Conan The Destroyer in "Shadows In Zamboula" by Robert E. Howard
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SYNOPSIS

Absolutely! In "Shadows in Zamboula," Conan the Cimmerian ventures into the heart of the infamous city of Zamboula, where he becomes entangled in a web of sorcery and malevolent forces. As he navigates the labyrinthine streets, he discovers a city teeming with fear, its inhabitants terrorized by a mysterious horror controlled by the cruel and powerful innkeeper, Aram Baksh. Amidst this atmosphere of dread, Conan encounters a beautiful woman, Zabibi, forced to dance endlessly for her captor's sadistic pleasure. Drawn to her plight, Conan takes it upon himself to challenge Aram Baksh and his minions, diving headlong into the dark underbelly of Zamboula's treacherous alleys.



THE FIRST PAGE

Chapter 1. A Drum Begins.

'Peril hides in the house of Aram Baksh!'

The speaker's voice quivered with earnestness and his lean, black-nailed fingers clawed at Conan's mightily muscled arm as he croaked his warning. He was a wiry, sun-burnt man with a straggling black beard, and his ragged garments proclaimed him a nomad. He looked smaller and meaner than ever in contrast to the giant Cimmerian with his black brows, broad chest, and powerful limbs. They stood in a corner of the Sword-Makers' Bazaar, and on either side of them flowed past the many-tongued, many-colored stream of the Zamboula streets, which is exotic, hybrid, flamboyant and clamorous.

Conan pulled his eyes back from following a bold-eyed, red-lipped Ghanara whose short skirt bared her brown thigh at each insolent step, and frowned down at his importunate companion.

'What do you mean by peril?' he demanded.

The desert man glanced furtively over his shoulder before replying, and lowered his voice.
'Who can say? But desert men and travelers have slept in the house of Aram Baksh, and never been seen or heard of again. What became of them? He swore they rose and went their way—and it is true that no citizen of the city has ever disappeared from his house. But no one saw the travelers again, and men say that goods and equipment recognized as theirs have been seen in the bazaars. If Aram did not sell them, after doing away with their owners, how came they here?'

'I have no goods,' growled the Cimmerian, touching the shagreen-bound hilt of the broadsword that hung at his hip. 'I have even sold my horse.'

'But it is not always rich strangers who vanish by night from the house of Aram Baksh!' chattered the Zuagir. 'Nay, poor desert men have slept there—because his score is less than that of the other taverns—and have been seen no more. Once a chief of the Zuagirs whose son had thus vanished complained to the satrap, Jungir Khan, who ordered the house searched by soldiers.'

'And they found a cellar full of corpses?' asked Conan in good-humored derision.

'Nay! They found naught! And drove the chief from the city with threats and curses! But—' he drew closer to Conan and shivered—'something else was found! At the edge of the desert, beyond the houses, there is a clump of palm trees, and within that grove there is a pit. And within that pit have been found human bones, charred and blackened! Not once, but many times!'

'Which proves what?' grunted the Cimmerian.



CHAPTERS

0:00 - Start
0:22 - Thank You
0:33 - Visit audiobooky.co
0:42 - Feature Presentation
0:49 - Chapter I: A Drum Begins
16:09 - Chapter II: The Night Skulkers
43:25 - Chapter III: Black Hands Gripping
56:46 - Chapter IV: Dance, Girl, Dance
1:16:47 - Outro