To Be Victorious: The Maestro Chronicles Book 6

by John Buttrick

  Amusement came through the link. “I like your use of the word, ‘we.’ It assures me I will be in the delegation when the time comes. Perhaps we will not have to sneak in like the last time.”

  Daniel never considered leaving her out and knew she would have objected strongly if he had. As for entering the city covertly, it might be better to arrive openly as an expected guest. “I rather like sneaking but just for novelty sake we can make arrangements ahead of time.”

  “For novelty sake,” his nineteen-year-old wife agreed with a sense of amusement, followed by a strong undercurrent of caution. “The First Accomplished will need to keep the guild on high alert just in case our adversaries try to take advantage of the opportunity.”

  She had to be thinking of the Serpents who might attack Atlantan Guild holdings and allies, as well as any lingering hostiles among the Accomplisheds in Aakadon. Daniel possessed complete confidence in Leah Barryn’s ability to run the Atlantan Guild while he and Sherree went with a delegation to Aakadon. The Four-bolt Accomplished and former Senior Soarer of the Eagle Guild would be ready for every contingency.

  Any visit would have to come at a later date, seeing as he had more pressing and immediate concerns that needed to be addressed. “You, Sam, Gorn Blixten, Paul Preidor, and the Accomplisheds stationed at the Holding, must have driven off the skyship assault. I sense no anxiety or stress coming from you.”

  “We, along with Chas and the Chosen’s Sentinels, destroyed six of those daisy-wheel propelled vessels that looked a lot like giant water melons, although their destruction took a little longer to accomplish this time, and we eliminated the seven Circles of Twenty. The Holding took some damage, especially the area immediately surrounding the main buildings and restorations are being made as I speak. Those who were injured during the fighting have been healed. No prisoners were taken. The Aakacarns in the teleportation circles fought to the death and most of the non-Aakacarns in the skyships died when those vessels exploded and the rest when they plummeted to the ground.” Not a trace of regret flowed from her over the fate of the raiders. The war had a way of hardening even the softest of hearts.

  Those skyships were another brainchild of Tarin Conn and had given his non-Aakacarn allies a significant advantage; they were the only ones who could fly up out of the range of spears, arrows, dart launchers, or ballista bolts, and then drop ovoid-shaped containers of trinitrotoluene, unleashing a tremendous explosive force, down onto targets below. The only good thing was that those flying vessels were vulnerable to spells and weapons powered by CPAs, an innovation Daniel had come up with, which was why the attack on his holding soon after the last unsuccessful raid had come as a bit of a surprise. The skyships were far more effective against non-Aakacarn targets, devastatingly so, and yet the raids on his Northland Holding continued.

  The guild department of Internal Security and Information Gathering will hopefully come up with an answer before the Serpents unleashed whatever they have in mind. Perhaps that is why Sam was at the Holding.

  Daniel considered the notion and then his mind took another trail of thought.

  War had a way of causing each Aakasear to come up with a new and inventive way to counter the other. It would not surprise him if the advances being made did not change the way of life for everyone, Aakacarn and non-Aakacarn, for generations to come.

  That is, if the other side does not win.

  The kingdoms fighting alongside of Tarin Conn and his Serpent Guild likely did not realize they were merely pawns, breeding stock at best, and the Dark Maestro was unlikely to allow them to retain such weapons of destruction, not after every living person was brought under subjection to him. Even if it turned out the ancient Accomplished did die in his attempt to be free, Daniel truly doubted Maestro Vance Cummin, Tarin’s second, would be any more tolerant than his master.

  “I will see you tomorrow night,” Sherree sent along with a torrent of love that flooded into Daniel, which he managed to return with equal intensity before she ended the private communication. The people sitting in the ray had no idea he had carried on a mental conversation with his wife.

  After traveling well beyond the port, he increased the speed until Velocity read, “One-Five-Zero,” and kept it there. None of the creatures he had been avoiding in the river were connected to him, although some of them could be linked to the mind of Accomplished Joel Glader, who favored aquatic life and water fowl. The man could very well have decided to track the progress of Manta One through the eyes of his friends from wherever he happened to be at the moment. It was also possible the Two-bolt was piloting Manta Two in the waters of the Southern Ocean or the Serinian Channel, in which case he would be minding his own chores.

