To Be Victorious: The Maestro Chronicles Book 6

by John Buttrick

We go. The twin response came back to him along with a sense of eagerness to be out and free from the confines of the RiverDancer. The hawks loved to fly and so it never took much encouragement to get them up into the air. Their insistent flapping and screeching caused Daniel’s parents to release them from the boat all the sooner.

  The Reliance did not pass up the chance to fire on the cruisers, most of which were in the process of raising their sails. Men were scrambling on the decks of those ships in order to get to their battle positions, but the Python maneuvered between the vessels and sent a barrage of fangs from the port and starboard launchers. The cone-headed cylinders flew across the water and slammed into the wooden ships. A thunderous roar of sound assaulted Daniel’s ears as the resulting explosions ripped apart planking, toppled masts, and blasted fiery holes in the forecastles and helms of each ship that had been targeted. Men and body parts fell onto flaming decks. That fast, three cruisers to the right and left of the Reliance, six in all, were burning and would soon be on their way to the bottom of the bay.

  Back when Daniel and his Accomplished analyzed the captured Anaconda and shared what they learned with the Ducaunan Royal Navy, he figured the information would be used to build similar attack boats and to duplicate the spheroids. He had been partly right because, other than color, the Pythons only differed from the Anacondas in the way life-force energy powered the daisy wheels. Daniel never envisioned the development of the fangs. The spheroids proved to be too volatile. They were the size of a grapefruit and impact of any kind would cause them to explode, making them dangerous to handle. A navy smith, who came from a long line of pot and kettle makers, created a cylinder with a cone-shaped head. He gave it the circumference of a spheroid so his container, filled with the explosive, could fit in the launch tubes. It was clever the way he made it so the trinitrotoluene would be sparked only when the nose of the cone came into contact with a solid object. He also designed a cover to fit over the cone to reduce the chances of the explosive device detonating by accident and the cover would only be removed when the fang was placed in a launcher. Yes, very clever, and Daniel liked the fact that the fangs were easy to manufacture and much safer to store and use than were spheroids. Best of all, they did not require spells of any kind. The non-Aakacarns had created a powerfully destructive weapon of their own and were not entirely dependent on the Atlantan Guild to provide them with armaments.

  Most of the enemy ships had been caught with their sails down and Daniel took in the sights, sounds, and pungent smoke as many of them met their doom. Burning cruisers and destroyers in the water around the RiverDancer required Mal Piper to do some fancy steering in order to maneuver the boat right and left through the flaming, sinking, hulks. The Pythons were deadly and all twenty of them were a force to be reckoned with.

  “Maestro,” Leah’s voice came through the array. “Ten Grand Circles of Serpents are attacking Ducanton. Conductor Lassiter has conveyed into the Ducaunan capitol along with two thousand Accomplisheds of his Defense Department. The city is taking serious damage,” the connection broke and moments later was reestablished, “Accomplished Mullen Lanier has just informed me that the palace in Tara is under similar attack. I am dispatching Zera Logos and her team of Accomplisheds to Taracopa. Daniel, we will prevail.” Her lasts words were surely meant to be reassuring and the sense of confidence flowing through the link proved them to be sincere, but he needed to know more if she expected him to stay out of the fight.

  Since the Taltin Sea campeign had been kept secret, Daniel figured it was the swirling of events given off by the other Chosen Vessel that caused the timing of the raids to happen at virtually the same time. “What about the palace in Ducaun? Is the Cleona safe?” he would worry about Van Efery later. A Royal Knight of the Realm had a duty to defend his Queen.

  “Fighting is so intense, the royal family, ministers, and Scholar Sander have been evacuated to Shantear, along with some of the visiting royals from Cenkataar and Aczencopa,” Leah replied while a sense of urgency, coupled with confidence flowed through the mental link. “Finish your current chore, the Atlantan Guild will not only defeat the raid, we will exact a high price from the Serpents.” While her thoughts had the flavor of an order, the undercurrent emotion she projected was more like a plea.

