NaNoWriMo : Day 3
Well, I didn't get started on my novel until this morning. I have a bit over 1,200 words done already, and am going at full steam (pun intended) right now into more. When I have a brain block, I go and clean up the kitchen a bit, which helps me think.
So right now, here is the prologue to my NanoWriMo novel
Prologue
Chunks of rock tumbled down as the canyon wall shuddered with the impact of the dragon's massive bulk. Momentarily stunned, the dragon shook its massive horned head as it was pelted from falling debris.
The dust kicked up by the dragon slightly obscured Selin's mech as she moved the massive machine back a few steps. Another few charges like that, she thought, and the whole canyon would come down on top of them. She needed to finish off the lunar dragon quickly before it decided to take flight and escape, or worse, attack the nearby settlement before reinforcements arrive.
Roaring in challenge, the dragon digs its claws into the rocky ground, hunching its body back as it tenses up to charge at it's attacker again. Hoping to stop its full-body charge, Selin brings her mech's left arm up, aiming the flamethrower that she had replaced the left forearm with. Flames lashed out at the lunar dragon, which stumbled as the heat caught it off guard. Roaring again, the dragon spread it's small wings and began to flap them, kicking up more dust.
Selin shut off the fuel pump to the flamethrower. Without hesitation, she brings her mech to a run as she charges the dragon, hoping to grab it with her other arm. The dragon, though, was already rising off the canyon floor, and her mech wouldn't be fast enough to catch it before it flew out of the reach of even her flamethrower.
A pair of explosions echoed through the canyon as the dragon lurched to the side. Selin brought her mech to a stop as she saw another mech on top of the canyon wall, aiming two cannon arms at the beast. Beside it, a much smaller mech had pulled out a sword and was taking a few steps back. As the larger mech fired both cannons again, the smaller mech took a step and leaped into the canyon.
Landing on the back of the dragon, the smaller mech grabbed one of wings and slashed at it. After two swings, the dragon lurched and twisted, flinging the mech off it's back and into the canyon wall, it's arm hitting the rock face first, crumpling under the weight of the rest of the mech as it followed. The small mech tumbled to the canyon floor, unmoving. With it's wing nearly cut off, the dragon spiraled to the ground and landed hard, causing the ground to shake from it's massive bulk.
Selin recovered from the shock of the near-suicidal strategy of the small mech, dashing her own mech forward again, arm raised to grab the dragon before it regained it's senses. Quicker than she thought possible from something that large, the dragon spun around and struck Selin's mech with it's tail, throwing it off balance. Selin wrestled with the controls to prevent her mech from falling over, which would give the dragon all the time it needed to finish her off.
Instead of striking Selin's mech again, the dragon turned toward the smaller mech that had done more damage to it. It was laying on the canyon floor, it's left arm twisted at inhuman angles, sword broken in half. Roaring, the dragon lifted itself up and opened its maw as wide as it could. Selin looked up as she finally regained balance, dread filling her as she realized the dragon was planning on bathing the helpless mech in lunar fire.
The larger mech suddenly landed between the dragon and the small mech, firing both cannons at point-blank range. The dragon rocked with both explosions, but did not stop it's attack, instead letting out its full fiery-breath upon the large mech. The flames erupting from the dragon's mouth where glowing white, like the glow from the full moon. It enveloped the larger mech, creating a blinding light that forced Selin to look away.
When she looked up again, the canyon wall behind the large mech was scorched black except for an area the larger mech had stopped the flames from reaching. The small mech was untouched by the flames. Unfortunately, the larger mech had taken most of the lunar breath attack. It's left arm was completely gone, along with the upper-left half of it's torso, and most of the mech's head, all burned away by the dragon's breath. The edges of the missing points were white hot and beginning to melt. The mech slowly crumpled to the ground, it's pilots burned alive.
Crying out in anger, Selin dashed forward again as the dragon began rearing back for another deadly attack. She grabbed one of the large spikes on the dragon's head, wrenching it sideways. Pulling her mech forward, she jams the barrel of her flamethrower into the dragon's open maw, opening up the fuel valve completely and filling the dragon with burning flames.
