Manhunter Revelations (24 page)

"Okay we will for now. When do you want to
put this plan into action"

"Tomorrow. First off, we need to get the
remaining woman re-secured. Secondly I need Conrad here to
accompany me"

"Accompany you where?"

"To Muraii"

"All of the Ladies registered extreme shock
on their faces except for Serona, who probably already knew of
Tessia request"

Out of the corner of my eye I could see
Hennings and Forne were also shocked, but not to the degree the
Ladies were.

"Conrad, will you accompany me? As you can
see from my Ladies reactions this is a most unusual request. Trust
me, you have no idea of the riot I caused back home when I informed
them of my intention to bring you back to Muraii"

I was starting to get some real bad feelings
about this.

"Can you tell me why you need me to go with
you"

"All will be made clear to you in Muraii"

I didn't like this, but my curiosity to see
this Muraii was great, somewhat overriding my caution.

"Okay, yes I will"

"Thank you. Sessa, you will also accompany
us. Serona will stay here to help facilitate our plan of attack
with Major Hennings"

Sessa approached me and said,

"The trip to Muraii will be somewhat
unsettling for you, but will pass quickly. However once we arrive,
please remain still until you are told to do otherwise. This is for
your own safety".

"Okay, I got it"

Tessia after giving last minute instructions
to Serona and Major Hennings then walked over to us.

"Conrad are you ready?"

"Yes. What do I do?"

"I will open a portal to Muraii. We will then
all walk through the portal. Sessa has told you what you should
expect from the transition and what to do afterwards?"

"Yes"

"Okay then let's begin"

Without any outward indication from either
woman, right in front of us appeared a portal that was somewhat
oval in shape and looked to be filled with some type of mist. To
say I wasn't feeling some type of trepidation would be a lie, but
at the same time I was highly excited on the prospect of the trip
to Muraii. With Sessa and Tessia on each side of me and each taking
one of my hands they proceed to led me into the portal. As I
stepped into the portal I could feel a strong pull on my leg
pulling the rest of me into it. As I fully stepped into the portal
with the Ladies, all perception ceased.

Chapter Ten: Muraii

Next thing I knew I was in a huge ornate
chamber of unbelievable beauty. The transition from one to the
other was so abrupt that I stumbled when I left the portal. It was
as if I had gone to sleep, slept all night with no dreams and then
abruptly woke up in the process of sleepwalking. Both Sessa and
Tessia grabbed my arms to help steady me. There was no other
sensation. As I got my bearings I noticed there were four of the
large giants positioned around us, all armed with the largest
double bladed axes I have ever seen. All of their attention was
focused on me. Stepping forward, Tessia said something in what I
assumed to be their native language. The giants all gave one last
look at me and then formed a guard around us with two in front and
two behind us as we walked rapidly to a small door in a corner of
the room. The lighting in the room wasn’t much so I wasn't able to
see very much, but what I did see was truly spectacular. The
ceiling was dome shaped somewhat and was at least thirty feet or so
high. The room had six walls in a hexagonal shape. Situated around
the room in alcoves in the walls was statuary of different animals
and structures neither of which I could identify. The room was
painted or colored a beautiful pastel green color with assorted
artistic drawings scenes situated on them showing multiple forested
landscapes. There was no furnishings anywhere in the room. Strictly
the room appeared to be some type of waypoint. There were three
other doors out of the chamber, all located on every other of the
far walls. Those doors also had artistic drawings on them of some
landscapes scenes. The door we were approaching was a dark gray
color appearing to resemble a dense wood. There was a simple ornate
handle on the door to open it. The two walls on either side of the
door we were approaching had no doors. That was all I got to see
before we entered the door into a tunnel that was also hexagonal
shaped, but was composed of grayish white rock walls. The tunnel
was at least ten feet high as the giant's heads cleared the ceiling
easily by a foot or more. The walls was smooth on the bottom and
two adjacent sides. The upper walls and ceiling was roughly cut,
but enhanced the look of the tunnel. There was some type of unknown
lighting glowing from the ceiling in roughly four-foot sections,
but I could not see any type of fixture that was emitting the
light. It just appeared as if every other section of the upper part
of the tunnel emitted the light. The light was so natural, it was
almost the same spectrum as daylight. After about seventy-five feet
the floor gradually started going downward. We proceed this way for
about thirty feet before coming to another door. The door was
composed of a dark reddish veined wood that was positively
gorgeous. Off the top of my head I figured a door such as this
would be priceless on earth. The giant in front on the left stepped
forward and pulled the door outwards to allow us to enter. The
hinges on the door must have been well made or nicely lubricated
because the door for its size barely made a noise as it opened. The
door was almost normal sized and the giants most certainly would
need to stoop to enter, but this prove unnecessary as neither of
the giants followed us into the room. There were however other
occupants already there. It was also when I got my first look at an
original Muraiin and what could only be male Sakquains. There were
six other people waiting for us in the room. Four was obviously
male Sakquains as they all had that same exotic inhuman beauty as
the woman. They were tall. Easily as tall as me except for one who
was half a head taller and from appearances obviously in charge.
His hair was a brilliant jet black streaked here and there with
silver. His bearing and posture was regal and almost arrogant as if
he was insulted to have to be here. But most of all you could see
the male Sakquains were warriors. They all were in excellent
physical condition with no traces of body fat showing anywhere on
their bodies. You could also tell they were much older than the
ladies. The leader and one other appeared to be years older than
the other two. The two original Muraiins however were the
showstoppers here. One of them had fur that was a beautiful golden
brown in color and it was easy to see she was female. She was
dressed in a robe that covered all but her left shoulder that
hugged her in all the right places and glowed with rainbow colors
as she moved. She was maybe a few inches short of five feet, and if
it can be believed more beautiful then the Ladies, and yes she did
have fur on her body. In fact the fur on the visible parts of her
body was so fine you had to get close to even see that there was
fur on her body. Once you did there was an almost irresistible urge
to softly stroke it. There was no fur on her face, front part of
her neck or the palms of her hands, but the fur everywhere else I
saw it was beautiful and luxurious. The fur on her head was full
and flowed down her back to her waist and was moving in slow smooth
waves from her head downward. I do not know if I can accurately
describe her, but believe me when I say she is beautiful. The
Ladies had absolutely nothing on her in the beauty department. The
male Muraiin was almost as impressive except you could see he was
old. Very old. The age showed in his face, but it was apparent he
had the same exotic beauty as the female. His fur was a rich green
in color with the fur on his head was cut short. It almost looked
like the buzz cuts that some military personnel like to wear. He
had on a dark navy blue plain robe that covered him from his
shoulders to his mid calves that reminded me of robes worn by
magicians seen on some of the entertainment vids from before the
plague. It just needed runes on it to be complete. Both him and the
female wore nicely made sandals on their feet that appeared to be
made out of leather. The Sakquains wore what looked like leather
pants with a leather top, short sleeved. The patterns on each one
was different, designed I guess by the wearer. The tallest one whom
I took to be the leader also had a cape across his back, which I
later saw also had an intricate design on it. I also found out this
cape denoted his status as a Master Mage Elder. I had been so
entranced by the original female's appearance that I wasn't even
aware I had been staring at her and that Tessia was introducing me
to the group.

"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