To Be Chosen

by John Buttrick

  “That’s Jerremy,” Samuel pointed out a little too loudly.

  “You are correct and yes, he has been Condemned. I have been putting off the alterations until your Ducaunan friend arrived. Seriously Daniel, did you, an impotent Accomplished, really hope to confront me with a Fledgling of the Eagle Guild?”

  Daniel realized all of the bald people were Condemneds and also noted the flute lying on a pedestal. “I’ve come to call you to account,” he replied and focused beams of potential, finer than the thinnest hair, some from the back of his head and from his thumb, placing a shield on the other two entrances, and the flute. He added Da Capos to perpetuate them, and tied those off to his life force, all while Serin Gell was laughing.

  Serin focused on the Teki. “I recognize you. Samuel Cresh, the third Talented at the Battle of Bashierwood,” the wretched Accomplished said and a cruel smile lit up his gaunt pasty face. “My vengeance is complete. The trumpet of Tarin Conn will soon be in my hands, those responsible for my defeat at Bashierwood are in my grasp, and I will soon destroy the flute of Della Lain and free the Supreme Maestro Tarin Conn!”

  The man was getting overly excited and proving he was responsible for the theft of the trumpet, although seemed unaware that his minions, Cale Tomei and Jak Taltin, were dead. There was an old saying in the mountains, “Be careful when asking for rain, you may get a flash flood.” Daniel noticed the Condemned leaning against the wall. It looked like a pale sore-covered fish out of water. Its gender was indiscernible, seeing as it was grotesquely contorted out of shape.

  “Unfortunately for you Daniel, your Condemnation must take place before I free my master. Although, I will make you watch while I Condemn Accomplished Cresh and alter Jerremy DeSuan like I did Sherree Jenna over there,” Serin Gell said, and pointed to the fish-shaped Condemned.

  Daniel’s breath caught in his throat while his eyes locked onto Sherree. It was like being struck by a lighting bolt. His face tingle with heat and he took a breath. He arrived too late! The revelation never said anything about Condemnation. He closed his eyes, unable to look upon her.

  “It is too bad really. A true shame you missed how I stripped her naked, ripped her fingernails, toenails, nose, ears, and breasts from her body, and worked my artistry upon her. Well, you are at least seeing the end result. You know, I might have been just a tad extreme with her. You see, the form I chose cannot sustain life so I will have to rearrange her body again. Now you will have the opportunity to watch as I contort her into a state capable of sustaining her in agony for many years to come,” Serin Gell kept talking, fueling the anger boiling up in Daniel, who opened his eyes and fixed a level stare on the object of his rage.

  Samuel let out an inarticulate scream and glowed orange. At the same time, Daniel sprang forward and slipped a wall to wall, ceiling to floor, shield between him and Samuel. A bright orange beam of light hit the shield, was absorbed, and only served to make it glow bright blue. “What!” his friend shouted clearly confused, and then looked at Daniel. “That’s your potential.”

  Serin Gell grabbed his baton, a level three crescendo, giving him command of six bolts of potential, and sprang from his throne. A burnt-amber beam shot out, striking Daniel on the forehead, and did nothing more than strengthen his personal shield. “This is not possible! You should have been Condemned by my spell. I know about the Silencing, Tarin Conn told me so,” Gell stated, as if denying what was happening could save him.

  Daniel wanted to scream, having come so far yet failing to save Sherree. He did not care what this man knew. “Did he also tell you that I am a younger version of him? Did he tell you I am the other Chosen Vessel? Did he warn you another confrontation with me will cost you your life?”

  The sneer disappeared from Serin’s face and his brows drew down in anger. He grabbed the flute, no doubt hoping to add eight bolts to his potential, and tried to play it. Air did not flow into the instrument and the valves were immovable. Failing to make it work, he threw it on the ground and shouted, “Ask him yourself!” And then a burnt-amber sphere appeared, surrounding the flute. The floor began to sizzle as the corrosive light ate into it and the flute glowed topaz blue. “No, this is not possible. How could you have placed all of these shields? My ring would have glowed if potential was focused at me,” not one beam had beam focused at him, “I watched and know you did not have the glow of potential around you.”

