This short story is featured in Inferno! Volume 2, which is out now.
For his second Black Library short story, Turn of the Adder, JC Stearns explores a little of the impact that the birth of Ynnead has had upon the drukhari. The wyches of the Jade Labyrinth have turned from the Kabal of the Bladed Lotus and sided with the Ynnari, much to the disgust of the Bladed Lotus’ Archon, K’Shaic, who leads an overwhelming assault against the Ynnari forces. Tasked with a key, if secondary, part of the attack, K’Shaic’s youngest son Naeddre sees an opportunity for advancement (in the drukhari fashion) but soon finds his entire worldview challenged by the Ynnari.
The internecine struggles of the aeldari make for great drama, and there’s something deeply satisfying about this sort of clash-of-ideologies story seen through the eyes of characters to whom betrayal is an aspirational trait. Stearns gets the drukhari viewpoint spot on – Naeddre is objectively cruel, arrogant and pretty unpleasant, but as a protagonist he’s still somehow engaging and even sympathetic. It’s a pacy, action-packed story but that’s all married to a clever plot and some great character work with the vicious charisma of K’Shaic and the way in which ambitious Naeddre responds to the Ynnari philosophy. It’s all very satisfying and thoroughly enjoyable, and shows a lot of promise for more drukhari stories in future.
