To Be Victorious: The Maestro Chronicles Book 6

by John Buttrick

  Terroll Barnes was wearing the green and red silk hooded-cloak of his office as well as the eight rings representing the seven guilds of Aakadon and the ruby pyramid.

  “We have come to reach an accord,” Sherree opened the meeting and began the diplomatic talk about why the accord was necessary, which gave Daniel the opportunity to eye the delegation.

  To the left of Terroll sat a person Daniel had met on several other occasions, Rondara Kapes. The new Maestro of the Zephyr Guild wore four golden lightning bolts on the shoulders of her red on black silk cloak and a golden buckle with a diamond encrusted letter Z, indicating the office she held. Her black silky hair shimmered in the light as her brown ovoid eyes focused on him, not on Sherree.

  Sitting beside Rondara was Runyen Cransur, a Five-bolt Accomplished and Maestro of the Willow Guild. He was born in the kingdom of Zune, giving him light brown skin and black silky hair. His brown eyes were also ovoid in shape with a slight upward slant and his beard and mustache were neatly trimmed.

  To the left of him was Talmon Reese, Maestro of the Eagle Guild, a man not to be underestimated. He clearly understood the tactic of letting someone else talk while the other watched for reactions to her words, having done so many times. He gave Daniel a slight nod and then pretended to give Sherree his full attention. Even though the First Lady held Talmon’s gaze, Daniel had no doubt the man was taking in every detail of his surroundings and storing the information away for future analysis.

  Jerrian Tobermin, the Five-bolt Accomplished sitting to Talmon’s left, ran one finger across his dark brown mustache. His sour expression fit Bernie’s description perfectly. The sudden intake of air through his nostrils could be heard from across the room; it certainly caught the attention of Carlos and Sero, both of whom sat up a little straighter and seemed on the verge of summoning potential. Those green eyes of the Lead Investigator flicked to Jeremiah. “Jere, I see you have gained a third bolt.”

  Sherree stopped speaking and all eyes were suddenly on the Vice Maestro of the Eagle Guild. Jeremiah leaned forward slightly. “You are as sharp as ever Jerri. Many things have changed since last we met in the forest near Mount Shantear.”

  “The circumstances are different,” Tobermin replied and then eyed the Atlantan delegation. “The characters are the same.” His tone was condescending and betrayed a sense of superiority. “Change can only be an improvement.”

  “In deed, Conductor Lassiter, many things have changed,” Terroll spoke up. “It is those changes that have brought us together at this moment. The changes are why the accord your First Lady has spoken so eloquently about is important. Your Maestro knows this as well. He contacted me, proposing the Polkat Inn as the meeting place to discuss how we can work together rather than as independent groups who happen to share the same enemy. And yes, Vice Maestro, most of us at this table have met before. This meeting will bring about an improvement in how both groups relate to each other.” He was clearly making an effort to pull the conversation away from the negative direction it had begun to take.

  Daniel looked at Jeremiah and Tobermin before focusing on Terroll. “We all know why we are here.”

  “The war is going badly for you and us,” Rondara stated, perhaps feeling the need to clarify the reason. “We both have won battles and yet not enough to be victorious. This must change.”

  “I agree with the Maestro of the Zephyr Guild. You must combine your resources with ours,” Runyen Cransur gave his opinion.

  “It means we must work together in joint operations,” Talmon finally chose to enter the conversation with another, “must,” thrown in.

  “With your Accomplisheds in charge,” Jeremiah remarked.

  “Naturally,” Tobermin answered. “Our flocks have far more experience than any group of Aakacarns you lump together and call a team. You must see this.”

  Jeremiah waved the notion away with a sweep of his hand. “And yet our teams have consistently outperformed your flocks.”

  “It stands to reason the most experienced individuals must lead,” Maestro Cransur stated, although without specifics. Did he mean the Eagles who have been fighting the Serpents for a thousand years or the Chosen Vessel and his Atlantans who have fought the most successful battles?

