The story opens with Amalric and two Ghanatas, Gobir and Saidu, at a desert water hole. Their tense camaraderie is disrupted when Tilutan, a towering and formidable black warrior, arrives carrying an unconscious white girl, Lissa, across his saddle. Tensions rise as Tilutan’s dominance looms over the group.

Amalric remains outwardly indifferent but calculates his next move as the Ghanatas argue over who will claim Lissa after Tilutan. Amalric uses the chaos to launch a deadly assault, killing Gobir and engaging in a brutal fight with Saidu. The conflict escalates as Tilutan intervenes, nearly overpowering Amalric.

By a twist of fate, Tilutan trips on his unwound girdle, allowing Amalric to seize the scimitar and kill him. Amalric tends to the revived Lissa, who reveals she escaped the city of Gazal, a decrepit oasis settlement steeped in mystery and isolation. The two journey to Gazal, where Amalric discovers a decaying city inhabited by dreamlike, listless people and dominated by a sinister red tower.

Lissa warns Amalric about the "Horror" that resides within the tower, a being that devours human lives. As night falls, Lissa disappears, and Amalric, driven by rage and fear, storms the red tower to rescue her. Inside, he confronts Ollam-onga, a supernatural being with the guise of a man but the essence of a god.

Using a magical incantation learned from a distant land, Amalric binds the entity into a mortal form and defeats it in a desperate fight. Amalric and Lissa flee Gazal, but their escape is shadowed by seven black riders emerging from the ruins. Just as they seem doomed, they are rescued by a band of Tombalku riders led by Amalric’s old companion, Conan the Cimmerian.

Conan explains how he survived a previous defeat and rose to power in the chaotic, war-torn kingdom of Tombalku. Amalric is reluctant to join Conan’s life of intrigue, now focused on protecting Lissa. The story ends with the two men reuniting under uneasy circumstances, as Amalric weighs his loyalty to Conan against his commitment to Lissa.