Talmon gave a slight negative shake of his head. “If the integrity of the vault is violated, the Dark Maestro will be able to project his full might.”
Daniel nodded his acceptance of the fact. “I agree, but see no other way for you to strengthen the shield keeping him immobilized or strengthen the spells inside the gems preventing him from teleporting,” he replied and then threw up his hands. “I honestly don’t know how you will accomplish the last. Those gems must have been placed in his body, after the immobilization spell, by Accomplisheds who were in the vault. I’m guessing each stone had to have been powered by Della Lain, who was within the Great Crystal during the procedure, and then the team exited and sealed the crystalline vault.”
Talmon licked his lips; his mouth must have gone dry. There would be no team at Kelgotha this time, the man had said so. “These crystals block potential, how do you suppose Della used them to cast her spells?”
Again, Daniel could only state how he would do it. “I cannot say exactly what she did, but I will tell you how I think it can be done.”
Talmon nodded his head vigorously, like a starving man who had been offered a biscuit. “I would like to hear your ideas,” he spoke in a calm voice that did not match the strain wrinkling his brow.
Daniel chose to share his ideas rather than waste time speculating as to what was stressing the Maestro. “I would take off my boots and enter the Great Crystal carved out by Della Lain, seeing as physical contact is required and potential can only be focused from inside the crystal. I would cast at least two High Powered spells, one to send my awareness all the way to Kelgotha, and the other to give me the ability to sense Tarin Conn’s physical body. These would need to be cast simultaneously. I would then penetrate the vault and cast whatever shield spells Della used with enough potential to keep him imprisoned for another thousand years.”
Talmon’s eyes had closed half way through the telling. He opened them after a few moments of silence. “I counted a minimum of four High Powered spells, two in order to reach the target, and two involved in strengthening the shields. If the potential in each gem must be strengthened individually, we are talking about maintaining all of those spells for an extended period of time, two of which must be sixty bolts of potential if we hope to keep the Dark Maestro imprisoned for another thousand years.” The man could not keep the glumness from his voice. He looked straight into Daniel’s eyes. “You are an Aakasear. Has your talent developed to the point where you can compose a Symphonic?”
The grimness in which the question was asked kept Daniel from smiling. His very first spell had been a Symphonic. He had reservations about sharing guild specific information with Talmon Reese, yet felt this was one of those pivot points Silvia had spoken of in the past, where his decision would have a great impact on the future course of events. He made up his mind. “It has. You seemed to doubt my ability to sense every Aakacarn within a five span radius back when I mentioned it in our last meeting. I composed the spell and it is a Symphonic. I also composed one that allows me to send my awareness into the bedrock, and both spells are variable and limited only by the amount of potential fed into them.”
A tenth of a mark went by with Talmon staring at Daniel without saying a word, as if the Maestro was also at a pivot point. He finally nodded his head, having come to what for him must have been a difficult decision. “Maestro Trevor Keen died without divulging the spells necessary to keep Tarin Conn imprisoned. Frankly, you know more about what needs to be done than anyone I can think of. I’m telling you this because I have come to agree with Barnabas. You are the Chosen Vessel and there is nothing I can do about it,” he had dropped a scorching fireball of news and then spoke the last sentence with an ironic smile. “I disapprove of your lawless behavior and inability to conform to the standards of Aakadon. Even so, you are the one who must enter the Crystal Chamber and fulfill your destiny.”
Emotions boiled and conflicted within Daniel as he thought about how badly the Grand Maestro failed the world. He grew angrier as he thought about the near worthless stay-of-warrant signed by the man in front of him. These people would let him risk his life, along with that of his friends, in an attempt to keep Tarin Conn contained, and then cheerfully consign Daniel to a similar fate if he manages to succeed. He had no doubt they would try to shield off his potential and arrest the members of his guild. Those thoughts raced through his mind in a matter of seconds, but were set aside when he considered what would happen if he did not act. Walking away would be adding failure upon failure. “You have the flute of Della Lain,” he spoke softly.
Talmon had been looking at the seven lighting bolts on the hood of Daniel’s cloak when the words were spoken. He blinked and wiped perspiration from his brow. “I have it. The crescendo will be turned over to you if such is required.”
