READ THE NOVEL- Chapters 1-31 - ERBzine

Tarzan on Mars
concerning the Holy Alliance. For this was Var Koros, a man
whose name was well know to the scholarly as the greatest
authority on the subject of Barsoomian language and Barsoomian
antiquity. It was astonishing to Kar Komak to know
that he yet lived, because Var Koros, according to history,
long ago took his final journey on the River Iss, beneath the
Mountains of Otz— into the Sacred Worlds from which there
was no return. That had been in the old days prior to the
coming of John Carter when the River Iss carried the faithful
to unsuspected hideous death in the Valley Dor on the banks
of the lost Sea of Korus.
"How I came here," said Var Koros, "is a personal secret
of my own. Suffice it to say, I have lived here in the Valley of
Tarnath a full two hundred years. I know its history and I
know the details of what is transpiring now to challenge the
power of the Warlord."
When Kar Komak questioned him further, he suddenly
became aware that the antiquarian was attempting to probe
his mind. He shielded himself, instantly.
"What are you?" he asked, angrily. "A spy sent in here to
learn of my identity and purpose?"
"No," replied the other, "but you are a spy, and you are
disguised as a red panthan. That much I learned before you
closed that powerful mind of yours. Who are you, really?"
Kar Komak remained silent. The man already knew too
much. Should he divulge this information to anyone here in
authority it would be his death warrant. His life was one
consideration. The welfare of all Barsoom was another. Var
Koros knew enough now to endanger his chances of escaping,
and this endangered the entire planet.
"I should kill you," he said at last, quietly.
"Well?" queried the old man. "And will you?"
For answer, Kar Komak hurled all the prodigious power
of his Lotharian mind at the other, tearing ruthlessly through
a surprisingly strong mental barrier. He heard Var Koros
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