Fall of a Goddess
“Any other bright ideas?” Ander questioned, examining the map laid out before him.
“I’m working on it,” Soren grunted. There was no measure to the pressure placed on his shoulders by the other resistance members who crowded around him in the cramped underground caves they have been forced to call home.
“The last attempt did fail…” stated a young man from the back, earning him a glare from all in attendance. Many had lost close friends in that last raid, with nothing to show for it, not even their mutilated bodies.
“If we could penetrate their barricade and reach the last of the water, we might stand a chance,” offered another, stating what was painfully obvious to the rest. None of them liked to admit that their water sources were depleting fast and the increase of surveillance on the borders were making it impossible to replenish them.
Soren looked closer at the map, but no amount of staring made the impenetrable wall of the enemy any less daunting. It was his call, do they make another run at the water or do they make their escape to their twin planet, Earth, and regroup? The last scenario was both painful to their pride and souls. To leave one’s home planet in the hands of these volcanic mercenaries was unthinkable, at least it was a few months ago when it appeared they were turning the tide in this horrid war.
Gazing at the map, Soren’s mind transported him to another time, when life was good for the Sunbeings… they lived happily on their planet, appropriately named after the Greek Goddess of Love and Beauty, Aphrodite; it was all that and more. Almost identical to the twin planet Earth, Venus had rolling lush green hills, endless oceans, deep valleys, and more. The Sunbeings lived in peace and were prosperous. That is until some greedy Sunbeings lusted for more… they found the means to achieve this power in lava. This lava did strange things to these covetous Sunbeing’s pure form, polluting the mind and twisting the body into unrecognizable beings. They seemed harmless until they turned against their fellow Sunbeings, using the lava’s power to enhance their gain. Some joined them in their greed, many fled to Earth, and some tried to fight but soon realized that they were no match for their new found strength. In the space of a few months, the Magnas, as they now called themselves, had rerouted most of the water ways and oceans to their volcanic strongholds. They didn’t need the water to survive anymore; lava now ran in place of blood in their veins, the use of the precious water was much more sinister. Magnas found that the steam from mixing water and lava enhanced them even more, both physically and mentally. They now lived solely on lava and their unsustainable need for power. The few resistance fighters left, many had either died or abandoned their post and retreated for Earth, now were living off a few barrels of water they had stolen from the Magnas and fewer previsions of food. This meeting was called when a panic broke out about the dwindling supplies coupled with the grief of the lost souls on the last failed raid.
Guilt still haunted Soren’s soul for sending those men and boys into that unknown trap. Horror filled each and every one of the resistance fighters when news reached them of their mutilated friends and the horrific actions that the enemy took in introducing them to their demise. The Magnas were barbaric in their graphic ways to make the Sunbeing prisoners regret crossing them, taking pleasure in the Sunbeings pain. A shiver ran up Soren’s spine at the memories of those brave fallen men.
“What do you suggest Sir?” inquired Valko, shocking Soren out of his dark reverie, and back to their even darker reality.
Soren took a good long look into each and every person’s eyes that surrounded him, not one didn’t mirror his fear and pain. Taking a deep breath, his eyes settled on the youngest of the group, a young boy of about ten, Eamon. This young man had been forced to watch the murder of his family and was able to escape the Magnas cruel hands by taking up shelter in a small dig- out under his house. He was found by Ander as he returned from a raid, and brought to the caves. Eamon refused to go to Earth with all the women and children, demanding revenge for his innocent family’s viciously snuffed out lives. Soren didn’t have the heart or the stomach to send Eamon out on one of the many raids the boy had begged to be a part of.
With a deep sigh of resignation, Soren returned his gaze to the map, only to find it unchanged to his regret. His deepest wish is that this had never happened, that it all was just a horrid dream, that he would wake up next to his beautiful wife and hear his children laughing in the other room having woken early to surprise their parents with breakfast in bed. Shaking the image of his lost family from his mind, he again quickly surveyed the men, his new family, and the ones he had to protect and save.
“We need to regroup and come up with a way to destroy the Magnas,” Soren explained, “We must go to Earth. Our atmosphere is changing rapidly and the water will soon be no longer a liquid.”
This revelation was met with a mixture of pain and hope. Many wanted to see their families again; others were just tired of the constant fear and fighting. In the end they all nodded in agreement.
“I will stay behind to find their weakness. I can correspond with Earth using the stars. With luck we will return Venus to her former glory and all return home again in a few years time.” Soren finished.
After some convincing they all consented to this plan. The resistance members, aside from one, packed up their few belongings and headed for Earth. Leaving their home planet, hopefully not forever, all looked back.
