Ash grabbed at Lancer’s hand and tried pulling it off him. Lancer stood up and walked over to the fireplace. “Man, what’s your problem? You saved her right? Why are you so upset? I don’t understand why we continue to waste our time watching her.” Ash sat up on the couch and ran his hands through his hair and then wiped the sleep away from his eyes. “We should be killing the rippers and protecting those we love back home, not hanging out protecting some human girl who has nothing to do with our world.”
“Because the Reverend has ordered us to do this. You don’t need to know any more than that! We’re all very lucky that my squad was tracking those rippers! First, B’Lana and her friends were almost abducted by human men who drugged her friends while inside a night-club. Then when she was trying to rescue them all by herself.” Lancer looked at Ash with heat in his eyes. “Rippers came along and killed the guys. If we hadn’t shown up when we did, B’Lana would be dead or worse! Where are your priorities! I thought you were all in on this protection detail?”
“I am, it’s just that something personal happened recently, and I couldn’t make it. I really thought she would be fine.” Ash looked down at his hands and heaved a large sigh. Then ran one hand through his hair. “I really do want her protected. Had anything happened I never would have forgiven myself. You gotta believe me.”
“We need another warrior here; I can’t be on her 24/7. You aren’t around enough anymore,” Ash stated.
“Ash, what was so important that you skipped out protecting B’Lana?”
“I received news that Morri was killed in a suicide bomber attack at a mall back home. He was out shopping for his mate, they just found out she was with child so he went to start buying the baby clothes they’ll need. It should have been a time of celebration, now it’s a time of mourning.” Ash stood up and walked to the kitchen and retrieved a bottle of water from the refrigerator.
“Lancer, I would have been there if I wasn’t so upset. I am sorry, I should have called you to tell you.” Ash looked down at his shaking hands. He knew he needed to do something to change his situation.
“I think it’s time you replaced me with someone else. I have sat around doing nothing for the past few years. I need to get out there and fight the enemy again. Anyone can protect B’Lana. But I don’t think I’m in any shape to be that warrior. Maybe after some time spent in battle again I will be, but not now.” Ash started to feel the pangs of guilt. Guilt over the loss of his friend back home, and now guilt over B’Lana almost dying on his watch.
“I agree. I’ll speak with the Reverend about it. I’m sure he can send another warrior here to help. Someone who is committed to the cause.” Lancer gave Ash a sideways glance before he left Ash alone in the apartment they used to share.
◊◊◊
The Reverend sent two more warriors to replace Ash on this assignment. The next year Ash spent in New York City battling the rippers. The time went by quickly, until that fateful day which Ash will never forget.
“Come on you’re a warrior, we can kill these rippers easily! There are only seven of them and four of us. We’re so much better than they are. Get up off your lazy butt and get back in the battle!” Ash yelled to his comrade, Bonipal, who most called Bonn. Bonn was a tall, lanky Sennafae warrior but he was young. He made up for his youth with his excellent skills with a blade. He was one of the best warriors on Ash’s team. Bonn had the typical Sennafae look with dark hair but his eyes were a beautiful shade of green that matched the color of the forest on a bright, sunny day on Sendryl. Some have compared his eyes to emeralds that sparkle in the light.
Bonn got up and defended against the ripper who was coming to attack him. Ash had just killed one ripper so they only had six left to dispatch between the four of them. Ash now had two rippers who were trying to surround him. He had trained many years for this exact move. On his back, he carried two long swords which resembled an Earth Katana sword. But the Sennafae blacksmiths were legendary in their sword creation. This sword was called a Ketensa, and it was a little bit thicker and made of a polished metal only found on Sendryl called, ketolin.
Ash pulled both swords off his back and pointed them at each of the rippers who stopped in their attempt to get closer to Ash. They also carried a sword, but it wasn’t nearly as long as the Ketensa. One of the rippers tried to move in so that Ash would commit to defending against the one ripper while the other moved behind him, but Ash had seen this move several times and knew how to defend against it.
He advanced towards the oncoming ripper. However, once Ash saw the other enemy make his move he turned around in a circle with both swords stretched out. This move made it possible to slice into the chest of the ripper who was in front of him with the sword in his right hand and with his other sword he was able to cut off the sword carrying arm of the ripper behind him at the elbow. Both rippers stopped in their tracks and tried to look after their injuries.
Ash judged that the one who lost part of his arm was no longer a threat, while the other one had a minor injury. He quickly attacked the first ripper and sliced right through his heart. Then in a graceful move only seen on TV, he twirled around and effortlessly sliced the head off the shoulders of that ripper.
The second ripper grabbed his sword with his left arm and tried to stand up to defend against Ash, who stalked towards him. He was no match against Ash, and he quickly lost his head as well.
Bonn yelled out, “Ash, I need your help!” He had two rippers trying to perform the same trick on him, but he hadn’t learned how to defend against that trick yet. By the time Ash was over there, Bonn had a sword through his stomach. One of the rippers was dead, but the other one was coming at Bonn to finish him off.
