
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Speaker 1: like the dragon's gaping mouth. The door itself was of
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Speaker 1: carbon bronze and looked away several tons. There was no
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Speaker 1: lock that he could see, but a series of bolts
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Speaker 1: showing along the edge of a massive portal as it
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Speaker 1: stood open, told him that there was some system of
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Speaker 1: locking and unlocking, a system doubtless known only to the
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Speaker 1: priests of Kishan. The trail showed that Gorulga and his
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Speaker 1: henchmen had gone through that door, but Konan, hesitated to
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Speaker 1: wait until they emerged, would probably mean to see the
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Speaker 1: door locked in his face, and he might not be
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Speaker 1: able to solve the mystery of its unlocking. On the
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Speaker 1: other hand, if he followed them in, they might emerge
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Speaker 1: and lock him in the cavern. Throwing caution to the winds,
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Speaker 1: he glided silently through the great portal. Somewhere in the
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Speaker 1: cavern were the priests, the teeth of Gualorer, and perhaps
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Speaker 1: a clue to the fate of Muriella. Personal risks had
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Speaker 1: never yet deterred the Samaran from any purpose. Moonlight illumined
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Speaker 1: for a few yards the wide tunnel in which he
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Speaker 1: found himself. Somewhere ahead of him, he saw a faint
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Speaker 1: glow and heard the echo of a weird chanting. The
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Speaker 1: priests were not so far ahead of him as he
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Speaker 1: had thought. The tunnel debouched into a wide room. Before
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Speaker 1: the moonlight played out an empty cavern of no great dimensions,
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Speaker 1: but with a lofty vaulted roof, glowing with a phosphorescent incrustation, which,
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Speaker 1: as Conan knew was a common phenomenon in that part
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Speaker 1: of the world. Made a ghostly half light in which
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Speaker 1: he was able to see a beef steel image squatting
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Speaker 1: on a shrine at the black mouths of six or
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Speaker 1: seven tunnels leading off from the chamber. Down the widest
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Speaker 1: of these, the one directly behind the squat image, which
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Speaker 1: looked toward the outer opening. He caught the gleam of
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Speaker 1: torches wavering whereas the phosphorescent glow was fixed, and heard
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Speaker 1: the chanting increase in volume. Down it, he went recklessly
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Speaker 1: and presently peered into a larger cavern than the one
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Speaker 1: he had just left. There was no phosphorus here, but
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Speaker 1: the light of the torches fell on a larger altar
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Speaker 1: and a more obscene and repulsive god, squatting toad like
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Speaker 1: upon it. Before this repugnant deity, Gorulga and his tin
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Speaker 1: acolytes knelt and beat their heads upon the ground while
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Speaker 1: chanting monotonously. Conan realized why their progress had been so slow,
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Speaker 1: Evidently approaching the secret crypt of the teeth was a
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Speaker 1: complicated and elaborate ritual. He was fidgeting in nervous impatience
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Speaker 1: before the chanting and bowing were over. But presently they
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Speaker 1: rose and passed into the tunnel which opened behind the idol.
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Speaker 1: Their torches bobbed away into the nighted vault, and he
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Speaker 1: followed swiftly, not much danger of being discovered. He glided
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Speaker 1: along the shadows like a creature of the night, and
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Speaker 1: the Black priests were completely engrossed in their ceremonial mummery.
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Speaker 1: Apparently they had not even noticed the absence of Warunga
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Speaker 1: emerging into a cavern of huge proportions, about whose upward
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Speaker 1: curving walls gallery like ledges. Marched in tears, they began
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Speaker 1: their worship anew before an altar which was larger, and
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Speaker 1: a god which was more disgusting than any encounter thus
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Speaker 1: far Conan crouched in the black mouth of the tunnel,
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Speaker 1: staring at the walls. Reflecting the lurid glow of the torches,
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Speaker 1: he saw a carbon stone stair winding up from tier
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Speaker 1: to tier of the galleries. The roof was lost in darkness.
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Speaker 1: He started it violently, and the chanting broke off. As
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Speaker 1: the kneeling Blacks flung up their heads, an inhuman voice
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Speaker 1: boomed out high above them. They froze on their knees,
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Speaker 1: their faces turned upward with a ghastly blue hue in
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Speaker 1: the sudden glare of a weary light that burst blindingly
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Speaker 1: up near the lofty roof and then burned with a
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Speaker 1: throbbing glow. That glare lighted a gallery, and a cry
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Speaker 1: went up from the high priest, echoed shudderingly by his acolytes.
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Speaker 1: In the flash, there had been briefly disclosed to them
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Speaker 1: a slim, white figure standing upright in a sheen of
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Speaker 1: silk and a glint of jewel crusted gold. Then the
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Speaker 1: blaze smoldered to a throbbing, pulsing luminosity in which nothing
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Speaker 1: was distinct, and that slim shape was but a shimmering
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Speaker 1: blue of ivory. Ye Liah, screamed Garulga. His brown feature's ashen.
