To Be A Maestro (The Maestro Chronicles) (55 page)

Lassiter had made a solid point by using the title, Maestro. Talmon and especially Tobermin would now be convinced beyond any lingering doubt another guild has been established. Daniel thought about it for a few moments longer while looking out over the forest of giant sequoias surrounding the tree-covered mountain and extending well beyond his visual range. To the east spread the six smaller mountains of the chain. This is the Lobenian frontier, wild and untamed. He started laughing and Simon smiled.

“The air is crisp and cool and the view is spectacular,” the new Chief Aid said. “What about it strikes you as funny or are you just happy I got us here alive?”

Daniel took a deep breath and swallowed his mirth. “I never doubted your ability to get us here,” he was quick to assure his friend. “The laughter was because I actually worried briefly over the fact that Talmon will believe I have established my own guild after hearing me introduce you as my Chief Aid. I also laughed because once he sees the one hundred fifty Accomplisheds I sent, what other conclusion would he make?”

“You were my friend way before you became my leader so I am going to speak to you as a friend,” Simon replied while looking him in the eyes. “You have established a guild, the only one associated with you who doesn’t seem know it is a stubborn mountaineer, and I’m not talking about Tim or your father.”

“I know it and as I said, that’s why I was laughing,” Daniel told him while kneeling on the ground. He summoned potential and began shifting the soil, exposing the solid rock beneath. “I didn’t want people to think I am another Tarin Conn, but they do anyway, and it was easier to fool myself when there was only me, Sherree, and Leah. My wife is the one who came up with the name that is on everyone’s lips when I am not in the room. You do realize that little meeting back there was the first time I spoke that name and title out loud.”

Simon dropped to the ground and began shifting the soil away, following the example of working while talking. “In doing so you have made it all official. From now on each Accomplished in our association will refer to you as the Maestro of the Atlantan Guild. Is that so terrible?”

Daniel placed his unshielded hand flat against the exposed rock and summoned the potential for Fashioning. He focused the energy down into the mountain with the idea of locating the Crystal Chamber from which Della Lain famously cast her spells. “I suppose not, seeing as everyone treats me like one,” he replied as his awareness spread deep into the granite, showing him caves and cavities, nooks and crannies. He came across a blockage, which was strange, and then another, and still more, and some were taking up huge areas his life force energy could not penetrate. “Simon, are you sensing blockages?”

“I am,” Simon confessed and his face scrunched into that puzzled expression, meaning he was just as baffled.

Daniel focused his attention around the closest and smallest sensory block and used Fashioning to push it up to the surface. The ground near his hand parted and out of it popped a fist-size quartz crystal. He caught it in the air and began examining the curious stone.

“It has been said that Della amplified her spells in the Crystal Chamber. If the chamber has the same properties as this one, how could she have done so? These little crystals toward the surface block our life force energy, as do the much larger ones I  sensed a moment ago,” Simon commented while squatting beside Daniel and peering intently at the multifaceted-translucent rock.

Daniel drew his hunting knife, placed the point against the crystal, and twisted the handle back and forth. His spells had strengthened and sharpened the blade long ago, although this was the first time in a long while he used the crescendo for something other than as a life force energy amplifier. A hole began to form and he continued to dig deeper until he was about half way through. He dropped the knife on the ground and held up the crystal, aiming at the six bolt crescendo. He focused the potential for Sheet Of Air into the hole. The energy was blocked as sure as if he had placed a shield on the thing. He then stuck his finger in the hole and then cast the spell. Life force energy shot out from the crystal and enveloped the knife, which then rose in the air. He then lowered it back to the ground.

“It can only be used as an amplifier from the inside through physical contact,” Simon declared, having watched the experiment closely.

The discovery sparked a whole new line of thinking in Daniel and certain pieces of information he had picked up over the last six months began to fit together. “Della must have carved out a place in one of the larger crystals, stepped inside and then focused her series of spells down into the depths of the mountains, to the bedrock, and out over the continent,” he shared his thoughts while sheathing his knife.

“It would make sense. She focused the potential through her flute, meaning both of her hands would have been occupied. Maybe she was barefooted,” Simon offered his assessment of the theory and added a thought of his own. “But you said Tarin Conn’s tomb is made of crystal, and if it originated from here, one would think he could amplify his potential rather than having it contained.”

Daniel shook his head. “Not if he was surrounded by hundreds of these,” he said while holding out the crystal. “If you embedded these in a wall around me, I would only be able to send minutely thin beams through whatever flaws I could find in the setting.”