  The tone of the meeting sounded similar to the last one that had ended so badly. Daniel could not allow the same thing to happen again. The world was depending on both societies of Accomplisheds to find a way to work together. “The person in command will depend on the mission. In battles where all you need is conveyance, the Aakadon Team Leader should be in command. In battles planned by us where all we need is for Aakadon to secure what we have taken, Atlantan Guild leaders will be in command.”

  Tobermin noisily took in air, clearly about to argue, but Talmon raised his hand, stopping the Lead Investigator from verbalizing the thought. The Maestro cleared his throat. “The proposal of the Maestro of the Atlantan Guild is a reasonable place to begin with,” he stated, while eyeing his second-in-command. He brought his gaze back to Daniel. “Your idea is a start and might have worked a month ago, but it is not enough now. The Serpent Guild has achieved far more victories since then and we are losing ground.”

  Daniel understood the king Eagle’s point, but had no intention of making an agreement that would force his Accomplisheds to submit to the authority of Aakadon. He would not allow them to become an extension of the Eagle Guild.

  “Maestro Reese is speaking of missions planned by both societies. What you proposed sounds like you intend to fight your battles with our Accomplisheds as holding forces while we fight our battles with your Accomplisheds providing quick transportation,” Rondara explained.

  “That is all we need,” Sherree responded. “Commander Herling and Conductor Lassiter have planned and carried out many successful campaigns. So has First Accomplished Barryn.”

  “Yes, we heard of your success on the Taltin Sea,” Talmon said, as if Daniel should be surprised Bella had reported the news to his Maestro. When there was no reaction Reese continued “We also know the Serpent raid on Ducanton was so bad the royals had to be evacuated. In spite of your success, the war is going just as poorly for you as it is for us.”

  Terroll interlocked his fingers and fixed his gaze on Daniel. “You will continue to fight your battles and we ours, but to win we will also have to plan assaults where Aakadon and the Atlantan Guild fight alongside each other. At the very least we need to know what each other is doing so we do not waste resources. Frankly I will take the least, but would prefer if our meeting today accomplishes more. Do you have a plan beyond ruling the Taltin Sea, if so, we would like to know.”

  Daniel understood the point, although the suspicious part of his nature did not want to reveal his plans to these people. He did not want them to know about the mantas or Pondhoppers until they were unleashed on the Serpent Guild. “The plan is to win command of every waterway and ocean. After that we have targeted certain enemy bases for destruction. Fighting alongside each other will take work. In order for my strategists and tacticians to work with yours effectively, both groups will need to know the weapons and capabilities to be used. Even though we all know that, you are not going to share guild specific spells with me and I am not going to share guild specific spells with you.”

  “I would not expect you to share such spells,” Terroll was quick to say. “But secret weapons and capabilities we will need to know about.”

  “Like that underwater vessel that has been described as a sea bat,” Runyen Cransur evidently felt the Grand Maestro had not been specific enough.

  Silence ruled as both sides stared across the table at each other. It was clear to Daniel all the revealing was supposed to be one sided, with him revealing his weapon systems, and Aakadon disclosing nothing. He was beginning to feel an accord might not be possible.

  “You do not trust us with your secrets,” Terroll hit the mark dead center with that statement. “We have not weeded all of the Serpents out of Aakadon and we ha
ve not yet shown you beyond proclamations and words that it is not our intention to take over your guild.”

  “I would like to say your words are untrue, but all three points you made are correct,” Daniel replied. “Yet, you want me to place my trust and the fate of my guild in you. I do trust you Terroll,” he stated, directing his gaze at a frowning Tobermin and a wily Talmon Reese, and then back to the Grand Maestro. “I do not trust the Aakacarns who serve you.”

  “Where does that leave us?” Rondara demanded to know. “You do not trust us and few Accomplisheds of Aakadon trust you or your associates, especially those who were once citizens of Aakadon. In spite of my negative feelings for those who abandoned their former guilds, I am one who happens to believe the Chosen Vessel can be trusted.”

