To Be Chosen (64 page)

Samuel summoned potential for a levitation spell, just in case the panthers became hostile. Why were growling panthers sitting beside his friend?

“Dusk and Twi will not hurt you and neither will Storm and Wind,” Daniel informed him, about the time two huge panthers came up from behind and stood with Samuel in between them.

“Where did they come from?” Samuel asked, surprised, yet unafraid.

“The Chosen Vessel draws what he needs. You know that,” Daniel replied cryptically, his voice tinged with annoyance. “They are here because I need them, why are you?”

Samuel did not fully understand the workings of the Vessel’s swirl, or the nature of the powerful draw, so decided to investigate the phenomena at a later time, and focus on the more important matter. The man was angry but at least he sounded reasonable. “Look, I know you’re upset with me after I tried to force you out of the confrontation with Serin Gell. I’m not even confident Simon and I can take the renegade. What can you, even with your parents, friends, and detachment of Royal Guardsmen, do to aid him
and me?”

Daniel stepped away from the tree. “Being Silenced took away my repertoire and prevents me from remembering or relearning those spells, it does not stop me from learning news spells that were never in my repertoire, so I am not quite as impotent as people believe. Honestly, I’m not sure why I am telling you this much information.”

Samuel forced himself to smile. “Because I’m a trustworthy fellow and you need me in your swirl, an Accomplished of the Eagle Guild,” he quickly replied. “I’m glad you thought of a way around being Silenced, although I’m not sure where you are going to learn guild specific Melodies. I like you but am not permitted to share Eagle Guild spells with you.”

Daniel was shaking his head. “I could learn those spells but I’ll not ask you to teach me.”

It might actually come to that, teaching a few spells to the Silenced Accomplished so he could help rescue Sherree and capture Serin Gell. The man had the power of a Maestro. “How many lightning bolts do you have?”

Daniel glanced at his right shoulder as if he could see the golden bolts in his skin through the cotton undershirt, yet seemed hesitant to answer. After a short while he said, “Six.”

Samuel managed not to gape at his friend. No wonder the man was able to defeat Balen Tamm. The fact also shed some light on the reason for the Silencing. But then, this man is the Chosen Vessel, what he needs is drawn to him. “It might be prudent to teach you some Melodies, that is, if you want to take the time to learn.”

“I thought you were not permitted to teach me such,” Daniel replied, and he cracked a smile. Good, better for him to be amused rather than angry.

“If I must face Serin Gell, I would rather do so with six bolts of potential behind me. Which reminds me, you cannot summon potential on your own, but I could summon potential through you if I am the conductor. Unfortunately, I did not bring an instrument, and the only crescendo I have is my baton, which leaves us with me teaching you a spell or two.”

“We will just have to use the resources on hand,” Daniel replied in a nonchalant tone of voice. “Besides, I’m not sure you can teach me Melodies without an instrument.”

Samuel felt a little insulted, he could whistle the tunes, but that was something to be discussed later. One would think the prospect of summing potential again would produce a more lively response. The gravity of what they were about to do probably kept his friend from being overly excited. “We will keep the option open. Is there any chance I can talk you out of trying to rescue Sherree?” Samuel had to ask, since there was no point in delaying the question any further.

“No.”

“Is there any chance I can convince you to wait and let me communicate with Simon so he can join us?” Samuel absolutely had to know, even being fairly sure of the answer he was going to receive.

“If you and I cannot complete this chore, having Simon along isn’t likely to change the outcome,” Daniel replied, without a trace of anger, and implying he would accept help, as if he had a choice. Samuel had no intention of letting him go on his own.

“I suspected that’s what you would say, so what is your plan?”

Daniel stepped closer. “First we need to go around the Pentrosan outpost. I really don’t want to deal with them unless we must. That chore belongs to others so let’s concentrate on our own.”

