To Be A Maestro (The Maestro Chronicles) (59 page)

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Joel Glader was pleased when the Maestro chose him to lead a squad of Accomplisheds. He had only spoken to Daniel twice since being restored and was more surprised than anyone else at the assignment. Joel recently overheard Simon Trenca telling the First Accomplished that Daniel never promised to keep an eye on him, he just does. Joel had not realized until his selection to be a leader, that the statement was true about him as well.

He stood in the cavernous staging chamber created by the Maestro. “At midnight the battle begins,” Daniel stated, and then walked right over to Joel. “This is your arrival point,” he said, and then blue light flooded into Joel’s eyes and he saw the chamber containing the Great Crystal through mult
ifaceted eyes.

The focus narrowed to one facet and he could clearly see Accomplisheds in their black silks illumined by glowing spheres spaced throughout the roof of the chamber. Barrels of water were stored in a small chamber to the right, which is where he and his team were supposed to convey. To the left, in front of the Great Crystal, stood a group of Serpents gathered around a short man with broad shoulders. The stout two-bolt Accomplished seemed to be issuing orders and receiving
nods of respect in reply.

The spell ended and the Maestro went on to Michael Kayten, but the scene remained in Joel’s mind. Time passed and each Accomplished had been shown where to appear. Leah Barryn went over the plan until she was satisfied everyone knew what to do, even the
Chosen’s Sentinels. Joel spoke to each member of his team, all were Ducaunans and taller than him. “Be ready to focus your first casting on my command,” he told them and received, “It will be as you say, Team Leader,” from ten voices at once.

The youngest was Joel’s age, forty, yet he appeared to be twenty while she looked her age, as did they all. The six women and four men were Two-bolts, like him, but without experience. And like him, they all had been issued level four batons by the First Accomplished and thereby would be wielding up to six bolts of potential. By the time he finished reviewing the plan to each person on his team; Daniel Benhannon’s baritone voice filled the chamber. “Summon potential for conveyance,” he paused, gave sufficient time to comply, and then added, “We go in three, two, one.”

Joel and his team appeared in the chamber with the water barrels, facing a large group of Accomplisheds who were standing in the main chamber. “Now,” Joel commanded and focused, Die Now, through his baton, as did his team. Eleven beams of light shot across the room like a horizontal rainbow, striking the startled group of Accomplisheds. Each of the men and women in the direct line of focus fell dead, but the ones behind them had time to raise their shields and scatter.

Daniel and his team were out of sight on the other side of the chamber near the opening of the Great Crystal. Scores of Serpents were dead all over the battle area, some burnt to a crisp by Sherree, while others were flattened to pulp by Leah, and many simply died without any wounds, like those killed by Joel and his team. He estimated the Serpents had lost about a tenth of what had been in the chamber. His team continued to cast spells at the opposition, but was making little progress against the shields.

Simon cast what looked like dust at a group of shielded Accomplisheds. The dust surrounded the shield and then coalesced into minute areas and flowed through what were probably air passages. The dust then scattered within the shielded area, floating in the air, settling on each Aakacarn, and suddenly plants sprouted out of their noses and mouths. The shield vanished and they all fell dead as flowers bloomed and covered their corpses.

A blade of air struck Joel in the forehead and harmlessly ricocheted into a water barrel, slicing a wide path, and sending water spraying out onto the floor of the chamber. Being a former Reservoir of the Aqua Guild, Joel hated to see water being wasted. He created a barrel out of solidified air, placed a Da Capo on the spell, and then drew th
e water into the new container.

Samuel wielded Beak Strike, focused through his baton, at a fat-faced two-bolt Accomplished who was batting aside each strike with a conjured staff. The contest seemed to be at a stalemate. Sam raised his empty hand and a lightning bolt shot out, striking his opponent on the hip, and slamming the Aakacarn against the chamber wall. The silks were scorched away, exposing third degree burns. Even so, the strike had not been aimed at his chest, which would have been lethal, but it clearly inflicted a lot of pain, judging by the stream of profanities coming out of the man’s mouth. The beak portion of Sam’s spell came down and cut fat-face from sternum to groin, ending the offensive vocalizations.

