Tarin laughed, he had done it. He trapped the trickster! The ignorant neophyte continued to focus whatever spell it had been. “You used the wrong spell. Had you chosen to teleport me elsewhere, I would not have had time enough to ensnare you.”
“You should know old man. It is easier to catch an Aakasear than to keep him,” Benhannon replied. The cocky boy did not yet realized how thoroughly he had been beaten.
“I think it is a time for a little entertainment,” Tarin stated out loud and through his link sent, “Serena, I am going to remove the sphere around our prisoner. She is nothing but a beloved Aakademned that was rearranged in a pleasant manner and given a little freewill, but still she is connected to Daniel and he will feel his love-toy die. Be ready to kill Jenna-Benhannon the instant I remove the shield.”
“It will be my pleasure to serve you so. She will not survive the thirty bolts I am going to focus into her.”
“Be very quick. She is nearly as tricky as her husband.” Tarin replied and then smiled at his prisoner. “You will soon feel your beloved female perish. It will give you something to think about while dying of thirst. Do keep up that spell, by the way. The drain on your life-force will make your passing all the quicker.”
“Attempting to kill Sherree will be the biggest mistake of your life,” Daniel spoke as if he could avenge her, the misguided young mountaineer. He would learn soon enough how empty his words were.
Tarin laughed at the use of the word, “Attempting.”
“Now,” he sent through the link and then willed the Spherical Prison to vanish.
He sensed Serena focus a spell at the woman-shaped-amber-life-force, but it vanished and then reappeared on the other side of the chamber. Jenna-Benhannon had been ready to teleport. Of course her husband would have used the gem in his array to warn her.
Tarin sensed the spell-battle between the woman he had grown fond of and the love-toy of Daniel. Serena was caught in a small whirlwind, but teleported out of it, reappeared behind Jenna-Benhannon and blasted a high power spell into her back. The amber glow brightened to match the thirty bolts the high-spirited little Aakacarn sent through the dagger. The present he had given to her gave the One-bolt twenty-nine bolts to work with, but it did not give her a greater amount of her own resource. On the other hand, Jenna-Benhannon was a Two-bolt Accomplished using a diamond-bladed knife created by her husband. She had a larger personal source to draw on but could only wield a maximum of nine lightning bolts of potential. Serena should have no trouble defeating her.
Tarin’s attention was brought back to his surroundings. Some of the doppelgangers had shifted positions, but he could not distinguish one from another, except one had a hand in its cloak. There was nothing in particularly to worry about. The real Daniel was imprisoned.
Serena and Jenna-Benhannon exchanged spells, blasting at each other. It was difficult for Tarin to determine the exact type of spells. All he could sense were the potentials and how far one threw the other across the chamber. “If you throw her into one of the walls, you might knock her senseless,” he advised.
Instead of responding through the link, Serena acted, focusing energy at Jenna-Benhannon and sending her flying toward the nearest wall. It was almost as if the First Lady of the Atlantan Guild had been thrown against a large cushion, which she must have created out of air. She bounced back, flipped once, and landed on her feet. The Two-bolt sent a beam from her knife that lanced out and hit the tip of Serena’s energy amplifier. It must have been a truly lucky shot because the platinum blade melted and before Tarin accepted what his spells were telling him, the shield tied to the crescendo ceased, and Serena’s hand, arm, shoulder, and neck, in that order, were burned away.
Tarin no longer sensed her life-force, but could imagine her head falling away from what was left of her ruined body and both hitting the floor. A flood of emotions made it difficult to think. Anger was not unusual but grief was foreign to him. A split second seemed to last an eternity as the Daniel nearest him, who had summoned no potential and had no shield on his hand, sprang into view with a crystal dagger in his fist.
At first Tarin thought it a diversion and was confident the mundane object could not pierce his shield, but then a feeling in his gut warned him of the danger, yet by then it was too late to bring up the mamba. His scanning spells told him the boy had nothing in his hand, but he most certainly did, so Tarin focused Burning Beam of Light from his eye at the dagger, but the crystal taken from Mount Shantear blocked the potential and Tarin had no time to react as the point, driven by the power and reflexes of a Ducaunan mountaineer and blade master, broke through his shield as if it did not exist, and plunged full length into his right eye. He felt no pain as the deep darkness took him for the last time.
