To Be Victorious: The Maestro Chronicles Book 6

by John Buttrick

  “Port and starboard arrow slits are to open and fire at those sky-cruisers,” Tim ordered. He did not allow the bow and stern gunners to be on deck. The fighting to come would likely be so violent no person could be out there and remain on the boat for long. Uncle Arry had not been happy about staying inside the RiverDancer but had cheered up when promised a place at the port arrow slit.

  Lances of light and streams of fiery pebbles shot up into the air. One of the starboard gunners sent a stream at a particular cruiser, but the flaming pebbles stopped short, blasting into a large object that had been invisible and unshielded. The spell burned through the gondola and the ship exploded, proving Jeremiah’s belief to be correct. Some of the sky-cruisers were invisible and those that were visible seemed to be shielded quite well, because the resulting fire ball flew into another ship, but did the vessel no harm.

  Fire rained down from above, descending on the Pondhoppers, the Wager, and the vessels on the other side of the lake. Scores of fireballs splattered against the shield Karen Ducappus had placed all around the Wager. She had been the first Accomplished to think of shaping her shield to the contours of the boat and since then it had become standard procedure.

  Daniel was aware of many things through Find All, including a shielded patrol-boat-shaped object on the other side of the lake, yet through the eyes of Sheen, one of a pair of hawks he sent to be with his parents, he could see his mother, father, Leah, Duncan Hawk, and the crew on the bridge of the RiverDancer.

  “Sheen, Glimmer, fly,” he sent to birds.

  They and Rifeq would serve as a means of seeing what was happening all around the mountain. There were many other birds in the trees around Filia and Daniel knew all of them were scouts for his Accomplisheds. Find All was a great spell for sensing what was in the area, but it always helped to have multiple pairs of eyes with which to see. When the barrage of fireballs ended his mother opened a hatch, allowing the hawks to take flight.

  Through the eyes of Glimmer, Daniel saw teams of Atlantan Guild Accomplished appearing on the slopes of the mountain. Teleportation circle soon followed and both sides began casting spells. Flashes and beams of light, fireballs and lightning bolts of varying intensities, blasted back and forth between the two sides.

  A quick flight to the safety of the trees on the far side of the lake had given a glimpse of yetis streaming out of the other cave openings. “They actually think we are going to try for the entrances,” he commented.

  Tim turned and looked at him. “I suppose it will come as a bit of a surprise when our Accomplisheds start creating entrances.”

  Daniel nodded and glanced at Carlos and Sero. “You know Tarin Conn will be on me relentlessly after I convey from this vessel and it will be difficult to find Sherree. The only thing Find All can show us is a sphere of energy and you can bet my rival will have decoys. In fact I am sensing fifty of them that are large enough to imprison a person.”

  “I can sense them too. Locating our First Lady will be my priority. Maestro, you can be certain Sero and I will do our parts while you do yours,” Carlos assured him.

  “Let me know the moment you find her,” Daniel insisted, and then thought about it and decided to add, “and convey her, sphere and all, to the naval facility if I cannot come on the instant.”

  He wanted with all of his heart to be the one to rescue her, but realized he could lose his contest with Tarin Conn, and be unable to come to her aid.

  Carlos nodded his head. “It will be as you say.”

  Rifeq flew across the lake and landed in one of the many trees lining the base of the mountain. From the cover of thick branches, the condor showed the perfect spot to join the fight. “Things are about to get interesting,” Daniel said and then caused Daniel-2 to appear half way up the rocky southern slope where a group of Serpents stood.

  Through the compartment in his mind that controlled the puppet, he was able to sense the three Serpents and send Die Now through the fake diamond-bladed knife. The topaz beam struck and killed the first, another beam caused the second Aakacarn to fall dead, and third strike killed the last of the trio. The fake crescendo was not an energy amplifier and the life-force energy for the spell had come straight from Daniel’s vat, which was why he and the decoys all had two canteens full of water and all of them would take a drink when he did, except their canteens were just as fake as the crescendos.