Joel stepped behind his team in preparation for the next phase of the plan. He backed against the wall of the chamber, removed the shield from his left hand, and placed it flat against the cold stone of the mountain. The spell, Fashioning, played in his mind and he focused his awareness into the granite. Large deposits of quartz blocked his senses to a degree but he was able to go around those and get a feel for the entire cave. He knew Michael and the Sentinels were fighting near the entrance and that battles like the one he was in were taking place in chambers and caves throughout Shantear, as well as on the surface. He formed alcoves for each Accomplished to step into, from which they could cast their spells in relative safety.

“Phase, two,” his amplified voice filled both the small chamber and the main one. The echo reverberated throughout the entire cave.

Each person instantly retreated into the alcoves made for them, as did Joel’s team. The spaces were shallow and they provided an excellent view of the target areas. He summoned a shield from top to bottom and side to side. This also had the effect of cutting off his air. He placed a Da Capo on the spell and then cast, Freshen Air, so what he exhaled would be filtered back into breathable air.

A female Accomplished with black stringy hair launched a head-size sphere of light at him. The ball hit his shield and stopped. He smiled, reformed the shield to cup the sphere, and shoved it back toward the caster. Her eyes widened and then the ball vanished before it could reach her. She grinned; evidently satisfied the danger had been dealt with. Joel instantly reshaped the shield vertically and thrust it forward, crushing her against the chamber wall.

A fire ball came streaking in and slammed against his chest before he could reestablish the shield on his alcove. Even with the protection of the shield amulet against his skin, he was forced to throw off his cloak with his right hand and stomped out the fire, feeling thankful the shot missed his unshielded left hand. He recreated the shield on the alcove and mentally prepared for the next assault.

Ten more Accomplisheds appeared in the main chamber and again rainbow beams shot into the group from his team. Three Serpents fell dead but the rest managed to get their shields in place. Balls of fire, lightning bolts, and a beam that created at great deal of frost came hurtling alternately from four of them while the remaining three manipulated the shields. Joel admired their coordination, especially since not a spell from his team was reaching its target. Admiration of teamwork was not enough to keep him from acting. He eyed the barrels around him and could not help but think like a Reservoir of the Aqua Guild, seeing as he had been one of them far longer than his time spent as an Atlantan. He released the Da Capo from the spell maintaining the solidified water container and the contents gushed out all over the chamber floor. The spell, Divert, played in his head and he drew the water up into the air and sent every drop out into the main chamber, over the heads of the seven Accomplisheds, and then let it fall while his team kept up their assault
.

Most of the water flowed over the shields and onto the floor, but a good amount sprinkled down onto the Accomplisheds through gaps in their alternating defense and offense. Joel drew water from three more barrels and dropped it on the Aakacarns, who were casting every spell they had at him, personally, balls of fire, spheres of corrosive light, and blades of air. Evidently they did not appreciate being soaked to the skin or standing
in the middle of the floor with water pooling around their feet. Joel summoned potential for his next spell and sent a sustained sapphire blue lighting bolt at the puddle. The shock traveled through the water, to their feet, and they all suddenly went rigid. All spells immediately ceased and their limbs began to twitch until smoke began wafting from their silks. He released the potential and they all fell dead.

“Great move, Team Leader!” Tanya Hartler, one of the six women on his team shouted.

“Impressive,” agreed Adeam Bobcat, one of the four men, as he launched a deadly beam at a Serpent over to the right. The spell slammed against a shield, ineffective, but the sentiment was appreciated.

Joel gave each a quick nod of respect, but had little time to worry about praise. “Stay focused on your tasks everyone, I am about to initiate phase three.”

He placed his unshielded hand against the wall of his alcove, summoned the potential for, Fashioning, and focused his awareness into the granite and out into the floor of the main chamber. It was time to put a stop to enemy Accomplisheds teleporting into the chamber, like the last ten had done. He pictured the floor being three quarters of a cubit higher and began making the change gradually, like water slowly seeping between cracks. He doubted anyone in the chamber, friend or foe, could feel the alteration.

