To Be Victorious: The Maestro Chronicles Book 6

by John Buttrick

  For some reason DuPolver had nothing more to say and neither did KuKleem or SeTallis. They stood as if rooted to the spot and with suddenly no desire to move, let alone leap at a spell-caster. Roy was sure that was the word used. The context indicated these people used the crude description of what a Nephilim could do yet were ignorant of the correct term.

  A blasting caw from Carny caused Royan to look out in the direction of the air-steed. No, not Carny, three Quetzals were flying toward the beach, which meant the Lucia would not be far behind. He brought his attention back to the three men. “Go sit down with your fellow crewmen. Use the time to think up better answers and the proper tone in which to give them, because a senior officer will soon be here and his questions will be sharper and more demanding,” he told them and raised his hand, displaying his rings of power. “The spells at my command can be lethal. I lack the skill to compel you to speak truthfully and some of you would probably die if I tried, so the questioning is over for now. It would be unwise to provoke me. The beach is secure, which is what I was sent here to do, and remaining quiet is the best way for all of you to ensure your continued survival.”

  The incoming Quetzals met up with Carny and began circling above almost like a flock of birds, moving in perfect harmony. It was an impressive sight, even if Roy had witnessed it many times over the last few weeks.

  The three men were quick to join their fellows, especially when both leviathans emitted deep bass rumbles that even made Royan’s ears pop under the subsonic pressure. He laughed and then quickly stifled it as five launches came into view. Even from a distance, he could make out Vice Count El Marzon, dressed in purple silk pants and a fuchsia silk shirt, standing at the bow of the launch in the middle. In his right hand was a golden staff of power, at the head of which was a large sapphire. The Nephilim would be scary even if had he not been of royal birth. The silver crossbar trident on his forehead was the second highest power ranking on the scale. In a few more years he could to grow powerful enough for the marking to turn to gold. The attempted use of any one of his rings would mummify Roy in an instant. He had not expected the noble to be among the first to come ashore. Captain Lo Marzon might have shown some leniency to these men, but the Vice Count?

  By the time the launches hit the beach, the Lucia came into sight. El Marzon stepped onto the sand, along with twenty of the Nephilim under his personal command, all of which had bronze tridents on their foreheads. They were each dressed in fuchsia pants and shirts. The Vice Count eyed the prisoners, looked down on Roy, and then announced, “When the rest of the fleet arrives, we will establish a permanent base from which we will take this land in the name of the emperor. The Lucia will, of course, secure the area until then.”

  His words caused some grumbling among the captives, but a few spells from Glesin Benn, a nine foot tall albino Nephilim with silver-blue eyes, caused them to quiet again. A pair of smoldering corpses can have that effect on people. Royan hoped Ensign DuPolver had some answers because KuKleem and SeTallis were no longer capable of giving any. They should have heeded the advice to stay quiet.

  Chapter Eleven: Making A Splash

  Daniel stood atop the bridge of the RiverDancer with one fist clenching the rail of solidified air, conjured by Carlos, as the patrol-boat sped through the waters of the Taltin Sea. Right beside Daniel was Sherree, looking as beautiful as ever. He wanted to kiss her but that would have to wait. Her emerald green eyes were focused forward and the smooth features of her face were set in determination. She was probably communicating through the array hidden under her hood.

  The forward life-force energy shield she was maintaining kept the wind from blowing back the hood of her cloak and incidentally from touching her husband and the others who were standing behind them. Anyone watching from afar would think him and his companions to be highly vulnerable, standing on top of the boat rather than safely inside, but that observer would be wrong. In addition to her forward shield were the individual shields each of them had on their person’s, although two companions required amulets.

  The moon and stars provided the only light and so it was doubtful anyone could see the taskforce unless they were right next to it. Daniel could see the bow and the outlines of the other boats but not much beyond, only the gleaming of the rippling waves as they caught and reflected the illuminations given off by the nightly orbs. He had suggested taking up the position a quarter of a mark earlier. It only took a few moments up top for Sherree to decide she had had enough of the wind blowing her hood and hair around and put up the shield. He did not mind having the hood of his cloak thrown back, although had he chosen to wear his knightly uniform, he would have had on a helmet and the wind would not have mattered.

