chunk: In the stronghold Conan and Valeria learn that the city of Xuchotil was built long before its current inhabitants arrived. The people who created the city had used magic to resurrect "dragons" (actually the jumbled skeletons of dinosaurs) to protect the city. One day, a slave named Tolkemec betrayed his masters to guide a band led by the brothers Tecuhltli and Xotalanc into the city which slaughtered the original inhabitants. The conquerors afterwards ruled the city in peace until Tecuhltli stole the bride of his brother, leading to a feud in which most of the conquerors are killed. Tolkemec played both sides for his own purposes before he was exiled to the catacombs and assumed to have died there. Nails driven into pillar in their stronghold keeps count of how many of their enemy they have slain, and provides the title of the story.