Samuel had no problem with slipping by the encampment, since border skirmishes did not concern him. “Agreed, and then we need to get to the Foothills, scout out the region to determine our angle of attack, and put together a plan to gain entrance. That my friend is going to be the easy part.”

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Rex had spent a night and a day surveying the entrances to the Nest. Most of what he had witnessed, birds circling from dawn to dusk, bats coming and going from their roosts after sundown, the many others things that crawled or slithered, were nothing out of the ordinary. Whatever Gell was doing inside, it involved low power spell casting because no harmonic ripples were detected. The wait would frustrate an ordinary man, but Rex was far from ordinary. He could watch for days on end, waiting for the opportune moment to arrive, and then strike.

He was hidden among the branches of a maple and looking down on the southeast entrance. The north was not a problem. Anyone coming or going from there would eventually be seen by his team on the other side of the hill and be reported to him. The southwest entrance was hardly ever used by anything human, bats and dung beetles for the most part, so here he sat, in the middle of the night with an owl perched higher up in the tree, watching a cave, and surrounded by squirrels.

In the time spent he was able to deduce a few facts; Daniel Benhannon has not arrived and the flute of Della Lain has not yet been destroyed, otherwise Tarin Conn would be free. Rex still had time to act. He climbed to the ground without summoning potential, preferring that his body not glow like a lantern to the eyes of Gell or any of his associates who may happen to look out. Rex moved stealthily from tree to bush, under the cover of darkness, to the cave, and stopped at the right of the entrance. He leaned to the left and peeked inside. Seeing no activity, he proceeded toward the door.

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Samuel circumvented the Pentrosan encampment, moving around it to the west while Daniel and his panthers did so from the east. The idea to split up and rejoin later was a standard Eagle Guild tactic, giving the opportunity to verify certain people are where you believe them to be, rather than acting on an assumption, and being unpleasantly surprised. The former mountaineer stood staring north when Samuel caught up to him.

“The Pentrosans are still where we expected them and aren’t likely to be a problem,” Daniel spoke softly, then added, “I can’t summon potential, maybe you shouldn’t either,” and the four panthers growled as if they too felt his irritation over the fact.

Samuel wondered why his friend was stating the obvious. “I agree about the Pentrosan encampment and know you can’t summon potential unless I teach you a spell. I also agree my summoning potential should wait until our presence is known, otherwise we will lose the element of surprise, which is our greatest weapon.” And the only thing we have going for us, he added in thought.

Daniel motioned with his hand and started north, clearly expecting to be followed. “Surprise is what I’m counting on as well. Mine is a gut reaction, but you talk as if you know for a fact wielding potential should wait.”

Samuel kept pace while trying to decide if he wanted to share the particulars of what happened in Lamont with his friend. He made up his mind. “When Senior Soarer Lassiter and I approached Gell’s nest in what the locals call, the haunted hills, Serin knew we were there almost immediately and attacked my mentor. His two associates managed to set up an ambush for me, killed Salsa, destroyed my hand, and left me for dead. There was no way for him to know we were close on his trail, let alone know exactly when we arrived. Upon reaching the area, we felt harmonic ripples and knew Gell had broken the shield you placed on his potential. My mentor cast, Locate; Serin Gell, and shortly after that we encountered them. The only reasonable conclusion is the renegade has a way of detecting when potential is being directed at him.”

Daniel sighed and the panthers slinking beside him growled. “So my gut was right, even with my not knowing the why of it.”

Samuel had a suspicion about his friend’s instincts. “The Chosen Vessel draws what he needs, I suppose your instincts need to be sharper than most of us have been blessed with, and so they are.”

Daniel nodded affirmatively, and without breaking his stride. “You are probably right, and I’m glad you came along, even if you were not invited. Now, the Nest has three entrances and our best approach is from a cave on the southwest side. Serin Gell is definitely down a long corridor leading from the northern cave, in a room with at least six other people, one of which appears to be a Condemned. There are nine Accomplisheds of the Serpent Guild hiding on a hill beyond the
Nest and one who is lurking in the southeast entrance.”

