To Be Victorious: The Maestro Chronicles Book 6

by John Buttrick

  Serena’s eyes widened and she seemed to realize he was displeased. She sat up straighter. “He will be in Lanta by sunset,” she replied and produced an amulet from somewhere within her garments.

  Four-bolt Accomplished, Vance Cummin, Maestro of the Serpent Guild, entered the room. His deeply tanned face was grim. He was tall, as were most of the males from Serinia, and wore black silks, shirt, pants and hooded cloak with gold braiding. Attached to his belt was the dagger Tarin had gifted him with. “Supreme Maestro, I have learned Accomplisheds of the Atlantan Guild Defense Department are training with Soarers, Foresters, Coronas, Artisans, and Cyclones. The alliance we had hoped to keep from happening has come, in spite of our efforts to prevent it.”

  The development was a setback, but not as great of a concern as it would have been five days ago. A deliberate space of silence, intended to build up tension in the underling, lasted until perspiration began to form on Vance’s brow, and then Tarin responded, “I will soon strike a mighty blow that will reverberate all across the continent and ensure my ultimate victory. While your news of the combined training is important, it is not the reason you have been summoned here.”

  Vance normally held his emotions well under control, he was sweating now. Drops rolled from his brow. He clearly knew the reason for the interview. “I have not found out who is supplying the Atlantans with our most secret information. Accomplished Berkell swears no Aakacarns, other than our own, ever came near Camp Serena. That being the case, whoever is spying for our enemy must be within our guild.”

  Serena leaned forward in her chair. “The treachery began at Shantear, as you well know. Someone had to visualize all of those teleportation points; otherwise the Atlantans would not have been able to appear within the mountain defenses. We know traitors were among us then and the destruction of Camp Serena is only the most recent incident. It is obvious we are looking for more than one, many more.”

  Tarin chose that moment to re-enter the conversation. “Find the traitors and bring them here where I will then drain their energies. Go now.”

  “It will be as you say, Supreme Maestro,” Vance replied, bowed, and quickly exited the room. He no doubt expected worse after giving such a weak report.

  The conversation could have taken place in the dream world or by amulet, but making the man appear at Filia gave a greater emphasis on the words. Tarin knew that no one could look him in the eyes and ignore the seriousness of what came out of his mouth. He would have been harder on the man if the task had been easier. Tarin had searched the dreams of hundreds of his followers and failed to uncover a single traitor. The search through the dreams of his followers would continue until every last traitor among them was identified and drained of their life-forces. Still, keeping a fire lit under Vance provided another avenue of pursuit.

  “He did not mention the airboats of Aakadon,” Serena pointed out.

  “The Maestro knows not to feed me facts I already know. The higher level of cooperation between Daniel Benhannon and the Grand Maestro is new. Unfortunately for them, the alliance has come too late.”

  Serena’s eyes suddenly seemed to be staring at nothing. Her focus returned and she smiled. “According to Ferren, Benhannon and his wife are at the mansion. Our little boot-shiner says the people who Daniel restored from Condemnation all have a general sense of where he is. About a score of people living in the town keep looking toward his mansion. Leon says it happens every time Sir Daniel is in the area. The people frequently glance in his direction without seeming to notice they are doing it. Like a compulsion.”

  Tarin, being the composer of the spell, understood the situation. “Daniel uses my spell, somehow reforms their bodies to a semblance of what they were, and commands them to exercise self-will. Thus they behave like ordinary men and women, but they are still under his influence and so they will always look to him. That is something he cannot change.”

  “He could order them to look away,” Serena’s response showed she did not understand the situation.

  “When they are in his presence he could give such an order and they would obey. At that point every one of them would overt their eyes, but once he removed his presence, the effects of the spell would cause them to again look in his direction. It is a reflex they cannot avoid with deliberate effort. Now that the lesson in spell science is over, send a teleportation circle to pick up Ferren Duzolta and bring him here. He has been to the Benhannon Estate and should be able to conduct the spell using his visual of the manor grounds,” Tarin stated and fixed his gaze on the door that was swinging opening.

