READ THE NOVEL- Chapters 1-31 - ERBzine

Tarzan on Mars
accused Zithad. "You would plunge us all into the battle
against the Warlord at a time when the gamble is yet even.
Why will you not wait until our force is so great that the
element of risk will be eliminated?"
The black Dotar scowled at the Thern. He, too, was
resplendent in his heavily jeweled harness of bleached zitidar
hide. Most prominent of all four men was Zithad in the matter
of personal weapons. He fairly bristled with armaments,
which included a great, jeweled long sword, a short sword, a
dagger, and two heavy caliber radium pistols. He, too, wore
the hard, forbidding mask of the tyrant, except that in his
piercing black eyes shone the clear cold fire of fanaticism.
"Well it is for you, Sardon Dhur, to counsel delay, for if
we should never come to grips with the sacred issue at hand
you would already have achieved your own personal goals. Do
you think we are not aware of the fact that the higher Therns
already fawn upon you and fill your treasure chests with
tribute in exchange for the promise of favoritism once the
battle is won? You sit in your glorious palace, drowning
yourself in food and wine, gathering to yourself beautiful
women and opiate dreams— while the rest of us do your
work for you!"
Sardon Dhur demonstrated that the threat of his sword
was beneath the new power and dignity to which he had risen.
He merely smiled, but only with his lips.
"The Holy Empire of the Seventh Cycle now consists of
five and a half millions of highly trained and coordinated
priests," he said, evenly, "of which two million are practiced
warriors. And an aerial navy of four thousand warcraft is not
an inconsiderable contribution to the cause of the Holy
Alliance, by impulsive friend!"
Tario, on the other hand, had changed only in one detail.
He now were on his brow the gorgeous Holy Diadem, in the
center of which was the scintillating Star of Issus—"borrowed"
from Sardon Dhur. Somehow, the great crystal of
121