Eclipse of the Heart (4 page)

“Reuben, so NOT nice to see you again. I had hoped you would
stay away. But I guess you aren’t that smart.” Sometimes my mouth really did
get the better of me.

His face turned red and he stuttered, “Y…you, you stupid
piece of pond scum! You have no idea how much trouble you are in.”

I looked around and took in his companions, there were only
six of them. While they were better equipped, we had the numbers on our side.

Ash told the guards who were carrying Lancer to set him down
and guard him. The rest of us were to engage with Reuben and his friends.

“Reuben, before I kill you, I gotta ask, why would you leave
your family and friends to support a losing cause?” I really did want to know.
He had it good, and he was serving in the Reverend’s guard. It didn’t get much
better than that for guards.

“It’s not a losing battle, it is the just and pure cause I
fight for. This planet is not meant for the Sennafae, we should never have
settled here to begin with. This planet belongs to the Rippers. They were the
first to settle this place. We came along and took it from them. Like so many
of your governments back on Earth. It is time we give the Rippers back what was
theirs and we move on from here.”

Reuben really had lost it. What Sennafae in his right mind
would support leaving the planet?

“Reuben, where would you go? What planet do you think you can
inhabit? None of them are empty. At least none you can reach from here.” I was
curious where the movement thought they were going to go.

“Those who support the Rippers get to stay here and serve
alongside them to make this a better planet for all of us. The rest will be
sent to Earth or the dark planet. It makes no difference to us where they go.
Our planet has been stripped of its natural resources and most don’t care that
we are starting to feel the effects of global warming, similar to what Earth is
going through. The only way to protect my planet it to get rid of those who are
quickly killing it.” Yup, he had lost it.

Xandrie used my distraction to make her way behind the
enemy. Once she was in place, Ash and I went forward and started the attack on them.
Xandrie came up behind the ripper in the back and slit his throat before he
even knew what happened.

Ash and I double teamed Reuben while the rest of our guards
engaged with the four enemy troops who were left. Most where rippers, but two
were Sennafae traitors. They deserved what they had coming.

The enemy troops were taken down very quickly by our guards
and Xandrie. Reuben had been trained quite well and he had a long sword while
Ash and I only had knives. Xandrie threw me one of the swords she took off a
dead ripper. While I was exchanging blows with Reuben, she also got a long
sword to Ash.

I went in to strike Reuben with my sword and Ash was behind
him. I was too slow because of my injured leg and Reuben got a slash on my arm.
It wasn’t deep, but he did draw blood and it hurt, badly. The knife going
through the outer edge of my arm felt like fire running along it. I fell back
to the ground and though this was it.

Ash screamed my name and Fillie flew over Reuben’s head and
distracted him enough that I was able to roll away and Ash came up behind him
and lobbed his head off before he even knew what happened. They made a great
team!

Ash leaned down and yelled for Xandrie to come over and
check out my arm. Then he wrapped he in his arms, being careful not to touch my
left side, as that was the arm that Reuben sliced through.

He kept kissing my head and temple and saying over an over
how happy he was that I wasn’t killed. “He could have killed you. We should
have found a place to hole up while waiting for help. I never should have let
you make this trek while you are so injured. I don’t know what I would have
done if you didn’t make it.”

“Ash, thank you for your concern, but I am fine. It is
better that we kept moving. Lancer needs the medical attention and splitting up
would have only made us all that more vulnerable.” I reached up and kissed his
cheek, which had blood and dust on it.

“Ugh, I need some water to clean off my face. There is too
much blood and dust on us all. Xandrie, do you have any more water?”

Xandrie handed me a bottle; Ash and I shared that bottle and
used a little bit to clean our faces off.

His reaction made me think about what he said earlier,
regarding his feelings for me. Maybe he did really care for me. But I still
doubted he changed enough to keep my heart safe.

We went around and picked up all of the weapons the enemy
troops had on them and then started back towards Anise and safety.

