To Be Chosen (67 page)

He focused potential and removed several hundred pounds of dirt from the wall and then used
, Change It, to turn the dirt into silk. Having actually been as one with Sherree, he literally knew her from the inside out and making silk undergarments, blouse, pants, and hooded cloak, to fit her was not a problem. He changed the color of the silk on her outer garments to silver on topaz blue and added a single golden lightning bolt on her hood, where One-bolt Accomplished’s usually wore it. The silver highlights set off the outfit perfectly. It seems he did inherit a creative streak from his parents. He used his own boots as a template to fashion a pair for her, sized to fit, and made them blue to match the silks.

Maybe he should make some silks for himself, he considered, and then did so. With these clothes it will be harder for the Pentrosans to declare this engagement an official act of war by the government of Ducaun. He put the silks on over his clothes and levitated the flute to his hand and placed it in the inner pocket of his new topaz blue cloak. It occurred to him, any other fully Condemned individuals would also need clothing, which is why he transformed hundreds of pounds of dirt into silk, but was now considering touching his wool pants to turn some of the silk into wool. The non-Aakacarns could have pants and shirts similar to the colors Marcus wore, only without designations of rank and silver where the captain
-of-the-guard of the Benhannon estate had dark blue. Daniel decided to make enough for the Royal Guardsmen as well.

Dressing Sherree was uncomfortable, clinical detachment next to impossible, but it became easier after her undergarments were in place. The pants and blouse came next, and then the cloak. That finished, he kissed her lightly on the lips and walked over to where Jerremy was standing, blank-faced and ridged. He would not be nearly as hard to heal, seeing as his only physical alteration was the loss of his hair. Daniel cast, Sleep Time, What Is This? and then Restoration. Jerremy did not appear to need any extra life force energy, even though his reservoir was less than half full, it was nowhere near life threatening, and growing hair did not require extra little worlds with their tiny moons, so this was enough. “Jerremy,
your brain and will are one. Your body is yours to command,” Daniel spoke in his ear, and then released the Da Capos on all the spells.

The Serinian opened his eyes, ran his fingers through the re-grown hair, and then his beard. “Daniel, you saved
me.” he said, without showing any signs of dysfunction. The healing was thorough, mentally and physically.

“Simon told me what happened and I came as soon as I could,” Daniel replied.

Jerremy’s eyes went from right to left and fixed on Sherree. “You healed her as well.”

There was no need to ask him how he felt, not after seeing all the way down into his recipe strands and back out. “We don’t have a lot of time for small talk. I need to heal the others so we can get back into Ducaun,” Daniel informed him.

Jerremy raised his hand. “Wait, where are we, how did you summon potential, and where is Serin Gell?”

Daniel pointed to the sack of flesh. “He and I had a little disagreement. He wanted to live and I wanted him to die after what he did. I can cast Melodies because I summoned enough potential to break the Silencing like I once did for Terroll Barnes. As to where we are, about four and a half spans on the wrong side of Ducaun’s border with Pentrosa.”

“I can’t say that I’m sorry he lost the disagreement,” Jerremy said, softly. “Daniel, my consciousness was a prisoner in my own body. I was aware of everything yet had no control, not even to slap away a biting insect or blink an eye. It was absolutely terrifying. I owe you more than a gratuity can pay.”

Daniel waved away the notion. “I wanted to heal you so there is no charge. What I ask, is that you go out and help Samuel and Simon defend this cave while I heal everyone who has been Condemned.”

“I don’t have a baton,” Jerremy replied, not that he was expected to have one given the circumstances.

“Take Serin Gell’s crescendo, it is a level three, so use it well,” Daniel told him while pointing toward the baton lying near the body.

Jerremy nodded, grabbed the baton, giving only a fleeting glance at the man who had Condemned him, and then ran out the southeast entrance.

