Eclipse of the Beginning
Page 1
Eclipse of the Beginning
Book 0 of the Interdimensional Saga Series
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 editions, and do not participate in or encourage electronic piracy of 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 recipient. If you are reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please purchase your own copy.
Cover Illustration by Anonymous
First Edition June, 2016
All rights reserved. Copyright © 2016 J.L. Hendricks
This book is dedicated to
All of the people who have gone on this roller coaster of a ride with me.
Thank you so much!
This book is part of a series and best read in the following order:
The Original Eclipse Series
Book 0 – Eclipse of the Beginning
Book 1 – Eclipse of the Warrior
Book 2 – Eclipse of the Soul
Book 3 – The Eclipse of Power
Book 4 – Eclipse of the Heart
Book 5 – Age of the Eclipse
Origins of the Eclipse Series
Book 1 – The Eclipse of Time
Other books by J.L. Hendricks
Alpha Alien Abduction Tales – Sci-fi Adventure/Romance
Book 1 – Worlds Away
Book 2 – Worlds Collide
Book 3 – Worlds Entwined (early 2017)
A Christmas Paranormal Romance Story (Shifters)
Book 1 – Miss Claus and the Secret Santa
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Newsletter Sign-up
Prologue
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Author’s Notes
Excerpt
Prologue
Chapter One
Newsletter Sign-up
If you want to make sure you hear about the latest and greatest, sign up for my newsletter at: http://jlhendricksauthor.com/newsletter/ I will only send out a couple of e-mails a month. I hate spam and lots of e-mails from others, so why would I do that to you? I won’t. And I will never sell your address either. I will however, do cover reveals, snippets of new books and giveaways or promos in the newsletter, some of which will only be available to newsletter subscribers. J
Prologue
Several rippers, vampires to earthlings, came from the dark and mysterious shadows of the alley that held the debris of many beings, including these, but no sound could be heard as they silently moved into the night.
The Reverend was too late, he walked into the alley and stopped suddenly and gasped, “Oh no! It can’t be them.” He knelt down to check what was left of the neck of the man for a pulse and found nothing but a cold, bloody body. Next, he checked the woman who was further back in the alley. Her neck had been torn out as well, but what really made the Reverend sick was the fact that her unborn baby had been ripped from her womb and blood drained from her. The woman was only a couple of weeks from her due date.
He could tell it would have been a girl. “Was this to be ‘THE GIRL’? Or is her sister the one?” He silently whispered to himself while he gently picked up the baby girl with curly brown hair and put her in her mother’s cold, dead arms.
The next day the local papers reported that a family had been in a terrible accident. Their car had rolled off the cliffs of Hollywood and exploded. The bodies burned beyond recognition. But the coroner had determined that the woman was pregnant. This family had left behind one twelve-year-old daughter who was not with her parents the night of the accident.
Chapter One
Fifteen years later – Earth, Los Angeles
The Reverend was a spiritual leader, but he was not from Earth. He originated on a planet far away from Earth, in a different dimension. His world was called Sendryl. His people called, Sennafae. They used a series of portals that led to and from their planet to Earth. The Earthlings knew nothing of the portals and the Sennafae guarded them very closely.
“Lancer, so good of you to meet me here in Los Angeles. I know you’ve been assigned elsewhere in this world, but I have a very important mission for you.” The Reverend reached out to the other man, who wasn’t so much a man, as that would imply he was a human. They gripped each other’s forearms in a traditional greeting.
Lancer was also from Sendryl. He was at least six feet tall, with long brown hair that went below his shoulders and fell loosely around his head. The intention was to cover his ears, which some might say were pointy. All of the Sennafae had pointy ears. Those who were assigned to Earth wore their hair long in an effort to cover those ears. Other than their ears, they looked like extremely attractive earthlings.
“Reverend, anything I can do to help you.” Lancer bowed slightly to his Reverend. He was the ultimate spiritual leader among his people, and he held a position on the High Council. Although, his political power was actually much more than anyone else on the Council held. All beings on Sennafae looked up to the Reverend and almost worshiped him. They would worship him if he let them. With the exception of a few, all Reverends through their history were revered but never allowed anyone to worship them. The Almighty Creator was the only one to be worshiped.
“There is a young girl who we have been protecting for a long time, she has come of age and just might be the girl of the prophecy. Her parents were murdered when she was young, along with her unborn sister. Some thought the baby sister might end up fulfilling the prophecy, but I believed it would be the older sister.” The Reverend clasped his hands in front of him.
“She is of the proper age to take her place, but she has not yet discovered this. The enemy has been following me lately. I believe they suspect I have protected someone of her line. We have always known the bloodline of the prophecy, we just had to wait until the proper time. Now is the time.”