-----
Daniel willed his personal shield to cover his hand and stared down at the body that had the blunt end of a crystal dagger protruding from its right eye socket. Had a shield been around the weapon it was possible Conn’s shield would have stopped the momentum cold. Even so the hasty plan only ever had a tiny chance of succeeding, but against all probability Daniel had killed the ancient Aakasear, and yet did not feel happy about it. Relieved was a better word and thankful also described his emotions. “Tarin Conn is dead,” he sent through his array to every individual who had provided a gemstone for the golden circlet.
A flood of congratulations came back and one voice in particular grabbed his attention. “Daniel, that was fast. It seems it was only moments ago you warned me he was going to remove the sphere and then I was dueling Serena, who by the way is dead and not pretty to look at. I am so happy you are alive, the feeling makes every other emotion pale in significances.”
She had come into his senses the moment the sphere had been removed, making him aware of the duel. He wanted to give credit where credit was due.
“Your victory provided one of the distractions that contributed in creating the perfect moment. When it came; I pounced, and rammed the dagger I confiscated from Jessie Dusavil into Conn’s brain,” Daniel sent and with the sending shoved all of the love in his heart at her.
It had truly been a broad swirling of events that led to victory and Daniel knew it would take time to follow all of the incidents that had contributed, but decided to leave the search to historians and anyone else who felt like investing the time. He had plenty of chores yet to finish, although defeating Tarin Conn substantially lightened the load.
He willed all of the puppets to disappear and one double remained, he had no idea who was standing on the slope with him. Before he could take a step forward a tidal wave of love flooded in ahead of Sherree’s voice, “The Creator’s champion has prevailed and the world will rejoice, as for me, I can hardly wait to get my hands on you. Before I convey from this dreary chamber, answer me this, what were the other distractions?”
“A bunch of puppets and a true double, one who I am about to walk over and learn the identity of,” he replied.
As he approached the duplicate, the man reached inside his silks and several things happened at once. Instead of being tall, slim at the waits and broad in the shoulders, he became short and stocky. Instead of having dark hair and eyes, he had silver hair and pale blue eyes. In his hand was the amulet Daniel had made for Simon to use. It was gold with two diamonds and two rubies and within the gems was the spell, Mimic. The device the fellow held had the letter, D. The diamond-bladed crescendo became a pearl-handled platinum dagger, which explained how he managed to wield fourteen bolts of potential. It was likely the thing that convinced Conn he had trapped the true Daniel.
“Sero, you never did think I could defeat Tarin Conn on my own. Turns out you were right,” Daniel told his assistant. “Back when you fell into me, you took the amulet from my pocket.”
The Four-bolt, Demfilian-born Accomplished actually blushed. “I did. The look in your eyes frightened me and I was afraid you would insist on confronting the Dark One on your own while the rest of us took on the Serpent Guild and
sought after Sherree. You had plenty of people to do both and I figured one more Accomplished would not make a difference. I am your assistant and that is what I signed on to be.”
“You took a big chance. How did you know I was waiting for the opportunity to get within striking distance?” Daniel wanted to know.
“I knew about this amulet and also how Tarin Conn came to believe he had succeeded in killing you and the First Lady. I thought reminding you would spark the creative process and the Aakasear in you would be motivated into doing something else that had never been done before. I did not know you would create doubles that could actually move, but knew I could at least be a distraction using the amulet. I kept a close watch and conveyed here when the moment seemed right,” Sero explained.
“But how did you know I even had the crystal dagger to use? You were not around when I confiscated it.”
Sero threw his hands in the air as if to show he was holding nothing back. “The first time I ever saw the dagger was when it was in your hand and diving for Tarin Conn’s eye. All I knew to do was to convince the Dark One that I was you and trust my Maestro to use the distraction.”
