The Eclipse of Power (2 page)

“B, no need to be embarrassed. This was your first major
battle.”

“But I have fought the rippers before and even killed a few.
I don’t understand why it made me sick this time.” My face was really green,
and my skin crawled with disgust for all of the corpses at our feet.

“Stop it…” Ash was interrupted before he could console me.

“Ash! I have word from Sendryl and it isn’t good.” Toren ran
over to where we were.

“Sendryl was attacked at the same time these rippers were
trying to go through the portal. They set off three bombs in the heart of our capital!
The city is in chaos, hundreds are dead, and thousands are injured. They can’t
send us anyone, not even healers. We are on our own until they can get more
healers and troops from outlying cities.” We all sat there and stared at Toren
as he told us the news. None of us understood the implications of what just
happened, yet.

While everyone sat there thinking about the city, and
wondering if anyone they knew died, I jumped up and screamed, “Lancer! Do you
know what happened to Lancer? He was in the capital awaiting trial wasn’t he?”
Tears started to form in my eyes before I even finished my sentence.

“Ash, can’t you find out what happened? Can you go over
there and check on Lancer?” As a tear made its way down my face, I pleaded,
looking up at him, eyes wet.

“B’Lana, I’m sorry but I can’t go over there right now. If I
do, they will keep me there. As much as I would love to find out about Lancer
and help with the rescue efforts of my people, I am needed here. I can’t leave
my post unless they call for me.” Ash looked down into my face as the tears
started coming harder, flowing in rivulets

He pulled me close to his body and wrapped his arms around
my back. He put his cheek on the top of my head and said how sorry he was, but
he couldn’t leave. None of them could. It was against protocol, unless they
were called home. But he could call in and see if anyone knew where Lancer was.

Toren came over, rubbed my back and said, “B’Lana, you know
Lancer is tough and would have no problem getting through this. We shouldn’t
stress until we know the location of the bombs. For all we know, Lancer wasn’t
anywhere near the bombs when they went off.”

“Thank you both, I appreciate it.”

Ash pulled back and looked around the area before he
directed what was left of Squads 4 and 5 to finish gathering the dead. They
were also to stay there and make sure no rippers or hybrids went through the
portal, either way.

“Your orders are to kill anything that tries to come through
without proper authorization. The standard protocol in times like this is to
close off the portals so none of the enemy troops can escape or receive
reinforcements. We will take shifts until Sendryl can send more guards. Be sure
to keep the enemy bodies away from our fallen.

“Squad leaders, I want a report of who you lost tonight and
how they want their remains treated. We might have to burn the bodies here.”
Ash directed each squad leader while the rest were sorting the dead.

Sorting the dead, who ever thought I would be using that
term, let alone actually participating in the effort.

While I was looking for missing body parts, and rubbing my
arms furiously to try and keep warm, Cash suggested we get a dump truck for the
rippers. They could be taken somewhere else and burned and their ashes buried.

“Alright Cash, take two others and go acquire a dump truck.
Do you have a site in mind for the burning and burying of the enemy bodies?”
Toren asked his second in command.

“Yes, I know of a place out of the way where no one will
notice. While on my last scouting mission I saw an equipment rental place. I am
sure I can borrow a truck from them without anyone knowing.” Cash picked two
other warriors and they left to “borrow” a dump truck.

“Great, the enemy bodies are taken care of, now we need to
find a place to keep our fallen warriors. We can’t let them be buried here in
Earth, they must be sent home for a proper burial.” Ash asked the other fae if
they knew of a place with large enough refrigeration we could use. The leader
of Squad 3 had an idea and said he would look into it.

“Hey, why are you shaking so hard B’Lana?” Ash reached over
to wrap his arms around me and he rubbed his hands along my back.

“I’m fffrreeezzzinggg. I cccan’t ggett warrrmmmm.” I must
have been going into shock or something because my teeth were chattering and my
body started to feel numb.

“Squads 1 through 3 let’s head back and get some rest. In
four hours I will send two squads back to relieve 4 and 5.” Ash kept his arms
around me trying to warm me up as we walked back to the Hummer.

He had the heater on full blast but it didn’t seem to do
anything for me. I was still freezing and chattering up a storm when we arrived
back at headquarters.

“B’Lana, sit here, I am going to get you some coffee and a
few blankets to help warm you up.” He left me with Toren who wrapped me in his
arms and was trying to warm me up.

I am the luckiest woman on two planets! But also the
unluckiest. I have two smoking hot males wrapping me in their arms, but neither
of them are the fae male I want holding me right now.