  Much as Daniel wanted to convey into the fray taking place in the capitol, he knew his First Accomplished was correct. She, Jeremiah Lassiter, and Zera Logos were handling the defense. They had their chores; he had his, and so focused his attention on what was happening around him. “Leah, it will be as you say,” he responded and sensed the connection end. The last emotion he felt from her was relief.

  He watched as the Equalizer went straight for the modified freighters. Ballista bolts flew from the Battencayan vessels, but the patrol boat began to zigzag, keeping it random enough so as not to develop a pattern that could allow its position to be anticipated. The teardrop-headed bolts splashed into the water around the topaz boat, explosions rocked the vessel, but did not stop it from launching stones of fire and harpoons of light from the bow and stern guns. The larger, bulkier, and much slower freighters could not get out of the way in time to keep from being engulfed in flames and having their hulls perforated. In a matter of moments, five of them were floating deathtraps and what parts of them could not sink would soon be chard timbers floating on the surface.

  Nice going, Captain Vermalien, Daniel thought, only one hundred fifteen of them to go.

  He noted how the twenty Pythons were blasting away at the cruisers and destroyers, mercilessly striking with fangs and spells. Beams of light shot forth as the Accomplisheds aboard the war-boats focused their spells at the enemy ships. A spell originating from the Wrath flashed onto a destroyer and the vessel began to splinter apart, leaving the crew floating in the water. The Python was certainly unleashing its fury upon any ship that got in its way.

  All around the battle raged with a good number of warships going down without ever firing a shot, a situation that did not last. Daniel could see most of the ships had their sails up and were combat ready. His taskforce had given them a bloody nose but he knew the fighting was about to get rougher. Racks of flaming bolts flew from the cruisers and destroyers, straight towards the Pythons, but Daniel had to concentrate on the frigates as the RiverDancer closed in on the closest of the sixty-three ships.

  Scores of frigates were reacting to the threat, clearly maneuvering to entrap the patrol boat in a kill zone. Daniel sensed Accomplisheds aboard those vessels summoning potential, and preparing to cast their spells. “I don’t need to be closer in order to take you out,” he said under his breath and raised his diamond-bladed crescendo. Lightning shot from the tip, split three ways, and each jagged bolt went straight to a ship carrying a group of Aakacarns.

  All three ships were flash-charred with burnt planking, scorched-black sails, and smoking bodies flying into the sky. Daniel wasted no time trying to identify the pieces that hit the water, spells from the Serpents aboard the other frigates were being cast in his direction, and dealing with them suddenly became a higher priority.

  Shards of air, beams of energy powering Melodies whose destructive purpose would not be known until they struck, as well as the traditional fire balls and lightning bolts, slammed into the shield Carlos hurriedly put into place. No one could claim the bodyguard failed to do his job. Sherree’s shield would not have stopped what was coming in from the sides and behind, and was therefore redundant as a forward defense. She ceased the potential and went on the attack.

  The larger the shield, the more energy it took to maintain, but Carlos had three bolts of personal potential at his command, and would be aided by the Aakacarn assault. The canopy of protection covered the RiverDancer and grew brighter as it absorbed the energy being focused into it. The flair became so intense it was impossible to see anything beyond the shield and yet the patrol boat continued onward while the near blinding barrage of spells flew in nonstop.

  The inability to see anything m
ore than twenty paces ahead did not stop Uncle Arry from firing the bow-gun. He sent a near constant stream of flaming stones, harpoons of air, and even beams of light that would render the recipients unconscious. Clearly he was gripping all three gems rather than choosing a particular spell. His method would drain him far quicker, but he sent those blasts with a lot of enthusiasm and was actually hitting some of the frigates, seeing as they had the RiverDancer surrounded in a kill zone that was hurting them more than the patrol-boat. Daniel could not see far with his eyes, but Find All revealed to him exactly where every person and ship was, and by the way Sherree and Sero were targeting and destroying ships, he knew they were also casting the spell.