  DuEller came in with a pair of teenagers, male and female. Both of them shuffled forward and bowed at his feet. “Come children, take my hands,” Tarin said while reaching out.

  The dark-haired boy was shaking and his face was as pale as the snow on a mountaintop, but he took hold of Tarin’s hand. The long-haired girl had been wide-eyed with fright at her first glance at the greatest Accomplished of all time. Who could blame her? But she forced a smile, causing a dimple to form in her right cheek. She nodded and took hold of Tarin’s hand.

  Once in his grips, it did not matter how the sacrifices felt, hopeful or frightened, it only mattered that they were in position to give of their life-forces. A momentary flicker of kindness flashed through his consciousness. He chose to be merciful and with that determination, cast the spell, instantly draining all of the energy out of their vibrant young bodies. They barely had time to gasp. “Serena, while the loss of your camp was regrettable, the idea was and is still good. The new sky-cruisers are much better than the original design and will go into full production starting tomorrow,” he informed her while releasing the dead hands.

  “My thanks to you, Great One,” she replied, appropriately.

  By the time Serena’s underling arrived, Tarin drained eight more couples and was feeling as full as he was the day he destroyed the Emerald Tower. The difference being he had managed over the past few days to purge all of the animal life-force energy out of his system and what he held within him at the moment was purely human.

  One-bolt Accomplished Ferren Duzolta, short for a Ducaunan male, entered the chamber along with twenty Accomplisheds, half male, half female, not that gender mattered, they were all Two-bolts, and that was the relevance. They stood ten to the right and ten to the left of the young man who had gained a good reputation in his short career. Tarin had no doubt about the Ferret’s skills. A few words given to Serena, who relayed them to the little fellow, had produced the whereabouts of Daniel Benhannon. The spy and his even younger aid had also provided a great deal of information about the Chosen’s Sentinels and the Benhannon Guard.

  The entire group bowed to Tarin and gave Serena the nod of respect due the First Lady of the Serpent Guild. “Supreme Maestro, how may I serve?” The Ferret asked what was a formality rather than a true question. He knew full well the reason for which he had been summoned.

  Tarin stood up. It was time for the mighty blow. “You and this circle will teleport me to the Benhannon Estate. That is, if my adversary is still at the mansion. If he is not, now would be a good time to inform me.”

  With sweat trickling down his cheeks, the pale-faced Ducaunan stared into the eyes of the true Chosen Vessel. “Supreme Maestro, Daniel Benhannon is in his bedroom on the fourth floor of his mansion. I can provide a visual of the front lawn. We,” he said while motioning with his hands toward the Accomplisheds to the left and right of him, “are prepared to provide the transportation you require on the instant.”

  Tarin walked right up to the young man and the other Accomplisheds formed a circle around him and Ferren. Each of the Two-bolts raised their batons and Tarin was swept into the deep darkness between locations. He appeared on a lawn facing a four-storied manor house, forest-green with dark green trim, with a lookout tower rising thirty cubits from the roof. The width and depth of the central part of the house was greater than that of the average inn with one story wings twenty strides wide, stretching o
ut north, east, and west another thirty strides. The manicured grounds covered a square span area and were surrounded by a granite wall ten cubits high and two thick. Fruit trees, squared off hedges, and beds of flowers decorated the lawn.

  Scores of men in blue wool uniforms immediately drew their spell-powered weapons and sent beams of light streaking into the shields the twenty Accomplisheds conjured. Four beams of light came from the people in the tower and their spells were just as useless. The barrier had a small opening through which Tarin cast his spell and was able to sense the life-force energy of everyone in the mansion. He focused on the fourth floor and a thrill of excitement washed through him as he identified one life-force in particular. The topaz blue form was right beside one of amber. Tarin wasted no time summoning Burning Beam of Light. He focused the energy through the ruby eyes of his black mamba. Twin beams burned into the fourth floor, snuffing out the topaz life-force, as well as the amber. He waved his crescendo right and left, burning away the entire fourth floor.

