To Be Grand Maestro (Book 5) Read online

  His mind wandered to the thirty-six crystalline gems under his skin that prevented him from teleporting. The melodious spell in each stone, powered by thirty bolts of potential, would rip his body apart if he tried to transport himself elsewhere. He hoped his personal potential was finally now more than a match for the spells constraining him. If so, it was only a matter of concentrating all of his life force energy at each spell until, one by one, they would collapse. He first needed to overpower the immobilization spell, it being the easiest. The Melody was just as powerful as those in the gems, but did not require the simultaneous healing he would have to perform while disintegrating and removing each stone.

  It was nearing the middle of the night, not that he could actually sense the time physically; he knew this by the quantity of sleeping minds linked to him. He just finished his schedule of visitations, most of which his slumbering hosts knew about while others of them would wake up never knowing they had been visited. This method allowed him to receive reports and then later peruse individual dreams in order to learn their secret desires, and determine how much each person could be trusted. In many ways survival of the fittest was the general rule under which he ran his guild, which meant he needed to keep tabs on those who were only serving him out of fear or greed, and those who were actually loyal to him. He could make use of them all but would only advance the careers of those who revered him.

  He knew of the guild teams from Aakadon and their goal of reaching Shantear and strengthening the spells constraining him. The face in the mirror above frowned back at him. He was so close to breaking free, within a day, maybe within the mark, yet now there was a real possibility of failure, a major setback at the least. If Daniel had not interfered, Reese and his teams would still be well east of the Tollus River, deep in the kingdom of Ducaun, with more than four hundred spans to cover before reaching his goal, and the mission would have had zero probability of success. The Maestro of the Eagle Guild should have arrested Daniel, not sought his help! Tarin rarely admitted to making a mistake, but teaching the spell, Teleportation, to the young Aakasear had him on the verge of making such admittance. The young man had a gift for taking Tarin’s own compositions and using them against him. He had a grudging pride in how well his counterpart used the knowledge, yet would not allow that minimal emotion to stop him from crushing the young man. The battle for control of the mountain would happen soon and hopefully put an end to the troublesome spell-caster.

  All of his Accomplisheds involved in the defense of Serpent West were wide awake, so Tarin would have to wait until the conclusion before any of them, primarily Vance, would spell themselves to sleep, and be available to give a report. Rather than spend time wondering what was happening on the other side of the continent, it seemed prudent to work on overpowering the immobilization spell. The Melody, Free Me, played in Tarin’s mind, summoning the potential, and he focused it at the offending spell. It took slightly under a minute to project all of his thirty bolts and he smiled, knowing every living being in the world could feel the harmonic ripples and were no doubt trembling in their beds. He ceased the spell after it became apparent he did not yet have the strength to break free, but it was close, oh, so close.

  A short time passed, Tarin could feel mental links vanishing from his mind and knew each absence meant some of his Aakacarns were dead with more dying by the moment. The battle for Shantear had just begun. Scores, then hundreds, and a few minutes more, over a thousand links were gone. Clearly the battle was not going well for his guild and the proof came when he felt the first outer pulse of a harmonic ripple. The powerful wave was soon followed by another and Tarin could sense by the shortening space between each successive ripple that a major spell originated from the southwest and was heading in his direction.

  After about half a mark transpired, tens of thousands were dead and the Grand Symphonies, he sensed two, enveloped his prison. It took only a few minutes more for the spells to seep in through the miniscule flaws in the settings between the crystals. Which Maestro was conducting, Daniel Benhannon or Talmon Reese? The answer did not matter as much as whether or not the potential in the gems and immobilization spell were about to be increased. There was still time. Tarin knew well the same properties that allowed him to send only a trickle of his vast potential out into the world also kept those Symphonic spells from striking him with their full potential.