Simon smiled as the pieces must have come together in his mind as well. “That sounds exactly like what Tarin Conn is doing. I think you figured out one of the three parts of his prison.”

Daniel nodded and then squatted back down, placed his hand against the naked stone, and sent Fashioning back into the mountain. He found a network of caves and vast chambers deep inside the mountain amid the crystal formations, which were easily identified since his life force energy was forced to go around them. About a quarter of a span down and half a span south, he sensed a cave opening from the side of the mountain, and followed the twists and turns around crystal formations to one really huge crystal. A section seven cubits high and ten cubits in diameter had been roughly carved into the quartz. He then followed the formation down deep below the base of Shantear and into the bedrock of the world. This had to be the Crystal Chamber. He sensed six other caves opening to the outside world and chambers within the mountain but this is the one that mattered most.

“Remember when I told Sherree our trip was going to be easy,” Simon spoke up from several paces away, where he squatted with his hand on the ground.

“Yes,” Daniel replied. “I usually regret saying such things because statements like that just seem to be asking for trouble.”

Simon stood up and faced him. “Well, this time is no exception. Try focusing Find All into the mountain and tell me what you sense.”

Daniel summoned the potential and focused the energy into and around the base of Shantear. It was a good thing his spells were below the range of fellow Aakacarns because he was sensing ten thousand of them, along with over five thousand Condemneds, and about eleven hundred Aakademneds. This is not a Serpent nest; this is a fully functional base of operations. He had been so busy learning the geology of the mountain; he did not stop to think what might be living in those caves and chambers. Find All also showed him the wild life both within and living on Shantear.

“What are we going to do?” Simon asked after sufficient time had passed for a thorough examination to have taken place.

“We are going to evict them,” Daniel replied while his mind went into high gear, “by continuing to map this mountain so our experts can help us plan the eviction. We seem to be in an isolated spot so I am going to fashion a chamber beneath where we are standing for a staging area. We will only be able to enter it through Conveyance and I will place Hidden Shield on the chamber.”

Simon nodded his understanding. “What do you want me to do?”

“Start linking your mind to every crawling critter you can and send them to learn the caves and chambers so our teams can convey directly into those locations, especially the chamber containing the Great Crystal. I will do the same thing after I finish my first chore, that would be fashioning the staging area,” Daniel replied and then went to work.

He formed a picture of a chamber in his mind and the spell, Fashioning, shifted solid granite as if it was putty, in accordance with his imagination. The vast opening did not displace the surrounding stone it merged with it, making it denser and less likely to cave in. Daniel was careful to restrict the potential to only the area to be affected so as not to disturb the current residents. “Let’s go inside,” he told Simon and then conveyed into the new staging area, taking his sandy-haired friend with him.

His Chief Aid summoned a cobalt blue ball of light and Daniel cast the spell, Freshen Air, so the breath they exhaled would be filtered back into breathable air. “I take it you want us to finish our chores from here,” Simon rightly assumed.

“You got it. Start linking,” Daniel replied, sipped from his canteen, and then took up the chore.

On the surface he linked with birds, squirrels, and raccoons. Within the mountain, he linked with rats, mice, bats, spiders, beetles, and scorpions. “I find it a bit dizzying to look through the eyes of spiders and bugs,” he commented.

Simon kept his eyes closed, but his sudden smile showed he was listening. “I did too at first, days ago, when I linked to my first scorpion. The trick is to think of each facet of their eyes as a window, pick one or two, and ignore the rest.”

Daniel sent his awareness into one of his spiders, a brown recluse he named Barney, and concentrated on only one facet of his eyes. He could see the Crystal Chamber and Accomplisheds of the Serpent Guild walking around in the area that imperfectly surrounded the Great Crystal. Whoever formed the area, probably ancient Accomplisheds of Aakadon, had to work around other huge crystal formations, which is why none of the chambers and tunnels were symmetrical. “Thanks for the tip. Your way is much better,”
he told Simon in a soft voice.

“That’s what Chief Aids are for,” the sandy-haired Accomplished replied.

They linked with more of the non-human inhabitants for several marks and then Daniel decided enough ground work had been done for planning purposes. “It is time for us to go,” he announced.

“Sounds good to me,” Simon agreed quickly, indicating he was more than ready to leave.

Daniel summoned potential and pictured him and Simon standing in the green grass, facing Lake Benhannon, and arrived there moments later. The evening ahead promised to be busy and the night long, but they would soon have to convey to Mount Jessup where Leah and Lassiter camped beside Talmon Reese and his team. Daniel cast Find All and sensed Sherree, Chas, Marcus, and Jared sitting in the Account Keeper’s office. He decided to meet with them first, used an amulet to warn Sherree, and Conveyed to the right corner of the room, bringing his Chief Aid with him.