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Speaker 1: Why have you followed us? What is your pleasure? That weird,
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Speaker 1: unhuman voice rolled down from the roof, re echoing under
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Speaker 1: that arching vault that magnified and altered it beyond recognition.
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Speaker 2: Woe to the unbelievers, Woe to the false children of Cashiah,
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Speaker 2: Doom to them which deny their deity.
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Speaker 1: A cry of horror went up from the priests. Gorulga
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Speaker 1: looked like a shocked vulture in the glare of the torches.
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Speaker 1: I do not understand, he stammered, We are faithful in
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Speaker 1: the chamber of the oracle. You told us.
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Speaker 3: Do not heed what you heard in the chamber.
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Speaker 1: Of the oracle.
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Speaker 2: Roll.
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Speaker 1: That terrible voice multiplied until it was as though a
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Speaker 1: myriad voice is thundered and muttered the same warning.
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Speaker 3: Beware false prophets and false gods. A demon in my
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Speaker 3: guys spoke to you in the palace giving false prophecy.
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Speaker 3: Now hearken and obey, for only I am am the
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Speaker 3: true goddess, and I give you one chance to save
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Speaker 3: yourselves from doom.
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Speaker 4: Take the teeth of Gwalor from the crypt where they
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Speaker 4: were placed so long ago. Alcmenon is no longer holy
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Speaker 4: because it has been desecrated by blasphemer. Give the teeth
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Speaker 4: of Gualor into the hands of Tutmerkri, the Stygion, to
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Speaker 4: place in the sanctuary of Dragon and der Quito. Only
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Speaker 4: this can save Kishon from the doom the demons of
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Speaker 4: the night have plotted. Take the teeth of Gwalor and
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Speaker 4: go return instantly to Kishia. There, give the jewels to
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Speaker 4: thut Mercury and seize the foreign devil Conan and flay
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Speaker 4: him alive. In the great square, there was no hesitation
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Speaker 4: in Obeyingtering with fear, the priests scrambled up and ran
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Speaker 4: for the door that opened behind the beastial god Gorulga
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Speaker 4: led the flight. They jammed briefly in the doorway, yelping
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Speaker 4: as wildly waving torches touched squamy, black bodies. They plunged through,
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Speaker 4: and the patter of their speeding feet dwindled down the tunnel.
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Speaker 4: Knan did not follow. He was consumed with a furious
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Speaker 4: desire to learn the truth of this fantastic affair. Was
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Speaker 4: that indeed? Yelayah, as the coal.
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Speaker 1: Swept on the backs of his hands, told him, how
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Speaker 1: was it that little hussy Muriella turned traitorous after all?
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Speaker 1: If it was before the last torch had vanished down
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Speaker 1: the black tunnel, he was bounding vengefully up the stone stair.
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Speaker 1: The blue glow was dying down, but he could still
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Speaker 1: make out that the ivory figure stood motionless on the gallery.
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Speaker 1: His blood ran cold as he approached it, but he
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Speaker 1: did not hesitate. He came on with his sword lifted
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Speaker 1: and towered like a thread of death over the inscrutable
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Speaker 1: shape Ye Liah. He snarled, dead as she's been for
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Speaker 1: a thousand years from the dark mouth of a tunnel.
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Speaker 1: Behind him, a dark form lunged, but the sudden, deadly
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Speaker 1: rush of unshod feet had reached the Samerian's quick ears,
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Speaker 1: he whirled like a cat and died to the blow,
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Speaker 1: aimed murderously at its back. As the gleaming steel in
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Speaker 1: the dark hand hissed past him. He shruck back with
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Speaker 1: the fury of a roused python, and the long straight
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Speaker 1: blade impaled his assailant and stood out a foot and
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Speaker 1: a half between his shoulders. So Conan tore his sword free.
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Speaker 1: As the victim sagged to the floor, gasping and gurgling.
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Speaker 1: The man writhed briefly in In the dying light, Conan
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Speaker 1: saw a black body and ebon countenance hideous in the
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Speaker 1: blue glare. He had killed Waroonga. Conan turned from the
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Speaker 1: corpse to the goddess. Thongs about her knees and breast
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Speaker 1: held her upright against a stone pillar, and her thick
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Speaker 1: hair fastened to the column held her head up at
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Speaker 1: a few yards distance. These bonds were not visible in
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Speaker 1: the uncertain light. He must have come to after I
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Speaker 1: descended into the tunnel, muttered Conan. He must have suspected
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Speaker 1: I was down there, so he pulled out the dagger.
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Speaker 1: Conan stooped and wrenched the identical weapon from the stiffened fingers,
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Speaker 1: glanced at it and replaced it in his own girdle
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Speaker 1: and shut the door. Then he took Yelaijah to befooled
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Speaker 1: his brother idiots. That was he shouting a while ago.
