READ THE NOVEL- Chapters 1-31 - ERBzine

Tarzan on Mars
the balcony.
"Stay!" commanded Tario. "Thus far, and no more!"
The jeddak stopped. He scanned the faces of the Council
members slowly, devoting a long, wondering moment to
Ranas Ghol, and finally his eyes rested on the Holy Diadem
worn by Tario. Since the inhabitants of the outer world knew
very little concerning the higher cycles of Therns who lived
exclusively in the Sacred Worlds, they knew nothing of the
significance of the Holy Diadem of the Hekkadors. However,
the great jewel on Tario's forehead seemed to single him out
as the spokesman for the Sacred Council, and therefore the
jeddak addressed him.
"I come to the world of the dead," h announced, "neither
as a fool nor as a traitor. But I have a condition to make which
is inspired by purely practical considerations."
"Speak, Tavan Jal," said Tario, glaring at him. "We shall
then tell you how you have been judged. We shall also ask
you how you found your way to Tarnath, which is a part of the
Sacred Worlds and may not be approached by the living.
Tavan Jal smiled confidently. "But now I am of the
blessed dead."
"And therefore," said Zithad, sharply, "you shall never
return whence you came. This is the ancient law, as valid now
as it ever was in Barsoomian antiquity!"
"As the Council wills," replied the former Jeddak of Jahar.
"But someone must carry a message back to my son, Sor Tal,
who will take my throne. The message must be in my own
handwriting, in a certain rare written language which is
known to few 11 . Only this will Prince Sor Tal recognize as
genuine. It must tell him that I have found the Holy Alliance
to be what it pretends to be—and that I have looked upon the
resurrected Issus."
11 On Barsoom, their is only one spoken language, but the
written languages are legion...
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