To Be Victorious: The Maestro Chronicles Book 6

by John Buttrick

  “I never thought a Willow could be so resourceful,” Tobermin commented, perhaps without thinking.

  “I suspect that kind of deliberating would explain how your guild is being outperformed by the Atlantans,” Runyen Cransur responded a moment later.

  With a nod from his Maestro to continue, Simon did so. “Tarin Conn is in a chair within a small chamber. His wife, Serena, is sitting beside him. Two people, who are of Ducaunan birth, judging by the height and skin color, are approaching the ancient Accomplished. He has sprung from his chair and grabbed hold of the young men,” Simon paused and winced. “He has drained them of their life-force energies and the mummified corpses have just fallen to the floor. One of the Serpents, a female, is levitating the bodies out to another chamber, while another Serpent is bringing in two more victims.”

  “What a pity he switched loyalty,” Runyen’s voice was slightly above a whisper. The Willow Guild’s loss was the Atlantan Guild’s gain as far as Daniel was concerned, but he understood Cransur’s sentiment.

  “Monstrous” Janna blurted. “How many lives does it take to fill the vat of a Thirty-bolt Accomplished?”

  Daniel had no accurate figure to give. “Thousands, many, many thousands, and that is my best guess,” he answered and then decided it was time to take action. “If he is draining them two at a time, it will take a long while for him to get back to strengthening the hurricane. If you lower the shield enough for me to convey to Manta One, I can get to the eye of the storm and perhaps break the Da Capo.”

  Terroll was shaking his head even before Daniel was finished speaking. “It would take a Grand Symphony to break a thirty-bolt Da Capo and even if you succeeded, it would do little good. I know why, but will allow Maestro Kapes to explain. It is after all the purview of her guild.”

  “Uh, Maestro, should we sit and watch or attack?” Sorel asked through the array.

  “Hold you position for now,” Daniel replied.

  Rondara began her explanation after eyeing each of the Maestros. “Once a hurricane reaches a certain size it alters the weather systems around it and dominates all the other nearby weather patterns. In other words, the storm is so big at this point; breaking the Da Capo would only send it careening on a path of destruction, not weaken or stop the whirling of the winds.”

  “If he cannot break the Da Capo or weaken the storm, would it not be possible for him to enter the eye and steer the hurricane up into Fon Kay or Pentrosa?” Simon proposed.

  “Steering such a huge cyclone is too precise a word. Influencing the direction would be a more accurate description of what might be possible,” Rondara replied.

  Daniel figured it was worth a try. “Grant my request and allow me to do what I can to influence the storm. I don’t want innocent Fon Kayans or Pentrosans to die, but I like even less the idea of the hurricane coming southwest into Ducaun, which we all know is where Tarin Conn intends to unleash it.”

  Daniel wanted to act before the opportunity was lost.

  “I estimate it would take a hundred sixty-seven marks for the Dark Maestro to drain five thousand people,” David Svennar of the Stone Guild gave a calculation that could ruin the chances of getting Terroll to make an opening in the dome-shield any time soon. Why he picked the number five thousand was beyond Daniel’s knowing.

  “We have days, perhaps a week before action must be taken and while I believe we should move swifter than that, I also say there is no reason to end this meeting prematurely,” Lena stated.

  “I agree with the Maestro of the Sun Guild,” Terroll said. “An opening in the dome will not be created and this meeting will continue to its scheduled conclusion.”

  If pounding his fists on the table would alter the decision, Daniel would have pounded a drumroll on the surface; such was the amount of frustration beating to a crescendo within him. He took a deep breath and held his peace as the meeting continued.

  ”Maestro,” the voice of Samuel Cresh came in through the array marks later, and after a number of discussions that could have occurred through amulets rather than face to face.

  At what part of the agenda would the Maestro of the Atlantan Guild be able to add his concerns to the mix? Daniel wanted to know but did not ask, so concentrated on the ISIG Conductor.

  “Sam, I know Tarin Conn’s new sky-cruisers now have the ability to teleport. Evidently the ancient Aakasear approves of Franklin’s idea,” he sent in reply.

