To Be Victorious: The Maestro Chronicles Book 6

by John Buttrick

  Hundreds of blades of air from spell-powered cutlasses, shot by men lining the starboard rail of a frigate, flew in the general direction of the patrol-boat, yet had little chance of doing any damage. Brent Lyamon was experienced enough to have a shield in place. As the destroyer slipped beneath the waves, the shots from the Urchin were redirected at the frigate, and soon that ship joined the other.

  Eight heavy cruisers and three dreadnaughts, sails up and moving, along with five destroyers and two Demfilian modified freighters, were heading out to meet the threat. They had crewmen at their bows firing solidified blades of air from their cutlasses, again in the general direction of the patrol-boat. Twin flaming streams of stones and a quartet of fiery pebbles blasted through the night, across the distance, and into the sails of the lead cruiser and then those of the seventeen other warships that had hoped to reach the Urchin. The display would have been beautiful and entertaining if it were not aimed at ships full of people and bringing about the destruction of both. This was war and they were the enemy, but that did not make killing them pleasant or something to applaud. Soon all of the vessels involved were aflame and sailors were abandoning their ships, an effort that would save at least some lives.

  All one hundred Anacondas launched from the pier, and were headed towards the Urchin, which continued to visit destruction upon the ships of the port while the Rover, three spans out, was focused on the mansion. Lances and of light, in near continuous streaks of four, shot from the port arrow slits, and were piercing the walls of the manor house while twin stones of flame, from the bow and stern guns, shot into the roof. Golden tiles melted and flames began consuming the timbers. Daniel sensed each lance punching in, going all the way through, and out the back side of Van Joppa’s home. Anyone between those points was punctured and unfortunately there were a lot of people who were severely wounded or died in that manner.

  The number of deaths kept climbing as the barrage continued and the fire spread and was soon feeding on the upper floor. As the support columns of the mansion were being blasted apart by the glowing lances, the overall structure began to weaken and Daniel figured it would not be long before the upper floors collapsed down onto the lower.

  Both patrol-boats had to be assisted by their Accomplisheds in order to target their weapons so accurately in the dark from spans away. Once the sun came up the crews would be able to target by sight and the fighting would likely intensify, but he doubted the mansion would last that long.

  Hundreds of solidified blades of air were flying from the stronghold in the direction of the Rover, but the effort did not stop the assault on the residence. A lot of people were fleeing to the fortress and he suspected Van Joppa and his family was among them, but they were Lyle’s concern.

  The mantas were by far the most destructive of the four vessels assigned to the assault force. Daniel sensed the rays maneuvering to engage the Anacondas and anticipated the ships at port would be getting a slight reprieve while the major battle shifted farther out in the bay. The enemy’s traditional fleet of warships still had the Urchin to contend with, and one on one there was nothing on the surface that could sink a Wager-class patrol-boat, but the destroyers, frigates, and other military vessels had time because the lethal boat could only do so much damage by itself. The overall mission was to be a diversion, not destroy everything as fast as possible, and he tried to keep that in mind. Even so, the raid was his way of stomping down on the rebels, and he intended to do as much stomping as he could before Chas called a halt to the undertaking.

  “They don’t seem eager to tunnel under your shield anymore,” Carlos said from behind.

  A quick glance showed that he and Sero had taken the time to heal their injuries and form new silks. Sero’s spell continued to refresh the air even though burnt corpses were lying all around within the shielded area and would otherwise be quite smelly.

  The bodyguard’s observation was true, the tunneling had stopped but the barrage of spells continued. Sero blasted away a team of Serpents who were beyond the outer shield and then took his time, no doubt waiting for one group to drop their shield in order to go on the offensive, aimed his baton, and sent a lightning bolt at a circle of Serpents eighty or so paces away, killing every member of that team.

  After about a tenth of a mark from when the fighting began, somehow it seemed much longer, a familiar voice sounded in Daniel’s head. “Maestro, we are coming.”