    How could he know all of that? Samuel grabbed him by the arm, bringing them both to a stop. “Where did you get this information?”

The former mountaineer smiled at him. “I’ve had my scouts watching Serin’s Nest for days and have received regular reports. The information is accurate, if not all that we need to know.”

Samuel counted to ten in his head, he was not angry with Daniel, but with himself. It never occurred to him the man had already scouted out the area well in advance. Even so, it would have been nice to know sooner. “Is there anything else I should know or are you just going to make me discover these little details as events unfold?”

Daniel rubbed his chin as if trying to decide what ought to be shared. “I was hoping to locate Sherree and Jerremy and get them to safety first, but none of my scouts have managed to gain entrance. Longwing was the closest, but he only got a glimpse when the door opened. There is no hope for it but to bring some of them in and let them search out the place while we confront Serin Gell.”

Who is Longwing? Probably some guardsmen from the
Mount Geble region; they always had animal type names. No matter, Samuel wanted to focus on the more important issue, like Daniel’s plan. He makes it sound so easy, sneak in with some scouts, let them search out the place, and never mind the Pentrosan’s associates. While that’s happening, we’ll just deal with a three-bolt Accomplished as if doing so is just another household chore. Samuel inhaled a breath and held it for a thirty count. “I’m not sure you fully understand what we are up against. I am a Fledgling of the Eagle Guild and while I have certain skills that will be helpful, I’m not capable of doing what you expect of me. For the sake of good, nothing less than a flock of twenty Senior Soarers would tackle this Nest.”

“Be that as it is, my instincts tell me, along with your grandmother’s revelation, we have very little time to save Sherree, and do whatever we can for Jerremy and your former mentor. I cannot walk away so it is time to lend a hand,” Daniel replied, and started forward.

Samuel took a deep breath and would have counted to ten, but did not have the time to waste, the Ducaunan was moving quickly. “Wait, before we get any closer, let me teach you a spell,” he called out.

Daniel stopped, turned, and walked back. “Are you sure? I don’t want you in trouble with your guild.”

Samuel chuckled, not born of humor, but from the anxiety twisting his innards. “In order to be disciplined by the Eagle Guild for breach of confidence, I need to be alive, and teaching you the Melody I have in mind is the best way to insure I live to face the consequences. Besides which, I’m certainly not going to mention it in my report, are you?”

Daniel smiled along with a negative shake of the head. “Hardly, the last thing I want is to let Efferin Tames know I can summon potential, and I really don’t want to damage your career. So, what Melody do you want to teach me?”

A spell that might actually make it possible for them to succeed, Samuel thought, seeing as his friend did not seem to have a plan after gaining entrance to the Nest. “It is called, Talon Strike, and is used by the Eagle Guild for the purpose of grasping and holding our prey. The potential is variable, making it the perfect spell to be cast by you. A six-bolt Accomplished should be able to hold Serin Gell while I subdue him.”

Daniel stared at him for the longest time, his eyes appraising, and he grinned, seeming to approve of his summation. “I like your thinking. Instead of wasting time telling me the improbability of our success, you adjusted and developed a legitimate plan.”

Samuel appreciated the response, even if he felt his friend should not be so shocked. “I’ve been known to come up with a few good ideas on the fly. Now, pay attention,” he said and then whistled the Melody.

Orange light radiated from his body and flowed from his left hand, taking the shape of a talon. He kept the potential low, opened and closed his hand, manipulating the claw, so his friend would see how it worked.

Daniel whistled the exact same Melody, note for note, proving he did in deed inherit his mother’s musical talent. Samuel could hardly credit what happened next. The summoned potential did not radiate from Daniel’s body like it would in an ordinary Aakacarn, the only part of him that glowed were the tips of his fingers. Blue beams flowed out into the shape of a Talon and he then opened and closed his hand, manipulating the claw. “I could focus potential through both hands and have a pair of talons,” he said, and then did so.