READ THE NOVEL- Chapters 1-31 - ERBzine

Tarzan on Mars
caught on a tidal wave of violence, pent up emotions of the
soul, murderous wrath, covetous piracy and blood-hungry
bestiality in its most raw and primordial form."
As she listened to him, spellbound, she began to tremble.
She fought for self-control, but he continued relentlessly.
"Yet, withal, you are amazed at the nerve, confidence and
nameless wisdom which keeps you successfully at the head
and in the leader's seat. You are discovering within yourself
a bottomless well of talent and power over the minds of men
and beasts. That it is something truly mystical and very real
terrifies you. You are aware of an unknown strength, and you
wonder if, after all, you are a living goddess. You fear that you
are not Issus, yet at the same time you fear that you are,
because your subconscious self forewarns you of the terrible
responsibility that single fact would involve."
Tears began to well in La's great, blue eyes. "Don't!" she
pleaded. "Stop!"
"How shall you use this power, La?" Va Caraways almost
thundered at her. The last of the rear guard had passed them
now and they were alone except for a restless, grumbling detail
of great white apes. His voice echoed somberly above the
swirling waters of the sacred river. "What is good and what is
evil? Of these things must you think before we arrive in
Tarnath. Perhaps the great Thark chieftain, Tars Tarkas, is
shrewd enough to have placed a double meaning in his
question, La. What are your secret plans? What shall be the
real purpose of this mighty hegira? To fulfill mortal ambition
and satisfy ephemeral desires of the heart and flesh at the
cost of self-seeking pillage and destruction—or shall we be
guided by a noble cause borne in strength and nurtured by the
enriching flood of benevolence from a true goddess of the
prophecies? I say unto you, your fears will vanish and your
enduring glory and power will rise to the pinnacle of fulfillment
when you, yourself, realize that you are Issus! And the
road to faith is not through self, but through humility and self-
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