To Be Victorious: The Maestro Chronicles Book 6

by John Buttrick

  His throat dried out and a terrible thirst grew as he loosed the potential, slicing away at the very foundation of the building. As the tower began to drop, he ceased the potential for Burning Beam of Light, summoned a shield, added the Da Capo, and then teleported out into the courtyard of his former guild, right into the middle of a crowd.

  People screamed and jumped back at the physical manifestation of their nightmares appearing right before their eyes. Foresters, Saplings, and many other Accomplisheds of the plant loving society streamed out the front doors. The streets were filled with Accomplisheds of Aakadon, most of them running, bravely and stupidly, toward the Willow Guild. Hundreds of batons were aimed at Tarin. He was surrounded by a living sea of scarlet on black cloaks. Their spells hit his shield and had no more effect than a barefooted child trying to kick a dent in a stone wall. He could see their mouths move as they shouted and cursed at him, but could hear not a sound through the shield. Whatever the words, terror was etched on their faces, and yet they continued the attempts, feeble as they were, to destroy him.

  Most of the life-force energy he had been using came from animals and it was quickly dissipating. He wanted to use his burning beam to slice down all the fools blasting uselessly at his shield, but mummification was becoming a distinct possibility. The need to take a drink of water was so great he was tempted to indulge right in front of his enemies, but that could be construed as weakness. Instead, he laughed, and continued laughing as he summoned the potential for Teleportation. Moments before the darkness swallowed him, the Emerald Tower came crashing down, killing possibly hundreds of Accomplisheds; not counting the thousands inside the building.

  Three heartbeats later he was in the room attached to the grand chamber at Mount Filia. No-bolt Accomplished Justine DuEller was waiting with a sacrifice, some Ducaunan taken in one of the many raids. Without the slightest hesitation, Tarin grabbed the young man and drained the life-force out of him before the startled male offering could even get out decent scream. It sounded more like a squeak.

  Tarin drank a full golden tankard of water and discovered neither the energy taken nor the water had come close to fulfilling his needs. “DuEller, bring them in two at a time.”

  Draining the life-forces from ten thousand commoners was going to take up a large part of his schedule, but he was willing to make the sacrifice.

  -----

  Linni Brimwald’s black hair was tied into a bun on her head, but would flow down to her knees if set free. Back before she had been Condemned by Serin Gell, and when her husband and children were alive, she kept her hair cut to half of its current length. Sir Daniel restored her from the effects of the evil spell and enhanced her physique, as a side effect, her hair had grown as if it had never been cut. She chose to keep the new length and practicality caused her to wear it up when on duty or out for a ride. She had also awakened from Condemnation to a general sense of where the Knight was, currently far to the south.

  The swirling together of events that followed the Chosen Vessel worked to bring her long lost father back into her life. He was currently serving as an Accomplished in the Department of Internal Security and Information Gathering. Too bad the Aakacarn gene had not been passed on to her, but she already possessed above average strength and endurance, and was content with who and what she was.

  She started out on Jilly, her father’s brown Ducaunan Racer. The grounds of the Benhannon Holding had not been fully cleared of the debris from the last raid, yet it was a beautiful morning, and the horse needed to get out and about. The field to the south no longer had crops, but it was an excellent place for the Racer to go for a sprint. Fallen trees were obstacles but she navigated the mare around them easily enough.

  She could feel the amulet lying flat on her chest beneath her clothing. Her father, Buck Duadams, insisted that she wear the shield amulet at all times, even though it meant she had to have her vat filled by an Accomplished every other day. Jilly only needed the device under her saddle when out on a ride. The only horses in the above ground part of the stables were those being prepared for a ride. Today, that number was thirty-six, not counting Jilly. Linni assumed the other mounts belonged to the Benhannon Guardsmen and Sentinels who would soon be taking their places on the walls so the ones there could be relieved of the duty.

