To Be Chosen (52 page)

The counter move was set in motion, all Vance could do now was carry on with his current plans, and trust in the relentless Rex Badger. This was going to be a marathon race. Rex had to accomplish the assignment before Serin Gell takes his vengeance on Daniel Benhannon, and before the flute is destroyed.

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Daniel was back in the saddle, behind the Duke’s son, who was leading the procession north until the field commander felt more alert. Daniel wanted to see through the eyes of his various animal scouts, and learn about his quarry, not that Jonah knew that. He only knew his commander needed a little more time to recover from the spell that had been cast at him. The Ducalin had chosen the direction, based on the scout’s report, and it was close enough to the way Daniel wanted to go that he allowed him to continue on. It was not hard for Adam Avery to find the entrance to the tunnel and then follow the trail underground until it came back up to the surface seven spans later. Exploring the tunnel had not been Daniel’s idea since he had been asleep at the time. Jonah had ordered the scout to find out where it went. It was fortunate there had been no nasty surprises waiting for Avery. It is not wise to follow an Aakacarn into a dark, cramped and confined space. The tunnel was unimportant, it having been created by the assailant, not the possessor of the trumpet,
but no one awake knew that.

Riding on Daniel’s left and right were David and Silvia, apparently to keep him from falling out of his saddle, should he have a relapse, even though he felt perfectly fine. His eyes were closed, so no one suspected otherwise. Their real purpose was to keep Cale from nattering in his ear while he concentrated on Screech, the osprey, who was following a man and three women, who were following the river twenty-eight spans to the north. The person in the lead was petite and had long red hair flowing over her chest and a peaches and cream complexion. Her black silks had silver braid and she possessed a single golden lightning bolt on the hood of her cloak. Daniel knew he was seeing Serena, whose face was contorted in anger, no doubt because of the double cross. Behind her were three Ducaunans, all in unrelieved black silks, not a lightning bolt among them. The slim woman in second position would be considered attractive by almost any standard, if not for the fact that she is a member of the Serpent Guild, and therefore deadlier than a cobra, and only a fool would snuggled that snake in his arms. The next person’s
mouth seemed to be shaped in a perpetual pout. She was a big woman, not fat, but muscular. Next and last in the group was a tall young man with a face some women might consider to be handsome. He walked with the purposeful stride of a lord determined to set things straight. The most notable thing about them was the fact that they were going the wrong way. Apparently the leader, Serena, assumed the trumpet-thief had continued up the river, when in fact he was heading northeast and farther away by the moment.

Jonah had the procession going the same way as the four Aakacarns, but Daniel intended to take over the lead after the first rest period, and then they would go after the person who actually possessed the trumpet. He sent his gratitude to Screech along with the suggestion that the osprey keep watching the Aakacarns for awhile longer, and then turned his attenti
on to Clutch.

This particular osprey soared along in the sky, circling to the right, far above the water, while way down below a young man in black silks jogged along the river, about eighteen spans ahead, based on Daniel’s mental map. This was the assailant, short, wiry, and definitely a Ducaunan. The Aakacarn had no lightning bolt, but managed to cast a sleep spell on a Six-bolt Accomplished, and teach a valuable lesson. What kind of person might the young man have become had he been trained in Aakadon rather than by the followers of
Tarin Conn? Many of Daniel’s fellow citizens, who possessed the extra energy in their life force, had been snatched at a young age and raised by the Serpent Guild. The man he was seeing through the eyes of the raptor probably did not even consider himself to be evil, just a loyal member performing his duty, doing what he was trained to do, and not the least bit bothered over how many people died as a result. What he thought or felt about himself mattered little, he was still accountable for his actions, but not this time. If he keeps going at his current pace, he will catch up with Serena sometime in the early evening. In a just world Daniel would chase this fellow, Serena, and the others with her, and make them pay for the crimes they committed in Ducaun. Reclaiming the trumpet on behalf of the Queen, rescuing Sherree, and doing whatever he could to help Jerremy, were higher on his list of priorities. Daniel suggested to Clutch that he follow the Aakacarn until tomorrow morning and then was free to do whatever he wanted. What came back was a sense of agreement and a desire to go eat a fish.

