Lord of the Inferno - Chapter Fifteen

This week’s episode features a chapter from Lord of the Inferno, Volume Two of War of the Fathers. War of the Fathers is available as a free ebook if you sign up for the Dan Decker Newsletter. Here is an excerpt from the show:

The short man had lost weight since Adar had last seen him. Barc's belt was cinched up over pants that looked like they might fall right off of him and there was blood on his face.

Barc froze when he saw Adar, his hand went to the sword at his side. That too was a change to the man. By the look of it, Adar would venture to say the sword was from one of the Zecarani town guard.

Adar shook his head. Barc had probably picked it up off a dead man. If Barc stuck around Zecarani for long, it would be wise for him to get rid of it. It would only be a matter of time before one of the town guard recognized it for what it was and started making accusations.

Barc's hand rested on the hilt as if he appeared to be thinking of attacking Adar. The absurdity of the situation made it impossible for Adar to keep from smirking. As soon as he felt it forming, he tried to smother it, but he was too late, Barc had already noticed.

The man went red in the face.

Adar held his hands out to the side and approached. Why does everybody from Neberan want to kill me today? He wondered. If anything, we should all be happy about the fact we’re still alive.

Was it a coincidence to find Barc so close to the Arches? Or had he stumbled across Jorad and followed them here?

Adar could make out several scrapes and bruises on Barc, but other than that, Barc looked as though he'd done all right. He had managed to survive two invasions. Maybe the guy was made of sterner stuff than Adar had originally thought. 

Barc's eyes narrowed as Adar approached and it looked as though he wasn't going to move his hand. Adar didn't care, he was certain he could take Barc without needing either his sword or blaster. Unlike Erro, Barc hadn’t charged, waving his blade like a lunatic.

By the time that Adar closed the gap, Barc had apparently decided not to risk it because his arms were folded as he scowled at Adar.

“Have you seen Jorad and Soret?” Adar asked.

Barc shook his head. At first, Adar took that as a no, but then he recognized that Barc had been unable to hear him over the ruckus the ship was making. When Adar tried again, Barc held a hand up to his ear and shook his head, yelling something that Adar couldn’t make out as well.