Manhunter Revelations

by H. F. Daniels

  "As I was saying Conrad, these are members of The Elders. This is Destin, the High Mage of the Elders" indicating the male Muraiin in the robe.

  "This is Dolart, Master Mage of The Sakquain" she said indicating the tall Sakquian.

  This is Selisa, indicating the female Muraiin, Tolan, Briva and Scando, all members Of The Elders"

  "So you are this infamous Conrad we have been hearing so much about"

  That comment brought me back from wherever my mind had gone and I noticed everyone was looking at me. Sessa had a slight frown her face. Finding my voice and realizing I had been staring at the female Muraiin I spoke.

  "Greetings to all of you. I am honored that you have allowed me to visit your home island"

  "Don't be. You are here under protest and I really don't see why you are. Yet Tessia has insisted" spoke Dolart, the tall Sakquain

  "Come now Dolart. You know as well as any of us that Tessia does not make requests lightly. I am curious however to know why we have all met up here" said Selisa indicating the room around us. It was then that I noticed a plain black door sitting further back in the room.

  "You all know what is behind the door. I have had a vision of such intensity, I cannot doubt its meaning. Conrad here must be allowed to enter the room if it will let him"

  Enter the room if it will let me. What the hell does that mean. Looking at the faces of The Elders I could see a lot of doubt there. Dolart however was livid.

  "You cannot be serious. That is one of our most sacred artifacts. None of us can even approach it. Why do you think it will let this human do so?

  "Because I believe it was made for his use"

  This statement I could plainly see shocked all of them including Sessa.

  "Why?" spoke up Destin the male Muraiin for the first time.

  "In my vision I saw Conrad battling a great evil which I couldn't identify, but he had a weapon of immense power which the great evil was most afraid of. Then I saw The Artifact. Strong and clear. The inference was plain to see"

  Now all of the Muraiins was staring at me including Tessia and they all were doing it with an intensity that I found very unnerving. Especially since I had no damn idea what the hell they were talking about.

  "Everyone wait. Tessia what is going on here?

  "Conrad I have watched over you since you were a child. I myself had no reason to believe there was a higher purpose to my doing so, except to deal with the possibility of your father's dark side emerging. I now know there was also another, higher reason. I need you to enter that room and bring out whatever is in there"

  "That's it. What is in the room, and why do you want me to go and get it and none of you? There was a hard edge to my voice and they all felt it.

  "I ask you to continue to trust me. All will be made clear to you afterwards. I cannot tell you more now"

  I was feeling as if I was being setup for some type of trap, or nasty test and I didn't like it. That dislike must have shown on my face, because Sessa stepped in front of me.

  "You know I wouldn't let anything happen to you. Tessia has risked a great deal in getting The Elders to allow you to be brought here. If she feels it is important, then trust me Conrad, trust me, because it must be so"

  Looking at Sessa I could see sincerity and concern in her eyes. I also felt inside me to see if she had turned her Eurola onto me, but amazingly I felt none. None at all from any of them. My gut instinct also told me Tessia was also sincere.

  "Okay what am I supposed to do after I enter the room. Pass some type of test or bobby trap before getting to this artifact"

  "No. If you can enter the room, you should be able to just pick up the artifact and bring it out. If you cannot enter the room, then all that's been loss here is time" Tessia said.

  "Tessia are you sure you want this human to do this. We do not know what will happen, or if there will be some danger to him. Let's not make a mistake here" stated Dolart

  Looking at him Tessia sternly stated

  "You doubt my visions?"

  "No I do not. I just do not believe this human here is what is represented in them.

  "This human here name is Conrad. Please address him as so"

  It looked as if Dolart was going to say something else, but then changed his mind.

  Tessia then stepped up next to me

  "None of us here can enter that room. Why? Because The Artifact will not let us. Up until we built this outer wall, no one other then a Seer could even get this close. I believe it has been waiting all these many years for you or someone like you."