Daniel decided to continue healing the bald Condemneds first, seeing as they would not take long and could be of help defending the cave. The people who were fully Condemned and disfigured would take time to heal and even more time to recuperate. He cast, Find All
, and discovered the Accomplished Serin identified as Rex was back with his eight friends, yet they were not leaving. One was heading south on horseback, racing for the Pentrosan encampment. Daniel had no time to deal with the Aakacarns. He had one hundred eighty Condemneds in the complex and intended to restore all of them.

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A discreet, yet persistent, knock on the door caused Simon to roll over and open his eyes. The candle had gone out, so he summoned a ball of light and got out bed. “I’m coming,” he called to whoever saw fit to wake him in the middle of the night.

The room was small with one bed and a night table. His silk cloak hung from the first of four pegs on the wall. The rest of his clothes he was still wearing. The wooden floor creaked as he crossed the room and opened the door. Silvia and David were standing in the dark hall, both fully dressed in gaudy colors, him with throwing blades, and her with a miniature crossbow and bolts. “My wife has a revelation for you,” the man spoke in hushed tones.

Simon motioned for them to enter and then shut the door after they did so. “I have had no experience with Teki Seers, but I understand them to be accurate, if not at times a little vague. What do I need to know that is so important it could not wait until morning?”

Silvia looked him in the eye. “I see Daniel entering a cave in the southwest side of a hill in Pentrosa. He is not there yet, but will be soon, and you must go to him,” she announced, and then frowned as if she was about to say something she truly wanted to avoid. “He and my cousin have gone to confront Serin Gell. Samuel will need our help, mine and David’s, and particularly yours, all before dawn or war will breakout between Ducaun and Pentrosa.”

“Daniel is not in his room. He has gone unarmed, leaving his coat, chain mail, helmet, sword and belt, as well as his knife,” David informed, adding to the credibility of her revelation.

There certainly was nothing vague about that revelation, Samuel thought. He summoned a three dimensional map of the Foothills of Pentrosa, startling both Teki. “Which hill exactly do you see Daniel entering?”

Silvia was the first to get over the shock at seeing a map instantly appear in the air in front of her, even though it was not the first time. “Here,” she pointed. “Your map is the best I ever seen, a sliver of the world in miniature. The cave is along this path and behind those bushes.”

Simon nodded his understanding. “Is this the only entrance?”

Silvia bit her lip and frowned before answering, “I cannot See any other entrances but that does not mean there aren’t any.”

“I understand,” Simon replied while scratching his head. “We will have to slip over the wall to avoid being seen. I don’t think our host would be pleased to know a Royal Knight of the Realm has crossed into Pentrosa. The Generals and Daniel’s fellow Knights practically forbade him to go.”

Silvia laughed. “He is the Chosen Vessel with a destiny to fulfill. They cannot forbid him to act. They either have to step aside or be smashed by his swirl.”

Simon had not studied about Della Lain beyond that which was revealed in the historical survey all Talenteds were taught, so knew nothing about swirls, and people being smashed by the Chosen Vessel. The Teki as a whole are dramatic people and so that could explain her exaggerated description. “Be it as it may, I am of the impression we need to depart immediately.”

“Right this moment,” Silvia confirmed.

Simon put on his boots and cloak and then tucked the baton Daniel gifted him with in his belt. He grabbed bags of seeds and stuffed them into his pockets. They managed to get ten strides down the hall when the door on the left opened and Miriam Benhannon, fully dressed, stepped out. “I’m glad you are up. Call it a mother’s intuition, but I believe my son is in need of help, and hav
e no idea what the trouble is.”

About the same time, Ronn Benhannon, dressed in buckskins, came down the hall from the direction of Daniel’s room. “Miriam, you were right, Daniel is not in his room,” the mountain carpenter said while keeping his voice low.

Simon was debating whether or not to tell the couple about the revelation, knowing they would want to come along if he did.

“Daniel has gone into Pentrosa to rescue Sherree Jenna,” Silvia declared, softly.

