Manhunter Revelations (25 page)

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 didn’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 twenty 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.