  The RiverDancer turned hard to port and the force threw Daniel to the side as he sensed the presence of a ship directly in front of the bow. While everyone was regaining their footing and before Uncle Arry could get off a shot, the shield struck the frigate and suddenly planking, canvass, and sailors were in the water within twenty paces of the boat. Moments later they were beneath, behind, and then out of view. Marsha had to be using Find All and giving navigational directions, because Mal Piper seemed to have struck that ship on purpose rather than by accident, given the fact that the RiverDancer was headed straight for another frigate.

  Just before impact, Daniel sensed a surge of life-force energy being focused from the ship to below the bow of the patrol boat. In that instant, a huge wave arose from the sea and threw the RiverDancer roughly starboard, and over forty-eight degrees. Peripherally, Daniel saw Sherree sliding away from him and, without thinking, reflexively, he let go of the rail in an attempt to catch her. Instead, he flipped over the railing and plunged into the turbulent waves.

  Down he went, holding his breath, and wondering how long he could hold it. Broad stokes of his arms and plenty of legwork stopped his descent and helped to get him closer to the surface as his lungs grew more insistent in demanding he exhale and take a breath. He managed to swim a little faster but his boots slowed him down, making his journey to the surface more difficult than it otherwise would be. The moment his head came above the waves, he took a deep breath, and then noticed the patrol boat had missed its target by a fair margin, the frigate remained undamaged. Lightning bolts and fireballs were slamming into the RiverDancer from all directions, focused from scores of ships. He was well outside the shield Carlos had erected and could see the dimensions being clearly defined as the spells flew into it.

  So that is how they knew where to target that last spell so effectively.

  As he watched, another powerful Melody was focused beneath the RiverDancer, but Mal began the turn before the resulting giant wave struck, and thereby managed to limit the impact. A quick scan of the boat revealed nothing since he could not sense anything within the shield.

  “Daniel,” Sherree’s voice came into his head along with a flood of emotions, the greatest of which was fear. “Are you alright?” She would know through Find All where he was, so would not bother asking his whereabouts.

  “I’m fine,” he replied. His silks were soaked through and he was treading water to stay afloat, but those were mere inconveniences and nothing to worry over. “The Serpents are focusing their lesser spells at the shield in order to define it and better target their aqua spell. I want everyone to go below deck and Carlos to form his shield to the dimension of the RiverDancer.”

  “But that would make it impossible for you to convey back aboard. Please allow me to cast a rope of air and pull you back on top of the bridge. Carlos can lower his shield for the few moments it would take to rescue you,” she replied with a strong sense of disapproval, while offering what she obviously considered to be a better idea.

  Daniel understood her concern and if she wasn’t so clearly frightened for his life, he might have pointed out the fact that he composed the shield spells used by the Atlantan Guild and did not need anyone to explain how they worked. Of course he could not convey through the shield.

  At the moment he was not her husband making a request, he was the Maestro giving an order. “First Lady, destructive spells can be focused from inside the bridge and the RiverDancer can continue ramming frigates. While you are completing the assignment you ordered, I will convey out of the water and begin the attack on Gasian.”

  The sense of disapproval and fear were still flowing through the mental link, but they were coupled and held in check by an even stronger sense of duty. “It will be as you say, Maestro,” her thoughts came to him. “Daniel, be careful.”

  Waves splashed Daniel in the face, as if showing their contempt for his title, but failed to break his concentration on Sheen. Through the eyes of the hawk he observed the large stone building where lumber was stored and the cutting and warping of planking and keels took place. Workers went about their tasks even though they had to be aware of the battle taking place offshore. A few stopped to look but most of them were sticking to their chores. Daniel admired their dedication, but that did not stop him from gaining a visual on the back side of the building. Ankle high grass grew in the relatively isolated area, making it the perfect place for him to focus on.

  The musical spell titled, Conveyance, played in his head, summoning the potential, and he was thrown into the blackness between where he was floating in the sea and the backyard of the stone building, and then appeared right where he wanted to be. “Thanks, Sheen,” he sent to the hawk while Find All made him aware of every living and non-living thing in the area.

