To Be Chosen (The Maestro Chronicles)

by John Buttrick

  Jerremy pointed his nose in the air in a clear pretension of being above it all, but spoiled it when she came around and found him smiling. “I’m so happy to see you. Thank goodness you are here to make me feel all better,” he said. His dark eyes were bloodshot like the others, but his naturally light brown skin made him appear healthier than he actually was.

  “For your information, I ignored the suffering of a squirrel and a blue jay in my haste to get here.”

  He licked his dry lips. “Noted, I am more valuable than a rodent and a bird.”

  “Keep that in mind,” she said, and then proceeded to heal him.

  “I was the last to get sick, have you healed anyone else?”

  Sherree nodded her head. “I healed your mentor and Marsha Obennen. I met him in the hall and decided to go door to door.”

  Jerremy stretched out his arms and stood up. “Then cross the hall. Artisans Daria Copa and Michael Kayten are on the left side. The other rooms are vacant,” he informed her and then rubbed his stomach. “I’m starving. I think I’ll go down and have a bite to eat.”

  “Do so and drink plenty of fluids. I’ll join you after I heal everyone here and the Accomplisheds of the Aqua Guild,” Sherree replied as he headed for the door.

  She went on and healed Daria and Michael, but did not find the cause of the ailment. In the local home of the Aqua Guild, she healed Martin Varroon, an Oceanic and Three-bolt Accomplished, Joel Glader, Salla Chey, and Sharon Caylis, all three were Reservoirs. Joel was a Two-bolt and the other two were Ones. None of them were mentors so no Droplets were among them. They all expressed their gratitude for the healings and eagerness to get back to work in the sunken city.

  Sherree cast spell after spell, searching for bacterial or viral infections. Oh, she found plenty of bacteria, but nothing the human body could not easily handle. She scanned the entire compound, stables and all, including Zackeriah. The man was in excellent health for a commoner of his age. She was forced to conclude the source of the ailments had to be within the sunken city. She went back and ate with Jerremy and the Master Artisan.

  “Master Togan, I’ll need to examine your exploration sites. Whatever it is that made you all sick has to have come from Tomlin,” Sherree informed him.

  “I have no objections to you going beneath the waves. You should take Accomplisheds DeSuan and Glader,” he replied without hesitation. “When do you plan to go down?”

  It was dark outside and she thought it best if her patients had a good night’s rest before putting them to work. “In the morning,” she replied, to which Master Togan agreed and Jeremy had no objection.

  Sherree was assigned one of the empty rooms at the end of the hall and went to sleep. She woke at the crack of dawn and met Jerremy in the hall and decided to have breakfast. They finished the meal, and after a brief orientation on what going under the lake would be like, Jerremy accompanied her to the waters edge where Joel Glader stood waiting for them.

  The Two-bolt Accomplished of the Aqua Guild had black hair and a pasty complexion, which had nothing to do with the recent illness. This was his natural appearance and a common trait of his Pentrosan ancestry. “Stay close to me and keep your appendages within the sphere at all times,” he said in a light hearted manner.

  “I appreciate your help,” Sherree told him. She smiled, finding his attempt at humor amusing.

  He gave her a respectful nod of the head and then faced the lake. A sapphire blue sphere appeared and surrounded all three of them and moved as the Two-bolt entered the water. Sherree and Jerremy kept pace, one to the Accomplished’s right and the other to his left. As they progressed deeper into the lake, the water instantly converted to breathable air, waves flowed around them, yet not a drop came within the ball created by the experienced Aakacarn. The temperature was at a constant seventy-two degrees. All sorts of fish swam around them, avoiding the bubble of air as if it was a solid object. A turtle slowly arose from the bottom, away from them, and up toward the surface. The spell made the mud beneath their feet seem as hardened clay, yet was returned to normal after they passed.

  The clear waters of Lake Tomlin gave them a high range of visibility. The wall encircling the city was less than a span ahead, protecting an area five spans in diameter. Every building seemed to be made of white marble with gold trim, few of which were less than twenty cubits in height, the tallest being the one in the center with the great spire projecting above the surface.

  They walked through the copper gate, which was green, and into the first intersection. A fountain occupied the center with three marble fish atop each other, the third with its mouth open toward the sky.

  “Jerremy, I want you to retrace your steps, take me to each location you visited,” Sherree told him. She summoned potential and began scanning for germs or anything that could cause a bacterial or viral infection.

  “Then we need to go to the right. The first place I visited was that building,” he replied while pointing to a circular structure that looked like a giant coil of white rope wound up to a pointed tower. Each coil was ten cubits thick and had four levels, not counting the tower, which was ten in diameter and twenty in height, making it the second tallest building in the city. “I was intrigued by the architecture,” he added, and by the way his eyes seemed to be analyzing the structure as he spoke, the design still held his interest.

  “Then we go there,” Sherree replied.

  They entered the building and turned to the left. Jerremy summoned a ball of light and they proceeded along the outer ring, which was a hallway with arch-shaped doorways on the right. The wooden doors were long since rotted away so there was no difficulty seeing what was beyond the arches. One room took a quarter of the first floor and down another arch was a hall that went all the way to the other side. They came to an archway that led to the foot of a staircase. Jerremy entered and started up the steps. Joel stayed close, keeping them within his sphere of air, all the way to the top floor of the tower.

