To Be A Maestro (The Maestro Chronicles) (37 page)

Daniel nodded his head. “And I, like yesterday, will stay here and recover while everyone else goes about doing their chores.”

“Good plan,” Leah replied and then turned on her heel and headed out the door.

The next day he cast, How Do You Feel, and determined his blood supply was back to normal. He sprang out of bed and over to his wardrobe under the watchful eye of Loper. Leah, at some point, laundered and repaired his uniform. He had no idea the spell, Beak Strike, could cut through mail as quickly as Marge can a slice of cheese. That fact and the assassination attempt made him reassess when he should have a personal shield in place.

He sent his bodyguards out of the room, cast, Refresh, to cleanse his body, also Personal Shield, having removed it to clean up, and then quickly put on his field uniform.
Do we hunt?
Loper wanted to know.

Daniel smiled at the wolf.
We will hunt soon
, Daniel confirmed, and then stepped out into the hall with Loper at his side. Sergeant Tanner and the Breaker team of his Quicksilver squad quickly saluted, standing ready to obey any command should their leader desire to give one. “I am going to my office,” he informed them.

His escort followed him down the stairs and the trip took twice as long as usual, seeing as everyone he passed felt the need to inquire about his health, to which he would respond, “I’m feeling right as a spring rain.”

Jaim Cutler stood beside Daniel’s desk and held out a bucket of rocks when they entered the office. “Tinum, Coresen, and Henner, stand watch outside the door,” Tanner ordered the three Sentinels, while he and the two remaining members of the team stayed in the office.

Vera Tinum, a slender young woman with her dark braid hanging out from the back of her helmet, clicked her boots together and said, “It will be as you say, Sergeant,”
and then led her teammates out.

Daniel accepted the bucket from Jaim. Since the order to fetch rocks had not been rescinded, the doorkeeper always made sure there was a new supply in the office. As it turns out, Daniel did need the contents this morning. “Thanks,” he told the young man, “I can use this.”

Cutler gave a salute and went out in the hall to take up his position as keeper of the door. Loper circled a few times to the right of the desk and then settled onto the floor. Daniel sat down, opened his top drawer, and removed a sapphire stone. He had a gift in mind for Leah and pictured the object clearly in his mind. The spell, Change It, combined with Hunger worked in conjunction, and allowed him to shape a sapphire rod a cubit long and a finger width in diameter. He then took a silver coin and used the same spells to make a cap to place on the end. Lastly he cast, Potentializing the Baton. His shoulders tingled while the spell assessed his lighting bolts of life force energy and created the crescendo with seven bolts of amplification.

He placed the bucket of rocks on the floor to his left and the baton, sapphire, and coin in the top drawer. Time to start hacking at his chores, he thought, and set his priorities. The spell, Find All, played in his head and he decided to extend the potential out to a ten span radius. Two legions, minus three thousand six hundred and seventy-two men, were in the circular fort on the Pentrosan side of the border. Daniel now knew how much the siege had cost the invaders along the perimeter of the walls and among the wagon trains in the forest. General Tallen was in his office at
Fort Casum while Malcus was only a few doors down from where Daniel sat. The Knights of the Realm, he had heard, went back to their estates to muster their forces. Everyone, human and nonhuman, in and around the holding were accounted for, except about half a span south and a little to the east. Nine Condemneds and an Aakademned were huddled together within a hill hut similar to the kind Daniel had seen used by Serena and her team in the past. He sensed no Aakacarns, other than Leah, who appeared to be putting the finishing touches on the new underground facility.

It is time to hunt
Daniel sent the thought to Loper, who instantly sprang to his feet, and then focused on the human occupants of the room. “Sergeant Tanner, we are going to collect some Condemneds who have moved into the area. Assemble the rest of your squad, we are going for a ride and bring some shovels.”

Jacob gave a quick salute. “It will be as you say, Sir Daniel.”

