by Sharon Green
"I don't know how you're doing it either, but you're right," Naran answered with a faint smile, her gaze still distant. "More than our own survival is definitely at stake, but the number of probabilities covering that fact is too large for me to see them all. Now it's not just Tamrissa who's stealing my talent, brother. You're doing the same."
"Although I brought one of the matters up myself, we really don't have time to worry about shadowy figures or odd thievery," Jovvi said, apparently feeling it was time to change the subject. "What we do have to worry about is practicing with the new pattern so that we'll be ready for the intruder the next time we meet. One of the things we need to find out is whether to use the pattern at all times, or only at certain times."
"Hopefully, practice will show us that," Rion said, agreeing that it was time to return to the matter at hand. "And perhaps our Gracelian colleagues will assist us in learning the truth."
"We'll definitely be glad to help any way we can," Hoad agreed as all the others either nodded or spoke different words of agreement. "But I'm still a little confused. Am I wrong in believing that you asked us over here for a different reason entirely?"
"No, as a matter of fact you're right, and once again we've been diverted from our original purpose," Rion said, definitely feeling foolish. "I have the distinct impression that a good deal of the difficulty we have is due to our being too often diverted from our original purpose. What we wanted to know was, when your Blendings look at ours, are you able to see which of the six talents is missing in your own Blending?"
"No, not really," Hoad said after exchanging glances with several others. "We can see that your Blending is larger, stronger, and more complete than ours, but we can't tell what's missing in our own."
"Well, that answers our original question," Vallant said with a nod. "The intruder may know there's somethin' missin', but it can't tell what that somethin' is. Okay, people, let's get on to the practicin' now. I'm sure you've all realized that we'll be better off takin' the fight to the invaders rather than lettin' them come to us. We'll need room to run if runnin' becomes the only thing left, so we don't have much time."
There was a disturbed murmur in reaction to Vallant's comments, but Rion's reaction was more internal and a good deal colder. They would have to go after the invaders and see what could be done against them, but Rion had the definite feeling that their attempt would not be as successful as they were hoping it would be.
But Rion kept that opinion to himself. He, too, seemed to be sharing Naran's talent, and as he ran a hand through his hair he admitted to himself that he would have been happier without it…
Chapter Twelve
If Lorand hadn't been quite so hungry from the practicing they'd been doing, he knew he'd probably have nothing in the way of an appetite. He sat among his Blendingmates as they all ate, but he had the impression he also seemed to be sitting alone. Practicing with the new pattern had been individual efforts for all of them, but in a short while they would be trying the new technique as a Blending.
It was only a short time past noon, but the coming rain had put clouds all over the sky and lowered the temperature more than was comfortable. Lorand felt a definite urge to shiver and wrap something around himself, but he wasn't certain that the chill he felt was entirely physical. He'd loudly announced a few hours ago that he was a changed man, but now that boast felt more like wishful thinking than fact. Was he really changed, or would he still find himself barred from merging with the others?
After muttering something about getting more tea, Lorand got to his feet and went over to the cook fire. He somehow felt less alone over here, even though he'd left the midst of the people most important in the world to him. He did love them all and living without them would be impossible, but… Just how much could you change the way you'd been thinking since you were a child? Enough to let you get over the prejudices that would ruin your life?
"I thought you wanted more tea?" a soft voice commented from his right. "Standing here staring at the pot won't fill your cup, love."
Lorand smiled as he turned to Jovvi, who stood to his right.
"How did I ever manage to earn the love of a woman who's always there when she's most needed?" Lorand asked as he put a hand to Jovvi's face. "If I stop to think about what I might have done to deserve you, I tend to notice all the things I've done to accomplish the exact opposite."
"You've never done anything to destroy the love I feel for you, Lorand Coll, and you'd better never say you have," Jovvi countered fiercely, her expression making Lorand want to chuckle. But he knew better than to do more than smile and shake his head.
"See what I mean about how wonderful you are?" Lorand told her, leaning down to kiss her cheek. "But I have to say that I think you've been spending too much time with Tamrissa."
"Tamma has been rubbing off on all of us including Naran," Jovvi returned, her own smile full of amusement. "At first I worried, but now I've decided that it's really for the best. There are times when it helps quite a lot to show a bit of temper… Lorand, you're worried about whether or not you'll merge with us the next time we Blend. If you worry about it too much, your anxiety might bring you the opposite of what you really want. What all of us want."
"I know that, but I can't seem to help myself," Lorand replied ruefully as he moved forward to use the provided cloth to pick up the teapot. "Left to myself, all I can do is worry and fret. Maybe if you talk to me for a while, I can start to think about other things. Would you like more tea?"
"Yes, please," Jovvi answered, holding out her cup, and once Lorand had poured tea for both of them she studied him. "If you need something else to think about, let's try this: the intruder entity said that we were backward because our own entity thought of itself as 'we' rather than as a single being. Does that mean the intruder is Blended but not merged?"
