To Be Grand Maestro (Book 5) (31 page)

Lela did so and closed her eyes. All around her she sensed the wood of the ships, the unique substance of the patrol boats, the one beneath her feet and the other one out of visual sight, beyond the wall of ships. She sensed the Barracuda was in a similar situation, only it was still being tossed about on the waves, probably by the Demfilian ballista bolts. She also sensed thousands of people within those wooden vessels as well as everyone aboard the patrol boats and those floating in the water. The only men she could identify were those she had touched at some point and therefore recognized Joreb and Rase were in the water not far away and three men were missing from the Barracuda. She could not distinguish which of the many people floating in the water were from the other patrol boat, seeing as she had never touched them.

She sensed Carlos, Sero, and the Maestro on the Equalizer and Lowe over on the Barracuda. A multi-colored beam of light flashed into a vessel of wood and killed everything between it and five Aakacarns who were in different locations.

She sensed energy being sent from Sero and Carlos out against Aakacarns stationed on two other ships. The spell, Die Now, required hardly any potential to kill a person, no more than, Sleep Time, and did not need to be focused through a crescendo, unless; they were deliberately focusing enough potential to overcome any shields that may be in place. She summoned the spell and sent death into the nearest wooden vessel containing Aakacarns. Four of the five Accomplisheds fell to the decks they chose to be on and so did the twenty or so men caught in the deadly beam. The one surviving Accomplished must have a shield stronger than her amplified potential could overcome. She ceased trying to kill him, sipped water from her canteen, and chose another ship. Spell-casting builds up a thirst.

After killing a score of Serpents and those non-Aakacarns unlucky enough to be in the way, she began blinking rapidly to see with her eyes as well as focus on what Find All, was showing her senses. Lances of light and pebble of flame shot out from the Equalizer and into sails, masts, and hulls. Captain Vermalien obviously decided to take advantage of all those easy targets surrounding his vessel. The cruisers, destroyers, and frigates continued launching their flaming bolts and the sky was soon full of projectiles dropping with the frequency of rain. The air she breathed was still hot but not unbearably so. Lightning bolts and balls of fire shot from the Serpents aboard the other vessels. Every bit of the incoming assault smashed into the shields and all of the energy was absorbed. A Demfilian freighter was struck by a lance of light and blew apart with a flash, a loud boom, and a cloud of black shards flying every which way. When the smoke cleared, nothing but splinters occupied the space where the vessel had been.

“Carlos, raise your shield enough for one of those Teardrop-headed ballista bolts to pass through,” the Maestro called down.

Daniel raised his left hand and Lela watched as a bolt, clearly aimed at the water line, was snatched by an invisible force, flew up, and then over the starboard shield she had created. The ballista bolt came to rest in the hand of the Maestro. She, Carlos, and Sero all glowed while summoning potential, yet Daniel only glowed at the point from which his spells were focused. And at times like this she was amazed to see him cast a spell so fine, not even an Aakacarn could see the glow.

Through her eyes she could see the barrage outside the shields continue while through the spell she could sense lifeboats making their way to larger vessels, and the ships of the blockade slowly moving away. She also sensed the entire armada moving to the northwest and farther from the Ducaunan coast. Hundreds of ships had been destroyed and for the time being the united navies clearly decided enough had been lost.

The enemy assault stopped after covering the retreat and the surviving ships sailed off on a northwest heading, following their fleet. Even though they were in sight and therefore still in range, the lances of light and flaming pebbles ceased firing, which made her glad. She had already seen and caused more than enough deaths and was not anxious to continue the experience.

She could see the Barracuda off about several thousand strides to the right and barely above the waves. A jet of water flowed up from the stern, emptying the sea from the bowels of the boat, and slowly the hull rose higher. The arrow slits were closed, the tripods were gone, and yet the patrol boat managed to weather the storm.

Lela closed her eyes and sensed Joreb floating a fairly good distance away. She summoned potential and levitated him out of the water and onto the deck. She sensed Rase floating toward the boat and knew Sero, who must have touched him at some point in the past, had a firm grip on the stern-gunner, whom she sensed was still alive.

The shield amulet should have protected Joreb but one glance at him was all the explanation she needed. The sea had washed the blood from what was left of his ruined eyes and she could see black shards, similar to those under her feet, had blasted into his brain. Death must have been instantaneous. She picked up one of the tiny projectiles from the deck. “Iron,” she said softly and then dropped it.