  He was spearheading a taskforce consisting of five Wager-class patrol-boats and fifty Ducaunan Pythons. Standing behind he and his wife were Carlos, Sero, David, and Silvia, the latter two with their weapons at the ready, she a miniature crossbow and he a daggerlance. All of them were gripping the rails as tightly as their leader.

  Daniel’s parents were inside the boat and on the bridge with Lieutenant Commander Duncan Hawk, Accomplished Marsha Obennen, Will Lifer the Boat-driver, and Mal Piper the Helmsman. Sheen and Glimmer, the pair of hawks Daniel set to keep a watch on his parents, were at their perches. Jobidiah Fwent stood at the stern-gun and Uncle Arry was at the bow-gun, as Silvia predicted he would be. The rest of the crew stood at the arrow slits with weapons at the ready. The taskforce had already encountered and destroyed five enemy ships; a cruiser, destroyer, and three frigates, that had been patrolling the waters and so everyone on each vessel of the battle group stood on the alert for more enemy patrols. Tension, and yes, an eagerness to engage the main fleet was growing as they drew closer to the multi-national armada and the home base of the Fon Kayan Royal Navy.

  They were cruising at fifty spans per mark and had been doing so most of the night in order to be in position for the assault. While the Wager-class patrol-boats could go much faster, the Pythons were moving at their maximum safe speed. His’ and Captain Isly’s taskforces had the greatest distances to cover. The Captain should be ten spans from Port Creana within the mark and Daniel expected to be ten spans out from his targeted area half a mark later. The other three taskforces were already ten spans out from their areas of attack. The Commander of the Chosen’s Sentinels would give the order when it was time for the multiple assaults to begin.

  The five topaz blue patrol-boats were in an arrowhead formation with the RiverDancer in the point position and the fifty olive-green Pythons following behind in ten rows of five. They were headed for a fleet that was nineteen times larger and had one hundred twenty-three modified Demfilian freighters with their teardrop-headed ballista bolts containing trinitrotoluene and iron shards. Those missiles were far deadlier than the flaming darts and bolts that were the traditional armament of conventional warships. Fortunately the Atlantan/Ducaunan fleet was unconventional, propelled by spells, and packed a powerful punch. The Accomplisheds aboard each Python gave the vessel ten times the firepower of the majority of the warships it would soon be engaging with. Unfortunately the fleet they were approaching was nineteen times the size of his taskforce and so Daniel knew success would not be without cost. Some of his people were going to die and possibly him as well.

  The up and down motion of the patrol boat beat a steady rhythm as the boat skimmed over the swells. Stars twinkled in the pre-dawn sky and the moon lay close to the horizon. Through a special array given him by Daria Copa, Daniel could hear Chas giving updates to the other taskforce leaders, briefing them on Captain Isly’s position and that of their Maestro.

  Daniel only had to concentrate a little to glimpse through the eyes of his ospreys, falcons, and hawks that were soaring over the other taskforces so he could see what was going on at each attack point, although he would only do so one at a time. Seeing through the eyes of multiple hosts at once proved to be confusing in the past and he definitely did not want to be in a state of con
fusion when spells and Demfilian ballista bolts started flying.

  He had also linked his mind to a flock of gulls and sent them to the harbors of Port Basser and the Gasian shipwright facility. As he stood clutching the rail, the Symphonic titled, Find All, was running through his mind and scanning fifteen spans ahead in a cone-shaped beam that would show him both facilities on either side of the Kayan River, and the entire fleet, once they were close enough.

  “Taskforce B is in position,” Chas announced through the array.

  “Now that Captain Isly is ready, all they need is for us to arrive at our ready position,” Sherree stated in a normal tone. Thanks to the shield she was maintaining, shouting to be heard over the wind was unnecessary.

