To Challenge a Maestro
T0 CHALLENGE A MAESTRO
The Maestro Chronicles
Book Two
Chapter One: Good News
Chapter Two: Traveling Companions
Chapter Three: A Painful Lesson
Chapter Four: Settling In
Chapter Five: The Lessons Begin
Chapter Six: Enough Is Enough
Chapter Seven: From the Backwoods
Chapter Eight: Two Choices
Chapter Nine: Time for a Nap
Chapter Ten: What is an Aakasear?
Chapter Eleven: Meeting of the Maestros
Chapter Twelve: Challenging a Maestro
Chapter Thirteen: Too Many Da Capos
Chapter Fourteen: Results of a Confrontation
Chapter fifteen: The Link Removed
Chapter Sixteen: A Gratuity Paid
Chapter Seventeen: Upon Awakening
Chapter Eighteen: I’m an Aakasear
Chapter One: Good News
Efferin Tames sat staring at the bird of prey emblem hanging on the pearly white wall of his office. He derived comfort seeing the symbol of his former affiliation, the Eagle guild, and he needed comforting, the news from Mount Tannakonna was slow in coming. Plaques representing the seven guilds of Aakadon were the only decorations in his office, except for his beloved mural on the ceiling depicting, in brilliant colors, the Grand Maestro as champion against all forms of violence and corruption in the world. A golden bird of prey set against a silver oval identified the Eagle Guild, the keepers of order. All of the emblems were gold on silver encrusted with diamonds. A five-pronged plant represented the Aloe Guild, known primarily for healing. A circle with jagged lines radiating outward represented the Sun Guild, the conjurers of fire and light. The rock and hammer represented the Stone Guild, the architects and builders. A simple letter Z represented the Zephyr Guild, the manipulators of wind and air. A branch with lance shaped leaves hanging down represented the Willow Guild, known for making vegetation grow, and a golden drop indicated the Aqua Guild, the manipulators of water.
The latest reports from the Talenteds sent to Bashierwood told of a large assault of yetis being thwarted, good news if that had been the only word. The troubling part told of an even larger force waiting to strike the mountain community. He ran his fingers through his thick gray hair and then resumed drumming a rhythm on the desktop with his fingers; waiting patiently was not one of his virtues. He stared at his eight rings, four on each hand, representing the seven guilds. The eighth and largest of all was the ruby pyramid, the ring of the Grand Maestro.
The door opened and Bran Tippen, a thin-framed, red-haired one-bolt Accomplished, poked his head sideways into the office. A golden rock and hammer on the medallion hanging by a silver chain around his neck identified his guild affiliation. “Grand Maestro, Instructor Renn is here to see you with a report from Bashierwood.”
“Well, show him in!” Efferin bellowed. The Chief Aid could be awfully slow and infuriating at times.
Bran opened the door all the way, gestured to the cloaked figure in the outer room, and then followed as the Lead Instructor of Talenteds, a sandy-haired man with a receding hairline and a long nose, entered the spacious office, and came to stand before the oak desk. The single golden bolt on the right shoulder of his scarlet on black silk cloak indicated his potential, and a medallion with a diamond encrusted Z hanging from a gold chain around his neck, indicated his affiliation with the Zephyr Guild. The Chief Aid, standing by him, licked his lips in anticipation of the news.
“Grand Maestro, I have good news from Tannakonna,” Jason Renn began his report.
Finally, something good, “Well, speak up!” Efferin demanded, being eager to hear what the Instructor considered to be good news.
“Jerremy DeSuan has reported a victory. The Serpent Guild sent an entire legion of yetis against the village,” Jason began, not seeming to realize that good news did not usually start with thousands of swarming yetis on the move. He continued with the report; hopefully it would get better, the grin forming on his face indicated that it would. “The battle was fierce. Our Talenteds and the new Potential, Daniel Benhannon, were able to hold out against Balen Tamm’s forces until Cleona’s cavalry arrived. The foul beasts were slaughtered and, of course, the villagers would have been brutally killed if our people had not been there,” he said without hiding his delight at the success of his students, and who could blame him?
