To Be A Maestro (The Maestro Chronicles) (61 page)

Daniel licked his dry lips as the potential flowed from his body and from those helping to maintain the spells cast from the other side of the continent. He had to think of a way to break into the vault before they all died of mummification. “Joel, I like the way you think,” he remembered saying and suddenly knew what to do.

He reformed the section of the granite above the center of the vault, opening a round tunnel about a cubit across, back twenty paces, and then formed a ramrod as wide as his forearm with a needle sharp point. He thrust the granite skewer at the crystalline cover and the point came to a dead stop, shattering on impact.

“A shield, of course Della would have protected the outside of the vault,” he spoke out loud.

“How are you going to break it?” Samuel asked, and then gave off what sounded like a dry cough.

“I am willing to hear suggestions.” Daniel did not open his eyes, preferring to keep his concentration focused on the tomb beneath Kelgotha.

“You could try a lance of solidified air,” Sherree offered, no louder than a sigh.

“Cast a lighting bolt at it,” Leah suggested in a tight voice that reflected the strain of maintaining her full potential for an extended period.

Daniel shook his head. “The bolt would be launched from here and kill everything it contacted between the two mountains and so would the lance.”

“What did you try to strike the vault with?” Jerremy asked, weakly. It did not sound as if he could go on maintaining his part of the harmony for much longer.

“I borrowed Joel’s idea and hit it with a pointed ramrod,” Daniel replied.

“You are directing two Symphonies at once, so I know this will not be easy, but if you can place a shield spell on the rod, with all fourteen bolts at your command, it might be strong enough with the amplification of this Great Crystal to break through.”

Daniel had cast multiple spells simultaneously back on Tannakonna, before he had gone to Aakadon, and learned about the Da Capo. “I can do it,” he replied, also knowing this spell would be cast by him alone and seriously deplete his vat of life force energy. It was doable because casting a shield spell across the continent would cause no harm.

He summoned the potential for, Variable Shield, and focused the fourteen bolts, while maintaining the same amount in the Grand Symphonies, sending the extra energy down into the Great Crystal. The power surged across the continent, providing protection for everything at and below the ground in a path as wide as
Mount Shantear, and all the way to the ramrod. Daniel reformed and thrust the point at the crystalline cover and the shield placed by Della Lain ceased to exist. The rod burst through the crystals and deep into the vault.

“It worked!” Daniel announced as his awareness flooded into the tomb and he became conscious of the extremely powerful Aakasear lying on a stone slab directly below his ramrod. The temptation to end this struggle once and for all was just too great. He sent that point down toward the heart of
Tarin Conn.

A massive fist of potential smacked aside the rod as if it were a child’s play toy and Daniel could not think of a way to kill the Dark Maestro without killing every living thing between Shantear and Kelgotha. Life force energy was pouring out of his vat, helping to power the symphonies, and maintain the shield, his time was running out. He kept on stabbing down, and each attempt to skewer the ancient Aakasear was thwarted. Worse,
Tarin Conn now had the ability to touch the world with his full might, thanks to Daniel. He kept up the effort for another quarter of a mark and then released the potential for Variable Shield, since stabbing at the other Chosen Vessel was proving to be woefully ineffective.

He drank his canteen dry and it did nothing to quench the deep thirst growing inside him and yet he knew the chore was not done, a shield must be placed on
Tarin Conn’s potential. The spell once used on Jeremiah came to mind and he summoned the potential for, Shield Potential. This spell only needed a trickle of energy and he sent that out across the distance, in a beam thinner than a human hair and virtually invisible. The fist of potential coming from the Dark Maestro remained stationary as the great Tarin Conn waited to bat aside the next assault. Daniel thrust the ramrod, the fist batted the skewer aside, this time shattering it, and the thin beam passed right on through to the ancient Aakasear. His potential was instantly cut off and Daniel smiled, Chas is not the only one who can plan a Spin Off maneuver.

Daniel had successfully re-shielded the Dark Maestro, but the victory was far from complete. He added a Da Capo to the spell and now needed to tie it off onto his life force
or crescendo. The thirst went deeper and was greater than Daniel had ever experienced and he knew his vat had to be nearly empty. What good would it be to establish a shield that would end the moment he died?

He wanted to say, goodbye to Sherree, but could not make his mouth move or his dry tongue form the words. “I guess this teaches me a lesson,” he considered and then the idea came to him. He summoned the potential for one more spell. Teach Me flowed across the world to the Dark Maestro, linking their minds.

The first thing Daniel sensed was the thirty bolts of life force energy possessed by the mighty Tarin Conn. Daniel touched that force, tied the Da Capo to it, and then ceased the potential for all other spells, including the Grand Symphonies. His lungs no longer worked.
You are as powerful as I feared you would be.
He spoke directly into the mind of the ancient Aakasear.

You were not ready to confront me and soon will be dead. That was a clever trick but the shield you placed on me will..,”
Daniel’s heart stopped.

Sherree stared in disbelief while Daniel collapsed to the floor of the Great Crystal. His skin was as white as winter’s first snow and tight to his skull. The Grand Symphonies had taken their toll on each participant and all of them had to be as exhausted as she, yet he had done the same and cast the last few spells on his own. “Daniel is dead,” one of the men said.

“I did not see his death coming,” Silvia stated in a voice quivering with grief.

Sherree dropped down beside her husband. “You are not aloud to die. I forbid it!”

She cast a spell, ripping away the silks from his abdomen, and blinked at the sight of the dry skin tight against his chest, tears flowed down her cheeks
. She could count every rib.

“Death cannot be cured,” Daria spoke through sobs.