“What Is This, has shown me the iron shards within the head of this bolt, but the spell cannot relate to my mind what the other substance is,” Daniel Benhannon said from behind her. She had not noticed him coming off of the forecastle.

Sero reached out, “Please, Maestro, allow me to see if my mind has a reference the spell may be able to interpret.”

Daniel handed him the bolt and the middle-aged Accomplished began to glow with potential while casting the spell. The potential ceased and he nodded his head. “Maestro the substance is trinitrotoluene and it is used in blasting sticks. Only people in the Demfilian mining profession know about the stuff, it being a trade secret. It was my father’s job to make the blasting sticks but I have never seen trinitrotoluene so concentrated or used in this form.”

“It is effect,” Lela commented while keeping her gaze on the Maestro rather than her dead friend. She remembered ending the lives of Aakacarns during the battle, but their deaths changed nothing. “This is exactly the kind of weapon the devious mind of a Serpent would make out of a mining tool.”

The Maestro nodded his head. “I have given the non-Aakacarns in my muster extraordinary weapons and it appears Tarin Conn is doing the same.”

Carlos glanced out at the retreating sails on the horizon. “He doesn’t seem to trust them with Aakacarn weapons.”

“Tarin Conn possesses a deep understanding of the workings of the natural world and is perhaps sharing some of his knowledge and ideas with his allies rather than give them spells,” Daniel said, while three men floated up out of the water, carried by an invisible force, flew up over Lela’s shield and gently came to rest on the bow by the Maestro, who was the only Accomplished she knew who could do so.

He had shaken the hand of every man and woman in his muster and could easily identify anyone of them through Find all. The men from the Barracuda were still alive but unconscious, one of which must have run to the tripods after the other two men had been thrown overboard.

Having lived among the Serpents, Lela had a fairly good idea of how they thought. “Survival of the fittest is a major rule of the Serpents with Aakacarns being the fittest. The non-Aakacarns are seen as a necessity like oxen set to plow or breeding stock, but commoners will never be seen as equals. What you have done, granting Aakacarns who do not possess a single lightning bolt of potential a crescendo far greater than he or she could make, and giving crescendo-powered amulets to non-Aakacarns, empowers people they see as weaklings to a degree that defies their core beliefs. Because of what you have done, I believe practicality has forced the guild to give their beasts of burden better tools.”

The Maestro nodded agreement with her, a neophyte Accomplished, she could hardly believe it, and he said, “Many people speak of the influence Tarin Conn has had on me and are afraid I will turn out to be just like him, you are the first to suggest I may be having an influence on his actions. I think you have made a very good point and we should be on the lookout for more adaptations. We can no longer assume the allies of the Serpent Guild are equipped with conventional weapons.”

While he was speaking, Ensign Sloak and men from below deck came and picked up the men lying on the bow, including Joreb. Lieutenant Loben exited the forward hatch and came to attention in front of the Maestro. “Sir Daniel, the fleet seems to be retreating, what are your orders?”

The Maestro stared out to the northwest. “It is too early to say if they will go a hundred spans out at this point and there are three other armadas still floating seven spans off the coast beginning approximately forty spans to southwest from here. The one we just encountered is the farthest east and the ISIG should soon be able to tell us what the other fleets are doing.  I sense Accomplished Balif is in the process of healing those who were burned aboard the Barracuda, so it and the Equalizer are still combat ready. I want that fleet followed at a distance. The Barracuda will patrol this area while the Equalizer follows those ships. Accomplished Kafiss, I want you to focus your scan ahead twenty spans. You will need to be on the bridge because Captain Vermalien needs to be kept informed on the whereabouts of the armada. I do not want this boat to get any closer than fifteen spans of those ships for the time being,”

“It will be as you say, Maestro,” Lela replied with confidence. This was a task well within her ability.

Lloyd gave him a salute. “It will be as you say, Sir Daniel.”

The Maestro closed his eyes, clearly communicating mentally with someone or thing. He blinked. “The flotilla from Aakadon has passed Ducanton without incident,” Daniel paused and rubbed his chin. “Jeremiah might be correct about them wanting to investigate the harmonic waves we felt earlier in the day. After the Accomplisheds pass the Naval Facility, if they do not attack, Tim and Gina will lead the fleet into this sea, and one of the boats will relieve the Equalizer and another will relieve the Barracuda,” he paused again and his brow wrinkled into a frown. “Loper has shown me Simon is in trouble. Carlos, I think we need to convey right to the scene. Do you have any scouts in the woods of the northland holding?”

