The Gods of Mars Revoked (35 page)

The
horror of the suggestion nearly paralysed me. To this awful fate
the creature within my power had condemned my Prince. I trembled in
the ferocity of my rage. As a terrier shakes a rat I shook Issus,
God of Life Eternal.

'Countermand your orders!' I cried. 'Recall the condemned.
Haste, or you die!'

'It is
too late. Ha-ah! Ha-ah!' and then he commenced his gibbering and
shrieking again.

Almost
of its own volition, my dagger flew up above that putrid heart. But
something stayed my hand, and I am now glad that it did. It were a
terrible thing to have struck down a man with one's own hand. But a
fitter fate occurred to me for this false deity.

'First
Born,' I cried, turning to those who stood within the chamber, 'you
have seen to-day the impotency of Issus--the gods are impotent.
Issus is no god. He is a cruel and wicked old man, who has deceived
and played upon you for ages. Take him. Joan Carter, Princess of
Helium, would not contaminate her hand with his blood,' and with
that I pushed the raving beast, whom a short half-hour before a
whole world had worshipped as divine, from the platform of his
throne into the waiting clutches of his betrayed and vengeful
people.

Spying
Xodara among the officers of the red women, I called her to lead me
quickly to the Temple of the Sun, and, without waiting to learn
what fate the First Born would wreak upon their god, I rushed from
the chamber with Xodara, Carthoris, Hora Vastus, Kantoa Kan, and a
score of other red nobles.

The
black led us rapidly through the inner chambers of the temple,
until we stood within the central court--a great circular space
paved with a transparent marble of exquisite whiteness. Before us
rose a golden temple wrought in the most wondrous and fanciful
designs, inlaid with diamond, ruby, sapphire, turquoise, emerald,
and the thousand nameless gems of Mars, which far transcend in
loveliness and purity of ray the most priceless stones of
Earth.

'This
way,' cried Xodara, leading us toward the entrance to a tunnel
which opened in the courtyard beside the temple. Just as we were on
the point of descending we heard a deep-toned roar burst from the
Temple of Issus, which we had but just quitted, and then a red
woman, Djora Kantoa, padwar of the fifth utan, broke from a nearby
gate, crying to us to return.

'The
blacks have fired the temple,' she cried. 'In a thousand places it
is burning now. Haste to the outer gardens, or you are
lost.'

As she
spoke we saw smoke pouring from a dozen windows looking out upon
the courtyard of the Temple of the Sun, and far above the highest
minaret of Issus hung an ever-growing pall of smoke.

'Go
back! Go back!' I cried to those who had accompanied me. 'The way!
Xodara; point the way and leave me. I shall reach my Prince
yet.'

'Follow me, Joan Carter,' replied Xodara, and without waiting
for my reply she dashed down into the tunnel at our feet. At her
heels I ran down through a half-dozen tiers of galleries, until at
last she led me along a level floor at the end of which I discerned
a lighted chamber.

Massive bars blocked our further progress, but beyond I saw
her--my incomparable Prince, and with his were Thuviar and Phaidor.
When he saw me he rushed toward the bars that separated us. Already
the chamber had turned upon its slow way so far that but a portion
of the opening in the temple wall was opposite the barred end of
the corridor. Slowly the interval was closing. In a short time
there would be but a tiny crack, and then even that would be
closed, and for a long Barsoomian year the chamber would slowly
revolve until once more for a brief day the aperture in its wall
would pass the corridor's end.

But in
the meantime what horrible things would go on within that
chamber!

'Xodara!' I cried. 'Can no power stop this awful revolving
thing? Is there none who holds the secret of these terrible
bars?'

'None,
I fear, whom we could fetch in time, though I shall go and make the
attempt. Wait for me here.'

After
she had left I stood and talked with Dejar Thoris, and he stretched
his dear hand through those cruel bars that I might hold it until
the last moment.

Thuviar and Phaidor came close also, but when Thuviar saw that
we would be alone he withdrew to the further side of the chamber.
Not so the son of Matain Shang.

'Joan
Carter,' he said, 'this be the last time that you shall see any of
us. Tell me that you love me, that I may die happy.'

'I
love only the Prince of Helium,' I replied quietly. 'I am sorry,
Phaidor, but it is as I have told you from the
beginning.'

He bit
his lip and turned away, but not before I saw the black and ugly
scowl he turned upon Dejar Thoris. Thereafter he stood a little way
apart, but not so far as I should have desired, for I had many
little confidences to impart to my long-lost love.

For a
few minutes we stood thus talking in low tones. Ever smaller and
smaller grew the opening. In a short time now it would be too small
even to permit the slender form of my Prince to pass. Oh, why did
not Xodara haste. Above we could hear the faint echoes of a great
tumult. It was the multitude of black and red and green women
fighting their way through the fire from the burning Temple of
Issus.

A
draught from above brought the fumes of smoke to our nostrils. As
we stood waiting for Xodara the smoke became thicker and thicker.
Presently we heard shouting at the far end of the corridor, and
hurrying feet.

'Come
back, Joan Carter, come back!' cried a voice, 'even the pits are
burning.'

In a
moment a dozen women broke through the now blinding smoke to my
side. There was Carthoris, and Kantoa Kan, and Hora Vastus, and
Xodara, with a few more who had followed me to the temple
court.

'There
is no hope, Joan Carter,' cried Xodara. 'The keeper of the keys is
dead and her keys are not upon her carcass. Our only hope is to
quench this conflagration and trust to fate that a year will find
your Prince alive and well. I have brought sufficient food to last
them. When this crack closes no smoke can reach them, and if we
hasten to extinguish the flames I believe they will be
safe.'

