Manhunter Revelations

by H. F. Daniels

  “Conrad, you beast. You have killed my bilty, my brother. You couldn’t just let him live. I am going to hurt you in the worse way, and then I am going back and destroy that backwater town that brought you here. You should have taken me. It would have stopped you from your actions of hunting down my bilty and you would have lived”

  Me I just stood there with a dumb look on my face.

  “Carol, please stop. We can help you, get you home”

  “You stupid cow. What makes you think I want to go back THERE!”

  “Please stop. We can still talk about this. We are friends remember”

  “None of you were really my friends. You don’t think I didn’t know why you and your bitches were in town. I am going to kill all of you”

  Sessa talking to her really set her off, because her hands started to glow a nasty looking purple color.

  “Sessa, I think you may have to blast her”

  Just as I said that Carol let loose a deadly looking blast from her hands. Moving fast I pushed Sessa out of the line of fire. The blast was so powerful that as it missed both of us the heated air blasted us both off our feet. Sessa recovered first and jumped in front of me as Carol unleashed another blast. The blast stopped about three feet in front of us coming up against a shimmering field of air that suddenly appeared in front of us. The blast was powerful enough to push us back a few feet. Sessa then cut loose with two blast of her own which slammed up against a purplish shimmering field in front of Carol.

  “Her power is too great. I just barely stopped that last blast. I may not be able to stop another”

  “What can we do?”

  What we did was run and duck behind some trees, which exploded around us as she came after us. Drawing my .40C I cut loose on her. I could the bullets hit her shield causing small sparks as they hit.

  “Any ideas how we can get through her shield?”

  Sessa never got a chance to answer as Carol cut loose with a powerful blast that hit the ground and exploded as if a bomb went off. I was thrown off my feet to the side. Sessa was driven back and slammed against a tree. Both of us was badly stunned. Then an amazing sight came out of the woods. Yessal, Doeeal and Fee came out of the woods like avenging angels. I had been distracted by their appearance so I was slow to see Carol had me targeted. Fee seeing I was a target ran a couple of steps and then executed a twenty foot jump landing right in front of me as the blast from Carol hit her erected shield. She grunted with the impact of the blast, but otherwise stood her ground. Meanwhile Yessal and Doeeal cut loose on Carol with their blast. Then Sessa hit her with hers. Carol’s shield absorbed all the hits as she cut loose back at the ladies. Sessa called Yessal and Doeeal together with her and combined their powers to make a stronger shield.

  “Conrad we have to join the others” yelled Fee

  “Okay, go. I’m right behind you” touching her shoulder to let her know I was behind her.

  Moving sideways we rapidly moved towards the others, taking two blasts in the process. I couldn’t see Fee’s face but she had to be under tremendous strain taking those blasts. We finally joined the others and I could actually see their shield get stronger looking as they joined their powers. Then I watched a battle that was terrible in it’s intensity. These ladies was throwing around power on an unbelievable level. Each and every one of them were like a battle tank of their own. The blasts were hitting the shields, some bouncing off and hitting the trees and devastating the area. Trees were blasted away, most now on fire. Luckily the fire was moving away from us. But it may not last. Some of the blasts hit rocks and boulders in the area, which exploded violently. I was witnessing a battle from hell between the forces of good vs. evil and it was frustrating as I could do nothing as this battle was definitely out of my range. But it soon became obvious the true power was with Carol. She was standing up to the four of them and was holding her own. It fact it was starting to seem as if the Ladies blasts were weakening in power. My guess was correct. I was standing behind them as the battle went on and I could see them straining to maintain their shields.

  “Conrad, we are weakening. We will not be able to hold her off much longer. Leave, get away and back to Hennings. Hopefully you all will find a way to stop her. We will hold her back long enough for you to get away”

  “I am not going to leave you”

  “GO!. There is nothing you can do here” yelled Fee

  Damn it they were right about me being helpless here, but I couldn’t leave them.

  “Not going, now concentrate on what you are doing. If we go down, we go down together.

  They said nothing else, marshaling all of their power to stay in the battle. Then I saw something that caught my attention. Looking hard I saw it again. Then again.

  “Her shield is weakening. I can see it flicker after your blasts hit it”

  After a few seconds, Sessa yelled,

  “I don’t see it. Anyone else”

  No one else said anything, which meant they didn’t see the flickering either. Then a desperate plan came to mind.

  “Sessa can all of you marshal as much power as possible and release it all in one unified blast”

  “If we released that much power we would have none left to power a shield”

  “If you hit her with that much power, It may overload her shield causing it to fail. In any event I may be able to get a shot through it.

  “You want us to gamble on that?” said Doeeal

  About this time Yessal was screaming like a wild woman as she released her blasts.

  “As you all said, you will not be able to keep this up much longer”

  A few more seconds passed, when Fee said,

  “What is your plan? Receiving a dark look from Doeeal.

  “Give me a few seconds to retreat and flank her over there” I said pointing to Carol’s left indicating a good size granite boulder that hadn’t as yet been hit.

