The war hammer glanced off Gorgo's helmet and made his head ring. He stumbled, went down to one knee, and hung his head feigning serious injury. The enemy warrior, a greasy-haired brute that was missing half of his teeth, raised his hammer again and stepped into position. With the warrior's back arched and his arms held high about to bring the deadly hammer down, Gorgo swept his spiked axe off the ground and up between the brute's legs.

The spike ripped through the man's testicles and bladder before piercing his intestines. Gorgo then rolled away as the hammer fell. As soon as he was able, he swung his ax again, this time at the only thing in reach. The blade nearly missed but it did manage to slice skin and muscle off of the warrior's calf, laying the bone bare.

Regaining his feet, Gorgo put an end to the big warrior and what was left of the other men who had faced him.

A half-hour later he was trudging through the blowing snow with three heads tied to his belt, their dripping gore leaving a trail of crimson specks in his wake.

"Gods how I want to shove these heads up Conan's ass. That red-haired fuck sent me against that bastard all by myself knowing that his brothers would be there. I can't believe he talked the Clan elders into letting him lead this expedition. That's all he's good for, talking. He's too tall and skinny to do much else. He wanted to get me killed so that he could go back and talk my wife out of her skirts. It wouldn't be difficult. She's probably spreading her legs for his dim-witted brother right now. I bust my ass to put food on the table and what do I get out of it? Redheaded brats. The bitch's hair is blond, mine is black, where the fuck is red coming from? And if I have to listen to "I have a headache, or it's that time of the moon, or your cock is too big, one more time when I get back from risking my life, I'm going to throw her ass out.

"I had enough money; I should have gone back home to see if Harriet O'Fani would have me, but no, Miss big tits stuck her hand under my kilt and batted her blue eyes until I begged her to marry me. Then I had to pay her father's debts. Shit, that was the last time I ever saw gold in my purse. What the fuck does she do with it? The house is a mess, the brats are always dirty, food is never on the table, and she can't cook worth shit when it is."

Gorgo plodded on, mile after frozen mile back to camp. He was tired of all the killing but it was better than staying home and listening to his wife nag. He had grown up wanting to be a simple happy farmer like his uncle Krom, but now he was a killer. He had been dealing out death for ten years, ever since he bashed in his father's skull and left home at sixteen. Gorgo was not sorry, the drunken bastard had beaten his mother until she left them, and then he had started beating Gorgo.