To Challenge a Maestro Read online

  Daniel glanced up at who was holding him, Terroll not Tim. The Maestro of the Zephyr Guild stood glaring at his leader and seemed on the verge of attacking him; except such would be colossal folly. Surely he would not do so. “What did you do?” he demanded with the honorific left out, no doubt purposely.

  Efferin ignored the tone in which he had been addressed and focused on the four-bolt Accomplished with a quiet calm. “The boy has too much power for his own good and so I have laid a Forget spell on him, tied to my life force. He will no longer be casting High Powered spells, sending harmonic waves all over the world, and terrifying the masses. Trust me, this is best for everyone including him,” he replied while placing the Baton of Tarin Conn in the top drawer of his desk. A red beam shot from his pointer finger and struck the drawer, no doubt locking it. Even Terroll would have to use a crescendo to break that spell. Daniel could if he remembered how.

  “Tied to your life force,” Tim mumbled and lunged forward with his hunting knife poised to strike.

  “No!” Daniel shouted while jumping between the drummer and the Grand Maestro. He did not want his friend to commit murder for him.

  Talmon Reese glowed with a bright yellow potential. Moments later, Tim floated off the floor with both feet dangling in the air, and a look of hatred and confusion on his face, especially since the Accomplished maintaining the spell was now ignoring him as though a minor annoyance had just been brushed away.

  “I protest,” Terroll said, shaking with rage, and yet managing to speak in a civil tongue. “Daniel has done nothing to warrant this punishment.”

  Daniel focused on Tim, being more concerned about him than listening to Efferin try to justify his actions. The Grand Maestro’s motives were clear no matter what he said out loud. He eliminated his rival, pure and simple.

  The leader of Aakadon drummed a quick rhythm on his desk and took a deep breath. “Your protest is noted, Maestro of the Zephyr Guild. You are free to leave my office at once, and take the mountain boys with you. Talmon, stay for a brief meeting. Bran, go about your duties.” And that was that.

  Terroll’s face looked as though he had just swallowed a jug of unsweetened lemon squeezings. “Your will be done, Grand Maestro,” he said in unmistakable contempt. He glanced at Talmon and nodded.

  The Maestro of the Eagle Guild broke his spell and allowed Tim to drop to the floor, although the drummer landed on his feet. He still seemed to be contemplating the possibility of planting his hunting knife in Efferin’s chest, but had the good sense not to try, again.

  “Come with me,” Terroll said while heading for the door.

  As the pain in Daniel’s head faded to a dull headache he glanced at the Grand Maestro, whose face was unreadable, and realized he felt no anger or resentment towards the Aakacarn leader; especially since he had done exactly as expected. Nothing more needed to be said between them. The trip down the long shaft to the ground floor was silent, even though both of his companions seemed filled with rage.

  “Why did you stop me?” Tim asked.

  Daniel stepped out into the lobby where a large number of petitioners waited to be heard. He walked slightly ahead of the Maestro and his friend but glanced back to give his reply. “Your life is worth more to me than the ability to cast spells,” he told him, while opening the door and motioning for the two of them to exit first.

  The response seemed to stymie whatever reply was on the tip of Tim’s tongue because he opened his mouth and then shut it. He remained silent while they walked, even though it was clear he felt the need to do something. He glanced at the street, probably looking for something to kick, and then let out a sigh. The Aakacarns kept their city as immaculate as their offices.

  Daniel stared up into the heavens. The brilliant light emanating from Aakadon obscured most of the stars; only the moon was clearly visible in the night sky. He tried to think of a Melody and was astonished at how effective the Forget spell was. He marveled over the efficiency in which Efferin disposed of any and all competition. The Grand Maestro must be exceeding pleased with himself.

  Sherree approached from down the street, grinning like a mother whose child has just taken his first step. Samuel and Jerremy walked with her while Jason and Simon kept pace to their right. They all seemed filled with joy, fresh from the celebrating that seemed to have overtaken the city. Their smiles faded as they caught sight of Terroll and Tim, each looking as though they had found half a worm in their apples.

  “Efferin Silenced Daniel,” Tim announced with all the subtlety of a bear in a salmon stream.

  “We felt the battle,” Samuel began, clearly not believing what he just heard.

  “You captured Serin Gell, brought back the Baton of Tarin Conn, why would the Grand Maestro Silence you?” Simon asked.