The Three-bolt Accomplished frowned, clearly unhappy. “I can convey us anywhere within the Benhannon Northland Holding, but have no creatures in the surrounding woods. I can send Lerker, my mouse, outside but he does not like the cold.”

Daniel began shaking his head. “No, that would take too much time and the poor little fellow would probably freeze to death attempting to fulfil your wishes. Loper can give me the visual.” Lela was amazed he would care about a rodent. Perhaps it had to do with him being linked to so many different creatures.

Sero stepped forward, almost nose to nose with the Maestro. “You have expended energy. I respectfully ask that you allow me to replenish it.”

Daniel responded by removing his helmet. Sero touched his forehead and potential began to flow from him to the Maestro. Lela glanced at Carlos and noted the disappointment reflected in his eyes at not being able to provide the transportation requested by his guild leader. She vowed never to be in that situation and decided linking to the minds of animals might actually be worth the discomfort. Conveying from one place to another is safer when a pair of eyes is at the destination point and clearly the creatures connected to the Maestro provided him with immediate and important information. Sero stepped back from his task and vanished in a multi-hued flash along with the Maestro and Carlos, whose deep blue shield ceased to be.

Lela removed her shields and walked to the hatch without stumbling. She smiled at finally developing her sea-legs. The Equalizer began moving at sailboat speed while the Barracuda commenced a rescue operation for the few surviving sailors left in the sea by their fleet. She cast Find All and could sense the armada still heading northwest and then went inside. After adding a Da Capo to the spell, she entered the mess where four men lay waiting to be healed.

Daniel appeared beside Loper, who pulled his head up out of a snow drift, having experienced more than a few times the loud noise that accompanied the arrival of his alpha, and so chose the quickest way to dampen the sound. Daniel took in his surroundings, oak trees with snow on their naked limbs, tall pines with white powder frosting their green needles, and a white mantle covering the ground. Loper was the only forest creature in sight all others had fled or were hiding. The wind came out of the north carrying the smell of smoke.

Daniel scratched the wolf behind the left ear and glanced at Carlos and Sero who stood several paces away. Bright flashes of light, the crackle of spell-formed lightning bolts, the whooshing sound of fire balls, and the whistle and whirl of solidified objects of air were coming from the other side of a hill to the north about a hundred strides ahead. Amid those noises associated with spell-casting was a sound very much like that of a Demfilian ballista bolt. Carlos leaned closer and spoke in a hushed voice. “There is a huge amount of potential being summoned and focused over there.”

Daniel’s first impulse was to charge up the hill and start casting spells at any enemy Aakacarn within sight, but instead cast, Find All, added a Da Capo, and was thankful he had increased to twelve the number of harmony lines to it and most of the spells in his repertoire. The musically expanded Symphonics required far less potential than the original compositions and he could focus the energy so fine he was sure Carlos and Sero did not even know he was casting a spell.

Through Find All Daniel sensed Simon, his twelve new aids, and the thirty Aakacarn residents of the northland holding all spread out behind trees and casting spells. The four hundred Benhannon Guardsmen at the Northland Holding, one hundred at each wall, stood in preparation to hold off a major assault. Five hundred Sentinels were in the woods launching lances of light from a perimeter around three hundred Aakacarns and a thousand Pentrosan soldiers, half of which were below the surface. The legions Daniel had been warned about earlier by the foxes were crossing the border and launching flaming balls of pitch into the trees with the clear intent of burning down everything between the border and his holding. They clearly did not want a repeat of what happened to their supply lines during their first invasion. One hundred seventy-two yetis were in the forest running ahead of the fire. In the woods to the east was the group of Soarers Troy the fox had shown him. The twenty Accomplisheds of Aakadon began moving west at a slow pace, no doubt aware of the battle taking place, and being Eagles, they would naturally want to investigate. The question remained, will they be a help or a hindrance?

He focused his scan to include fifty cubits below ground, having learned the hard way the necessity of doing so. Twenty tunnels, a hundred strides apart, each about thirty cubits beneath the surface, starting from the Pentrosan fortress and well on the way to reaching the Northland Holding, immediately sprang into his awareness. One tunnel, clearly the largest with the greatest number of Aakacarns, had been intercepted by Simon and his team on the other side of the hill. The other nineteen were still moving unhindered toward the walls of the holding. Each of those tunnels had a hundred Aakacarns mixed in a line with a thousand soldiers. This had to be a Spin Off maneuver, make the enemies focus on the obvious attack and simultaneously hit them where they are not looking. The legions are a threat that needed to be dealt with and yet were also meant to be a distraction while those in the tunnels moved in for the kill.