We finally made it to Anise and her friends just before
sunset. We were all tired, hungry, and thirsty. Anise had expected this so she
had a cooler full of food and water. She also had a medical vehicle ready to
take Lancer to the clinic and Netty was waiting for him.

“Lancer, even though you can’t hear me, I want you to know
that I am praying for you to heal and come join us on Earth as soon as
possible.” I kissed his forehead and wiped a tear from my eye before looking
back at Anise.

“Will he be alright? He’s been unconscious this entire time.
That can’t be good, right? I don’t want to freak out, but now that we are safe
I think I might. Please tell me this isn’t uncommon?” I was really nervous
about Lancer still being out of it. It worked out better that way for the trip,
but he should have been awake after several hours of walking to the meeting
spot.

“B, don’t worry, he will be fine. I am sure it is just a bad
concussion and he will wake up as soon as they healers treat him. It isn’t
uncommon after being in an explosion. You are lucky you were in the back of the
group. Even though you are a hybrid, I doubt you would have survived if you had
been next to Lancer. He will survive this and be back with us soon. I bet he is
back on Earth within two weeks.” Ash put his arm around my shoulder and gave it
a squeeze.

Then in my ear he said, “Don’t worry, I know he heard you
and will do everything he can to get back to you. If anyone can motivate him to
get back up it’s you.”

Anise had orders from the local police captain to get Ash
and I to the portal right away. It would be safer for everyone if I was
off-world.

The local government felt that my presence would bring about
a civil war. Since I had been there, the violent acts had increased almost 25%.

Xandrie said, “Basically you are no longer welcome here.
That’s cold. And stupid to play into the hands of the enemy like that. I hope
that when they get control of the city, the High Command welcomes you back
here.

“Ash do you want me to go to Earth right away, or should I
stay here and keep an eye on Lancer?” Xandrie was supposed to go to Earth with
us and join Squad 1. Lancer wasn’t happy about that as the two of them did not
get along since she had left him for Cash fifteen years ago.

“Xandrie, I would appreciate it if you could stay here at
least until he wakes up. You know he won’t want you around. But I know that if
you are there with him he will be safe. So until he wakes up and kicks you out,
please stay with him.” Ash asked her to stay even though we needed more
warriors on our squad. We had lost half our squad between all of the attacks on
Earth and now with Lancer injured. I just hoped that the other warriors who had
been assigned to our team had already made it to Earth and were just waiting
for us to return.

“Thank you Xandrie, I appreciate you staying with Lancer while
he is unable to defend himself. I hope to see you both back on Earth soon.” I
gave Xandrie a hug goodbye.

“Anise, thank you so much for all of the help. You saved us
by waiting here and not letting the medics leave without Lancer. Please keep me
posted as to his health. And let him know that we can’t wait to see him as soon
as he is able to come home.” I hugged Anise and then we all got into the
various vehicles.

Anise had brought fifty warriors with her and ten vehicles,
not including the medic van that took Lancer to the clinic. One vehicle filled
with four warriors took Xandrie straight the clinic and they were to keep guard
over Lancer. The rest of the vehicles split up and took different routes back
to the portal, in case any of them were followed.

Fillie followed my van at a distance and kept an eye out for
anything out of the ordinary. Thank the moons we made it to the portal safely.

We all got out and started to walk towards the portal.
Fillie was on my shoulder and prepared to go with us back to Earth. But the
guards at the portal wouldn’t let her. “I am sorry miss but you can’t take a
Sennafae animal to Earth. How would you explain it to the humans?” The guard
asked.

“Listen here you big oaf! I am not an “it”! I am a female
dragonette that is older than you by several centuries! You better show me the
respect I am due or I will burn your hair off right here and now!” Fillie was
flying very closely to the guard and flapping her wings close to his head. She
was mad and was not going to let him get away with disrespecting her.