  Moments later he sensed Samuel appear behind the enemy host and with a hundred of his agents. At the same time came Bonny Tell, Buck Duadams, Darrell Logan, and Walker Aims, each with a hundred Accomplisheds. The last to arrive was Quala Robin. The Two-bolt Accomplished of the Department of Seekers also had a hundred Aakacarns. All of the groups had appeared where they could cast their spells inward at the Serpents, some of whom were quick to take note of the new arrivals and refocus their attacks accordingly.

  “Sam, why did you wait six minutes?” Daniel wanted to know as his spell-casters focused their potentials at Tarin Conn’s followers and the fighting continued with added vigor.

  “You put every creature we had on the ground to sleep. We were forced to switch to avian eyes, fly the birds here, and choose new conveyance points,” the Conductor replied while exchanging spells with a circle of Serpents. “I thought you were going to convey the Lavistra somewhere under the Eastern Ocean. Most of these Serpents would be dead if you had.”

  Daniel had neglected to inform Samuel of the change and so accepted responsibility for the delay. Even though the change resulted in a lot of personal pain, he still did not regret sparing the lives of folks who had no choice but to be in the hotel. “I know we agreed that was the most efficient tactic, but I did tell you I was uncomfortable with killing people unnecessarily. When the time came; I just could not bring myself to do it. I admit to altering the plan but I’m not the only one who made a change. You seemed to have invited six hundred more people than the revised plan called for, not that I am complaining.”

  A strong sense of self-satisfaction accompanied the words, “I made a few changes of my own and this raiding party is going to get a lot bigger. In another tenth of a mark, Chas is going to give the order and our mantas, patrol-boats, and Pondhoppers will move against the targets called for by Maestro Reese. In addition, the Commander will be sending in Conveyance teams where needed, and we Conductors, along with the First Lady and First Accomplished, have decided protecting you has become the greatest need in the entire operation.”

  Daniel no longer wondered why the Conductor had given in to the new plan so easily. “So you all just let me talk and then went ahead and did what you wanted.”

  “That about sums it up,” Samuel replied through the link without a trace of guilt.

  With his back to the hotel, surrounded by over a hundred teleportation groups of twenty, with more arriving, and only six hundred-six Accomplisheds of the Atlantan Guild in a perimeter beyond the greater enemy host, somehow the presumption on the part of his command staff did not seem to matter, especially when fire balls and lightning bolts were flying in all directions, creating swirling clouds of flames and dirt, flashes, and crackling booms. That, and the fact his hand-picked leaders were probably right, Daniel reckoned. What he had just experienced was more than likely the mere beginning of what was to come. Vance Cummin had plenty more Serpents to send and Daniel had to admit he needed backup if the fight was to last long enough for the forces of Aakadon to accomplish their goal.

  The dust cleared and right in front of him, fourteen groups of twenty suddenly became one with a single conductor. The precision and speed of the transition was truly impressive. The white-haired man had no cloak, yet stood with his baton held high, while multicolored streams of power flowed into the crescendo. A mighty lightning bolt struck, not at Daniel’s shield, but at the ground right before the topaz barrier. If not for the shield on his eyes, he would have been blinded by the blast even before the bolt struck the ground. As it was, the spell hit with so much
force, the ground irrupted, launching him, his two companions, and the dead Serpents high into the air. He barely managed to mentally adjust the shield to expand beneath them when fireballs from other groups of Serpents hit the energy field and were absorbed.

  The landing probably would not hurt a whole lot, considering each had their own personal shields and the corpses were beyond the ability to feel pain, Daniel contemplated at the apex of the upward flight, and then darkness enveloped them. For a moment he wondered what was happening, and then they were suddenly on the ground on the other side of the enemy host and closer to the hotel Bonnem.

  “I thought we could use a change of perspective,” Sero stated and then drank from his canteen.

  “True, I found the one we had a bit lacking in stability,” Carlos voiced his agreement and then took the time to quench his thirst.

