Conan the Barbarian #96 – “The Long Night of Fang and Talon Part 1” – Roy Thomas/John Buscema/Ernie Chan
This one continues from last issue, with Conan following the lion Sholo, hoping to find a secret way into the ancient city of Abombi where Bêlit is being held by Ajaga, a tribal chief who has learned how to command animals. Conan figures Ajaga’s siren call is bringing Sholo to his city and Conan can follow the lion to find Bêlit, but he’s not sure what’ll happen if Ajaga orders Sholo to attack Conan himself. (Sholo’s loyalty is due to Conan killing his former master, Amra, but it’s a tenuous connection at best.) Sholo leads Conan into a cave and they follow some tunnels under the city, but soon run afoul of a trap that sends them plunging into an underground
river. Conan finds himself fighting a giant electric eel and ends up crushing it with a big rock. But he runs out of air and almost drowns, bobbing to the surface where he’s grabbed by Krato, one of Ajaga’s sub-chiefs. Krato brings Conan back to Ajaga, who wants to cement his mastery of the Black Coast by sacrificing Conan and Bêlit publicly. Ajaga communes with the ancient god Jhebbal Sag (from whom he received the power to speak with animals), freaking out his men by writhing on the floor and spouting gibberish. Ajaga recovers and says 
Jhebbal Sag has commanded that Conan and Bêlit be sacrificed immediately. Meanwhile, Sholo has emerged from the river into the city and goes looking for Conan, but finds Bêlit instead. She’s trying to break out of the dungeon she was thrown in last issue, but none of the other captive women will help. Sholo helps, once he recognizes her as Conan’s mate, by ripping the bars out with his mouth. He and Bêlit search for Conan and hear a trumpet call heralding the upcoming sacrifice. Ajaga has gathered his followers to watch the sacrifice, drawing the ancient symbol of Jhebbal Sag to keep his animals at bay. The
trumpet call goes beyond the city of Abombi, compelling various beasts from the surrounding jungle to converge on the city. This is a pretty good issue, though it’s mostly set-up for the final part of the Beast-King story. It’s cool to see Sholo helping Bêlit, which reminds me of the old Tarzan stories. Ajaga summoning the animals has a Tarzan feel to it as well, although Roy said his main inspiration was the Tarzan parody “Melvin of the Apes” in MAD Magazine.
Conan the Barbarian #97 – “The Long Night of Fang and Talon Part 2” – Roy Thomas/John Buscema/Ernie Chan
This one continues from above, with the summoned animals gathering at the place of sacrifice. Ajaga plans to draw blood from Conan to begin the ritual, but let the assembled beasts devour him to complete it. But Bêlit and Sholo arrive just in time and attack. Bêlit knocks Ajaga out but Sholo lands on the wrong side of Jhebbal Sag’s symbol, which keeps him from joining the fight. Bêlit releases Conan just as Krato and his brother Beeya lead their men to attack the two outsiders. Since Ajaga is unconscious, he can no longer control the animals and Conan washes out the symbol of Jhebbal Sag
to let the animals follow their natural instincts. Not only do they tear Ajaga to pieces, they turn on each other as well, freaking out Ajaga’s men, which leaves them vulnerable to Conan and Bêlit’s counterattack. Sholo joins the fight too, saving Bêlit from Ajaga’s leopard. Krato and Beeya try to kill Conan and almost succeed, but Sholo jumps in front of a spear and dies, taking Krato with him. Beeya blames Conan for his brother’s death and rallies the men to attack. It looks like Conan and Bêlit will be overwhelmed, but they’re saved by the timely intervention of their fellow corsairs, who soon put the attackers to rout. Beeya realizes he’s 
no match for Conan (or Bêlit) in a fair fight so he flees, vowing vengeance. After mourning Sholo and releasing the captive women, Conan and Bêlit put back out to sea, their holds laden with the treasures Ajaga extorted from various tribes along the Black Coast. This was a good conclusion to the Beast-King story, with Ajaga’s fate being rather poetic, killed by the animals he once commanded. Beeya’s vow of vengeance is a reference to his appearance in the Robert E. Howard Conan story “The Scarlet Citadel”, which takes place a couple of decades in Conan’s future. That Beeya really knows how to hold a grudge. It was cool to see Bêlit saving Conan instead of the other way around, something that’s highlighted on the cover (which Roy had John Buscema draw as a role-reversed version of the cover of the paperback Conan the Avenger, drawn by Frank Frazetta.