Yonder was keeping watch on the trumpet-thief, along with Mouser the owl, who was feasting on a mouse while the osprey took over the spying. The pointed-nose man was not ugly, but would never be considered handsome. He was walking swiftly through the forest, about twenty-three spans ahead. Daniel had every intention of catching him before dark. He sent his gratitude to Yonder and Mouser and then concentrated on Cale, who was riding on the other side of David and shouting about the importance of sword practice, no doubt because Daniel skipped it that morning.

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He had walked for most of the night with the casket tucked under his right arm, only stopping to rest after putting at least fifteen spans between him and Serena. Jak Taltin did not take unnecessary chances. He prided himself on always managing to be at the right place at the ideal time and being chosen by
Lowell was a perfect example. Him, a third level Talented, sponsored by Fenton Chen, was offered an opportunity to be on one of the biggest finds in Serpent Guild history, and to be graduated to Accomplished when the task was completed. Skipping the fourth level class, although he would still need to add the necessary Melodies to his repertoire, would place him way ahead of his peers, and now being the one who hands over the trumpet of Tarin Conn to Serin Gell, potentially earns him a high place in the guild.

When he had consulted Fenton on the opportunity presented by Lowell, his sponsor encouraged him to take it even though the entire expedition was Vance Cummin’s idea. There was no way for Jak to lose. He would get the glory due him no matter which Three-bolt Accomplished ended up being appointed Maestro. He laughed at how easily he had ingratiated himself to Serena, always praising her decisions, and never questioning her authority, even when he thought she was making a mistake. She was bossy, but not a seasoned leader, yet she did succeed in her task. The proof of her talent was tucked under his arm, so he gave her credit for that,
and put her to sleep when he could have killed her and the others. When Fenton gave the order for the trumpet to be snatched and taken to Serin Gell in the Foothills, Jak had found himself once again in the ideal position, even if the move placed him squarely on the side of Serin Gell. No one suspected Jak’s dual affiliation, allowing him to catch them completely off guard, and the only possible snare was out of his way, that rodent of a man, Ferren Duzolta, who was off trying to discourage Daniel Benhannon from following Serena. That little thief might well have been alert for treachery of any sort.

Jak laughed so hard he stumbled over a root and staggered forward several steps before regaining his balance. He had never been an outdoorsman and was not enjoying his trek through the wilderness, often having to choose between going up and over a hill as opposed to going around it, sometimes his choices saved time and sometimes not. Once he had to circle half way around a lake. Focusing on the mission helped to take his mind off the discomforts. His other instruction from Fenton was to make certain the impotent Accomplished, Daniel Benhannon, heads to the Foothills, straight into the trap set for him by Serin Gell, and the message left in the hut should have met that requirement.

Birds of all sorts chirped among the branches of the trees and winged their way across the clear blue sky, some circling as if looking for prey, and others flocking in mass this way and that. The sun was getting low on the horizon, the day was perfect, and the only thing nagging at the back of his mind was Serena. He would be okay if she continued to follow the river, but if she somehow picked up his trail, he could be in real trouble. She would show him no mercy. Maybe he should have killed her. He began walking faster. The Ferret, as Ursula Duggan named him, was sharp enough to pick up and follow a trail, once he rejoined them, and that kept Jak nervous and spurred him to walk faster. He cast. Find: Potentials, a spell that would allow him to detect the life force energy of any Aakacarns within the spherical radius of the Melody, which in his case was three spans. There was no way the Ferret could sneak up on him now, not even from underground. Jak wished he had that tunneling spell in his repertoire. He was determined to acquire it some day.