“Am I interrupting your meeting?” Daniel asked while Sherree quickly placed an amulet in the inner pocket of her blue silk cloak, the hood of which was down, revealing her long yellow-gold hair. She must have seen the need to communicate with someone in the brief time it took him to convey in from the lake.

Jared’s mouth was open and his facial expression reminded Daniel of a child caught sneaking a treat before dinner, and Marcus’s eyes widened, making him appear innocent, too innocent. Chas did not so much as bat an eye, keeping his facial features smooth, and then a drop of perspiration leaked from his brow. It seems they had not been informed of their leader’s impending arrival.

Sherree had a mischievous twinkle in her eyes, leading Daniel to conclude their meeting had been about him. “Not at all,” his loving wife answered. “How can the Maestro of the Atlantan Guild be interrupting a meeting in his own association?” That had been a probing and provocative question, clearly designed to see how he would react.

“You gave the title and name legitimacy,” Simon apparently thought a reminder was necessary.

They were obviously not sure how far Daniel would let them go with the title and name, seeing as his offhand remark had not truly been an official declaration, and they knew it. He started laughing, not because it was all that funny, but because their concern over his reaction was miniscule next to what they really should be worried about.

Sherree stamped her foot and affected a pout that was so adorable he wanted to kiss her. “Why are you laughing at us?” She demanded to know.

His laughter evaporated the tension in the room like morning fog in the noontime sun. Before Daniel could explain, Reginald Bercop entered the office carrying blue silk garments with silver trim and a golden belt. All of the Accomplisheds in the association wore silver belts, Sherree and Leah wore silver belts with gold buckles, and yet this one was gold, buckle and all, and had a gold sheath. Even the canteen was gold rather than silver. Daniel stopped laughing and eyed Reginald. Is this who Sherree had been communicating with?

A few chuckles escaped from Simon before he managed to stifle them enough to share what was on his mind. “I think they expect you to dress according to rank.”

“Simon is correct,” Sherree said, and walked right over and looked up into her husband’s eyes. “The uniform you’re wearing marks you as an official representative of Queen Cleona. You knew enough not to wear it into Pentrosa, why would you wear it while traveling with our Accomplisheds in Lobenia?”

They were clearly attempting to maneuver him into doing what they wanted and Daniel admitted to himself she was the one best suited to the task; that is probably what had been decided in their little meeting. Their priority is mixed up and he wanted to get on with the more important chore. “I am going to settle this matter quickly because what we need to be discussing is far more important,” he replied, and caused her to blink and take a step back. His facial expression must have been grim to provoke that kind of reaction from his wife. “Point one; I was planning on changing into my blue silks, so that part of your concern is now taken care of. Point two; Simon and I briefly discussed my offhand use of the terms, which you all know were not meant as a formal declaration,” he continued and watched each of them sink a little lower in their chairs, except Reginald, Sherree and Simon, who were standing. The Chief Aid was clearly trying not to smile and the First Lady started to look a little worried, maybe a tiny bit guilty for trying to manipulate her husband, and then glanced at Simon, read his expression, and visibly relaxed. The Benhannon Estate Provisioner had hunched his shoulders and was staring at the floor.

Daniel extended his hand out to him. “Reginald, let me take a look at what you made.”

Accomplished Bercop handed him the garments and Daniel looked them over. The hood had seven lightning bolts with the center one being the largest. The shirt had four golden bolts on the right shoulder and three on the left. Each boot was the same topaz blue as the silks and had a falcon clutching a lightning bolt stylized into the leather. He examined the gold sheath and thought of making two more for his old knife and sword, but then decided not to change a thing. A sword and a hunting knife would be inappropriate for this attire. “This is perfect. Well done Accomplished,” he affirmed, expressing his approval. “I will change into these silks before we go back into Lobenia.”

Reginald looked up, straightened his shoulders and smiled. “I am glad you approve, Maestro,” he replied, but used the titled tentatively.

Daniel’s gaze took in everyone in the room. “Here is my final point on this subject; from this moment forward the official title of our association is the Atlantan Guild, of which I am the Maestro.”

Those seated sprang to their feet and applauded and those who were already standing joined in. Everyone was all smiles and Daniel allowed the merriment to continue for the moment. He looked to Simon, who nodded his head as if to say, why not let them be happy for a little while longer.

Sherree slammed into Daniel, throwing her arms around his waist, and he hugged her. “I knew you would come to accept this new role, eventually,” she spoke softly into his chest.