Daniel knew the eight-bolt crescendo would strengthen the casting, but weighed that against the forces his guild would be battling alongside the Accomplisheds of Aakadon on the surface of the mountain. They needed the extra potential more than he did. Talmon had done one thing right, his wanting Daniel to share how he would work the spells in the Crystal Chamber ignited the creative spark that was now growing in his mind. “I believe you should be the one to wield the flute in battle. I will get a team into that chamber and do whatever I can to stop Tarin Conn from breaking free.”
Talmon’s left eyebrow arched up quizzically. “You will be conducting at least two Grand Symphonies, why would you not use the most powerful potential enhancer in the world?”
Daniel touched the handle of his diamond-bladed knife. “This is a level four crescendo with seven bolts of amplification. I will be wielding fourteen bolts of potential and you would be wielding ten using your personal crescendo. The flute of Della Lain will increase your power to thirteen bolts and I think our side needs that advantage.”
Talmon nodded his acceptance of the reasoning. “You must get to the Crystal Chamber in order to do what has to be done and my having possession of the flute might be necessary in order to hold back the Serpents long enough for you to complete the task.”
“Precisely,” Daniel replied.
Talmon glanced toward the hut created by Sherree. “We have reached an understanding of what needs to be done. Unless there is something more you wish to discuss, I think we should go inside and finalize the details.”
Daniel agreed and went back to his seat at the table. At this point Leah and Tobermin were doing most of the talking, Sherree and Simon were among the first to notice the return of the Maestros, giving respectful nods, which caused the others to pause and do likewise. The meeting went on into the night and Daniel was glad when it was finally over. Talmon never brought up the failure of Grand Maestro Keen to pass on the spells and Daniel wanted to share his ideas with the people he trusted, which did not include the Accomplisheds of Aakadon, and so he let the meeting draw to a close without mentioning the major miscarriage of responsibility.
“It is agreed,” the Maestro of the Eagle Guild stated. “The attack will begin at midnight.”
“It is agreed,” Daniel affirmed.
The Accomplisheds of Aakadon headed back to their camp and Daniel revealed what Talmon had told him. “The only real change in the Spin Off is that we will not be conveying anyone from Aakadon into the chamber. I cannot do anything about the crystal amulets within Tarin Conn, so I will have to find a way to shield off his potential.”
“I vote that you kill him,” Jeremiah Lassiter did not hesitate to make his opinion known, nor was he alone in the sentiment.
“Kill the Dark Maestro and we need no longer worry about him breaking free,” Chas Herling expressed right on the heels of the last suggestion.
Daniel seriously doubted the Dark Maestro would be easy to kill. “All options are on the table, yet I will not know what can be done until after I penetrate the crystalline vault, and at that point I expect that he will fight back with all of his might.”
“What do you have in mind for
the Grand Symphony?” Simon inquired. “The shield spells of the Eagle Guild must be inadequate for the task or Reese would not have passed the burden onto you.”
Talmon had been correct to pass on the burden and for the reason he gave, Daniel knew which of them must enter the Crystal Chamber in order to fulfill destiny. “The chore was rightly mine from the start,” he replied. “The two spells we will be using each have a melody and a six part harmony.”
“So fourteen Accomplisheds will be in the Great Crystal with you, who will they be?” the First Accomplished wanted to know.
“Leah, you will perform the Melody line and each of the six Accomplisheds will perform one of the harmony lines of the spell, Find All. Sherree and the Accomplisheds in her group will do the same for Fashioning,” Daniel decided, and was about to go into greater detail when the Sentinel Commander coughed to gain attention.
“The area around the Great Crystal will be the most dangerous,” Chas cautioned. “The Serpents could teleport into the area, seeing as there is little room for drastic alterations of the floor or roof of the cave.”