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Speaker 1: You couldn't recognize his voice under this echoing roof, and
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Speaker 1: that bursting blue flame. I thought it looked familiar. It's
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Speaker 1: a trick of the Stygian priests. But Mercury must have
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Speaker 1: given some of it to Guarunga. He could easily have
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Speaker 1: reached this cavern aheut of his companions, evidently familiar with
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Speaker 1: the plan of the caverns by hearsay or by maps
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Speaker 1: handed down in the priest's craft. He had entered the
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Speaker 1: cave after the others carrying the goddess, followed a circuitous
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Speaker 1: route through the tunnels and chambers, and ensconced himself and
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Speaker 1: his burden on the balcony while Gorulga and the other
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Speaker 1: acolytes were engaged in their endless rituals. The blue glare
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Speaker 1: had faded, but now Conan was aware of another glow
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Speaker 1: emanating from the mouth of one of the corridors that
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Speaker 1: opened on the ledge. Somewhere down that corridor there was
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Speaker 1: another field of phosphorus, for he recognized the faint, steady
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Speaker 1: radiance the corridor let in the direction the priests had taken,
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Speaker 1: and he decided to follow it rather than descend into
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Speaker 1: the darkness of the great cavern below. Doubtless it connected
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Speaker 1: with another gallery in some other chamber, which might be
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Speaker 1: the destination of the priests. He hurried down it, the
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Speaker 1: illumination growing stronger as he advanced, until he could make
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Speaker 1: out the floor and the walls of the tunnel ahead
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Speaker 1: of him, and below he could hear the priests chanting again. Abruptly,
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Speaker 1: a door away in the left hand wall was limed
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Speaker 1: in the phosphorus glow, and to his ears came the
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Speaker 1: sound of soft, hysterical sobbing. He wheeled and glared through
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Speaker 1: the door. He was looking again into a chamber hewn
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Speaker 1: out of solid rock, not a natural cavern like the others.
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Speaker 1: The dome proof shone with the phosphorus light, and the
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Speaker 1: walls were almost covered with the arabesques of beaten gold.
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Speaker 1: Near the farther wall, on a granite throne, staring forever
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Speaker 1: toward the arched doorway, sat the monstrous and obscene Pettiar,
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Speaker 1: the god of the palistim wrought in brass with his
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Speaker 1: exaggerated attributes reflecting the grossness of his cult, and in
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Speaker 1: his lap sprawled a limp white figure. Well, I'll be damned,
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Speaker 1: muttered Conan. He glanced suspiciously about the chamber, seeing no
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Speaker 1: other entrance or evidence of occupation, and then advanced noiselessly
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Speaker 1: and looked down at the girl, whose slim shoulders shook
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Speaker 1: with sobs of abject misery, her face sunk in her
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Speaker 1: arms from thick bands of gold on the idol's arms,
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Speaker 1: slim gold chains ran to the smaller bands on her wrists.
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Speaker 1: He laid a hand on her naked shoulder, and she
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Speaker 1: started convulsively shriek and twisted her tear stained face toward
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Speaker 1: him Conan. She made a spasmodic effort to go into
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Speaker 1: the usual clinch, but the chains hindered her. He cut
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Speaker 1: through the soft gold as close to her wrists as
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Speaker 1: he could, grunting, You'll have to wear these bracelets until
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Speaker 1: I can find a chisel or a phile.
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Speaker 3: Let go of me.
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Speaker 1: Damn it, you actresses are too damned emotional. What happened
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Speaker 1: to you? Anyway? When I went back into the oracle chamber,
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Speaker 1: she whimpered. I saw the goddess lying of the dais
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Speaker 1: as i'd first seen her. I called out to you
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Speaker 1: and started to run to the door. Then something grabbed
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Speaker 1: me from behind. He clapped a hand over my mouth
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Speaker 1: and carried me through a panel in the wall and
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Speaker 1: down some steps and along a dark hall. I didn't
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Speaker 1: see what it was that had hold of me until
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Speaker 1: we passed through a big metal door and came into
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Speaker 1: a tunnel whose roof was a light like this chamber. Oh.
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Speaker 1: I nearly fainted when I saw They're not humans. They
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Speaker 1: are gray, hairy devils that walk like men and speak
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Speaker 1: a gibberish no human could understand. They stood there and
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Speaker 1: seemed to be waiting, and once I thought I heard
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Speaker 1: somebody trying the door. Then one of the things pulled
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Speaker 1: a metal lever in the wall, and something crashed on
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Speaker 1: the other side of the door. Then they carried me
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Speaker 1: on and on through winding tunnels and up stone stairways
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Speaker 1: into this chamber, where they chained me on the knees
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Speaker 1: of this abominable idol. And then they went away. Oh, Konan,
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Speaker 1: what are they servants of beat yakin? He grunted. I
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Speaker 1: found a manuscript that told me a number of things,
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Speaker 1: and then stumbled upon some frescoes that told me the rest.
