Eclipse of the Soul: The Interdimensional Saga, Book 2 (6 page)

Two from
squad two went after the ripper who was trying to get the women back to the
sewers. I switched to watch their pocket cameras. They followed the ripper and
the women down into the alley and discovered there was another group of rippers
who were watching the entrance. It was now two fae warriors to seven rippers.
They never stood a chance.

I called
to Lancer to tell him about the other guys, so he sent all of squad two down
the alley and had Maliki and Bender go with them. Lancer and Ash easily
finished off the last of the original rippers. Then they took off down the
alley to engage in the battle there.

While I
was watching the fight from the different pocket cams, I saw Toren battle with
one ripper while he threw a knife, just like the ones we had trained with
earlier, right at another ripper. He went down. After Toren had killed the one
he was battling with he ran to the one who went down from the knife he threw, and
swiftly cut off the ripper’s head.

I
switched over to Lancer’s pocket cam and saw him fighting with another ripper.
He was holding his own but couldn’t seem to get the upper hand. The ripper
carried two swords similar to the ones I used to get away from the master the
other day. Lancer only had his sword that looked like a Katana. It wasn’t a
Katana as the warriors told me earlier that all of their weapons came from
home. They never used any of our swords or knifes. They believed their master
craftsmen to be much more talented than those on Earth. They did however,
appreciate our guns.

From
Lancer’s camera I could see that one of the rippers was ushering some of the
women down into the sewer. Two of them had run off somewhere so he only had two
women to force down the manhole. Lancer ran after that ripper and went down
into the sewer after them. Ash followed.

It was
too dark for me to see what was happening down in the sewer but I couldn’t seem
to take my eyes off of his screen. Finally someone was going after the girls! I
was going to kiss Lancer and Ash both when they came back! I couldn’t believe
they were doing that.

On
another screen was Toren’s pocket cam. He looked around and I could see that
most of the rippers were lying dead on the ground. There were two that were
already beheaded. And three that still had their heads intact. Toren went
around and was taking care of those three.

But I
noticed that there were only a few fae left once all of the rippers were dead
or had run away. Toren sent the rest of the warriors down in the tunnels after
Lancer called and requested backup.

I kept
going back to Lancer’s pocket cam but couldn’t see anything as it was too dark.
So I looked for Coven’s pocket cam and noticed it was giving a view of the
ground. I tried looking at some more of the cameras to see if I could see
Coven. I regretted looking for him as I found another camera on the ground with
a view of Coven’s face. I could tell he was dead from the vacant stare in his
eyes.

Coven
had a total of six warriors on his squad. And with the absence of Mason, Lancer
had only four. It looked like we lost almost half of our warriors out there
tonight. I really hoped that Lancer would find those girls quick and get back
here safely with Ash and the rest of the guys.

I realized
I was chewing on my fingernails as I switched between all of the pocket cam
views we had. I confirmed that Toren and Cash were still alive. And one more
guy on their team. I couldn’t remember his name. I decided right then that if
he made it back I was going to learn his name and get to know him. In fact, I
was going to spend more time with all of the warriors, getting to know them
before they went out in the field again. The guilty feelings I had of not
remembering the names of our fallen was going to eat me up for a long time to
come. I just knew it.

Right at
that point, I heard an explosion come over the radio. And the only video feeds
we had were those of Toren and Cash. I frantically kept going back and forth
between the rest of the pocket cam feeds looking to see if I could find anything.
The Commander was calling Lancer and Ash on the radio. None of them were
answering.

I was
frozen in front of the screens with tears running down my face. It was as if
time was on a loop and I could not get it to restart. I kept reliving the
sounds of the explosion in my head and watched as all of the video feeds
continued to go to static.

I wasn’t
sure how long I sat there silently crying and reliving the experience over and
over in my head. But finally I heard Lancer coughing on the radio asking for
extraction.

The
entrance to the sewer in that alley was destroyed. Toren and Cash tried to go
down and see if they could find out what was happening, but there was no way to
go down. The manhole was filled with debris from the sewer.