  “Okay go” yelled Sessa

  “When I’m in position and signal cut loose with everything you got”

  I moved swiftly back into the woods and when I couldn’t see them, I circled around to my position. Twice flying debris almost hit me from the multitude of blasts. When I finally got to my position I looked out to see the ladies had stopped blasting but was maintaining their shield. Carol sensing them weakening was moving closer and intensifying her attacks. None of the ladies would look my way. I needed them to see me and know I am ready. Finally Fee quickly glanced my way. I didn’t get to signal her, probably because they couldn’t wait any longer. All of a sudden there was a bright glow from them and then a blast of monumental proportions was unleashed on Carol.

  I couldn’t even see the individual beams they were so bright and powerful. The blast hit Carol shield and the release of all that power hitting the shield caused a mini sun to blossom and explode. The blast leveled everything that was still standing for a hundred yards around. I had to duck behind the boulder the energy release was so great. The boulder shuddered and for a second I thought it was going to blow back on me. After a second the mini sun went out. Rising with spots flickering in my eyes, I looked at Carol. Clearly the combined blast had stunned her. The ladies was down on the ground their energy depleted. Carol saw that also and raised her hands for the kills. Bringing my .44C

  up fast I emptied the magazine. Nine 330gr Armor High Explosive rounds flew her way.

  Just then Carol cut loose on the Ladies. Out of the corner of my eye I saw Fee stand and erect a shield, but it didn’t have the power it needed. Carol’s blast hit the shield and Fee went flying. At the same time there were rapid mini explosion after explosion near Carol’s head. When it was over Carol was still floating but was not blasting anymore. Glancing at the Ladies I saw them gathering around Fee fallen body. Looking back at Carol I saw her fall to the ground, landing and then falling to her knees. I could see what looked like some dark ooze running down her shoulder. I then saw that part of the back of her head was missing. She stayed that way for a few sec
onds before slowly turning to me.

  “I could have made you and me happy. What did these bitc..bi...” She stopped talking and then fell over hard. Rising and reloading fast I advanced on her ready to shoot again. As I reached her, her body was doing the same thing the creature's did. It seemed to be shrinking up on her frame. One of my rounds had took off the left side to back of her skull. Checking to make sure she was dead, I rushed over to the Ladies.

  “Are you all okay”

  I could see Fee was injured. The front of her leather shirt was a smoking mess. There was an armored under shirt underneath, but it was badly blackened. Sessa and Doeeal was working on her trying to remove the shirt.

  “Fee is badly injured. None of us is strong enough yet to open a portal. We are going to have to try and stabilize her here. Is she dead?”

  “Yes. She’s gone”

  After that they said nothing as they worked on her. About twenty minutes later they sat back.

  “We have done all we could. She must hold on until we get her back to Muraii. We need at least another half hour or more to get our strength back to take her through a portal”

  “Will she be alright”

  “We don’t know”

  I stood there as we all looked at Fee, praying for the best. A few minutes later I heard a hum and then right in the clearing a large portal opened up. Immediately out of it came two of the giants and following them were two men and a woman who it could be seen were Sakquains. The man in the middle stepped forward looked around and was about to shout when Sessa beat him to it.

  “Over here Loyis”

  Spotting us they rushed over. We didn’t have to say anything about Fee. Seeing her condition, the one named Loyis told the other man,

  “Get Fee to the Healers”

  He stepped forward, crotched down and placed his hands on Fee and a portal opened in front of them. He picked her up and they were gone.

  “Looking at the other ladies, he asked,

  “Are you all well?”

  “Yes, thank you. How did you know where to find us.?”

  “When Tessia brought Serona back to Muraii injured, she reported on the woman creature escape. When the Ladies had the man Hennings fly them to follow the path the she creature took and then portaling off the craft. They knew the general direction.

  “As soon as we arrived, we were given the coordinates. Seeing this clearing on their map,

  I portaled us here hoping to be in your general area. I see we got closer than that. Where is the creatures?

  Pointing to the other side of the clearing, he saw the body

  “Dead?”

  “As dead as her bilty”

  “Her what”

  “The other creature”

  “Job well done Ladies. The Elders will be proud”

  “Conrad here is the one who took both creatures down”

  “The Ladies took the she creature down. I just placed the lucky shot”

  “Yes but the Bond Beast you took down alone”

  Looking at me in surprise, Loyis stepped closer placed a hand on my shoulder and said

  “Well done human, well done”

  Chapter Twelve: Final Briefing

  It was now two days since both creatures had been killed. Ten minutes after the Muraiins had arrived on site, Hennings and a heavy contingent of his men arrived. Things got a little tense as both parties wanted to claim the bodies for research. Finally Command commed Hennings and told him to release the bodies to the Muraiins since they had more knowledge as to what they were, but only after getting confirmation from them that whatever they found would be shared with the USOA. Yesterday Sessa had come and told me Fee would be okay, but she would need some time to heal. In fact all the ladies had been ordered back to Muraii for healing. They all had sustained some injuries in the battle. Yours truly had received some military medical wonder care when I got back to the village, and was just taking it easy letting my body heal. Drinking a lot of the Elixir Ale while I was doing so helped. Hennings had traveled to HQ yesterday for a full debriefing and had just gotten back late this morning. He had called me and ask that I join him later that afternoon. He didn’t say why, in fact he was quite tight lipped about it, so I knew it had to be important. I arrived on time and met him in his office. We were the only ones there, which made it more ominous. Sitting down, he poured us both a drink from an unlabeled bottle. Taking mine I raised my eyebrows as to what it is.

