Lord of the Inferno - Chapter Twelve

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:

Adar ran down the street with Kura and Lars bringing up the rear. If he was shivering from the cold and exposure to the rain, he could understand why Kura was having such a difficult time with Lars. It isn't coming down as strong as before, he thought, but we’re not getting any drier either.

He came across a dead Hunwei that hadn't been burned to the bone and did a double take. The beast had died from a blast to the chest. A puddle of blue blood had formed around the corpse and was being washed away by the rain.

This isn't a good sign. Adar lurched to a stop, spinning around with his blaster. He scanned the area, expecting to see Tere with a blaster pointed in his direction. When Kura stopped beside him, Adar put his finger up to his mouth. Lars—thank the gods—was quiet. Adar checked to make sure that the boy was still alert and was glad to see Lars’ eyes moving. The rainstorm wasn't as loud as it had been before and didn't provide as much cover for Lars’ crying.

Adar's chest tightened, and he took his next several steps at a run until he forced himself to slow down so that he could think things through. Now was not the time to act rashly. They were too close to the Arches to continue to run as they had been before.

The further he'd gone from the tower, the more anxious he became that there might still be live groups of Hunwei about. This dead Hunwei seemed to confirm his fears.

Jorad and the others should have been back in the Arches long before the Hunwei invasion had gotten to this point. Xarda and Tarner should have seen to that. It was possible this was the work of Tere and Karn, but Adar wasn't willing to bet on it. Jorad would have held out for as long as possible, trying to save as many townsfolk as he could. Confound that boy’s willful spirit.

“What is it?” Kura asked, her voice low enough to be a whisper but still louder than Adar would have liked.

“This Hunwei was killed by a blaster and has been dead for some time.” She was going to find out about Tere anyway, it might as well be now. “This was either the work of my son or somebody else who is trying to kill me.”