Conan stumbles through a harsh Cimmerian blizzard and sees a house; he pushes his way inside and collapses. When he awakens, he finds he is in the house of his childhood friend Laynnen, who has taken a Princess of Khitai as his wife and lives in self-imposed exile from his tribe, as he is a more a gentle poet than a barbarian. His wife, Noyo, has been cursed by a Khitain wizard to be a living wind. Their conversation is interrupted by mysterious sounds outside, and when they investigate, a group of hawk-men swoop from the sky and grab Leynnan. As Conan regroups, the image of the Khitain wizard Pau-Styss appears, he who caused Noyo to flee Khitai in the first place, and demands Noyo return to him. Back at his castle, Pau-Styss tells Laynnen it was not he who cursed Noyo but rather her posit