  Sherree, eyes watering, shook her head. “No, our Grand Maestro could never be so cruel,” were the words that came out of her mouth but her expression said she knew he was more than capable of doing the deed.

  Jerremy shook his head in denial. “You must be mistaken, mountaineer. Maestro, please explain to Tim about Silencing.”

  Terroll swallowed hard. “Tim is correct; Efferin Tames did use a permanent Forget spell on Daniel,” he replied in an even tone, his eyes still smoldering with rage. He, more than most, could sympathize with being wrongly Silenced. “I am sorry, Daniel, I did not believe he would do that.”

  Tim spat on the ground and seemed mad enough to chop down a tree with his hunting knife. “This is the thanks you get for ridding the world of Balen Tamm.”

  “This is terrible,” Jason said while turning to face his Maestro. “Didn’t you lodge a protest?”

  “It has been officially noted, for all the good that will do,” Terroll replied.

  Daniel watched his friends react to his fate, and yes they proved worthy of that description. They seemed to feel worse than he did over the Silencing. The link to Tarin Conn was gone, and that was a good thing. Daniel chose to focus on the positive rather than the negative, especially since he had gotten what he wanted and the Grand Maestro had gotten what he wanted.

  Tim suddenly had a curious expression on his face, his eyebrows arched up in disbelief. “Why are you smiling?”

  Daniel looked at each of his friends, he was glad to consider them so, and trusted each of them, but only Tim could be trusted with his most confidential plans. “The link to Tarin Conn has been severed, all I want now is to head straight for the dorm, fall into bed, and sleep until my eyes feel like opening.”

  “Of course you do,” Sherree replied sympathetically. “You must be exhausted after such an ordeal.”

  Each person nodded understandingly and escorted him back to the dorm, keeping well wishers and other curious Aakacarns from bothering him with questions. Many of the Accomplisheds and Talenteds gave respectful greetings along the way. Terroll and Jason headed on toward the Zephyr Guild while the four Talenteds and Tim walked with Daniel into the dorm and up the stairs. Sherree stopped on the eighth floor, although seemed to have a strong desire to stay with the group.

  The beautiful Aakacarn let out a sigh. “Have a good rest,” she said, wiped her eyes, and then parted company before a reply could be made.

  Daniel continued up the stairs and could think of little more then getting a good night’s rest. His friends escorted him to bed number two and stood watching as he stretched out and promptly fell asleep in his buckskins, boots and all. He dreamed of home and family, of Val and Sherree, only pleasant memories. He dreamed of life before casting his first spell and even the day he finished the cabin, even playing the guitarn, but not the memory spell. There was no Tarin Conn or Balen Tamm taunting him, no Serin Gell, yetis or Condemneds, just blessed and wonderful sleep.

  - - - - - - -

  Samuel Cresh stood at the foot of the bed where Daniel lay sleeping. Jerremy stood on the right, Simon and Tim stood to the left. “It was announced shortly before you arrived that Daniel was made full Accomplished and sent to obtain the Baton
of Tarin Conn,” Samuel commented. “We saw him before he left on the mission. He told us the Grand Maestro needed a special crescendo in order to sever the link formed by the Dark Maestro, but never mentioned anything about being raised to full Accomplished. He made the assignment sound like a minor task.”

  Tim nodded his head. “He tried to make me think it was a minor chore but I know him too well. I insisted he tell me everything and then went with him.”

  Jerremy patted the mountaineer on the back, a rare gesture coming from him. “That was bravely done. Few Aakacarns would dare follow him so willingly into the den of the Serpent Guild. You have my respect, Tim Dukane.”

  Tim glanced at the Serinian. “And you mine, Samuel and Sherree as well. You fought bravely to save a village whose people had made it clear you were not welcome.”

  While the Serinian and the mountaineer exchange sentiments, Simon removed the boots from Daniel’s feet, went to the common closet, retrieved a blanket, and spread it out over the sleeping Ducaunan. “He treated me like an equal. Whoever heard of an Accomplished consorting with Talenteds, especially one who is twelfth in his class? Even though he can’t cast spells any more I am going to think of him as a brother,” the Battencayan orphan said.

