Continuing the opening chapter from The Ashes of Home, Shayla escaped two assailants in her room, disguised as servants, by leaping out of her window into the grip of an artificial gravity field. The three of them are now standing, held by the field, upside down on the overhanging eaves 70’ above the ground.
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The first one, the Barras lookalike (traitor or impostor?) swung his rapier. Shayla’s own blade flashed blue and met it with a jarring wrench.
A shimmerblade was a rare and fearsome weapon, highly prized by undercover agents as a weapon of stealth. When activated, the vibrating crystalline edge could shear through anything less than military grade vehicle armor--or another shimmerblade. But when two such blades met in hand-to-hand combat, the results were random and potentially catastrophic for one or both parties.
Shayla’s knife hand went numb. She barely managed to keep her grip on the hilt as she stumbled back against the wall towering over her head to meet the ground hanging impossibly above. But at least she had been prepared. She’d activated her shimmerblade at the last moment and knew what to expect. Her opponent staggered back in the other direction.
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15 comments:
These are intriguing excerpts from what promises to be a thrilling and engaging story.
I would LOVE to own a shimmer blade. :-) You do have a great imagination, Ian. Such a fascinating world you've built!
This is such a visual scene that it'd make a great clip for a movie trailer.
Hi Ian - despite her troubles, she's on the look out ... you are holding us in suspense ... cheers Hilary
I agree with Ed, Ian. What visuals! So intense and gripping. Fantastic job!
Oh, I love the effects of that shimmerblade. What a great weapon to have when fighting for your life! :)
I love the way shes so fast-thinking at every moment. Great excerpt!
Stephen, I'm hoping I can keep things interesting!
Teresa, a shimmerblade is awesome, not so good to be on the wrong end of though.
Ed, do you know anyone in the movie business? :)
Hilary, suspense is good ... mwahahahaha!
Nancy, my writing process is to visualize scenes as if in a movie. Maybe that's showing through.
Jessica, it's a handy thing to have around.
Veronica, she has to be fast to stay alive. She's made a lot of enemies ... can't think how :)
Ooh, these shimmerblades sound fantastic. I can't wait to see what happens next.
I love a good weapon, fight and kickass heroine.
Kimberly, they are pretty neat :)
Jayne, then you should like Shayla!
This is so cleverly written. Love all the details you share with the reader throughout. What a cool weapon!
Great job adding detail without slowing down the action!
Ooh a shimmerblade. I like it! I always find it a challenge in SF (SFR) to create futuristic weapons.
Julie & Christina, thanks. Details are good but can easily slow things down. Something I'm trying hard not to do.
Cara, I always worry about the shimmerblade coming across as too much like a lightsaber - which it's not meant to. My other weapons sadly are pretty standard sci-fi stuff. I like to focus on rarer areas of technology such as drugs and materials.
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