  “Whiskey. The real good stuff. It is from an old whiskey company, which used to be located in the mid Southeast sector before the plague. On the market it cost $600 MU’s. That got my attention. Toasting we both took a drink, and he was right. It was excellent whiskey, better than any I had drunk to date. But then I am not a real whiskey drinker, but after tasting this I just might convert. After a few minutes savoring the flavor Hennings started.

  “The report on the two creatures came back"

  "Anything useful?"

  "It has been confirmed both from the Muraiins and our scientists that both creatures are not of this earth. Their internal makeup, blood and DNA tests done by our scientists as well as the tests conducted on the bodies by the Muraiins healers both confirmed that fact. The tests also showed they were related DNA wise, but how we do not know. As for them coming from another dimension, well only the Muraiins are convinced of that. In any event we have been ordered to follow the Muraiins lead in any further research on the bodies"

  "Did you review the comm vid of the battle?"

  "Yes. Command did not inform the Muraiins that we had a vid of the battle"

  "Why"

  "The same reason you are thinking now"

  I poured us both another glass of the whiskey and settled back in my chair.

  "Those women were throwing around firepower on a class with some battle vehicles. Fee's power could possibly rival that of a battle tank. If any of The Xantu has powers like that we could find ourselves outgunned. We need a whole hell of a lot more info on them if we are to prepare to fight them"

  "Command thinks the same thing and is in discussion with the Muraiins right now on just that subject"

  "Advise Command to stay on this. We both know the Muraiins like to keep secrets but info of this type cannot be one"

  I sat there in deep thought for a few seconds.

  “What's on your mind”

  I took a few seconds to gather my thoughts.

  “I have always had what I thought was a sharp mind. It allowed me to survive in a market where the life expectancy is rather short. Yet throughout this little adventure of ours my mind has felt as if it was in a daze of some sort, but only when I had questions about the Ladies. There were times I knew I was missing something important, but I couldn’t pin it down, and then I just dismissed it”

  Hennings sat up at that.

  “Now that is interesting”

  “How so?”

  “A week or so after we first got here Stallings brought up the fact that every time we questioned the Ladies on matters pertaining to them or their reason for being here, we were sort of brushed off and we didn’t press the matter. He felt the Ladies were doing something to cloud our thoughts when we had questions in those areas”.

  “So I wasn’t imagining it”.

  “No I don’t believe you were. We brought this matter up to Command, but they instructed us to continue to follow the Ladies instructions. Believe me, we did not like being in the dark like that especially when there may have been some type of mind manipulation going on. Now that the case is over, I have my own sources I intend to check with on this.

  Saying that he pulled a vial out of his pocket. There was blood in it.

  “What’s that?”

  “It’s a sample of Fee’s blood we extracted from the battle site. Discreetly of course. I intend to find out as much as I can about them. If I have to work with them again, me and my guys are going to need more info than we have been getting”

  “Good luck. If you find out anyt
hing interesting though, please let me know”

  “Oh I intend to especially since I may need to call you up and press you into service”

  “What?”

  Hennings handed me a sealed document. Opening it I read its contents. After reading it I looked over at Hennings.

  “Is this legal?

  “I don’t know. Yet as you can see it is an Emergency Command Order. A well paid order at that”

  The document I had just read was an order from Hennings USMF Command recruiting me for any duty they felt required my services in confrontations with The Xantu. It had two general’s signatures on it. One each from the Warriors and Intelligence Commands.

  It also outlined I would be paid twice my normal fee for each call up to duty.

  “You know I have to check the legality of this order”

  “Of course. By now Yolanda should have also received a copy of these orders at your office”

  I sat back and took another drink.

  "So what are your plans now. Surely going back to catching criminals would seem boring after this"

  "Believe it or not, I am looking forward to doing just that. I have a lot to absorb. My father's is the king of monsters, which I now know exist and have to adjust to that, especially the part I have killed two. On top of all of that, I have been given a weapon I don't understand, but which I now know is effecting me in some manner"

  "How that?" asked Hennings alarmed

  "When Sessa and I was fighting the creature, I noticed my reflexes were off, my speed was seriously impaired. I didn't say anything to Sessa because I didn't want her worrying about me. With everything that was going on at the time I don't think she noticed. The thing is that I knew my impairment was due to the mace I was carrying. One of the first things I intend to do when I get back is try and find out exactly what Tessia saddled me with"

  "She couldn't give you anymore info on it. What it does, anything?"

  "No. Basically their mage Merlinus died after finishing it and before he could give them all the info on it. By the way, thanks for not reporting it to Command"