“B’Lana, you have to relax your body, let it go. I know it
was a gruesome scene, but this is what we do. It’s what you do now. Think about
it, if we hadn’t of stopped them, who knows how many more innocents would have
died on Sendryl. We did the right thing and you know it.” Toren was looking
into my eyes, pleading with me to understand him while still rubbing his hands
along my back.

“Tttoren, I know it was rrright. Ittt’ss jussttt hhhard
seeeing sssooo mannny of mmy fffriends dddeadd.” I tried to get closer to his
body as the warmth coming off him felt so good. My body heated up at least a
half a degree.

Ash walked into the room with the biggest cup of coffee I
had seen and at least a dozen blankets. “Here B, drink this and wrap up in
these blankets. I wish I could hold you all night, but I have to get started on
my after action reports. As does Toren. We will stay here with you while we
work. Why don’t you lie down on the couch?” Toren stood up and walked me over
to the couch.

After I laid down, Ash wrapped me up in no less than five
blankets. He had my head up on the arm of the couch so I could finish my
coffee, which did help to warm me up a bit. It was no time before I fell into a
deep sleep.

The next morning after I showered and had three cups of
coffee, I volunteered to help at the portal. Squad 1 was at the portal and
their shift was about to end. Squads 2 and 3 were headed out to relieve what
was left of Squad 1. I rode with Toren and Cash.

I sat in the front between the two and Toren put his arm
around me and I snuggled up to his side. “How did you sleep last night?” He
asked while looking down at me with concern etched on his face.

I sat up straighter and said, “I slept very soundly and I
feel great today. I am ready to work; I’ll help however I can.”

We all piled out of the truck when we arrived at the portal.
The warriors from Squad 1 took the truck back to headquarters for a much needed
rest. We walked around the site checking for anything that may have been missed
last night during cleanup.

It turned out we had lost ten warriors and we killed
twenty-five hybrid rippers along with twenty-eight rippers. Toren estimated
that eight rippers escaped through the portal to Sendryl.

By the middle of the day we still did not have any word at
all from the fae home world. I was anxious and upset that we had not heard any
news yet.

“How can they keep us in the dark about what happened?!
Don’t they know we stopped a small army from coming over there?” I knew I was
only upset because I had no idea if Lancer was hurt, or worse. I needed a
distraction.

“Ash, let’s go practice if there truly isn’t anything that
we can do for Sendryl or Lancer.” Then I mind spoke, “
I want to keep
practicing mind speak and mind reading. I need to master them both before the
next attack.”

I still hadn’t told Ash, or anyone else, about my third
ability. I wanted to practice that one too, but was just too afraid to try it
again. Maybe in time I will practice in my room, when no one is around.

“Alright, just let me check and see if there are any
messages yet. Then we can go.” Ash checked and of course there was nothing.

“Let’s go to the mall and practice there! Lots of thoughts
to get in the way, so it will be a good place to go.” I also wanted to do some
more shopping, it’s quite therapeutic.

“What do you want to buy now?” Ash asked as we got into the
Hummer.

Even though we killed so many rippers and hybrids the other
day, we were still being careful whenever we went anywhere. This meant that if
I went along, we were to take the Hummer and make sure it had plenty of weapons
I could use.

I drove and parked us next to Macy’s, my favorite store. We
were both quiet on the ride over. I knew he was thinking about Lancer too. He
wouldn’t admit it, but I knew he missed Lancer. Somehow they had gotten past
their differences and were friends.

“
Ok, unless we have to speak out loud, let’s stick with
mind speak. I need to be able to have full conversations mentally without
getting distracted. Shopping distracts me and can get my mind moving in
different directions, kinda like… squirrel!”

“Ok B’Lana, let’s give this a try. But please don’t spend
all of our money on clothes today.”
Ash chuckled out loud as he thought
that last sentence.

“How about I spend some on a pedicure? I don’t think I
have had one since I became a hybrid fae. That is too long to go without some
pampering of my toes.”

“B, are you projecting your thoughts on others? Look
around, people are looking at us.”

“Ash, it’s because we both just laughed out loud without
talking. The pampering of my toes isn’t funny, so be nice.”
We busted up
out loud and had more people looking our way so I switched over to regular
speech.

“OK, I could use some more underwear, and no you can’t help
me pick them out! Why don’t you go check out some stuff in the men’s section
and
I can practice mind speaking with you from a distance
.” That last
part was said via mind speak.

“B, you are harshing my melon.” Ash must have been watching
more 80’s movies and mixing up the slang.

Laughing I said, “Ok, you can pick out my socks, how about
that?” Then I turned and walked away from him.