  Daniel started counting and by the time he reached, five, a bright flash to the left of the puppet announced the presence of Tarin Conn. The black mamba crescendo with a pair of rubies for eyes was in his hand and a burning beam of light brighter than the sun shot into Daniel-2, which was immediately blasted up against a boulder. Personal Shield caused the construct to glow equally as bright, and the harmonic ripples forced the Accomplisheds on both sides of the conflict to stagger around drunkenly. If there was any glass in the world that had not been shattered by the earlier High Power spells, it would crumble into sand in the onslaught of those waves. Two energy-fields, each nine hundred times the power of a One-bolt Accomplished, were being focused in close proximity of one another. Cave-ins crushed the yetis that were still attempting to obey the order to defend the hunting ground. Tens of thousands had made it out onto the slopes, but nothing was going to be coming out of what used to be entrances.

  Daniel made his double vanish and reappear half a span away and behind Tarin Conn. The Dark Maestro spun around, vanished in a flash-bang, and then reappeared near Daniel-2.

  “You can do this for the rest of the afternoon and into the night,” Tim said with a grin after hearing Carlos give an account of what had happened for the benefit of the non-Aakacarns.

  The view through avian eyes showed Darrell and Accomplisheds of the Joint Mission Task Force appear, break up into smaller units, and immediately go on the attack. The Serpents fought back aggressively. The patrol-boats and Pondhoppers blew apart a few more sky-cruisers, but not enough to make much of a difference, yet. The Accomplisheds piloting the swift-boats were using Conveyance to disappear and then reaper away from the barrages that had been aimed at them, but Marsha on the RiverDancer and Karen on the Wager allowed the vessels they served on to absorb the hits.

  The normally placid lake was churning and steaming from all of the fireballs plunging into the chilled water and the Wager seemed to be swaying to the chaotic beat of a frenzied drummer.

  “Sherree does not have that long. My goal is to convey to the mountain and look for her while Conn plays with my double,” Daniel replied, while trying not to fall as the deck kept swaying this way and that. Tim had much more experience on the water and did not seem to be having any trouble keeping his feet under him.

  Without waiting for a reply, Daniel caught a visual from Glimmer and conveyed onto opposite side of the mountain from where Daniel-2 was messing with the Dark Maestro. Twice as many cruisers dominated the sky than when Daniel first arrived. All of them were casting spells downward and none of them chose to be invisible and vulnerable, not after witnessing the first ten go down in flames. He was about to focus Shatter at one when a manta ray swooped out of the sky. It strafed the rear section of the gondola and followed up with a pair of beams that streaked across the rapidly shortening distance from the forward crescendos. The twin beams hit their mark, the gondola blew into countless pieces, and in the blink of an eye the supper-structure burst into flames. Several hundred more rays swarmed after the much larger sky-cruisers and the battle for air supremacy was on in full. It was clear the sky-cruisers had no Trini-bombs, the captains no doubt preferring to use spells rather than risk any sudden movements that would jar the unstable objects and blow their great blue vessels apart.

  Daniel aimed his diamond-bladed crescendo and focused Digger at the ground in order to reach an orb he sensed and hoped would contain Sherree. Even though he had used a small amount of potential with the goal of it not being detected, through his double he sensed Tarin Conn react. “Which is which?” The construct interpreted the movement of the
Ancient’s lips almost as well as Simon might have.

  “I am you dolt,” Daniel spoke through Daniel-2 and then willed the construct to vanish and reappear half a span to the south.

  Through the eyes of Sheen he could see the Dark Maestro vanish in a flash and moments later a thunder crack to Daniel’s right was warning enough to know which Daniel had been chosen to go after. He pictured himself higher up the slope, conveyed there, and then sent Shatter in a tight beam straight at the ancient Aakasear just as the old-one was turning to look up. Fourteen bolts of potential stuck the man-shaped shield, causing it to glow, but otherwise did absolutely nothing to the most powerful spell-caster ever born. Previously, that much energy had sent Vance flying through the air, shield and all, yet there Conn stood totally unaffected.

  Daniel could see the mamba being pointed at him and decided more distractions were called for. He brought into being all of the other Daniels, placing them facing his enemy, and they cast Die Now at Conn’s eyes. The beams struck and the brightness was enough for a quick getaway. Daniel pictured himself on the other side of the mountain, went there, and willed all of the other Daniels to vanish and reappear in diverse areas.