  It was good to know he had earned at least a few supporters among the Maestros of Aakadon. He knew they all considered him to be the Chosen Vessel of the Creator, yet most of them, and many other Accomplisheds in the Aakacarn city, did not think he was capable of leading the fight against Tarin Conn without their guidance. He was hard pressed to come up with a way to change that attitude or help both sides move away from thinking of each other as opponents.

  “I propose we begin building trust and I will start by sharing a secret weapon developed recently by the Willow Guild,” Terroll said, taking the initiative.

  A canoe-shaped boat with a large daisy-wheel propeller on the back appeared on the table. The blades did not come close to touching what would be the waterline. “We have brought down and captured enough skyships and Anacondas to recognize an efficient system of propulsion. An amulet turns the propeller. A levitation spell is locked into another amulet and can lift the airboat four cubits above the ground and a third amulet containing a fire spell of the Sun Guild is near the controls,” Runyen gave the presentation. “It was designed by the Willow Guild and can carry up to three Accomplisheds. The vessel can cross bodies of water as easily as it does land.”

  Simon whistled. “Now that is impressive, not just the boat, I am impressed a spell-caster in Aakadon actually innovated something.” His words were a bit on the cheeky side, it probably came from the way he was used to addressing his Maestro, but every Aakacarn knew innovation was dangerous, and that the statement had some validity.

  Runyen eyed the former member of his guild. “It was a young Sapling of the Willow Guild who created the riverboats that are being used extensively in the war. I will give him a little credit for sparking new lines of innovative thinking. You did what you did using standard guild-specific spells and did so without altering the Melodies, showing us innovations can be made as long as we do not stray beyond accepted practices.”

  Simon’s mouth snapped shut. He clearly did not expect a compliment. “I had a good Mentor,” he replied, speaking of Barnabas Galloway, a Senior Forester, and someone the sandy-haired Accomplished deeply respected.

  Cransur nodded affirmatively. “On that we can agree.” He eyed Chas briefly and then focused on Daniel. “Maestro Benhannon, your Sentinel Commander and the other non-Aakacarns who serve you often use spell-powered weapons. Why do you allow them to drain precious life-force energy they can never replace?”

  Daniel did not want to give the answer, but Terroll began the sharing of information, and it seemed best to allow the momentum to continue. “Commander Herling, will you allow Maestro Cransur to examine your daggerlance?”

  Chas unsheathed his weapon and handed it across the table while Daniel went on to explain how it worked. “One of my innovations is the crescendo-powered amulet. The amulet contains the Symphonic that launches lances of light. The crescendo decreases the energy demand from the user, without that, the spell in the amulet would in deed draw a dangerous amount of life-force energy.”

  “Very clever,” Terroll voiced his appreciation for the idea. “We could add crescendos to the amulets powering the airboat and vastly increase its speed. But reducing the energy demand on a non-Aakacarn still leaves the user with less of his life-force”

  “It would if Daniel had not composed the spells necessary to replace that energy. He did and all users of his CPA’s and other spell-powered devices receive regular health examinations and are given back the vitality,” Sherree explained, defensively. She would not let stand the idea her husband was slowly killing those who served him. “Still, we are in a war, people die, but we are doing what can be done to reduce those deaths.”

  Cransur passed the daggerlance to Reese, who after examining the weapon handed it back to Chas.

  A second, larger, airboat appeared on the table. “This craft can carry an entire flock of Eagles. Amulets to the front, rear and sides contain offensive spells from the Sun, Eagle, and Zephyr Guilds,” Terroll said while pointing with his finger at each device. “I have shown you another innovation; show us what has been sinking Anacondas from under the water.”

  Daniel focused on the table and right beside the two airboats appeared a ray. Talmon slapped the table. “I knew it!” He seemed excited rather than angry. “What can it do?”

  No one from the Atlantan delegation said a word, they all looked at Daniel, it was his choice what to reveal. “Those two nodules on either side of the observation window are crescendos made by me and the tail is also a crescendo. The outer skin is shielded, powered by the life-force energy of the pilot. Under the water, the manta can safely travel hundreds of spans per mark.”