  The assistant had conveyed them, not the dead bodies, from within the shield, which Daniel sensed land on top of eleven Aakacarns and then roll into another seventeen Accomplisheds, all of whom were part of the huge circle that had attacked him and his team. The luckless Serpents were lying on the ground with likely nothing bruised other than their egos. He ceased the potential for the spell, spilling the burnt corpses on top of their comrades. “I agree, but we will need to regain their attention soon. With over six hundred Atlantans in the area, they might have trouble identifying we three.”

  Through Find All and his physical senses he knew the teleportation circles were living up to their name as they began to disappear and reappear in rapid succession. Even the huge grouping that had sent the mighty lightning bolt broke into smaller teams. They were well organized, vanishing in bright flashes with some of them suddenly popping in behind Bonny’s team of Accomplisheds, casting spells, and then vanishing again. The same happened to Buck’s team and the others. If not for the personal shields they would have died instead of being knocked to the ground. Daniel knew the game, catch-me-if-you-can. The Serpents were known for it, but these units were much better at it. He also knew a stalling tactic when he saw one, which meant an awful lot of enemy spell-casters would soon arrive, maybe even the ancient Aakasear himself. It was altogether possible what Talmon meant to be a diversion could turn out to be the ultimate confrontation in the War of the Champions. Daniel shoved the worry aside, but it came buzzing back like an angry hornet and with another concern almost as pesky. Vance Cummin and half the guild could teleport into the region whether or not his master chose to come. The diversion needed a diversion and real soon.

  You can give the order any time now, Chas, he thought, but did not send the words through the array, not wanting to make yet another change in the plan.

  Instead of standing in six large groups and allowing their shields to absorb the hostile spells, Sam and his teams separated, then joined the game and were disappearing and reappearing long enough to focus their life-force energies at a particular group and be gone in a flash, only to repeat the pattern. Conveyance required one bolt of potential, which any member of Daniel’s guild could safely cast with the aid of a crescendo and Teleportation required six bolts, which usually meant groups of Aakacarns casting it in concert. The difference made up for the fact that the Atlantans were hugely outnumbered. They did not need to function as a group like the Serpents in order to travel. Consequently, he had over six hundred Accomplisheds using level four crescendos and each spell-caster was taking full advantage of the life-force energy amplifiers. Even so, dehydration was a growing problem for both sides. Folks in blue and also in black silks were fainting on the field.

  The rapid flashes created a strobe effect that made the battle seem surreal, yet no less deadly. It was impossible to know who would appear where and the swift transportations were becoming increasingly dangerous as a result. The situation certainly made targeting more of a challenge when the focus point of a spell was suddenly gone. More than a few times someone would aim at a hostile and hit a friendly, which was happening on both sides of the conflict. Bo Corvin took a lightning bolt in the chest, which was absorbed by his shield. Thirsten Benner shouted what was probably an apology to his fellow agent.

  Daniel sensed Darrell Logan vanish in a flash of light and moments later appear thirty or so paces away at the exact same time a circle of ten Serpents arrived, in the same spot. Unfortunately for the conductor, the substances of two people cannot easily occupy the same space. The man burst apart, covering his companions with gore and black strands of silk. Fortunately for the ISIG agent, his personal shield kept him solid, and whole, but he was covered in bloody bits of bone fragments, organs, muscles, and brain. Without the shield he would have been just as dead as the other fellow and no prettier.

  Even though the occurrence was happenstance, he adjusted quickly. Energy pulsed from him quicker than the surviving members of the Serpent team could react. It was doubtful they knew where the explosion of flesh came from or that the messy figure standing in the middle of the circle was not their conductor. Daniel felt their life-forces blink out of existence. Darrell glowed with potential and the gore vanished, leaving him perfectly clean. More than a few Atlantan Accomplisheds experienced the same happenstance and reacted similarly, although his was the only one where a conductor was the luckless Aakacarn to be splattered.

  “All teams launch attack,” Commander Herling’s voice came through the array just as fifteen more Grand Circles appeared on the hotel grounds.

  Five conductors out of the fifteen newcomers took note of three individuals standing well away from the skirmish taking place around the Lavistra. Those Grand Circles separated from the larger group and formed an offensive line. “They don’t seem to be having any trouble identifying three Accomplisheds in blue silks,” Carlos evidently felt the urge to say.