  Conn had eight individuals to track down. Unfortunately all of them were soon surrounded by a team of Serpents, including the real one. Three men and three women in black silks pointed their batons at Daniel, while he was receiving the sensations from seven constructs in similar situations; worse, Tarin Conn was going to appear near one of them, possibly the real one, at any moment. Daniel focused Shatter in a twenty stride radius, backed by seven bolts of potential, and a topaz swirl of light flew out, striking the shields of the six Serpents, breaking through their energy barriers, and cutting into their bodies, which burst into bloody chunks the instant his spell made contact with their flesh.

  The constructs had not been as successful, armed with only the spell, Die Now, which would have worked if the energy he had sent had not been diffused between all seven. The puppets only caused the shields of the Serpents surrounding them to glow, but one performed as designed. Tarin Conn appeared next to Daniel-3 and blasted a High Power spell into it. The personal shield glowed and Daniel willed the construct to vanish and reappear at the western peak of the mountain.

  Find All revealed Samuel reaching an energy sphere, giving Daniel some hope his wife might be in it and be rescued, but the ISIG Conductor vanished and reappeared back on the surface. The orb had to have been empty. Worse, a new one came into being a span deeper, bringing the number that needed to be investigated back up to fifty.

  Daniel sensed the spunky Bonny Tell tunneling to yet another sphere. Like her department head, she vanished after a period brief enough to determine the orb was uninhabited.

  Tarin Conn appeared a hundred strides to the rear and Daniel spun around, releasing one of the other spells that had been suspended by a Da Capo to be focused when needed, and bathed the ancient Accomplished in super-heated flames. A bright beam of light shot from the midst of the blaze and struck Daniel in the chest, sending him backward through the air, slamming him into the rock-face, and causing him to lose the focus of his spell.

  “Tricky boy, your most powerful spells cannot harm me, and your clever constructs only draw out the inevitable. Your choices are to face me and die or flee and leave your wife to perish of dehydration in the prison I created. You and your pathetic Accomplisheds will never find the sphere containing her.”

  Conn’s voice came into Daniel’s head as if through an amulet and had not been blocked by the shield. The Aakasear must have composed a new spell for communications. It had to have a limited range or Daniel knew he would have been hearing taunts much sooner. “The musical score has yet to be played out and we will see who flees the theater,” he replied and conveyed to the far side of the mountain where Sheen provided a relatively safe visual. No place in or on the mountain was completely safe, at least not for long.

  Over to the far right an Accomplished of the Stone Guild sent a beam of light at a Serpent and the enemy spell-caster instantly stiffened, being literally petrified. A sonic beam struck the Artisan in the back, shredding that area of his cloak, ripping through the rest of his silks, and struck his bare back. A topaz glow formed, absorbing the energy of the spell. Aakadon members of the JMTF were issued Atlantan Guild shield amulets, which was why Daniel specifically called upon them to be a part of the mission, rather than other Aakacarns of the ancient city.

  A quick glimpse through the eyes of each bird revealed four thousand Sentinels and six thousand Benhannon Guardsmen confronting the yetis that had poured out of the various entrances which no longer existed. Rather than kill them, Nightsticks were being used to render them unconscious. The poor beasts had no shields and were being used as distractions. The Accomplisheds of the Atlantan Guild and Aakadon were busy fighting enemy Aakacarns, as Chas planned for them to be; which was why he was leading the non-Aakacarn forces and thereby defeating the Serpent Guild’s tactic.

  In that short period of time, Tarin Conn vanished from the perceptions of Daniel-5 and appeared on a ridge right above where Daniel was standing. Again, the sound of displaced air was warning enough. He willed Daniels two and three to appear on the ridge in front of Conn and number four to appear behind him and then spring onto his back. Through mental manipulation, the construct wrapped its legs around the waist of the great and powerful Aakasear and proceeded to beat him uselessly in the head.

  “You stupid boy, I will destroy you!”

  Daniel received that threat through the senses of the construct rather than as a direct sending through an amulet, which meant he had just learned the limit of the communication spell.