  She kept Jilly to a trot until reaching the south field and then said, “Go girl,” and the mare galloped forward. Racers needed to sprint, it was in their blood.

  They were barely two hundred strides across the dirt field when she heard the familiar whistles of trini-bombs from up above. She looked back, flashes, black clouds, and unbelievably loud explosions, assaulted her eyes and ears. She blinked and a force of air slammed into her and Jilly so hard the mare flew forward off the ground.

  Linni was in a billowing cloud of iron shards and all she was truly aware of was her body flying forward off the saddle. She flipped over Jilly’s head while still cling to the reins and then hit the ground, hard. Her left arm was stretched out from the shoulder and a massive weight on her neck and head had her ear pressed against the bicep. It was dark and she struggled to breathe; the wind had been knocked out of her lungs. She inhaled and took in the smell of dirt and horse. After a bout of coughing, she reached with her right hand, feeling what was holding her down and realized her head was under Jilly’s neck. The Racer was breathing, she snorted and rolled over and soon was up on four legs. The shield amulets had protected them both, although Linni’s uniform was full of tiny rips. She brushed off countless iron shards.

  Looking toward Center Court, she could not believe her eyes. Everything above ground was gone, nothing but mutilated bodies and slabs of stone.

  At that moment she was struck by waves more powerful than any she felt flow from Sir Daniel and the force sent her back to the ground. The trembling in her bones could have been caused by the waves or terror, she was feeling both at the moment and had difficulty distinguishing between the two. Was this another attack?

  After what seemed like an eternity, the ripples stopped, and she was staring up at the sky. Birds of all sorts flew in from every direction. The avian flocks had to be coming to provide visuals for whichever Accomplisheds they shared a link with. Linni was one of the original Sentinels and knew far more about spellcasting than some of the Aakacarns serving Sir Daniel. None of them wanted to convey blindly into a slab of stone.

  With the sound of fifty whips cracking, Accomplisheds assigned to the holding appeared above ground, proving her instincts about the presence of the birds to be correct. The spell-casters immediately began shifting rubble, no doubt seeking survivors. With their spells, Linni knew they could easily find anyone still alive, but she wondered how many people in those buildings had their shield amulets in place when the bombs hit.

  She swung up in the saddle and started for what used to be the surface portion of the Benhannon Northland Holding. Even though she specialized in the kitchen, she was still one of the Chosen’s Sentinels and every bit as fit, energetic, and well-trained as those who went into battle. The nightstick and the daggerlance attached to her belt would be of no use in the current crisis, but she had a strong back and a will to match.

  She tried not to look at the bleeding bodies peppered with iron shards, nor did she want to see the scattered limbs and entrails from the people who had been ripped apart by the devastating blasts. She tried, but without success. It was impossible to guide the horse with her eyes closed and that would have been the only way to avoid seeing what was all around her. Even so, she refused to focus on the faces, attached or unattached to the bodies, of her fellow Sentinels.

  She rode right up to Paul Preidor, who was near what was left of building two. The Three-bolt Accomplished, second in command of the Aakacarns assigned to the holding, had dark hair and eyes like most every Ducaunan. He was in the process of reducing an enormous slab into sand. Linni dismounted and waited until he was finished to ask her question, “How did they do this?”

  He ca
st another spell and the sand shifted to the left, revealing Marge Durayton, Chief of Kitchens, with her normally long dark ponytail white with sand. Seeing her lying unconscious, Linni sprang into action, opening the blue wool coat and the shirt enough to turn the shield amulet so Paul could place his hand on Marge’s forehead.

  From the other side of the slab to the right came Gorn Blixten. The Three-bolt commanded the fifty Accomplisheds who lived at the holding. The dour expression on his face did not soften when he fixed his eyes on Linni. “Invisible airships are how they did it,” clearly he overheard the question. “Whatever drives the vessels does not utilize life-force energy. For all we know the blighted ships are circling back for another go at us.” His sideburns followed his cheeks all the way to his mustache, leaving his chin and neck bare.

