Conan pursues General Othbaal, an ally turned traitor, into the city of Asgalun. He allies himself with Mazdak, one of two other generals involved in a power struggle serving under King Akhirom. Conan and Mazdak eliminate the other generals while causing Akhirom to be overthrown in a coup d'état. Conan must flee Asgalun, and a potentially profitable alliance with Mazdak, when it's discovered that he is actually Amra; a pirate who fleeced many nearby city-states.
Differences from Howard's original story
De Camp gave Diego de Guzman's role to Conan, changed the setting from Egypt in 1021 A.D. into Howard's Hyborian Age, and extensively rewritten the plot so that a new "Howard" story could be included to the collection Tales of Conan in 1955.