Fearing retribution for visiting the seraglio of the king of Ophir, a young Conan wants to pull out of Ianthe (Capital of Ophir) ASAP.
A moribund soothsayer gives Conan a gold coin. A cutpurse grabs the coin, Conan easily takes it back.
Curious about the coin, the Barbarian visits Yaktan the Scholar.
Yaktan mentions Cities of Gold (Hyrkania & Khitai) beyond Turan and the Vilayet sea. To help him traverse these Eastern Lands, Yaktan provides Conan with an ancient map.
After weeks of searching in vain for treasure, finding Yaktan's map useless... Conan's supplies are diminishing.
Conan dispatches the armoured kidnappers of Lian (apparently a Princess of Khitai).
Conan sleeps with Lian. The next morning, the corpses of the snatchers have vanished and only one horse remains.
After three days of travelling Lian leads Conan to her abandoned city.
Lian uses demonic sorcery to release an Ogre, Conan beheads Lian, the Ogre turns into a gold neckless wearing twin of Lian and a malevolent dragon replaces the decapitated Lian.
Conan kills the dragon, the dragon's body ignites... the dilapidated city starts disintegrating. Conan grabs Lian's twin in his arms and starts running for it.
Just to make certain that it will remain dead, Conan crushes the burning remains of the dragon.
Lian's twin kisses Conan, she informs him that she's actually Ehuang, the TRUE Princess of Khitai. Lian tried to trick Conan into killing Ehuang (if the magically protected Ehuang is murdered, her murderer will die instantly).
Now, liberated from Lian's binding magic, Ehuang also transforms into a dragon. To thank him for his assistance, the benevolent dragon gives its gold neckless to the Cimmerian.
What I did like:
An homage to the Gongbi technique in Chinese painting.
A standalone tale that can be enjoyed on its own.
Walter Simonson (The Grey God Passes, The Hyborian Age, Savage Sword of Conan #132 pin-up, Conan the Barbarian #135 cover, King Conan #6 cover) writes his very first Conan story!
A variant cover by Walt Simonson & Laura Martin!
What I did not like:
I wanted to visit the lost jungles of Khitai from The Tower of the Elephant.
No elephants. Zero!
Did Lian really consume the corpses and the horses? She never confesses.
Sadly, it is a digital exclusive release only. Don't look for it in stores, you won't be able to find it.
I give it a 9/10. A nice palate cleanser. Conan fights a dragon, a sorceress, an ogre and bandits. I enjoyed it. Fans of Chinese mythology will be quite pleased. Go buy it now! Support The Cimmerian, Heroic Signatures & Titan Comics. Let's hope that Eastern Horizons reappears in print within a TPB someday.
