Eclipse of the Soul: The Interdimensional Saga, Book 2
Read Eclipse of the Soul: The Interdimensional Saga, Book 2 Online
Authors: J.L. Hendricks
ECLIPSE OF THE SOUL
The Interdimensional Saga, Book 2
J.L.
Hendricks
This book is a work of fiction. All of the characters,
organizations, and events portrayed in this novel are either products of the
author’s imagination or are used fictitiously.
Copyright (c) 2016 J.L. Hendricks
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be
reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any
means, electronic, mechanical, recording or otherwise, without the prior
written permission of the author. Please purchase only authorized electronic
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copyrighted materials.
This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. It
may not be sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this
book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each
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Cover Design by Michael Anderle & Dawnya Goode
First Edition April, 2016
All rights reserved. Copyright © 2016 J.L. Hendricks
This
book is dedicated to
all
of the dreamers out there.
You
can do anything you set your mind to.
This book is part of a series and best read in the
following order:
Book 1 – Eclipse of the Warrior
Book 2 – Eclipse of the Soul – scheduled for release
late April, 2016
Book 3 – The Eclipse of Power – scheduled for release early
to mid-May, 2016
Book 4 – TBD – scheduled for release late May or early
June, 2016
Wow! I can’t believe how much my body has
changed in just one month. Last month I was 30 years old and out of work. Today
I look about 19 and my job is to save my people from interdimensional vampires,
as well as the ambivalence of a few fae warriors. What a change…
“Oomph! Lancer what was that for?” I asked after he hit
me with a punch to my gut. We were sparring, or at least I was trying to spar
with him while he beat me black and blue.
“B’Lana, you weren’t paying attention, I had to get your
head back to Earth somehow. No pun intended.” Lancer was working on his jokes,
sometimes he was pretty good, but sometimes he just didn’t get it.
“You won’t be going on missions any time soon if you
don’t start getting serious about your training. You can run faster and longer
than any human, however your fighting skills are still lacking. If a human
attacked you he would be in trouble, but if it was a ripper, you would be dead.”
“It’s only been a month since I woke up from my
transformation. Give me a break!” He was starting to annoy me with his
intensity.
Where was Ash? I bet he wouldn’t be acting this way. I know he
would be much more fun to work out with.
“Do you want to be able to join a team of fae and help
protect your precious Earth or not? There won’t be any second chances once you
are in the field. Moreover, I highly doubt you will get so lucky next time you
come face to face with a ripper. Just remember that most people don’t survive
an attack. They either die, become hybrid rippers or worse, dinner.” Lancer
said as he took two steps back from me.
“I know, it’s just all so surreal. I mean I have this
strength and stamina that I never had before. And I think I am starting to
develop other abilities as well, but I can’t be sure.” I thought I might be
able to read minds. Or else I was just spending too much time with Lancer and
Ash. I swear I knew what they were thinking most of the time. It was very
distracting.
“Can I go out with you guys on the next recon mission? I
know this area pretty well so I think I could be of some help.” I was going
stir crazy and needed to get out. Since I woke up from the transformation I had
not been allowed outside yet. It was getting quite frustrating.
“Only if you focus on your training for the next two
days. If you do well then you can go. But it is strictly a recon mission. There
will be no fighting for you.”
I wasn’t about to mess this up so I focused and worked
very hard on keeping my head in the game.
◊◊◊
Tonight was the night that I was supposed to join the
recon team. To say I was excited was an understatement. I bugged Lancer and Ash
all day so much that they thought I had been drinking more than just coffee. I
laughed at that, as I was just excited to be going on my first mission, even if
it was just a recon.
“Aahhhh fresh air at last! I can’t believe you guys finally
let me out of prison. Can we go eat at Joe’s Taco Shack? I haven’t had any good
tacos since you guys kidnapped me.”
“Oh come on B’Lana, you know I wasn’t part of the team
who kidnapped you. And didn’t I make a run to a taco place for you just last week?”
Ash was always trying to help me out in small ways. Lancer was convinced Ash
was toying with me. Even if he was, I wasn’t falling for it. But I sure was
enjoying it.
One of the great things about being a hybrid was that
their fae magnetism didn’t work on me anymore. I was so happy and relieved when
I woke up and realized that I could focus on something besides how hot they
were.
“How far is Joe’s from here? We can’t leave our assigned
recon area just to satisfy your cravings.” Lancer was always so serious when on
a job. “And you aren’t a prisoner, so stop talking like that.”
“Don’t worry, it’s at the edge of our area, I double
checked the map before we left. I think you guys will really like this place
and it’s close to several alleys so we might even come across some rippers for
you Lancer.” I smirked at him when I said that last statement. He seemed to be
all business within a few days of waking from my transformation.
