Lord of the Inferno – Chapter Four

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:

Soret cried out when the doorway of the arch reappeared, cutting her off from her father, Barc. The door had opened out into an alley in Zecarani, now it was just a wall of brick.

Even though the Hunwei had been rushing towards the door moments before, she tried to push towards the arch. She intended to learn if swiping her thumb across the top would open the door for her. She couldn’t just leave her father behind without trying something.

Karn got to her first and held her back.

“What are you doing?” Karn was usually a quiet and even-tempered man, but his voice was strained and had an edge to it. His tone gave her pause. “Have you lost all sense? Or just gone suicidal?” His voice rose as he spoke and while it barely approached above a loud conversation for somebody else, for him, it was as good as yelling.

“My father’s out there still!” Soret said. “We have to get him.” Even as the words left her mouth, she realized the futility of what she was saying. The Hunwei would be on the other side of the doorway now, trying to figure out how to get to them. There hadn’t been much space in the rock where the door had been located on the Zecarani side, so she supposed that they were miles away by now, if not on the other side of the earth.

Or in the middle of it, she thought.

She shivered, goose flesh running up and down her arms as a cold sweat broke out all over her body.

“The man that stabbed Jorad in the back. That was your father?” The disdain in Karn’s voice was evident, and she arched her neck, intending to stand up for her father. Barc had been in a difficult position. It killed her that despite Jorad’s actions, she had had no other choice but to stick close to him because of the Hunwei. She’d tried to get her father to see reason but hadn’t been able to prevail.

Karn stared down at her, and she became afraid that he would hurt her. His stoic face was pulled back in a small frown, and his eyes had narrowed slightly. He held her gaze, his jaw working.

Your precious Jorad just killed two boys I grew up with, she thought, but couldn’t force herself to say.