Carlos and Sero were glowing with potential and probably assessing the situation as Daniel had done. “Maestro, there are Aakacarns and soldiers in twenty tunnels and nineteen are extending at a slow walk. All but the one on the other side of this hill are only a few spans from the holding,” the Three-bolt Accomplished demonstrated his grasp of the problem.

Sero glanced at the hilltop. “The Pentrosans are using trinitrotoluene in whatever they are throwing at the Sentinels. Do we help our people here or try to intercept those tunnels?”

It was a good question because Daniel’s instincts told him to rush forward and help those on the other side of the hill who were in immediate danger, and yet the other tunnels needed to be stopped. “Carlos, help Simon by focusing on killing the half of the invaders that are still underground and be sure to collapse the passageway, we will have to trust him and his team to hold the position. Sero, you and I are going to attack the other tunnels.”

“It will be as you say,” Carlos replied and moved north, no doubt to get behind the fighting and begin his chore.

Daniel focused on Skeeter, a white rabbit hidden in a burrow not far from one of the tunnels. His nose twitched as he stared out at the undisturbed snow about forty strides ahead of the expanding subterranean passageway. Daniel summoned the potential for Conveyance and moments later he and Sero were standing at the visual provided by Skeeter. “Thanks,” he told the rabbit and turned to his assistant. “Touch the ground, cast, Fashioning, and make a hole deep enough for us to be ahead of the approaching tunnel.”

“It will be as you say, Maestro,” he replied and then cast the spell.

A round depression appeared with Daniel and Sero at the center and began to deepen until they were about forty cubits below ground. Through the spell, Find All, Daniel sensed the people approaching him and the Aakacarn leading the way. He aimed his diamond-bladed crescendo at the enemy and cast, Die Now, focusing a tiny amount of his donated potential into the amplifier and sent four bolts of energy straight at the occupants of the tunnel. The sustained beam passed through and killed everyone in its path. They likely did not even know their lives were in danger, nor did they feel any pain, and each one dropped in his tracks, never to rise again. They would have been harder to kill if the tunnel was not in a straight line running into Pentrosa.

“One down, eighteen to go,” Sero evidently felt the need to keep count.

Daniel sent an alert to every member of Loper’s pack, gave each a mental picture of where he wanted them to be, and sent them from their hiding places to give him the necessary visuals to convey. “Sero, collapse the tunnel,” he said, and then tried to wait patiently while the task was being completed.

The need to hurry was warring with his sense of practicality. The subterranean burrows of the enemy could not be allowed to remain and the visuals the wolves could provide were necessary in order to convey safely in a chaotic environment. The time when he would assume a location is exactly the same way he remembered it was long gone.

By the time the chore was done, the wolves had run to the desired locations much faster than he ever could on two legs. He summoned the potential and conveyed to tunnel eighteen. Sero, not needing to be told, began creating the hole and they sank beneath the ground. While they were descending, Daniel sensed the forest fire spreading south from the border. Spans of trees were in flames. Accomplished of the Serpent Guild behind the catapults were using wind spells to steer the fire forward while other Aakacarns extinguished the blaze after the damage was done so the legions could advance. This did not bode well and Daniel was worried. The yetis were moving through the trees at the speed of a stampede and he estimated it would not belong before they reached the walls of the holding. He smiled in anticipation of their arrival.

The hole reached the appropriate level and Daniel once again sent death at his enemies. The multi-colored light struck and killed them instantly and his assistant promptly destroyed the tunnel. He sensed Carlos walking to the north above ground and focusing energy beneath the surface. It was not as quick as Daniel’s method but it worked.

The fight was far from over, the other tunnels were advancing toward the holding, and the outcome was still in doubt.
Could all of them be stopped?
The only choice was to press on. After Conveying to the area in front of tunnel seventeen, Sero dug the hole, using Fashioning, and Daniel sent, Die Now, killing the first Aakacarn who was creating the tunnel, and about half the occupants. Several Aakacarns acting in concert had put up a powerful shield and now they and other Accomplisheds were tunneling toward the surface. The men following them wasted no time running from certain death into the forty or so upward escape routes. They all must have felt the harmonic waves from the spell used to kill their comrades in the other tunnel, which meant the people in the remaining tunnels had to be expecting an attack. Daniel could sense shields forming on most of the Aakacarns in every advancing passageway.