  “I recently received a report about that and it was the second thing I was going to bring up in this report,” Samuel sent with a sense of excitement. The first item promised to be big.

  “I was going to tell you to speak up and that I did not have all day, but I am stuck in this meeting and am going nowhere anytime soon.”

  “I can sense your frustration from here.”

  “Is that what has you so excited?”

  “No, it is a report I just received from Buck Duadams. He has found another nest of the Serpents. It is a teleportation hub in Zuchang and it is called, Serpent East. Daniel, if we can locate the other secret hubs, we could possibly take out most if not all of their teleportation circles. Timed right, the blow to Tarin Conn’s guild would be devastating.”

  That was good news. “Sam, if your people can locate enough hubs before the fall, we might just win this war.”

  The possibilities were so good Daniel did not feel as bad about being trapped in Aakadon when there were so many chores he could be doing, attacking that hurricane foremost among them.

  “Thank you Maestro Svennar for keeping us so well informed on the progress of the Stone Guild,” Terroll was saying.

  Daniel had missed the reports of several Maestros and had not been storing their words in the compartment he reserved in his mind for such things. He hoped no one asked for his opinion on what was said. The Grand Maestro’s next words surprised him. “The last item on the agenda is an opportunity for the Maestro of the Atlantan Guild to bring before the Maestros of Aakadon whatever concerns or ideas he chooses to share.”

  Daniel leaned forward. “My guild has made contact with people who have crossed the Western Ocean. They have landed on the west coast of Serinia and are establishing a base there. They call themselves Zeuthans and have invited the Atlantan Guild to join their empire, which I assure you will never happen,” he announced, and then went on to reveal as much as he knew about the goals of the Aakacarns who ruled the mysterious continent.

  “A few warships and a Vice Count do not an empire make. The people you encountered could be from some distant island and merely making their empire sound grander than it actually is,” Lena Beyers pointed out.

  Daniel had not considered the notion, but had to admit it was a possibility. “If Vice Maestro Tobermin is willing, I will have an agent of the ISIG transport one of his Soarers to the west coast of Serinia, and they can investigate the foreigners together.”

  He felt the earlier compliment deserved recompense.

  Tobermin turned in his chair. “I accept the proposal of the Maestro of the Atlantan Guild to jointly investigate the people who claim to be of the Zeuthan Empire.”

  He may believe the joint venture was a way to spy on the Atlantan Guild, but Daniel was sure whoever Samuel picked to work with the Soarer was someone who would be very careful to keep guild secrets from the Eagle.

  “Sam, we really need to win before the fall, and so I am going to bring the Eagles in to help you find the hubs,” Daniel sent through the array, and then out loud said, “My agents have discovered another teleportation hub in Zune. I propose the JMTF begin planning the best way to eliminate it.”

  “That is what the Joint Mission Task Force is for,” Terroll said after all the other Maestros gave their approval. “I approve the mission. I will add that all efforts to find more of these hubs should be made by Agents of the Atlantan Guild and Soarers of the Eagle.”

  “I approve,” Daniel was the first to respond. It was better to have his old teacher bring up the notion. The Grand Maest
ro saved a lot of time and effort by doing so.

  Simon cleared his throat to gain attention; apparently everyone forgot he was in the room, again, except Daniel and those sitting beside the Chief Aid. “Tarin Conn has begun killing his victims by the score. He finished that group and is exiting the chamber,” the Battencayan-born Accomplished paused and was met with absolute silence as everybody in the room waited to hear his next words. In truth he was likely waiting for whichever critter was at Filia to get another vantage point. After a few more moments Simon continued. “He is in a room where over a thousand people are being held. They have all just fallen to the floor and seem to be asleep. He is now draining them in mass. I think Maestro Svennar may need to adjust his calculation, because at this speed the Dark Maestro will be strong again soon.”

