Free Flight of the Phoenix by Melanie Thompson Page B

emotions were gaining more and more control. Apparently, while Malenfant had been quiet, he’d been gaining strength. Priest almost wanted to kill and torture a woman.
    After he located the primitive mission and attended mass, Priest did as Malenfant desired and haunted the waterfront searching for a woman of easy virtue. There was only one seedy inn and a crude saloon. As the sun slowly set over the river, the calm water blazed with the golden and orange glow of a glorious sunset.
    Hot, humid air blanketed Priest. His cassock clung to his legs and back. He’d never felt less like having sex in his life. While he should be rampantly horny, he only had a sick feeling in the pit of his stomach. He wasn’t sure what Malenfant planned, but knew it would be horrible.
    An emaciated local woman approached him and gave him a sly smile. “Father priest, want to lie with a woman?”
    She wore a colorful sarong over her loins, but her flat dugs hung slackly on her narrow chest. Her skin should have been a lustrous inky black but was only ashy. She had several open sores on her face. Priest felt sorry for her but felt no desire. She was obviously unhealthy. Malenfant pushed him. “Yes, take this one back to the mission. We will torture her in front of the altar while the nuns and holy fathers sleep.”
    Priest had been prepared to do Malenfant’s bidding, but for some reason this suggestion was so offensive, it hardened his resolve to never relent and perform for Malenfant. He lifted his arms, said the words, and morphed into his dragon form right in front of the terrified woman. Malenfant began screaming inside his head. The shrieks were those of an insane man and Priest bared his dragon teeth in a parody of a smile. Foiling Malenfant’s perverted desires was almost as satisfying as futtering a beautiful woman. He thought of Bryn and remembered her white skin, soft round breasts and thick, silky black hair. He would wait for her to slake his appetites and try to think of a way to exorcise Malenfant. He could never be with Bryn or enjoy her luscious body as long as Malenfant inhabited his brain. To be forced to share her with the evil cardinal would be a travesty. He shuddered at the notion.
    As he took flight above the jungle on the north bank of the river, he had an idea. Maybe the witch doctor could use the dagger of Lazarus to rid him of Malenfant’s evil spirit. He blew a blast of fire into the tops of the tall trees. A heavy rainfall quickly extinguished the flames, but not before several monkeys died. Priest swooped down and scooped the charred creatures into his maw crunching happily. He had a plan. The only problem he could foresee was whether to capture Bryn and her sister before or after he exorcised Malenfant. He really did not want the evil Cardinal to spoil his pleasure.

Chapter 11
    The riverboat ride flew by for Fenix. She was comfortable; a minimum number of flying insects pestered her, she had satisfying food and could bathe. Africa was a nightmare.
    As they steamed into Stanley Falls Station early in the evening, Tures and her crew of night creatures stood on the rail watching the dock come into view. A small herd of hippos waded slowly out of the water on the south bank to graze. A row of crocodiles lay on the north bank close to the dock. Fenix ignored the wildlife. Africa was crawling with all kinds of strange creatures. One soon grew accustomed to it. A cluster of fishing boats was drawn up on the bank on the other side of the dock and the hulk of a small steamboat that had sunk sat in the shallows showed only its one smokestack and part of the bow. The cataracts making up the last of the seven falls on the Lualaba River, a tributary of the Congo, roared in the distance.
    Behind them, an island rose out of the mists. Several buildings sat on the island which was where Stanley Falls Station started. A dock poked into the river from the island with a steamboat tied to it bobbing