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. They are held by the field, upside down on the overhanging eaves 70’ above the ground. Shayla has dealt with one, leaving one assassin remaining.
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Shayla backed carefully along the eaves, feeling her way over the joists and decorative moldings adorning the roof line. The wall at her side turned a corner. She glanced briefly upward over her shoulder to where the balustrade of her bedroom balcony hung a few feet above her head. ‘Gingallia’ followed the line of her gaze, and Shayla knew she’d spotted the guards lining the balcony, weapons ready. Their presence so quickly was a welcome sight. Someone must have already alerted them to danger long before the alarm triggered when Shayla used her escape route. Bard Jovin, her guard captain, took up a position just out of sight of her attacker.
Shayla thought she saw a flicker of calculation in the impostor’s eyes. She knows she can’t get off a shot before getting blown away.
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11 comments:
Impostor? The plot thickens.
Nice to have someone now helping her. Or, I hope so anyway. Great snippet! :)
The cavalry to the rescue.
Nice tense rescue in progress . . . hopefully. Well done, Ian!
Stephen, yes, imposter. Although the reader doesn't know it yet, Shayla has an idea of what's going on.
Jessica, there's a limit to the help they can provide as we'll see next time.
Ed, she's not in the clear yet :)
Nancy, yes, they're there to help ... if they can.
Hmm. I wonder how much help this not so close back up is. After all, if the killer is willing to die, there's not a lot they can do!
Hi Ian - has Shayla an imposter ... ? Interesting development ... cheers Hilary
Still hanging on this one. Such a great story!
It's a close call. :-)
I assumed the guards were against her, too. Imposter? Will she get the help she needs? This snippet really makes me wonder.
Caitlin, that is indeed a problem!
Hilary, she's been trapped by a technique she herself has used in the past.
Kimberly, "hanging" in this case is the operative word :)
Teresa, too true!
Diane, yes, makes you wonder, doesn't it?
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