Page 20 of Eclipse Bound (Galaxy Alien Mail Order Brides #7)
Chapter Eleven
Eclipse flowed backward through the narrow tunnel, his twilight essence compressing into the confined space as he moved away from Rowan and Solar.
Every instinct urged him to stay with her, to protect her directly, but logic dictated otherwise.
If Milano captured all of them, there would be no hope.
One of them had to create a diversion.
The energy weapons Milano wielded were unlike anything Eclipse expected to encounter on Earth. They were clearly derived from non-terrestrial technology. The blue pulses disturbed his twilight field in ways that suggested precise calibration for energy-based lifeforms.
They knew exactly what they were hunting.
Eclipse reached the wider section of the tunnel where the underground stream cut across the path. Shouts and flashlight beams reflected off the water. Milano operatives waded upstream, all six of them equipped with the specialized weapons and what appeared to be scanning devices.
Eclipse expanded his twilight form to fill the chamber, becoming a diffuse purple-blue mist that clung to the ceiling and walls. The first operative emerged into the chamber, his scanner emitting an urgent beeping as it detected Eclipse's energy signature.
"Contact!" the man shouted, raising his weapon toward the ceiling.
Eclipse surged forward, enveloping the operative in twilight energy.
The man fired wildly, the blue pulse dissipating harmlessly into Eclipse's diffuse form.
Eclipse concentrated his energy around the man's weapon, disrupting its power source.
The device overloaded with a crackle of electricity, forcing the operative to drop it with a yelp of pain.
"Williams is down! Target is—" Another operative's shout cut off as Eclipse swept through the chamber, creating a disorienting whirlwind of twilight energy. The man grabbed his head, screaming in pain.
Eclipse had never used his abilities as weapons before. On Zorveya, he was a diplomat, a mediator, the twilight between extremes. But here, with Rowan's safety at stake, he found himself drawing on aspects of his nature he'd rarely explored.
The Milano team regrouped, forming a defensive circle. Their leader barked commands into a communication device, "Target Twilight is engaged. Proceed with containment protocol Echo."
Two operatives fired simultaneously, their energy pulses converging on Eclipse's most concentrated area. Pain lanced through his twilight form as the pulses disrupted his energy pattern. Eclipse recoiled, flowing along the ceiling to regroup.
The weapons hurt. That was unexpected and concerning.
"Adjusting to frequency pattern Alpha," one operative announced, turning a dial on his weapon. "Fire on my mark."
Eclipse didn't wait for them to coordinate. He dropped from the ceiling directly onto the leader, condensing his twilight form around the man's head and shoulders. The operative stumbled backward, clawing at the twilight energy that obscured his vision and filtered his oxygen.
"Can't... breathe!" the man gasped.
Eclipse felt a moment of remorse. He had no wish to harm these humans, but Rowan's face flashed in his mind. They hunted her. These people would capture her, experiment on her, just for having been in contact with him. He couldn't allow that.
"Jones is compromised! Switch to pattern Beta!" Another operative adjusted his weapon.
Eclipse released the leader, who collapsed gasping to his knees, and surged toward the new threat. As he moved, a blue pulse caught the edge of his form, sending a shock of disruption through his energy field. Eclipse faltered, his twilight essence momentarily destabilizing.
The Milano operatives pressed their advantage, firing in a coordinated pattern that herded Eclipse against the chamber wall. Each pulse further disrupted his ability to maintain cohesion.
Eclipse needed a new strategy. Changing tactics, he condensed into a more humanoid form and dropped into the underground stream.
The cold water interfered with his energy signature, just as it had with Solar's.
It was uncomfortable, but it also disrupted the scanners' ability to get a clean lock on him.
"Lost the signal! Spread out!"
Eclipse moved downstream, away from the direction Rowan and Solar had gone. His plan was working, drawing the Milano team away from his companions. But he needed to do more than just distract them temporarily.
He needed to stop them.
Reaching out with his energy field, Eclipse sensed the cave system around him. The rock walls, the flowing water, the subtle vibrations of the Earth itself. An idea formed. Dangerous, possibly devastating, but necessary.
The Milano team was spreading out, sweeping the chamber methodically. Eclipse released a small pulse of energy, just enough to trigger their scanners in his current position. As they converged on him, he reached deep into the rock beneath the stream.
