Edgar Rice Burroughs' John Carter of Mars: The Jesse Marsh Years #[nn]

In "The Black Pirates of Omean," John Carter returns to Mars after a decade away, only to find himself in the Valley Dor, where Martians go to die. When plant men attack a group of Tharks, Carter saves one—Tars Tarkas, his old friend—before fleeing into the hidden city of the Therns, where they rescue a slave girl, Thuvia, and learn that the Black Pirates of Omean have seized Dejah Thoris, John’s beloved wife.