First Page Blogfest: Steam Palace

Thanks to Kelly Lyman for hosting the First Page Blogfest!

PLEASE VOTE FOR WHICH BLOGFEST I SHOULD HOST!

Now this isn’t actually my first first page. I wrote a prologue, but I’m still on the fence about keeping it in there. But there’s a nice little murder in it and I think it draws the reader in. For now, I’m posting the first page of Chapter One.

Steam Palace Chapter One

From high above the ground, Thomas viewed the smoking wreckage of a royal airship and the bloody bodies that littered the clearing. He pulled back on the throttle and tugged the gas release. His one-man dirigible scout descended and landed among the bodies, which all bore the red and blue uniform of the New Britannia Royal Guard. He jumped out, secured his ship to a nearby tree, and searched for survivors. Throats were slashed, execution-style. Thomas checked his revolver. A gaping hole punctured the wreckage of the downed airship. Its deflated balloon rested across nearby trees, shimmering in the breeze. This crash was no accident.

A trail of bent grasses led to the South and into the forest. Survivors? Thomas followed the trail, keeping his head low. The sun glinted off something hidden under a pile of branches. He discerned a shiny black mechohorse with rear-mounted cannon, the likely author of the destruction. A white painted cross revealed its ownership. Reichlanders? On this side of the river? They had become bold of late, but this incursion would have lasting implications.

Thomas froze. Voices murmured through the forest. He dove to the ground, breathing fast. His gold-trimmed airman’s uniform would reveal him in an instant. Past the mechohorse, a dark hole opened in the ground, a cave. Thomas crept towards it. The voices emanated from that cave. Then a scream…a woman’s scream. The Reichlanders were interrogating a prisoner—most likely the same person Thomas had been tasked to locate. He stole up to the cave, his hand trembling on the grip of his revolver. He considered his options. Possibly an autonomous unit, but they set no guards. They were questioning the prisoner onsite, so they must not be holding her for ransom. They must intend to kill her, judging from the merciless screams that rattled his ears and chilled his blood.

Thomas maneuvered next to the cave, peering into the darkness. He wiped the sweat from his brow, and then turned into the entrance. The voices grew louder, the screams more dire. He stepped inside. A torch blazed down the cave shaft. He proceeded. Past that, the cave opened into a chamber lit by additional torches. He spotted chairs and paper-strew tables, and even a filing cabinet. He clenched his revolver. A Reichland advance scouting camp, and they just bagged a huge prize. He formulated a plan.