On Zorveya, those from the Twilight Belt rarely used their abilities for destruction. But all energy could be manipulated, even the potential energy stored in Earth's geological formations.
Eclipse sent a focused surge of twilight energy into a fault line running through the cave floor. The rock groaned in protest. Small pebbles skittered down from the ceiling.
"What was that?" One of the operatives looked up nervously.
"Seismic activity," another replied. "These caves are unstable."
"Maintain pursuit," the leader ordered, having recovered enough to rejoin the hunt. "Target Twilight is attempting to escape."
Eclipse sent another pulse, stronger this time, directly into the fault. A crack appeared in the chamber floor, spreading rapidly toward the tunnel Rowan and Solar had taken.
No. He redirected his energy, guiding the fracture away from their escape route and toward the tunnel he'd come through. The ceiling began to crumble in that direction.
"Cave in! Fall back!" The leader shouted, but it was too late.
Eclipse released a final, concentrated burst of twilight energy into the fault line.
The effect was immediate and catastrophic.
The chamber floor split open with a thunderous crack.
Water from the stream poured into the newly formed fissure, creating a whirlpool effect.
The ceiling collapsed in sections, blocking the tunnel to the outside.
The Milano operatives scrambled for safety, but the cave-in was too rapid. Two were caught by falling rocks. The others retreated toward the entrance, shouting into their communication devices for backup.
Eclipse felt the strain of such focused energy manipulation. His twilight form flickered, struggling to maintain cohesion. The geological disruption had cost him more than he'd anticipated.
Yet he couldn't stop now. The cave-in would only delay Milano briefly. He needed to ensure Rowan and Solar had enough time to reach the surface and escape.
Moving through the partially collapsed chamber, Eclipse followed the tunnel Rowan and Solar had taken. His form was weaker now, less substantial, but he pushed forward, determined to verify their safety before considering his own.
A blue pulse of energy struck the wall beside him, one of the Milano operatives had made it through the collapse. Eclipse spun to face the threat, his twilight essence gathering what strength remained.
"Target Twilight is damaged but still mobile," the operative reported into his communicator. "Requesting additional containment teams at junction B."
Eclipse surged forward, engulfing the operative before he could fire again. The man struggled in the twilight field, his weapon discharging wildly. One of the pulses struck Eclipse directly, sending waves of disruption through his already weakened form.
Pain, unlike anything Eclipse had experienced before, tore through his essence. His twilight field began to fragment, losing cohesion. The operative fell to his knees, gasping for air as Eclipse's grip on him weakened.
Eclipse retreated into the tunnel, his form flickering dangerously. Behind him, more Milano personnel poured through the partially collapsed chamber, their scanners beeping as they detected his fading signature.
He needed to reach Rowan. Needed to know she was safe.
The tunnel branched ahead, and Eclipse hesitated. Which way had they gone? His weakened state compromised his ability to sense energy signatures. He chose the path that seemed to lead upward, hoping it would take him to the surface.
As he moved, his twilight essence left fragments behind, small wisps of energy that dissipated into the air. He was losing cohesion rapidly. The weapons had damaged him more severely than he'd realized.
The sound of pursuit grew behind him. Eclipse pushed forward, his consciousness beginning to fragment along with his form.
Memories flashed through his mind—the endless negotiations on Zorveya, the crash landing on Earth, and Rowan.
Always Rowan, with her remarkable adaptability and the harmony of her energy signature with his own.
The tunnel widened into another chamber, this one with shafts of sunlight streaming from cracks in the ceiling. Eclipse sensed the surface was near. If he could just reach it, perhaps he could find Rowan.
His twilight form surged upward toward the light, but a coordinated barrage of energy pulses struck him from behind. Milano operatives had caught up, their weapons firing in unison.
Eclipse's consciousness shattered into fragments as his twilight essence dispersed throughout the chamber. The last thing he registered was a peculiar containment device being activated beneath him, a swirling vortex of energy that began to draw in the scattered particles of his form.
His final coherent thought was of Rowan. Had she escaped? Was she safe? She was all that mattered.
Then darkness claimed him, and the twilight faded to nothingness.