  He ceased his assault and played the Melody, Teleportation, in his head. Moments before he and his circle of Accomplisheds were swept into the deep darkness, he caught a glimpse of the tower crashing down on the third floor of the mansion. He appeared not many heart beats later in the room where Serena had remained seated.

  “Our Supreme Maestro has killed Daniel Benhannon,” Ferren Duzolta announced.

  Serena did not react until after Tarin said, “This evening I have killed my adversary. The Atlantan Guild and Aakadon no longer have a Chosen Vessel to lead them. They are doomed.”

  Serena sprang from her chair with a shout of delight. The twenty Accomplisheds began cheering and the First Lady finally calmed enough to ask, “Is Sherree Jenna-Benhannon dead?”

  “She was right beside him and I assure you, no one on the fourth floor survived,” Tarin replied, satisfied with his evenings work.

  Daniel, you really should have accepted the invitation to join me. The young Aakasear had been warned of the consequences of standing against the most powerful Maestro of ever.

  -----

  Daniel sat on the edge of the bed while playing, Riding the Wind, on his guitarn. The uplifting melody summoned no potential, it was an instrumental his mother had taught to him years ago, and he loved hearing it. He had decided to turn in early after days of getting little sleep. Having his fingers pick and strum the six strings not only soothed his nerves, it gave him something to do while waiting for Sherree to join him.

  He could not completely relax, the war made sure of that. Even while playing his favorite tune the spell, Find All, with a Da Capo attached, was allowing him to sense everything within a five span radius of where he was sitting. Normally he would not be able to sense the below-ground facilities, but his real bedroom was below ground and the reflection spell only prevented scanning from above. All anyone scanning from the surface could possibly detect was dirt, rock, and the underground river deeper beneath the estate.

  He sensed sixty-five Aakacarns in the lower levels and Reginald, the Benhannon Estate Provisioner, in his workspace on the first floor. Hundreds of people lived and worked in the manor, most of them slept on the second and third floors, and he sensed them all, including the hundred Sentinels living in the lower levels of the guard-house along with ten thousand Benhannon Guardsmen. The numbers changed drastically and frequently, depending on mission assignments and the flow of the war. Silvia and David were on the first floor enjoying a meal. Carlos and Sero were in the fourth level below the surface and Simon was at Shantear.

  In Lanta, Daniel sensed the folks he had met, although there were still quite a few refugees from other jurisdictions he could only identify as being human. Leon was on the porch of the saloon where he normally shined footwear, but Daniel sensed no customers near the young man. Perhaps he was enjoying the evening.

  When Riding the Wind reached its climatic conclusion, Daniel began playing Flight of the Whippoorwill, composed by his mother. She was no Aakasear but that did not stop her from writing beautiful music.

  The snap-crack of displaced air drew his eyes to the spot Sherree suddenly occupied. She stood in front of the bed with her diamond-bladed crescendo in hand. Fortunately she had forgiven him for experimenting while on a mission. She sheathed the knife and the smile that lit up her face seemed to brighten the room. “I love that instrumental,” she said and quickly uncased her flute.

  Flight of the Whippoorwill was composed on a guitarn, but the notes Sherree was playing made it easy to visualize the little bird flying from tree to tree. They were half way to the end of the instrumental when a familiar and deadly-dangerous presence suddenly appeared up on the front lawn. Ultra-powerful harmonic waves washed through the world quicker than Daniel had time enough to set his guitarn aside and then a spell struck the upper portion of the mansion. The entire fourth floor was burned away moments later, he knew from the Symphonic repeating in his mind through the use of a Da Capo.

  Sherree dropped her flute on the bed and drew the diamond-bladed crescendo. “We better get out there!”

  “Tarin Conn has come,” Daniel told her. The battle of the champions was upon him and adrenalin was flowing throughout his system. The outcome of the war could be decided in the next few minutes! “Twenty-one Serpents have arrived with him, one of which I have seen before. Casey the owl just gave me the visual.”

  Ferren Duzolta kept popping up at the most inconvenient times.

