Quotation from: The Gods of Mars

Written by: Edgar Rice Burroughs

"What death?" I asked.

"The Holy Therns eat human flesh," she answered me; "but only that
which has died beneath the sucking lips of a plant man--flesh from
which the defiling blood of life has been drawn. And to this cruel
end I have been condemned. It was to be within a few hours, had
your advent not caused an interruption of their plans."

"Was it then Holy Therns who felt the weight of John Carter's hand?"
I asked.