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Speaker 1: Beat Yaquin was a polished him who wandered into the
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Speaker 1: valley with his servants after the people of Alcmenon had
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Speaker 1: deserted it. He found the body of Princess Iliya and
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Speaker 1: discovered that the priests returned from time to time to
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Speaker 1: make offerings to her, for even then she was worshiped
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Speaker 1: as a goddess. He made an oracle of her, and
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Speaker 1: he was the voice of the oracle, speaking from a
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Speaker 1: niche he cut in the wall behind the ivory Daeis.
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Speaker 1: The priests never suspected, never saw him or his servants,
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Speaker 1: for they always hid themselves when the men came. Beat
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Speaker 1: Yakin lived and died here without ever being discovered by
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Speaker 1: the priests. Kram knows how long he dwelt here, but
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Speaker 1: it must have been for centuries. The wise men of
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Speaker 1: the pelishtem know how to increase the span of their
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Speaker 1: lives for hundreds of years. I've seen some of them myself.
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Speaker 1: Why he lived here alone and why he played the
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Speaker 1: part of an oracle, no ordinary human can guess. But
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Speaker 1: I believe the oracle part was to keep the city
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Speaker 1: inviolate and sacred so he could remain undisturbed. He ate
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Speaker 1: the food the priests brought as an offering to ye Layah,
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Speaker 1: and his servants ate other things. I've always known there
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Speaker 1: was a subterranean river flowing away from the lake where
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Speaker 1: the people of the Puntish Highlands throw their dead. That
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Speaker 1: river runs under this palace. They have ladders hung over
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Speaker 1: the water where they can hang and fish for the
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Speaker 1: corpses that come floating through. Beat Yakin recorded everything on
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Speaker 1: parchment and painted walls. But he died at last, and
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Speaker 1: his servants mummified him according to instructions he gave them
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Speaker 1: before his death, and stuck him in a cave in
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Speaker 1: the cliffs. The rest is easy to guess. His servants
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Speaker 1: so were even more nearly im martal than he kept
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Speaker 1: on dwelling here. But the next time a high priest
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Speaker 1: came to consult the oracle, not having a master to
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Speaker 1: restrain them, they tore him to pieces. So since then,
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Speaker 1: until Garulga, nobody came to talk to the oracle. It's
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Speaker 1: obvious they've been renewing the garments and ornaments of the goddess,
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Speaker 1: as they'd seen beat yakin do. Doubtless there's a seal
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Speaker 1: chamber somewhere where the silks are kept from decay. They
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Speaker 1: clothed the goddess and brought her back to the oracle
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Speaker 1: room after tzark Heiba had stolen her, and by the way,
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Speaker 1: they took off zark Heiba's head and hung it in
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Speaker 1: a thicket. She shivered, yet at the same time breathed
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Speaker 1: a sigh of relief. He'll never whip me again, not
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Speaker 1: this side of hell, agreed Koanan. But come on, Guarunga
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Speaker 1: ruined my chances with his stolen goddess. I'm going to
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Speaker 1: follow the priests and take my chance of stealing the
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Speaker 1: loot from them after they get it. But you stay
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Speaker 1: close to me. I can't spend all my time looking
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Speaker 1: for you. But the servants a bit yuckin, she whispered fearfully.
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Speaker 1: We'll have to take our chance. He grunted. I don't
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Speaker 1: know what's in their minds, but so far they haven't
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Speaker 1: shown any disposition to come out and fight in the open.
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Speaker 2: Come on.
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Speaker 1: Taking her wrists, he led her out of the chamber
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Speaker 1: and down the corridor. As they advanced, they heard the
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Speaker 1: chanting of the priests mingling with the sound of the low,
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Speaker 1: sullen rushing of waters. The light grew stronger above them
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Speaker 1: as they emerged on a high pitched gallery of a
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Speaker 1: great cavern and looked down on a scene weird and fantastic.
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Speaker 1: Above them gleamed the phosphorescent roof. A hundred feet below
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Speaker 1: them stretched the smooth floor of the cavern. On the
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Speaker 1: far side. This floor was cut by a deep, narrow stream,
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Speaker 1: brimming its rocky channel. Rushing out of impenetrable gloom, it
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Speaker 1: swirled across the cavern and was lost again in darkness.