  A little over a quarter of a mark later, enemy warships came within range of Find All. What Daniel sensed were thousands of people inside containers of wood that were floating on the sea. Twelve hundred-sixty Aakacarns were in some of those containers and he knew that number could change if any of those Serpents were to call in reinforcement from their guild. The closer he came, the more people and ships he sensed until the entire armada was fully within his self-imposed limit. Another span brought the coast and the mouth of the Kayan River into range. On the north side he sensed Port Basser and with a little concentration, was seeing through the eyes of Sidney the gull.

  Countless oil lamps, on stands and suspended above areas of activity, illumined the home port of the Royal Navy. Daniel could see Basser was very well protected even though most of the fleet was at anchor off the coast with only a few ships at the docks. Hundreds of bolt launchers with heads full of trinitrotoluene lined the shore and were manned and ready to defend the base.

  On the south side of the river he could see the main target, the massive Gasian shipwright facility, which also had hundreds of manned bolt launchers that were armed and ready to give a vigorous defense. Scores of warships were in various stages of construction, some nearly complete, and others were skeletal ribs waiting for planking to be applied. Over to the right of the construction area was the dry docks where damaged ships were being repaired. It was clearly a twenty four marks a day operation. Watching the Gasian facility reminded Daniel of a time a few years back when he stopped to observe a colony of ants and how they worked together. Similarly, the Fon Kayan workers went about their tasks with precision and he felt a smidgen of guilt for what he was about to do to them, but only a smidgen.

  If his plan worked out, the lives of the people he was observing and the fruit of all their labor would be eliminated. It still bothered him to kill human beings and that was a good thing, but it also bothered him how much easier it was becoming to make the decision. War was ugly and he hated the fact that sometimes ugly decisions had to be made in order to be victorious. As the Chosen Vessel, the decisions often fell on him and as a mountaineer he could not shirk his responsibilities. He would much rather use his life-force energy to heal and create rather than kill and destroy, but that was not the circumstances into which he had been born. Perhaps someday he would have his druthers and use his energy for positive and creative pursuits, he certainly hoped so. After dawn, when Chas would give the order, Daniel knew his focus would be on death and destruction. He let out a sigh and Sherree took hold of his free hand. She knew how he felt and no doubt had similar feelings. She gave his hand a squeeze even though neither could feel the other’s flesh. They each had their personal shields up, but he deeply appreciated the gesture of support.

  The smoke coming from all the lamps on both sides of the river obscured the stars and the fumes were beginning to bother his seagull scout as he soared in a broad circle about a hundred cubits in the air above the facilities.

  Thanks, Sidney, Daniel sent to the gull, you have done well. Settle somewhere comfortable for a while.

  “I go,” the thought came back along with a sense of relief and pleasure. The gull dived low and then set down on the railing at the end of a long pier, as did many of the other gulls Daniel had recently gathered into his swirl.

  He locked into memory the positioning of enemy ships. The bulk of the fleet, over seven hundred vessels, mostly consisting of Fon Kayan dreadnaughts, destroyers, cruisers, and frigates, was north of the river mouth, and the remaining three hundred twenty-three were in the waters south of the entrance of the Kayan. One hundred of those were Fon Kayan destroyers, along with one hundred twenty Demfilian modified freighters, sixty-three Battencayan frigates, and forty Pentrosan light cruisers. Of the thousands of masts, only a few had sails up and ready to catch the wind. The concentration of freighters likely had to do with the fact that all the Demfilian bases were on the Western Ocean and had to sail the Kayan River in order to reach the inland Taltin Sea.

  Chas Herling had drawn up attack plans, each taking into account a different scenario based on how the enemy forces might be arranged at the time of attack. Daniel pondered those plans and chose the last. “Attack plan Omega-four,” he sent through the array to every captain in his taskforce. “The RiverDancer and the Equalizer will advance along with their twenty Pythons to the waters south of the Kayan River. The Barracuda, Ranger, Clipper, and the thirty Pythons in their group will attack the main fleet north of the river.”

  “It will be as you say, Sir Daniel,” the reply came through the array from his parents, all of the captains, and Duncan Hawk.