  Samuel understood the sentiment but could not agree. Daniel was better than the family Samuel had left behind. “My family rejected me. I don’t want our friend here to feel rejected. When I ran away the last time and made it back to my tribal troop, Enrick, our chief declared me dead and my mother, father, brothers, and sister, all turned their backs on me. Even my mother’s mother, the tribal seer, rejected me. She had always been kind to me, telling me how special I was and that great things were coming for me in the future. When I went to her that last time she told me I had to go. That it was my fate to serve the chosen. I was on my way back to Aakadon when Accomplished Lassiter caught up with me. He was actually kind to me after I told him what happened. Obviously, Aakacarns are the chosen, and it was my fate to serve so I devoted myself to learning all that I could,” he told them. “Daniel is going to feel bad enough without being treated like family. I think we should give him the respect due an Accomplished.”

  Simon and Jerremy agreed. Tim stood staring down at his friend looking miserable. “Hey, mountaineer, when was the last time you ate?” Samuel asked him, betting it had been quite awhile since the Ducaunan had eaten.

  Tim looked up and said, “The evening before we faced Balen Tamm.”

  “Come down to the cafeteria, I think we all could use a bite to eat,” Samuel invited.

  Tim shook his head. “No, I want to stay and make sure nobody disturbs his rest,” he said while pointing to Daniel.

  “I’ll watch over him,” Simon volunteered. He looked Tim straight in the eye. “He trusted me and so can you.”

  Tim finally nodded agreement and allowed Samuel to escort him to the cafeteria. Jerremy followed along even though he was not invited, not that it mattered to the Serinian. He inserted himself wherever he wanted, usually where he could criticize Samuel. The four year rivalry had ended in a draw. Their grade averages were even and it had come down to first time amulet and crescendo making. Sherree finished first, like she always does. She created her amulet the fastest of the class and placed ninth among all Aakacarns in recorded history. With the crescendo she placed eighteenth, which made her in the top twenty Aakacarns of all time. Jerremy placed fifteenth in Amulet making and Samuel placed at eighteenth, behind the Serinian again. Samuel consoled himself by the fact that he placed in the top twenty of all time, even being behind the pompous lordling. But then it came time to make the crescendos, Jerremy placed forty-seventh, Samuel placed forty-fourth, which put him ahead of the Serinian, and caused their to final grades to be even. And they both placed in the top fifty, which was no small achievement when one considers how many thousands of Aakacarns were involved over the millennia. Daniel placed first in both categories.

  Classes had been cancelled when Daniel arrived with the Baton of Tarin Conn and everyone was celebrating the victory over Balen Tamm and the Serpent Guild. Talenteds were wandering all over the dorm and many of them had found their way to the cafeteria. None of them knew Daniel had been Silenced and so there was laughing and all sorts of wild speculations concerning the Ducaunan’s adventure. Samuel stood in line for a tray of chicken and rice. Tim chose the same thing and the Serinian chose the veal culet a la Serin. Table eight had three empty chairs so they went over and sat with Charlene and Joanna, who had just returned from her stint at gate duty.

  “Sherree was deeply disturbed about something and refused to come down. Is everything alright?” Charlene wanted to know.

  Tim grumbled and kept on eating. The Serinian pretended not to hear, so it was once again left up to Samuel to push ahead where others hesitated. “Daniel has been Silenced. And before you ask, no I don’t know why.”

  “That can’t be true. I saw the Baton of Tarin Conn tucked into his belt and Serin Gell suspended behind him,” Joanna rejected the truth using unrelated facts, the way she sometimes did.

  “Maestro Terroll Barnes confirmed what the Teki is telling you,” Jerremy said, finally joining the conversation.

  “There must be more to it, something deep and dark we do not know,” Joanna insisted, and Charlene nodded her head in agreement.

  “The Grand Maestro must have had a good reason,” added the Fon Kayan.

  “He definitely had his reasons,” Tim grumbled.

  While Joanna and Charlene discussed all the possible reasons why Daniel had been Silenced, Jerremy stared at Samuel for such a long time that it made him suspicious. The Serinian was up to something and it probably was going to be an insult or some perceived fault blown out of proportion directed at Samuel or his heritage. “I want to thank you,” Jerremy said, about the last words Samuel ever expected to hear out of the lordling’s mouth.

  “What for,” Samuel asked cautiously, figuring there had to be a joke at his expense coming.