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Speaker 1: The visible surface reflected the radiance above the dark, seething
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Speaker 1: waters glinted as if flecked with living jewels, frosty blue,
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Speaker 1: lurid red, shimmering green, and ever changing irridescence. Conan and
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Speaker 1: his companion stood upon one of the gallery like ledges
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Speaker 1: that banded the curve of a lofty wall, and from
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Speaker 1: this ledge, a natural bridge of stone soared in a
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Speaker 1: breath taking arch over the vast gulf of the cavern
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Speaker 1: to join a much smaller ledge on the opposite side,
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Speaker 1: across the river. Ten feet below it, Another broader arch
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Speaker 1: spanned the cave. At either end, a carbon stair joined
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Speaker 1: the extremities of these flying arches. Conan's gaze followed the
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Speaker 1: curve of the arch that swept away from the ledge
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Speaker 1: on which they stood, caught a glint of light that
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Speaker 1: was not the lowered phosphorus of the cavern. On that
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Speaker 1: small ledge opposite them, there was an opening in the
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Speaker 1: cave wall through which stars were glinting. But his full
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Speaker 1: attention was drawn to the scene beneath them. The priests
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Speaker 1: had reached their destination. There, in a sweeping angle of
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Speaker 1: the cavern wall stood a stone altar, but there was
24:30
Speaker 1: no idol upon it. Whether there was one behind it,
24:33
Speaker 1: Conan could not ascertain, because some trick of the light
24:38
Speaker 1: or the sweep of the wall left the space behind
24:41
Speaker 1: the altar in total darkness. The priests had stuck their
24:45
Speaker 1: torches into holes in the stone floor, forming a semicircle
24:49
Speaker 1: of fire in front of the altar at a distance
24:52
Speaker 1: of several yards. Then the priests themselves formed a semicircle
24:57
Speaker 1: inside the crescent of torches, and Garulga, after lifting his
25:03
Speaker 1: arms aloft and invocation, bent to the altar and laid
25:07
Speaker 1: hands on it. It lifted and tilted backward on its
25:11
Speaker 1: hinder edge like the lid of a chest, revealing a
25:15
Speaker 1: small crypt. Extending a long arm into the recess, Garulga
25:22
Speaker 1: brought up a small brass chest, lowering the altar back
25:27
Speaker 1: into place. He set the chest on it and threw
25:30
Speaker 1: back the lid to the eager watchers on the high gallery.
25:35
Speaker 1: It seemed as if the action had released a blaze
25:38
Speaker 1: of living fire, which throbbed and quivered about the opened chest.
25:42
Speaker 1: Knan's heart leaped and his hand caught at his hilt
25:47
Speaker 1: the teeth of Gwalor, at last the treasure that would
25:52
Speaker 1: make its possessor the richest man in the world. His
25:57
Speaker 1: breath came fast between his cli teeth. Then he was
26:02
Speaker 1: suddenly aware that a new element had entered into the
26:05
Speaker 1: light of the torches and of the phosphorescent roof, rendering
26:09
Speaker 1: both void. Darkness stole around the altar, except for that
26:15
Speaker 1: glowing spot of evil radiance cast by the teeth of Gwallor,
26:20
Speaker 1: and that grew and grew. The blacks froze into basaltic statues,
26:26
Speaker 1: their shadows streaming grotesquely and gigantically out behind them. The
26:32
Speaker 1: altar was lathed in the glow now, and the astounded
26:36
Speaker 1: features of Gorulga stood out in sharp relief. Then the
26:40
Speaker 1: mysterious space behind the altar swam into the widening illumination,
26:47
Speaker 1: and slowly, with the crawling light, figures became visible, like
26:52
Speaker 1: shapes growing out of the night and silence. At first,
26:56
Speaker 1: they seemed like gray stone statues, though motionless shapes, hairy
27:02
Speaker 1: manlike yet hideously human. But their eyes were alive coal
27:08
Speaker 1: sparks of gray icy fire, and as the weird glow
27:13
Speaker 1: lit their beastel countenances, Garulga screamed and fell backwards, throwing
27:19
Speaker 1: up his long arms at a gesture of frenzied horror.
27:23
Speaker 1: But a longer arm shot across the altar, and a
27:27
Speaker 1: misshapen hand locked on his throat. Screaming and fighting, the
27:32
Speaker 1: high Priest was dragged back across the altar. A hammer
27:36
Speaker 1: like fist smashed down, and Garulga's cries were stilled, limp
27:42
Speaker 1: and broken. He sagged across the altar, his brains oozing
27:47
Speaker 1: from his crushed skull. And then the servants of beat
27:51
Speaker 1: Yakin surged like a bursting flood from hell on the
27:55
Speaker 1: Black priests, who stood like horror blasted images. Then there
28:02
Speaker 1: was slaughter, grim and appalling Conan saw black bodies tossed
28:08
Speaker 1: like chaff in the inhuman hands of the slayers, against
28:12
Speaker 1: whose horrible strength and agility the daggers and swords of
28:16
Speaker 1: the priests were ineffective. He saw men lifted bodily and
28:21
Speaker 1: their heads cracked open against the stone altar. He saw
28:25
Speaker 1: a flaming torch grasped in a monstrous hand, thrust inexorably
28:30
Speaker 1: down the gullet of an agonized wretch, who writhed in
28:34
Speaker 1: vain against the arms that pinioned him. He saw a
28:38
Speaker 1: man torn in two pieces as one might tear a chicken,
28:42
Speaker 1: and the bloody fragments hurled clear across the cavern. The
28:47
Speaker 1: massacre was as short and devastating as the rush of
28:51
Speaker 1: a hurricane. In a burst of red abysmal ferocity. It
28:56
Speaker 1: was over except for one wretch, who fled, reaming back
29:00
Speaker 1: the way the priests had come, pursued by a swarm
29:04
Speaker 1: of blood dabbed shapes of horror, which reached out their
29:09
Speaker 1: red smeared hands for him. Fugitive and pursuers vanished down
29:15
Speaker 1: the black tunnel, and the screams of the human came back,
29:18
Speaker 1: dwindling and confused by the distance. Muriella was on her knees,
29:24
Speaker 1: clutching Conan's legs, her face pressed against his knee, and
29:28
Speaker 1: her eyes tightly shut. She was a quaking, quivering mold
29:33
Speaker 1: of abject terror. But Conan was galvanized. A quick glance
29:39
Speaker 1: across at the aperture where the stars shone, a glance
29:43
Speaker 1: down at the chest that still blazed open on the
29:46
Speaker 1: blood smeared altar, and he saw and seized the desperate gambol.
