Free Knight of the Cross by Steven A McKay Page B

which had by now been cleared of its previous incumbent, ready for the two sobbing children that were held by the two burly heretics behind the altar.
    “They've got the children from St Luke's,” Sir Richard muttered, watching in horror as the corpse of the woman whose husband had been taken in his sleep by Dagon was dragged over to the grimy stonework that channelled the sacrificial victims' blood below and dumped into it like a sack of rubbish.
    “Stop them!” Sir Richard screamed, legs pumping as he tried to cover the distance to the stone altar, Jacob following in his wake. “In the name of Christ, stop them!”
    The children were lifted onto the great stone altar and held down by the worshippers before the priest moved from one to the other with his wicked sacrificial knife. Their high-pitched cries trailed off, blood streaming onto the stone below and the priest calmly walked over to stand behind the young woman who watched as the terrible rite was carried out. 
    “Athenais!” Jacob cried, taking in the scene before them in shock. “They're going to sacrifice Athenais next!”
    The priest turned as he heard the girl's name shouted, tearing the mask from his face to stare, glassy-eyed and confused at the intruders who were running furiously towards him.
    “Christ above..” Sir Richard's sword dropped as he realised who it was. Father Vitus. Leontios had been right!
    “You little bastard!”
    Jacob roared in fury at the sight of the murderous priest standing before the pretty girl he'd grown fond of and lunged at the Greek who had brought them into this whole thing in the first place. Father Vitus never even attempted to move as the point of the Hospitaller sergeant's longsword hammered into his chest and tore through his back in a shower of blood.
    The chanting had slowed and finally, now, stopped, as the bemused congregation looked on, unsure what was happening.
    The priest's legs slowly gave way and the dead weight was too much for Jacob to hold. He pulled the blade free with a damp sucking sound that seemed to reverberate around the cyclopean cavern.
    Sir Richard looked up towards the balcony above and found Sir Jean. “Take them into custody!” he roared into the silence. “Kill any who resist!” He stood, numb, looking down at the children who, just a few nights earlier, had cried out to him in St Luke's when their father had been taken in his sleep and tears spilled from his eyes. How could he let this happen to them? An image of his own young sons – Simon and Edward – filled his mind and he began to sob with the horror of it all.
    In the cavern around him Dagon's followers finally realised they were under attack but, without an effective leader, simply looked about themselves wondering what they should do.
    “Athenais!” Jacob sheathed his sword, still covered in Father Vitus's warm blood, and moved towards the priest's housekeeper, his arms open, a reassuring smile on his open face. “You're safe now, Athenais. Our men are coming down those stairs to take these bastard devil-worshippers away for trial. You're safe now.”
    The young woman looked down at Vitus's corpse before turning her dark eyes back to Jacob.
    “That's more than can be said for you, fool,” she growled, producing the same sacrificial knife Vitus had used earlier from behind her back and shoving it into the sergeant's throat.
    Blood erupted from the wound and Sir Richard looked on in shock, surprised that his sergeant's head didn't fall from his shoulders, the cut was so vicious.
    As Jacob fell to his knees Athenais kicked him into the gutter that collected the blood from the their victims, nodding in satisfaction as the thick crimson fluid pumped from the Hospitaller's wound, filling the gutter. “Vitus was nothing more than my puppet,” she laughed. “He was smitten by my occasional sexual favours and the belladonna – amongst other things – that I secretly tipped into his wine to keep him pliable.”
    Dagon's