Warrior Queen of Attila’s Lost Legion by John Peter Drummond

Book Details

Warrior Queen of Attila’s Lost Legion is a novel in nine chapters of the adventures of Ki-Gor in the jungles and deserts and lost lands of Africa.

Out of the past swept cruel Queen Tarma’s hun-horsemen, claiming Ki-Gor’s mate Helene for sacrifice. And even lion-thewed Ki-Gor quailed before the swamp-beasts guarding Tarma’s dripping altars.

Ki-gor rejects a demand of marriage from Tarma, Queen of the Maldeans. The insulted Queen kidnaps Helene to be a human sacrifice in retaliation. Ki-Gor, Tembu George the Masai chief, and the Pygmy, N’Geeso track the raiders to a lost valley guarded by dinosaurs. Getting there through the barren desert was the easy part. Rescuing Helene and leaving the valley alive was something else again.

John Peter Drummond was the “house name” used to write the Ki-Gor stories in the Jungle Stories magazine.

Warrior Queen of Attila’s Lost Legion by John Peter Drummond was published in Jungle Stories in the Summer 1947 issue.

Warrior Queen of Attila’s Lost Legion contains 7 illustrations.

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Excerpt: Warrior Queen of Attila’s Lost Legion

Chapter I

Ki-GOR stared curiously at the man who stepped from the jungle. The White Lord had seen few hunchbacks in his time, and certainly never one such as this. Tembu George, huge-thewed chieftain of the Masai, and the two bands of warriors he had brought with him on this visit to Ki-Gor, likewise watched the stranger with rapt attention.

The man was short, only inches taller than a pygmy, but he was as broad and thick-bodied as a gorilla. His arms were round as the average warrior’s thigh and his trunk swelled bulky and deep above ridiculously short legs.

But seeing the man’s face one knew he possessed more than brute strength. He was a cunning man and wise, with a broad, high forehead and deep-set almond eyes. And strangely enough, though he was coffee-colored, he had scarcely any negroid features. His hair, jet-black and straight, was parted in the center and hung in two side braids. He was of no tribe Ki-Gor had ever seen.

“I would speak to the one called Ki-Gor,” the stranger said, and the Bantu tongue had a curious accent on his lips.

“I am called Ki-Gor,” the White Lord answered quietly.

The man inclined his head gravely in an attitude of greeting and respect. Even as his head was bent, however, his black eyes assessed the blonde-haired, grey-eyed white man known as the greatest warrior of the jungle.

“It is an honor to meet the king of these lands,” the stranger declared.

“You are mistaken,” Ki-Gor said. “I rule no people.”

The stranger smiled indulgently. “It is known, O Lord, that when you speak, many tribes obey. Only a king has such power.”

Ki-Gor did not trouble to argue. Perhaps the man merely over-reached himself in an attempt to flatter the White Lord. Courtesy with the forest people called for resounding, if not truthful, compliments.

“And these tall warriors are your guards?” he continued, his glance flicking over the Masai. “They are noble men, worthy to serve a king.”

Ki-Gor smiled, amused at the thought that the fiercely independent Masai were his servants.

“These are my friends,” the White Lord explained. “They obey no man except the warrior they choose as chieftain. Tembu George, here, is their leader.”

Polite humor again touched the stranger’s lips. “You joke with me, Lord,” he observed. “My queen, you see, has had you watched for many moons. She knows the facts. It is only because you are a king that I have come.”

A faint frown creased Ki-Gor’s forehead. He realized the man spoke in utter earnestness. He was not voicing native flattery. What strange business was this?

“Then why have you come?” asked the White Lord.

“Tarma, Queen of the Maldeans, seeks a strong and worthy man to rule with her,” the visitor stated. “She wishes you to be that man—her husband. You are the favored of the gods, O Lord, to be so honored. I, Valdur, cousin of the queen, come to arrange the details of this royal marriage.”

For a few seconds, Ki-Gor could not speak. The usually imperturbable White Lord was completely taken aback. A threat of war or death or plague would have left him unmoved, but this startling offer of marriage hit him with the impact of a thunderbolt. Tembu George and his warriors were left equally speechless.

“This is, indeed, a great honor,” Ki-Gor managed at last, gathering his wits to decline without giving offense, “but already I have a wife. As you can see, it would be unseemly for a queen to be a man’s second, and, therefore, his lesser, wife.”

The news that the White Lord was wedded to the red-haired Helene left Valdur unruffled. He searched the camp with his eyes, apparently assuring himself she was not present.

“This can be arranged, Lord,” he said. “Tarma has vast wealth and will be most generous with this woman. She can go her way and costly presents will ease her sorrow. A queen’s favor is not to be lightly weighed.”

Excerpt From: John Peter Drummond. “Warrior Queen of Attila’s Lost Legion.”