We made our way to the taco joint without any trouble. I
encouraged the guys to all order one of each taco. It was Taco Tuesday after
all, and they were only one dollar each. I ordered one of each; they had
chicken, ground beef and carne asada
. Man, were their tacos good!
I also
got myself a medium Diet Coke. It always had to be Diet Coke,
not
Diet
Pepsi. That was just one more reason to love Joe’s.
Each of the guys placed their orders. We found two nice
big picnic tables outside with a great view of South Broadway and 7
th
street. There were a few alleys not too far away that we could check out after
dinner.
“Ok B’Lana, I’ll admit that was a great dinner. And
cheap too. This is one place we will have to come back to.”
“Lancer, are you actually complimenting something I did?
I think I’m gonna die from shock!” I playfully said as I put the back of my
hand to my forehead and faked a swoon right onto the picnic table. Sadly, I
closed my eyes when I did so and I ended up falling into Ash’s lap.
Lancer was not too happy. He gave me a very stern look
which made me feel like a little kid who was about to be scolded for giving my
little brother a swirly or something.
Of course Ash used that opportunity to put his arms
around me, to keep me from falling on the ground, or so he said. But he had the
look of a cat that just ate the canary. Then he winked at me and let me go.
“B’Lana, Ash, this is not the time to play games. You
need to be on constant guard so stop messing around. B’Lana, you especially
need to be on your best behavior or you won’t be going out anytime soon.”
I just sighed and said, “Yes, sir.”
After that we started walking towards a nearby alley,
and I chose to walk next to Maliki so Lancer would stop giving me dirty looks.
“You know, he’s just looking out for you. I know you
think you can handle yourself out here, but you really don’t know what it’s
like to fight a ripper. Once word gets out about you, they’ll come after you
first, most likely several at a time. None of them have seen a fae hybrid and
have no clue what you can do. So they are going to test you and if they kill
you in the process, they won’t lose any sleep.” Maliki was cool to talk to. But
he was also a realist. He told it to me like it was.
At that point I looked around to check out what people
were doing. I noticed several girls who seemed to be trying to walk away
quickly. They were whispering and kept looking back behind them, like someone
was following them. They seemed afraid of something. One girl, she was maybe
five feet six inches at best, with long blonde hair was wearing a coral short
sleeved top, a jean jacket and designer jeans with three inch wedge heels that
matched her top. She was wiping a tear from her face. Her friend had this horrified
look, almost like she had seen a ghost. I knew something was up with them. It may
not have been ripper related, but something was definitely wrong.
“Hey Lancer,” I said as I was making my way closer to
him. “Look at those two girls across the street coming this way. They seem very
scared, like maybe someone is following them. Do you think it could be ripper
related? Look at how they keep looking behind them and are walking fast,
despite the fact that one of the girls is in heels.”
Lancer looked over at them and then started scanning the
crowd behind them. He noted that the sun had been down for at least thirty
minutes and a larger crowd back where the girls came from started parting and
quickly moving away.
“Alright, there might be rippers out in the street.
Maliki stay here with B’Lana and keep her safe. The rest of you come with me
and spread out to check the alley behind where that group seems to be quickly moving
away from.”
Maliki and I stayed where we were watching the rest of
our squad make their way to the dissipating crowd.
Part of me hoped it was rippers so I could see some
action, but the other part hoped it was just some stupid fight.
There were a lot of people starting to run away at this
point. I lost track of Lancer and Ash, but those two girls started screaming. I
looked their way and instantly knew what was happening.
There was one ripper right behind them. I wasn’t sure
how it got past Lancer and the rest of the squad, but there it was grabbing the
arm of the other girl. She had long red hair, the kind any woman would kill
for. Her turquoise blouse and ripped jeans were paired with some nice sensible
ballet slippers.
If she could get away from that ripper she would be able to
run much faster than her friend in the heels.
“Maliki, we need to help those two girls across the
street, they have a ripper on them” I said as I was making my way across the
street. They had already passed us so I assumed that was why Maliki missed what
has happening.
“B’Lana, stop! You are not authorized for action
tonight. There is nothing we can do for those girls. It is more important that
you follow Lancer’s orders right now.”
“Screw Lancer’s orders! I joined your team so I could
help humans, not sit around while they are attacked by rippers. You can follow
me and help, or just watch. Your choice.” I said over my shoulder as I crossed
the road.
I ended up right behind the ripper who held both girls
by the arm now. I pulled out my knife and stabbed him in the back. The knife
was long enough to reach his heart. But that was not a kill spot and I knew it.
It did however, work to get him to let go of the girls.
“Run as fast as you can away from here and don’t look back.” I said as the
ripper turned around to face me.
“Oh, a fighter huh? You will make a great addition to
our army.” The ripper then reached forward to grab for me as I kicked him in
the family jewels, it was my favorite move after all.
