Andromeda, a novel by Joe Nobel, Part 56 -- Seeing Valkyries

Andromeda

Flight of the Valkyries.

The opera was long and torturous, the one by Wagner with magic rings and treasure, and loves lost for a lifetime. And on and on it went. And Anna felt worse with every passing minute.

As the intensity of the music rumbled on, she was sure that she saw Valkyries; Odin’s personal handmaidens, mounted on white steeds riding up and down the aisles of the Royal Albert Hall. She assumed they were a part of the show. After they rode down and up one aisle they burst out into the lobby then burst back through another door and continued their search. Yes, they were looking for someone, someone in the audience. Anna realized something strange, no one else was watching them. All other eyes were on the fat lady on stage. Was Anna imagining these mounted riders? Or were they here for her only?

Each of the Valkyries had flaxen blonde hair in a pair of braids cascading down the sides of her neck. They were somewhat like the characters on stage, but authentic. Confident and lean, they sat tall in the saddle wearing black leather bustiers and sandals with leather straps crisscrossing up their legs. Leather padding with protruding metal spikes protected their knees and elbows. Swords hung from their belts.

Legend says that Valkyries look for souls to take after the battle, and only those about to die see them. “But, my battle ended years ago,” Anna protested. Yet she was sure they were looking for someone — and only she could see them. Anna couldn’t take it any longer. She leaned over and in a hushed whisper asked “Liudi, see the horses?”

“No.”

“You sure?”

“What horses, Anna?”

“Liudi, I have to go for some air.” Anna got up and made her way across the row of knees. This was a good time to leave, the Valkyries had gone, perhaps up to the first balcony to seek their victim. She staggered up the aisle and out into the lobby.

Liudmila followed a few seconds later. Their dates stayed, transfixed on the opera, oblivious to the girls’ distress. By the time Liudmila burst through the swinging double doors, Anna was running furiously back and forth across the lobby as if she were evading an invisible pursuer on horseback.
Anna then collapsed in the middle of the lobby, hands clutching her chest. A crowd of people around the coat check stood and stared.

As Anna lay on the floor, a Valkyrie, invisible to everyone but her, looked down from her mount. Another set of hooves, belonging to the second mounted rider, echoed from the grand stairs leading down from the balconies. Anna couldn’t move. Her heart could take no more. The weight of it bore down on her chest. A firestorm raged in her head. Then a cold numbness overtook her. The ceiling started to spin. So, how many holes does it take to fill the Albert Hall?

A man ordering a drink from the refreshment counter saw her go down. He ran over, letting the glass slip from his hand spilling his amber ale over his white shirt. He knelt over Anna. The Valkyrie waited patiently while the man ministered to her. The second mounted Valkyrie arrived. She, too, waited.

“Heart attack!” the man said. “I know CPR. Someone call an ambulance.”

Anna saw Liudmila enter her field of vision beside this man. With the ceiling spinning so fast, Anna couldn’t understand why her friend didn’t fall over. She saw Liudmila kneel beside that nice man. The color had drained from her friend’s face and she was crying.

“You!” Liudmila hissed as she recognized the man — the man who was pounding furiously on Anna’s chest. Liudmila confronted him with her eyes. “You’ve killed her!” she screamed. The man ignored her and kept crushing his palms down on Anna’s chest.

“On the contrary, I’m trying to save her!” he said eventually.

Then Liudmila growled the man’s name as if it were a curse.

The name eluded Anna. She heard her friend enunciate the word, but it did not register in her mind. She knew she’d heard the name before. It was a regal and important name. In fact, she should be very familiar with it. But it all escaped her.

Anna looked at the man’s face for the first time. He had the face of a rogue and a scoundrel. Her vision was fading fast. It was getting dark all around her, she couldn’t focus her eyes, and it was very hard to think.

She vaguely recognized that man with a patch over his right eye. Where had she seen him? Perhaps in a dream? Or was he an old lover? She couldn’t place him. She didn’t know whether she should be concerned over that. The woman next to this man was certainly concerned. What was her name? Anna forgot that too. But she remembered that she had shared a lot of pain and joy with this woman. Anna’s mind was in the process of shutting down. Little things were lost to her. Big things became unimportant.

Anna died.

“Anna, don’t leave me!” the woman screamed. “You’re all I have!”

… to be continued …

---

Look for more Erotica, Science Fiction, and Fantasy at @joe.nobel
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