Lancer
and Ash had made it out of another manhole a couple blocks down and were trying
to get back to the Hummers but they were both injured and could barely move.
Once they saw a street sign the Commander directed Toren and Cash to take both
Hummers and grab Lancer and Ash.

Once
Toren got Lancer in his Hummer he started asking him about the others who
followed him into the sewer. Lancer said they had died during the explosion. He
kept having coughing fits while trying to explain.

Cash
reported that Ash passed out once he was in the vehicle. The Commander ordered
both of them to come back right away. Then he sent a message to the council
requesting a medical team to come through the portal right away. As well as a cleanup
team.

When
they got back to the warehouse Netty, their best healer, was already there
waiting for them. Netty had been called in the last time my squad fought the
rippers, when Nishni died. She tended to Lancer and put him on oxygen while she
cleaned his wounds and bandaged them. She determined he had a mild concussion
and his lungs had filled with debris from whatever the sewer was constructed
of. I told them it was most likely cement. She ordered bed rest but to keep him
awake for the next few hours.

Ash was
not in as good of shape as Lancer. He was still unconscious when they brought
him in. He had a punctured lung and multiple broken bones as well as a
concussion. They went to work cleaning his multiple lacerations and setting his
bones before he started his accelerated healing. His lung would heal on its
own. Probably within a few hours. But they kept him on oxygen.

The
other doctor believed that Ash would be up and around and fully healed in seven
to ten days as long as he rested. Since he was still out of it, I decided to go
back to Lancer’s room to help keep him awake.

When I got
there, the General was in there debriefing him. It turned out that the sewer
was booby trapped. While Ash and Lancer did not set it off, the other guys must
have done something, or it was remote activated. Lancer wasn’t sure. But he
knew the guys were dead because he and Ash had turned the only corner right
before the explosion. The rest of the guys were in the direct path of the
blast.

“The
sewer tunnels where cylindrical… and made from what looks to be… concrete. When
Ash and…I turned back around the corner and looked back… for our guys, we saw
that the concrete had all come… down around the tunnel. Even parts of the
tunnel were caved in. I called… out but could not see or hear anyone. We need to
get a clean-up crew in there… right away to get their bodies before the humans
do. It is going to take some heavy… equipment to dig them out. I hope they find
them… alive, but I don’t see how they could be.” Lancer stated between coughing
fits.

Netty told
the General he would have to leave and could come back tomorrow for more
questioning. Lancer needed to relax and focus on healing. She did say I could
stay as long as I agreed not to upset him and make sure he stays awake for the
next few hours. Of course I agreed.

I sat
there just looking at him, not sure what to say. We both started to talk at the
same time…

“B’Lana
I …”

“Lancer
thank…go ahead, what did you want to say?”

He took
my hand in his and looked at me with such longing in his eyes, I almost reached
over and kissed him right there.

“I am
sorry for how the other night went.” My heart started to break as I thought he
was going to say he was sorry for kissing me. That was not what I wanted to
hear. “I should not have said anything about Ash and you. And I should not have
kissed you like that, I am your squad leader.” My heart continued to break as
that was the last thing I wanted to hear at that moment.

“Lancer,
don’t think about that. You just need to worry about getting better. I am so
thankful that you are ok. I almost lost you both tonight. For a few minutes I
thought I did. All that matters is that you focus on healing right now.” I
couldn’t even look him in the eyes as mine were clouding up with tears that I
did not want him to see.

“How is
Ash, is he going to be ok?” Lancer asked me quietly and then started coughing
again.

I took a
moment to try and clear my eyes before looking at him again. I knew he could
see the unshed tears in my eyes. “I will go and see what the doctors have to
say.” As I got up to leave Lancer squeezed my hand a little bit and I reached
down to hug him and kiss him on the cheek.

“I am
just glad you both survived. I don’t know what I would have done if either of
you didn’t make it.” I said as I turned around and walked out the door.

