"Treason in Zagadar" by Adrian Cole (1994) Originally appeared in The Anthology of Fantasy & the Supernatural, 1994. Plot: Ambellus, an arrogant but worthy ambassador of Kull's comes to Zagadar and falls into a trap, getting himself and his men killed in the jungle outside of the city. The king of the city is Gorvic the Axe, a distant cousin to King Borna, the man Kull slew for the throne. Gorvic plans to take back the empire with the help of the wizard Xaldeev, who can control the lizard-men. When Ambellus' head is sent back to Kull, the army mounts up and comes to Zagadar. Gorvic and Xaldeev spring a complex trap, one that involves putting all the fighting men of Zagadar under a spell while the lizard-men are allowed into the city to kill Kull and his men. While Kull and the Red Slayers are fighting a desperate battle on the walls of the city, Xaldeev has his own plans for revenge, on everybody, and releases the Unborn One from another dimension. This monster kills most of the lizard-men, allowing Kull and Brule to follow the traitor Gorvic. Kull and Gorvic have an axe duel which Gorvic loses, having his leg hacked open. Before Kull can dispatch him, Xaldeev comes bragging. Kull tries to kill him but his magic is too strong. But the wizard forgets about Gorvic who cuts the wizard's back open with his axe. The Unborn One devours Gorvic and the dead wizard then flees before the fires that have sprung up all over the palace. Kull wins the day and prepares to find a new regent for Zagadar. Monsters: Lizard-men - savage lizard warriors fromt he jungles of the south The Unborn One - this ultra-dimensional being is an abomination that oozes about the palace shooting spores at its victims. these spores burst, spraying digestive acids. History: Cole does a grerat job of telling this pastiche. Other than Lin Carter finishing some Kull stories there haven't been a whole lot of Kull pastiches outside of the comic books. Cole has a nice mix of intrigue, monsters and Mythosian stuff. This is truly a descendant of "The Shadow Kingdom" though his lizard-men are not the Serpent-men of the Mythos. Cole does link it all to H. P. Lovecraft by having the wizard Xaldeev say that his elder race once tended the shoggoths of the old ones.
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