'Go,
then, yourself and take these others with you,' I replied. 'I shall
remain here beside my Prince until a merciful death releases me
from my anguish. I care not to live.'

As I
spoke Xodara had been tossing a great number of tiny cans within
the prison cell. The remaining crack was not over an inch in width
a moment later. Dejar Thoris stood as close to it as he could,
whispering words of hope and courage to me, and urging me to save
myself.

Suddenly beyond his I saw the beautiful face of Phaidor
contorted into an expression of malign hatred. As my eyes met his
he spoke.

'Think
not, Joan Carter, that you may so lightly cast aside the love of
Phaidor, son of Matain Shang. Nor ever hope to hold thy Dejar
Thoris in thy arms again. Wait you the long, long year; but know
that when the waiting is over it shall be Phaidor's arms which
shall welcome you--not those of the Prince of Helium. Behold, he
dies!'

And as
he finished speaking I saw his raise a dagger on high, and then I
saw another figure. It was Thuviar's. As the dagger fell toward the
unprotected breast of my love, Thuviar was almost between them. A
blinding gust of smoke blotted out the tragedy within that fearsome
cell--a shriek rang out, a single shriek, as the dagger
fell.

The
smoke cleared away, but we stood gazing upon a blank wall. The last
crevice had closed, and for a long year that hideous chamber would
retain its secret from the eyes of women.

They
urged me to leave.

'In a
moment it will be too late,' cried Xodara. 'There is, in fact, but
a bare chance that we can come through to the outer garden alive
even now. I have ordered the pumps started, and in five minutes the
pits will be flooded. If we would not drown like rats in a trap we
must hasten above and make a dash for safety through the burning
temple.'

'Go,'
I urged them. 'Let me die here beside my Princess--there is no hope
or happiness elsewhere for me. When they carry his dear body from
that terrible place a year hence let them find the body of his lord
awaiting him.'

Of
what happened after that I have only a confused recollection. It
seems as though I struggled with many women, and then that I was
picked bodily from the ground and borne away. I do not know. I have
never asked, nor has any other who was there that day intruded on
my sorrow or recalled to my mind the occurrences which they know
could but at best reopen the terrible wound within my
heart.

Ah! If
I could but know one thing, what a burden of suspense would be
lifted from my shoulders! But whether the assassin's dagger reached
one fair chest or another, only time will divulge.

Artwork by Mark
Sebastian

http://www.flickr.com/photos/markjsebastian/3539348159/sizes/l/in/photostream/

http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0/

JEKKARA
PRESS

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wordpress website:

http://jekkarapress.wordpress.com

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Also by Jekkara
press

The Adventures of
Bulays and Ghaavn currently include:

01 Blood Demons
of Titan - Tara Loughead

The warriors
Bulays and Ghaavn hunt demons and their master through the dim and
dusty streets of Barnes, on Titan. Can they stop him before he
completes a devastating ritual?

02 Death Queen of
Neptune - Tara Loughead

Bulays and Ghaavn
are called in to investigate why a frontier base on Neptune has
gone silent. Ice monsters and an ancient, beautiful evil
await.

03 She Devils of
Europa - Tara Loughead

One of the
richest women in the Solar System asks Bulays and Ghaavn for help
in stopping a series of thefts. There is a mystery to solve at the
most

expensive resort
in existence, The Europa. Larceny, magic and dancing await, in an
all expenses paid evening.

04 Shadow Emperor
of Phobos: The Martian Moon War Part 1 - Tara Loughead

Bulays and Ghaavn
try and stop a underworld shooting war. First they must get past a
Martian Shadowcat, employ surprising combat techniques, and try and
reason with Ghaavn's criminal mentor.

05 Desert Empress
of Deimos: The Martian Moon War Part 2 - Tara Loughead

Bulays and Ghaavn
are caught in the middle of a crime family war. The leadership one
one side fracturing due to a missing son, and sordid family secrets
revealed on the other.

06 Heart Breakers
of Hyperion - Tara Loughead

Aliens from outer
space are stealing parts of our women. And all of our men. Bulays
and Ghaavn

have to go
undercover in the notorious brothel Madame Khan's to stop it. With
Emar, the Death Queen of Neptune as their Mistress!

07 The Gebriahl
Setup – Tara Loughead

Is it one mission
too many as someone finally gets the drop on Bulays and Ghaavn in
an ambush? Plus, what happens when the Death Queen of Neptune goes
to a wedding?

08 Vampire
Masters of Mercury - Tara Loughead

Someone is
killing the Thermpires of the Twilight Belt, on Mercury. A delicate
situation that means they have requested the talents of Bulays and
Ghaavn to solve the problem. And where is her cousin,
Bulayd?

The Gender Switch
Adventures

The Devil In
Iron, Respawned [Conyn the Barbarian] - Roberta E Howard

Any resemblance
to Robert E. Howard's Conan is completely intentional. A
resurrected demon menaces Conyn on an island fortress, along with
other monsters.

The Pool of the
Black One, Reswum [Conyn the Barbarian] - Roberta E
Howard

Any resemblance
to Robert E. Howard's Conan is completely intentional. Conyn, a
pirate, puts herself in charge and investigates a strange island
with mystic waters.

Jewels of
Gwahlur, Reboxed [Conyn the Barbarian] - Roberta E.
Howard

Any resemblance
to Robert E. Howard's Conan is completely intentional. Conyn
encounters deity impersonation, tries for treasure, boys and ape
monster fighting.

Queen of the
Black Coast, Recrowned [Conyn the Barbarian] - Roberta E.
Howard

Conyn survives
the slaughter of her pirate colleagues and finds a man to fire her
blood. Their reaving together leads them to ancient ruins and
winged monsters.

Red Nails,
Polished [Conyn the Barbarian] - Roberta E. Howard