“Red Nails” – Roy Thomas/Barry Windsor-Smith
This story originally appeared in Savage Tales issues 2 and 3 (which were published a few months apart), but I’m including it here because it’s part of the Chronicles of Conan reprints that I’ve been using … plus, it’s a really good story, based on one of Robert E. Howard’s best (and last) Conan tales. The story starts with a blonde woman (Valeria) watering her horse at a pond in the middle of a forest. Valeria climbs a lone outcropping of rock to get a better view and finds a skeleton on the top. She sees a walled city a mile to
the south, surrounded by a deserted landscape instead of the forest found in every other direction. Valeria is surprised by Conan, who’s been following her all day. Apparently, Valeria killed someone in the last town they passed through and Conan took care of the guy pursuing her, so he expects her to be “grateful”. She’s not interested, but before things get too tense they hear their horses being killed by some great beast. It turns out to be a dragon (it actually looks like a stegosaurus, but this one’s definitely a carnivore) and it chases them back up the rocks. Not wanting to starve to death on the summit, Conan drenches his sword in the poisonous juice of some fruit and 
stabs the dragon, which staggers off into the forest. Conan and Valeria climb down and head for the city in the distance, hoping the dragon doesn’t notice. But it does notice and comes after them, forcing Conan to kill it. He and Valeria head for the city, hoping to find a friendly reception, but when they get there the place seems deserted. Old signs of irrigation prove the city was once inhabited, but it looks to have been deserted for ages. Valeria wonders if there’s loot inside and when they make their way into a vast hall they find the walls are made of jade. The whole place is like a giant city and Conan goes to explore, leaving Valeria to rest. She hears a noise and observes from a balcony as a strange man wanders the wide corridor below. He walks through a doorway and Valeria hears a muffled scream, so she goes to look. She sees the guy
lying dead and watches as another man comes in and kneels over the body. A glowing skeleton jumps out and the second man stands frozen with fear, so Valeria jumps down and decapitates the skeleton … which turns out to be a person in an elaborate costume. Valeria’s new friend (Techotl) is impressed that she killed the “demon” and explains to her that two factions are locked in an endless war in the city: his side (the Tecuhltli) hold the western gate, while their rivals (the Xotalanc) hold the eastern gate. The dead man’s skull tries to mesmerize Valeria and she smashes it, which both impresses and frightens Techotl). Valeria wants to find Conan and get the hell out of there, so Techotl offers to help. 
Speaking of Conan, he’s been looking around the city but has come back to find Valeria. When she’s not where he left her, he follows the sounds of fighting and finds her and Techotl battling some more Xotalancas. Conan helps dispatch them and Techotl insists he and Valeria return to Tecuhltli with him to boast of their triumph. They’re pursued by some Xotalancas and a strange creature they’ve summoned from the catacombs, which Techotl calls a Crawler. They make it to Tecuhltli just in time and take refuge behind the stout doors. Techotl takes them to the throne room to meet Prince Olmec and Princess Tascela. The Prince is glad to hear about the deaths of five Xotalancas and pounds five more red nails into a pillar
behind the throne … a pillar that’s already studded with countless red nails. Olmec is even more impressed when he hears that Conan and Valeria are from the outside world, and that they killed a dragon. Olmec tells them the story of how his people came to the city: they were renegades from Stygia who tried to get into the city to escape the forest dragons, but were kept out by the original inhabitants. A slave named Tolkemec helped them get inside where they slaughtered the city dwellers and took over. But the leaders (Xotalanc, Tecuhltli, and Tolkemec) fought over a woman they all wanted and split into three factions. 
Tolkemec’s side was wiped out and he was tortured and thrown into the dungeons (although he supposedly escaped and now haunts the city as a ghost) and the other two factions kept fighting. They haven’t given birth to any children, so they’re basically a dying race but continue their fight anyway. Olmec offers Conan and Valeria a load of treasure to help fight against the Xotalancas and they agree. Conan and Valeria are given separate chambers and Techotl tells Conan that Princess Tascela is the woman the founders fought over, and that she’s used sorcery to keep herself young for the last fifty years. Tascela seems to have taken an interest in Valeria and sends her maid (Yasala) to drug her with some black lotus. Valeria stops Yasala and whips her to elicit a
confession, but Yasala escapes and heads down to the catacombs. Valeria lets her go and hears a scream as something apparently kills Yasala. Conan is woken by the sounds of fighting and he and Valeria learn that the Xoltalancas have broken through the gate into the Tecuhltli base. Conan and Valeria help cut down all the attackers, although they’re bothered by the Tecuhltlis thirst for blood. Olmec figures these are the last of the Xotalancas, but decides to send Conan with a couple of warriors to check the Xotalanc stronghold. Valeria stays behind to tend a slight wound in her leg, but Olmec jumps her and knocks her out. As 
he’s carrying her off, Techotl sees them and objects, so Olmec stabs him. Conan finds the Xotalanc throne room deserted except for a dead Crawler and a shelf full of preserved heads. One of the men with him goes nuts and stabs the other before being killed by Conan. The dying soldier tells Conan that Prince Olmec ordered them to kill him. Back in Tecuhltli, Olmec tries to have his way with Valeria, but he’s interrupted by Tascela, who uses her mesmerizing talents to make him drink some wine that paralyzes him. Tascela grabs Valeria and tells her she needs her to help keep her perpetual youth. When Conan returns from Xotalanc, he finds Techotl near death. Techotl tells him what
happened to Valeria and Conan goes to look for her, but finds Olmec tied to a torture rack. He frees the Prince and forces him to lead him to where Tascela is sacrificing Valeria to renew her youth. Before they arrive, Olmec turns on Conan and they fight, ending up crashing into the temple where Valeria is tied to the altar. Conan’s foot gets caught in a trap before he can get to the altar, but Tascela’s ceremony is interrupted when an undead Tolkemec shows up. Tolkemec has a gem that shoots fire and he starts wasting everyone in sight. Valeria gets free of her bonds and hides, while Tascela frees Conan and gives him a dagger to kill Tolkemec. Conan notices that the gem can only fire its deadly 
beams against something made of metal, so he maneuvers himself towards the bronze doors. When Tolkemec fires, Conan dodges and throws the dagger into his chest. Tascela retrieves the deadly gem, but Valeria stabs her before she can use it. Conan and Valeria decide to leave the now-empty city and seek their fortunes elsewhere. This is a great comic book story that follows the classic Howard tale pretty closely, even using some of the same dialogue. The art is great and since it was originally done for a magazine, the story can be a little more “adult” than the ones that had to conform to the Comics Code. This tale is bloodier than most of Howard’s stuff, and there’s an undercurrent of lesbianism running through it (although I seem to recall it was even more pronounced
in the original story). The closest they get to anything substantial is when Tascela prepares to kiss Valeria before the sacrifice, and even that’s pretty tame by today’s standards (though I suppose it might’ve been considered more risque in 1973). I think the whipping scene was meant to be erotic, but it doesn’t seem like Valeria is enjoying it, she just wants information. There’s some almost-nudity when Valeria is strapped to the altar, but again it’s pretty mild even for the time. Valeria is an interesting character, one of Howard’s better-written women. She’s a pirate and a great fighter (even Conan respects her 
prowess) and she ends up killing Tascela to regain some of her pride. The ending makes it seem like Conan and Valeria are going to be adventuring together for a while, but unfortunately she never appears again. With all the Conan pastiches there have been over the years, we need one that shows what happened to Valeria. Overall this is a great story that’s inspired countless homages (like the D&D module Lost City), but still holds up after all this time. Now I want to go back and read Howard’s original story.