Lord of the Inferno - Chapter Three

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 let out a sigh as he left the dead Hunwei turncoat, he had waited until the boy had stopped breathing before turning away. When his eyes rested on a nearby group of Ou Qui, he frowned. He had entered into a truce with one of the Ou Qui chiefs, but he wasn't certain the truce extended to the other Ou Qui tribes.

As they disappeared, he wondered if all the Ou Qui here in Zecarani represented just one tribe or many. He was hesitant to approach them because it was difficult to predict how they would react.

He was glad they were more concerned with killing the Hunwei than doing anything else. Based on what he knew of them, if the Ou Qui wouldn't have had the Hunwei to deal with, they would have been fighting one another.

He tried to locate an Ou Qui chief, but their method of disguise left little with which to distinguish them.

They all looked like walking bushes.

There were some subtle differences in their camouflage, but he wasn't sure if it meant anything. Markings on a face here, feathers on hands there. It was probably clear as day to the Ou Qui, but he couldn't make any sense of it. He made as if to head over to the closest group but came to a stop when he saw they were now heading the opposite direction. He considered trying to catch up to another group, but it was preparing to leave as well.

As he looked over the grounds, he realized there wasn't a metalman in sight. He had only seen them when they'd hurled themselves off the roof of the town hall, but he'd been too preoccupied at the time to spend much time studying them. What he wouldn't have done to get a closer look. It annoyed him to think that the Ou Qui had had metalmen in their midst all this time.

He shook his head and hoped that the forgotten secrets of their fathers would be enough to defeat the Hunwei, or at least, make them leave again. Assuming they could figure all of the secrets out, of course.

He didn't go far before he stopped to collect another blaster from the remains of several dead Hunwei and was surprised that he could see blackened skulls inside of their helmets. He had expected that at the temperature the Hunwei had been burning there would be nothing left. He hadn't been able to come within twenty feet of them when they had been on fire.

It was a wonder the Hunwei armor appeared to be unaffected, but that might have just been an illusion caused by its dark color. When he had a chance, he would see if the armor had maintained its integrity. It wasn't a good time investigate because he could still feel the heat emanating from the armor as he leaned over one of the bodies.

The Hunwei's blaster was underneath the remains, and it broke in half when Adar tried to kick it free. The place where it had been touching the Hunwei had melted. The blaster of the other Hunwei had melted as well and was almost unrecognizable.

Cursing, Adar moved to the next group of dead Hunwei and went from body to body until he finally found a blaster that had fallen far enough from its owner that it hadn't been destroyed.