1 - Warriors of Mars by Edward P. Bradbury

Why-?"
    "I was seized by no
battle-rage, Darnad. I discovered that Shizala had been abducted. I was on my
way to try to rescue her when you set upon me. How long ago was this?"
    "Last
night—about thirty-six shatis ago."
    "Thirty-six!" I got up, giving an involuntary groan. Not only my head ached. The exertions of the previous two days had taken their toll of my
body. It seemed a mass of bruises and minor wounds. My worst wound—the one on
my armwas throbbing painfully. Thirty-six shatis—more than four hours ago!
    As quickly as I could, I told
Darnad all the details of what I had learned. He was as surprised as I had been
to learn of Horguhl the Vladnyar woman.
    "I wonder what part she plays
in this?" he said with a frown.
    "I have no idea. Her answers
were ambiguous, to say the least."
    "I am sorry that I made that
mistake, Michael Kane," he said. "I was a fool. I heard you shouting
something. I should have listened. With luck we should have rescued Shizala and
all would be over. The Argzoon are scattered. We and our allies will soon have
cleansed Karnala of them. We will be able to question prisoners and discover
how they managed to reach Varnal undetected."
    "But while we are doing this
Shizala could be taken anywhere! North—south—east—west. How are you to know where they will carry her?"
    Darnad dropped his eyes and stared
at the floor.
    "You are right. But if you
think Shizala is with this Vladnyar girl, then we must
hope that some of our prisoners will have seen which way they went. There is
also the chance that in our general routing and capturing of the Argzoon we
will manage to rescue Shizala."
    "There is no time for
recriminations of any kind," I said. "So let us forget the errors of
judgment we have both made. The heat of the battle must be held to account.
What do you intend to do now?"
    "I shall be leading a force
with the specific intention of capturing Argzoon and questioning them on the
whereabouts of Shizala."
    "Then I shall accompany
you," I told him.
    "That is what I hoped you
would say," he said, patting my shoulder. "Rest while the last
preparations are being made. I will call for you when we are ready to
leave—there is nothing else you can do until then, and you had better regain as
much strength as possible—you are going to need it. I will have food
sent."
    "Thank you," I said
gratefully. He was right. I must make myself relax—for Shizala's sake.
    As I lay back on the couch, I
again wondered just why she had risked such danger by going into the Argzoon
tent. There had been no need for it— and as ruler of her folk she should have
returned at once to Varnal.
    I decided that the sooner we found
her the sooner we should have answers to these and other questions.
    I slept until a servant entered
with food. Then I ate the food and, on receiving a message that Darnad and his
warriors were ready, washed hastily and went down to join them.
    The day should have been grim and
stark and full of storm-clouds. It was not. It was a lovely, clear day with the
pale sun brightening the streets of the city and obscuring most traces of the
strife that had so recently ended.
    At the foot of the palace steps
was a company of warriors mounted on dahara. Darnad was at their head, holding
the reins of a dahara that was evidently meant for me.
    I mounted the beast, stretching my
legs out along it. Then the whole company turned into the street leading
towards the main gate.
    We were soon riding across the
Calling Hills, tracking our fleeing enemy.
    It was still a mystery why the
Argzoon had fled so precipitately—particularly in the face of such a small
force.
    But we did not ask ourselves these
questions as we rode grimly after our quarry, even though it seemed that Ranak
Mard had, indeed, been the master-mind behind the Argzoon attack—for it was
plain that he was dead and the Argzoon were now in confusion.
    Yet why had Horguhl told me
otherwise?
    No questions. Not yet.
    Find the Argzoon—they will