  It was an odd thing to take note of a man’s facial hair at such a time, but Linni needed to focus her eyes on something other than the torn bodies scattered across Center Court.

  Paul stood up. “All she needed was a fresh dose of life-force energy,” he announced.

  Marge’s brown eyes opened. “What happened?” Linni took her hand and pulled, helping her up. The Chief eyed the two Accomplisheds. “Where are the airships? Were these the new sky-cruiser we were told about? What is to stop them from attacking again?”

  Gorn grunted. “I would give a great deal to have those answers.”

  “We can focus random spells into the sky and the Sentinels can send lances of light up in the air, and hope to hit something. Other than that, until the Serpents cast a spell or the bombs start whistling down, we have no way of stopping another raid,” Paul Preidor offered his opinion.

  “There is nothing left on the surface to destroy,” Linni pointed out. “Why would they bother to circle back?”

  Sir Daniel’s presence to the south vanished from her senses and then she felt him much closer and to the north of where she stood. A falcon flew from his direction, let out a screech, and began circling in the air above Linni’s head. The snap-crack of displaced air heralded the arrival of the Royal Knight and Lady Sherree, along with Accomplisheds, Trenca, Lassiter, Tiran, and Bagget. Commander Herling stood right behind Sir Daniel.

  “Seven hundred fifty-three people are dead,” Sir Daniel said, after no doubt scanning the ruins of each building.

  “What have you allowed to happen to my base?” Commander Herling demanded to know from Accomplished Blixten. Linni did not blame Chas for being furious.

  “We recovered and healed twenty-seven people and eight of the horses that were above ground,” Gorn reported. “Eight thousand Sentinels and a hundred and eleven members of the Benhannon Guard are in the lower levels, which were untouched by the blasts. Commander, the airships were invisible and undetectable through spellcasting.”

  “Six hundred twenty-three members of the Benhannon Guard are dead,” Sir Daniel continued the death toll and then glanced to the north. “Roder Keenan is on his way from the wall.”

  Simon, the First Lady, and Conductor Lassiter began speaking at once. “This must be what the previous raids were working up to,” Sherree said.

  “Whatever did this can be anywhere wreaking havoc,” stated the head of Defense.

  “I’ll notify Sam. Perhaps his agents can figure out what we need to know,” the Chief Aid offered a course of action rather than an observation.”

  Sir Daniel was staring to the northwest. “A success this big is going to be reported immediately,” he stated and then quieted, clearly sending a mental message. “Slinky is in the air vent at mount Filia and very close to Serena’s office. I don’t have any creatures at Mount Suteck or I would listen in on Vance Cummin.”

  “Samuel does,” Simon announced, having followed through with his idea about notifying the ISIG Conductor. “He reports mass celebrations over the destruction of this holding and,” the Chief Aid paused, his face grew pale. “The Emerald Tower has fallen. Tarin Conn single-handedly destroyed the home of the Willow Guild.”

  “Senior Forester Galloway was not in the tower,” Lady Sherree was quick to say, although Linni had no idea how the First Lady knew that, unless the information came from one of her scouts. “He was swimming laps in the pool.”

  Definitely a scout, Linni concluded.

  Simon nodded his head. “My former Mentor is very fit for a man of two hundred twenty years. I should have realized he would be taking his morning swim,” he responded, paused for a moment and then continued. “According to Sam, it is quite clear who toppled the Emerald Tower, but as of yet, there has been no mention of who was involved in the raid on this location.”

  Conductor Lassiter grew so furious Linni was sure the man was about to hit something, but then he calmed. “No one can stand against a Thirty-bolt Accomplished.”

  Sir Daniel gave off a wry chuckle, “Tell me about it.” He was destined to stand against that Accomplished.

  The First Lady put her hands on her hips, facing her husband. “This is not the time to go after Tarin Conn.”