  Daniel was in no mood to educate this man. “You hurt Sherree,” he told him in a low flat tone of voice.

  “I more than hurt her, you ignorant fool!” Serin Gell shouted back.

  Daniel raised his hand and sent a jet of white hot flame at the foolish Accomplished.

  Serin jumped to the right and sent blades of solidified air whirling towards Daniel, who was shielded, but still spun to the left, instantly reacting with the skill and form of a Master-of-the-blade, and then launched a beam of Blunt Force at his opponent, clipping him on the shoulder and sending him spinning to the floor. Gell rolled to his feet and sent little balls of flame in rapid fire bursts. Daniel kept his mouth closed, covered his nose using his right hand, and charged at the Pentrosan while the personal shield absorbed the assault.

  They were turned around. Gell had his back to the southeast entrance. “Rex, come help me!”

  The man who had been lurking around the Nest could not have heard through the energy field, yet nodded his head, apparently understanding, and ran at full speed, smack into the invisible shield, and plopped onto his bottom. He stood up and focused potential at the unseen obstacle in his path. The shield began to glow bright blue and the man finally gave up and fled out the way he came.

  Serin Gell aimed his baton and sent a streak of lightning straight at Daniel, whose shield absorbed most of the energy, but did not prevent him from falling to the ground after receiving a shock in his mouth, nose, and ears. Gell laughed and ran at Daniel, sending another bolt of lightning into him. His head tingled and it took him a few moments to clear his mind and then will his shield to cover him completely. The blast had been so powerful he could feel Longwing, Piper, Squeal, Peeka, and Sly, fleeing the harmonic waves from the spell. Out in the night they flew along with all three colonies of bats. He could no longer breathe or hear. Gell launched another bolt at him, but this time it was completely absorbed by Daniel’s shield and also gave him enough time to launch, Lightning Strike, at his opponent. The bolt struck Serin’s forward shield and did nothing more than drive the Accomplished back a few paces.

  Daniel sprang to his feet and summoned, Twister, a much weaker version than the one he summoned during the Battle of Bashierwood. This spell was small, but large enough to engulf a man. He directed it behind Serin’s forward shield, slamming him hard against the wall. Daniel sent twin jets of flame, one from each hand, and bathed his enemy in a fire hot enough to glaze the wall and floor, but Gell had already shielded himself completely and was unharmed. Both of them were shielded and could not breathe. Letters formed within Serin’s energy field, now I know why the Master has forbidden us to challenge you. I’ll not make this mistake again, he wrote, and then reformed his shield into a dome and began sinking into the cave floor. He was tunneling, trying to escape.

  Daniel summoned, Find All, and closed his eyes, following Serin Gell using the spell, and then Summoned, Talon Strike and extended the claw into the tunnel. He grasped Serin Gell and pulled him back into the room. By this time the Pentrosan had reestablished his full shield, but that was to be expected. Daniel summoned, Shatter Sphere, and centered it on the shielded Accomplished while holding him in his talon. This fight was over.

  The full shield was no longer required so Daniel made the necessary adjustments that would allow him to breathe and hear again. He inhaled deeply and let it out slow, removed the shield protecting Samuel’s side of the room, and ceased the potential for Talon Strike. The spell casting made Daniel thirsty so he drank a full canteen of water while sitting down on the throne to watch Serin Gell. It was not long before Sam
came over looking like he had a thousand questions that needed to be answered.

  “Who has been teaching you those advanced spells? The twister comes as no surprise considering your relationship with the Maestro of the Zephyr Guild, but that lightning and jets of flame must have come from the Sun Guild, and the shields must have come from my guild, yet are so advanced even I have not been introduced to them,” he blurted and then eyed the Pentrosan. “I know where you learned Talon Strike, but what is that sphere doing?”

  He certainly was inquisitive, it was no wonder he chose to affiliate with the Eagle Guild. “Serin Gell is caught in a death trap. The sphere will shatter anything inorganic, he must maintain enough potential in his shield to stay alive, yet he has no air and will die if he opens any place in his shield. Even though he has six bolts of potential at his command, he cannot teleport. Again, he would have to take the potential from his shield. He will die no matter what, either by suffocation, mummification, or the shatter sphere.”

