Tarzan, Conqueror of Mars (The Wild Adventures of Edgar Rice Burroughs Book 9) by Will Murray

Author:Will Murray [Murray, Will]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Action and Adventure
Publisher: Altus Press
Published: 2020-01-13T06:00:00+00:00

Chapter 29

Besting the Ghoor

Night was not far along when Tarzan and Cosooma exited the void that constituted the empty shell of the dead ghoor, and struck out to the north. A solitary moon transited the sky with amazing speed. It was the lesser satellite, Cluros. Swiftly, it dropped below the horizon, leaving the numberless stars to shed their weak light. Brilliant among them was a steady white speck that did not twinkle and was therefore not a star.

“Behold Cosoom,” declared the young woman who claimed to be nearly one thousand years old.

“What of it?” wondered the ape-man, who recognized the luminous object as the planet Venus.

“I was named after that world,” she averred. “For its rising attended my hatching. My long-dead parents said that when I broke my shell, I was as radiant as its light. This is a sign. Cosoom will be the lantern that will light our way.”

Tarzan did not comment. He had learned from Dag Dolor that of those who walked upright upon Mars, only one species was born alive. All others were hatched in communal incubators. It was no shock to hear that this white woman originated from an egg.

His ever-alert eyes were scanning the surrounding jungle for signs of danger. His sense of smell became filled with unfamiliar odors, which told his brain little.

Pushing to the north, the ape-man broke a fresh trail among the fantastic trees. He bristled with weapons. In addition to his newly acquired knife and the metal bow slung across his chest, he gripped his hunting spear in one hand. The Orovaran long-sword bounced heavily at his hip, its scabbard held in place by a stout ring. All this dead weight meant nothing to the ape-man, whose sinewy strength was wonderfully improved by the favorable conditions of Mars.

They encountered trouble only once. Something dropped out of a tree that was as pale as dead flesh. It landed in a pile between them and began gathering itself. It was a great serpentine worm of a thing. Python-like, it formed coils. The monstrosity appeared to be entirely blind, for there were no eyes in evidence.

Turning, Tarzan took in this sight, appraising it by instinct and not experience. Before he could decide whether to kill it or ignore it, Cosooma stepped back and drew a shaft from her quiver.

Eyeless or not, the leprous thing reacted with stupefying speed. Something like a feeler whipped out from the coiled mass to wrap itself around the lower limb of the recurved bow. It yanked.

But Cosooma was strong. She held on tightly.

Seeing this struggle, Tarzan fell upon the creature, his knife jumping into his hand and, for a moment, all pretense of civilization fell away as he drove the blade in again and again, making deep cuts along the vermiform thing’s upper regions, snarling and growling like an animal, the battle scar upon his noble brow burning fiercely.

Squirming madly, it bled profusely. The fluid produced was a viscous green. The groping tentacle loosened and dropped away. Cosooma pulled

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