Icy Black

 .                                                                   Icy Black

Despite intensifying waves of nausea that threatened to bring him to his knees, Thomas was awed by the sudden and imposing appearance of Father Moonwall. There was something about the priest that was hard to define. Perhaps it was the way his dark goggles reflected the dance of the lantern’s flame, combined with the tangle of black hair framing his ghostly complexion, that lent him an almost demonic countenance.

 “Release him!” Moonwall spoke with authority though he offered Nelly no time to comply with his demand before striding directly for her, sword in hand.

 Nelly, who only moments earlier been on the verge of snapping the neck of Captain Digby, now held the militia captain close to her breast, using him as a shield to ward off Moonwall’s attack.

 “I said, release that man!” Father Moonwall stopped within an arm’s reach of the girl remaining as still as a statue and as tense as a tightly wound coil poised to spring.

 “As you wish.” Nelly flung Captain Digby forward, throwing him into Father Moonwall. The few seconds Moonwall lost in catching and releasing Captain Digby allowed Nelly the opportunity to flee to the far side of the room to where a long-handled fire axe was hanging on the wall. Nelly grabbed the axe and grinned as she swung it at arms length in looping figure eights, testing both its weight and her reach before assuming a defensive stance. “You look angry, Father Moonwall,” she said. “Have I been a bad girl?”

 “You call yourself a girl,” said Moonwall, stopping about ten feet before Nelly. “But I call you an abomination; a befouling of nature.”

 “Oh Father,” Nelly spoke with saucy affectation. “How can you be so mean?”

 “There is nothing mean in what I say,” Father Moonwall replied. As he spoke he pointed his sword toward Nelly, moving the tip in slow, almost hypnotic circles. “I speak in facts, not fancy.”

 Nelly seemed hesitant, as though she were not quite sure what to do. Moonwall remained still but for the circling tip of his sword. Nobody spoke; the air in the lab seemed thick and suffocating. The tension intensified with each silent second. Nelly shifted position, perhaps feeling the weight of the axe.  That small movement was the only advantage Moonwall needed.  He began to sprint, sword raised. Nelly screamed and swung the axe, but Moonwall had anticipated that reaction and slowed his speed just enough that Nelly’s strike was out in front causing her to be pulled momentarily off balance. The priest’s momentum carried him forward, delivering a tremendous body blow to the girl who fell to the floor, trapped beneath the bulk of his body. From Thomas’s vantage it appeared that Moonwall brought his mouth close to Nelly’s ear and whispered something that made her eyes go wide. The priest then propped himself on an elbow, and bludgeoned her into unconsciousness with the hilt of his sword.*

 Moonwall climbed up off Nelly’s crumpled body .”Juris, you will make a report to me later.” he said pointing to Nelly. “But first I want an assurance the boys are safe.”

 Before Brother Pizzaro had responded, Thomas succomed to the waves of nausea and gut-wrenching cramps. He fell to his hands and knees. A sharp pain ran through his head from temple to temple. He was vaguely aware of vomiting before the world spun, fading to an icy black.

Footnote

* Many a reader may be wondering if this is the infamous ‘Moonwall Maneuver‘ and while this cannot be independently verified by the author it is as likely a candidate as any. HT