  “You motivated me. I came to Aakadon the proud first born son of Lord Jeremiah DeSuan, with the full support of a Serinian lord and the royal court, an Aakacarn who would represent the best of Serinia. At our first competition, we Talenteds unpacked our instruments and performed to establish ranking in the class. I, who performed with the royal symphony in Polen Tare, knew I would place higher than any Talented. I played my vyolin and was placed first in the class. Then a blond-haired green-eyed Lobenian played her silver flute and I was suddenly second. I told myself, she was practically raised in the court of her queen and had an education similar to mine, so I took it all with the good grace we of the nobility are obligated to show. Then along came this dark-haired Teki, who had run away five times, who up till then refused to apply himself to learning, and suddenly shows up just as the competition was about to end. His instrument of choice is the trumpet but he did not have it with him so he takes up a vyolin, calling it a fiddle, and places second, throwing me into third place, behind a Teki.”

  Samuel smiled at the memory. He and Jerremy had traded that position back and forth over the years. “Before then I fought the idea of being an Accomplished, all I wanted was to go back to my tribal troop, when they rejected me, I directed all of my energy into getting ahead.”

  “That is what I am thanking you for. Your drive never allowed me to be complacent about my standing. No matter how hard I belittled you, you kept going, never quit, always worked to achieve what you could as quickly as you could. My ego would not allow a traveling Teki to out perform me. Between my ego and your drive I think we both spurred each other on. And I do me spur. We have irritated one another for years but I’m not sure I would have worked so hard if you weren’t always on my heels ready to pass me by. In a few days we will both be Accomplisheds and be choosing our guilds, I just wanted to say this before events take us apart,” Jerremy said and there was not a bit of sarcasm in his voice, he actually meant it.

  Samuel gave the matter some thought and had to agree
. The Serinian’s egotistical manner did drive them both; Jerremy’s to feed his ego and Samuel’s to prick it. “I thank you as well. We did push each other, it wasn’t fun, but it was interesting, and I think we will both be better Accomplisheds for it.”

  A gong sounded throughout the city, which meant a major announcement was about to be made, no doubt about the recent turn of events. “You have all been waiting to hear what has transpired this day,” Bran Tippen’s voice boomed in all the streets, buildings, and dwelling places in Aakadon. “Balen Tamm is dead and the Serpent Guild is in disarray,” he said and a cheer went up, carried by thousands of voices.

  “The Grand Maestro has given me the privilege of announcing that it was Daniel Benhannon and his friend Tim Dukane who brought this about. Accomplished Benhannon was privately tutored by Maestro Terroll Barnes and was found to possess an extraordinarily high potential. In accordance with the instruction of the Maestro and by command of the Grand Maestro, Daniel Benhannon was ordered not to reveal his position or rank. He was placed among the Talenteds until being assigned the task of obtaining the Baton of Tarin Conn. In his career as an Accomplished he has defeated scores of renegade Accomplisheds, thousands of Condemneds, and well over ten thousand yetis. He led our Talenteds, Sherree Jenna, Jerremy DeSuan, and Samuel Cresh, to victory in the Battle of Bashierwood. For these accomplishments his place in history is assured and he will always be respected,” Tippen went on to say.

  “And being Silenced was his reward,” Tim grumbled.

  “Daniel Benhannon had been captured, taken to Kelgotha where the Dark Maestro formed a link and tortured his dreams. Grand Maestro Efferin Tames has severed that link and Daniel is now free of the curse that had been haunting him. Due to no fault of his own, some of the damage done to Daniel cannot be reversed. Tarin Conn, in an attempt to sway our Accomplished to join him, taught Daniel Serpent Guild specific spells, spells that he was able use against them and their Maestro. While asleep, Daniel has suffered nightmares. In one such nightmare he lashed out with a spell that snuffed the life out of an oak tree, only missing his escorts by pure chance. Through no fault of his own, and not to in any way to diminish or besmirch his strength of character, he has become a danger to all, for he cannot control his dreams. The Grand Maestro has determined that should Daniel Benhannon suffer a nightmare, summon the Serpent Guild specific death spell, every living thing within a five span spherical radius will no longer be alive, snuffed out as easily as a commoner extinguishes a candle. The young Accomplished is exhausted from his ordeal and is even now asleep in the dormitory. But fear not, the Grand Maestro has seen to our safety, for the good of everyone, he has Silenced Daniel Benhannon. His inability to forget a spell once learned is normally an asset, but in this case it has proved to be a curse, for his repertoire, through no fault of his own, has been corrupted by Tarin Conn. Treat our young Accomplished with respect for, while his career has been shortened, he flared like a shooting star, and accomplished more than many Aakacarns have done in centuries of life.”