It only slowed him down a short time, but it was enough
time for Maliki to join us.
“B’Lana, you really are crazy. I sure hope Lancer
doesn’t see this.” Maliki said as he started fighting with the ripper.
The ripper grabbed his sword from his belt and engaged
with Maliki. They both seemed to have forgotten I was still standing there.
As Maliki was battling the enemy, I grabbed my long
sword off my back and positioned myself so that if I had a chance I could take
a swipe at the ripper’s head.
It took a good minute or two, but the ripper eventually
had his back to me. That was when I took my sword in both hands and swung it
across his shoulders. I severed his head with a clean cut. The head rolled to
the left side and hit the wall with a thud. Thankfully this time his eyes were
facing the building and I only got a good look at the back of his head.
“B’Lana two, rippers zero!” I said while doing a touchdown
dance and still holding my sword. Maliki looked at me like I was crazy.
Turned out there was a little bit of blood on his face
thanks to my sword work.
“Oops, sorry about that Maliki, here are some napkins to
wipe your face.” I had put a handful of napkins in my pocket after dinner at
Joe’s. I knew they would come in handy.
Then I wiped my sword clean on the dead ripper’s
clothes.
A ‘ripper’ was what the fae called vampires here on
Earth. When they came over here from Sendryl they changed their form. Our sun
affected them in such a way that they looked and acted like monsters from the
movies, like the myths of old, like the bloodsucking creatures from the movies.
Rippers had red eyes and bulging veins crisscrossing their upper face with the
eyes in the center, like a spider web. This deformity was caused by our sun and
thin atmosphere.
Back on Sendryl, the rippers looked much closer to their
fae cousins. They were, in fact, fae at one time. Then a plague ravaged their
planet and those who contracted the plague but survived were forever changed.
Back home they rarely needed blood, but here on Earth they needed the blood to
survive.
Except most of those who were here, were actually part
of a terrorist group back on their planet. While some of the rippers who stayed
on Sendryl were peace loving and got along fine with the fae warriors, there
was a group of dissidents who wanted to take over Sendryl and rid their world
of the fae.
So they came here to Earth to take and change our people
into hybrid rippers, closer to the Nosferatu of nightmares. They had almost no
control over their bloodlust and did whatever their creator told them to do.
The goal was to take them back to Sendryl and have them fight on the front
lines of the war. Some were turned into actual soldiers while others were made
into suicide bombers.
The fae came to Earth to try and stop the rippers from
taking any more humans. They did not really care what happened to the humans,
as long as they were not changed into hybrids or assisted in the war.
That’s where I came in. I saw too much and was almost
killed by a ripper. I was probably going to die; no one was sure what was going
to happen to me. So Lancer decided to change me into a hybrid fae. It sounded
better than dying.
I took it upon myself to learn all I could so that I
could help the unsuspecting human population from the attacks by the rippers.
My goal was to make sure that they didn’t get hurt or know exactly what was
going on. It would have been a huge nightmare if anyone learned the truth about
vampires and fae.
Oh and heaven forbid anyone discovered any of the
portals that led to Sendryl, which is another planet in a different dimension.
That
would go down really well, NOT.
Just as Maliki was picking up the ripper’s body to take
back to HQ, Lancer walked up. He was really not happy. If looks could kill, I
would have been dead.
“B’Lana and Maliki, what did I say about staying put?”
“Lancer, there was a ripper who got past you guys and
was going after two young women, we had to catch him before he could harm
anyone.” I really thought it was a valid reason for disobeying orders.”
“Maliki, I told you to keep her safe and not move. Why
did you disobey my orders?”
“Don’t be mad at Maliki, he just followed me. I ran
across the street to help those girls. He actually told me not to move, but I
didn’t listen. You know my reason for joining up was more about helping humans
than just surviving. I told you as much.” Lancer was looking at me like he was
about to cut my head off. I could feel the anger coming from him while he
stared me down.
“Look, I know you want me to learn to follow orders and
stay safe, I get that. But I could not allow those two girls to either be
turned or killed by that ripper. Maliki came right behind me and did most of
the fighting.
“While he had the enemy distracted I came up from behind
and cut his head off. It was easy and I wasn’t hurt or scratched at all. Feel
free to check if you don’t believe.” After the last fight I had with a ripper I
was sure he thought that I was going to be infected again.
That was actually what started my transformation to a
hybrid fae. I had been scratched by a ripper and was running a high fever. I
took some antibiotics to help with the infection but it wasn’t working. So
everyone felt that since I was most likely going to die, it was as good a time
as any to start my transformation.
No one had been successfully turned into a hybrid fae in
almost two centuries so no one knew if I would make it or not. Turns out I did.