  His assault did not so much as disturb the hood of Conn’s cloak, which was up and covering most of his face. They were both shielded after all and neither was being hurt, not the puppet or the Maestro, but there was no doubt the distraction was annoying. More importantly, it gave Daniel time to focus Shatter at the ridge and right beneath the feet of his enemy, figuring if a direct blast did no good, perhaps and indirect one would do. Cracks appeared, stone gave way, and the mighty Tarin Conn fell two hundred paces, hit the ground, and was completely buried under a huge pile of rocks.

  Find All revealed what Daniel’s eyes could not, life-force energies in the shapes of two men. The construct and Tarin Conn were pinned beneath the rubble, unable to move, but not crushed. The presences vanished and Daniel new the Dark Maestro was going to appear somewhere soon with Daniel-4 clinging to his back. It was best to be elsewhere when that happened. A quick peek through the eyes of each bird led to a visual from Rifeq where Daniel figured his presence could do some good. He focused the spell and conveyed a span farther north.

  He arrived on the other side of the eastern crevice and near where a circle of five Serpents were sending one powerful lightning bolt after the other at Jeremiah Lassiter, who was sending a jet of flame at them. Daniel raised his diamond-bladed knife and sent a lightning bolt at the circle. Twelve bolts of life-force energy struck the shield protecting the group and the energy field brightened. He maintained the potential while counting, “one, two, three,” the Accomplisheds who had been feeding the shield fainted, in a flash the lightning bolt stuck the conductor and Jeremiah’s spell roasted the rest.

  “Good timing, Maestro,” the Defense Conductor called out.

  “I needed to jump away from Tarin Conn and this seemed to be a spot where I could do a little good. Unfortunately, I have not been able to stay in one place long enough to isolate many shield spheres, much less tunnel to one in the hopes that Sherree is in it,’ Daniel replied.

  Lassiter’s dark brow wrinkled as his eyes scanned the area and then focused on his Maestro. “You may have to kill him in order to find the time.”

  “Pest,” the voice of the other Aakasear came through the senses of the construct.

  A moment later Daniel sensed Tarin Conn blast the puppet off his back with a spell so powerful the harmonic waves caused t
he ever-present snow in the eastern crevice to start tumbling down the slope. The momentum continued to build into a full scale avalanche, which buried a team of Serpents.

  “Killing a man who can do that is far easier said than done,” Daniel replied and then gained a visual from Glimmer and conveyed to the opposite side of the mountain.

  He made all of the puppets vanish and some of them appear behind rocks, nooks, and clefts, and kept two popping around the area to see which the Dark Maestro would go after. Turned out, he was like a cat, going after the moving object. While he was chasing the other Daniels and spells were flying through the air and back and forth on the slopes of Filia, Daniel used Find all to locate the nearest energy sphere that could possibly contain his beloved. He found one, two thousand strides beneath the surface, and focused Digger at the ground. In moments a tunnel slightly larger than his physical dimensions formed and he started his downward trek while willing his doubles to run around casting spells at any Serpent in sensory range and most importantly, Daniel-3 who was entertaining Tarin Conn.

  Daniel was a half way to the small chamber containing the sphere when through Find All he sensed the familiar borrowed life-force that had been cast at him many times since arriving on the mountain. Quicker than he could react, a burning beam of light slammed into him, propelling him forward, lengthwise. Digger continued to function and was creating a narrower tunnel as he was flying forward, rapidly approaching the spherical shield, and then everything went dark.

  The first thing he was conscious of was a headache. His twin shields had protected him from injury but not from the cessation of speed. His brain and internal organs did not seem to appreciate that sort of treatment and were letting him know with aches and pains. He had no idea how long he had been unconscious, but it could not have been a lengthy period because he sensed the presence of Tarin Conn about five hundred paces into the tunnel and descending.

  Daniel opened his eyes and between his shield and the other there was enough light to see he was up against the energy sphere, which was clear and completely empty. It had been a decoy. He wanted to scream in frustration, but instead played the music for Heal Wounds in his head and cast the spell to heal his internal injuries and take away the headache. It only took a little time to grab a canteen and quench his thirst.