Part 10 (1/2)

Soe had followed him into the pit and plummeted all the way to its distant bottom, as he had not

He told himself that the sound was too heavy to be Valeria That kept the ill-luck thought from his mind that she would surely follow him down if she bested the crocodile She had that loyalty to a battle comrade that defies common sense, and that Conan himself also lived by

The mouth of the tunnel was noo-thirds blocked by fallen earth-and Conan was thunderstruck to realize that he could see this He was no longer in utter darkness worthy of the deepest slave-pits of Stygia

He turned and looked down the tunnel It sloped away into shadow but was clearly visible for soe of the Cimmerian's vision, the walls seemed to turn from earth into stone, and carved stone at that

Over all played a subtle light that at one moment seemed sapphire-hued, at the next, as cries of color ht was ic But he would be a cursed deal uneasier in total darkness, and that lighther neck to climb down to him!

Now, if he had some way to tell her that

Valeria knew that the air had to be cooler this deep in the earth It only see down the throat of a volcano toward thefar below, ready to turn her to ashes should her grip fail for a et what you've learned about not letting your fancies run wild, you silly wench, and you will fall”

It was not a fancy that sweat covered every bit of exposed skin, turning into slimy mud where earth had fallen on her fro to her, as sodden as a jellyfish, and even her boots seemed to have become heavier with the dampness of the air in this pit

Truth was, she had never cli and with such precarious holds for hands and feet Compared to this climb, the time she had raced a shi+per was a child's game It did not-help, either, that her life had not been at stake in that race

Groping feet touched a flatter surface A ledge? So besides the wall of the pit, anyway but test it first before putting full weight on it, let alone undoing the rope fros above

”Hooaaa!” The voice seemed more a specter's than a roped for purchase on the ledge, until at last she found a spot whereupon to stand She left the vine rope in place, though, as she stared doard

The ht barely let her count the fingers of a hand held in front of her face Beneath, all was blackness Or was it? Frolow seemed to battle the darkness, like distant fireflies on a ht

Except that no firefly ever blinked in those hues of blue and red-no natural firefly, at least But the laws of nature ht not bind whatever lived down here

Valeria shuddered She had no ic than the Cimmerian did, if the truth were known, and for ic made honest war skills useless, and made its users more often than not as twisted as the street of her native village in Aquilonia! Tascela was the worst sorceress she had seen, which made her thank the Gods that she had not seen soht

There would be ti tales when she knew that the voice beloas his and when she had rejoined him

”The sea frees us,” she called It was a password of the Red Brotherhood Only Conan in this jungle was likely to know the reply

”The land binds us,” came the reply Valeria's knees quivered with relief, but she did not move otherwise

”Conan! Where are you?”

”In a tunnel, beyond where you see the light I-”

A clod of earth bounced off Valeria's head and spun away into the abyss She looked up Was it her fancy, or was the hole above sht was surely fading; her hand was now only a blurred, fingerless shape The glow fro steady, but it could not take the place of the trickle of daylight froht I'll try to climb down until I'm opposite you, then throw my rope across Hoide is the pit where you are?”

”Wide enough that your pet crocodile didn't stick in its gullet when you sent it down to join h, if the light's going”

She heard hints of ry at his hiding the truth froht not know all the truth hi, or God!

The rope was near its end when Valeria found a foothold on a huge curving root opposite the mouth of the tunnel At least she felt the bark under her feet; the light froone Then Conan's head and ht from the tunnel below She sa that the mouth of the tunnel was heaped with freshly fallen earth, and understood what Conan feared