READ THE NOVEL- Chapters 1-31 - ERBzine

Tarzan on Mars
Warlord himself, had not been discovered as yet, it was also
true that a host of smaller details in far-flung places were
overlooked—such as a small, trusted band of hunters from
Helium who, under the leadership of Vor Daj, a famous
swordsman, trudged through steaming jungles in the vast
Toonolian Marshes, dragging barges behind them in which
were large, sturdy cages.
Inside these cages were not the hideous synthetic
hormads of the extinct city of Morbus, for these had long ago
been exterminated. But, if the masters of Tarnath could have
discerned what was actually imprisoned within these cages
they would have realized that the opposition is capable always
of operating its own system of espionage—and capable, as
well, of improvising its own desperate last-minute counterweapons...
* * *
Far above the teeming Valley of Tarnath, atop the
looming fortress escarpment, the Sacred Council of the Holy
Alliance was in special session.
Zithad, Dator of the First Born, was now more gorgeously
harnessed than ever, and even his bristling array of
weapons were so encrusted with jewels as to render them
almost unserviceable for combat. That they were the unmistakable
symbols of established imperial authority and power
was plainly evidenced by the cold, impatient fire in his eyes
and the uncompromising set of his thin lips and his strong,
ebony-hued chin.
Sardon Dhur displayed an equivalent predilection for the
outward signs of wealth and power, but the advantage of his
position as Hekkador of the Holy Thern Empire had made its
mark upon his body as well as in his personality. Rich food
and wine and heavy indulgence of the flesh had fattened him
like some oriental potentate of Earth in the time and tradition
of Genghis Khan, and his cruel, covetous features were lined
with the inroads of self-abuse.
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