  To his left were stone dormitories filled with people, most of which were scrambling out of the doors, and running toward the water. Flaming bolts filled the sky along with bright flashes and the booming rumble of multiple detonations. Some of the men were armed with quarterstaffs and sending solidified shards of air every time a Python came into view, even as the bolt launchers did the same, but the war-boats moved so quickly, the shards often missed and shredded the sails or splintered into the sides of the ships the shore batteries were trying to help. A bolt actually blew a massive hole in the side of a frigate, which Daniel appreciated, but he was more focused on his own surroundings.

  Beyond the dormitories were stables filled with horses. To his right he could see and sense rows of small box-shaped houses occupied by mostly women and children, no doubt the families of the workers. In all, over twenty thousand people were living within two spans of the facility. A large house on the hill behind him was likely the home of Lord Gasian and it was occupied by over eighty non-Aakacarns and thirty-seven spell-casters.

  In front of the building Daniel stood behind were the repair and assembly sections and dry-docks. Like before, he sensed men working nonstop on the tasks assigned to them. His presence, for the moment, went undetected, and the opportunity gave him time to make some choices. His original intention was to do what many people feared he was capable of, cast a spell that could kill every living thing within the focus of his spell, but the presence of civilian men and their wives and children changed that. The Serpents were, at the very moment, killing civilians in the city of Ducanton, and the brutality of those deaths bothered him greatly. In light of that, he simply could not bring himself to kill all of the people living in and around the vicinity of Gasian, yet the facility and the vessels under repair and under construction had to be eradicated.

  While he was pondering how best to proceed, the bolt launchers along the shore concentrated their fire at the Wrath as it sent a devastating round of fangs into another cruiser. Eight ballista bolts slammed into the Python and the explosive force of the trinitrotoluene shoved the bow so far below the waves and at such a sharp angle that the war-boat slipped beneath the sea. The last Daniel saw of the boat as he peeked around the side of the building were the twin daisy wheels spinning uselessly before going under. Through Find All he sensed that the men were still alive and abandoning the vessel. Hopefully they will survive long enough to be rescued. The thought flashed through his mind as he came to a decision.

  He summoned the potential for Sleep Time and
focused the energy forward, to the rear, and out wide. The blue glow of his life-force energy spread out and engulfed the dormitories, stables, and the houses, the area along the shore and the stone building in front of him. His spell flowed through the workers at the shipyards and up into the house on the hill. Every living thing within the focal points of his spell suddenly fell into a deep sleep, even the spider in the web a few paces away from him and the massive colony of ants beneath the ground. All twenty thousand souls were unconscious, except the thirty-seven Aakacarns who must have quickly summoned shield spells.

  Perhaps I should have backed the spell with a greater amount of life-force energy.

  He called forth the potential for Shatter Sphere, but shaped the energy to the exact contours of the stone building. Six bolts of potential flowed from his crescendo and reduced the entire structure to sand without harming the workers who were asleep within. The huge sand pile was no doubt comfortable enough to sleep on. He used the same spell on the dormitories, sparing the people, and reducing the buildings to sand. Daniel chose to leave the houses and stables intact.

  Fireballs, solidified objects of air, corrosive beams of light, and lighting bolts slammed into him from behind. Even though his personal shield absorbed most of that energy, he was thrown forward twenty paces and landed face down in some of the sand that was once a stone building. His sodden silks were on fire and the super-heated air made it difficult to breathe.

  His chest felt as if it was roasting from within, but there was no time to take stock of his injuries. He extended his shield all around him, cutting off the outside air, did a pushup and rolled onto his back, smothering the flames. In rapid succession he cast spells to launder and repair his silks and, Heal Me, to repair his scorched lungs.

  He took a deep breath while lethal spells from the enemy Aakacarns continued to hit his shield. Through Find All, he sensed the Accomplisheds were coming down the hill toward him. Melodies that were not direct hits, struck the ground, throwing dirt into the air, and were making craters of varying sizes. Some of those spells were striking the sleeping workers and the grisly results were not pleasant to gaze upon.