  “We assumed the Ancient One drained himself more than he perhaps actually did. It could be he has a self-imposed limit and departed from the eye of the storm when he reached that point, so we have no idea how much life-force energy he requires in order to be at full strength,” Janna shared her thoughts.

  “He just vanished in a bright flash,” Simon informed them. “Clearly he has reached that point.”

  A few minutes past and then Daniel heard the words, “Maestro, the sky-cruiser has reappeared,” Sorel sent. “A few marks ago, we might have managed to take out those airships and do something to interfere with that super powerful spell, but it would be dangerous to try now.”

  It was an opportunity lost, Daniel thought, so he would simply have to create a new one. “Hold your position and keep me posted. I and a few friends will be joining you and then we will see how much interfering we can manage together.”

  Chapter Twenty-Four: A storm Unleashed

  By the time Daniel departed Aakadon, conveyed from the bow of the Wager, entered Manta One at the Benhannon Naval Facility, flew to Starling Cove, and was leading one hundred rays high in the sky towards the Taltin Sea, the hurricane was moving to the southwest, and gale force winds were already assaulting the coast of Ducaun and parts of Battencay. The speed of the cyclonic winds was estimated to be more than one hundred fifty spans per mark.

  Sherree had gone to Shantear to chair a meeting about the meeting in Aakadon and Tim was returning to the naval facility to prepare the installation for what promised to be a vicious beating or at least a swamping. With the proper spells in place the navy base should be able to survive intact, but should, was no guarantee.

  Jeremiah Lassiter was leading the JMTF in a raid on Zuchang. Vice Maestro Tobermin had agreed and the combined army of Accomplisheds had a chance of success.

  Daniel was at the controls, Sero was beside him at the twin crescendos, Carlos was at the tail, and Simon, who caught up with the group at Starling Cove, sat in the center seat behind his Maestro. Below were clouds that resembled sheets of white cotton and up above, a bright blue sky. The other rays each had additional Accomplisheds on board to assist the pilot. It took more potential than the average Aakacarn could safely expend to travel faster than the speed of harmonics; even Manta Two-forty-nine, piloted by Royn Tarkin, needed Elias Starkas and Lou Zuallo to help maintain the high velocity. The brave crew was based out of the Benhannon Naval Facility and had participated in the air-raid near Los Ryn. They insisted on being one of the hundred rays to follow Daniel into battle and he only granted permission after they accepted Elias and Lou.

  The rays had flown over Lobenia, literally thundering across the kingdom, and were beyond Battencay’s northern mountains, a chain of four that stretched east to west. Daniel reckoned the Taltin Sea was fractions of a mark away at the mantas’ current speed.

  “Maestro, can you convey the hurricane out into the Eastern Ocean or maybe someplace near Mount Fillia or Suteck?” Royn inquired through the array. Unfortunately, the emotions that had accompanied the mental transmission indicated the man was serious.

  That was the kind of question one should expect when one had done the impossible too many times, Daniel figured. “As tempting as it is to drop the hurricane on Tarin Conn’s headquarters or that of his appointed Maestro, I am not sure how high in the sky I would have to be in order to see in its entirety something that is hundreds of spans across, but even should I attain such a height, I am sure the power requirements of the spell would mummify me in an instant,” he replied just as seriously, and then added, “People, that vast dark gray mass we are approaching is the hurricane and we must fly higher to go over the top or go around and dive beneath the sea in order to reach the eye,”

  Sight was not the only sense that revealed the relative close proximity to the conjuration, the harmonic waves grew more intense as they drew nearer the storm, Daniel’s teeth and bones seemed to be vibrating in time with the ripples, and he could hardly keep his hand on the control stick from shaking.

  “Maestro, the eye is off shore, you can go to the west, dive into the sea, and then turn to the east,” Joel responded.

  He was still piloting Manta Two beneath the center of the storm and had been keeping pace with it. His emotions were well controlled. No one could discern through the array the man was directly beneath the most powerful spell-caster in the world and hidden by hopefully enough cubits of water to remain unnoticed.

  “How many airships are above you?” Daniel asked.