Ash came up quickly behind the attacking ripper who was so focused on Bonn he didn’t hear Ash. “When are you silly Sennafae ever going to learn that Sendryl is ours! You should leave our planet before we kill you all!” As the ripper was bringing up his sword to end Bonn’s life, Ash quickly ran his sword through the ripper’s heart.
Then Ash pulled his sword out and decapitated him while he was in shock. Bonn could see the confusion on the face of his enemy, his forehead scrunched and his mouth was opened in a large “O” as the sword went through his heart. The ripper dropped his sword, and as it clanged to the ground next to Bonn, he lost his head.
Ash leaned down to Bonn, “How do you feel?”
“How do you think I feel? I have a sword in my gut!” Bonn started to cough up blood and couldn’t talk anymore.
“Sshhh, don’t move. I’ll get a healer here right away. You’re going to be alright.” Ash reached for his communication device he carried in the cargo pocket of his pants and reached out to Sendryl.
“Command, this is Ash in New York City, I have a warrior who needs immediate assistance, send Netty ASAP. Bonn has a sword through his stomach.”
The response what not what Ash wanted to hear, “I can’t send Netty, she was just called in to LA to assist Lancer with one on his team. But I’ll send someone else to you right now. Don’t move him. Are you also in need of a cleanup team?”
“Yes, we destroyed seven rippers. The rest of my squad has minor injuries. Bonn may not make it. Hurry!” Ash told dispatch exactly where to find them before putting the communicator back in his pocket and trying to wait patiently for help.
The warriors waited by their friend for the healer to arrive. Ash wasn’t sure Bonn would make it, but finally, a healer showed up and pulled the sword out of Bonn’s stomach. The damage was too much, and Bonn started to bleed out, but the healer was great at what she did. Sennafae healers used a mixture of magic and traditional medicine. In this case, she used her magic to staunch the blood flow. Then she put a large gauze pad over the wound in his stomach. It was a temporary fix used only in the field. This helped to keep the warrior alive until they could get him to a surgical unit.
“Ash, I have him stabilized enough to bring home. However, he isn’t out of danger yet, so I’ll need assistance b
ringing him back through the portal. Will you help?” Ash agreed to the healer’s request for help.
While they were heading back to the portal and the cleanup crew was doing their job, Lancer contacted Ash. “Ash, I need your help back in LA. B’Lana’s in trouble. Will you come back?”
“Is she OK? What happened?” Ash almost yelled into his communication device. He was quite worried about B’Lana, Lancer would never call him back if it wasn’t bad. “This day just keeps getting worse.”
“B’Lana walked into a fight with rippers, and she’s here at our HQ. She has seen too much, and the Commander isn’t sure what he’s going to do with her yet. I need you here to help protect her from us now.”
“I’ll be there as soon as I can. I have an injured warrior that I’m taking back to Sendryl for medical attention and then I’ll be there.”
“See you soon.”
◊◊◊
Ash walked into the LA HQ late the next morning, “Lancer, where is she?”
“She’s sleeping. We were up all night long. We lost one of my warriors during a fight with the rippers last night, after rescuing B’Lana from another group. The ripper’s activity level here has grown significantly since you left.” Lancer reached out to grasp Ash’s forearm in a traditional warrior greeting.
“Bonn, one of my warriors, may not make it either. They have increased their presence in New York, as well. However, they seem to just be killing the humans. I haven’t seen too many bodies just go missing, most are drained.” Ash ran his hand over his face. He had been up all night long waiting to hear how Bonn was doing. The healer told him the next 24 hours would tell.
“I need to leave for a couple hours. Can you stay here and keep an eye on B’Lana? At least now you can introduce yourself to her. Watching from the shadows is over.” Lancer brought Ash further inside the building and walked him over to where B’Lana was sleeping in a spare room.
“Yes, this should be interesting… I feel as though I have known her for years, but she won’t know me. How is that working out for you?” Ash smiled at Lancer.
“So far, not too bad. She’s a bit confused but be careful as she tried to escape early this morning. I’m sure she’ll try again. Be sure to keep her away from the exits.” Lancer looked down to B’Lana through the barely opened door and felt something stir in his chest. He caught himself before he could smile and then quietly closed the door.
“I won’t take my eyes off her once she leaves that room.” Ash walked over to the kitchen to make himself some coffee and breakfast.
Once Lancer left, Ash sat sipping coffee near the front door waiting for B’Lana to make her move.
As B’Lana walked around the corner towards the main exit, Ash smiled and knew he was going to have fun with this new assignment. Being able to talk to B’Lana would make this all worthwhile. He thought to himself, “She has grown into a beautiful woman over this past year. I wonder how long it’ll take before I can get her into my bed?”
The End, or is it?
Keep reading for an excerpt from Book 1, The Eclipse of the Warrior
Want to know how the story develops?
Read Eclipse of the Warrior, Book 1 in the Eclipse Series, An Interdimensional Saga. And the first few pages of the story are at the back of this book so keep reading!
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Keep reading for an excerpt from Book 1, Eclipse of the Warrior.