The guard put his hands up around his head, “I am sorry, I’m
just following orders. I can’t let you through to Earth. Why would you want to
go with a hybrid human anyway? I mean no disrespect but you belong here with
us, where we will take care of you and not try to hunt you down. Have you ever
been to Earth or heard the stories about how they hunt anything different
there? I spent one year on Earth and have no desire to go back there again,
they are barbarians.” The guard shook himself as he said the last sentence. He
was obviously not a fan of Earth and humans.

“Listen here, I am Filligree Samone Coral Sennhauer the
second! I am over 500 years old and if I choose to bond with a human hybrid, no
young guard is going to stand in my way!” Fillie blew some fire just above the
head of the guard and singed the top of his head.

“Now get out of my way as I have a date with destiny, and
her name is B’Lana.” Fillie landed back on my shoulder and flapped one wing
back at the guard and nudged my cheek with her head to get me to walk through
the gate. So I did.

I walked through the gate holding Ash’s hand and had Fillie
on my shoulder. Once we made it through to Earth the guards on our side looked
at me funny. But kept their mouths shut. I figured they were shocked to see a
dragonette sitting on my shoulder.

“Fillie, I am going to have to hide you from the humans.
Here, they would not understand a dragonette, and they would freak out if they
heard you speak. Please don’t say anything until we get inside of headquarters,
Ok?” I put a jacket over the top of Fillie but she was not happy.

“Can we wait here until dark and then I can fly to your
headquarters? What is the time difference from here to Sendryl?”

“It is three hours earlier here, but the sun sets later
here, I guess it would be at least four hours before the sun sets. But there
should be a car not too far from here. You won’t have to stay under the jacket
for long. Once we are in the car if you sit on the back seat and don’t fly
around you should be fine.” I was trying to coax her into staying quiet under
the jacket for the short walk to the SUV’s.

“Do we have a hummer here? Or should we call in to HQ and
ask for Cash to bring one?” I asked the guard closest to me who was stationed
here. There had been some new additions since I left and didn’t recognize this
one. We also brought through five more warriors with us to join our team. Each
of the squads where down at least two warriors. This time I was going to learn
everyone’s name. And I had Fillie to help me remember them.

“Hi B’Lana, my name is Petre and I have been assigned to
Squad 3. I already called Cash as soon as we received the message that you were
coming through. He should be here shortly with your Hummer. How is it you were
able to bring a dragonette through? We have all been told it’s illegal to bring
any of our pets with us.”

“Listen here you uneducated, stinky excuse for a warrior!
I.Am.Not.A.Pet! I am a dragonette of the highest order and have bonded with
B’Lana. No one tells me what I can or can’t do. Humph!” Fillie buzzed his head
with her wings. Thankfully she didn’t singe his hair.

I just shrugged my shoulders and put my hands palms up while
trying very hard to keep from laughing. Poor Fillie, everywhere she turned
today someone was trying to tell her what to do. “What am I gonna do?”

“Ok Fillie, let’s start walking towards the parking area. We
can wait for our ride under the big oak tree there.” I led us all towards the
grassy area where we parked our vehicles. We only had to wait a few minutes and
then Cash showed up.

“B’Lana and Ash I can’t tell you how happy I am to see you
both here and alive! We heard about the bomb and were really worried… Where is
Lancer? We heard he was coming back with you tonight.” Cash hugged me and then
looked around at everyone.

“Cash, Lancer was seriously hurt from the bombing. He was
unconscious when we left him, but I left Xandrie to watch out for him and make
sure that he is protected.” Ash informed Cash.

“Let’s get back to HQ and we can share our stories with you
and the rest of the team.” I walked over to the Hummer and got in the back seat
with Fillie.

“WH-What are you doing with a dragonette B’Lana! You do know
that it’s illegal to bring one here don’t you?” Cash exclaimed.

“Is everyone going to be so shocked to see that I have
chosen B’Lana as my companion? Why is it so strange that I would choose the
Hybrid of the prophecy?” Fillie stated while getting comfortable in the back
seat with me.

“Fillie, I don’t think anyone is used to seeing a
Dragonette, especially with a human hybrid. It hasn’t happened for over 200
years, so I think you can give them all a break.” I laughed while petting
Fillie’s head.