  The Royal Knight smiled grimly. “No, but Slinky heard who led the raid. This is my fault. If only I had taken out the base at Los Ryn.”

  Lady Sherree seemed to relax once she knew Sir Daniel was not about to go charging after the Dark Maestro. Sometimes he was brave to a fault. “Are you talking about the blue sky-cruisers?”

  He nodded his head. “Ana Tigress led the raid.”

  “But that does not tell us where she is right now,” the Chief Aid pointed out.

  Sir Daniel went quiet again, his eyes staring as into eternity, which probably meant he had decided on a course of action and was in the process of sending orders. No one who had been in his company as long as Linni had been could fail to recognize the signs.

  His eyes went to Sero and Carlos. “We will be conveying to Manta One. We and the other nine crews at the Naval Facility will be launching a raid of our own.”

  Linni knew Sir Daniel would take decisive action. Gripping her daggerlance, she boldly declared, “The Serpents and their Pentrosan allies will feel the wrath of the Chosen Vessel.”

  -----

  Again at the controls of Manta One, Daniel led the other nine rays up into the sky, leaving the mighty Hirus far behind. To the north they sped with targets assigned, fourteen buildings, a field of Skyships, and ten rays with which to destroy them, no problem. Sero was in the seat next to him and Carlos had control of the rear crescendo. They leveled off at five spans and were well above the clouds when the nine mantas formed a V formation behind their leader. They zipped through the air, traveling faster than the speed of harmonics. The nine mantas each had two extra Accomplisheds aboard to help the pilot achieve the necessary speed, lest he or she die and mummify.

  “At this rate we should be in range of Los Ryn within a tenth of a mark,” Carlos commented.

  Daniel nodded acknowledgment even though he did not need the information. His eyes were alternately focused on the blue horizon and the three dimensional map floating above his console. The image was of Pentrosa in miniature with a real-time picture of where his mantas were in relation to the enemy base. Find All was focusing down in a cone with a fifteen span radius at ground level and feeding him massive amounts of information, the vast majority of which he shunted into one of those compartments in his mind. This he had to do because focusing a spell downward while travelling at such a high speed was like swimming across a river against the current near a waterfall.

  Simon did not complain at the schedule change or at being left behind, not since it gave him time to contact his former Mentor. Daniel knew people were waiting to meet with him, including folks in Bashierwood who had been expecting to converse with him after the discussions with Terroll were finished. The war up and changed the plan, again, but there was nothing unusual about that. Knowing he could have led the current raid days ago and prevented the deaths of so many of his enlisted men and women was what bothered him the most.

  Sero, who had been watching the three dimensional m
ap, glanced at his Maestro. “Soon, we will begin the assault and at least this threat will be no more.”

  Daniel knew the man was trying to raise his spirit, it was a good attempt, but not possible under the circumstances. “Yes, we will. Even so, we have no idea how many other such bases exist.”

  He sensed thousands of Pentrosans, their horses, and hundreds of Aakacarns quickly coming into spell-range, and adjusted the control stick. The mantas dropped below the clouds, allowing all crewmembers to see the installation through their viewers.

  Dusk, you are not far enough away. Move your feline tail a little quicker or it may get scorched.

  I move at the speed at which I move. The lackadaisical thought came back.

  Even though her mental response had been nonchalant, her lithe body sprang full out, her feet almost flying over the hill and down the other side. She moved so fast a cheetah would be envious, making him sure she would be well out of the danger zone by the time he gave the order. He began the count down.

  “We will deal with them as the locations become known,” Carlos called from the back. “Meantime, I will be focusing Find All on that field full of green skyships that is coming into sight on my viewer.” He did not mention the difficulty involved in focusing the spell forward at the current velocity.

  “All mantas, attack!”

  Daniel gave the command through his array and out loud. The base was spans away but well within the range of spellcasting.

  “It will be as you say, Maestro,” nine voices came back to him.