Conan, Yusef, and Tara make their way back to Ronnoco, barely escaping the shadow creature as it rampages through the countryside. In the city, Lord Belzamo is failing to convince Yvonne to marry his son Vanni, but all is abandoned when Conan's report is given. Conan leaves the city, despite Murilo's objections, to check out a theory he has on defeating the shadow creature, and he returns to the nameless city where the ring was found. He finds the scorpion guardian that he had killed and plunges his sword back into its head, completing a mystical circuit and bringing the guardian back to life. The scorpion immediately heads in the direction of Ronnoco. While Murilo and his men utterly fail to stop the creature, Vanni sneaks away with an unwilling Yvonne, betraying his father. Outside the c