Opening Paragraph

To whet your appetite for my upcoming novel "Etched in Fire", here is the opening paragraph:

Blood shimmered in the sky, rained down the mountain horizon, dripped into the river. Maelen watched in dread as the water around her darkened and suffused with red, glowing as if imbued with fire. Though the blood’s source was invisible, it continued to weep steadily from the sky. Slowly the river rose, first to the level of the barge deck, then overtopping it, until viscous fluid lapped at Maelen’s feet. The stench of blood and fire assailed her nose. She looked at the deck and saw, horrified, that wood had turned to flesh beneath her.