We each did some of our own shopping and engaged in mind
speak. I looked around and couldn’t tell if I projected my mind speak to anyone
other than Ash. I did however pick up a few stray thoughts that I wish I hadn’t
heard. Some of these women had some pretty nasty thoughts. I shivered trying to
get them out of my head.

“Ok Ash, I’m hungry. How about lunch and then a pedicure?
Men get them all the time too. I bet warriors feet could really use some
pampering.”

We decided on the local burger joint that was just a few
doors down from the pedicure place.

“Mmmm, this is really good! And we can mind speak while
we eat too. Ms. Manners can’t say anything about mind speaking with your mouth
full since no one else can do this! Hah! Take that Ms. Manners!”
While I
appreciated her words of wisdom, especially when it came to table manners, some
of her rules were a bit out of date. I wear white any time of year I want.

After lunch, Ash gave in and went for a pedicure with me.
The women there actually fought over who would get to service him. It made me
stop and look at him more closely than I had in a long time. Ash really was
good looking; in a classical, Greek god sort of way. He was taller than Lancer
and his shoulders were wider. Ash definitely had a lot of muscle, I remembered
back to when I first told him about my mind speaking ability and had my hands
all over his upper torso,
ok gotta stop thinking about that.

“B, you know if you want to repeat that we can go home
right now.”

My face started feeling hot with embarrassment. My eyes opened
wide and I said out loud as I was not thinking clearly, “You heard me?”

“Yes, I did. And I agree it was a wonderful experience. We
can go right now if you like.” Ash said with a smug look on his face but a
twinkle in his eye.

I turned around and looked at my feet while they were
soaking in the warm water of the tub.

“I think we should finish our pedicures and forget what I
was thinking. But it might be a good idea for me to remember to control my
thoughts when my mind is distracted. Do you think I projected on to anyone
else?”

“No, I don’t think anyone else heard. But that is
something we should try. Can you only mind speak to one person at a time? We
know you can hear more than one person at a time, but haven’t tested speaking
to more than one yet.”

“I don’t know who we can trust. Maybe Toren? I think he
already knows, or at least suspects something along these lines. Maybe I can
practice speaking to you both at the same time?”

“No, let’s leave him out for now. When we are done here
why don’t we go to the food court and you can try telling everyone there
something. It should be crowded and even if you can mind speak to everyone, I
doubt that anyone will know it was you.”

Later, as we walked by the Cinnabon store, I got a great
idea!

“Mmm, warm cinnamon rolls are ready at Cinnabon, I smell
them now”
I sat across from the store after buying Ash and I one and waited
to see what happened. To say I was surprised was an understatement. No less
than forty people came up and got in line.

“Well, I guess that means I have to be careful what I think
from now on.”
Seriously this could be really bad for me if I can’t get a
hold on my thoughts. I wonder if that is how Toren suspects my abilities? Did I
make a mistake back at headquarters?

“I heard that too, B’Lana. But it doesn’t look like everyone
did. Hopefully you have to want everyone to hear you. But I am not sure why I
heard it.” Ash looked down to his gooey pastry and took his last bite.

“Ok, you will have to let me know every time you hear me,
especially if I am not trying to project my thoughts.”

“Agreed, but you will still need to practice. That is the
only way you are going to get a handle on this.” Ash said as he licked off the
extra gooey cinnamon goodness from his fingers then eyeballed my cinnamon roll.

“Don’t you dare! If you take even one small bite I will
leave you here to walk back by yourself! Did you hear that loud and clear?”
I hadn’t had one of these since last Christmas, so I wasn’t in the mood to
share. Too bad the line was so long, I could have bought a bunch to bring back.

As we walked to the car I saw someone I thought was DeeDee.
This girl had auburn hair like DeeDee’s but was skinnier. I got a glimpse of
the face; if I didn’t know any better I would say it was a version of DeeDee on
a drunken or drug induced bender lasting a few weeks. Her face had no
brilliance to it at all. This girl was not wearing any make-up.

I never would have thought it was her if it wasn’t for the
top she was wearing. I gave her that blouse for Christmas last year. It was a
purple peasant top with white embroidery down the front.

“Oh stink! Ash! Look over my right shoulder. That girl in
the purple top, is she looking at us? I think that’s DeeDee but she doesn’t
look right.”
I asked Ash as I turned from the girl. I wasn’t sure, but I
thought she might have noticed me.

“No, she isn’t looking at us. She put up a flyer in the
window of that store and is walking away.”

