Manhunter Revelations (26 page)

A Seer must give the weapon to whoever she
felt was the warrior fit to wield it.

No one except the one chosen by the Seer
would be able to approach and seize the weapon.

The weapon has been forged for use against
all beings not of Muraiin or human origins.

So for these past thousands of years the
weapon has been confined to it’s chamber”

After she finished, she stopped, looking at
me as if she knew I had questions.

“So I am the one you choose to wield the
weapon. Wield it against who, the creature”

“Perhaps. I do not know and cannot say. The
creature appears to not be of human origins and definitely not
Muraiin. So perhaps it would be effective against the creature.
Merlinus died before he could give Bonnia more information.

“Why choose me. I got the distinct impression
Dolart was not happy with your selection”

“Dolart is without a doubt the greatest
warrior we have had against The Xantu in generations. He naturally
figured he was the one Merlinus was speaking of to receive the
weapon. Unfortunately I did not see it revealed to me as thus. I
took him to the weapon to see if he could claim it. He could not,
as many have tried, get through the door. So his pride has been
seriously hurt with the fact that a human is the one chosen to
receive the weapon”

“What does it do?

“All I know is that if it is used against a
Muraiin or human, it will be as if it was nothing more then a club.
Used against any being of any other origins it will be a whole lot
more. What I simply do not know, except this. You must not under
any circumstances let it out of your possession. I know I haven’t
given you much in the way of information, but this is all that has
been passed down for generations to us Seers”

We discussed a few more points, but nothing
that shed any further light on this weapon I had received. So after
a while, we felt it was time to get back to Woodspirit and deal
with the creature. After Tessia spoke to the Elders for a while she
came back to us and we were ported back to Woodspirit. It was
nighttime when we got back so after a brief discussion with
Hennings and his staff we decided to execute our plan in the
morning.

All of the woman that were in transit to USPF
HQ had been returned to Woodspirit and it was explained there were
lodging difficulties at HQ, hence their return to Woodspirit. Then
they and the ones waiting transport was informed that that
transport would continue tomorrow. On my way back to my cottage,
Sessa asked if she could join me. Naturally I said yes. As we
walked to my cottage I spotted Carol looking out a window on the
second floor of the convention hall. She waved, then got up and
left the window. I do not know why but I had a hollow and dread
feeling inside me upon seeing her. Luckily for me all Sessa wanted
to do was sleep with me, nothing strenuous.

Chapter Eleven: The Hunt, The Battle

We all met early in the morning to finalize
our plans, which turned out to be quite simple. Sessa and I would
hunt down the creature and Sessa would kill it with a selective use
of the earth energies, which they were all convinced would stop the
creature, preventing it from regenerating any injuries Sessa did to
it and finally killing it. It was also surmised that once Sessa had
hit it with her selective beam nullifying it’s regenerative powers,
I could also kill it with my guns. Nothing was discussed about me
using the mace. In fact Tessia had made it clear I shouldn’t
discuss the weapon with anyone at all for now. She didn’t say why
other than she felt it was best. That was fine with me as I did not
relish the idea of going up against the creature with just a club
in my hand, no matter how special it was susposed to be. The other
ladies would wait in the village. They were convinced the other
being that was connected to the creature would react very badly to
its death. They would then be able to hopefully stop her. Hennings
and his mens job was to just protect the women. There was a lot of
argument over that point, but Serona had already contacted Hennings
superior, and he received a comm instructing him to follow Serona
or Tessia orders to the letter. Hennings and his men weren’t happy.
They wanted in on the battle killing the creature, but they were
soldiers and would comply. We were finished with the final briefing
and everyone knew their assignments. Sessa and I prepared to leave
for our hunt. She was dressed in what looked to be some type of
dark brown leather pants with a matching short sleeve top. On her
feet was an unusual pair of boots that looked to have a very thin
sole. I had asked her about them and she told me they were composed
of a unique material from Muraii that allowed them to walk quietly
and gave very good protection to the feet. They looked too weak to
me but she was adamant about her choice. She also informed me that
her outfit was composed of a unique leather material specially
treated to make it lightweight but extremely strong and durable.
She demostrated how durable by trying to plunge a combat knife
through the material, but could not no matter how hard she stabbed
it. She also carried a matching leather bag draped over her
shoulder with items she said she needed. Looking at the other
ladies I could see they were all similarily dressed in the leather
looking material, albeit in different colors and design. I had
donned my black nano jeans and t-shirt. On top of the shirt I had
my nano vest with multiple pockets, which I loaded up with mini
grenades that were the size of golf balls but packed quite a punch.
I strapped on my .44C and .40C even though I knew they would be
useless except to maybe temporarily stop the creature unless Sessa
modulated beam worked. Yet that temporary stop might help us in the
end so I brought them. Hennings had procured for me some Armored
Hi-Explosive rounds, which was designed to take down reinforced
doors and walls. Hopefully they would make a painful distraction on
the creature until Sessa could hit him with her beams. Now that she
knew what the creature is, she can harness the type of energies
needed to badly hurt and hopefully kill the creature, preventing it
from regenerating. She and the other Ladies were confident about
that. Me and Hennings, not so confident hence the new rounds.
Tessia had been very insistent to me that I not allow the mace out
of my possession, so I had it strapped to the side on my pack. We
hope to have this hunt over today, but I carried in a black
backpack supplies for a three days stay as well as extra ammo.
Before we left, Hennings took me off to the side.

“Conrad I am not happy with this plan, but my
hands have been tied by Command. There is however something I need
you to do while you are out on your hunt”

With that he handed me what looked to be a
dime size shaped object and another box shaped object about four
times the size of the smaller one.

