Lord of the Inferno - Chapter Twenty

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 ship door closed and Adar lowered his blaster, wondering what kind of damage a blast would do to the hull of the ship. He wasn’t willing to risk taking a shot just to see what happened, but it was difficult to watch another ship slip through his grasp even though it was part of his plan to let exactly that happen. Once two more ships were gone, it would be time to make his move, but as each one disappeared, he would become more anxious about their chances.

Adar’s mouth formed a thin line when he took in the wounded man who had died within a step or two of the door. As Adar had thought, his hand and lower forearm had been taken off by a blast as well. If only the man would have ducked down. He would have blended in with the other bodies, and the Hunwei would have walked right past him.

Adar examined the distance from the man to the house.

Just that much further and we would have had a real mess on our hands, Adar thought. He wasn’t glad for the man’s death, but he was happy he hadn’t had to fight the Hunwei. The shooting would have drawn the attention of the others, and with only Barc for support, Adar didn’t think that they would have survived. He was glad he didn’t have to find out what would have happened.

It is a dangerous game I play, and so far I’m not winning it either. If I had returned directly to the Arches, I could have handled Tere and had the tablet in my hands to take care of the Hunwei. He pushed away the thought to calm his nerves. There were always ways to have done things differently. 

The whine of the engines disappeared as their volume increased to a roar. The ship lifted up into the air, hovering a few feet off the ground. After a minute or so, it gained altitude at an ever-increasing rate. The sound of its departure was loud enough to make him wonder if they were at risk of hearing loss.

A grim smile crossed Adar’s face. Maybe I’m getting too used to all this. It isn’t any louder than what I experienced outside the entrance of the Arches. If anything, that was worse because it was a much larger ship. He slung his blaster over his shoulder and covered his ears with his hands still the same, trusting his eyes to warn him of any approaching danger.