"What else can it mean?" Lorand asked in turn, waiting until he replaced the teapot before he shrugged. "When this individuality thing first started in the Blending, even we were wondering if it was a step forward or a step back. But I have a different question. If the intruder entity is older than our own, and I think it's fairly obvious that it is, why hasn't it progressed to individuality - if the individuality really is progress?"
"Maybe it's the lack of a Sight magic user," Jovvi said, her expression growing thoughtful. "The intruder entity isn't complete, so it can't grow beyond its present state no matter how old it is. The Gracelian Blendings had entities older than ours too, but the Blendings were so unbalanced - and also unfinished - that they were pale in comparison to us and our associates."
"I hate to say this, but I have the definite feeling that there's another difference between us and the intruder entity that will keep us from equaling them," Lorand said, the sudden conviction forcing him to voice it. "I can't imagine what that other difference is, but I also can't get past feeling certain."
"And I hate to say it, but I feel the same certainty," Jovvi agreed with a sigh. "There's still something we're missing, something we're doing wrong maybe, and that something will keep us from winning. I just hope we have the chance to figure out what we're not seeing or doing."
"You're not the only ones feelin' that, so I've taken steps," Vallant's voice came, and then he stood with them in their small group. "Naran brought up the matter first after you two walked away, so I did some thinkin' and then spoke to our associate Blendin's. The farther away from here we keep those invaders, the longer we'll have to get where we're supposed to be strength and technique-wise. When we go to try ourselves against the intruder entity, our associates will do some attackin' against their army people."
"Which ought to delay their advance at the very least," Lorand said with a nod of understanding. "But we ought to be ready to leave this place fast if we have to. There's no sense in losing any of our people just to make a useless gesture of defiance."
"That one's been taken care of since last night," Vallant assured him, one hand coming to close gently and brief
ly around Lorand's arm. "We can move out of this village almost as soon as we decide we want to, so hopefully you and the other Earth magic users won't have any extra healin' to do."
"That's good to know," Jovvi said as Lorand felt the weight of an unnoticed worry lift from his shoulders. "But if we're all finished eating, we really should get on with trying to delay the invaders."
"I'll be with the rest of you as soon as I make sure that everyone else is finished too," Vallant said, and then he moved off in the direction of their associates. Lorand joined Jovvi in walking back to the place the rest of their Blending waited, and Tamrissa sent Lorand an evil smile as he and Jovvi reclaimed their sitting places.
"We're about to Blend again, Lorand," she said, reminding Lorand of the fact he hadn't really forgotten about. "I've decided that if you don't merge with us this time, I'm going to do something really horrible to you afterward."
"What sort of something horrible?" Lorand asked as he blinked in confusion. "What can you possibly have in mind?"
"I'm not going to tell you that," Tamrissa answered, her smile turning even more evil. "The something won't be painful, but it will be so embarrassing and terrible that you'll never live the episode down. The idea came to me suddenly, and you'll never guess what I have in mind no matter how hard you try."
Lorand blinked again but kept silent, his mind already working on what Tamrissa could possibly have decided to do to him. Not painful, but still embarrassing and terrible. There were any number of things that Lorand would find embarrassing, but what could she mean by terrible? Lorand didn't doubt that she knew what terrible was, but how would that relate to him?
"All right, let's do it," Lorand heard Jovvi say, and he had just enough time to look up and discover that Vallant had rejoined them before Jovvi initiated the Blending. And then it was the Lorand entity who looked about, seeing his associate entities as well as the newly born entities of the flesh forms belonging to the place in which they were. All were prepared to seek out the intruder entity and its captured flesh forms, and all knew the location where the invaders would be found.
-We will flash to a point just short of the invaders' position,- the Lorand entity told his associates and the new ones. -Those who were designated earlier as emergency protection for those of us engaged in battle will remain somewhat behind. It would be redundant to speak in detail of the need for caution.-
And with that the Lorand entity flashed to the point he had previously decided on, to find that the invaders' advance had been temporarily halted.
They have apparently stopped for midday nourishment and rest, the Vallant part of the Lorand entity thought. It would be best to wait for them to resume their march before we proceed.
Yes, that would clearly be best, the Lorand entity agreed as his other parts spoke matching words of concurrence. With agreement complete the Lorand entity prepared himself to wait, but the time was very short. The invaders got to their feet only moments after the Lorand entity's arrival, and their column began to march in the direction of where the Lorand entity and his associates waited.
-The time to begin is at hand,- the Lorand entity informed his associates, and then they all floated forward. One of the associate entities spread insubstantial "hands" under the road the invaders walked, and a moment later that road and the dirt beneath it abruptly disappeared. More than fifty of the invader flesh forms fell out of sight into the pit that had been formed, a deep pit that was just as suddenly filled with water.
There had been no indication of the presence of the intruder entity, but an instant later the intruder was there. The water in the pit disappeared as quickly as it had formed, and then the intruder had turned to the Lorand entity's associates.