  Daniel’s mind recorded many other details Find All and the visuals were feeding his brain. He would sort through them when the crisis was over, if he survived. He grabbed his diamond-bladed crescendo, summoned the potential for Conveyance, and pictured him and Sherree out on the front lawn. It was at that moment she told him, “I have notified Leah and Jeremiah,” and then they were drawn into the blackness between here and there.

  They appeared on the front lawn just as hundreds of guardsmen were breaking from a circle which likely had been the place where the Dark Maestro and his team had been standing. In that short of a time, Tarin Conn and his strike-force were gone. Fifty Accomplisheds of the Atlantan Guild appeared moments later and thousands of Benhannon Guardsmen were streaming out of the guard-house. Leading them was Marcus Bower. “It all happened so fast,” the Captain said as he ran to stand beside Daniel.

  The fourth floor of the mansion was simply gone. The tower had smashed down onto the ceiling of the third floor. If Daniel had not chosen in the past to strengthen the overall structure using the spell, Fashioning, the tower would have fallen through and killed the score and a half people who were currently on the third floor. The same strengthening clearly did not protect the burned out floor.

  Sero and Carlos appeared about twenty paces to the right and both of them had their batons out and were no doubt ready to focus some nasty spells.

  Reginald came running out of the side door and did not stop until he was face to face with his Maestro. “It is a miracle you and the First Lady were not killed.”

  Jared Benfyllon, still dressed for business in his brown suit, came out of the front doors. “Sir Daniel, I heard the Dark Maestro appeared and attacked the fourth floor,” he stated, then looked up at the damage and his face grew pale. “I have no idea how many people lost their lives up there.”

  Daniel knew the answer. “Four members of the Benhannon Guard who were in the tower and thirty-three staff members who were cleaning the halls and rooms on the fourth floor have died.”

  Silvia and David ran out into the yard with weapons drawn, she with a crossbow and he a daggerlance. “I’m sorry for not sharing my latest vision. It was a black snake with burning red eyes. I am still not sure if the vision is related to this attack,” the Seer said after coming to a stop in front of Daniel and after squeezing between Reginald and Marcus. The vivid colors of the Teki couple’s clothing stood out in stark contrast to everyone else wearing blue wool uniforms or the silks of an Accomplished.

  “Neither am I,” Daniel replied. “If you had
told me earlier, I would not have connected a red-eyed snake to Tarin Conn appearing here. So don’t fret over it.”

  She nodded acknowledgement and bit her lip, which meant she was probably going to fret anyway.

  His mind was sorting through the most recent information that had been crammed into his head and he compared that with what his senses were feeding him currently. Everything seemed to be the same, except in Lanta, which had been untouched by the violence. There was one vibrant life-force missing. He expanded Find All to a twenty-six span radius. “Leon, the footwear cleaner, is missing.”

  “Why would they abduct the boot-shiner?” Marcus asked, clearly not making the connection. “It seems to me this assault was directed primarily at you. Why else would the Dark Maestro destroy the fourth floor and then teleport away?”

  His conclusion concerning Tarin Conn’s objective seemed to be spot on. Sherree was nodding her head at his remark, and then added her own thoughts. “That means he thinks we are dead. Perhaps we should convey elsewhere and let him think so for a while; at least long enough for us to fix this mess and decide what to do.”

  Daniel agreed with her, but wanted Leon, so looked at Accomplished Fran Merosa, a Two-bolt Accomplished of the Defense Department. She was in charge of the Aakacarns who resided at the Estate. Her hood was down, exposing long red hair. Her green eyes were almost the same shade as Sherree’s.

  He wasted no time deciding what to do. “Fran, I want you to lead a team. Go into Lanta and find Leon Laroo. All of you need to use the spell, Running with the Wolves.”

  “You think he is an Accomplished in disguise?” Sherree seemed to find the possibility hard to believe.

  “All I know is the man was there before Tarin Conn attacked and vanished from my senses moments afterward,” Daniel replied. The circumstances were enough to call the man in for questioning at the least.

  “Your jurisdiction runs twenty-five spans east to west and sixteen and a half spans north to south,” Jared spoke as if someone standing around did not know the fact, but fortunately went on to make his point. “It just is not possible for an ordinary man to travel so far so fast.”