He allowed the rejoicing to continue for a quarter of a mark, which was plenty of time for the news to spread throughout the guild using communication amulets. He removed his arms from around Sherree and said, “Sit down people we have a battle to plan, seeing as we might be taking on the full might of the Serpent Guild tonight.” That got everyone’s attention and wiped away the smiles. His tone and the firmness in which he delivered the news made it clear this was no jest.

He summoned the potential and focused a three dimensional, transparent image of
Mount Shantear, along with its current residents. There was a chorus of groans at the sight yet it was Commander Herling who spoke first. “I’m estimating we will be facing about ten thousand Aakacarns and roughly six thousand Condemneds, not counting the forces that could be teleported into this major base of operations after the battle has begun.”

Silence held sway as everyone stared at the im
age while shaking their heads.

“The defenses here at the estate, in the naval facility, and in your Northland Holding, will need to be on full alert once the assault on Shantear begins,” Marcus pointed out, breaking the silence.

“Absolutely and with enough Accomplisheds at those locations to help with the defense, because the vast majority of Aakacarns will be involved with the assault,” Daniel agreed, hoping to keep the dialogue going.

“What did you have in mind?” Sherree asked, hesitantly, as if she might be afraid of the answer.

Daniel glanced at the Sentinel Commander. “I was hoping Chas would have some ideas.”

Everyone’s attention was now on the former Major of the Sutton Guard. He remained silent for so long, studying the image of Shantear, Daniel thought the man did not realize this was his moment to speak. Chas raised his eyes from the map, licked his lips, and then began a verbal checklist. “The Atlantan Guild has the same offensive and defensive spells we had for the Tirana campaign, the Sentinels have the dagger lances, flaming crossbows, and nightsticks. We have one hundred fifty Accomplisheds with three thousand one hundred fifty Sentinels in Lobenia, which leaves us six hundred fifty Sentinels and one thousand five hundred fifty Accomplisheds in reserve, not counting the forty Emissaries. Aakadon has one Maestro and one hundred forty Accomplisheds. This is what we have to work with.”

“The Benhannon Guard is sixteen hundred strong here at the estate, has an additional four hundred in the Northland Holding, and fifty at the naval arena,” Marcus added his numbers to the mix. Nobody mentioned the five patrol boats, each with crews of twenty, or the RiverDancer. They would not be a part of this mission, other than to be on alert, and the same held true of the Emissaries defending the Queen and other dignitaries.

Simon and Jared remained quiet while Sherree’s brow wrinkled as she stared at the image of the mountain. “Even if the Serpent Guild fails to send one additional Accomplished to defend their base, this force is formidable, the numbers just don’t add up for us, and I don’t see how we can win,” she paused, took a breath, and continued her assessment. “You are asking Chas to plan the impossible. Shantear looks like a deathtrap.”

Daniel had faced overwhelming odds before and this truly did seem daunting, yet the mountaineer inside him was too stubborn to quit. “Simon and I linked with the critters living on and within Shantear,” he told them and went on to explain about the staging area he created and the visuals collected from the assorted scouts.

Commander Herling began to smile. “General Kall is not the only one who can plan a Spin Off maneuver,” he began and his eyes seemed to shine with an inner fire. “We plan two battles, one with the forces we have committed to escort the Accomplisheds of Aakadon, and one within the mountain. Simply put, the outside force will be the assault the Serpents see while the one they cannot see will be conveyed directly into strategically assigned locations within Shantear. There are many details to work out, but each team will have an objective, some will fight, with a certain amount rearranging tunnels and chambers while others go after the Condemneds.”

The changing of the internal passages within the mountain would make teleporting hazardous for any reinforcements of the Serpent Guild, Daniel knew, and as Chas went into greater detail, even Sherree no longer thought taking mount Shantear was impossible.

Daniel approved of the plan. “You all understand I must seize control of the Crystal Chamber with enough support to hold it, or all is for nothing. At that point, I can convey Maestro Reese into the chamber so he can cast the spells to strengthen the shields holding
Tarin Conn.”

Everybody nodded their heads, except Sherree. “That is the whole point of the mission, but I don’t think we should inform our allies of the simultaneous strike until after we have secured the chamber and the spells you cast to help those outside have succeeded.”

“I must agree with the First Lady,” Jared spoke up for the first time in the current meeting. “Any spies among our allies would immediately alert the Serpent Guild as to what we are planning. Enough of our people will be injured and killed in this campaign even with the element of surprise on our side; we risk the casualties being magnified by giving our slippery friends too much information.”