Snippet Saturday is a bunch of authors getting together to showcase snippets of our work covering various themes.
Today’s theme is Fight Scenes. Yum. I love fight and action scenes. They really get the adrenaline going, and give an author a chance to show what the characters are made of. I’ve chosen a scene with Gina and Derek from Surviving Demon Island, the first book in my Demon Hunter series.
Snippet after the jump, along with url’s of all the other authors participating in Snippet Saturday. Be sure to pop over to their blogs to take a peek at their fight scenes.
Monsters. She tried to prepare herself for the visual, but her imagination worked overtime, scaring the hell out of her. The thick branches ahead rustled with movement as the demons crashed through them, pushing them out of the way with a loud snap.
“The UV laser works best,” he said. “It stop them in their tracks.”
“Got it.” She already had the UV rifle locked and ready to fire.
She wasn’t ready for their appearance when they crashed through the last thicket of branches.
Her worst nightmare come to life.
Thick muscled, with gray, mottled skin. Hideous, large heads, pointed devil-looking ears and extra large mouths with protruding fangs. No Hollywood generated horror could compare to this. Their eyes glowed yellow in the dark—pairs of almond shaped slits that exuded pure malice.
She started to shake, a cold chill entering her body, her feet frozen to the ground. She couldn’t feel the tips of her fingers anymore. Was she even still holding the gun?
They were the monsters of every horrible dream. Hideous, dripping saliva everywhere, their long, claw-like fingers reaching out for her as they made their slow but deliberate approach, the thunderous sound made by feet that were three times the size of a large adult male’s.
“No.”
The voice was hers. She took a step back and wanted to run.
“Don’t let them scare you, baby,” Derek said, moving to stand beside her. “I’m right here.”
The brush of his shoulder against hers shocked her into awareness of what she was doing. Her gaze shot to his, and she saw it in his eyes. The understanding, the acknowledgement.
He knew. Somehow, he knew how much they scared her. Damn, she didn’t want to admit it, hated this weakness in herself, but she could swear she’d seen these things before. Maybe they were just the embodiment of an old nightmare.
“Gina, I won’t let them hurt you. You’re not alone.”
Oh, God. She needed to hear those words. He had no idea how much they comforted her, strengthened her. She looked to him, forcing the fear away.
She wasn’t a child. She wasn’t alone.
Whatever it was, it passed, the chill evaporating and warmth returning.
“I’m fine. Let’s get them.”
He nodded, his expression determined as he moved forward. She stayed right at his side as they approached the demons.
“Aim for a wide burst. Stall them, then keep hitting them with the light. It’ll take a little more than normal to bring these down.”
“Got it.”
The demons were close enough now that the smell was even worse than before, stealing her breath. “Oh, God, that stench is awful!” She gagged.
“Yeah. You’ll get used to it.”
“Not without a gas mask or clothespin on my nose. God almighty.”
“Pick one and start hitting him. I’ll get the other two.”
“I’ll take the one on the right.” Without hesitating, she aimed and fired, the blue blast of light stunning the demon. He froze as if in suspended animation. Gina used his momentary pause to move to the right of the demon, then readjusted her settings to widen the UV array.
He didn’t take the stun too long, advancing on her again. She clicked to fire, but her gun jammed.
Shit. She backed up, keeping one eye on the approaching demon while simultaneously trying to jimmy the mechanism on her rifle. Derek was too busy firing at two demons to be of any help to her, and no way was she going to distract him. She’d just have to figure this out on her own.
Thank God these things weren’t fast, but she didn’t like the way he was moving in on her. Taking a quick glance behind her, she realized she’d soon be out of room. There was a cliff behind her with a sharp drop-off, a wall of mountain to her right, and Derek and his two demons to her left.
And the goddamn gun still wouldn’t fire.
The demon crept closer, its arms outstretched. She could really smell it now, her stomach rolling at the putrid stench.
She was out of options.
“Derek,” she whispered.
He can’t hear you if you don’t open your mouth and yell, idiot.
She didn’t want to bother him, but damn, the demon was drawing closer.
A blinding flash to her left drew her attention momentarily. One demon down, but the other was advancing on Derek. His gaze shot to her.
“What?”
“Trigger mechanism is stuck.”
“Shit.” He looked at her, the mountain, the cliff, and at both the demons advancing on them. “Shit,” he said again.
Her thoughts exactly.
“What do we do?”
He fired on his demon again, the wide array slowing it, but not doing its intended job. It walked right through the UV light.
“That’s not good,” he said. “We need stronger UV light.”
Hell of a time to figure that out. She felt off balance, teetering on the edge of the cliff. The mountain to their right was sheer with no footholds. Nothing to climb.
And sure as hell they weren’t getting out straight ahead. The demons drew closer.
“We need to get out of here, Derek. Now!”
“I know! Give me a minute, goddamit. I’m thinking.”
They didn’t have a minute left.
Derek turned and peered over the cliff, then looked at her, determination fixed on his face.
When she caught his thought process, her eyes widened. “Are you serious?”
“I hear water rushing. It’ll be fine.”
“No.”
“Now, Gina.”
“Oh, hell no!”
“No time to argue.”
Before she knew what was happening, he’d swept his arm around her and plunged them both over the cliff.
She left her stomach on the precipice, her high pitched scream ringing in her ears as they plummeted over the edge into the abyss.
Please visit the following authors also participating in this week’s Snippet Saturday:
Shelley Munro
Anya Bast
Cynthia Eden
SJ Day
Vivi Anna
Mandy Roth
Michelle Pillow
Juliana Stone
Moira Rogers
Sacha White
TJ Michaels
Maura Anderson
Beth Kery
Jody Wallace
Eliza Gayle
Kelly Maher
Elisabeth Naughton
Taige Crenshaw
Beth Williamson