FIERCE: Sixteen Authors of Fantasy

by Mercedes Lackey

  “Do you think any will match you? Or I?” Cayan asked through her worried fog.

  “No. I am nearly a myth and you are completely unknown. But they are trained. You are not.”

  “How many can you take?”

  “Take, or kill?”

  He didn’t even pause. “Kill.”

  Shanti resisted the urge to lean her head against Cayan’s back. It seemed her life was only about killing these days. All hate, fear, and death—no family, no love. Some day she would have to answer for the things she’d done. She would have to face her ancestors and explain herself. It was a good reason to stay alive.

  “With the new surge of power, or while linked to you, a great many I should think.”

  “What are they after?” Sterling asked.

  “Your city and its wealth. If they kill the Captain, they can move in while you are all in turmoil and take over the moneymaking operations. Their chief concern is wealth. Even before power. That’s why they are a Graygual favorite—keep them in riches and they won’t strive to steal their leader’s power.”

  “And by the Captain going to them, we are giving these Inkna exactly what they are after,” Lucius said from behind them.

  “Yes. If I were granted any sort of opinion, which I realize is doubtful in this company, I would say it is the least wise thing in this whole venture. I can handle mental warfare, the rest of this crew can handle the arms. The Captain should stay at a safe distance when his leadership is no longer needed. But I am just following orders; therefore, I have no opinion.”

  “I cannot let my countrymen die for a decision I made,” Cayan stated.

  “Then you will find war extremely difficult.”

  “This isn’t war,” Cayan growled.

  “Wrong. This is the beginning stages of it. You are choosing a side by going against the Inkna. By not turning me in. By not turning yourself in. You are choosing a side, and it will lead directly to war.”

  “Shall we run, like you are doing?” he growled.

  Shanti clenched her jaw. The man could get under her skin like no one she’d ever known. And right now, he was trying to. “I’m not running; I am uniting two halves into a whole. I’m seeking out our distant relations and hoping they’ll give aid. I’m hoping to bring the largest war this land has ever seen, which is what it will take to tear down the empire the Being Supreme has already created. You’re a stop on my journey. Your Gift is a new dimension to the overall situation. But I’m not running, because there is nowhere to run to.”

  “But your half has been destroyed.” Cayan wasn’t trying to hurt her; he was trying to understand. He was just hurting her in the process. And being a jerk at the same time, something he could always do effectively.

  “That’s right. None left save me. But I am quite a prize, am I right, boys?” Shanti swung down from the saddle and walked back to her boys.

  Chapter XXXV

  SANDERS WAS HALF LUCID. BUT only half. He was close to the end now. He didn’t even understand half of the questions anymore. He was praying for death. There were two others save him, and they were close to cracking. Sanders could hear it in their screams. Death wasn’t coming fast enough and there was only so much a mind could take.

  Chapter XXXVI

  THE FIRES WERE QUIET AS the troop ate their meal. The day had been eventful. Three different bands of Mugdock charged as Cayan passed through their lands. Shanti didn’t have to warn Cayan of their approach; he was well aware. That part of the lesson he was close to mastering. Marc had to work on two people, but no one was lost. The Mugdock weren’t so lucky, especially because they weren’t allowed to retreat and they weren’t captured. Their graves were the burnt land they had created and none of Cayan’s people seemed bothered by it.

  Beside those minor delays, the troop made great time. They had pushed hard and fast, covering a lot of ground, and now would rest for the night. It would take another half day to the destination. Hurrying hadn’t been planned, but it was hard to resist. Sanders and the other survivors wouldn’t have much time. They had been subject to pain for days by now, and Shanti doubted the Inkna were taking it any easier than she had after she found out Sanders had been captured.

  “Shanti, right?”

  She forced down a white-hot surge of violence at that last thought. It wouldn’t help right now. She turned to regard the speaker, currently taking a seat by her fire. Marc and Leilius had both already wandered away to go to sleep, and no one else dared go near the strange foreign woman with glowing eyes who cleaved through the Mugdock as though wading through shallow water.

  Jerrol was lowering himself to the ground next to her. She couldn’t make out the brown of his eyes in the fire, but she could see the lines of his handsome, nearly pretty face. It was exactly what she needed, a distraction. Hopefully that was the reason he stopped by.

  “Yes. Jerrol. Hello. I haven’t seen you since you turned me down.” She smiled and attempted a sultry pose. Being without practice she looked pitiful, so settled instead for sticking her chest out. This land greatly loved breasts. It was as good of enticement as any, even though she could’ve done with a bit more in that department.

  A slow smile crept up his face. “I don’t think you are remembering that right. I didn’t turn you down; I clammed up and made a fool of myself. I came over to repair the damage.”

  She had no idea what “clammed up” meant, but repairing damage she understood well enough. It matched the lust pouring off him. Then she matched the lust pouring off him.

  “No damage to repair. I thought you had a woman, though?”

  He crinkled his brow and lightly shook his head. Then his face cleared. “The ball, right?”

  She nodded, leaning closer. They should probably get out of sight for what came next. She searched through the nearby bushes and trees to find a place not inhabited by a sleeping man.