By the time Daniel stepped out of building two, Sprinter was saddled and ready to go, as were twenty one other horses. It was good to see Kater fully restored to health. Daniel mounted the stallion in one fluid motion and all of the Sentinels did the same. “Let’s ride,” he said, and they headed south at a gallop with Loper and eight members of his pack running along beside them. The horses seemed to be more accepting of the predators and Sprinter had nerves of iron. The ashen stallion with black mane and tail had carried Daniel through far worse dangers.

The journey through the forest, over small hills, and bushes, ended quickly as the grassy mound containing the Condemneds came into view. “Daggers out,” Tanner commanded.

Daniel sincerely hoped the weapons would not be necessary, yet knew the precaution needed to be taken, especially with the Serpent Guild using some sort of invisibility spell. He played the music for, Find All, in his mind and focused on the inhabitants, added a Da Capo, and then cast Sleep Time. “The Condemneds are now asleep. Dig an opening right there,” he commanded while ceasing the potential powering the spells, and pointing to the exact spot, “and bring them out.”

“It will be as you say, Sir Daniel,” Tanner replied and then shouted, “Kater, Tobin, Jax, start digging.”

The wolves were sniffing all around the mound and some began digging, paws flinging dirt and soil into the air. The three men dismounted and went to work. As soon as they had an opening big enough to enter, Tanner and the rest of his squad went in and brought out ten people wearing brown cloaks. “Other than being bald, they appear to be unharmed,” Vera commented.

Jana glanced under the robe of the smallest of the ten. “She is naked. These robes are the only clothing they have.”

“It’s more than we had,” Jax commented.

Vera took a deep breath. “They don’t even smell bad. Their handler must have ordered them to bathe.”

Tobin and his brother came out of the hill hut carrying sacks marked, Fort Casum. “I suspect Captain Johannan may want these back.”

“We will take them for now,” Daniel decided. “Sergeant Tanner, in the near future, see to it these supplies go back to
Fort Casum with a warning about invisible assassins.”

“It will be as you say, Sir Daniel,” Jacob replied.

“Are you going to heal these people?” Kater asked.

Tobin looked at him cross wise. “No Kater, he’s going to use them as his personal slaves. Of course Sir Daniel is going to heal them.”

“I will restore these people sooner if ten Sentinels lay them across their horses,” Daniel interrupted the small talk.

Tanner assigned the task and they brought the Condemneds back to the holding at a much slower pace. “Take them into the conference room, place them on the table, and I want guards at the window and doors inside and out,” Daniel commanded, while walking briskly through the common room of building two.

Leah and Chas intercepted him. “I will need to know the types of spells you and the First Accomplished intend to employ during the assault on Tirana in order to form a plan,” Commander Herling said.

Leah glowed with potential and stared at the unconscious people being carried into the conference room. Her life force energy vanished after a few moments. “Nine Condemneds and an Aakademned, I take it they were close by.”

Daniel nodded and told her where the group had been hiding.

“I should have scanned for them days ago,” Leah spoke in a soft tone of voice, filled with recrimination. “Are there anymore?”

Daniel shook his head. “Not within a ten span radius. I suspect they were commanded to stay put by the invisible assassin. In my earlier surveillance of the Pentrosan side of the border, I remember seeing through my scouts a member of the Serpent Guild with ten individuals standing around him, all wearing brown cloaks.”

Chas glanced into the conference room as the last Condemned was taken inside. “The First Accomplished has been to
Mount Tirana and scouted the target area. We need to formulate an assault plan so we can take out that nest. The Sentinels you called for can guard this room while the patients sleep.”

Leah nodded her agreement with the Commander. “They can be restored after the meeting, unless you feel healing them now to be the greater priority.”

They would do whatever Daniel wanted, he knew this, and the desire to end the suffering of these victims right away warred with what else needed to be done on his list of priorities. The Condemneds were asleep, not suffering at the moment, and formulating the attack plan was essential. He focused on Leah. “It seems I am not the only one who went off on a quick jaunt.”