Selin emptied the entire fuel tank for the flamethrower into the dragon, watching as flames and smoke poured from the dragon's mouth, the massive form shuddering a few times before becoming still. She didn't move for a few minutes, breathing heavily as she stared at the dragon's corpse, her mech still holding the head up by a spike.
A ringing in the cockpit of her mech brought her out of her rage. She looked up and saw the gauges for her steam engine were dropping slowly. The dragon's last attack must have ruptured the water piping and the engine was losing pressure. She unhooked her crash harness and leaned over an opening in the floor.
"Gados, how's the engine looking? My gauges show we're bleeding pressure," she shouted over the constant noise of the mech's steam engine. She waited a few seconds as a dwarf with long black hair tied into a braided tail poked his head through the hole.
"Not good, Selin, both Rorak and Rinak are unconscious. The left side of the torso is caved in slightly, and it pinched off one of the smaller steam pipes. They were trying to shunt the steam away when it ruptured and knocked them out. "
Selin frowned, "It's bleeding steam into the mech then. We'll have to either shunt it away earlier in the pipes or shut down the engine altogether."
Gados grinned, "Well, unless we want to be boiled alive in here. I think we'll have to shut the engine down, the damage is..."
Selin turned her head as soon as Gados' words drifted to a stop. In front of her, the large mech that had sacrificed itself to the dragon's fire was beginning to stand again. It shuddered as it stood up, pushing itself upright with its surviving arm. Smoke still curled upwards from the burned torso, and the head sagged forward.
"By Dotrak, is Joran and his crew still alive?" Gados asked, lifting himself further into the cockpit. He watched as the smaller mech began to stand up also, its broken arm hanging limply. It reached down and picked up the broken sword, raising it as it took a few awkward steps towards Selin's mech. The large mech slowly raised its good arm cannon. Fear filled Selin as she realized the horrible truth.
"Gados, get down, they aren't..." Selin's words were drowned out as the large mech fired, filling the cockpit of her mech with light.
Comments are greatly appreciated!
So right now, here is the prologue to my NanoWriMo novel
Prologue
Chunks of rock tumbled down as the canyon wall shuddered with the impact of the dragon's massive bulk. Momentarily stunned, the dragon shook its massive horned head as it was pelted from falling debris.
The dust kicked up by the dragon slightly obscured Selin's mech as she moved the massive machine back a few steps. Another few charges like that, she thought, and the whole canyon would come down on top of them. She needed to finish off the lunar dragon quickly before it decided to take flight and escape, or worse, attack the nearby settlement before reinforcements arrive.
Roaring in challenge, the dragon digs its claws into the rocky ground, hunching its body back as it tenses up to charge at it's attacker again. Hoping to stop its full-body charge, Selin brings her mech's left arm up, aiming the flamethrower that she had replaced the left forearm with. Flames lashed out at the lunar dragon, which stumbled as the heat caught it off guard. Roaring again, the dragon spread it's small wings and began to flap them, kicking up more dust.
Selin shut off the fuel pump to the flamethrower. Without hesitation, she brings her mech to a run as she charges the dragon, hoping to grab it with her other arm. The dragon, though, was already rising off the canyon floor, and her mech wouldn't be fast enough to catch it before it flew out of the reach of even her flamethrower.
A pair of explosions echoed through the canyon as the dragon lurched to the side. Selin brought her mech to a stop as she saw another mech on top of the canyon wall, aiming two cannon arms at the beast. Beside it, a much smaller mech had pulled out a sword and was taking a few steps back. As the larger mech fired both cannons again, the smaller mech took a step and leaped into the canyon.
Landing on the back of the dragon, the smaller mech grabbed one of wings and slashed at it. After two swings, the dragon lurched and twisted, flinging the mech off it's back and into the canyon wall, it's arm hitting the rock face first, crumpling under the weight of the rest of the mech as it followed. The small mech tumbled to the canyon floor, unmoving. With it's wing nearly cut off, the dragon spiraled to the ground and landed hard, causing the ground to shake from it's massive bulk.