“This is a Spectrum Cam and Storer. It is a
highly secretive device we use for field combat operations. I need
you to wear this on your hunt so that I can get tactical vid
information of your operation afterwards. I know you trust Tessia
and the Ladies, but my instincts is in high gear and to be honest I
don’t fully trust all they have told us. I do believe they may be
holding something back”

“I understand your feelings. I hope they have
told us everything we need to know, but human nature, or in their
case just plain nature being what it is, well who knows. How do I
operate this”

“Stick the small cam on your chest a little
bit above where your heart is located right before you leave the
village. It is the Cam. It has a one hundred and eighty degree
field of view and it sees better than we do, even at night or murky
conditions which would blind us. As soon as you place it upon
yourself, it will start recording right away. The larger box is the
Storer, both receiver and recorder. Secure it anywhere on your
person where you feel it will be safe. The small cam once attached
will start transmitting everything it sees over a highly secure
wavelength to the storer. It has an amazing six day recording
capability”

“Got it”

“Tracker. Be careful out there. We hope this
plan will work, but be prepared for anything. Keep us informed of
your search and let us know if possible when you will engage the
creature”

“I will and thanks. Make sure everyone here
are ready for their part”

“Don’t worry, we will, and good hunting”

I took the small camera and placed it where
he instructed. As I did, it seemed to sink a little bit down into
my vest. Rejoining Sessa we got into a two occupant MATV and drove
out of the village to start our hunt. Two hours later we left the
MATV and started our hunt on foot. Sessa had an orange green stone
she took out of her pack, which she said had been tuned by the
mages back in Muraii to the energies being used by the creature.
They were confident it could lead us to the creature. I had my
doubts, but she felt assured of its reliability. She said as we got
closer to it she would feel a feedback from he stone which would
get stronger the closer we got to it. It acts like a homing beacon
to tell her which direction to go. Which was why we were now on
foot heading up into some dense forest in our search. We were
keeping our talking to a bare minimum as we had no idea how good
this creature could hear. We had been following the stone for over
an hour now when I started to notice the changes in the landscape.
Stepping up I tapped Sessa on a shoulder getting her attention.
Signaling a halt and quiet, we both stooped down and scanned to
area in opposite directions looking for the creature. After a few
minutes with no sign of it, Sessa asked quietly,

“Did you see something?”

“Look around you. Do you notice anything out
of the ordinary?”

She only looked around for a few seconds and
then a look of shock crossed her face.

“The trees and plant life is sick. I was
concentrating on the stone so much I didn’t see the changes”

“I encountered these same conditions on my
search for the creature on my first hunt in the woods. That was
just before it attacked”

“So we are close”

“Yes, so let’s proceed with caution”

Checking the stone Sessa started out again
and moved forward. We had been heading eastward for around a couple
of hundred yards before she stopped. She appeared to be somewhat
confused but I waited giving her time while I watched the area
around us. She then turned around facing northwestward. Looking at
me she indicated the new direction. Signaling her to proceed we
took off in the new direction. This time we had traveled a couple
of miles before she stopped again. This time the confusion on her
face was more intense. After a few seconds she pointed southward.
Signaling for her to get close we again stoopped down.

“Either the creature is traveling around in a
circle or it is circling us. I think it knows we are on its
trail”

“How could it know. We are nowhere near it.
The stone would let me know if we were”

“I don’t know, but I underestimated this
creature’s ability once. We all have. We have to assume that
somehow it knows we are hunting it”

“What do we do?”

“We continue but very slowly. I am betting
the creature is now hunting us and we will meet it soon, more
likely on it’s terms, which I don’t like. Will that stone let you
know if the creature gets close to us?”

“Yes. The closer it gets to us the stronger
the feedback”

“Will you be able to tell if it is very
close, say around a hundred yards from us?

“Yes. That close the feedback should be
tremendous”

“Okay. We will head eastward and see if the
creature continues moving circular to us or if he changes direction
towards or away from us”

So I led us eastward quietly, slowly but very
alertly. I was taking no chances on this creature sneaking up on
us. Our advantage of sneaking up on it I now felt was gone. It was
now just a matter of who would find whom first. I then had a
thought.

“Sessa, just as you feel the feedback from
the stone is it possible the creature could also feel a
feedback?

At first it appeared she was going to say no,
but hesitated as she thought it out. Looking at me I could see the
answer on her face.

“The stone is probably giving away our
position to the creature. I think we can use it to bring it to us.
To engage it on our terms in a location of our choosing”

Looking at the new Geo-Map supplied by
Hennings I located the spot I was looking for.

‘There is a clearing about four miles
northward. That is where we will engage it”

It was now early afternoon and we had been
traveling north towards the clearing for a short time when Sessa
stopped completely. She then called to me quickly.

“It’s gone”

“What. Gone where?”

“Just gone. The stone is no longer detecting
its energy”

“Okay, what does that mean?

“I have no idea. The only way the stone could
not detect the creature’s energy is if it died or was at least six
hundred miles away”

“How about if it went underground”

“Bad idea. Its energy would probably be more
detectable if it did. Remember the energy it is using comes from
the Power, which is within the earth. Going underground is the last
thing it should do if it wants to hide.”

“How about if it was up in the air?

“It would have to be very high. At least half
a mile up to reduce it’s amount of detectable energy. But how would
it get that high. Please don’t tell me you think it can fly”

“I don’t know what to think. Each time I
think we have this beast figured out, it throws a curve at us”

“You think we should call off the hunt and
report this to everyone”

“Somehow I think it’s too late for that. I
have a very sneaky suspicion we are already in a trap. Let me
notify Hennings we may soon be in conflict with the creature.”