The news was as good as promised and was welcomed. Efferin could not keep himself from smiling and springing to his feet. “Balen Tamm and his guild have suffered a major defeat.”
Bran’s smile practically reached from ear to ear. “Yes, Grand Maestro,” he began and then frowned. “But why would he send a legion to destroy an obscure village that has little more than two hundred people living in and around it?”
“I was about to explain, why,” Jason said reproachfully, and good for him, he clearly did not appreciate being interrupted. “There is more.”
Efferin scowled at the Chief Aid and then focused his attention back on the Instructor. “Speak up. I too would like the answer to that,” he said, and then sat back down on the soft chair with turquoise padding, the exact color of the thick carpet covering the floor.
Jason leaned forward, placing both hands against the desk, his peachy complexion reddened a bit, probably from the information he was about to share. “According to Jerremy, an Accomplished of the Serpent Guild, Serin Gell, ordered Daniel Benhannon to surrender himself and thus spare the village. Of course the demand was ignored since no one was deceived by the offer. When the young man refused to respond, the Accomplished summoned a huge fireball and threw it at the village. The fire was extinguished, Jerremy was unclear about how, and the members of the Serpent Guild died or fled. I understand this Daniel fellow had been captured at some earlier time by a member of the illegitimate guild and possibly tortured, yet manage somehow to escape back to Bashierwood.”
Efferin glared at the Lead Instructor until the man resumed standing straight, and then leaned back in his chair and rubbed the end of his nose before saying, “I see. Balen Tamm discovered a Potential and abducted him. The young man escaped and a legion was sent to retrieve him.” The explanation was clear enough but a single Potential still did not warrant a major invasion.
“So it would seem,” Jason replied, and by the blank look on his face, the Serpent Guild’s response made little sense to him as well; kind of like trying to tenderize a guppy with a sledge hammer.
“The whole thing sounds ridiculous. There must be something special about this particular Potential. An operation of this magnitude has not been seen in over four, perhaps five, centuries,” Efferin pondered out loud. He would get to the bottom of this. It seemed one mystery gets solved and then creates another just as puzzling.
“Daniel Benhannon has agreed to accompany our Talenteds back to Aakadon. Jerremy reports that the young man has had some degree of training. He appears to know most of the basic spells and a few highly specialized ones as well,” Jason informed.
“Training from whom?” Efferin wanted to know.
Jason hesitated, as if having trouble believing this part of the report, and then threw up his hands and said, “Supposedly, one of our Accomplisheds came through the village not long ago and discovered Daniel’s potential. For some unknown reason he taught the young man the Melodies rather than escort him here.”
Efferin possessed an extraordinarily keen memory and had no recollection of any of his Accomplisheds being in the vicinity of Mount Tannakonna. There were only two Accomplisheds assigned to the kingdom of Ducaun, Fenton Chen in Ducanton, the capital city, and Randall Kamis in the city of Zoltair, who was in Aakadon recently for the inst
allation of the new Maestro of the Zephyr Guild. Three questions came to the forefront; who would have taught the Potential, who could have had the opportunity, and why would an Accomplished of Aakadon leave a highly gifted Potential behind?
This same young man was supposedly responsible for the High Powered spell, the ripple affect of which had been felt for hundreds of spans, a spell that affected memory, and the entire reason the three Talenteds were sent to Bashierwood in the first place. Terroll Barnes overcame the Forget spell that had been placed on him by the former Maestro of the Zephyr Guild, perhaps the Accomplished had help in the overcoming, perhaps Terroll had been in Ducaun and in range of Daniel’s working, a working with ripple affects Efferin himself felt and was sure indicated a potential powerful enough to counter a Forget spell. “Bran, summon the Maestro of the Zephyr Guild. I want some answers.”
The Chief Aid had the dull look of incomprehension on his face. The leap of logic clearly escaped him. Obviously, he had no idea why such orders had been given, not so the Lead Instructor. His eyes seemed filled with speculation. “Your will be done, Grand Maestro,” Bran said, and then turned and exited the office with appropriate haste.