  Sherree scanned the building from the highest point in the tower to the lowest point three levels beneath the street. All of her scans came up negative. It had taken more than a mark to rule out this location as the source of the illness. At this rate, it could take days of careful searching just to learn what was not making people sick.

  Three marks into her search of the city and five buildings later, Sherree wiped perspiration from her brow and realized she had been doing so for at least half a mark. Jerremy and Joel were also sweating. “Is there something wrong with your spell?” The sphere had been maintaining a constant seventy-two degrees, perfectly comfortable, and even though they had been on the move, her pace had been deliberately slow, so there was no physical reason for them to feel warm.

  “Neither the conditions inside or outside the sphere have changed,” Joel replied, and began rubbing his temples. “I’m starting to get a headache.”

  “As am I,” Jerremy admitted.

  “The contagion is definitely here, but where?” Sherree wondered out loud.

  “We can work our way from here to the center building, it and much of the city was built by the Stone Guild, which makes it unique, especially in Ducaun,” Jerremy suggested in a voice filled with pride for his guild.

  “The center building has the symbol of the Aqua Guild above the entrance, the golden drop is still clearly visible,” Joel apparently felt the need to add. The Accomplished of Tomlin had been a member of his guild.

  Sherree had no interest in who built what or why. The contagion was her enemy and this was the arena in which she would conquer it. “Let me relieve us of these symptoms before we continue,” Sherree insisted and then summoned the potential.

  She focused on Joel first, since he seemed to be suffering the most, and then Jerremy. It took twice the potential and concentration to relieve her own symptoms as compared to when she was treating the others, which was an unfortunate fact for all self healers. “Now we can proceed as Jerremy suggested,” she told them and started into the
next building on the street.

  She lost track of the marks, but not how many places they searched, fifteen on the right and fifteen on the left, lining both sides of the street. They reached the central building and sat down on a park bench a short distance away from the eighty cubit tall structure. The sphere functioned perfectly and it seemed odd to see trout and gars swimming through the alleys and catfish probing the streets with their sensitive whisker-like barbs. This was their city now and people were the ones out of place. After a brief rest they began the bottom to top examination of the central building. Sherree found no contagion, but a headache made her realize the symptoms were coming back. The spells she cast to alleviate them were not cures, only offering temporary relief, temporary being the operative word seeing as they were now constantly exposed to the source. It was time to go.

  “We should head back to the compound. Much as I would’ve liked to find the source of the illnesses on this visit, it seems this is probably going to be the first of many trips,” Sherree told her escorts.

  Neither one of them disagreed so they went back to the compound. For five days they searched the city for the contagion. Master Togan and his team continued their research of the city, which meant they had to find Sherree and her little team every few marks for relief of the symptoms. At night, Sherree studied the notes Fenton gave her and eliminated one infection after another. She had hoped to make the discovery on her own but had to admit she needed consultation.

  “Senior Practitioner Chen, this is Sherree Jenna,” she sent through the amulet.

  “I have been expecting this communication for several days.” He replied with no trace of emotion coming through the mental contact. “I can sense the frustration along with your words.”

  She had not meant to relay her feelings, she would have to work on that, learn to communicate what she wanted and nothing more. “I have been over every part of the compound and the sunken city, casting all of the spells I know and those you provided on locating germs, bacteria and viruses, but have found nothing that could explain the illnesses, although I do know the contaminated area.”

  “And that is where?” Fenton asked.

  “Definitely Tomlin, every time I eliminate the symptoms they reoccur after only a few marks spent in the sunken city.”

  He questioned her thoroughly for over half a mark. “You seem to have covered every natural possibility. What is left?”

  The answer was obvious. “The cause is unnatural,” Sherree replied.

  She knew of high power Melodies in the Aloe Guild library that were restricted according to ranking. She would not be permitted to learn a Melody that would mummify her and therefore was not granted access. Could there be spells that caused illness? Why?

  “Aakacarn to be precise,” Fenton sent in response to her reply to his question.

  “Are there spells of the Aloe Guild that make people sick?” she asked. Because, if the Aloe Guild had no such spells, that left the Serpent.

  “Yes, such Melodies exist, but are ancient and nearly forgotten, except by a few scholars and myself.”

  “I seriously doubt any Accomplished here would have such Melodies in his or her repertoire. Do you think the Serpent Guild might have such a spell and be involved?” Sherree communicated her fears.

  “The young are quick to allow their imaginations to run wild. The reports I have received on Serpent Guild activity indicate they show no interest in Lake Tomlin,” Fenton replied and paused briefly before adding, “Have you considered an amulet?”

  Sherree shook her head, even though Fenton could not see the gesture. “Yes, once I decided to contact you, the amulet was the first thing that came to my mind.”

  It was kind of like asking a man on a horse if he intended to ride somewhere, even though the intention was obvious.

  “Communication is the major use for amulets, this has been true for centuries, but they were used much more extensively a thousand years or so ago,” Fenton re-educated her.

