Embrace of Venus

Chapter 1 Part 1

"You have enemies? Good. That means you stood up for something, sometime in your life."

                                                                               Winston Churchill

                                                                      Chapter1 Planes of Torment

Blood stained the gravel where Ophelia scraped her palms, opening fresh cuts. And were it not for the strong arm that arrested her fall, her aged knees might not have survived another downhill drop. The mountainside was now a blur of white-capped rock and black-smudged sky, the sound of Gustav's voice rasping in her ear, "Keep running; we're almost there." It was easy to focus on his words; they meant life. The howling of the demons wolves behind them promised death.

The path through the valley was obscured by a curtain of ash that stung her eyes. Each sharp breath brought with it sulphurous gas, leaving burning rashes on her tongue and throat. A paralysing chill travelled down her spine as a devilish snarl echoed behind her. She shot a glance over her shoulder and saw the glimmering eyes of the predators. If this terrain of jumbled boulders and treacherous canyons could be thought of as a road, then the wolves were now at a distance of five horse-drawn carriages. That was when Gustav shoved her forward again.

"High Father, protect us," she muttered through clenched teeth. Preferring to meet her demise standing, Ophelia quelled the desire to flee; her spear had long since been lost, so she fumbled across the rough ground in search of a stone and then threw it in the direction of the menacing snarls of the wolves. Miraculously, even under the blindness of partially shut lids, her throw found its mark. A wolf yelped in pain; then, a shout quickly turned to a frothing gurgle when a flash of polished steel met flesh and bone.

With feeling alone, she found the edge of Gustav's wolf-hide cloak. Grasping his waist, she removed the dagger fastened to his boot before opening one weeping eye, then another. A few feet away, a demons wolf trembled, limping painfully on one paw. Closer still lay the convulsing body of the pack's alpha, the top half of his muzzle hanging on by threadbare sinew.

Gustav tightly held the handle of his longsword, his weathered features dripping with sweat. "Don't throw your life away as Christian did. Get out of here!"

She'd seen their friend rush their pursuers with reckless abandon; axe swung this way and that to keep the ravenous animals at bay. But as noble as his sacrifice had been, Ophelia knew she could never forget the way he screamed as he was torn limb from limb. Her feet turned to lead, her body went rigid, and there was no chance she'd turn to let Gustav meet that same end.

"I will not leave you!" she shouted, and now it was her turn to pull him forward. The remaining predators were already making their cautious, steady approach.

Ophelia reassured herself that they hadn't lost their other two companions by looking over her shoulder. Sabina, the dark-skinned woman from Haratash, and Natalie, the youngest, whose pale features and small frame had acclimatized poorly to the conditions in Purgatory.

Sabina's otherwise emerald eyes gave off a bluish glow while her hands danced through the air. Over the din of beasts growling, the poetry of rhythmic chanting could be heard. A sonorous eruption cut through the air. Like the boom of a powder keg blast or the explosion of a volcano, it was followed by a shower of blood, and tissue, and shattered bone.

Gustav pulled his hood and cloak about him, shielding himself from the debris. If she'd not been holding on to him, Ophelia might have lost her balance, as well as the contents of her stomach. As the air cleared, she realized the dead wolf's corpse had exploded. Now drenched in gore, his remaining pack members wobbled on their legs in a daze. One blindly jumped forward, and was impaled straight onto Gustav's sword.