-No,- the Lorand entity sent, floating quickly to place himself between his associates and the intruder. -We are here to face you, not them.-
-You may face this entity, but you shall not prevail,- the intruder sent with familiar arrogance. -You will fall before me as you should have done when last we met.-
And then that odd roiling began in the midst of the intruder again, but this time the Lorand entity knew what the roiling was. The intruder reached to manipulate the power itself, which flashed through the intruder's individual talents to strengthen them far beyond what they would be normally.
When the attack reached the Lorand entity he was able to withstand it a good deal more easily than he had the first time, but once again he was unable to respond. It took all of his attention and ability to simply hold off the attack, which he did until his associates indicated that they had done everything they could. At that point the associates held in reserve attacked the intruder at the same time, and when the intruder withdrew just a bit the Lorand entity and his associates were able to flash back to where their flesh forms waited.
"That was a lot better, but it still wasn't what we need to win," Tamrissa said as soon as Jovvi dissolved the Blending. "But one thing of value was accomplished: welcome to adulthood, Lorand."
"How would you know what adulthood is like?" Lorand countered with a wide grin, hearing the others chuckle. "I'm delighted to say that I've now caught up to the rest of you, but I'd still like to know what you threatened to do to me if I failed. I've been wracking my brain, but I can't think of a single thing."
"That's because there isn't anything I would have done," Tamrissa answered with a laugh. "I knew you were worrying about whether or not you would make it, so I decided to distract you with nonsense to keep your own worries from interfering with the merge. Obviously, my idea worked."
"It certainly did, but I'm going to have to get even for that threat," Lorand said after he and the others had added their own laughter. "Knowing what you're capable of, I was already blushing hot enough to start a fire by the time we Blended… But we did make a much better showing this time, even though none of us was entirely successful. I feel like a traitor saying this, but I'm glad the intruder was able to keep all those men from drowning. They may be our enemies now, but if we win against the intruder then we can free those slaves of theirs."
"It isn't being a traitor to want to save innocent lives," Jovvi told him with a gentle smile and a touch of her hand, then the smile disappeared. "I'm just not sure if those men were saved, since Vallant expected the intruder to interfere with our attack. Let's find out how things went for our associates before we decide it's time to feel relieved."
Lorand glanced over to see that Vallant now spoke to someone who crouched near where the Water magic user sat, and the two of them conversed in low tones. Neither man seemed pleased with what they discussed, at least not happy-pleased. The pleasure was more on the grim side, which meant they were in for partially bad news. Lorand tried to brace himself, but he wasn't quite ready when the other man left and Vallant returned his attention to his Blendingmates.
"The invaders now have only half the men they did before we attacked," Vallant said without preamble. "Once the intruder turned to face us, our associate Blendin's replaced the water in that pit and then kindled a fire for some of the others to walk into. It isn't possible to touch those army members with fire, but lettin' them walk into it is another matter entirely. Our associates also put another pit all around the road, so the intruder will have to circle all the way around to keep comin' at us. We've bought some time, but that's all we've done."
"I won't ask why we couldn't destroy all of the intruder's people," Tamrissa put in with a sigh. "I could feel the protection around the ones closest to those litters the intruder members travel in, and it would have taken too long and too much effort to break through the protection. Do you think there's a chance the intruders will turn around now and go back the way they came?"
"They can't afford to do that," Vallant said with a shake of his head. "They're workin' with the theory that they can't be stopped or resisted, so retreatin' is completely out of the question. Once they back off from anythin', their claim to inevitable victory turns too shaky for anyone to take seriously. As long as they
keep comin', people will continue to fear them."
"So we have to continue to fight them, and also find a way to win completely," Tamrissa said with a nod and a sigh. "Just chasing them off will let people think they might be back, and that will give the intruder the victory if we aren't here to face them. Since I'd rather not move to this country permanently, we have to make sure that the intruder can't come back."
But we still don't know how to do that, Lorand thought as the others remained silent. And that was when the rain began, adding to the overall depression. The small victory they'd gained from their attack was no victory at all, it had simply cost the enemy some lives. But those weren't the lives they'd needed to take, and Lorand couldn't help wondering if they'd find the way to take the right lives in time for it to do any good…
Thrybin Korge was as furious as his weakened condition allowed him to be. He'd been put on a litter suspended between two horses front and back, with two blankets under his face and one covering him. He lay on his face to spare the wound in his back, and only by looking over his left shoulder was he able to see where the horses were headed.
And the place we're headed and have almost reached is Liandia, Thrybin thought, seeing the city through the light rain coming down. I was supposed to return here a hero, not an unimportant burden the others dragged along behind them. My failure is all Tal's fault! If not for him, I would have thought of something to set matters right!
Sullen fury burned inside Thrybin, a hatred possessing full knowledge of everything that had been stolen from him. Zirdon Tal wasn't the only one who had stolen Thrybin's destiny, but Tal had done the most damage. He had taken away Thrybin's last chance to overcome all the back-stabbing and intrigue leveled against him, using literal back-stabbing!