Eclipse of the Beginning: The Original Eclipse Series, #0

By J.L. Hendricks

What haunts you more… love… or duty…?

Bound by a secret oath to protect the only hope of fulfillment in an ancient prophecy, Lancer Xaren finds no comfort in knowing his own involvement in the sacred writings. When a new commander arrives in LA, Lancer is forced to play the game of the High Council to protect the secret, but will taking lead of the squad assigned to track a roving group of rippers force him to fail in the one task that is most important? 

Driven insane by the ghosts of his past, Ash Z'Nial has made a life for himself in the corruption of Sin City. But when he is hand chosen to safeguard an ordinary mortal, Ash can only guess at the story behind the undisclosed assignment. However, when a small misjudgment on his watch delivers B’Lana Paris into the arms of death, Ash makes a startling discovery. 

Will B'Lana Paris be the one to safeguard her people? Or have the rippers already murdered the girl destined to save them all?

Learn how it all begins in the fast-paced prequel to J.L Hendricks’s stunning YA Urban Fantasy, The Eclipse Series! If you like The Ignited Series by Desni Dantone you’ll love Eclipse of the Beginning!

This is a 13K word short story that was first published in Inanna's Circle. 

You can read this short story in any order you want. But below is the best reading order:

Book 0.5 - Age of the Beginning (Novella)

Part I (Full Length books)
Book 1 - Eclipse of the Warrior
Book 2 - Eclipse of Power
Book 3 - Eclipse of the Heart
 

• Language: English
• Publisher: J.L. Hendricks
• Release date: Feb 4, 2017
• ISBN: 9781386263487

J.L. Hendricks

J.L. Hendricks is an independent author who enjoys many genres, as evidenced by her catalogue of available books. She is currently focused on Scifi and Urban Fantasy, but has also written Paranormal and Christmas books. Her latest series which comes out this month is a combination of litRPG and Military Scifi with a few space pirates for fun! Let her know what you think! She is very proud to have served in the US Army before she went to college. Early 2016 she decided to finally write, and finish a book, because of a few friends who encouraged her to do so. She hopes her stories entertain you and can bring a laugh on occasion. Actually, it was her roommate’s cat who talked her into staying at home to be her minion all day long! Pyper truly believes that J.L. is here to serve her alone.

Book preview

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