29:52
Speaker 1: I'm going after that chest, he grated, Stay here, o Mithra.
29:58
Speaker 1: In an agony of frame, she fell to the floor
30:01
Speaker 1: and caught at his sandals. Don't don't, don't leave me.
30:06
Speaker 1: Lie still and keep your mouth shut, he snapped, disengaging
30:10
Speaker 1: himself from her frantic clasp. He disregarded the tortuous stare.
30:16
Speaker 1: He dropped from ledge to ledge with reckless haste. There
30:20
Speaker 1: was no sign of the monsters. As his feet hit
30:23
Speaker 1: the floor. A few of the torches still flared in
30:26
Speaker 1: their sockets. The phosphorescent glow throbbed and quivered, and the
30:31
Speaker 1: river flowed with an almost articulate muttering, scintillating with undreamed radiances.
30:38
Speaker 1: The glow that had heralded the appearance of the servants
30:41
Speaker 1: had vanished with them. Only the light of the jewels
30:45
Speaker 1: in the brass chest shimmered and quivered. He snatched the chest,
30:51
Speaker 1: noting its contents in one lustful glance, strange curiously shaped
30:57
Speaker 1: stones that burned with an icy knut terrestrial fire. He
31:02
Speaker 1: slammed the lid, thrust the chest under his arm, and
31:05
Speaker 1: ran back up the steps. He had no desire to
31:09
Speaker 1: encounter the hellish servants of beat Yaquin. His glimpse of
31:14
Speaker 1: them in action had dispelled any illusion concerning their fighting ability.
31:20
Speaker 1: Why had they waited so long before striking at the invaders?
31:23
Speaker 1: He was unable to say what human could guess the
31:27
Speaker 1: motives or thoughts of these monstrosities. That they were possessed
31:32
Speaker 1: of craft and intelligence equal to humanity had been demonstrated,
31:37
Speaker 1: And there on the cavern floor lay Crimson, proof of
31:41
Speaker 1: their bestial ferocity. The Corinthian girl still cowered on the
31:47
Speaker 1: gallery where he had left her. He caught her wrist
31:50
Speaker 1: and yanked her to her feast, grunting, I guess it's
31:53
Speaker 1: time to go too. Be mused with terror to be
31:57
Speaker 1: fully aware of what was going on, the girl suffered
32:01
Speaker 1: herself to be led across the dizzy span. It was
32:04
Speaker 1: not until they were poised over the rushing water that
32:08
Speaker 1: she looked down, voice a stortily yelp, and would have
32:12
Speaker 1: fallen but for Conan's massive arm about her, Growling an
32:17
Speaker 1: objurgation in her ear. He snatched her up under his
32:21
Speaker 1: free arm and swept her in a flutter of limply
32:25
Speaker 1: waving arms and legs, across the arch and into the
32:29
Speaker 1: aperture that opened at the other end. Without bothering to
32:33
Speaker 1: set her on her feet, he hurried through the short
32:36
Speaker 1: tunnel into which this aperture opened. An instant later they
32:41
Speaker 1: emerged upon a narrow ledge on the outer side of
32:44
Speaker 1: the cliffs that circled the valley. Less than a hundred
32:47
Speaker 1: feet below them, the jungle waved in the starlight. Looking down,
32:52
Speaker 1: Conan vented a gusty sigh of relief. He believed that
32:57
Speaker 1: he could negotiate the descent, even though burdened with the
33:01
Speaker 1: jewels and the girl, although he doubted if even he unburdened,
33:06
Speaker 1: could have ascended at that spot. He set the chest,
33:09
Speaker 1: still smeared with Gorulga's blood and clotted with his brains,
33:14
Speaker 1: on the ledge, and was about to remove his girdle
33:17
Speaker 1: in order to tie the box to his back, when
33:19
Speaker 1: he was galvanized by a sound behind him, a sound,
33:23
Speaker 1: sinister and unmistakable. Stay there, He snapped at the bewildered
33:29
Speaker 1: Corinthian girl, don't move, and drawing his sword, he glided
33:35
Speaker 1: into the tunnel, glarying back into the cavern. Half way
33:39
Speaker 1: across the upper span, he saw a gray formed shape.