Events seemed to be shaping up for the good. Balen Tamm suffered a major defeat and finally a Potential has been found in Ducaun. Relations with the young monarch ruling that kingdom were bound to improve.
“Daniel has a serious problem,” Jason interrupted a perfectly good bit of rumination.
“Out with it!” Efferin snapped. He was getting tired of people giving him information in driblets. Was there no one capable of giving him a concise report? “How much trouble can a young man be in?”
Jason’s face reddened again and he hesitated as if searching for the words to properly express the strain reflected on his countenance. The Potential’s troubles must be bad indeed. “When the Accomplished of the Serpent Guild captured Daniel Benhannon he took him to Mount Kelgotha. The Ducuanan is now directly linked to the Dark Maestro. He has agreed to come to Aakadon in the hopes that we can rid him of his link to Tarin Conn.”
Efferin drummed the desktop with his fingers. It was just too much to ask that the young man’s problems be normal. “This is serious. If Tarin Conn is involved I believe …,”
“Maestro Terroll Barnes,” Bran announced suddenly from the now open door. The Chief Aid stood in the doorway, totally ignorant of the impolite breach in protocol, interrupting his Grand Maestro in the middle of a sentence. The man did have a tendency to be over zealous at times.
“Well, show him in!” Efferin shouted. He wanted answers and quickly, there were too many questions for his liking.
The Maestro of the Zephyr Guild wore four golden lightning bolts on the shoulders of his scarlet on black silk cloak, indicating the strength of his Potential, and a golden buckle with a diamond encrusted letter Z indicated his office. He was a tall man with skin the color of ebony, and he stood a good hand span taller than Efferin himself, who was considered to be of average height. The Accomplished came forward and stood next to Jason. “I understand you wish to see me, Grand Maestro. How may I serve?” his deep voice intoned in the proper fashion.
Efferin leaned forward, resting his right arm on the desk, and looked the Ecoppian born Aakacarn right in the eyes. “What do you know about a young man by the name of Daniel Benhannon?”
Terroll blinked and a cautious looked appeared on his face, like a man who knew he was walking on dangerous ground. His eyes widened a moment later, clearly an effort to counter his inadvertent slip. He now looked like a man with nothing to hide. “He is nineteen years of age and resides in a cottage located a short distance from a small village called, Bashierwood, on Mount Tannakonna, in the kingdom of Ducaun. The young man is an accomplished guitarn player,” he answered in a precise manner.
It was clear the four-bolt Accomplished knew much more than what was stated and Efferin was determined to find out every detail. “Do you know the young man is a Potential? More to the point, did you teach him?” he pressed, leaving the Maestro no room to equivocate.
Terroll Barnes took a deep breath and then let it out slowly. “Yes, Grand Maestro, to both questions.”
A deep rage grew in Efferin but he managed to keep it at a low simmer. What the man had done was outrageous and the explanation had better be a good one. “I am ready to hear why you failed to bring him to Aakadon,” he said while keeping his tone of voice even, with all of the restraint he could muster.
“Did you know Bashierwood was recently attacked by a legion of yetis led by members of the Serpent Guild?” Jason demanded; his face far redder than at any previous time during the audience. “Did you know the young man had something to do with the memory spell? Did you know three of my students risked their lives to find this out?”
Efferin frowned at the interruption. The Lead Instructor deserved to be chastised for speaking out of turn, not only to the Maestro of his own guild affiliation, but in front of the Grand Maestro of Aakadon. The questions were very good so the reprimand could wait.
Terroll’s eyes widened and he seemed surprised by the questions and the accusatory tone. He glanced at Jason and then refocused his attention on Efferin. “I know nothing of the Serpent Guild’s involvement, although I did pass three Talenteds on my way to Zoltair. They said nothing of their business though I suspected they were seeking Potentials,” he answered, but the man was definitely keeping something back.
“Why did you fail to mention Daniel Benhannon to them if you suspected their assignment was to find Potentials? More to the point, why did you fail to bring the young man yourself? I am still waiting to hear the answer to my earlier question,” Efferin said, emphasizing the word, “fail.”