The Ecoppian nodded. “I took some time off from working on the new facility yesterday and conveyed to
Mount Tirana to learn what we need to know.”

Daniel nodded. “Good job.” It was nice to have someone willing and capable of doing that sort of mission. “Jacob, will you go into my office and bring me the object
I created earlier?”

“Certainly, Sir Daniel,” Tanner replied and quickly did as requested.

Leah’s eyes widened as she watched what the Sergeant handed to Daniel. “This is for you,” he told his first Accomplished. “Be careful with the amount of potential you focus through it. This baton has a seven bolt amplification factor.”

She held the crescendo, studied it from every which way and then smiled. “This is a great gift, thanks,” she s
aid, and glanced at his office.

Daniel led his command staff into the office. Leah, Chas, Al, and Mallory took the chairs in front of his desk and the first Accomplished projected a hologram of the mountain with its chambers and tunnels highlighted. “We have five entrances, as you can see, even though we know Accomplisheds of the Serpent Guild oft times teleport directly into certain chambers,” Comm
ander Herling began to explain.

They went on to discuss the types of spells to be used and determined what squads would go with whom, Daniel, Leah, Chas, or Al. Lightning squad, under the command of Mallory SuKendall, was given the task of staying behind and guarding the gates. Daniel declared the mission sealed to the association. He remembered the name Sherree had come up with and the title she gave him, but seriously, it seemed grandiose coming from his lips so he used the words, holding, muster, and association. Leah took the opportunity to return the flute into his keeping.

Chas, Mallory, and Al had teams to brief and set off to get started on their list of chores while Leah followed Daniel into the conference room. The Condemneds and Aakademned were laid out on the obsidian table. The first Accomplished and Loper stood guard, along with the Sentinels, while Daniel removed his personal shield and went to work. Silvia and David entered moments later. The restoration process went quickly, seeing as little damage had been done to their bodies. Most of what he did involved giving them back their original faces, growing their hair, and restoring their free will, which is also why he removed the sleep spell rather than allow them to wake naturally. The nine men had the features of Taracopians, four with the sun-tanned skin of the southern coast and five having the lighter complexion common among the inhabitants of the northern half of Taracopa. Leah took them aside after each healing and answered their questions, so Daniel could move on to the next patient without delay. The last person he restored was the Aakademned, a one-bolt Accomplished. Her flame red hair and freckled face reminded him a little of Joanna, a Talented he met back in Aakadon.

A pair of lids opened, green eyes shifted right to left, and then stared fixedly into the eyes of her healer. “You seem as familiar as a twin brother, yet I have never laid eyes on you before, and do not know your name. However, I do know you saved me.”

“I am Daniel Benhannon,” he began the introduction and noticed her eyes widen in recognition of the name. “I see you have heard of me.”

“You defeated Balen Tamm and were Silenced by the Grand Maestro. The last reports I read mentioned you being knighted by the Queen of Ducaun. The uniform you wear confirms that much. Are you really a seven-bolt Accomplished?”

Leah walked away from the Taracopians, who were now sitting around the other end of the conference table, and came to stand at Daniel’s side. “This man is more than a Seven-bolt, he is the Chosen Vessel, and has restored from Condemnation nearly everyone in this room, along with many others.”

The young woman stared at Leah and blinked several times before speaking. “You are Leah Barryn. I remember hearing the announcement of your demise. Why is a Senior Soarer of the Eagle Guild wearing those blue silks?”

“These are the silks Daniel made for me, which I proudly wear, seeing as I have devoted myself to the service of the Chosen Vessel. Tarin Conn is even now stirring in his mountain tomb and the battle of ages will soon be upon us,” Leah replied without hesitation.

“How can you break oath to the Eagle Guild?” the woman demanded to know. “Vance Cummin is in line to be the next Maestro of the Serpent Guild and now you abandon your high position as well.”