“Reverend, forgive me, but this girl might become our savior? She’s the one who will stop the Rippers from ravaging our planet? And Earth’s as well?” Lancer looked at the Reverend with awe and a little bit of incredulity. He was in awe of being the one the Reverend called for this assignment, but couldn’t believe he knew who their savior was.
“Yes, over the years only the High Reverends have known parts of the prophecy. I can’t tell you much, but I can tell you that she is the last of her line. Over the centuries, the enemy has worked hard to kill off this particular blood line and destroy any evidence of who she really is.”
The Reverend and Lancer started walking towards a modest suburban house on a tree-lined street while children played in the middle of the road with no care as to who these two men were.
“I need to tell you a story, the real story, of the prophecy. No one other than the two of us will know this truth. You must promise to take this to the grave with you should anyone try to obtain it.” The Reverend stopped walking and looked at Lancer sternly while holding his hands behind his back.
“Yes sir, I will not breathe a word of this to anyone. Your ap
prentice doesn’t know the truth?” Lancer stood next to the Reverend while he asked his questions.
“Correct, my apprentice will not know a lot of information until he becomes my successor. On my death bed, I will relay all of the information I have which is kept secret from even the High Council.”
“I am honored you trust me so much with this information, but may I ask why me?”
“Because you are to be a part of the prophecy as well.”
“How’s that possible? Am I to be the one she falls in love with? Do I give my life for her?” Lancer narrowed his eyes and quirked one side of his lips up as he thought about the ramifications of this new information.
“No, my son, you are not to be the one she falls in love with. You are to be the one who changes her into a Sennafae Hybrid.” The Reverend stopped talking long enough to let that sink in for Lancer.
“I…I am to be the one who transforms her? But how? That process has been lost to us for many generations.”
“You will know what to do when the time is right. Do not worry my son, all will be revealed in time. For now, I need you to protect her. Her father knew who she had the potential to become.” The Reverend patted Lancer on his shoulder.
“All females in their family line were brought up with martial arts training as well as weapons instruction. Since her parents died when she was so young, she has only maintained the martial arts training. Her adopted parents knew something was special about her, but they didn’t understand it all. They were instructed to keep up her training, but sadly they did not allow B’Lana the weapons training she so desperately will need.”
“Do you want me to train her in addition to protecting her?”
“No, don’t get close to her and be sure to not let anyone in her family know you’re there. I just want you to make sure that there is no one following her. I’m unsure if the rippers or the dissidents have discovered who she is yet. Since I have been followed, I have to assume that she is in danger as well.”
“I’ll do what I can, but I’m not assigned to this region. May I bring in someone to assist me with this protection detail?”
“Don’t worry, I’ll work on getting you re-assigned to Los Angeles, in the mean time I have another warrior who needs an assignment. He will not know anything about the girl, other than she is important and must be protected with his life. I believe you are acquainted with him already, Ash Z’nial.”
Lancer breathed out a huff of air while he rubbed the back of his neck with his right hand, “Yes, I have worked with Ash before. He’s not someone who can be trusted with this assignment. Surely you have heard about his actions these past twelve years, since the death of his potential mate?”
“Yes, I have counseled with him, and I believe that this is the perfect assignment for Ash. He will do whatever is necessary to protect the girl.” The Reverend and Lancer kept walking until they stopped two doors down from a two-story Cape Cod style house with a light blue trim.
“Once you are re-assigned here we can re-evaluate Ash’s involvement. But you are never to tell him anything about her. Please be very careful in what you say to him. He has a soft spot for human women, and I don’t want either one of you to become intimate with her. Especially you. Lancer, you must swear to me by the Almighty Creator and His two moons that you will never become intimate with B’Lana. It’s very important that you remember this. Do you understand?” The Reverend looked at Lancer and narrowed his eyes while studying Lancer’s face.
“Sir, human women don’t tempt me. Only a warrior would be able to tempt me. And B’Lana does not sound like a warrior.”
“Very well, just don’t forget. See that young woman walking out the door of the light blue house? That’s B’Lana. This is her adopted parents’ home. She’s very close to them and visits often. However, she has her own apartment not far from here in a city called Yorba Linda. Her best friend, DeeDee, is actually the daughter of the people who live here. You should learn who her family and close friends are.” The Reverend pointed to a young lady outside.
“The young lady running outside right now, that’s DeeDee. She loves B’Lana just like a sister. You will see them together a lot even though they do not share a dwelling.”
Lancer and the Reverend turned around and started walking back the way they came. “Do you have the addresses of B’Lana and all of her friends? That will make things easier if I start out with everyone’s addresses.” Lancer walked alongside the Reverend with his hands behind his back and his head looking straight forward as they spoke.