That was a whole lot of trust, Daniel reckoned. “I am glad I lived up to your expectations.”
The assistant’s eyes shifted to the dead Serinian. “Ironic, isn’t it.”
“What?” Daniel asked while looking down at the body.
“He told me I had used the wrong spell against him, that I should have used Teleportation. In the end, he made the mistake he accused me of. Had he used Teleportation instead of trying to stop the dagger, he would be still be alive, elsewhere, but still alive,” Sero replied.
Find All, avian eyes, and his own physical senses were making Daniel aware of what was happening near him and all over the mountain. Fires still raged and contributed to the smoke-filled sky, but fewer spells were being cast. The Serpents seemed to have all gone into shock and it was taking the Accomplisheds of the Atlantan Guild and Aakadon time to realize the other side was not fighting back. The impossible had happened. The ancient founder of the Serpent Guild was not trapped in a mountain tomb or by an elaborate shield spell, he was dead, and every person who had been linked to him knew so.
Not many sky-cruisers had survived, but of the thirty still in the air, seven teleported elsewhere while Daniel was looking up. Manta rays had the rest of them surrounded. The Serpents in the twenty-three ships could also flee, but for some reason they did not.
Samuel appeared beside him and was grinning. “Some of the Serpents are surrendering,” he stated after eyeing the body. “I bet he did not see that coming.”
It was sort of funny, but Daniel just did not feel like laughing. “Your chores are not over and could take a while to complete. Every Serpent who does not surrender, like the ones on the sky-cruisers that just fled, is going to have to be tracked down and arrested.”
Samuel lost the grin and nodded his head. “The Eagles of Aakadon will be doing the same thing, but yes, the ISIG will begin the task of finding the renegades.”
Sherree arrived with a loud crack of displaced air and flung herself into Daniel’s arms, neither could actually feel the other, but the thought was there. It was still too dangerous for anyone to remove their shield spells. After not nearly long enough, she ended the embrace and eyed everybody else, including the dead Aakasear. She focused on Sero. “I see by the amulet in your hand that you were the extra double who distracted Tarin Conn.”
Sero glanced at the ground before meeting her eyes. “Yes, First Lady.”
She caught him up in a hug so fast his eyes went wide while his arms were sticking out straight. After a few moments he awkwardly patted her on the back. “I did what I could.”
“And it was enough,” she replied and then released him.
Leah appeared along with several hundred Accomplisheds while in Daniel’s head an equal number of voices were still congratulating him. She went right over to the body and knelt down. On one side of her belt was the baton Daniel had created for her and on the other side was the one made by Tarin Conn. She looked up and noticed him noticing. “I lent that to Sero so he could duplicate it, figuring you would need as much firepower as you could get. I had no idea what roll he would play, but he is like your shadow, and I knew he would be where he could provide assistance,” She explained and glanced at the fallen Tarin Conn. “It seems all you needed was a sharp piece of crystal from Shantear.”
Leah picked up the black mamba crescendo, stood up, and handed the thirty-bolt energy amplifier to Daniel. “I recall this is the one you agreed to take for yourself.”
He accepted the ruby-eyed snake and tucked in into his belt.
“Many of the Serpents are surrendering,” Daria informed him through the array. “Some of them are walking up to the units from Aakadon, but most of them are handing over their batons to our people. Some of them are even surrendering to Commander Herling. I have published your victory and news is spreading world-wide. Emisaries are reporting a cease of hostilities across the continent. The Northern alliance has not surrendered, but they have stopped all signs of aggression. They still have soldiers occupying sections of Cenkataar and Aczencopa, but they are not fighting. It is as if the world is holding its breath and waiting to see what happens next.”
“For me, that will be Sherree, food, and rest,” Daniel replied, “and after that the celebration you all deserve.”