  “She is a…friend. We are not attached.”

  They matched smiles, their mutual desire offered, and accepted. Jerrol’s gaze flicked to the side. “Well, do you—“

  “Did you have a question, Jerrol?”

  Shanti groaned at the familiar voice.

  Jerrol’s eyes went wide and he stood immediately. “No, sir. I was just talking with Shanti, sir.”

  “It’s time you caught some sleep, don’t you think?”

  “Yes, sir.”

  Shanti didn’t even get a chance to interject before Jerrol took off running like teeth were chomping at his backside.

  “Was that necessary?” Shanti asked in a pout as she turned back to the fire. Even if she followed, Jerrol wouldn’t defy his Captain’s unspoken command to keep his dick in his pants.

  Cayan sat down beside her, gaze glued to the flame. “He’s not your type.”

  “Actually, he is very much my type. He is a man, he is warm, and he has nice eyes.”

  Cayan’s gaze found her face. “Is that all you require? A warm body?”

  Shanti swung her shoulders so she was facing him, matching his blank face and acute stare. The glow of the fire flickered against his cheek. The other half of him was lost to shadow, much like the other half of her soul. “I have lost all I hold dear, Cayan. I have been alone for over a year. I have no one to talk to that knows anything about me, no one I trust to lean on when things get tough, and no one that cares about me outside of what I can do with my Gift or my body. I have no family, no friends, and no idea how my future will unravel from one day to the next. And now I barely have control over my present or my choices. So yes, a warm body that wants me, however superficial, is all that I require. I’m no longer a prime candidate for a mate, I can assure you. All that awaits my home fire is death.”

  His gaze held hers for a moment longer, his face softening but hiding his feelings. She didn’t dare touch his mind; she didn’t want to feel the pity she knew was there. She was designated the Chosen, and she had a job to do. She was alive and her people were dead. She would do her part so she could earn a place amo
ng her ancestors. Other than that she didn’t care what people thought of her existence, least of all this mood spoiling, control assuming, stoic horse’s ass.

  “You should get some sleep,” he said curtly.

  She turned away, showing him her back, powerless to do anything else. She would follow his command in front of his people until Sanders was safe and his prisoners had paid, but after that the illustrious Captain could shove his dictatorship up his ass.

  She heard him leave quietly and continued to stare at the fire, grateful when Lucius quietly sat down next to her a moment later. His quiet support helped.

  Soon after she lay down where she was and went to sleep.

  Chapter XXXVII

  AS THE SUN CRESTED THE tree tops, the battle party was under way, everyone trying to hide anxiousness with stern faces. The upper tier of command looked at the maps often, delimitating, figuring out the land as it changed. Archers rode or walked around the outside of the ranks, ready to shoot anything they didn’t trust. Sterling took the front, arrow already nocked. She had perceived correctly, he was an expert shot. At least, that’s what she’d eavesdropped from the gossip around the campfire.

  Shanti’s mind was open, and stretched out over a league, but so far there wasn’t much in the way of habitation. A fact she’d told those around her, trying to loosen the hands clutching their swords, or slow their darting eyes, but they didn’t trust the strange foreign woman who spoke with a harsh tongue to their Captain. They probably figured that at any moment she would cut herself with her sword.

  About midday everyone came to a halt. A young man came trotting down the line, young but self-important, until he stopped even with Shanti. “The Captain wants you.”

  “Oh well, I better hurry then, shouldn’t I? I wouldn’t want to offend his majesty.”

  Three men surrounding her sucked in a hasty breath. For a Captain that hardly ever punished anyone, she had no idea how he inspired this much fear. It was a thing she actually wanted to learn. Quite useful at times.

  Antsy men shifted their stances as Shanti walked past, loose dust kicked up from a hundred men and twenty or so beasts. The midday sun baked down on the line, stifling the air, glistening the brow. Battle was near. They could all sense it. Expectation buzzed louder than a swarm of flies, battering her shields and pumping her blood. This was what she was born for. To lead men into battle.

  Duty hummed through her bones as she rounded the horses and glanced up at the Captain, tall and strong atop his horse, shoulders and head high, a similar feeling coursing through his body. The only difference was, these were his men, and the leadership was his duty. She was but a sword within his arsenal.

  Chosen, my stubbed toe.

  “We are getting close,” Cayan said without preamble, sparing her no more than a glance. “They will have sentries soon. We need to make a plan of entry now, in the event we meet the enemy.”

  “You’re aware this isn’t their home land, right?” Shanti asked as she stopped beside Sterling’s horse.

  “But they reside here now,” a stern man on a dapper horse said.

  It was time for serious and hostile, was it? She hadn’t gotten the decree.

  Pushing down an insane urge to stick a knife in his shoulder just for giggles, she said, “A faction of Inkna reside here, yes. But their people, as a whole, are spread across the land, trying to dip their fingers in everything profitable. This faction will be attached to a small city the same size as yours or less. They will be running things, but the work donkeys will not be theirs. They will have a few sentries to monitor trade routes, or crazed indigenous peoples wanting their land back, but they belong to a giant nation dominating the west, plus they have capable mental warfare that has probably so far been unimpeded. They are not overly concerned with the probability of assaults from a foreign nation.”