Author’s Notes
This story was originally in Inanna’s Circle, an Anthology by 8 different authors. My writing group is very active and one of the participants, Kat Lind, was tired of writing a bunch of technical books at work. So she came up with a game for us all to write a new story, it had to be 10K words minimum. She collected beta readers, editors, and writers from around the globe to help us. It started with a mystery box. Inside that “box” were different elements that we had to add to our story. The opening lines from this book came from one of the elements in our mystery box. I ended up using about 7 different elements throughout my story. That was the most fun I had writing up to this point! Those elements added a depth to my writing that I felt I was missing. So when the next Inanna’s Circle game comes around, I’m doing it again!
Be sure to get your copy of the book on Amazon at: Inanna’s Circle You can find any of my books, anthology’s included, on my Amazon author’s page at: JL Hendricks Author page.
On my webpage I posted the first of my short story freebies! Be sure to go over to: http://jlhendricksauthor.com/free-short-stories/ where you will find an “extra” scene that I deleted from the original manuscript for Eclipse of the Warrior. It was a fun scene that showed you how close B’Lana and DeeDee are, but it didn’t help the story move forward. So I deleted it and held on to it for just this purpose. I will post more down the road so be sure to follow my blog/website using the sidebar email sign up option and you will always know what’s going on in my Eclipse Universe as well as anything else I write. J
Keep reading…
Excerpt
From Eclipse of the Warrior, Book 1 in The Original Eclipse Series, out now!
Prologue
I couldn’t believe my eyes. I blinked them twice to make sure it wasn’t the Los Angeles smog messing me up. The group of guys in front of me had to be going to a costume party or coming from the Comic-Con that was in town this week.
Maybe they just finished filming a scene for an upcoming Hollywood blockbuster?
They were wearing warrior clothes, or maybe it was Army uniforms? One guy looked to have a sword tied to his back. That couldn’t be real. A real sword out in public would cause a lot of problem with the cops. So it must be a fake one, right?
I tried to get a little closer to see the make-up they were wearing to go with their incredible clothes. They had to be on a movie shoot, no average Joe was going to be wearing those black ops warrior clothes, even on the streets of L.A.
I strained to sneak a look around without anyone catching me. I hated the thought of someone thinking I’m a stalker. Even if that was exactly what I was doing at the moment.
Finding no movie trucks, I mumbled, “They must be going to a movie set.” Then blushed hoping no one caught me talking to myself.
My curiosity was going to do me in some day, but I just had to follow them. I thought it would be fun to watch a midnight film shoot in the streets of Los Angeles.
Oh, how so very wrong I was…
Chapter One
Earlier That Day In Los Angeles, CA
“DeeDee, I just got out of my interview!” I called my best friend as soon as I left the building. Like always, I couldn’t wait to share my great news with her.
“B’Lana, that’s great! How did it go?”
“It went for almost three hours! Can you believe it?” I was practically bouncing with excitement.
“I take it that means it was a really good interview? But B, I don’t want you to move to L.A. I wouldn’t see you very often, and it’s a long drive from L.A. to Riverside.” DeeDee and I had been best friends most of our lives. After college I left Riverside and moved to LA for job. I quickly knew I hated living there so switched to a job closer to Riverside to be near her.
“I’m sorry, DeeDee, but this job is everything I want, including the salary and benefits. It has taken me almost 5 months to get an interview like this.” The Contract Manager job was offering me 6 figures plus all of the benefits I had at my last job. I couldn’t turn down an offer like that.
&nb
sp; “You know you would have already had a job if you weren’t so picky about title and pay.” DeeDee sounded a bit snarky, but I laughed anyway.
“Yes, but it would have been a $30,000 pay cut and less benefits. You try taking a pay cut like that and see how well you live, even in Riverside.” I returned her snarkiness with a bit of my own and then laughed along with her while she begrudgingly agreed that a $30,000 pay cut was too much to take. Even if it meant living near her.
“Congrats on a wonderful interview! I really do hope you get it. Even if it means that our late night chats will disappear. Since you will have to be up so stinkin’ early every morning just to commute to L.A., ugh! You will still live in Yorba Linda, right?”
“Of course, I will. I hated living in LA last time I worked here. The smog is horrible in the city.” I was remembering how often I woke up gagging on the smog when I lived there last. After college I couldn’t be too picky about where I worked. So I accepted the first decent job. Of course it had to be in L.A. DeeDee and I saw very little of each other back then. Because we both missed each other a lot I looked for a job in Orange County as soon as I could.
“If you get this job, you’ll have to come over to my parent’s house for a celebration. You know how much they dote on you. Seriously, I think they love as much as they love me! I guess it makes sense. We are practically sisters afterall.”
“I love your parents too! And even your brother. Sometimes.” We both laughed. Since I grew up with DeeDee, her brother was practically mine too.
“Be sure to stay clear of him, you know how he gets when you have better news than he does. His girlfriend just broke up with him so he’s in a funk. I bet he tries to give you a swirly or something else from childhood.” Her brother was fun, but sometimes he took the whole pseudo brother thing too far.
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