"Shadow of a Demon" by Gardner F. Fox (1976)
Originally appeared Dragon Magazine, August 1976 then in Years' Best Fantasy #3 edited by Lin Carter for DAW Books 1976.
Original art by Symes Plot: Niall the Far Traveling comes to Angalore, a city ruled by the evil sorcerer Maylok. He meets a strange girl named Lylthia who has a secret. She goes to Maylok's castle after magically putting Niall to sleep. The barbarian wakes to find her gone and realizes she has gone to Maylok's. He tries to get hired as a mercenary but is turned away. He arranges to sail out on the morrow with the ship Hyssop. Returning after dark, Niall sneaks into the castle, and down into the wizard's underground chambers. he finds Lylthia's dead body, then the wizard. His armed men battle with Niall and eventually overtake him. He is cruelly chained in a cell. A shadow comes to him and dissolves his chains. Swordsman and shadow seek out the sorcerer, interrupting him during a dangerous spell. Niall finds himself in a red-fire hell dimension where the shadow has become Lylthia, but not quite for she is actually The Demon-Queen Emelkartha. She tortures Maylok and tells him how he will suffer for a very long time for his crimes against demon kind. Emelkartha returns Niall to his own world but not before a kiss, one that will haunt him for the rest of his life. Monsters: The Demon-Queen Emelkartha - The girl Lylthia is the human avatar of the demon-queen. When she is sacrificed for blood her shadow continues about waiting to get revenge. Shadows - disembodied shadows with green-fire fingers that dissolve metal History: Reads like a Conan pastiche that failed to make it into the canon. Fox has written Conan-esque fiction in two series, Kothar the Barbarian Swordsman and Kyrik, Sorcerer-Swordsman. He also wrote the first true Sword & Sorcery comic, "Crom the Barbarian" back in 1950 as well as several pieces for Warren magazines and the occasional bit for Marvel.
The cover for this second issue of The Dragon may have been meant to be a portrait of Niall. Rating
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