Ronn Benhannon went into his room without saying a word and returned minutes later with bows and quivers of arrows for he and his wife. “I swear its like when he was fourteen and took on that mountain lion by himself.”

“Be that as it is, we are going to help him,” Miriam stated firmly, receiving a nod from her husband.

Simon could not stop a sigh from escaping. He did not want to bring these people into danger, yet he knew better than to forbid them, knowing they would simply wait for him to leave and then go on their own.

The door on the right opened and Gina, dressed in a lavender nightgown that clung to her form, stepped out into the hall barefooted. “Why are you all dressed to travel?”

Simon was about to answer when Miriam spoke up. “Daniel has gone to save Sherree from that monster Serin Gell and Silvia says he is going to need our help.”

That was not how Simon would have phrased the situation, but it was accurate enough, and virtually insured Gina and her husband would insist on coming. Sure enough, the full-figured dark-hair
ed mountain beauty did not hesitate to reply, “Give Tim and I a few minutes to get ready.”

After a brief time staring at each other in the hallway, each no doubt wondering how big of a mess they were going to have to help Daniel clean up, Gina and Tim emerged from their tiny room. Simon noticed through the open door that the bed was no bigger than his, but had no time to wonder how they managed to fit in it. Both of the young mountaineers were dressed in buckskins, her in pink, and him with the red-dyed shirt and blue-dyed pants. They each had a quiver of arrows.

“Wait,” Tim said, and then started toward Daniel’s room.

“I already checked, he is gone,” Ronn Benhannon told him in an obvious effort to be heard while keeping his voice down.

Tim nodded his understanding and went on into the empty room. He came out with an extra hunting knife sheathed to his belt, giving him a blade on each hip. “He might need this,” was all he said.

“We need to get going,” Simon reminded everyone and led them quietly out of the command post.

There were guards at the gates and in the signal tower. Simon stayed in the darker areas, moving with his group beyond the barracks. There was a Royal Guardsman at the window of the third building. He gave no out cry or interfered in any way, perhaps he did not see them under the cover of Darkness as they moved silently toward the log wall.

Climbing the fence took Simon longer than it did the others, they all being in ruggedly good condition, while he was in decent shape, yet not nearly as active physically. Silvia was the quickest, scampering up and over the wall like a squirrel. They headed north. The nocturnal concert sounded from all around them, stars twinkled in the clear sky, the moon gave off a soft light, limited somewhat by forest trees, but still adequate for Simon to see where he was going until they were
far enough away from the fort.

Half a mark later, he summoned a tiny cobalt blue sphere of light. It was not bright yet illumined their path nicely. “Much better,” David broke the silence that had descended upon each of them.

“We will need to go around the Pentrosan encampment described by the captive back at the fort,” Simon informed his team.

“I have the same notion,” Ronn Benhannon replied. “If you want to produce that fancy map, we can decide the best way to go about it.”

Simon summoned the map. “See here, this hill to the west will block any direct view from the encampment, and allow us to pass unnoticed,” he said while causing his proposed route to glow.

“Our tight little group should get by them easier than a black mouse in a dark room,” Tim added his thought.

“That’s probably true,” Miriam spoke up. “My question is; who is trailing behind us?”

“She’s right. Whoever is back there knows little about stalking prey. He’s making more noise than a mule on a wood floo
r,” Ronn added his assessment.

“Keep moving,” Tim said, and disappeared among the trees. He caught up a quarter of a mark later escorting a Royal Guardsman.

Silvia stepped up to the man. “This is Adam Avery, one of Daniel’s scouts.”

Tim nodded. “So he told me when I met up with him. We hadn’t been introduced, but I remember seeing him with the rest of Daniel’s detachment.”

Simon vaguely remembered seeing the scout and only met a small number of the Royal Guardsmen. He was curious as to why one would be following them. “What brings you out into the woods at this hour?”