Conan the Barbarian Legions of the Dead review

Legions of the Dead

In the beginning we find Conan at 16 years of age, leaving (perhaps forced) from his homeland and journeys north to fight alongside the Aesir. Njal the Aesir, chieftan, has a daughter named Rann that is missing, captured by "witchmen".
He is with chieftain on a hunting excursion during a mission to recover Njal's daughter from "witchmen". Conan's group is camped near Haloga castle, from where a group of scouts that Njal sent have failed to return.

Worry spreads quickly when a scouting party failed to return, fearing that the element of surprise is gone, the party begins to ponder their next move. In the morning hours screams are heard from the castle, Conan and his party discover that Hyperborian "witchmen" are torturing their comrades to death on the castle's battlements. Restless, Conan scales the castle wall using a rope and grapnel hook, and begins to sneak around the castle in search of Njal's (the chieftain) daughter. The Hyperborians are consumed with killing the scouting party and have no clue of their new intruder. Conan soon finds Njal's daughter and they attempt to escape by retracing Conan's steps, but are diverted into a storage room by wandering Hyperborians. Conan plans a diversion by setting a fire and is able to bring the chieftan's daughter out of the castle, returning her to Njal.

Enraged, the Queen of Haloga, Vammatar the Cruel, thirsts for revenge and quickly sets out in pursuit. Realising the Hyperboreans are quickly closing in, the Aesir hold their ground wait for the pursuers. To the shock and dismay of the Aesir, the ensuing band of pursuers are soon discovered to be undead- including many of the Aesir's missing scouting party, as well as Hyperborians that perished in Conan's fire. They attack furiously and demolish the Aesir. Conan notices Vammatar atop a black steed commanding the undead, and he attacks the queen, pulling her from atop the horse. He places Njal's daughter on it and attempts to mount the saddle himself, but the maddened horde of the undead army stop him. Slapping the horse with the flat of his blade Conan tells Njal's daughter to ride away fast.

At this point Conan and the remaining Aesir party are captured by the Hyperborians, Conan learns for the first time the lonely feel of cold chains in captivity.

Conan doesn't win at the end of this story, although he is pretty much solely responsible for Njal's daughter's freedom.