“Haven’t any of you seen a dragonette bond with anyone?”
Fillie asked the guys in the Hummer.

Cash responded, “Actually, no. I have never seen a
dragonette speak to anyone. I have seen a couple flying in the forest, but
never one up close.”

“Is that normal for warriors? To never see one up close or
hear them speak?” I was actually curious about everyone’s knowledge and
experience with dragonettes.

Ash answered for everyone, “Yes, it is. We grow up knowing
about them and are lucky if we see one in the forest, but to actually talk to
one is a privilege. B’Lana, you have been honored to be chosen by Fillie. I
don’t know what she has shared with you yet, but the more time you spend
together, the stronger your mind powers will get. You should really practice
with her as much as you can.

“Fillie, would you mind if I set up time each day for you
and B’Lana to train together? I think you can help her more than anyone else
could with her abilities. So far, not much has shown up, that we know.” Ash
winked at Fillie so that no one else could see.

“Fillie, Ash is the only one who knows about my powers.
Let’s keep them secret for a bit longer.”
I said to her via mind speak.

“Of course, I expect nothing less. B’Lana and I should start
out each day practicing, starting tomorrow. I will let you know when we are
done and then you can work with her on her fighting skills. I, of course, will
oversee your training.” Fillie stood up with her head high and fluffed out her
wings, as much as she could in the back seat with me.

When we arrived back at headquarters, the Commander wasn’t
very happy with Fillie being there. But he knew better than to say anything.
“Should we prepare a special place for you Fillie? Or do you prefer to share a
room with B’Lana?”

“I will need to inspect your facility before I decide where
I will sleep. I only need a place to rest my head at night for a few hours. The
rest of the day I will be with B’Lana or looking over your warriors as they
train. I do expect to take part in all recon missions and battles.”

“Fillie, we can’t have you outside during the day, but we
might get away with you flying high at night. Maybe most people will just
confuse you for a bird if they notice you in the dark.” The Commander was doing
his best to be accommodating for Fillie, while still making sure to keep our
presence a secret.

I showed Fillie around and tried to find her a room she
would like. She ended up wanting to spend her first night in my room. I just hoped
she didn’t snore!

We all spent the rest of the evening talking about Sendryl
and what happened over the past week. Everyone was very interested in how
Lancer was doing and the Commander promised to check in first thing in the
morning to get an update.

Xandrie checked in before we went to sleep and let us know
that Lancer made it to the clinic safely and was under guard. He had come to
right before she messaged us. The healers said he was going to be just fine,
but he needed to stay in the clinic for a few days, then they wanted him to
come straight to Earth. Even the healers felt that he would be safer on Earth.

There wasn’t an official update on what happened with all of
the blockades. Xandrie did notice that some of the rippers disappeared before
the troops could get to them, almost like they had been warned. She believed
that someone in their government was helping them. But no one else was willing
to admit they believed her. I had no problem admitting that I believed her.

“Ash, I really think Xandrie might have something with her
idea of traitors in your government. Do you think it’s possible?” I believed it
had to be why we were bombed at the courthouse and then blocked all around as
we tried to get out. Only someone within the government could have orchestrated
something like that.

“B, while it is possible, I don’t believe any of the
Sennafae would do something like that. If the rippers win, then all of us will
either die or be forced off the planet. I seriously doubt that the rippers
would allow any Sennafae to stay, even if they helped them to take over.

“The chances of the terrorist rippers taking over are very
slim; most of the ripper population doesn’t support them. I don’t see how they
could muster enough support from anyone to actually win. So why would high
ranking Sennafae help them? It makes no sense.” Ash ran his hand through his
hair while looking at me.

“Ash, Reuben helped. He was very connected in the Sennafae
government and religion. He was brainwashed to believe the lies told by the terrorists.
If someone like him could believe, why couldn’t anyone else?” I still couldn’t
believe that Reuben had turned his back on his entire family and religion.