Rather than chase down the people on the surface, Daniel decided to continue attacking the main tunnels. He conveyed to tunnel sixteen and instead of casting, Die Now, he placed a hand on the ground and cast, Fashioning, stretched his senses out, and became aware of every bit of dirt and rock between the passage and the fortress, then reformed the space back into solid ground. Death was instantaneous and so was the subterranean explosion of whatever forms the trinitrotoluene had been contained. Many of the Aakacarns had created dome-shaped shields and were still alive. Each was isolated and buried more than thirty cubits beneath the surface. Tarin Conn’s spell, Teleportation, required six bolts of potential and the one and two-bolt Accomplisheds could only cast it by forming a circle and performing in concert, so most of them were truly stuck, but the smart ones will likely remove their shields and begin tunneling to the surface, the rest will eventually suffocate. Daniel had fifteen more tunnels to destroy and then he could spare the resources to rescue the trapped and dying with the idea of taking them as prisoners of war.

The spell, Fashioning, required physical touch and therefore a crescendo could not be used, so all the energy came directly from him without the benefit of amplification. He couldn’t continue to cast such a powerful spell, not fifteen more times. He shook his head in frustration. Not having ever replenishing life force energy was truly hindering his ability to fight effectively. “Sero, I will convey us to the next tunnel and then I want you to reform the thing back into solid ground.”

Sero nodded his head. “I am ready, Maestro.”

Daniel conveyed from one location to the other, with the help of the wolves, and Sero destroyed all of the tunnels on the north side of the hill. It took the Four-bolt a little longer to focus his potential through so many spans of ground to the border and into Pentrosa, yet he got the job done. None of the non-Aakacarns survived the reformation back into solid ground but a fairly large number of Accomplisheds managed to tunnel up to the surface, and all combined there were slightly over a thousand who survived the collapses
. This could be a problem if they came to realize who had attacked them and decided to repay the favor. He and Sero would die even if only a tenth of this force came at them.
A Maestro level of potential suddenly flared from the area of the original tunnel and all of those Serpents began heading towards Simon, for which Daniel was grateful.

Tunnel number one was nearly at the wall, so he, not needing the eyes of a wolf for this, ran up the hill and then conveyed with Sero to the top of the span-wide structure in a clear space next to Roder Keenan. “Sir Daniel, I am glad to see you,” the Lieutenant said without a sign of shock at the sudden arrival out of thin air. “As you know, most of the Sentinels are with the First Accomplished, ready to defend the Benhannon Naval Facility, and the rest are with the First Lady and Commander Herling on the eastern border. Chief Aid Trenca sensed the invasion and as you can hear in the distance, is engaged in battle. It feels like the fight is coming our way even though I do not yet see it.”

Daniel strongly suspected the man had a touch of Seer in his blood and quickly confirmed for him what was happening and ended with, “The one tunnel Sero and I did not reform is about one hundred eighty strides right over there,” he said while pointing. “We are going to remove it but you need to expect a large number of Aakacarns to escape to the surface. It will take them only a few moments to form shields so kill as many of them as you can before that happens.” The battle was far from over and could still end badly if anyone was to slack off now.

“It will be as you say, Sir Daniel,” the big man replied, and began issuing orders to all of the Guardsmen.

Daniel sprang off the thirty cubit high wall, landing lightly on the ground. Sero stood beside him moments later, having taken the leap without hesitation. “I want you to sink the hole and do the reforming on your own. I am going to focus on killing or capturing anyone who pops up out of the ground,” he told his assistant.

Sero began to glow with potential and was sinking into the ground even before answering, “It will be as you say, Maestro.”

Daniel closed his eyes, relying on Find All to show him the location of his enemies. He could see them shielded, all except the tunnel maker who could not cast both spells at once. Moments later came a deep rumbling, the ground being reshaped, perhaps hundreds of trinitrotoluene containers exploding, and a thousand non-Aakacarns, along with twenty spell-casters, died so fast they would not have had time enough to scream. The eighty surviving Accomplisheds removed their shields, cast their tunneling spells, and that was what Daniel had been waiting for. Using his scanning spell, he sent Die Now from his eyes, fingers, and thumbs through the ground in different directions to twelve Aakacarns, whose tunneling spells winked out along with their life forces. He repeated the effort and managed to kill two more groups of twelve before the rest broke the surface.