“Daniel,” Jerremy DeSuan’s voice came into his head. “The Zeuthans have decimated the Serinian fleet and have defeated the royal legions. “I am sorry to bring this news on the heels of your victory over the Dark Maestro, but people, my parents among them, are preparing to flee. Boats are already sailing across the channel. My father will be transporting Keljun Soon to Lobenia. I never thought I would ever be saying this. The kingdom of Serinia has fallen. From what I have seen through my avian scouts, the Zeuthans are a force to be reckoned with, and it was probably for the best when you committed our forces to defeating Tarin Conn. If the Atlantan Guild had been focused on saving Serinia, the victories achieved over the last thirty marks would have belonged to the Serpent Guild, and most of the cities in the southern alliance would have been utterly destroyed.”
It was then Daniel realized where he had interpreted Ruth’s viewing incorrectly. “Win before the fall or you might not win at all.”
He thought about it and then gave his reply. “You are correct. We would have been caught completely unprepared for the full scale assault on the cities of the southern alliance. I have seen what the guns on the Zeuthan warships can do and am familiar with the system of spell-casting. Stopping them would have been a major distraction at a time we could not afford to be distracted. They could present a problem in the future, but for now we will let them be, and focus on helping the Serinian refugees.”
Simon appeared right between Sherree and Samuel. The Chief Aid, both legs perfectly whole, placed his hands on his hips. “I take a little nap and you go and win the war. You never even gave me a chance to add, ‘Kill Tarin Conn,” to your itinerary.”
Chapter Twenty-Eight: Peace At Last?
Daniel sat in the grand dining room in the palace in Ducanton. Dressed in his knightly uniform, he could have been sitting on the second level at the table with his brothers of the realm, Generals and Admirals, or with the Lords of the Land, and since he was both, either table would have accepted him and his Lady. Instead he was at one of the hundred tables among the commoners on the lower floor with his parents, Sherree, Leah, Simon, Sero, Jared and Marcus. Seated to Daniel’s right was Tim, Gina, Samuel, and Bernard Kleopis, Conductor of the Department of Emissaries, along with Buck Duadams, Joel Glader, and seven year-old Blake DuRitter. They all had on the uniforms of their callings, blue silks or blue wool, except Jared who was wearing his customary brown suit and white shirt, and the Talented wearing copper-colored silks, The Dusavil family was three tables away. They and their son Jessie had been added to the guest list at Daniel’s request.
All of the tribes of the Teki were camped outside the city and in particular the Reshashinni, among whose wagons was David and Silvia. The couple would be coming back to be in the company of the Chosen Vessel. The Teki as a people felt Daniel ought to have a Seer like most of the monarchs, to which he had no objections.
Daniel, his First Lady, Chief Aid, and First Accomplished had been at each of the state dinners that had been going on for days, the other members of the guild and muster varied since he took to sitting on the lower floor, and some of them actually wanted to take part. Him, he wanted to spend more leisure time with his wife and friends, in between running the Atlantan Guild of course. It helped not to be in peril of death every other mark of the day and night. The first day he and Sherree had been up on the stage beside the Queen and the next day he had joined the Royal Knights, and then the Lords of the Land on the following day.
The room had three stages above the main floor, each higher than the next, with seven tables, and at the top and in the middle sat Cleona with the Prince Consort to her right. To his right were the ministers, including the Prime. To the left of the Queen were the monarchs of the other eleven kingdoms, beginning with those of the southern alliance. Keljun Soon of Serinia and Jame Ecoppus of Ecoppia sat between them and the rulers of the northern alliance, most of which had been plucked from their palaces five days ago. Transportation had been provided by Accomplisheds of the Atlantan Guild who had issued an offer that could not be refused. The Zunean ruler had been captured at his estate neat Port Shengi.
King Lauren Van Efery, the youngest ruler, sat beside Clarees of Lobenia and next to her was Silver-haired Grayson Bolton of Aczencopa. Gabriel KaTaar, of Cenkataar, placed his goblet on the table and laughed at whatever Grayson whispered into his ear. They each had a lot of rebuilding to do across their kingdoms, all of the monarchs did, but the end of the war was a new beginning. No one, with the exception of Keljun who was frowning into his cup, mentioned the Zeuthan Empire and the possible threat it posed.
To Be Victorious: The Maestro Chronicles Book 6 Page 68