A sixth of a mark passed, his team had killed every enemy Aakacarn in sight, and another group of ten Accomplisheds arrived with loud whip cracks of displaced air, and every one of them looked down and screamed in pain and horror, judging
by the grimaces on their faces.

“Now,” Joel commanded and ten beams of light shot into the Aakacarns, killing them instantly.

They had been bunched together, back to back, and could not fall because they were up to their shins in solid stone. A short while later a muffled sound came from the standing corpses and they burst open, meaning a second team had teleported in and died as their substance attempted to displace that of their dead associates.

“That was not a pretty sight,” Sylvester Dulighter commented from his alcove two paces away.

“Just be ready to cast, Die Now, the instant the next group appears within the chamber,” Joel ordered.

“But any who appear in this spot will be instantly melded with the corpses of the previous group and die quickly without our help,” Laannie Shaferon decided his opinion had been called for.

“The next group may not appear right in front of your face,” Brandolf Solenin gave the correct answer.

Ten more Accomplisheds of the Serpent Guild appeared inside the chamber, twenty paces from the standing corpses, and ten beams of light shot from the alcoves, killing the Aakacarns while they were drawing breath to scream. Like the others, these were standing back to back, each with their shins part of the floor, and unable to fall. Muffled sounds, followed by bursting corpses, indicated Serpents were being sent to reinforce their associates at both arrival points
, and consequently died.

Through Fashioning, Joel could sense other Atlantans involved with phase three, reforming chambers and passages into teleportation deathtraps throughout Shantear. Phase four was up to the Maestro and Joel stepped out of his alcove, wanting to be of help. Harmonic waves washed through him as he made his way out into the main chamber and around the corpses littering the floor. All of the spell casting was taking place on the other side of the Great Crystal, so he went over there.

“That is one solid shield. I can’t find an air passage for my seeds to get through,” Simon Trenca said disgustedly, while standing beside Leah Barryn.

On the other side of the shield stood twenty-three Aakacarns, one of which was the short-stout fellow who had been shown so much respect from his fellows. His hood was laid back, revealing short white hair. Red veins shot through his bulbous nose and a twisted smile revealed white teeth. The smugness of the man gave Joel the urge to reach in and slap him. Behind the enemy Aakacarns was the entrance to the Great Crystal and the apparent reason for the attitude.

Jerremy DeSuan aimed his baton and a purple beam struck the shield and accomplished nothing. “I think the shield is being sustained by a Grand Symphony.”

Daniel, with Sherree Jenna at his side, aimed a diamond
-bladed crescendo, launching a topaz lighting bolt so bright Joel had a difficult time blinking the after image from his eyes. His vision cleared and he was sorry to see the Maestro’s full power blast had been just as in effective as the tall Serinian’s.

Letters appeared above the head of the stout, apparently Demfilian-born, Accomplished. I AM NEST LEADER BELLOMY BROCKHOUSE, THE COMMANDER OF SERPENT WEST. YOUR ATTEMPS TO BREAK THIS SHIELD ARE FUTILE. YOUR PEOPLE ARE DYING ON THE MOUNTIANSIDE AND THE GREAT TARIN
CONN WILL SOON BREAK FREE. HE COMPOSED A HIGH POWERED SHIELD SPELL THAT KEEPS THE AIR FRESH. WE SHALL BE HERE AS LONG AS IT TAKES AND YOU WILL NOT GET TO THE CRYSTAL CHAMBER BEFORE HE IS FREE FROM KELGOTH.

More letter
s appeared but Joel paid them no attention. He went to the wall of the chamber, placed his left hand flat against the stone, and cast the spell, Fashioning. His senses went into the substance of the mountain, revealing all of the minerals and quartz deposits in the chamber. The crystals in this section of the chamber were larger than on the other side, but he managed to feel his way around them, pushing his awareness down into the floor, beneath the shield, and under each Aakacarn standing smugly in front of the Great Crystal. An image of what he wanted to change came into his mind and the spell complied. Twenty-three pointed ramrods shot up right between the legs of each Accomplished, puncturing flesh and shoving needle sharp points all the way up into their lungs, instantly impaling each and every one of them. The impenetrable High Powered shield composed by the Dark Maestro vanished as the potential feeding it was suddenly cut off.