The Phoenix on the Sword

Did You Know?

• The story was republished in the collections King Conan (Gnome Press, 1953) and Conan the Usurper (Lancer Books, 1967).
• The phoenix on Conan's sword represented Mitra, a Hyborian god.

Plot summary

A middle-aged Conan of Cimmeria struggles to govern the turbulent kingdom of Aquilonia after strangling King Numedides on his throne. The Aquilonians, who once welcomed him as a liberator, have turned against him due to his foreign blood, erecting a statue to Numedides in the temple of Mitra. A conspiracy called the Rebel Four—Volmana, Gromel, Dion, and Rinaldo—plots to place a royal-blooded ruler on the throne, recruiting the outlaw Ascalante, who secretly intends to claim the crown for himself. Ascalante also enslaves the Stygian wizard Thoth-Amon, whose ring of power was stolen, leaving him defenseless. Thoth-Amon discovers his ring is in Dion's possession, murders him, and summons a fanged ape-like demon to slay Ascalante. Conan is warned in a dream by the long-dead sage Epemitreus, who marks Conan's sword with a mystical phoenix representing the god Mitra. Awakening prepared, Conan slays the three remaining conspirators, breaking his sword on Gromel's helm and using a battle-axe. He hesitates to kill Rinaldo, whose songs once touched his heart, and Rinaldo stabs him before being killed. Ascalante moves to finish the wounded king but is killed by Thoth-Amon's demon, which Conan then slays with the shard of his enchanted sword. Conan's courtiers doubt his tale until they see the shape left by the demon's blood on the floor.