Eclipse of the Warrior: The Interdimensional Saga (Book 1) (6 page)

And as promised, here is the first chapter (plus a bit of
chapter 2) from Book 2, Eclipse of the Soul:

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 getting
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 ordered double what I did along with a
large order of chips and salsa. 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.