The Barry Windsor-Smith Conan Archives #2

Conan, now Captain of the royal guard and lover to Queen Fatima, finds his position—and his life—thrown into chaos when the Queen catches him with her servant, Yaila. Sent to the dungeon to face the Dweller in the Dark, the two escape only to be forced into a desperate choice. With the city’s fate tied to its ruler, Conan must make a decision that will reshape Zahmahn’s future—and redefine power itself.

In "The Green Empress of Melnibone," Conan and Elric forge a tense alliance as they journey to the drowned ruins of Yagala, where ancient horrors stir beneath the waves. Facing the malevolent forces of Xiombarg, the Damned Prince Gaynor, the sorcerer Kulan-Gath, and the fallen Terhali, their combined strength proves insufficient—until a long-lost power answers their desperate call.

In the frozen ruins of a forgotten war, Conan pursues Atali across a desolate, snow-laden battlefield, where the weight of ancient battles still lingers in the ice. After felling her two frost giant brothers, he captures her—only for her father, the mighty Ymir, to claim her back in a moment that shifts the balance of power in the storm-wracked wilderness.

In "Hawks From the Sea," Conan, serving the Turanian war machine, leads a siege on the city of Makkalet, where whispers of the Living Tarim stir ancient dread. As flames rain from the sky and a wounded Fafnir falls to a flaming arrow, Conan finds himself at odds with the enigmatic Balthaz—whose true allegiance remains a mystery. The air thickens with danger, and the past rises like a storm from the sea.

In "The Black Hound of Vengeance!", Conan and Kharam-Akkad sail under the shadow of Turan, bound for the cursed city of Makkalet. When Conan’s desperate mission to seize the living god Tarim ends in failure and bloodshed, he’s forced to flee through the temple’s deadly halls—only to face a monstrous black hound and a betrayal that casts him into the sea.

In the sun-scorched city of Makkalet, Conan finds himself betrayed by the very forces he joined, captured and left to face a monstrous threat. With Kharam-Akkad at his side, the Cimmerian must battle a colossal toad-god rising from the ancient monoliths, where the line between myth and nightmare blurs.

In "The Shadow of the Vulture!", Conan carries a vital message through treacherous lands, where danger lurks in every shadow. Red Sonja crosses his path, her blade and wit proving indispensable as they face deadly trials—only to find themselves at the mercy of a cruel and cunning foe. When the hunt turns personal, Conan must confront the man known as Mikhal Oglu, the Vulture, in a clash that will echo across the realm.

In the desert city of Makkalet, Conan and Red Sonja ignite a bar fight that spirals into a wild chase through fountains and temple walls, culminating in a daring theft of a cursed snake-tiara and a battle against a magical serpent. As the dust settles, Sonja outsmarts Conan in a moment of cunning, vanishing into the desert with her prize bound for Pah-Disha.

In "The Sword and the Sorcerers!", a novelist’s final tale takes a deadly turn when his creation, Starr the Slayer, steps out of the page and into the real world—leaving behind the script and the writer’s control. Now hunted by the very mind that gave him form, Starr must survive the consequences of his own story’s end.