READ THE NOVEL- Chapters 1-31 - ERBzine

Tarzan on Mars
on religious considerations did not exactly matter. Once Tars
Tarkas and his great horde of warriors had joined her cause,
other allies of various sorts, sizes and descriptions had quickly
followed. Many there were who moved upon Tarnath with
the thought of conquest alone, or of pillage and murder, with
a thirst for vengeance or a thirst for wealth.
So it was that as the dark river of mystery flowed
downward through the caverns from Tarnath and hurried
onward beyond their rear flank on its course toward distant
Korus and the Valley Dor, this other mighty river, composed
of men and beasts, flowed steadily upstream along the banks,
moving inexorably nearer to the main base of the Holy
Alliance.
But La did not behold this scene as vividly as she did
another which she fondly imagined to be within her immediate
future. She saw herself dethroning Jane Clayton, denouncing
her as a false Issus before the people of Barsoom. And, in
this she took for granted her rival's destruction at their hands.
She also saw Tarzan in chains, her prisoner, until time should
heal his wounds and he would at last succumb to her will and
accept her as the true Issus and his mate.
Yes!—she told herself. Let men judge her act as they
would, but if she were truly Issus, her acts would be beyond
their judgement. Had not fate forced her to challenge its own
cruel dictates? Had she not been mercilessly goaded into this
revolt against barren and insupportable destiny? Let men
remain the victim of these forces, but a goddess was fate,
itself. If she did not demand of life all things which she
desired, then she was reduced to the common denominator of
mortal men and was no deity at all, unworthy of men's
worship.
What she desired most of all was Tarzan of the Apes, and
she was determined to have him or she would thenceforth
distrust her own identity as Issus.
A small thoat of the type domesticated by red men drew
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