Conan the Cimmerian and Natala the Brythunian are the sole survivors of Prince Almuric's army which swept through the Lands of Shem and the outlands of Stygia. With a Stygian host on its heels, the prince's army had cut its way through the kingdom of Kush, only to be annihilated on the edge of the southern desert. From that slaughter, when the Stygians and the Kushites surrounded the trapped remnants, Conan had cut his way clear and fled on a camel with Natala into the southern desert. For days they pushed on, seeking water, until their camel died. Then they continued on foot.