  Samuel’s eyebrows rose up in shock. “You aren’t trying to capture him, you are killing him.”

  “Yep,” Daniel replied, no point in denying it.

  Samuel began shaking his head. “But you are the Chosen Vessel. If you kill him now, like this, you will be no better than he is. You can capture him as you did once before and turn him over to the Eagle Guild.”

  Serin Gell’s face was beginning to develop a bluish tint. Daniel felt absolutely no pity for the man. “Your guild failed to hold him. I’ll not follow that false trail again. As for being no better, I have directly killed hundreds of his associates, scores of which were under his command, and incidentally crushed thousands of his guild members during my duel with Balen Tamm. He is responsible for more deaths than I can count. I killed his minions and people have congratulated me, so why when I have the person who caused all of this misery in a death trap, should it suddenly be immoral to execute him?”

  Samuel took a while to answer. “His crimes were committed in Ducaun. You have no jurisdiction on Pentrosan soil.”

  “True, except Serin Gell Condemned Sherree, he hurt her, and I can’t abide anyone hurting her. Let it be fair warning to all, I am not reasonable when it comes to someone harming her,” Daniel replied.

  Letters began to form inside Gell’s shield, I surrender.

  “Sherree is better than a sister to me. I am just as horrified at seeing her like this as you,” Samuel replied.

  The shield around Serin Gell vanished and the Shatter Sphere engulfed him. He gulped in air and began to scream as every bone in his body began fracturing, from his little toe, all the way to the top of his skull. The fractures broke into splinters and the process did not stop until his skeleton was completely shattered and his body a dead mound of flesh. No doubt it hurt a lot but his dying did not take very long, it was all over in mere minutes.

  “I can’t believe you killed him like that,” Samuel remarked, “But I can’t say he did not deserve it.”

  Daniel took a deep breath and let it out slowly. “Samuel I am in love with Sherree, even though she has made clear the feeling is not mutual. I still love her. I could have executed Gell in a painless manner and might have done so if he hadn’t Condemned her.”

  Samuel patted him on the back. “I noticed how you looked at her when she and I were Talenteds, but I felt it was her place to deal with it,” he said, glanced over at the left wall, frowned, and took off running.

  Sherree was on the floor and hardly breathing. Daniel was beside her in a flash. How can he begin to heal her? Parts of her were gone and even if he healed the sores, she would still be trapped in her current form. He cast, What Is This? and sensed down into her recipe strands and was amazed to see that, even though her form had been altered, the helixes still had tiny three dimensional pictures of what she ought to look like at her current age. This could give him something to work with. He sensed her life force energy and found it was nearly gone, kind of like a cistern with only a few drops of water left in it. She was on the brink of death.

  “Daniel, Simon just contacted me. He, your parents, Tim, Gina, and your detachment of Royal Guardsmen are setting up a perimeter around this hill. The Pentrosan cavalry and infantry are on their way. Your presence here could trigger a war,” Samuel informed him.

  Chapter Twenty-Three: Healing the Impossible

  Daniel was not ready to deal with the Pentrosans or his men crossing the border. Healing Sherree was his first priority. “Samuel, please go help Simon defend the hill. I am going to heal Sherree and it will take all of my concentration. If what I try works on her, I’ll heal Jerremy, Lassiter, and the others who have been Condemned. Also, some owls, coyotes, and panthers will attack the Pentrosans in their own unique ways, so don’t let our men hurt the animals. More help from nature will arrive when the sun comes up.”

  Samuel stared at Sherree. “I don’t begin to understand the power of your swirl but I will take all the help I can get. Do you really think you can restore her, a Condemned?”

  Daniel wished he could say healing her was a sure thing. “I believe so. If you feel harmonic ripples, don’t worry it will be me. I may have to do something that will undo what I worked so hard to achieve. Just do what you can.”