Terroll glanced at Jason, took a deep breath, and then released it explosively; seemingly ready to explain himself more thoroughly. “This has to do with honor. Daniel cast the spell which inadvertently freed me from the Forget spell placed on me by Gerard DeCamp. I was entertaining at the Polkat Inn when a blue light bathed the village and everyone in it within a five span radius.”
“I see, your repertoire of spells returned,” concluded Efferin. He wished the man would get to the point. A little prodding might be in order. “What did you do then?”
“I sought out the one who performed the spell in order to pay my gratuity, like any decent person would do, and I found Daniel. He is the strongest Potential I have ever seen, a prodigy, and he adamantly refused my offer to escort him to Aakadon. Mountain folk can be quite stubborn, changing their minds is only slightly less difficult than shifting the mountain they live on,” Terroll explained. He paused as if finished but whatever he saw in Efferin’s eyes made him continue without further prodding. “The young man somehow acquired enough knowledge of spells to be dangerous, both to himself and others, so I insisted on teaching him the basics. I had a serious discussion with him and his parents and finally convinced them of the need.”
A debt of honor was not something to be taken lightly. Efferin cleared his throat, ridding himself of much of his pent up anger, not all, but most. “Your maintaining his anonymity is the gratuity he asked, I take it.”
“Yes, Grand Maestro, I would not have revealed my knowledge of him today if lying to you would not have been a greater dishonor,” Terroll replied.
The Maestro of the Zephyr Guild seemed sincere in his statement. He paid a gratuity and told the truth to his superior when asked. No punishment would be pronounced, this time, but it would take a long time for Terroll to be fully trusted again. Efferin drummed the desktop with his fingers. Events were working out in his favor, having the information sooner would have been better. The plans of the Serpent guild have been thwarted, for now, the cause of the mysterious High Powered spell has been found, and a new Potential has been discovered in Ducaun, a kingdom long considered by most to be a dry well with regard to finding Potentials, and so the Grand Maestro was feeling generous. “I will accept your explanation and your reason for withholding your knowl
edge of Daniel Benhannon, but you and I will be having a private discussion on this subject at a later date,” he informed the Maestro.
“I understand, Grand Maestro,” Terroll replied.
“I suspect the young man must have learned the memory spell from the Serpent Guild,” Jason said, giving voice to a suspicion growing in Efferin.
Terroll’s eyebrows lifted as if the Lead Instructor had uttered something completely absurd. “Why would you suspect such a thing?” the Maestro asked.
Efferin decided to answer, “Because we have learned that young Mr. Benhannon was previously abducted by an Accomplished of the Serpent Guild and taken to Mount Kelgotha. Tarin Conn formed a mental link with him and even now invades his every dream.”
Terroll shook his head as if thoroughly disgusted with himself, as well he should be. “No wonder he was frightened at my appearance. He bolted into the woods like a jack rabbit with a fox on its heels when I told him I was an Aakacarn. I wish he had told me.”
Jason nodded his head affirmatively and then added, “Daniel must be special even for a prodigy. Why else would Balen Tamm send Serin Gell and ten thousand yetis to recapture him?”
Terroll scratched the side of his head and said, “Serin Gell, I’ve heard of him.”
Efferin remembered him as well. The man was a former member of the Aloe Guild and was guilty of betraying his affiliation and all of Aakadon many decades earlier. The renegade enjoyed inflicting pain and would have been Silenced long ago if he had not fled.
“So have I. He is one of the nastier ones. It would be best for the world if he died in the battle. His fate, however, is unknown,” Jason said, and then stood quietly.
“Well, what happened? Is Daniel alright? What of the Talenteds? Where are they now?” the Maestro of the Zephyr Guild inquired. If asked he would probably go to Tannakonna and escort the four youths to Aakadon himself.
Efferin was still reveling in the good news and so was eager to share it. “The matter has been resolved. The yetis were destroyed. The Ducaunan Royal Cavalry arrived on the scene, at my recommendation, and between them and our Talenteds the victory was secured. Daniel Benhannon has agreed to come here in the hope that we can sever the link between him and the Dark Maestro. They should be here within a few days.”