  The saying did not merit a remark in kind, not when orders were needed. “Triangle, back left and right, Convey and attack,” Daniel called out and then summoned the potential.

  He pictured himself at the front tip and appeared closer to the five groups, while Sero and Carlos arrived behind them. Daniel pointed his diamond-bladed knife and launched a lightning bolt. The jagged light created a crackling boom as it shot across the distance at the Grand Circle in the center. Twenty charred bodies flew to the right and left, backwards, and into the air. The teams immediately on either side were thrown to the ground but otherwise uninjured, as demonstrated by the fact that they were soon back on their feet. The Serpents on the other side of them launched fire balls at him, as did every other one of the remaining twenty-four circles. The five Grand Circles had become twenty-five smaller ones, half of which had been maintaining shields while the remaining half was preparing to go on the attack.

  Unluckily for those teams casting fireballs at Daniel, six of them dropped dead as the spell, Die Now, focused by Carlos from behind, hit them, and six more fell from Sero’s casting, bringing the number of circles of twenty to thirteen down and twelve still standing. Daniel conveyed ten paces to the right and then sent full power lightning bolts, in rapid succession, at each of the shielded teams, while at the same time several hundred fireballs struck where he had been standing.

  The effort dried his throat and he knew drawing so much life-force energy from his vat had severely dehydrated him. Blasting through so many shields using fourteen bolts of potential was taking its toll; especially after all of the spell-casting he had been doing since conveying off Manta One, and over the past twenty days. The few marks he spent with Sherree were not enough to completely restore his reservoir no matter how much liquid he consumed.

  He drank from his canteen while Sero and Carlos drank from theirs, but knew they also needed time to recuperate before doing anymore high power castings. He had been summoning and focusing the more demanding spells so the pair could last longer. His rate of replenishing was remarkably fast, yet even he was not limitless, and neither was his canteen. It was empty.

  Samuel and the Accomplisheds who had arrived with him were flashing from one place to another, batt
ling groups of Serpents from six to twenty in size. Since both sides had shields, most of the time neither was hurt by the spells, except when one of Daniel’s people caught a team of enemy Aakacarns on the offensive with their shields down.

  Quala appeared behind a team that was focusing their spells on Walker Aims, who was knocked off his feet by a fast series of lightning bolts and into the crater Daniel had created. She sent her life-force energy out in a broad beam, taking in all eleven Aakacarns, and they fell dead. Walker crawled up out of the hole and gave her a wave to show he had not been hurt.

  “Daniel, I am on Pondhopper One. We just conveyed to the Aczen Sea. Mine is one of nineteen that is about to attack the Anacondas at Port Bolton,” Sherree’s voice came into his head with a sense of anticipation.

  Bolton, named after the king, had been the primary port of the royal navy in the sea until the Pentrosans came in with the war-boats designed by Tarin Conn. Hundreds of the daisy-wheel-propelled vessels were stationed there and Daniel was a little worried about his wife piloting a boat that was not battle tested. He would have felt better if he had any creatures in the area that could give him a visual. “How have you deployed the other eighty-one Pondhoppers under you command?”

  She could have added more vessels to her assault on Bolton, he figured, but chose to listen rather than send the thought.

  “Sandra is piloting the lead vessel in a group of twenty-one, she will be attacking the Anacondas based at Port Clema, Ginnie Cree is the leader of a group of fifteen and should soon be assaulting the Anacondas at Port Semus. Enna Clarkzin and her team of fifteen are already assaulting the war-boats at Port Plymur. Reed SuKoff and his team have just arrived within a span of Port Langkor and Kesan Benhalow just informed me that he and his team have already sunk twenty Anacondas at Port Cliffer,” she replied with a sense of formality, and suddenly her mental tone changed. “I detected a smidgen of worry along with that question. Believe me eighteen boats against two hundred-nine vessels that have not a single Aakacarn among them is nothing like three spell-casters going against upwards of five thousand Accomplisheds.”