Man at War – Excerpt No. 122

Marc approached the nearest opponent wielding a rifle with a bayonet affixed. The combination gave them more reach then Marc had, but limited their mobility. Marc opened with a thrust, and followed through by a slash, giving him a measure of their reactions. The opponent turned out to be surprisingly adept with the weapon, as he deflected the thrust handily and followed through with a slash of his own.

The mortar made a loud thump as it hit the ground. Contact fuses sometimes failed to detonate given the soft ground. This initially appeared to be the case, but this also had a pyrotechnic delay.

a cinematic nighttime photo of a bird's eye view of a massive explosion on the ground, with silhouetted creatures visible in the blast, set during The Great War in 1915, with scene and clothing appropriate for the era, including old-fashioned military uniforms and gas masks, amidst a chaotic and smoky landscape, with debris and rubble scattered everywhere, captured in a dramatic and intense photography style, with deep shadows and contrasting highlights, and a muted color palette dominated by dark blues and grays, with flashes of fiery oranges and yellows illuminating the dark sky.

Disclaimer: This novel is an work in progress and readers may encounter grammatical errors and inconsistencies. Please view this a draft and not a published work.