Daniel nodded his understanding of the problem. “Then we do minor alterations. Raise the floor half a cubit or so where it is feasible, narrow the passages, and create alcoves in the unaltered walls from where our people can launch their spells. I want Joel Glader to lead a team of ten Accomplished and Michael Kayten to do the same,” he replied, took a sip from his canteen, and then continued to unfold his plan. “Simon Trenca along with Accomplisheds Carmen Duguarren, Joseb Benjoslin, Jaxon Green, Frieda Sparrow, Capis Benning, and Daria Copa, will take part in the Symphony conducted by Leah. Accomplisheds Sero Bagget, Samuel Cresh, Jeremy DeSuan, Berren Koppach, and Martin Varroon, will perform with Sherree. Chas, that means we will also have Lightning, Quicksilver, and Vapor squads to help defend the chamber.”
“It will be as you say, Sir Daniel,” the Sentinel Commander replied.
Silvia and David entered the hut just as Daniel gave the list of names of the people who would be defending the Crystal Chamber. “Naturally my wife and I will be right at the entrance to the Great Crystal from which you will be casting your spells,” the knife-throwing former juggler stated confidently.
Daniel shook his head. “No, I think you both should be inside with us to keep anyone who manages to gain entrance from interfering with the castings.”
Silvia had frowned at the use of the word, no, and then gave a satisfied nod when he finished speaking. “We are honored to serve, Chosen One,” she declared.
“Well, that didn’t take long. The Accomplisheds of Aakadon have only been gone a mark and already the Serpent among them has alerted his associates within Shantear. Leafer, one of my opossum scouts is showing me Aakacarns filing out of the lower cave at the southeastern quadrant. I have already counted a hundred. They are taking up positions in the forest.”
Daniel sent his awareness into Grover. The raccoon was high up in the branches of a sequoia. He could see very well in the moonlight. The cave three quarters of the way up the eastern slope of the mountain also had a large number of people in shiny black exiting the cave and filtering into the forest. A quick shifting of awareness to his other scouts at Shantear showed him the base was on full alert. “Simon is correct, it is as we expected, the spy has let his fellow Serpents know we are coming,” he confirmed, and then put his hand on Lassiter’s shoulder. “Strike Commander, you know what to do.”
Jeremiah nodded and a small smile forced its way onto his dark visage. “Yes, Maestro, I am to create the biggest distraction I can while taking out as many Serpents as I can.”
“Good man,” Daniel said and eyed those who would be traveling with him.
Sherree and Leah both had amulets against their foreheads, communicating orders, and about an eighth of a mark later the whip-crack sound of displaced air snapped all around them until every Accomplished Daniel had named was standing around him. He pictured the staging area hidden within Shantear, summoned the potential for Conveyance, and they were all swallowed up in darkness.
-------
Jere Lassiter eyed the seventy pairs of Accomplisheds from Aakadon getting into position among his Aakacarns and Sentinels. The shields used by his allies blocked potential both ways and so one Accomplished must work defensively, raising and lowering a shield for both, while the other launches offensive spells, and the coordination between the partners must be precise. The members of the Atlantan Guild were trained to work together, but did not need to work in pairs because of the superior shields.
Talmon Reese, standing with the flute of Della Lain in his hands, had no partner, but he did not stand alone. A pair of Aakacarns stood to his right and left. Fenton Chen and his fellow Aloe, Jude Scarott, would be by the Maestro’s side during the fight, along with a pair of Senior Soarers. Renford Winthrop and Elias DeSumma had worked together for nearly a century and their coordination was legendary, they would work to keep safe the Maestro, and in particular the key to Tarin Conn’s prison. All four Accomplisheds seemed more interested in the flute than they were the guild leader, especially Fenton.
“Jeremiah, the Serpents have encircled every arrival point we discussed in the meeting with Talmon and his team, just as we expected,” Maestro Benhannon sent as midnight drew near. “Simon and I have determined there to be five thousand Aakacarns on Shantear and hundreds at the mouth of each cave,” Daniel went on with the final briefing.
“What happened to the rest of the Serpents?” Jere sent in reply. The number should be double what is being accounted for.
“Teams of Serpents have been teleporting in and out of their designated chambers within Shantear over the last mark, which makes their over all numbers fluctuate. I am proceeding with what we planned, while keeping in mind the possibility of five thousand or more hostile Aakacarns joining the fight at any moment, and suggest you do the same,” the Maestro replied.
