Cimmerian September -Conan and the Lost Valley of Iskander

Monday, September 21, 2026 Bob Byrne Comments 0 Comment

Welcome back to week three of Cimmerian September.

Now, El Borak rivals Conan for my favorite REH character. I REALLY enjoy those stories. And I like Kirby O’Donnell, and I’ve covered those three tales, here at Black Gate. “Sword of the Hills”/”The Lost Valley of Iskander” is one of my favorites. It’s more like a Conan tale than any of the others. In fact, back in the days before Heroic Signatures started pushing out lots of new pastiches (some good, some less so), I started turning “Lost Valley…” into a Conan pastiche.

It was just for fun, whereas I’ve been very serious about my Sherlock Holmes, Solar Pons, and Nero Wolfe fiction. But if I were going to ‘do Conan,’ it would be with this story. Here’s the opening, which mirrors the El Borak original.

Whatever you may think of this fragment, you absolutely should check out El Borak, if you haven’t. Dave Hardy wrote a killer essay about ‘The Swift’ for Discovering Robert E. Howard (he also wrote the Del Rey intro). So, read on!

The skittering of a stone broke the stillness and instantly awoke Conan, sleeping in the shadows of a rocky crag. With almost inhuman quickness, his right arm shot up and grasped a wiry wrist, halting the descent of a curved knife that glinted not in the starless sky. Corded muscles flexed, and the newcomer hissed between his teeth as he struggled in vain to push the knife through to its destination. The attacker’s weight held the Cimmerian on his back, but Conan brought his left hand up in a fist and smashed it into the side of his attacker’s head, barely noticeable pain bursting through his knuckles as they connected with the man’s skull.

The knife wielder was a hillman with a scraggly beard and wearing a vest of cured hides, with no metal to clank and give away his presence. He knew that Conan, the brute he had intended to kill in his sleep, was stronger than almost any man. He suddenly changed the direction of his effort and pulled his arm backwards, away from Conan’s face. Except that the fingers wrapped around his wrist were like iron and they were locked on with a death grip. Had a wizard ensorcelled that wrist, he could not have been more powerless. His arm moved not an inch in either direction.

Bellarz, second to none among his tribe for stealth and deadliness, had gladly volunteered to sneak into the hills after him. The savage had killed his chieftain’s brother and then fled, pursued by a force of crazed Ilbarsi tribesmen. The hunter was experienced in the art of dealing death, but the first flutter of anxiety twitched in his breast as he realized that he had lost the element of surprise and needed to keep him from using his incredible strength to his advantage.

Conan struck again with his left hand. This time he hit his target, which was the man’s right ear, with an open palm. Bellarz was momentarily stunned, a roaring noise filling his head from the blow.

The Savage Sword of Conan used El Borak’s ‘The Country of the Knife’ for issue 11

Seizing the moment, Conan opened his fist and locked his fingers around the man’s throat, squeezing with all his considerable might. Bellarz gurgled almost inaudibly, his left hand digging futilely at the iron grip. There was no chance that he could get his right hand free and his lungs were screaming for breath. Desperate now, he reached to his belt and his left hand brought out a short bladed, straight edged dagger.

Suddenly, the pressure on his throat was gone as his opponent let go – only to knock the dagger out of his hand. Both men’s weight had shifted and Conan had sprung to his knees like a panther, pushing Bellarz over backwards. Both of Conan’s hands grabbed Bellarz’ head. The Hillman used this opportunity to strike with his dagger, but his aim was off as he was pushed backwards and he only scraped Conan’s ribs, with little force behind the attack. Then the back of his head was repeatedly smashed into the rocky ground and he lost consciousness during the second blow.

Conan took the man’s dagger from his limp hand and quickly slit his throat with it. The contest, which had taken only a matter of seconds, had been nearly silent. Surely there were others out there, but the hill man had approached Conan by himself. He had relied on slaying Conan in his sleep. And had nearly succeeded.

The barbarian had been running from Ilbarsi hillsmen for two days, starting out on a fast steed, only stopping when absolutely necessary to avoid running the horse to death. He had reached the foothills, then this mountainous terrain, just before dark last night. Abandoning his weary horse and setting it free, he began crossing the treacherous crags and gorges, armed with a bow, dagger and his sword. The blade had a straight edge but bore no resemblance to the mighty two-handed broadsword he favored. There were too many men after him to fight his way to freedom. He hoped to lose his pursuers and strike out undetected in a new direction.

Even his iron constitution, forged in the anvil of the bleak land of Cimmeria, could not hold up forever. Exhausted, he had finally found a place to sleep for a few hours before resuming his flight. The hillman had been very good to come upon Conan unawares. But he was not the first to overestimate his own ability to kill the hardy northerner.

Conan grabbed his weapons and water skin, leaving the body where it lay. His soft leather boots made no noise as he moved like a panther in the darkness. No Pict crept through the forest as quietly as Conan moved along the uneven ground. Doubtless there were more men all around him and he used the darkness and the shadows to his advantage. The soft light of the moon’s glow did not betray his presence as he crept further into the hills.

Bob Byrne’s ‘A (Black) Gat in the Hand’ made its Black Gate debut in 2018 and has returned every Summer since.

His ‘The Public Life of Sherlock Holmes’ column ran every Monday morning at Black Gate from March, 2014 through March, 2017. And he irregularly posts on Rex Stout’s gargantuan detective in ‘Nero Wolfe’s Brownstone.’ He is a member of the Praed Street Irregulars, and founded www.SolarPons.com (the only website dedicated to the ‘Sherlock Holmes of Praed Street’).

He organized Black Gate’s award-nominated ‘Discovering Robert E. Howard’ series, as well as the award-winning ‘Hither Came Conan’ series. Which is now part of THE Definitive guide to Conan. He also organized 2023’s ‘Talking Tolkien.’

He has contributed stories to The MX Book of New Sherlock Holmes Stories — Parts III, IV, V, VI, XXI, and XXXIII.

He has written introductions for Steeger Books, and appeared in several magazines, including Black Mask, Sherlock Holmes Mystery Magazine, The Strand Magazine, and Sherlock Magazine.

You can definitely ‘experience the Bobness’ at Jason Waltz’s ’24? in 42′ podcast.

MISC MUSINGS RELATED TO REH & HIS WORKS

CONAN – Reviews & Pastiches

CONAN – Comics & Misc. Essays

CONAN – Hither Came Conan

CONAN – Gaming