  It was not what she said that finally convinced me. It was the fact she said it with such reverence. Like it was a strong belief she had in it. Taking a good long look at the rest of them, and finally looking at Sessa, I took a deep breath and approached the door. As I did a bluish heavy line lit up on the floor crossing the room as if I had just passed some type of barrier. I stopped looked at it and then back at everyone. I noticed they all were a few feet back away from the line. Turning back to the door I continued my approach. As I reached the door there was a plain handle on it, which I turned and pulled the door

  outward. I could see the inner room was about ten feet deep and as wide as the outer

  room. Against the far wall was a low stone platform, which had what appeared to be a rod of some kind lying on it. Looking back again at the Muraiins, I was startled to see sheer amazement on all of their faces. Dolart's face however also showed utter shock.

  Turning back I then entered the room. I felt nothing out of the ordinary. Nothing shot out of the walls or the floor. Nothing fell from the ceiling. In fact nothing whatsoever happened. I walked over to the stone and now could clearly see what the rod was. I then realized that when I had opened the door that even with my eyes I could not see the rod clearly. It was only after I had entered that I could. The rod was about two feet long, two inches thick, with an elongated knob on the end about three inches in diameter on one end. The other end was grooved where as I looked at it, appeared to have been made to accommodate fingers when holding it sort of like a handle. It was jet black but seemed to have highlights within it, which seemed to shift location within the rod. The more I looked the more I became convinced that the rod was composed of a solid piece. What it was composed of I couldn’t say. It wasn’t metal, or stone and definitely not any of the new polynano plastics in use by companies today. Whatever it was made of, it looked solid as hell. Compelled somewhat mostly by curiosity I slowly pick the rod up by what I was now sure was the handle end. This was crazy but the rod fit in my hand perfectly. It was well balanced and didn’t appear to weight more than three or four pounds. As I held the rod it suddenly hit me what it resembled. A club of some type or more accurately a mace. I turned towards the door to see all of the Muraiins had moved as close to the glowing bluish line in the ground as they could. Tessia, Sessa, Destin and Selisa were smiling. The Sakquains only looked more grim. I took a step towards the door intending on taking the mace out of the room when it happened. The shaft of the mace suddenly glowed with a dark blackish blue light almost like a blacklight glow stick. The head of the mace glowed a steady black blue, but the shaft in addition to it’s black blue glowing also had bright white elongated lights within it which appeared to move randomly within the shaft getting faster and faster moving. I figured now would be a good time to put the mace down and turned back to the stone platform to place the mace back on it. As I tried to release it, I found that I could not. Trying desperately to disengage my fingers from the mace, it all of a sudden emitted a low hum for about eight seconds and then the damn mace electrocuted me. At least that was what it felt like. Bolts of raw energy shot through by body all over knocking me to my knees. My muscles and bones felt as if they were going to explode from all of the energy and the pain was to put it mildly horrendous. Yet the pain only lasted for a few seconds although it felt like an eternity. Subconsciously I could hear my name being shouted but I couldn’t be sure and right then and there did
n’t give a damn. Then I felt something in my mind, almost as if someone was trying to talk to me but not saying anything of a understandable nature. Then I passed out for a second while still on my knees as if a light switch was turned off. Then I awoke just as fast as if the switch was turned back on again. The pain was gone and so was the raw energy that had been shooting all through my body. Now I could clearly hear both Tessia and Sessa yelling my name. Raising my hand I signaled them to stop, and slowly got to my feet. The mace was mine. I could feel it in my mind and confusingly within my body. Just as you can feel your arms and legs are a part of your body, I felt the same way with this mace. I heard movement behind me and turned to see the Muraiins entering the room slowly, cautiously.

  “It’s gone. Can any of you still feel it” asked Tessia talking to the other Muraiins.

  One by one they all answered no. Then they slowly approached me. Except for Sessa. She put caution to the wind and ran to me. She stopped next to me but didn’t touch me not knowing if the raw energies that had just a few seconds ago tried to fry me was still present.

  “Conrad, are you okay?

  “Yes I am fine”. In fact I felt better than I had when I entered. It was almost as if I had been missing a part of me all these years and now had it back.

  “What happened”

  “I don’t know exactly what happened but this mace has somehow become a part of me.