33:43
Speaker 1: One of the servants of bit Yakin was on his trail.
33:48
Speaker 1: There was no doubt that the brute had seen them
33:51
Speaker 1: and was following them. Conan did not hesitate. It might
33:56
Speaker 1: be easier to defend the mouth of the tunnel, but
34:00
Speaker 1: this fight must be finished quickly, before the other serpents
34:04
Speaker 1: could return. He ran out on the span, straight toward
34:08
Speaker 1: the oncoming monster. It was no ape, neither was it
34:13
Speaker 1: a man. It was some shambling horror spawned in the mysterious,
34:18
Speaker 1: nameless jungles of the South, where strange life teemed in
34:23
Speaker 1: the reeking rot without the dominance of man, and drums
34:27
Speaker 1: thundered in temples that had never known the tread of
34:30
Speaker 1: a human foot. How the ancient Palistim had gained lordship
34:35
Speaker 1: over them, and with it eternal exile from humanity was
34:39
Speaker 1: a foul riddle, about which Conan did not care to speculate,
34:43
Speaker 1: even if he had had opportunity. Man and monster they
34:48
Speaker 1: met at the highest arch of the span, where a
34:52
Speaker 1: hundred feet below rushed the furious black water. As the
34:56
Speaker 1: monstrous shape, with its leprous gray body and the features
35:00
Speaker 1: of a craving, unhuman idol, loomed over him. Conan struck
35:04
Speaker 1: as a wounded tiger, strikes with every ounce of few
35:08
Speaker 1: and fury behind the blow. That stroke would have sheared
35:13
Speaker 1: a human body asunder, but the bones of the servant
35:16
Speaker 1: of bit Yakin were like tempered steel. Yet even tempered
35:21
Speaker 1: steel could not wholly have withstood that furious stroke. Ribs
35:26
Speaker 1: and shoulder bone parted, and blood spouted from the great gash.
35:31
Speaker 1: There was no time for a second stroke before the
35:34
Speaker 1: Samarian could lift his blade again or a spring clear.
35:37
Speaker 1: The sweep of a giant arm knocked him from the
35:41
Speaker 1: span as a fly as flicked from a wall. As
35:45
Speaker 1: he plunged downward, the rush of the river was like
35:48
Speaker 1: a knell in his ears, but his twisted body fell
35:51
Speaker 1: half way across the lower arch. He wavered there precariously
35:55
Speaker 1: for one chilling instant. Then his clutching finger hooked over
36:01
Speaker 1: the farther edge, and he scrambled to safety, his sword
36:05
Speaker 1: still in his other hand. As he sprang up, he
36:09
Speaker 1: saw the monster, spurting blood hideously, rush toward the cliff
36:13
Speaker 1: edge of the bridge, obviously intending to descend the stair
36:18
Speaker 1: that connected the arches and renew the feud at the
36:22
Speaker 1: very ledge. The brute paused in mid flight, and Conan
36:26
Speaker 1: saw it too. Muriella, with the jewel chest under her arm,
36:30
Speaker 1: stood staring wildly in the mouth of the tunnel with
36:35
Speaker 1: a triumphant bellow. The monster scooped her up under one arm,
36:40
Speaker 1: snatched the jewel chest with the other hand as she
36:43
Speaker 1: dropped it, and turning, lumbered back across the bridge. Conan
36:48
Speaker 1: cursed with passion, and ran for the other side. Also.
36:53
Speaker 1: He doubted if he could climb the stair to the
36:55
Speaker 1: higher arch in time to catch the brute before it
36:58
Speaker 1: could plunge into the labyrinth of tunnels on the other side.
37:02
Speaker 1: But the monster was slowing like clockwork. Running down. Blood
37:07
Speaker 1: gushed from that terrible gash in his breast, and he
37:11
Speaker 1: lurched drunkenly from side to side. Suddenly he stumbled, reeled
37:17
Speaker 1: and toppled sidewise, pitched headlong from the arch and hurtled downward.
37:23
Speaker 1: Girl and jewel chest fell from his nerveless hands, and
37:28
Speaker 1: Muriella scream rang terribly above the snarl of the water below.
