The Fiend from the Forgotten City
The Changeling! Reprinted from Journey Into Mystery #95. Stan Lee story, Steve Ditko art
The Fiend from the Forgotten City Conan stumbles across a dying traveler in the desert who begs the barbarian to take him to a nearby hidden city filled with unclaimed treasure. Even though he's suspicious, Conan takes the elderly man, Libro, with him and tells him to wait on the outskirts of town when they finally arrive. The ruined city, littered with bones both intrigues and repels Conan, and he makes his way to a small building containing a fire and voices. It turns out a group of thieves have found their way to the city and plan to loot it. One hears a noise outside, and the thieves burst forth from the door, but Conan is too quick and evades them. Conan runs into a woman outside, Alonia, the source of the noise, and the two of them flee the thieves only to bump into Libro. Libro and Alonia seem to know each other, but Conan is more interested in the pile of jewels he's come across. Unfortunately, at that moment the thieves find him and a battle breaks out with Conan victorious. Clutching his bag of jewels, he makes his way back to Libro, who summons a great demon who begins to crush Conan in his giant hands. Luckily, with his dying breath, one of the thieves plunges a dagger in Libro's back, allowing Alonia to make her way to the demon and change it to glass which Conan shatters. Alonia finds a great diamond in the bag of jewels and reveals it's a lifestone that has stored her true form, that of Ishtar, who had been trapped ages ago by her priest Libro, and she is back to reclaim her lost city before she vanishes into the stars. Conan looks around at the jewels and decides not to tempt fate.