Selin recovered from the shock of the near-suicidal strategy of the small mech, dashing her own mech forward again, arm raised to grab the dragon before it regained it's senses. Quicker than she thought possible from something that large, the dragon spun around and struck Selin's mech with it's tail, throwing it off balance. Selin wrestled with the controls to prevent her mech from falling over, which would give the dragon all the time it needed to finish her off.
Instead of striking Selin's mech again, the dragon turned toward the smaller mech that had done more damage to it. It was laying on the canyon floor, it's left arm twisted at inhuman angles, sword broken in half. Roaring, the dragon lifted itself up and opened its maw as wide as it could. Selin looked up as she finally regained balance, dread filling her as she realized the dragon was planning on bathing the helpless mech in lunar fire.
The larger mech suddenly landed between the dragon and the small mech, firing both cannons at point-blank range. The dragon rocked with both explosions, but did not stop it's attack, instead letting out its full fiery-breath upon the large mech. The flames erupting from the dragon's mouth where glowing white, like the glow from the full moon. It enveloped the larger mech, creating a blinding light that forced Selin to look away.
When she looked up again, the canyon wall behind the large mech was scorched black except for an area the larger mech had stopped the flames from reaching. The small mech was untouched by the flames. Unfortunately, the larger mech had taken most of the lunar breath attack. It's left arm was completely gone, along with the upper-left half of it's torso, and most of the mech's head, all burned away by the dragon's breath. The edges of the missing points were white hot and beginning to melt. The mech slowly crumpled to the ground, it's pilots burned alive.
Crying out in anger, Selin dashed forward again as the dragon began rearing back for another deadly attack. She grabbed one of the large spikes on the dragon's head, wrenching it sideways. Pulling her mech forward, she jams the barrel of her flamethrower into the dragon's open maw, opening up the fuel valve completely and filling the dragon with burning flames.
Selin emptied the entire fuel tank for the flamethrower into the dragon, watching as flames and smoke poured from the dragon's mouth, the massive form shuddering a few times before becoming still. She didn't move for a few minutes, breathing heavily as she stared at the dragon's corpse, her mech still holding the head up by a spike.
A ringing in the cockpit of her mech brought her out of her rage. She looked up and saw the gauges for her steam engine were dropping slowly. The dragon's last attack must have ruptured the water piping and the engine was losing pressure. She unhooked her crash harness and leaned over an opening in the floor.
"Gados, how's the engine looking? My gauges show we're bleeding pressure," she shouted over the constant noise of the mech's steam engine. She waited a few seconds as a dwarf with long black hair tied into a braided tail poked his head through the hole.
"Not good, Selin, both Rorak and Rinak are unconscious. The left side of the torso is caved in slightly, and it pinched off one of the smaller steam pipes. They were trying to shunt the steam away when it ruptured and knocked them out. "
Selin frowned, "It's bleeding steam into the mech then. We'll have to either shunt it away earlier in the pipes or shut down the engine altogether."
Gados grinned, "Well, unless we want to be boiled alive in here. I think we'll have to shut the engine down, the damage is..."
Selin turned her head as soon as Gados' words drifted to a stop. In front of her, the large mech that had sacrificed itself to the dragon's fire was beginning to stand again. It shuddered as it stood up, pushing itself upright with its surviving arm. Smoke still curled upwards from the burned torso, and the head sagged forward.
"By Dotrak, is Joran and his crew still alive?" Gados asked, lifting himself further into the cockpit. He watched as the smaller mech began to stand up also, its broken arm hanging limply. It reached down and picked up the broken sword, raising it as it took a few awkward steps towards Selin's mech. The large mech slowly raised its good arm cannon. Fear filled Selin as she realized the horrible truth.
"Gados, get down, they aren't..." Selin's words were drowned out as the large mech fired, filling the cockpit of her mech with light.
Comments are greatly appreciated!