We walked over to the flyer and knew we had to get out of
there right away. It was a ‘Have you seen this girl’ kind of flyer, and the
picture on it was of me! We hurried back to the car. Ash put his arm around me
so I could keep my face averted from anyone looking at us while we walked out.

◊◊◊

When we arrived back at HQ, Toren approached us with a copy
of the flyer. It seems it was DeeDee and she had been busy around town these
past few days.

“B’Lana, I think you might need to go to a different city to
finish your training. And you won’t be allowed to leave this warehouse again
until we figure out what to do. With your face all over town right now you will
be too identifiable.” Toren looked very worried, his brows were furrowed and he
looked between Ash and me.

“Toren, I agree, B’Lana needs to stay inside until we can
find her a new place to train.” Ash said as he put his arm around my shoulders.

“Guys, this kind of thing happens all the time. In a couple
weeks no one will remember those posters and they will either be in the trash
or covered up with another girl’s picture. Let’s not forget that I am at least
ten to eleven years younger looking now than when I last saw DeeDee. Most
people won’t recognize me from that photo. I’ll just stay here until it all
blows over.

“I am not going anywhere until we hear from Lancer. I can’t
just leave and move on without knowing what happened to him.” I worried
constantly about him and my stomach was starting to gurgle from the stress of
it all.

Right then the Commander walked into the room. “I agree with
B’Lana, she shouldn’t go anywhere just yet. And the General would never agree
to it anyway. He wants her here where he can keep an eye on her and those who
know her best can also help.” The commander looked pointedly at Ash when he
said that last sentence.

“I wonder what he means by that Ash? Do you know?”
I
mind spoke to Ash and hoped no one else heard me.

At least no one could hear Ash’s response,
“B, I think
the commander knows we are keeping secrets. I am not sure he knows exactly what
powers or gifts you have developed, but don’t think he doesn’t suspect you have
something. I have noticed him watching you a lot lately. We need to be more
careful.”

“So it’s settled then. I am staying here and will continue
to train with the fae on weapons and hand to hand combat.

“Commander, any word yet from Sendryl or Lancer?” I really
was worried about him.

“B’Lana, I did hear from the General while you were gone. He
assures me that Lancer is fine. He has been moved from the prison since it
sustained damage, but Lancer was not injured. In fact, it is looking up for him.
He has been moved to the personal quarters of our religious leader. But don’t
expect a visit any time soon. He won’t be allowed to leave the planet until
after the trial is over.

“This is something I need to speak with you about and Ash
too. Let’s go to my office.”

The three of us walked to the Commander’s office and I
reached out telepathically to Ash,
“Do you know what this is about?”

“No, I don’t. But don’t worry, he might just want to tell
us more info about the trial.”
Ash said via his thoughts as he smiled at
me.

“Sit down, both of you. I have a request from the General.”
The commander stated as he sat behind his desk.

I didn’t realize how nervous I was until Ash put his hand on
my knee to stop my leg from moving.

“The General would like for you to attend the trial and
perhaps testify on Lancer’s behalf. He thinks that a statement from you
regarding the transformation and the powers you have come into would be
beneficial since it was Lancer who made the call to transform you.

“Also, you were present at all of the battles where we had
high casualties. Your perspective as a human might be beneficial to Lancer’s
case. There are still a few politicians who want to use Lancer as their
scapegoat. However, most are more concerned with keeping the hybrid rippers
away from Sendryl.

“Word has gotten out about how you all stopped the small
army of rippers and their hybrids from going through the portal. As you may
know, that particular portal leads directly to the middle of our capital. Had
they gotten through, the casualties would have been catastrophic.” The
commander ran his hand through his hair and sat back while breathing out
heavily.

“Can I count on you B’Lana to be there for Lancer?”

“Yes sir! I would be honored to testify on his behalf.
Anything I can do to help his case and show the high command that Lancer only
has the best interests of his people in mind. While we did lose a lot of warriors
here on this side, we also prevented a lot more from coming over and killing
more innocent Sennafae.”

“Sir, I would like to volunteer to accompany B’Lana to
Sendryl. She can’t go alone and I am sure the General is too busy to properly
watch out for her.” I wasn’t surprised Ash volunteered to accompany me. I tried,
and failed, to hide my smile.

“Ash, that is exactly why I wanted you here. There is too
much going on back home to risk her safety. Until we know what is going to
happen with her powers we must keep her protected. There are some back home
that would prefer she died. There is a small group that has come out against
what she is. So keep an eye on her and don’t let her go anywhere alone.” The
Commander’s concern for my welfare was surprising, since it wasn’t that long
ago he thought I should have died instead of go through the transformation. But
I guess I won him over after I rescued myself from the Ripper Master.