  “But even though they aren’t the work horses...” A balding, stodgy character paused in his speech, giving her a weighty stare, before continuing, “Their forces will double ours in size.

  Shanti pondered that statement. “Possibly. They are branching out, which means they have a stable horde here in which to sustain their leadership. Assuming they are torturing Sanders for information with which to spread their forces to your city, they probably have enough to cover both areas. Which means that, yes, they probably double this war party in size. At least.”

  “Well, that’s terrible news,” a furry-browed man said, his lips in a thin line.

  “Tobias,” the Captain barked, silencing the other man immediately. He squinted ahead, thinking. Grim blue stare met Shanti’s. “You think their sentries will be light?”

  “I do.”

  “They’ll be expecting us, though.”

  Shanti blew out a breath, slowly shaking her head. “There are not many leaders that would send this kind of response if a few of their men were taken.”

  Three horses started to prance, and Shanti, the only one on foot, backed away quickly. Getting trampled before the battle would be just her luck.

  “I assume you imply that their leaders are wanting, and not a judgment on my leadership,” the Captain said with a warning in his tone.

  “This isn’t the time to be prickly, but that is correct. As I’ve said—“

  “I’m not interested in what you’ve said. Do you think they expect us?”

  Shanti took another couple steps back, Cayan’s gaze nearly a physical push. “Not so soon, no. And not with your best men. We will have surprise on our side. And skilled fighters. The only thing of concern is mental warfare.”

  “Regardless of whether or not they are expecting us, they will have some warning system in place,” Sterling stated mildly.

  A baby-faced man spoke up. “Not if we kill them before they get the signal up.”

  “Well, now, that is the question, isn’t it?” Shanti said. “What is their signal? Is it a light or sound device, like your city has? If that is the case, then yes, killing them will solve the problem.”

  “You wonder if they are monitored mentally,” Cayan said with a grim voice. The men tried to hide masks of confusion at the mention of mental abilities.

  She nodded. “I don’t know how powerful they are. If their power matched the little mouse I spoke with, then they can probably reach about two hundred spans, maybe less. But if they have a few powerful men, they can space themselves out and monitor each other, making the first sentry you come across as good as a siren for the rest.”

  “Can you cut the link?” Lucius asked.

  “I can disguise it, certainly, but that limits my power for when we go into their hold. If it were my call, I wouldn’t waste valuable power on the sentries, unless they try to attack us mentally. They will have their most valuable members behind the walls. I will need to attack them or shield you once we go in.”

  “We kill them on sight,” Cayan decided. “If they are warned prior to our coming, then all of their mental defenses will be lined up waiting. They will at least be all in one place. No surprises.”

  Shanti nodded and shrugged at the same time. Battles always brought surprises, but she didn’t want to rile him up further.

  Cayan, Sterling, and a circling of other experienced men dismounted from their horses and gathered in a circle, dissecting the maps and making final arrangements. Each lieutenant had a group of men under his guidance, which then sectioned out again to a staff sergeant. They listened and nodded, the lower tiered men leaving much of the arrangements to the officers.

  When they had finished, the circle broke up and they stowed their maps, walking determinedly back to their mounts with hard faces. As Shanti turned toward her spot in the middle of the line, Cayan said, “Shanti, I want you up front. I am led to believe you are a good shot with the bow. I also know you can use my power to search out the enemy from a great distance. Both are useful.”

  “If the horses spook, I’ll be trampled.”

  “You’ll be riding behind me.”

  She was in th
e process of saying, “No,” when hard blue eyes rooted her to the spot. Her tongue got thick and melded to the roof of her mouth. She wanted to shrivel away, to look anywhere but at those eyes. But she’d be blasted if this man would intimidate her, so she held that stare, trying to ignore the shivers running up her back and weakening her legs.

  “It was not a question,” he said, his eyes and bearing reinforcing his words.

  She nodded indifferently, telling herself it was because she said she would follow his command for now, rather than admitting to being scared shitless to refuse. She waited for him to climb on and allowed herself to be hoisted up after him.

  It appeared she had her answer for how he inspired fear…

  “It won’t be easy to shoot from behind your big body.” Her voice had only a hint of pout.

  “Sterling will hit anything to the right. You to the left. I will hit anything in front. What we miss those behind us will hit.” After a pause he finished with: “I want you to connect with me. Use my power to reach.”

  “Together our power is unpredictable.”

  “I need you 100% for when we go in the hold. Use me. It wasn’t a request.”

  And the hits just kept on coming.

  The progression continued with everyone on point. Shanti put her hand up the bottom of Cayan’s shirt onto his smooth, muscled back. She tagged along as he opened his mind and spread it out, letting him use the brunt of power required, even though it was only a trickle. Being linked mentally, she couldn’t help but feel his apprehension for the coming battle. He was worried of his decision, he was scared Sanders was dead, and the incredible burden of his position weighed on his mind.

  “You made the right choice,” she murmured for his ears alone. “Your people will make it through this. If you didn’t act, they would’ve come for you in numbers, and you would’ve still had to fight.”