  A little concentration was all it would take for Daniel to enter the mind of an animal in his own huge swirl containing many forest, swamp and aquatic creatures, but that would take away from his ability to pilot the ray effectively. To actually become one with the animal to the point he could feel everything it was feeling would require most all of his concentration and therefore would be dangerous and foolhardy while sitting at the controls of a manta.

  “I’m sure it would kill my boat-drivers if I ordered them to push the Wager up to this speed and maintain it for any great length of time,” Tim commented.

  Since his boat-drivers were non-Aakacarns he was likely correct. Any of them would be completely drained of their life-force energy in fractions of a mark. “That’s why these vessels are meant to be crewed by Accomplisheds,” Daniel responded while angling slightly to the right in order to avoid an old fallen tree, its roots still up on the bank while naked branches reached deep under the water.

  Tim nodded and Daniel noted the approaching juncture, a wide split to the south, the birthplace of the Aczen River, where Hiac, a large town, was founded on the banks of both rivers. Adjustments would have to be made and quickly. Daniel tilted the control stick, banking to the left as the current attempted to force Manta One off to the right, toward the other river. Even though the Aczen tried to snatch the vehicle into its mighty embrace, the effort was enough to bring the ray over and into the eastern stream of the Hirus. The successful maneuver gave him confidence to face what was up ahead. He smiled.

  I didn’t even have to slow down.

  In a relatively short amount of time they drew near where the combined waters of the Tannakonna and Gosian Rivers flowed into the Mighty Hirus. The additional water would be flowing in from the left and Daniel mentally adjusted for the expected push and increased speed of the current. He had passed the area on a surface vessel but never experienced the melding of the lesser waterway into the Hirus from beneath the waves.

  The watery force hit Manta One and along with it came schools of fish, hundreds, perhaps thousands of which splatted against the side of the ray, shoving the vessel to the right by sheer weight and numbers. Daniel winced at needlessly killing fish that could have fed scores of families, while quickly banking back to the left, and racing directly toward the supports of a pier onto which were tied off half a score of boats. He promptly cut the speed and yanked on the stick, flipping the ray fully sideways and to the right, straining the straps holding him and his passengers in place, and barely missed the fat wooden support poles. He calmly leveled off, released the breath he did not realize he had been holding, and continued eastward.

  That fishing village would not have appreciated the loss of the structure or any boats that might have been damaged or pulled under with it.

  The fish guts cleared off instantly and he counted himself fortunate that there had been nothing large enough in the onslaught to shove the manta to a dead stop, deep into the right bank of the Hirus. It was skill that kept him from hitting the pier.

  In hindsight, better anticipation of the impact of those fish would have made his reflexive response unnecessary, and so Daniel decided, “I have nothing to brag about.”

  “That was close,” Simon needlessly shared his assessment.

  Tim shrugge
d. “Isn’t this a normal occurrence when riding aboard a manta?” He clearly enjoyed the rough ride, apparently unconcerned about the possibility of slamming into something, and having complete confidence in Daniel’s ability to keep everyone safe.

  Too many people thought Daniel could do absolutely anything, thinking so made them feel better, even though it was untrue. Sometimes their trust in him worked in his favor, like while piloting the manta, and sometimes it was an extra burden on his shoulders. Sherree, Simon, Samuel, and Leah were not among those who believed he could do the impossible, at least not on his own, they wanted to help. In truth, Daniel knew every Aakacarn and non-Aakacarn that joined his guild or muster was ready and willing to jump to assist him. He needed all of their help and then some, so appreciated the trust, and therefore shouldered the responsibility without complaint, honored and humbled by the faith they placed in him.

  “I could not say,” Carlos said from the rear. “This is also my first trip on a ray.”

  “Accomplished Trenca desired more speed,” Sero answered Tim, “our Maestro accommodated him, and I suppose near misses like the one we just experienced would be normal under such circumstances.”

