Edgar Rice Burroughs

Warlord of Mars Edgar Rice Burroughs

In the shadows of the forest that flanks the crimson plain by the side of the Lost Sea of Korusin the Valley Dor, beneath the hurtling moons of Mars, speeding their meteoric way close abovethe bosom of the dying planet, I crept stealthily along the trail of a shadowy form that hugged thedarker places with a persistency that proclaimed the sinister nature of its errand. For six long Martian months I had haunted the vicinity of the hateful Temple of the Sun, within whose slow-revolving shaft, far beneath the surface of Mars, my princess lay entombed-but whether alive or dead I knew not. Had Phaidor's slim blade found that beloved heart? Timeonly would reveal the truth. Six hundred and eighty-seven Martian days must come and go before the cell's door wouldagain come opposite the tunnel's end where last I had seen my ever-beautiful Dejah Thoris. Half of them had passed, or would on the morrow, yet vivid in my memory, obliteratingevery event that had come before or after, there remained the last scene before the gust of smokeblinded my eyes and the narrow slit that had given me sight of the interior of her cell closedbetween me and the Princess of Helium for a long Martian year. As if it were yesterday, I still saw the beautiful face of Phaidor, daughter of Matai Shang, distorted with jealous rage and hatred as she sprang forward with raised dagger upon the womanI loved. I saw the red girl, Thuvia of Ptarth, leap forward to prevent the hideous deed. The smoke from the burning temple had come then to blot out the tragedy, but in my earsrang the single shriek as the knife fell. Then silence, and when the smoke had cleared, therevolving temple had shut off all sight or sound from the chamber in which the three beautifulwomen were imprisone