  I can feel it inside of me and in my mind. I can’t explain it but it is there. Yet it feels as if it was always a part of me but had been removed from me for some reason. Tessia can you explain this”

  “Yes I can, but not here. I think this chamber has just gotten a little too small for all of us”

  She said this while looking at Destin, who slowly nodded.

  “Before we proceed can I see the mace?’ asked Dolart

  Without a word I offered the mace to him. He attempted to reach for it and then grunted and stumbled backwards being caught and stabilized by the Sakquain behind him. Without a word he stood up straighter looked at the others and shook his head.

  “What happened”

  Sessa touched my arm and said

  “Please wait”

  Sessa then looked to the rest who all also slowly nodded an affirmative on some unspoken question. Turning to me she took my hand, and everyone else took the hand of the person next to them where we soon had a circle of hand connected people. Then the room vanished, or more accurately, we did. Next thing I knew we were in a cavernous chamber. It was fully a quarter of the size of a football field only under a roof, and what a roof. It was fully sixty feet high and spectacular. Compose of a glass like latticed material in a beautiful pattern that let in the sunlight. The sun was larger than the one we know, with a reddish cast to its glow. There were rosy pink clouds in the sky that was truly beautiful. Looking around it was apparent that this was some type of park. Trees, plants and flowers of unusual design was all around us but situated in such a way that the impressions was one of open beautiful spaces. Looking around further I could see that the structure had no walls. Just huge columns that supported the roof of the structure every twenty feet or so. Beyond this structure I could see a lot of the island. To say this was a fairy tale place is an under statement of the highest order. In one direction I could see what must have been the main city of Muraii and it was truly spectacular. Take the most beautiful eleven city you could find either on the entertainment vids or books and multiply it’s beauty by a factor of three and you will have some idea of this city’s beauty, although I couldn’t see all of it because part of it was blocked by beautiful rolling hills. It another direction I had an unbelievable view of the harbor where the Muraiins had a variety of gorgeous ships moored in the harbor. I could see two other islands in the distance. The view no matter which direction you faced was spectacular.

  Finally I noticed that the others were patiently waiting for me to finish my sight seeing.

  “Sorry, I apologize for staring around as I did, but your island from what I can see is truly beautiful”

  “No apology necessary. We work hard to get and maintain the island’s beauty. It is after all our home” this from Selisa. She then turned to Tessia,

  “It is now obvious, your visions as usual were true. Complete your discussions with Mr. Conrad here and then get back to us on any info we need to know”

  Looking at the other Elders she asked,

  “Are we all in agreement?”

  One by one all of the Elders agreed, but the shock and now disappointment was clearly visible on Dolart’s face.

  Turning one last time to Sessa and smiling, Selisa said,

  “Take care of him young one”

  With that all of the Elders left us heading towards a small building in the distance, which I later found out was a meeting hall for them. Looking at Tessia and Sessa I asked

  “Okay, can you now tell me what is happening”

  Pointing to some benches in a circle a few feet from us we all seated ourselves facing each other. I placed the mace on the bench next to me. Tessia looked at me for a few seconds and then said,

  “The mace you have is unique in ways we do not understand. So to give you as much info on it as I can I need to start from the beginning up to what has happened today. It that okay?’

  “Yes it is. For days now I have felt as if I have been running around in a daze, not fully in control of my actions. It is not a feeling I am familiar with nor is it one I like. Today’s episode only goes to further muddy the waters. So a little truth and honesty right now will help us all”

  They both caught my reference to the fact I felt they were holding something back from Hennings and me.