When I woke up, Ash was in the room reading a Jane
Austen book. He said he was reading aloud for my benefit. Apparently he read
somewhere that coma patients can hear you speaking to them. Since Jane Austen
was one of my favorite authors, he thought it might help to bring me back.
I was unconscious for almost four days. During that time
my body was undergoing the change to hybrid fae. When I woke up, I felt younger
and stronger than ever before. I kept changing after I woke up and over time
developed other abilities, like reading minds.
“Wait Lancer, I know what you are going to say, but you
are wrong. I did the right thing.”
“How did you know I was going to say that?” Lancer
looked at me with a quizzical expression on his face that turned to worry as he
thought about what that might mean.
“I told you, I think I am developing a new ability. And
I most definitely heard you telling me I did wrong before you could say it.
This means I know I can read minds.” I gave him my most angelic smile while
looking back and forth between him and Maliki.
“OK, Maliki get this ripper over to the alley, and don’t
forget his head. Benden called in a cleanup crew.” Lancer took my arm and
walked me back across the street so we could talk some more.
Most likely so
he could yell at me.
◊◊◊
After we arrived back at HQ the Commander asked for a
briefing. I thought for sure that Lancer would get me kicked off his team.
Instead, he surprised me by saying I did a good job helping Maliki kill the
ripper.
Once everyone left the room, I approached Lancer and
asked him why he said that.
“If I told him the truth you would not be allowed back
out with us again. I am not sure what he would do with you. That is why it is
so important you follow my orders right now. I don’t want you to be sent away,
or worse. And I know that Ash would do something stupid if I let you get sent
away.”
I wondered why he was trying so hard to protect me, when
he has only been mean to me. But I did agree about Ash. Even though there
wasn’t anything romantic going on, I think Ash saw me as someone he needed to
protect, plus we were friends.
“Ok, I’ll work harder to obey your orders. Thank you.” I
said while looking directly into his eyes. I never noticed before what
beautiful eyes he had. They reminded me of a storm cloud on a dark winter night.
It made me want to snuggle up with him in front of a fireplace. He had this
very intense look that made my stomach flutter with butterflies. It was
starting to get uncomfortable, thank goodness for Ash!
“Hey guys, what’s going on? Lancer you aren’t still
yelling at B’Lana are you?” Ash said while staring down Lancer.
Lancer took that moment to move his eyes to Ash. “No, we
were just discussing the op, I wasn’t yelling at her.”
“Ok good, because she kicked butt out there today. She
needs to be on all of our missions now.” Ash said as he considered me and
smiled.
I took one look at Lancer’s scowl and then turned my head
to the ground while trying to hide my smile. Ash knew how to make me happy.
Benden came in and suggested we should all go out and
celebrate. He wanted to go to an arcade or something since we had nothing to do
at the warehouse.
That’s when I got the idea to make some changes to the
warehouse. I smiled and laughed to myself when Lancer said, “What? Is something
funny about going to an arcade?”
“Nope, I love arcades. But why don’t we have a game room
here? I mean you guys live and work here twenty-four seven. There isn’t even a
living room with a TV to catch the news. Seriously, who decorated this place?
The Commander?”
Apparently, I was right…
“Ok, why don’t we go out tomorrow and buy some furniture
to make ourselves a gaming/TV room here? You aren’t using all of the space are
you?”
Turned out they were only using about three quarters of
the space. So Lancer, Ash and I went out shopping the next day and I was able
to get the warehouse set up with a nice, comfy living room. I asked Ash where
they got their money and his response shocked me. They had an abundance of gold
and precious jewels on their planet that they sold here on Earth.
I think I am going to have some fun
shopping!
We had four couches and three recliners, which were set
up so that we could see the sixty-five inch smart TV that Bender hung on the
wall. I even purchased a PS4 and an Xbox One. The guys picked out mostly war
games, but I was able to talk them into getting a Mario Kart game and even the
old Xbox 360 Asteroids.
Once we got the Wifi going on the TV it was easy to log
in to Netflix as well. We had a pretty sweet setup where everyone seemed to
want to hang out between assignments. I used that time to get to know the squad
better.
Somehow Mason was really good at all of the games we
played. We stayed up all night long playing games and eating popcorn. Until
then I really hadn’t spoken much to Mason. He was a quiet guy, but seemed very
nice. Nishni was his best friend and he was still having a tough time getting
over his death.
Benden was a crack-up. He was constantly trying out
earth jokes, and most of the time failing so miserably we all ended up laughing
anyways. But we all paid for it the next morning…
“SQUAD 1!” The Commander yelled so loud it startled
everyone awake. We had all fallen asleep in the new living room.
“What in the name of the two moons are you puke heads
doing sleeping in here! Don’t you all have your own rooms? Get up off your lazy
butts and get ready for work. We have some new intel to review and an op to run
tonight.”