  “Two hundred, not counting the one from which Tarin Conn is focusing his spell. The ships that came in since our last report must have enough Accomplisheds aboard to perform the spell Teleportation, because they simply appeared in the clear sky above us. I doubt any of their vessels can fly high enough to pass over the outer winds. So far as I can tell about the Dark Maestro’s activity, he is not doing anything to make the storm stronger, just forcing the hurricane in the path of his choosing,” the pilot replied.

  It was a real pity, but perhaps inevitable, that Tarin Conn would compose a shield spell to allow the caster to mentally create an opening wherever he or she wanted to focus potential. His ship had the capability, so Daniel decided to plan as if they all had the same. Maybe some vessels did have the Melody locked into an amulet and maybe some did not, but it was best to be prepared. Even if the assumption was correct, they still could not use a Da Capo and be able to manipulate the openings at will, which meant one of Accomplished had to go on the offensive while the other maintained and manipulated the shield. The only way Daniel could see to break through the defensive energy field was to either focus more energy than the enemy caster could summon or manage to focus a spell thin and fast enough to strike through the opening before it vanished and reappeared in another spot.

  “The port at Keffer Greens is taking a beating and so are the smaller marinas along the coast,” Daria reported what the Talenteds in those areas had told her. “The shields on the shelters are holding for the time being, but the docks and wooden structures are being battered by the storm surge. Boats are being toss up on land as if they were toys thrown in a tantrum. Within marks Freeport could experience the same thing, depending on exactly where the Dark One directs the hurricane. The Hirus River is overflowing its banks and the Tollus is no longer a slow meandering waterway, it is flowing with the force of white water rapids. It appears the remains of the Cantor Estate will soon be under water.”

  Her account of the devastation only served to verify what Daniel knew had to be taking place. “Thanks for the update, Conductor. We will be diving into the sea and heading for the eye shortly, but how long it will take to win control of the storm is anybody’s guess,” If we can win?

  He did not send the last thought because every member of his attack force was hearing the exchange through their arrays and needed a confident leader. They were facing a nut so hard he wondered if a smith’s hammer could crack it. The two hundred airships were meant to be a distraction, because Tarin Conn could not get into any danger he could not teleport out of, Daniel was sure, and any shield the elder Aakasear could summon would take a Grand Circle to overwhelm. Those vessels were not there to protect him. Th
e presence of the other sky-cruisers caused Daniel to believe the vessels were there for him and his mantas to play with while the ancient Accomplished worked his spell. Tarin Conn was expecting his rival to appear and the timing was probably the only thing in question.

  “Shelters are being created along the projected path of the hurricane with the help of Accomplisheds from Aakadon, the efforts will at least preserve life, if not property, and we will just have to weather the storm until you render it harmless,” Daria replied, along with a feeling of complete trust backing up her words.

  Yep, they believe I can do anything, Daniel thought, pleased that he had successfully conveyed confidence to the folks depending on him, even though it was mountaineer stubbornness and determination that kept him going rather than the belief that he could not fail.

  He tilted the control stick down and to the left while decreasing the power flowing from him into the rear Crescendo Amulet Propulsion Unit, reducing the speed of the dive. The outer shield and the straps holding him in place were reliable, but he did not want to experience slamming into any body of water at several times the speed of harmonics.

  As the ray drew closer to the turbulent waves, he sent life-force energy into the lower CAPU, activating the three jests of air on the bottom of the manta, which allowed the sleek craft to slip gently into the water. One hundred mantas followed his example and in short order were gaining speed and following him east toward the hurricane.

  The calm deep beneath the sea belied what was happening on the surface. If he were to lead the rays closer to the tempest farther up, the spells controlling the mantas would draw more potential from the pilots in order to stay on course. If he travelled closer to the coast, the turbulent shallower waters would not only increase the demand on the pilots, the move would likely end with the vessels being caught up in the storm surge, and being washed ashore. He banished the thought, seeing as he had no intention of swimming his vessel anywhere near either of those paths to the eye, and so concentrated on what he did intend to do.