The princess of Ophir Olivia, having fled captivity from the city of Akif, is chased down by her former master and a sadistic rogue named Shah Amurath in a marsh, on the edge of the Vilayet Sea. Before he can lay his hands on her, Conan the Cimmerian rises from the reeds. He has seen all his friends betrayed and treacherously cut down to a man by this very man. After killing Shah Amurath, Conan and Olivia hop in a boat and take their opportunity to escape. They find their way to a dark and apparently deserted island, where they spend the night sleeping in ancient ruins guarded by remarkably lifelike iron statues. Olivia has a dream in which she sees a band of men turned into those statues and wakes convinced they will come to life in the moonlight… At the same time a pirate ship makes port on the island. Conan slays the pirate captain, but is knocked unconscious by a stone from a sling. The pirates bind him and take him back to the ruins where they discuss his fate… Olivia, meanwhile, is chased by a massive, dark figure that pursues her up to the ruins…