The Hoard of the Wizard-Beast

"The Hoard of the Wizard-Beast" is a short story by H. P. Lovecraft and R. H. Barlow. It was written in 1933 but not published until 1994, in Necronomicon Press’s The Hoard of the Wizard-Beast and One Other.
==Synopsis==
On an unnamed alien world, in the many-towered city-state of Zeth, the chief wizard-auditor of the city, Yalden, discovers that the city is bankrupt and its presumed treasure missing. To remedy this, he seeks the counsel of the oracle-god Oorn, a huge gelatinous mass covered in short grey fur. Oorn had slithered its bulk into Zeth one day from parts unknown, and become the de facto ruler of the city-state.
With an ambiguous phrase, it encourages Yalden to do what he was already considering, namely raid the powerful necromancer Anathas. Anathas is mysterious and no one has seen him; some suggest he cast a gigantic shadow, but there is no solid information on him. 
This being so, Yalden consults the Lord of Worms, Sarall. Sarall proves to be a tiny maggot and not a gigantic eldritch entity, one of many ironic touches in this tale.
Yalden goes to the lair of Anathas and discovers a fiery lake inhabited by fire elemental creatures: Salamanders and Wyvern. He discovers that the fire barrier is easy to cross, and beyond it lies the enormous treasure of Anathas.
While he is still admiring it, the passage through the fire closes of its own accord, trapping him. A huge seven-eyed creature heaves into view, looking down on him with amusement as the Salamanders slowly approach his position, preparing to devour him.
==Behind the Mythos==
This two-page story was the second collaboration between Lovecraft and the sixteen-year-old Barlow, created during Lovecraft's visit to Barlow in his home in Florida. It is a light-hearted ironic twist on the traditional fantasy stories, full of pompous descriptions and weighty matters. Jack Vance would make a cottage industry of such writing decades after this tale was written, but this work was not published in Lovecraft's lifetime, and would have received only a narrow circulation at the time among his Circle.
Category:R. H. Barlow works
Category:H. P. Lovecraft works
Category:Lovecraft Circle Works