  Tarin summoned and focused all of his life force energy into overpowering the immobilization spell, hoping to break free before it could be strengthened. Something slammed into the top of his vault and by the sound, shattered on impact. The conductor of the symphonies must have figured out he needed to break through the vault in order to strengthen the spells. Tarin summoned a fist of potential, diverting a little from his effort to rip apart the spell holding him, in order to fend off whatever penetrated the ceiling, while also maintaining his assault on the immobilization spell.

  A narrow-pointed shaft of granite broke through the mirror, lancing toward Tarin’s chest. He slammed the fist of potential at the skewer, knocking it aside with ease. A topaz blue glow around the shaft not only indicated it was shielded by a spell, it also revealed the caster. He was intimately familiar with the owner of that particular hue; Daniel Benhannon was conducting the Symphonies. Even with the amplifying properties of the Crystal Chamber and the aid of a small number of Aakacarn associates, it was surprising the young Aakasear could maintain that much potential for over half a mark. The drain on his life force energy must be enormous, even if the reports of him gaining a seventh lightning bolt proved to be accurate.

  The small break in the crystals above allowed more energy to enter the vault, yet Tarin could not sense the spells holding him captive being strengthened. Most of his effort was focused on the immobilization spell, yet he dare not take his eyes off the granite skewer. Sure enough, the lance shot down and he brushed it aside as one would a gnat, albeit one that would have killed him had he not swiped it away. This pattern continued for about a quarter of a mark and then came a pause. Perhaps Daniel was foolish enough to believe he could catch the greatest Accomplished of all time off guard, Tarin laughed at the notion.

  The delay stretched on until finally the granite shaft shot down faster than at any other time, but not nearly fast enough. Tarin chuckled, almost casually swinging at the skewer and it shattered on impact, while at the same time the immobilization spell burst apart. He quickly rolled off the slab, landing in a pushup position, and then sprang to his feet. The spell, Flex had done its job well at keeping him physically fit. The fist of potential vanished instantly, but not by his choice. There was now a shield on Tarin’s potential and he could not project life force energy beyond his own body. He also sensed a new link to his mind, a familiar one from the recent past, except that connection had been formed by him and this one was the other way around.

  “You are as powerful as I feared you would be,” Daniel’s thoughts came faintly through the link along with a projected image of him, head and shoulders only. The young Aakasear was so weak he could not send a full image and even in this he appeared to be spent.

  Tarin knew he would be free soon and so felt he could be magnanimous here at the end of his rival’s life. “You were not ready to confront me and soon will be dead. That was a clever trick but the shield you placed on me will not last much longer. You should have accepted the invitation to join my guild.”

  The image projected into Tarin’s mind had faded out half way through his reply and although he could still feel a link, he knew Daniel’s mind was beyond projecting or receiving thoughts. The only question remaining was onto what had the tricky mountain-born Accomplished tied the Da Capo?

  During that brief communication Tarin felt thousands of minds being cut off from his and decided it was time to accept his personal victory and stop the losses his guild was taking at Serpent West. Daniel and his allies won the battle but have failed in their mission and those associates and allies would soon be fighting a war wi
thout their Chosen Vessel to lead them.

  The links already established were not affected by whatever shield Daniel managed to place on him but would prevent Tarin from establishing new ones, at least for a while. Rather than imagine a setting and drawing the person in, he chose to send thoughts so as not to distract her from whatever task she was in the middle of performing. “Serena, I want you to relay a message to Maestro Cummin. Tell him, Daniel Benhannon has succeeded in establishing a shield on me of his own making. I will soon find a way to overcome this new barrier to my potential. Shantear is lost for now and you are to cease sending teams.”