  “I think it is safe to resume the faster speed.” Simon’s opinion confirmed his continued desire for a quick trip and his acceptance of a bumpier ride as a consequence.

  Clearly, their faith in him had not been shaken, seeing as there was not a trace of tension in any of their voices, although the Chief Aid’s tone did have a familiar quality.

  “Do you want to come forward and take my place?” Daniel asked without taking his eyes off what was ahead and steadily increasing the speed, sure of what the answer would be.

  “That would defeat the purpose of the mission and slow us down.” Simon gave the expected reply with a hint of a chuckle.

  The Chief Aid’s light hearted words were not meant to be critical, Daniel knew by the tone of voice, nor were they complaints, although there might have been a touch of that. He knew his friend was attempting to lighten the mood, especially as they were approaching Aakadon. “Hard feelings,” in deed, “bloodshed on both sides,” he told Sherree, and no one within the manta thought differently, of that Daniel was sure.

  It was full dark and a quarter of a mark away from reaching Aakadon when he slowed the manta down until the numbers, “Two-One,” read out on his console. He did not choose that speed simply to go slower, especially since he was every bit as eager as Simon to reach the Eastern Ocean and begin the testing. The reduced speed was as fast as he could push the ray and keep the harmonic waves, the Ripple Effect, given off by the CAPU, below what could be felt by every spell-caster within seventy strides.

  Since he had been driving the manta with eight bolts of potential, most of the creatures in the river had scattered out of the way because many of them were hyper sensitive to the harmonics, and so the effect made avoiding the majority of them easier. He only had to evade lifeless objects, jam-packed schools of fish, and the creatures too oblivious of their surroundings to get out of the way. It had been a mistake to assume the huge number of fish entering the Hirus from the combined waters of the Gosian and Tannakonna Rivers would be scattered by the harmonic waves. It was not the first time some of his assumptions turned out to be wrong and caused problems that could have otherwise been avoided.

  Being the Chosen Vessel did not change the fact that he was still human, even though he had been blessed with a higher rate of ever-replenishing and increasing life-force energy than any power-wielder on record. His internal vat of potential was enormous and filled to the brim. Tarin Conn’s vat, if the man even knew of its existence, no one outside of the Atlantan Guild did, had to be massive, and yet the vast amount of energy he possessed had built up slowly over a period of twelve hundred years. Given the time expended, his growth had been only slightly above average. Even so, the power he commanded was formidable enough to give any sane person pause, and then flee in mindless terror, unless of course the Ancient did die in his attempt to be free. Daniel had trod that path enough already and so decided to drop that trail of thought. The harmonic waves were the current issue, not the Dark Maestro. Focus, stay focused.

  Due to the huge amount of spells being cast in battles across the continent, powerful harmonic waves were flowing continually, and so the ripples that had been given off by Manta One traveling at high speed likely did not draw much attention. Even considering the fact that so many ripples were coming from multiple directions, there was no way the Aakacarns of Aakadon would miss the focal point of a spell, backed by eight bolts of potential, swiftly approaching their doorstep. The harmonics given off by High Power spells could not only be felt by every living thing in the world, they shattered glass, crystal objects, and sometimes even items made of clay. With all that in mind, Daniel decided reducing power would be the prudent thing to do even though he really wanted to flood energy into the CAPU, and be far away from Aakadon.

  A huge bridge arched high, reaching from bank to bank. Ships and boats of all sorts were spread across the surface of the broad waterway, which was nearly a span wide. Spell-powered waterwheel-driven vessels were moving everywhere, some moving east faster than any conventional sailing craft could manage, perhaps on their way to the fighting in Cenkataar. Others of the new boats moved alongside sailing ships and boats that were approaching or waiting to enter the port, which was on the south bank of the river. Security was tight and rightly so, although insufficient.

  Daniel’s sense of caution went way up. This could get unpleasant.

