“I am Ezekiel, the Hammer of the Lord. I am the instrument who will send you to your rightful place in Hell, for your presence here sorely offends the Lord.” Its voice was loud but flat; without any range or emotion. It made the skin over Jan’s spine tingle unpleasantly.
The thing then took a step backwards. “Open the cage. I will inspect these accursed ones.”
As the crowd drew away to form a wide space around the cage two members of the escort opened the cage door and began to drag out the prisoners. Soon all five were lying on the ground in front of the thing called Ezekiel. It motioned towards Milo with its mechanical arm. “Why is that one wrapped so securely?”
One of their captors stepped forward. “Oh, great Ezekiel, Hammer of the Lord, he is a demon of a rare sort. We saw him move so fast the eye could not catch up with him. In this manner he was able to kill the great frog demon of the Round Lake.”
The binoculars were extended on their long arm towards Milo. Then the thing said, “You are right to be cautious. Stun him before removing the net. Then use metal shackles on his limbs.”
“Yes, great Ezekiel.” The man turned, took a club from his belt, leaned over Milo and gave him two hard cracks with it on the side of his head. Milo grunted and went limp. Jan hoped he wasn’t dead. But surely, she told herself, it would take more than that to kill Milo.
She stopped worrying about Milo when she saw another of their captors bend over her with a knife in his hand. But it was not her flesh he was intent on cutting open, merely her clothing. Very soon she was naked, but still securely bound. “On your feet,” ordered the man and pulled her roughly up. The other three prisoners had been similarly stripped. Jan stared at them in astonishment. The two men were normal from the waist up, but from the waist down they were covered in thick, matted fur. And instead of feet they had hooves. …
There were gasps and angry mutterings from the crowd. The metal creature cried, “Behold! They are in the very image of their master!”
Jan was noticing other things about the two men-animals. They both had small horns protruding from the sides of their foreheads … and their sexual organs were so large as to be almost absurd. But it was the girl who got her full attention. She had a flawlessly beautiful body, marred only by the two wings covered in white feathers that sprouted from her shoulder blades.
Ezekiel pointed at her and said loudly, “Witness the deviousness of the Dark One! He has created a demon in the image of one of the Lord’s servants! But do not be deceived!” Then it was Jan’s turn. She was made to turn round so that Ezekiel could inspect every inch of her body. Finally the thing said, “I can find no sign of Satan’s work upon her. Why have you brought her to me?”
One of their captors said, nervously, “She was with the man who moved like a demon, great Ezekiel. She must be tainted in some way.”
“Ah, yes, the man,” said Ezekiel, turning its binoculars towards Milo. At that moment a wizened creature, all bent and gnarled like a tree, came through the throng carrying an armful of chains and shackles. With a shock Jan realized she was female. The pathetic creature threw her burden down beside Milo. Immediately two of the men unwrapped the net from him, cut his clothes from him and then put the shackles on his wrists and ankles. Ezekiel studied him for a long time. “I can find no sign of Satan on this one either,” he said finally.
“But great one, we saw him. All of us. He moved as only a demon could move.”
Ezekiel inclined its head in an approximation of a human nod. “It is well known that not all the signs of the Dark One’s work are on the outside. But before I impose the Lord’s wrath upon him I must question him. Put him back in the cage. The girl too. I will question them when he regains his senses.”
Rough hands lifted Jan and she was thrust through the opening of the cage. She barely had time to roll out of the way before Milo was flung in after her. The door was slammed shut and bolted.
“As for these others, who are accursed in the eyes of God, they shall be broken on the wheel and thus sent on their way to suffer eternal torment in the undying fire of hell!” cried Ezekiel. “Bring forth the wheels. …”
Several members of the crowd hurried away and returned shortly, rolling along in their midst five wheels that were as large as the ones supporting the cage. Jan watched as they were each mounted on to tree stumps that had been cut to an average height of about three feet. The bonds of the three prisoners were then cut. The two males struggled as they were forced down on their backs across the wheels, spread-eagled, and their hands and feet tied to the rims. The winged girl, however, submitted to the same treatment without any sign of resistance. She had given up all hope, Jan saw, and her heart ached for her. Her wings had been cruelly pinioned beneath her and one protruded down through the spokes of the wheel. Jan couldn’t comprehend how anyone could wish to harm a creature of such exquisite and fragile beauty.
“Denizens of Babylon,” said Ezekiel as it loomed over them. “By rights you should be burnt at the stake but fire would alert the evil giants that stalk the skies of our existence here. Thus you shall be released to meet your master in a more merciful manner than you deserve. But I am sure God will forgive me.”
One of the creatures who Jan still thought of as living corpses offered Ezekiel a large hammer. Ezekiel grasped it with its single arm and raised it high. Then it brought the weapon down very hard on the shin of the winged girl, shattering it. The girl gave a shrill scream of agony. Ezekiel proceeded to shatter her three other limbs with equally vicious blows of the hammer. Jan, horrified, turned her head from the sight. To her surprise she saw that Milo’s eyes were open and he was watching the scene intently. She also saw, with a feeling of disbelief, that he had an erection.
Disgust overwhelmed her. “Mother God, you’re enjoying this!” she cried accusingly.
“Quiet!” he whispered. “I don’t want them to know I’m awake yet.”
Jan’s mind whirled with sick confusion as she tried to comprehend this new aspect of Milo’s character. Behind her came the thuds of more bone-breaking hammer blows and one of the males began to scream. She could still hear the shrill cries of the girl. She put her fingers in her ears but she couldn’t block out the sounds. More thuds of the hammer, the splintering of bones, more screaming. …
She glanced again at Milo and saw he was looking at her now. His lips were moving. Jan took her hands away from her ears. “… I said, it may be a horrible way to die but it’s relatively quick,” Milo was saying softly. “Unless you’re very unlucky.”
“How can it be quick?” she asked. “He’s just broken their arms and legs. They’ll linger in agony for days. And so will we.”
“No. The shock should kill them. Shock is a drastic reduction of blood pressure. There’ll be massive haemorrhaging into the tissues around the breaks and even now the three of them should be entering a state of deep shock. Soon their blood pressure won’t be sufficient to keep their brains supplied with oxygen and they’ll die.”
“I’m sure that information will be a great solace to me when they tie me to one of those wheels,” Jan said bitterly. “Also of solace will be the knowledge that as my arms and legs are broken you will be deriving physical pleasure from my agony.”
Milo gave a slight shrug. “I admit I have strong sado-sexual tendencies but I assure you that watching you die would give me no pleasure at all.”
“Well, that is a relief,” she said with heavy sarcasm. “Especially as it was only two nights ago that you tried to kill me yourself …”