  “I hear and obey, Great One,” she replied through the link. Her mind blanked for a few moments while she no doubt sent the missive. “He confirms that the order to stand down will go out immediately,” her thoughts resumed

  Tarin knew by the sudden lack of deaths that his order was being followed. “For the moment I cannot project potential beyond my body but that does not prevent me from removing the gems keeping me from teleporting. In the course of time I will overpower Benhannon’s shield or have destroyed whatever he tied the Da Capo onto. You know where to approach me at that point. I have decided to teach you the spell, Ties That Bind, when we do meet. Cast this Melody on people and it will allow you to communicate with their minds whether they are awake or asleep and dreaming. I will leave it to your discretion when to use this new spell and when to use, Join Me.” He always rewarded loyalty.

  A wave of emotions, reverence, ambition, love, and lust foremost among them, came through the link along with, “I wait anxiously to be in your presence, Great One, and serve in whatever capacity I can. You have but to give the command and I will obey.”

  Tarin had no doubts concerning her loyalty and motivations. She was the first person in over eleven hundred years to think, and more precisely dream, of him not only as being godlike, but also as a man. Serena, with her red-blond hair and petite form, was a stunningly beautiful female and there was no denying her physical appeal. Even so, he did not love her, no being could claim that much devotion from him, yet he did love the fact that she was in love with him, and knew he could make good use of her passion and devotion. “I trust that you will obey and for that you will be rewarded,” he replied and then ended the communication.

  Tarin Conn suddenly found himself standing within the Great Crystal in front of a fully recovered Daniel Benhannon. The younger Maestro stood equally tall, wearing blue silks with silver trim and the hood of his cloak had seven golden lightning bolts with the center one being the largest. The former mountaineer was clean shaven, pale-faced, dark haired, and his nearly black eyes were filled with intensity and a hint of amusement. This was clearly a projected image and likely did not reflect his actual physical condition. “I’m not dead yet,” he declared and then the link was gone and Tarin was once again alone in his mind within the vault beneath Kelgotha.

  Fury seethed in him, he closed his eyes, and summoned potential through the spell, Free Me, until all thirty bolts of life force energy was blasting at the shield. A nimbus of blue light, the color of Daniel’s potential, bright as the sun, filled the chamber. Tarin could see the intensity through his eyelids, and raised his arm for greater protection, knowing the increased radiance would have blinded him had he not done so, yet the shield did not break. He held the potential for nearly half a mark, draining moisture from his body in order to maintain the flow of energy, yet because of the new shield, Nourishment, no longer functioned, and still the shield held. He had no choice but to cease his efforts soon or risk being mummified. How much potential had Daniel used to make this shield? More importantly, how many more lightning bolts will it take to overpower this new obstacle to full functionality?

  He gradually lowered the amount of potential flowing from him and the power in the shield seemed to lower correspondingly. He raised and lowered the potential in, Free Me, several more times and realized Daniel must have composed a shield that not only varied, it absorbed and fed off the energy directed at it. No such Melody had been written before. Tarin began to form a grudging respect for his immature rival, but that would not keep him from crushing the young Aakasear.

  For now, his task was to remove the thirty-six gemstones within his flesh. With chapped lips, a dry tongue, and no water to drink, he realized the undertaking would take much longer, requiring time to recuperate after removing each and every one of the stones. Teleporting to freedom would then be possible since the energy would be focused within rather than outside of his body. Eliminating Daniel’s shield would take quite a bit more thought, but would not hold the mighty Tarin Conn for long. “Count on it,” he warned the world, untroubled by the fact not a soul could hear him from the depths of his prison.

  Chapter Two: The Health Wing

  Jennel Obenport, a three-bolt Accomplished of the Atlantan Guild, and Lead Healer, observed the activity around her. Talenteds in their tan-colored silks, shirt, pants, and hooded cloaks, brought in the wounded, levitating them on solidified cushions of air and placing them wherever Bernard Kleopis, a former Aloe, her deputy in this undertaking, directed. The Two-bolt Accomplished, a clean-shaven man of medium build and height, was good at quickly observing everything going on in the room, assessing the needs of the patients, and sending them to the healer currently specializing in that particular injury, or whichever associate was available, and occasionally performing a quick healing when none else could. The needs of the patient always holds the priority, was a tenet he and Jennel shared.

