CHAPTER X – Thu­via, Maid of Mars begins with Cartho­ris and Thu­via walk­ing side by side through the shad­owed for­est, their silence unbro­ken but filled with unspo­ken trust. Yet, when Cartho­ris final­ly attempts to speak, he dis­cov­ers Thu­via has van­ished. The unset­tling truth soon reveals itself—he has been the vic­tim of illu­sion. Jav, the manip­u­la­tive Lothar­i­an, had used men­tal pro­jec­tion to make Cartho­ris believe Thu­via walked with him, while in real­i­ty, she was nev­er released. Rac­ing back in fury, Cartho­ris finds Jav mor­tal­ly wound­ed. In his final moments, Jav con­fess­es his trick and directs Cartho­ris toward Thuvia’s true path.

Pushed by urgency, Cartho­ris con­tin­ues across the bleak Mar­t­ian land­scape until he encoun­ters Kar Komak, a phan­tom bow­man made real by thought. Once a prod­uct of Lothar­i­an imag­i­na­tion, Kar Komak now exists as flesh and blood, aban­doned by his peo­ple but filled with a fierce sense of pur­pose. Cartho­ris, though cau­tious, rec­og­nizes the val­ue of an ally—especially one born from Lothar’s illu­sions yet loy­al enough to fight along­side him. Togeth­er, they set their sights on Aaan­thor, deter­mined to inter­cept Thu­via and her fierce guardian banth, Komal, before ene­mies do.

As the two trav­el, their path becomes increas­ing­ly per­ilous. Dusar­i­an ships and green Mar­t­ian war­riors are con­verg­ing, all seek­ing the same prize—Thuvia. High on a ridge, Cartho­ris glimpses her form beside Komal, sur­round­ed by dan­ger and unaware of her fast-approach­ing ene­mies. There is no time to plan. With Kar Komak weapon­less but unshak­en, the two men launch them­selves toward the com­ing bat­tle. The loy­al­ty shown by Kar Komak, though new­ly allied, is imme­di­ate and self­less, adding depth to their alliance. The green Mar­tians descend, armed and bru­tal, forc­ing Cartho­ris and his com­pan­ion to act swift­ly and with resolve.

Amid the chaos, Thuvia’s pres­ence anchors Cartho­ris. Though she has faced decep­tion and iso­la­tion, she places her faith in his approach. His courage embold­ens her, qui­et­ing her fear even as war­bands close in. She sens­es that Carthoris’s arrival is more than chance—it is fate in motion. As Komal growls beside her, ready to defend, Thu­via pre­pares to stand her ground. Though no words are exchanged, the silent under­stand­ing between Cartho­ris and Thu­via speaks vol­umes about their con­nec­tion.

Kar Komak, despite lack­ing a weapon, charges into the fray with Cartho­ris, embody­ing the spir­it of a true war­rior. His brav­ery cements their bond and illus­trates the depth of Mar­t­ian hon­or, even from one cre­at­ed through thought. Togeth­er, the two press for­ward toward the ridge, even as the odds stack against them. Their mis­sion is not sim­ply about sur­vival; it is dri­ven by loy­al­ty, love, and the refusal to sur­ren­der Thu­via to treach­ery.

This chap­ter not only intro­duces a pow­er­ful new ally in Kar Komak but also expands the world of Bar­soom, blend­ing mys­ti­cal Lothar­i­an inven­tion with raw Mar­t­ian val­or. Cartho­ris, always dri­ven by duty and heart, emerges as a leader whose instincts nev­er waver, even when betrayed or out­num­bered. His abil­i­ty to inspire loy­al­ty in oth­ers and act deci­sive­ly in the face of dan­ger is a reflec­tion of his lin­eage, yet it is his per­son­al courage and com­pas­sion that set him apart.

Thuvia’s trust, Komal’s pro­tec­tion, and Kar Komak’s fierce loy­al­ty con­verge in this moment, forg­ing a tri­ad of courage against the chaos clos­ing in. This chap­ter blends high-stakes pur­suit with intro­spec­tive loy­al­ty, and as Cartho­ris and his allies race toward the ruins of Aaan­thor, the read­er is left with a sense of mount­ing ten­sion. The out­come remains uncer­tain, but the con­vic­tion of those will­ing to risk every­thing for one anoth­er shines through. Against the polit­i­cal decep­tion and loom­ing war, this chap­ter under­scores what remains con­stant: val­or, faith, and the unyield­ing pur­suit of jus­tice.