Conan sees a man beating another to death and interferes, throwing the larger man away from the frail, cloaked figure. The man protests, saying he was trying to save others, but now can only save himself as he stabs himself in the heart. The cloaked woman thanks him but scolds herself for ever leaving the valley, then collapses. Conan picks up the woman and rides with her to a small town where he is immediately set upon by the townspeople who flee and throw rocks from afar. Finally cornering one of the townspeople, the terrified man calls attention to Conan's hands and arms on which boils have appeared. He runs to a barrel of water and see the lesions have spread to his face. The woman he saved tells him it is only the beginning, and she pulls back her hood to reveal herself to be Conan's