  This was one of four large rooms, all of which were filled to capacity, dedicated to healing those injured in the battle taking place at Mount Shantear. Light was provided by glowing spheres floating near the ceiling. Hundreds of wounded Accomplisheds and thousands of Sentinels were in need of treatment with more arriving by the minute. Each of them was under the influence of the spell, Sleep Time, cast upon them either by whoever conveyed them to the holding area beneath Center Court, or the Talented assigned to bring them into one of the four treatment wards, and some of them by the Maestro before he went on to conduct the Grand Symphonies. Jennel had been going from wardroom to wardroom, making sure her standards were being maintained, and taking the time to stop and heal patients as the situation warranted.

  Fifty associate healers and every available Talented in the guild, currently one hundred eighty-three, were helping her with the daunting task of healing the mass casualties, yet only six of those Accomplisheds were former members of the Aloe Guild, four of which were working in the three other wards. Each Accomplished was familiar with the relevant Symphonic spells composed by Maestro Benhannon and was therefore competent to render aid, but only the few trained as Aloes had the experience of dealing with healing on this scale. They all wore, as did Jennel, silver on blue silks and a silver belt and buckle with the falcon in flight clutching a lightning bolt emblem in the center of the oval, and a spelled-silver canteen filled with water. The Talenteds’ belts, buckles, and canteens were spelled-copper. The spelled-metals would never tarnish or need polishing. Jennel’s hood was laid back, held by a braid twisted from her long saffron-colored hair, revealing a fair Lobenian complexion, and most importantly her hazel eyes.

  One hundred-three years of her life had been devoted to the healing arts as an Accomplished of the Aloe Guild, two years as an Intern, twelve as a Practitioner, and eighty-nine years as a Senior Practitioner. That was until a little over seventeen years ago when she was captured by several Accomplisheds of the Serpent Guild and turned into an Aakademned. Her location, she would never call it a home, from that point until recently had been in whatever tunnels or caverns required her presence within Mount Tirana.

  Although she was now many cubits underground in the Health Wing of the Benhannon Northland Holding, near the border Ducaun shared with Pentrosa, she could hear the animals that had been linked to the mind of the Maestro let out a cacophony of howls, roars, screeches, and other sounds of outrage and fear echoing through the halls from up a
bove. She had only bonded, her word for the process, six cats and six owls, leaving two pairs at each of the Maestro’s holdings. With enough concentration focused on one of the animals, she could see, feel, and hear everything the creature sensed, and all of them in turn could feel her presence. That being the case, it was as obvious as a smiling child’s missing front tooth that Daniel’s creatures experienced the same feeling as she concerning him and therefore knew something to be wrong.

  Jennel’s thoughts flashed back to the recent past, all traces of gender had been ripped away, leaving open sores that never fully healed. Her skull had been flattened, eye sockets extended out like a pair of long distance opticals, and the vertebrae in the neck had been fused so she was forced to turn her entire body just to see what was beside her, on legs shrunken and made thicker than they had been prior to the assault. The spell, Condemnation, had made her nothing more than a passenger in a ruined body that did not respond to her wishes, but could only do what the caster of the spell demanded of it.

  Who would ever believe a person could start a new life at one hundred twenty-one years of age? Against all odds she now had that new life and as of several moments ago a new horror threatened take it away, This is unacceptable, she spoke inwardly, not wanting to add to the growing fear permeating the room. There must be some other explanation, she told herself.

  Not even the incredibly powerful harmonic waves washing through the world, ripples that had come to a sudden stop at the exact moment the Maestro’s presence vanished, had interrupted the healings taking place, but this new horror brought all activity to a standstill. No wonder I am remembering the unpleasantness of the past, Jennel thought as she quickly brought her emotions under control. He cannot be dead, she told herself, refusing to accept the possibility.