Sherree placed one hand on Daniel’s forehead and the other flat on his tummy. He only stopped breathing moments ago and she was not ready to give up. She cast, Hearts Beat As One, but his blood and organs had dried up, and there was nothing to pump. “Martin, get water and immerse every part of Daniel except for his face,” she commanded.

The sound of wood bursting apart echoed throughout the chamber and water flowed in a thick steam through the air and wrapped around Daniel, sustained by nothing but Martin’s will. Sherree placed a Da Capo on Hearts Beat As One, and then cast, What Is This, and Hunger. She closed her eyes and perceived the vat Daniel had spoken of that contained a person’s life force energy. His was enormous and completely dry. She summoned the potential for Vitality and began focusing her own seriously depleted life force energy into his reservoir. She gave him about a tenth of the amber flow available to her, which appeared like a small puddle in a dry lakebed, and yet would be enough to power his body if she can get him re-hydrated.

She used, What Is This, to look deep into his being, and the tiny recipe strands appeared. Each helix had little nude pictures of what Daniel ought to look like at this point in his life and she focused potential into the strands, while using Hunger to draw from the water provided by Martin.

“Here, drink this,” Leah said while inserting a straw made of solidified air into Sherree’s mouth.

Sherree gratefully sipped water while concentrating on healing her husband. She cast, How Do You Feel, and through all of the combined spells could see his body begin to respond. His organs were moistening and the dry blood began to liquefy. His heart beat once, twice, and then began a rhythm matching hers. His lungs took in air and he exhaled when she did. Blood coursed though his veins and she dared to open her eyes. Most of the water had been consumed by Hunger.

“I think its working,”
Jerremy offered his assessment.

Daniel’s skin regained its elasticity and his muscles were developing before her eyes, consuming the rest of the water. She could feel his recovery.

“You seem to have done it,” Martin stated. “But will he be functional?”

That was a good question on many levels and Sherree wished she had all the answers. “His vat was completely empty, I gave him what I could, but I don’t know how long it will sustain him.”

Martin bent down and touched Daniel’s chest. “I will send some of my potential into his vat,” he said and then a midnight-blue glow formed around him and life force energy went into Daniel.

“I will be next,” Leah stated firmly, as if anyone would deny her the opportunity.

Each Accomplished in the Great Crystal contributed a tenth of what was left of their life force energy to Daniel’s vat. The effort created mixed colors that pooled in his reservoir, yet none of them were topaz blue, and so Sherree knew her husband was living on borrowed energy. The exhausted teams had given all they could for the time being and Daniel’s body was perfectly healthy inside and out. She ceased the potential for every spell except Hearts Beat As One. He was actually strong enough to live without her help, yet she felt the need to be connected with him for a little while longer.

“He seems strong enough now and I think it is safe to end the spell,” Leah suggested while placing her hand on Sherree’s shoulder.

“How do you think he will feel when he wakes to see you died from maintaining that spell,” Simon told her.

Sherree ceased the potential for Hearts Beat As One, and then folded her legs and sat back while taking hold of Daniel’s hand. She glanced at the Teki Seer. “You did not see his death coming because we were here to keep him in this world.”

Silvia wiped her eyes. “He is still with us because you refused to accept what we all believed.”

“It is the same tenacity that kept her number one in the class during our time as Talenteds,” Jerremy said.

Samuel nodded. “Nobody got in the way of Sherree when she commenced casting spells, not twice anyway.”

Joel poked his head into the Great Crystal and then blinked in surprise when Silvia and David whirled around with daggers ready to send lances into his face. “I was just curious to know why several barrels burst apart and their contents flowed through this opening,” he said and then his eyes glanced downward. “Is the Maestro alright?”

“He is alive but his potential is so low he cannot be aloud to cast any spells,” Sherree replied and looked at Leah, who nodded her understanding. They would both see to it Daniel did not decide to take on any chores for awhile.

Screams came from the outer chamber and Joel withdrew his head momentarily and then came all the way inside. “The Serpent Guild keeps sending their teams in and
my Accomplisheds and your three squads of sentinels keep killing them. I don’t know how long it will take whoever is in command to determine entire traveling circles are being sent to their deaths.”

“I hope they send every last member,” lanky Joseb
Benjoslin shared an opinion Sherree did not blame him for having.

She agreed in a practical sense but could not be joyful for the deaths of so many, even those of her enemy. “Leah, how goes the battle?”

The First Accomplished put on a communication array that made her look like an Ecoppian Queen. After taking time to receive what would be multiple reports, she sipped from her canteen, and licked her chapped lips. “The caves and chambers are completely under Atlantan Guild control. Enemy Aakacarns are arriving in the teleportation deathtraps Chas is so fond of. Hundreds of our people have been healed along with Accomplisheds of Aakadon, who are all in the staging chamber,” she paused, drank a little more, and then continued. “Ninety percent of the people injured in the battle are yet to be healed. Sandra has control of the mountainside and every being Daniel put to sleep will remain so until some time tomorrow, unless he awakens sooner. The six thousand people suffering from condemnation are secured and will have to be kept asleep until such time as our Maestro is strong enough to restore them.”

“No one is to wake him prematurely,” Sherree was quick to make clear. “Daniel is to be allowed to rest until his eyes open naturally.”

Not a soul disagreed with her, which is wise of them. She was in no mood to be trifled with and would not allow Daniel to be disturbed no matter how dire the circumstances.

Simon lowered the canteen from his lips. “They
would have to get through me.”

Jerremy gave him a pat on the back. “I admire your spirit, but you do not have enough in reserve to put up much of a fight,” he stated in his usual pompous manner. Sherree knew the attitude came natural to him and that he truly meant the compliment, or he would not have said so. The other part of his statement was also valid. They were all as weak as newborns.