Shadows in the Moonlight is a sword-and-sorcery fantasy story from Robert E. Howard's Conan cycle. It follows Olivia, a young woman fleeing the warlord Shah Amurath, and her encounter with Conan amid ancient, moonlit dangers. It is worth listening for its fast action and atmospheric Hyborian Age setting.
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Cover of the original edition (Project Gutenberg, public domain).
Text source: gutenberg.org · The work is in the public domain.
Opening of the book
SHADOWS IN THE MOONLIGHT
By Robert E. Howard
[Transcriber's Note: This etext was first published in
Weird Tales April 1934. Extensive research did not uncover any evidence that the U.S. copyright on this publication was renewed.]
1
A swift crashing of horses through the tall reeds; a heavy fall, a despairing cry. From the dying steed there staggered up its rider, a slender girl in sandals and girdled tunic. Her dark hair fell over her white shoulders, her eyes were those of a trapped animal. She did not look at the jungle of reeds that hemmed in the little clearing, nor at the blue waters that lapped the low shore behind her. Her wide-eyed gaze was fixed in agonized intensity on the horseman who pushed through the reedy screen and dismounted before her.
He was a tall man, slender, but hard as steel. From head to heel he was clad in light silvered mesh-mail that fitted his supple form like a glove. From under the dome-shaped, gold-chased helmet his brown eyes regarded her mockingly.
'Stand back!' her voice shrilled with terror. 'Touch me not, Shah
Amurath, or I will throw myself into the water and drown!'
He laughed, and his laughter was like the purr of a sword sliding from a silken sheath.
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