  Runyen was nodding his head. “That is impressive. And it has three level four class one crescendos made by you, which means each adds seven bolts of amplification to the spells focused through them. Even a One-bolt Accomplished is capable of Maestro level spellcasting when at the controls of this vessel.”

  Talmon gave a negative shake of the head. “Is it wise to give such power to Accomplisheds of lesser potential?”

  “It makes up for the fact that we are the smallest guild,” Simon answered without sounding cheeky. “There is not an Accomplished in our society who does not possess a class one level four crescendo. Granted, it places a great deal of power in the hands of people who have not grown used to commanding such potential, but we are at war and the traditional idea of everyone using only a crescendo of his making is better suited for times of peace.”

  No one argued the point, most of them being more focused on the ray. Tobermin was staring at the manta and his sour expression made it seem as if he disapproved of the something about the ray or perhaps over hearing of yet another tradition held to be sacred that Daniel had disregarded. “That explains how your guild is so good at running down and destroying enemy vessels, but it does not explain how you destroyed a skyship base that was spans from the river.” Curiosity and disapproval looked the same on his face.

  It was the moment of truth, the choice was not easy, Daniel had no doubt the Serpent Guild spies within Aakadon would learn what was said at the meeting in Bashierwood, and he hated giving away the element of surprise. Tarin Conn had those new blue sky-cruisers and Aakadon had the airboats. He made up his mind. “The manta is not limited to the water, it can fly. We flew over the base at night and the people below never knew what was destroying them. A group of Aakacarns at the base sensed the presence up above, but we eliminated them early on.”

  Terroll sat back in his chair and began rubbing his chin. “This is even better than I had hoped for, not just learning about the manta craft or even the crescendo-powered amulets, it is the fact that we are communicating openly and sharing what each has to offer in the war effort. Talmon, I am sure your mind is filling up with ideas on how to use these innovations against the forces of Tarin Conn.”

  Maestro Reese let out a huff and smiled. “Yes, I can see many ways these things can be used. It also makes me glad we decided Daniel Benhannon and his Atlantan Guild are no longer considered as being enemies of Aakadon.”

  A third airboat appeared on the table. “This big beauty can carry over a hundred Accomplisheds and as you can see, has sleeping quarters. The other two are swift boats bu
t the cruiser can serve as a command center,” Runyen began showing off another innovation. Big Beauty, judging by the scale of the other two airboats, was one hundred paces long and twenty wide with four levels above the main deck and two huge daisy-wheel propellers on the back end. “Like the others, it levitates and is driven forward by the twin units on the back. Amulets on this vessel contain offensive spells from each guild. I think we will be adding crescendos to the amulets.”

  “Just so you know,” Terroll began in a tone that hinted of a possibly disturbing revelation about to be made. “We brought airboats with us and will be using them in order to return to Aakadon much quicker than it took for us to arrive here.”

  Daniel understood the secrecy without being given an explanation, but it was Simon who gave voice to the thought. “If we had seen those things racing toward Tannakonna, the airboats might have sparked a confrontation. It was thoughtful of you to hall them in wagons and tell us about them instead of shocking us with their existence.”

  His were not the words Daniel would have used, but close enough. “I have shaken the hand of every person in this room with the exception of Maestro Cransur. I would have known who was on the airboats and so would not have attacked, but it would have taken some fancy talking from you, Terroll, to make me believe the meeting would be conducted in good faith.”

  “You’ve shaken the hands,” Tobermin repeated softly. He looked Daniel in the eyes. “You have a spell that can sense my presence.”

  Daniel nodded his head. “I can sense any person or thing that I have ever touched if I summon enough potential. If the person or object is close, the cost in energy would not be much, but from here to Aakadon would take High Power spellcasting and would be impossible to hide. It was one of the spells I used from Shantear when I needed to focus on Tarin Conn half a continent away at Kelgotha.”