  Samuel started for the exit. “Open the southeast entrance. You can leave the shields on the other two.” He must have seen the blue glow and rightly assumed the others were also shielded. “That way we will only need to guard one. Don’t think my leaving now to help Simon means we aren’t going to have a talk about what happened here today, and please don’t mess with Gell’s body, I need to do some investigating.”

  Daniel nodded his head, knowing Samuel needed answers and probably deserved at least some. The big challenge was healing Sherree. Daniel had most of what he needed. What Is This? for a template, Hearts Beat as One, to keep her alive, his own life force energy to refill her reservoir, Change It and Hunger, to break down something to its little planets with tiny moons and send those into her recipe strands to replace every part of her that is missing. He needed one more thing, a spell that can reshape her body to conform to her recipe and could give back her free will.

  Daniel tried to force notes and rhythms into some kind of Melody but the result was nothing truly inspired. There was only one thing left to do. Adding harmony lines to an existing Melody was something he was good at and would take relatively little time. Lives were on the line and worth more than any set back. He summoned the potential for, Memories, the spell he composed to replace the first spell he ever cast. Life force energy flowed into him, making him feel like he could make mountains tremble and rivers reverse their flows. This was why so many Accomplisheds felt all powerful. It was hard to be humble when you had the power to shake the world. He focused the potential tightly, confining it to his own body, and felt resistance. The pressure in his head began to build, greater and greater, until it burst through the barrier, and Daniel fell on the floor.

  Gripping his head with both hands, he tried to clear the confusion as memories began flooding his mind and his old repertoire came rushing back. He created mental storage compartments, placed the duplicate spells into them, and the confusion went away. The Silencing placed upon him by the Grand Maestro was no more.

  He played, Condemnation, in his head and added four notes in harmony, altering the original enough to make the music his own, and titled it, Restoration. He needed something from which to draw the little planets and moons. The floor gave him an idea. He summoned potential for Fashioning, placed his hand on the floor beneath Sherree and formed a shallow pool around her. He used, Find All, to locate Serin’s water supply, then levitated a barrel into the receiving room, and poured the contents into the pool.

  The width of her body was equal to that of his hand and her mouth was opening and closing, desperately gasping for air. He removed his personal shield, placed his right hand on her forehead and his left on her abdomen, both felt odd in their current state, and then closed his eyes. The first
thing he did was send, Vitality, to refill her reservoir of life force energy, which took awhile, seeing as she was nearly empty. He pictured a vat containing a few drops of amber liquid and then poured forth his blue flood of power until her reservoir was filled to the brim. Now it was time for step number two. Hearts Beat As One, flowed from him into her and Sherree’s heart began to beat in time with his own and her lungs matched his breath for breath. It was as if she truly was an extension of his own body and he could feel her pain. Fortunately, his painful encounters with various member of the Serpent Guild in the past increased his tolerance and the pain did not interfere with his concentration. He cast, Sleep Time, and put Sherree to sleep so she would not feel any of the pain caused by, Restoration, being used on her. He added a Da Capo, perpetuating the spell, and then cast, What Is This? and added a Da Capo tied to his life force. The next step called for, Change It and Hunger. Last of all he directed, Restoration, into her.

  Daniel focused on the nude three dimensional pictures of Sherree in her helix strands, willed, Change It and Hunger, to work in conjunction with Restoration, and soon could feel her body being reshaped in the form called for in her recipe. Time had no meaning for him. He no longer felt any pain coming from her. To the contrary, all of her bodily systems were functioning properly in time with his, and she was feeling pleasure, warm and tingly, something more distracting than the pain had been, yet he managed to keep concentrating on the spells.

  He opened his eyes while letting the spells do their work. Sherree was lying on her side and all of the parts that had been ripped from her were restored. Yellow-gold hair began to grow from her head and grew to the length it would be if it had never been cut in her life. Her body was completely restored, except the golden lightning bolt had not reformed on her right shoulder. All of the water was gone, leaving the pool bone dry. He had one more thing to do. “Sherree, your brain and will are one. Your body is yours to command,” Daniel spoke in her ear. The healing was complete and all she needed now was rest. He removed all the Da Capos and the spells ceased.