“Yes, I’ll send you via encrypted message everyone’s addresses. Come, let us go back to my hotel so that we can further discuss the assignment as well as the parts of B’Lana’s story you need to understand.”
As the two walked back towards their car, a large human with multiple scars across his face, wearing a vest covered in knives, and a horde of cats following him, skulked in the shadows watching B’Lana and DeeDee prepare to leave for the evening.
Lancer’s senses picked up the cats, and he turned to see the strange human walking towards B’Lana. He ran to catch up with the large man and make sure he was not trying to hurt B’Lana. But B’Lana saw the man with his cats coming towards her wearing a sneer on his face while he held up a four-inch knife below his nose. It almost looked like he was sniffing the knife.
“DeeDee! Get in the car, Quick!” B’Lana screamed. She tried to start her car, but it wouldn’t start. B’Lana turned the key in the ignition, but it only made a chugging noise. She tried it again, and the engine caught instantly. "Thank, God!" she cried as she mashed the pedal to the floor, spinning the wheels as the car launched out of the driveway.
Lancer had caught up to the scarred man just as B’Lana pulled away. He grabbed the man by his arms and turned him around then he grabbed the man’s wrist with the weapon and twisted it until he released the knife. It fell to the ground and made a large thudding noise.
The children in the street had run back across to their yards when B’Lana made her tire screeching exit only moments ago. They did not see the two men fighting in the shadows.
Scarface punched Lancer in the gut, but Lancer isn’t human, so it didn’t hurt him nearly as much as it should have. “Sorry my cat-loving friend, but you won’t win today.”
“Don’t be so sure about that.” He pulled out one of his knives and tried to stab Lancer in the gut, but Lancer moved his arm to block the knife so quickly, Scarface did not even realize he had lost his knife.
Lancer pulled the man into the shadow of the large oak tree outside DeeDee’s parents’ home. He put the large man into a choke hold and waved off the attempts by the cat lover to free himself from Lancer.
The man scratched at Lancer’s arm to no avail. Then he tried to kick Lancer’s foot and leg, again he was unsuccessful. All he managed to do was kick one of his cats who had tried to rub up against his leg in an attempt to let him know the cats loved him. Lancer stood there and waited for the Reverend to bring the car to him. While they waited, the human passed out from lack of oxygen.
“Reverend, help me get this giant inside your trunk.” The Reverend assisted Lancer in putting the man into the rear of the car. It was an old Cadillac Seville that had a very large trunk. It seemed to be made for carting away large bodies such as this man with an affinity for cats.
Both Lancer and the Reverend looked around to see if anyone noticed that they just attacked and kidnapped the rather large man with a vest full of knives. The cats spread out once the car appeared and they quietly skulked back to where they came from.
Lancer took a few seconds to watch them leave and wondered why they were being so quiet.
“Sir, should I dispose of the man in our trunk? He seemed to be on his way to attack B’Lana.” Lancer looked over to the Reverend who drove like it was a Sunday morning without a care in the world.
“No, I want you to interrogate him first. Find out why he was after B’Lana. Then you can dispose of him. I dou
bt anyone other than those who hired him will miss him. Well, maybe that horde of cats might.” The Reverend lightly chuckled to himself as he thought about all of those cats. “There must have been fifty cats following him around.”
Chapter Two
The Reverend pulled up to an abandoned warehouse in downtown LA and Lancer dragged the guy from the trunk inside. The Reverend had given him a sleeping cocktail in a very large syringe before they left B’Lana’s neighborhood. They figured the big guy would sleep for a few hours at most.
By the time he woke up, he had been tied up tightly to a meat hook that hung from the ceiling of the warehouse. He hung with his hands tied around the hooks and his feet dangling three inches off the ground.
“What do ya want wit me?” The scarred man asked of his captors.
“What’s your name and who do you work for?” Lancer started with the easy questions to try and get him to open up more later.
“What’s it to ya? I got no name an I werk fa no man.”
“Alright, no name, if you don’t work for a man, what do you work for?”
The no-name man raised his eyebrows and drew in a quick breath. “How ya know tha?”
“I’m not a man either… but I am something that you should fear. I imagine that I am very similar to the being you work for.” Lancer said thoughtfully as he walked around the body hanging like a slab of meat from the hook. “The only difference is that I have you, and he doesn’t. So are you going to answer my questions? Or do I just kill you here and now?”
Scarface grumbled to himself, “Idjiot, he got no klews!”
“What’s that? Did you want to answer me now?” Lancer took one of Scarface’s ornamental knives; it was three inches long with a jeweled handle. There were rubies and emeralds in the handle along with some ancient inscription that he couldn’t make out. He dragged the blade down along the inside of the prisoner’s left arm and blood oozed out the entire length of the cut.