READ THE NOVEL- Chapters 1-31 - ERBzine

Tarzan on Mars
sadly. "The future is garbled with myriad lines of probability
now," he said, "for this is the crowning issue of our history,
and all men would be Tharos Pthan."
"Enough!" cried Tario, facing his contenders. "Since you
press me do this prematurely, before our battle is done, I
shall reveal the answer to you!" He turned his white, angry
face upward to the throne.
Jane Clayton felt his power and she heard his silent voice
thundering in her mind. "I, Tario," it shouted to her. "am
Tharos Pthan!" But, with his lips he said a different thing.
"Let Issus, herself, decide! Speak, goddess of eternal
life!—and reveal to the world who is your rightful mate!"
Mate... The connotation of the word and the thought
stirred something deep within her. Mate was a word for—a
man. A certain, specific man. Into her mind came the vision of
a tall, bronzed giant of a godlike man, a man whose life was
closely bound to her own—and one who had come to her
before when she was far away, lost, and troubled as she was
now.
Strangely, this vision filled her with a distant hope. It
gave her a mysterious strength—and pride! Yes! That man
was indeed her rightful mate!
So it was that the startled members of the Sacred Council
saw their goddess rise up proudly before them from her
throne. As though entranced, her eyes looked far away
beyond them, and her voice, as she spoke to them, sounded
even to Ranas Ghol like the voice of prophecy.
"The mate of Issus," she said, "is not among you. But he
will come one day to claim her as his own. And when this
comes to pass he will make himself know to all the world, for
in his mighty strength and in his vengeful wrath, he shall lay
waste to the citadels of his enemies and bring them death!"
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