"Black Eons" is a short story by American author Robert M. Price with Robert E. Howard.
Synopsis[]
A pair of archaeologists, Allison and Brill, unearth a temple in the Egyptian desert which Allison believes dates from the Hyborian Age. Later that evening, Allison dreams that he is a warrior sacking the city in which the temple once stood, and killing its high priest, a devotee of Gol-goroth who curses his immortal soul to be reincarnated until the priest may take his vengeance.
Awakening to find himself within the tomb, Allison realises that he is the owner of the warrior's soul, destined to once again face down the priest. His friend Brill attacks him, having been possessed by the priest, but Allison manages to kill him and destroy the priest's desiccated body before claiming the inner peace that has been denied him for millennia.
Characters[]
- James Allison, a much-reincarnated soul currently in the body of a scholarly archaeologist.
- Bane, a Vanir tribesman in search of glory during the fall of the Stygian empire during the Hyborean Age.
- Koth-Serapis, a sorcerer-priest in the service of Gol-goroth during the Hyborian Age.
- Brill, an archaeologist and unwitting pawn of Koth-Serapis.
Behind the Mythos[]
"Black Eons" was an unfinished and untitled fragment by Howard which was completed and named by Price. The protagonist, James Allison, is a recurrent character in the works of Howard.
Publication History[]
- Fantasy Book (June 1985)
- Nameless Cults: The Cthulhu Mythos Fiction of Robert E. Howard (October 2001)
- Blasphemies & Revelations (November 2009)
- Cormac Mac Art és a vikingek (2012) [Hungarian translation]
| "The Valley of the Worm" • "The Garden of Fear" • "Marchers of Valhalla" • "The Tower of Time" • "Brachan the Kelt" • "Black Eons" • "The Guardian of the Idol" |