From the top of the hill looking down, there was a broad lake. The sun was lower in the western sky and reflecting off the waves. His choices were east or west. Right was shorter but had more trees and denser foliage than did the left, which had mostly grass between the waterline and the thicker plants. He chose the grassy side, but stopped when his spell detected an Aakacarn potential coming just within three spans south of where he stood. Terror tingled in his spine, stopping him momentarily. He closed his eyes and concentrated. The intruder’s potential was topaz blue, not a color belonging to Jak’s recent associates, meaning this had to be Daniel Benhannon. He laughed at how frustrating it must be to have potential and be unable to use it. Duzolta must not have been very effective in his discouragement of the impotent Accomplished. Jak once again proved to be the better man, seeing as it was his message that proved the most successful. This was merely an inconvenience. Jak took a deep breath, annoyed, but not overly concerned. What could Benhannon and his Royal Guardsmen do to him? He remembered the tubes that launched the little flaming balls of pitch and decided some caution might be in order.

They were on horses, while he was afoot, so he changed his mind and headed east, into the trees and thick foliage. Had he gone west, the grass would have kept him in plain sight, once they reached the top of the hill, and their steeds would have no problem galloping after him. Benhannon is most likely headed for the Foothills and has no idea an Aakacarn is ahead of him. He might even circumvent the lake to the west, if only because it would be easier on the horses, at least Jak hoped so.

Half a mark later, Jak was at the bottom of the hill and working his way through the trees, while trying to stay clear of the thicker bushes, some of which had thorns. It was slow going and he sensed Benhannon near the top of the hill, but could not see him through all the trees, branches and leaves. He sighed while shaking his head, the fool chose east. Why? The other way was so much easier.

It had been made crystal clear to him that killing the man was not an option, but that did not mean the people with him could not be killed. Jak was not as concerned about them as much as he was concerned about the loss of time. If the Ferret was tracking him, dealing with Benhannon and his band might allow the rodent to catch up. This was unacceptable.

Somewhere ahead came the bellow of a sasquatch, which could only mean Serena had the smelly beasts looking for him. A cougar roared some distance off and a pack of wolves began howling. Jak started running. The other animals were probably upset by the presence of the sasquatch. Daniel Benhannon was getting closer, but how many of his men were filtering through the trees? Jak would have to touch each individual in order for the spell he knew to show their locations, which was a limitation of his repertoire. More advanced find and locate spells existed but he did not know them. One thing was for sure, Benhannon was trailing him. Fortunately Jak did not sense any potential other than the topaz, meaning none of his former associates were within three spherical spans of him, yet.

The deadliest Melody in his arsenal was, Sonic Boom. He grabbed his baton, summoned the potential, turned while running backward, and focused a tight beam, not at Benhannon, but hoping to hit whoever might be with him. A teal beam shot from the baton and straight into a tree. The trunk splintered in all directions and the tree fell, and Jak allowed the beam to continue for a ten count before ceasing the focus, thus destroying whatever else, plant or animal, happened to be in the path of the beam. He added a Da Capo to the Melody, keeping the potential ready should another demonstration of his deadly power be required. He spun around and slammed into an elm, and then plopped onto his bottom, dropping the baton, but managed not to drop the casket containing the trumpet.

He scrambled back to his feet, wiped the leaves from his silks, picked up the baton, took a deep breath, and reclaimed his dignity. Benhannon came into view, along with a pair of Teki, and several Royal Guardsmen, one of which was bandaged up. They were all on foot now. The fool was leading his people to their deaths. Jak smiled and raise
d his baton, focusing a wide beam that would take in both of the Teki. His teal potential lanced out with the deadly accuracy he was known for, struck the unsuspecting fools, and was stopped by a topaz glow forming a rectangular forward shield ahead of his intended victims. He did not even see the shields before his potential struck them, how could that be? He aimed at the guardsmen and had the same result. He could feel the blood draining from his face and a cold chill went up his spine. Daniel Benhannon can summon potential!