37:34
Speaker 1: Conan was almost under the spot from which the creature
37:37
Speaker 1: had fallen. The monster struck the lower arch glancingly and
37:41
Speaker 1: shot off, but the writhing figure of the girl struck
37:46
Speaker 1: and clung, and the chest hit the edge of the
37:49
Speaker 1: span near her. One falling object struck on one side of
37:53
Speaker 1: Conan and one on the other. Either was within arm's
37:56
Speaker 1: left while the fraction of a split second, the chest
38:00
Speaker 1: teetered on the edge of the bridge, and Muriella clung
38:04
Speaker 1: by one arm. Her face turned desperately toward Conan, her
38:10
Speaker 1: eyes dilated with the fear of death, and her lips
38:13
Speaker 1: parted in a haunting cry of despair. Conan did not hesitate,
38:19
Speaker 1: nor did he even glance toward the chest that held
38:22
Speaker 1: the wealth of an epoch. With a quickness that would
38:25
Speaker 1: have shamed the spring of a hungry jaguar, he swooped,
38:29
Speaker 1: grasped the girl's arm just as her fingers slipped from
38:32
Speaker 1: the smooth stone, and snatched her up on the span.
38:37
Speaker 1: With one explosive, heave the chest toppled on over and
38:42
Speaker 1: struck the water ninety feet below, where the body of
38:46
Speaker 1: a servant of beat Yakin had already vanished. A splash,
38:51
Speaker 1: A jetting flash of foam marked where the teeth of
38:54
Speaker 1: Gwaalor disappeared forever from the sight of the man. Conan
38:59
Speaker 1: scarcely wayted a downward glance, he darted across the span
39:03
Speaker 1: and ran up the cliff's stair like a cat, carrying
39:07
Speaker 1: the limp girl as if she had been an infant.
39:10
Speaker 1: A hideous emulation caused him to glance over his shoulder
39:14
Speaker 1: as he reached the higher arch to see the other
39:17
Speaker 1: servants streaming back into the cavern below, blood dripping from
39:21
Speaker 1: their barred fangs. They raced up the stair that wound
39:26
Speaker 1: from tier to tear, roaring vengefully. But he slung the
39:31
Speaker 1: girl unceremoniously over his shoulder, dashed through the tunnel, and
39:36
Speaker 1: went down the cliffs like an ape, himself, dropping and
39:40
Speaker 1: springing from hold to hold with break neck recklessness. When
39:45
Speaker 1: the fierce countenances looked over the ledge of the aperture,
39:48
Speaker 1: it was to see the Samarian and the girl, disappearing
39:52
Speaker 1: into the forest that surrounded the cliffs. Well, said Conan,
39:57
Speaker 1: setting the girl on her feet within the shelter screen
40:00
Speaker 1: of branches. We can take our time now. I don't
40:04
Speaker 1: think those brutes will follow us outside the valley anyway.
40:08
Speaker 1: I've got a horse tied at a water hole close by,
40:11
Speaker 1: if the lions haven't eaten him, Crum's devils. What are
40:16
Speaker 1: you crying about now? She covered her tears stained face
40:20
Speaker 1: with her hands, and her slim shoulders shook with sobs.
40:26
Speaker 1: I've lost the jewels for you, she wailed, miserably. It
40:30
Speaker 1: was my fault. If I don't baite you and stayed
40:34
Speaker 1: out on the ledge, that brute would never have seen me.
40:39
Speaker 1: You should have caught the gems and let me drown. Yes,
40:43
Speaker 1: I suppose I should, he agreed. But forget it. Never
40:47
Speaker 1: worry about what's past, and stop crying, will you? That's better?
40:52
Speaker 1: Come on, you mean you're going to keep me, Take
40:57
Speaker 1: me with you, she asked, hopefully. What else do you
41:01
Speaker 1: suppose I'd do with you? He ran an approving glance
41:04
Speaker 1: over her figure and grinned at the torn skirt, which
41:08
Speaker 1: revealed a generous expanse of tempting ivory tented curves. I
41:13
Speaker 1: can use an actress like you. There's no use going
41:16
Speaker 1: back to Kashia. There's nothing in Kishan now that I want.
41:21
Speaker 1: We'll go to Punt. The people of Punt worship an
41:24
Speaker 1: ivory woman, and they wash gold out of the rivers
41:28
Speaker 1: in wicker baskets. I'll tell them that Kishon is intriguing
41:33
Speaker 1: with mercury to enslave them, which is true, and that
41:37
Speaker 1: the gods have sent me to protect them for about
41:40
Speaker 1: a houseful of gold. If I can manage to smuggle
41:44
Speaker 1: you into their temple to exchange places with their ivory goddess,
41:48
Speaker 1: we'll skin them out of their jaw teeth before we
41:51
Speaker 1: get through with them. End of chapter four, end of
41:57
Speaker 1: Jewels of Gwaloor by Robert E. Howard. This book recorded
42:03
Speaker 1: by phil Shineverian Baton, Rouge, Louisiana, March of two thousand
42:07
Speaker 1: and thirteen,