Instead of going over to see Ash I walked back to my
room and cried. I cried for almost losing the two most important men in my life
today. I cried for losing all of those warriors, most of whom I didn’t even
know. I cried as I just realized that Maliki and Benden were gone. They had
become my friends and now they were gone. I didn’t think I could handle this
lifestyle any more. If losses like this were going to happen all of the time I
knew I couldn’t handle it. Then I realized it was my fault. Lancer and the rest
would not have gone down into that tunnel if I hadn’t thrown a fit over the
human girls. I knew Lancer and Ash did that for me. The rest just followed
Lancer.

About thirty minutes later I realized I was still crying
because Lancer broke my heart. I didn’t understand how he even had my heart
after just one kiss, but he did. Why was I so upset that he regretted that
wonderful, powerful kiss? It may have been just one kiss, but it was the kind
that made the earth move. I was hoping to have more of those.

There was a knock at my door as I was cleaning up the
evidence of my tears on my face. “Come in”.

Toren walked in at that moment and when he saw my red
face he walked over and gave me a hug. It felt like the kind of a hug a dad
would give his daughter. It was so warm and I felt safe. I hadn’t realized how
despondent I felt until he wrapped his arms around me and just rubbed my back.
I started crying again.

Once I was done with my crying I backed away and thanked
him. “Did you need me for something?”

“Oh, yes I came here to let you know that Ash is awake
now.” Once Toren told me that I ran as fast I could to his room.

The door to Ash’s room was open and I just ran inside
and went right to the side of his bed. I reached down and hugged him gently as
he wrapped his one good arm around me.

“Ash, how are you? What did the doctors say?” I looked
at him with fresh tears in my eyes, but they were tears of joy. I had a giant
smile on my face as I looked into his eyes and realized he was going to be ok.

“B’Lana, you know I’m always fine. Nothing could keep me
away from you. When my bones heal I expect a great big hug from you. None of
this super soft, barely touching me kind of hug like you just gave me.” I
laughed as he said that and I knew he would be just fine.

Everyone left the room while we were talking and the healer
said he would be back to check on him soon. Then he looked at me and said I
could only stay a few minutes as Ash needed to rest.

I stayed until the nurses forced me out of there about
twenty minutes later. Then I went to Lancer’s room to tell him the good news.

“B’Lana, what was all of that commotion? I heard running
in the hall.” Lancer looked at me and my tear streaked red face and was
worried.

“Ash woke up. I ran to his room when Toren told me he
was awake. I have been there with him talking for the past twenty minutes. He
is going to be OK. He has a lot of broken bones and a punctured lung, in
addition to all of the scrapes and a concussion. But he is going to be fine!
The healers think he will be up and about in just over a week.” I said while
smiling and thinking about how happy I was that both Ash and Lancer were going
to be ok.

“Good, I’m glad Ash is going to be ok so soon. He is
going to need your support while he heals.” Lancer said while looking away from
me.

“I’m going to be here for the both of you while you
recover.” Then I looked down at my feet while I said. “I’m sorry you lost so
many warriors tonight. I should have never asked you to go after those girls.
It was all my fault you went down into that sewer. I know now that was a stupid
move. I won’t ask you to do something like that again.”

Lancer reached out and grabbed my hand and pulled me
closer to his bed. “Sit down. It wasn’t your fault. I chose to go after them.
You were right. We need to think about the humans and making sure they are safe
too. We are warriors who chose this life. Those girls did not choose to get
abducted. None of the victims chose what happened to them. We need to start
thinking about the bigger picture. And I know that every one of those men who
lost their lives tonight would do it again if it meant a chance to save the
humans.

“It used to be that way you know. We used to care about
the humans and would do everything we could to save them. But over time we
stopped caring for some reason. I don’t even know when it happened or why, but
we did.” Lancer squeezed my hand and then let go.

“Is there anything I can get you or do for you? Do you
need some water? Or food? How can I help?” I looked at him with nothing but
sincerity in my eyes. I really did want to help him. I realized as I looked at
him that I cared for him more than I should. But he was my squad leader. No
matter how I felt, he could never feel anything more for me.