  “Fine. Around six and a half thousand years ago a meteor fell on our island in a most grand fashion. It was early evening and it lit up the sky as if the sun had risen again. The explosion as it hit the ground was tremendous and caused a lot of damage to the island. Fortunately only a few dozen people was injured, none seriously, although there was extensive property damage. As our mages approached the meteor impact site they were stopped by what they perceived to be an intense radiation field. It was hot and deadly. The closest they could get to it was about three hundred yards and this was with the use of seven mages using their powers to repel the radiation. The strain was great so the mages doing this was relieved on a periodic basis. This allowed the most powerful mages to try and figure out what the meteor was and what to do with it. For a few days they observed and studied the site from a distance as they discussed what to do. On the fourth day they had a shocking visit from one of our people who up until his appearance had been assumed to be dead. His name was Merlinus. Now to say Merlinus was an anomaly among the Muraii is putting it mildly. When a Muraiin is born, his or her ability to harness the Power is very limited or nonexistent. Merlinus however was born with the power level of a young adult Muraiin. His birth killed his mother and injured the Birthers who attended her because a birth such as his had never happened and no one was prepared for it. As he grow up it became apparent that his power level was unlike anything the Muraiins had been exposed to before, even in our earliest history. By the time he was sixteen years old he was twice as powerful as most of our Elders, who power level was the greatest among us. It was also apparent Merlinus body could not contain his power. From the time he was twelve it had started deforming his body. The healers who tried to help him found out that a Muraiin body was not strong enough to channel the vast amount of the Power Merlinus was harnessing. They tried to teach him how to reduce his harnessing ability but it was unless. His body without his help harnessed this vast amount of power on it’s own. The Healers figured at the rate he was absorbing the Power he would die between the ages of twenty-five to forty. They were partially right. By the time Merlinus was twenty-seven, his power was so great he could not be around other Muraiins. The Power within him had also deformed his body badly. On Muraii we have one mountain around sixty seven hundred feet high. So at the age of tw
enty seven Merlinus left us and went to live in a cave that was located around forty two hundred feet up on the opposite side of the mountain to Muraii. He informed us that he would need no assistance from us for any reason to live until he died. Repeated attempts to check up on him was refused until one day he created a force barrier that no one could breach. He isolated himself from all of Muraii like that for years until the Healers and Elders was convinced he had died from his deformities. Yet the force barrier he had created remained. How, no one knew or could figure out. It was a mystery that lasted for years. When the meteor hit Muraii, it was assumed that Merlinus had been dead for over ninety years. So while the Elder mages tried to figure out what to do with the meteor, everyone was stunned when Merlinus came down from the mountain to the impact site. Not only was they stunned with his appearance when it was assumed he had died as the Healers had predicted, his method of travel was also stunning. He levitated himself over the ground to the site. Once there he did not acknowledge anyone present but instead initiated another force field that pushed everyone back from the site at least another two hundred or more feet. He then approached the meteor as the mages yelled at him how dangerous the radiation level was, but he either didn’t hear them or didn’t listen. Once there he studied it for what seemed a couple of minutes and then he amazed everyone again. He levitated the meteor out of the ground, withdrew the force field around himself and the meteor and then proceed to take it back to his mountain cave. Nothing the Elders or anyone else present could do to stop him. Once there his mountain force field again blocked access to him and his cave and no one heard from him again for another nine years. It was after the ninth year that our Seer at that time, Bonnia who was attending an Elder meeting, went into a trance state, got up and left the meeting hall. Concerned the Elders tried to stop and help her but was forced away from her and her path. After awhile it was apparent she was heading to the mountain cave of Merlinus. The Sakquains and Mages followed her but as she got near the barrier it allowed her to cross through but stopped everyone else. She continued on her own until she entered the cave. She was gone for eleven weeks. When she returned it caused a great deal of consternation among my people. They wanted to know where she had been all this time, where was Merlinus, what had he done with the meteor, what was going on. A ton of questions. She didn’t say much but requested an immediate meeting with the Elders, which was granted. In the meeting she revealed that Merlinus all of this time had been working on a weapon of tremendous power which he has made out of the meteor. Naturally the Elders wanted to know what kind of weapon and what was it to be used for. She told them the weapon was special, but instead of explaining she instead asked them to accompany her to Merlinus cave. She was the Seer, so a request from her was not exactly a request, but an imperative. So the Elders went with her to Merlinus cave. They found the barrier gone, and when they entered the cave, Merlinus was found laid out on his bed dead. Bonnia told them that she had been working with him these past weeks on the weapon and upon it’s completion, he gave her final instructions on what was to be done with it, and then went to lay down and rest. When she checked on him later, she found him dead. She then outlined his final instructions as to what was to be done with the weapon.