Jere had already figured on the Serpents teleporting huge numbers of reinforcements into the battle and so the possibility of five thousand more came as no great surprise. “I expect most of the Serpent Guild to attend, plus or minus a few thousand, and we will kill as many as we can. How do you want to proceed?”
A sense of calm and tight focus came ahead of the reply. “Go with Scenario Circle-three, kill zone one-ten, and then adapt with the flow of battle,” Daniel sent, using terms Jere had taught him.
He appreciated the fact that Daniel Benhannon sought and listened to the advice of experts and people who possessed greater experience. “It will be as you say, Maestro.”
The connection ended and Jere put on his communication array. The gold setting fit perfectly with the twenty gems touching his head. Each amulet stone belonged to a team leader and each leader had an array, so commands could be issued clearly during the battle to each Aakacarn. “All Accomplisheds advise your Sentinel’s, Scenario Circle-three, kill zone one-ten, will be initiated at midnight, and with extreme prejudice,” he sent through the device.
“It will be as you say, Strike Leader,” the reply came from twenty minds, along with the echoes of the many minds responding through each of their arrays.
Jere glanced at Talmon Reese, who nodded his readiness as the time to convey approached. The allies believed Leah and Daniel would be leading a strike on the opposite side of Shantear, so did not question their absence from this departure point. The only surprise will be the slight alteration in arrival points, but Jere had no doubt his former associates would adapt quickly.
Beside him stood Lou Zuallo, a three-bolt Accomplished of the Atlantan Guild. The Ducaunan-born Aakacarn was light-skinned in coloration and had the dark hair and eyes prevalent among his countrymen. He was in fact seventy-one years old and appeared to be fifty, as a side affect of the restoration process. This will be his first battle and Jere wanted the powerful, but inexperienced spell caster by his side. “Stay close to me and have the potential for your first spell summoned and ready to be focused the moment we appear at our arr
ival point,” Jere told the man while sending the command to be focused and ready through the array.
“It will be as you say, Strike Leader,” Lou replied.
At midnight, Jere summoned the potential for Conveyance, pictured all assigned to him at the arrival point, and in the time it takes for a cobra to strike, they were on the upslope in the midst of towering trees above cave number two. At the exact same moment, his entire strike force arrived at their designated positions in thinly spread-out circles two hundred paces across. Each team surrounded a circle of Serpents. The mountain glowed in rainbow light as the spell, Die Now, focused precisely one hundred ten paces into the seven kill zones, by a multitude of Accomplisheds of the Atlantan Guild, shot forth in cone-shaped beams. Everything unshielded instantly died. Jere nodded in satisfaction. They had successfully turned the tables and ambushed the would-be ambushers and he was pleased, yet nowhere near ready to celebrate. The Serpents had to have heard the massive displacement of air and so were given a few moments to react.
Jere summoned the potential for, Find All, added a Da Capo, and focused out to a forty span radius, not caring at this point that every Aakacarn would sense a spell was being cast. He estimated about a third of the enemy Aakacarns were now dead, along with all plants, trees, and wildlife that had been within the circles of death. Lances of light shot into the kill zones and deflected harmlessly off the shields of the Serpents who survived the initial assault. Streams of fiery pebbles from the Sentinels’ crossbows raced at the enemy and bounced off their shields, this did not bode well. Dead trees and bushes suddenly went up in flames and thick smoke spread out, clouding the area, and giving Jere a reason to feel somewhat optimistic. Will the indirect results of the castings be more successful?
Members of the Serpent Guild scattered and ran out of the kill zone in Jere’s direct line of sight under the cover of thick clouds of billowing smoke. Balls of fire and lighting bolts shot into the dark mass from Accomplisheds of the Sun Guild, who could only hope to randomly strike some of the enemy force. Darts of stone were launched by Master Artisans and Beak Strikes from the Eagles, yet they had to know their success would be limited. The fast and violent hurtling of spells continued to be focused into the smoke. With visibility so poor, only the spell, Find All, made it possible for Jere to sense what was happening. The success of the Chosen’s Sentinels was just as random, but the one hundred fifty Accomplisheds of the Atlantan Guild enjoyed the use of Find All, and rarely missed what they were aiming at.
To Be A Maestro (The Maestro Chronicles) Page 45