  Every one of those waterwheel boats were crewed by scores of Accomplisheds, most likely of the Willow Guild. From the spell, Find All, Daniel sensed tens of thousands of Aakacarns in the area along the docks, and it was only a small portion of the overall population of Aakadon. He remembered the huge gemstone towers spiraling upward at angles that would be impossible for common builders to duplicate. Many of the structures curved and sloped smoothly like giant sculptures, those were private homes. He pictured the four main streets in the circular city which led to the center along the lines of the Ruby pyramid. Twenty-four roads spread out in ever larger rings with a span between each. The seven guild headquarters were located between the second and third rings. Minor streets connected roads beyond the third ring. Rings four through twenty were where individual Accomplisheds owned residences. The outer rings were where visitors, usually emissaries from the twelve kingdoms, were accommodated. Small sections of the outer ring facing the dock were all Daniel could sense from where he sat in Manta One.

  He detected the presence of about a hundred non-Aakacarns, not likely to be his allies, among the tens of thousands of spell-casters, whom he did not want to alert, and so dared not increase the radius of his scan. They probably would not sense Find All amid all of the harmonic waves given off by other spells if he extended the range, but why take the chance?

  “The Javelin is thirteen hundred seventy-three strides over in the slip on the right,” Simon informed everyone, with a trace of wistfulness in his voice.

  Daniel’s father and mother designed the waterwheel-propelled boat and Simon used their work to create the one hundred twenty-pace-long Javelin, after which the Willow Guild patterned all of their vessels. The man had a right to be proud and yet a little sad at not being able to set foot on that deck again. The Atlantan Guild being declared a Non-affiliated Co-existent to Aakadon did not change the fact that his previous affiliation still considered him a traitor for leaving them and joining Daniel. Similarly, Sherree and other former members of the seven guilds had warrants issued by their prior affiliations and could be legally arrested if they were caught, if the foolish leaders of those guilds dared to do so.

  Who knows what they would dare after daring so much in the past?

  Daniel did not want to find out, not right at the moment.

  Tim scratched his chin. “The whole world is in a state of war. Why are the Accomplisheds of Aakadon only focusing their efforts on watching
what is above the waves?” He shook his head, smiling, then added, “Not that I am complaining. It’s better for us that they don’t.”

  Daniel knew the answer. “When it comes to spell-casting, Aakacarns are strict conformists, and for good reasons. Altering a Melody can have serious, if not deadly, consequences for them. As a result, doing the things the way they always have been done plays a big part in their lives, their traditions are as strong as law, and they consider anything new or different to be dangerous, unacceptable..,”

  Tim nodded his head. “And that is why spell-scanning beneath the waves has not occurred to them.”

  “Precisely,” Daniel replied. “But if they discover us, from this time forward, aqua spheres with Accomplisheds of the Aqua Guild in them are likely to be posted at various points along the river bottom.”

  “Placing sentries under the waves is something they should already be doing,” Simon added his opinion.

  Even though he had been trained in Aakadon, his ability to think creatively beyond the strictures he had been taught was a rare quality, and made him a wonderful asset, far beyond what could be measured in material wealth.

  Aakasears could compose new spells and alter existing ones. As a result, Daniel’s creative ideas and radical changes affected not only the Chief Aid; they inspired free thinking in many of the people who followed their Maestro’s example, Aakacarn and non-Aakacarn alike. He seemed to be blessed with a large number of rare individuals, which he attributed to the swirling of events that brought to the Chosen Vessel the things or people he needed in order to have a possibility of succeeding. Unfortunately, Tarin Conn had his own swirl drawing the things he needed to him.

  Hopefully he is dead. That would bring an end to his swirling of events.

  It was not a kind thought, but an honest one.

  The notion was not contributing to the current chore so Daniel locked it away in one of the many compartments in his mind. Being mentally linked with a vast host of creatures and possessing total recall had forced him to compartmentalize his memories and those mental links, lest he be driven to distraction and be unable to function. He doubted any human mind could be fully conscious of every piece of information stored in the brain, while new information was being added at the same time, and do so without going insane. Enough people already questioned his sanity without him giving them any reasons to conclude he was unstable.