  Sherree leaned her head close to his. “Those Battencayan frigates each have twenty Aakacarns aboard.” It was not surprising she had been doing some spell-scanning of her own. “I think we should work on sinking them while the Equalizer concentrates on the modified freighters and have the Pythons focus on the destroyers and cruisers.”

  Her suggestion was the very thing he had in mind. He glanced at his wife. “I agree. Relay the orders to the captains.”

  Peripherally he saw her nod in agreement. Even though he had already decided what to do before she spoke, she was the one to give voice as to how best to proceed, and so it seemed fitting for her to issue the commands. It was amazing how often they thought alike and how often they didn’t, but when her thoughts mirrored his, he felt better about the decision being made.

  “Clearly, the Fon Kayan High Command did not expect an attack on the Gasian facilities,” Carlos gave his opinion, “I suspect it is because no enemy has done so before.”

  His notion was likely correct to a certain extent, Daniel figured, but that did not mean the chore would be easy simply because there were fewer ships to contend with. “I would say they are not expecting the kind of attack we are about to inflict upon them. A conventional fleet of warships wouldn’t stand a chance of making it into the harbor.”

  “None of our vessels are conventional,” Carlos replied, almost as if he were stating something that was not plainly obvious to every single participant in the taskforce.

  Daniel watched the sunrise with its oranges and reds reflecting off the rippling waves and also noted the RiverDancer was quickly approaching the assigned position. “All stop,” he ordered through the array.

  The entire taskforce reduced speed and soon was floating on the waves and dropping anchors. “What is Commander Herling waiting for?” David asked after a brief period of silence where little more was heard beyond the lapping of the waves against fifty-five hulls. The Teki, as was often the case, wanted to be on the move.

  Instead of reminding him that Chas was waiting for precisely half a mark after dawn, Daniel looked to Silvia. “Does my Seer see what is ahead for us?”

  The acrobat was watching the sunrise. “People will die,” she replied without looking away.

  It did not take special powers to come to that conclusion, Daniel figured as much back in the planning stages. He opened his mouth to respond to but Carlos said, “I think it best if we make the other side do the dying.”

  Daniel was about to tell him the thought was wishful thinking but then Chas Herling’s voice came through the array and made the conversation irrelevant, “Taskforce A is in position. All forces,
attack.”

  A blast of sound like a trumpet rang forth throughout the vessel, signaling a Ruby alert. “Yea, finally,” David punctuated his shout by aiming his daggerlance up and sending a blue lance of light into the sky.

  Anchors retracted and soon all the boats were on the move, the Atlantan patrol-boats driven by jets of air and the Ducaunan Pythons by twin daisy-wheel propellers. The RiverDancer and the Equalizer moved off to the left along with twenty Pythons. The rest of the taskforce headed straight for Port Basser and the massive fleet of warships floating off shore and at the docks.

  Through the eyes, one pair at a time, of his feathered scouts, Daniel caught glimpses of the other four taskforces speeding toward their objectives. The next few marks were going to be crucial in deciding who would rule the Taltin Sea and he wanted to have visuals of his own, not just reports through a communication array.

  The RiverDancer sped in the direction of a line of enemy ships that did not seem to be aware an attack was coming. Moments later the patrol-boat was passing between the score of Pentrosan light cruisers without firing a shot. The goal was the Battencayan frigates that were anchored on the other side of the group of warships. One cruiser managed to launch a rack of ten flaming bolts from its stern, but Will Lifer was driving the boat so fast that the fiery projectiles fell well short of the RiverDancer. Daniel tightened his grip, seeing as the increased speed was making the ride bumpier.

  Daniel’s flock of gulls took to the air and fled south after Sidney sent him the visual of men running onto the pier upon which the birds had been resting. Even though he could cut through the fear flooding their minds and force at least one of them to turn back, he decided to let them go. Instead, he sent a mental message to Sheen and Glimmer, “Fly in the sky above the south side of the riverbank,” along with a clear picture of where he wanted them to be.