To Be A Maestro (The Maestro Chronicles) (58 page)

“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 arrival 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.

Cherin Colegus, a Two-bolt Ducuanan Accomplished, standing six paces from Jere, raised her baton and a bolt of lighting short out and struck an Accomplished of the Serpent Guild in the chest. The man flew backward ten paces and did not get back up. His partner aimed his baton at her and a yellow beam of light struck her in the face. A bright blue glow formed as her shield took in the potential, yet she screamed and fell to the ground. Jere ran over to provide assistance with Lou right behind him.

The forty year old Ducaunan was still breathing. Jere looked into her eyes, which were wide open and frozen solid. “Lou, Convey her to the North Wing,” he ordered, since Cherin was barely conscious.

“It will be as you say, Strike Leader,” the seventy-one year old replied, and then vanished.

Petrin DuCollus engaged the Accomplished who had injured Cherin. Petrin dropped to the ground just as a yellow beam passed through the air where his head had been. It struck a sequoia and formed a large white splotch on the bark. From his baton shot a jet of flame that bathed the offender, who screamed and collapsed on the ground.

From the Serpents came blades of air, lightning bolts, and fire balls. The enemy Aakacarns were filtering through the trees and launching their spells. A Two-bolt aimed his baton and Jere ducked his head just as a crimson beam shot out and struck the tree behind him. The sonic boom caused a loud ringing in his ears and blew a massive chunk out of the base of the tree. Pieces of bark and wood splinters flew at him, tearing his cloak, but otherwise doing him no harm. He cast Die Now at his opponent but the fellow’s female partner managed to get a shield in place, rendering the counterstrike ineffective. A ball of fire struck Jere in the back of the head and he was forced to throw off his cloak as the flames devoured the silk. By the time he turned, the pair was no where in sight.

He sensed, through Find All, Aakacarns flowing out of the lower caves, and knew the enemy force outside the mountain was now larger than when he arrived, regardless of the amount killed up to this point. Many people had died and were dying as the fight intensified and Jere wished he could say none of the casualties were among the Sentinels and Aakacarns of the Atlantan Guild. He began issuing orders, adapting to the dire developments.

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Thirteen years ago Judas Scarott interned under Fenton Chan and was recruited into the Serpent Guild. Being an Aloe and a servant of Tarin Conn had not been difficult until today. It was clear as a Cenkataaran sunrise that Benhannon had deliberately misled the Accomplisheds of Aakadon about the arrival points. Most people paid more attention to Fenton and ignored Judas, which had given him the opportunity to report the battle plan to Nest Leader Bellomy Brockhouse. The Commander of Serpent West will be angry with him, not Fenton, over the losses taken during the first exchanges of the battle raging around them. Judas shifted the shield to cover the Senior Practitioner, who was supposed to be launching offensive spells at the defenders of the mountain. Chen missed every target but no one else was paying him enough attention to notice at this point in the conflict. They were both staying close to Maestro Reese and eyeing the flute.

“He uses his baton more than the flute,” Chen’s monotone voice sounded
in his head.

The man actually wore the amulet Judas had given him on the back of his neck where it is well hidden inside his cloak. “I am guessing there is a reason you are sharing this observation with me,” Judas sent back in reply.

“He retrieves the baton each time from his belt using his right hand, while the flute remains in his left,” Fenton’s unemotional response gave no hint of what he might be feeling.

The usual reason for switching from an instrument to a baton was to use a Melody the Accomplished does not want broadcast before the spell is cast, even a level one Talented knew that much. Judas worked well with the man for many years and trusted him to a degree, yet he wanted an answer beyond the obvious. “You are giving me more observation instead of the reason I queried you for
.”

Fenton’s reply came back instantly. “Brockhouse will be furious with you when this is all over. We will be successful, yet the initial losses on our side will be ascribed to you. We are so close to Maestro Reese that either one of us could snatch the flute of Della Lain and destroy it, thus depriving him of the ability to strengthen the shields. More than that, the destruction of the cursed crescendo will free the Supreme Maestro from Kelgotha.”

Every member of the Serpent Guild longed to be the one to find and destroy the cursed flute. Judas thought about the honor. If he was the person to obliterate the crescendo, Tarin Conn would reward him, and the loss of a few thousand members would be over looked.

Maestro Reese aimed his baton and launched an Eagle Guild favorite, the Talon Strike. Potential flowed out like a giant talon and snatch up a loyal member of the Serpent Guild. The flute was right where Fenton said it would be and less than a pace from Judas. While the Five-bolt’s attention was on his prey, Judas reached out, snatched the flute, and took off running while summoning the potential for Corrosive Light. He could only manage a small sphere, but it would be big enough to do the job. He focused the potential at the flute and then lost his focus as his legs gave way and he fell to the ground. His arms trembled as he did a push up and looked back to discover what tripped him. Oh, my legs are over there, the thought entered his mind just
before the Maestro’s Beak Strike took off his head.

-------

Jere caught a glimpse of Maestro Reese launching a Beak Strike at Fenton Chen’s partner. The temptation to free his master must have gotten the better of Scarott. At least we now know who the spy is, Jere thought as the first mark of the fight rolled into the second. An Accomplished of the Serpent Guild suddenly appeared right in front of Sentinel Rollen and launched one of those sonic beams of light right in his face. His shield absorbed most of the potential, but was no protection for the eyes. He screamed and fell to the ground, hopefully not dead. A tree branch swung down with a whooshing sound and smashed the assailant flat. The twenty Senior Foresters of the Willow Guild were manipulating the trees and Jere would have admired their effectiveness if the over all battle had been going better.

In every direction he looked, scores of Accomplisheds suddenly appeared from seemingly nowhere. He did not hear the sound of displaced air, so they could not have teleported in. A sonic beam struck a Senior Practitioner and the man exploded in a spray of blood and gore. The horrific death had one benefit. The outlines of three cloaked figures were now covered in bodily fluids and other bloody bits. The missing five thousand Accomplisheds had cast spells to become invisible and then quietly strolled in among Jere’s forces. The results were devastating. Three Senior Artisans each sent a beam of light at the gore covered Accomplisheds and petrified them, but the little victory was small nex
t to the many lives being lost.

A huge wave of harmonic energy struck Jere, knocking him to the ground. He began to push himself up when yet another wave washed over him. All around people were getting to their feet, some had fallen back down from the affect of the second wave, and others were standing. The entire battle had come to a stop. Everyone, Serpents included, looked to Shantear, and all was quiet. Whatever happened did not change the mission. Jere stood up straight and shouted, “Attack,” while sending the same order through his array.

The lull was over and the battle resumed. Spells flew back and forth and Jere began to worry. If the Maestro does not secure the Crystal Chamber soon, this battle will be over shortly. An Accomplished of the Serpent Guild appeared four paces away and Jere summoned the potential for, Die Now, through his baton and sent six bolts of deadly life force energy into the Aakacarn. The beam blasted through whatever inferior shield had been in place and killed the man instantly. It was the first time in this battle Jere threw his full power into a spell. He had been trying to conserve his energy to keep the fight on the surface going longer, but he expected to exit this world soon, and decided to take as many Serpents with him as he could. Blue light radiated up out of the ground, turning night into day. He smiled at the sight, and then fell into a deep sleep.