Creatures of Snow Read Online Free PDF

REALM would not have
known every detail of the Origin and the space it inhabited as cold
hard facts, not whimsical speculation.
    Ruth gave them a hard stare. He looked her
straight in the eye for the first time and gave a charismatic smile
and shrug. It’s not like they were causing trouble…it was just
innocent fun.
    Her face softened and her eyes rolled up
once again as she turned her attention to the stage.
    Sky breathed a sigh of relief. Really, what
was the harm in letting them stay anyway? He followed her gaze down
and focused for the first time on the large stage that sat front
and center. Four seats were set up beside a wooden podium, and
behind that floated a large hover screen that was alternating
images of portal sites.
    A hush fell over the
auditorium, “That’s Dr. Manix.” Ruth whispered as a middle age man
with ash blond hair made his way briskly towards the
podium.
    Dr. Manix raised his arms to gather the
attention he already had in the absolutely silent room.
    “ Welcome, scientists and
researchers of REALM!” He said with his arms opening up wide and
his voice booming throughout the vast space.
    The sudden explosion of
thunderous applause that rolled around the stadium was enough to
send Sky to back into his seat. Looking over to Al he could see the
humorous surprise that played on his features as well.
    Dr. Manix took it all in
with a jolly nod and smile, letting the audience calm themselves
after a few moments. Once the room settled back into silence, he
let the calm sit awhile, slowly turning his eyes from one side of
the room, to the other.
    Finally, he spoke.
“Science…is awesome. And today…we begin a new journey in hopes of
creating a new era of peace, prosperity, and a renewed sense of
being for all mankind…” He paused, leaving his words reverberating
in their ears, “without shedding a single drop of
blood.”
    The audience ruptured into
another bout of roaring ovation, but this time Manix held his hands
up to regain control. “And now, let us welcome our guests,” He
turned to his left as three men walked out onto the stage, “Dr.
Zeph, an antiquity Iko, along with his apprentice Roland Levit and
our very own Professor Robert Blanks from the REALM Academy of the
Highest Learning.”
    Sky snapped to attention
in time with Al, “Ha! Right there on center stage, Zeph must love
this.”
    “ Good thing he combed his
hair.” Al laughed over to Sky in a nearly inaudible
whisper.
    Sky shook his head, “I
guess he was really telling the truth, for once.” Although he still
had no idea what Zeph would want with REALM, but it wasn’t all
together shocking either. Somewhere behind that glassy stare there
was a cunning mind that had made its way into any organization of
importance.
    Even from such a distance,
he could imagine Zeph’s wide, gunpowder eyes slowly inspecting the
audience in an oblivious wonderment. The guy loved an audience and
attention and everything that came with it…so just what was he up
to?
    Roland, the boy whose badge he was wearing,
was doing a very poor job of hiding his absolute terror. He felt a
slight stab of sympathy for the poor jerk – how overwhelmed he must
feel when suddenly faced with thousands of the brightest minds in
the galaxy.
    Professor Blanks, on the other hand, looked
around blandly; seemingly indifferent to the entire event.
    “ He takes your breath
away, am I right?” Ruth whispered with a soft edge to her smile.
“Dr. Zeph. A real Iko, right here before us...”
    Sky stared at her, taking
a moment to understand why she was so impressed. He had almost
forgotten that most people didn’t get to interact with Iko’s, or if
they did, they didn’t know it. The few Iko’s that were left in the
Living realm tried to stay hidden amongst normal society for one
reason or another. Sky hadn’t realized how much he took them for
granted, having been adopted by one.
    “… It’s been one hundred
and fifty years since nearly all of the Iko’s