As everyone is comfy and cozy in their slumber...
by Nathalie Gray
~-~-~-~-~ guest ~-~-~-~-~
His long white cape blew in the wind and a pair of brass goggles gave him the air of a giant albino moth. He pulled them up and set his milky gaze on his first mate, who seemed to shrink into his clothes.
“They have not seen us.”
“No, captain, they have not. Tiny humans with their tiny eyes.” The first mate’s grin revealed a broken fence of yellow and gray teeth.
Captain Thorne Sankliver resumed his surveillance of the human activity below but sensed his mate still stood by his side, waiting to be dismissed.
“Perhaps I could throw you overboard and announce our arrival.” A heavy tread receded into relative silence. He was surrounded by fools.
Thorne pulled the blue lenses over his brass goggles. There a thousand feet under his ship, the train snaked forward on its metal belly, its crew and passengers unaware of the menace hovering above. He smiled, sucked the last shred of human flesh still caught between his teeth. The attack would be gory, vicious, and it would be glorious. One of his crew yelled something, distracting Thorne of the succulent chain of his bloody thoughts.
“What?” he bellowed above the wind’s howling.
The flying drekkar had begun to decelerate, slowly twisting on itself to begin its dive. On either side of the armoured hull, giant red wings strained and creaked against their armature, as did the mammoth aerofoils fighting against the wind and his helmsman’s maneuvers. Steam pumped through the glass and silver pipes twisting up into the rigging. He loved the sound of his ship—like a great metallic heart pumping.
“We are within ballista range,” one of his vigils announced.
Even if his crew appeared busy with their tasks, Thorne sensed that their bloodthirsty attention was on him. They only needed the one word from him before raining death on the hated humans and their brittle bones.
“What are you waiting for?” Thorne roared. “Attack!”
MENACE FROM ABOVE, by Nathalie Gray
Spinoff flash fiction from the novel FULL STEAM AHEAD, by Nathalie Gray (Red Sage Publication Copyright © 2009)
by Nathalie Gray
~-~-~-~-~ guest ~-~-~-~-~
*** steampunk ebook giveaway - courtesy of author ***
Full Steam Aheadby Nathalie Gray
Sign up on one of the SteamPink giveaways to own a copy of this ebook.
* image source steampunk pirate flag
