READ THE NOVEL- Chapters 1-31 - ERBzine

Tarzan on Mars
Zumorian.
"I am not important," replied the latter.
"But your people—the warriors of Tarnath— will they
not man the fortress and resist the invasion of the Warlord?"
"They have long been under Tario's command," he
answered, "so I suppose that they will."
Zithad waved his hands helplessly. "It is too much!" he
exclaimed. He drew his jeweled sword and threw it onto the
table before Tario. "My sword is yours," he said. "For sanity's
sake—and for Issus!"
Tario picked up the sword and admired it. "You have
followed the dictates of your own reason, as Ranas Ghol has
advised. And it is well."
"Master!" mumbled Sardon Dhur, from the floor.
Zithad looked at him disgustedly. "And what of him?" he
asked.
Tario shrugged. "He and his empire are your to command."
Zithad beamed. "Do you mean it? Can you continue to
control him thus?"
"Easily," came Tario's reply. "I can bring him out of that
condition and make him believe he is acting as a free agent,
yet he will be your most trusted servant."
Zithad did not pause to consider the possibility that he,
himself, might be the mental puppet of Tario's incredible
mind, but while he gloated inwardly over the prospect of
enjoying power and authority in the Sacred Worlds which
would be second only to those of this self-acclaimed Tharos
Pthan, tens of thousands of warcraft moved purposefully
toward Tarnath out of Helium and Ptarth and Gathol and Kaol
and a dozen other points.
While, in his hidden rendezvous, John Carter, Warlord of
Barsoom, stood on the deck of a mighty battleship and waited
for his own time to plunge into the final battle.
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