  She knew almost any spell could be set in an amulet, but doing so seemed pointless except for communication. She could cast any Melody with a Da Capo to maintain it, leaving no need for an amulet, and that thought begged the question she sent to her mentor, “What would be the point?”

  “Historically, they were a non-lethal way to cause people to avoid a particular area.”

  “You mean, there could be an amulet warding the city,” Sherree concluded.

  “I believe it to be a high probability. The amulet could have been left behind by its previous owner when the city was abandoned,” Fenton sent.

  The possibility produced another question. “Was it left unintentionally or on purpose?”

  “Good question, the answer to which may be revealed when you locate the device. I leave you with this assignment, go back to the city and locate the amulet. On page ten, section three, of the binder I gave you, you will find a Melody to locate Potential. It is similar to the one used to locate all Aakacarns within your visual range, except this one allows you to sense the direction of its location whether you can see the energy source or not,” the Senior Practitioner instructed her.

  Sherree was pleased to have a direction to follow. “Thank you for the guidance.”

  “Thanks are not necessary. Accomplishing the task is the focus, so stay with it and keep me informed.”

  “I will do so,” Sherree sent and then ended the communication and went to sleep.

  The next morning Sherree ate breakfast with Jerremy and then they met Joel at the lake. As they passed through the green copper gates of Tomlin she cast the Melody Fenton suggested and immediately sensed the potentials of her companions along with a force drawing her attention to the right, straight toward the central building. “This way,” she told Joel, seeing as it was his sphere of air they were depending on.

  “We searched the home of the Accomplished of Tomlin days ago,” Jerremy commented. “You were quite thorough, yet we found nothing.”

  “What I’m looking for is definitely there but may not be out in the open, which means your repertoire might be called upon,” Sherree replied.

  “I knew the success of this endeavor would be up to me,” Jerremy replied with his nose in the air.

  “It’s about time you contributed something more than your mere presence,” Joel commented.

  The easy banter lightened the mood. The men had been discouraged after devoting so much time with so little result. Sherree chose not to tell them of the amulet theory just yet, she wanted to be sure before bringing it up, but the spell she was maintaining proved there is an active potential being used in the direction of the central building. They passed through the entrance and down the main hallway, like they had done many times before. Jerremy summoned a ball of light. Eighty paces in, she came to a stop. The life force potential was directly beneath her feet.

  “Jerremy, make an opening in the floor right here,” she told him while pointing at the spot.

  The Serinian glowed violet and a cone-shaped beam shot from his right hand, creating a circular hole in the floor three paces wide. Sherree could see another hallway through the opening. “Joel, we need to get down there.”

  The Pentrosan-born Accomplished nodded his head. “Hey, Stone Guild, make the hole bigger. If I go down there without you two holding my hands, I’m not the one who will be swimming through to the lower level.”

  Jerremy widened the hole and Sherree took hold of Joel’s right hand while the tall Serinian took hold of his left. Down they floated to the lower hallway. She let go of the hand and bent down, sensing the active potential beneath her feet. “We have to go deeper.” She told them.

  Jerremy focused his spell at the floor, creating another hole, this one large enough for the sphere to pass through. What they found was not a hall, it was a chamber with no point of entrance other than the one Jerremy had made, no wonder they never saw the room, it had been hidden, deliberately, no doubt about it. Water flowed down into the chamber, flooding it qui
ckly. If not for the sphere, they would have been sucked in as if flushed down a drain. Directly below them, in the center of the floor, a sarcophagus sat, four paces long, two wide, and two deep. They locked hands and Joel floated the bubble down and to the right of the marble coffin.

  “Whatever is inside could not be very large,” Jerremy commented.

  “There is no image or inscription to say who or what is in it,” Joel stated the obvious. If there was a body, it had to be that of a child.

  Her spell could not be wrong and she no longer had any doubt, the active potential was coming from inside the sarcophagus. The moment the sphere touched the marble coffin, Sherree began to perspire, a headache radiated from her temples, and she nearly vomited. It was a struggle yet she managed better than Jerremy and Joel, who emptied the contents of their stomachs onto the floor. That did it. The smell was too much. Her breakfast joined theirs. While she was wiping her mouth, Joe had the presence of mind to step away from the coffin, which offered some relief and left the vomit floating in the water several paces away. The nasty assault on their bodies lessoned enough to allow Sherree to concentrate, so she summoned potential and did away with the rest of the symptoms, for herself and the men.

  “There’s a spell emanating from the sarcophagus and it is making us sick,” She told her escorts.

  “Considering this was the quickest illness ever to come upon me, I’m forced to agree,” Jeremy stated.

  “You led us straight to it. Did you know this was here?” Joel asked.

  “Fenton Chen and I discussed the possibility of something like this being the contagion. After ruling out any natural cause, we decided I should look for the unnatural, for Aakacarn involvement,” Sherree replied. “I used a spell from his repertoire.”

  Jerremy was staring at the sarcophagus and then shook his head. “Why would anyone want to make us sick?”

  “To discourage us from coming near this chamber and the sarcophagus in particular,” Joel rightly concluded. He possessed twice the age and experience of his companions and it showed.