by Sharon Green
“Six finer people,” Tamma corrected with a gentle smile of her own. “We know you a bit better now too, and if we were fond of you before, the feelings are much stronger now. Right, Jovvi?”
“Absolutely,” Jovvi agreed, meaning exactly what she’d said. “But I have a suggestion I think we all need to consider. We’reall delighted with this brand new development we’ve accomplished, but I believe we ought to keep it to ourselves for the time being. Our … hosts haven’t been entirely convinced that we aren’t the Chosen, and hearing about this might clinch the matter for them. And besides, I’ve heard it isn’t wise to let people know about everything you have up your sleeve.”
“I agree with Jovvi,” Vallant said at once, but he needn’t have bothered. The others were all nodding their own agreement, not one of them uncertain. “This is a strong weapon in our arsenal, and if people don’t know about it, they can’t prepare against it or try to take it away from us. If nothin’ else, we have to think about Naran’s safety.”
That was the ultimate deciding factor, of course, and no more discussion was called for. Lorand rose from his chair, went to Naran, and bowed as he offered his hand. She took it with a grin and let him help her to her feet, then held to his arm as they began to leave the sitting area. Rion rose as well, his mind humming with happiness, and he went over to walk with Vallant, who was already standing. Tamma waited quietly near her own chair, pretending not to notice who it was who now left the area, but her reluctance to leave at the same time that Vallant did gave Jovvi a chance to speak to her.
“Tamma, please wait just a moment,” Jovvi said softly when Tamma was about to take her turn at leaving. “I really do need to talk to you about what happened earlier. I can see how agitated you still are, and—”
“No, it’s all right,” Tamma said wearily, turning to look at Jovvi. “I was in shock for a minute or two when it seemed as though all of you were against me, but then I understood what you were doing. You were all trying to make Vallant Ro respond, but things didn’t turn out quite the way you wanted them to, did they?”
“How can you say that?” Jovvi asked, honestly surprised as she got to her feet. “He told you exactly how he feels, which isn’t at all what you thought he did. He loves you, Tamma, so much that he’s afraid to do anything more about it.”
“Yes, you said he was frightened, and you were right about that part of it,” Tamma said ruefully, reaching one hand up to her hair. “At first I didn’t know how to feel, but now my mind seems to have … made up its mind, so to speak. I expended a good deal of effort to show that man how I feel, but he ignored all that because of the possibility that we might sometime have words again. I consider the idea completely ludicrous, but he was right about something as well: I do detest cowards. I’ll love him to the day I die, but if he finds it impossible to get over his fear, I’ll never have anything to do with him again. And now that I’ll be able to sleep, I’d like to go to bed.”
Jovvi stood with brows raised as Tamma left the area, and it finally came through to her that Tamma was relatively serene in her mind. Indecision no longer tormented her, and it was now up to Vallant to act to change the situation as it stood. Could Jovvi force Vallant into it? Could anyone? If not…
CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE
Rion entered the sitting area after breakfast the next morning feeling very satisfied. He’d not only enjoyed the meal, he was also enjoying the way Naran now walked among the others as a complete equal. Her former hesitancy had vanished entirely, and in its place was a … wholeness, a fullness of spirit which had not been evident before even in his presence alone. Oh, they both considered themselves half of a single whole, but this was more than that very personal relationship. It was a complete sharing which he’d never been able to hope would ever come about.
But it had come about, and Rion still chuckled to himself over the discomfort his brothers had tried to hide the night before. They seemed to think that Naran was his, not in the mutual “ownership” he and Naran practiced but in an exclusive and all-encompassing way. It continued to be a bit beyond him how anyone could think they were entitled to rule the life and doings of another person, especially a person they loved. That sort of relationship was no relationship at all, and it pleased Rion that his brothers seemed to be getting over the outlook. But, of course, there had still been a problem of sorts the night before…
Rion sighed as he remembered what Naran had told him after she’d been with both of his brothers. Lorand hadn’t had any trouble sharing his life and love with her, but Vallant had been a different story. Oh, he’d succeeded in strengthening the bonds their Blending needed, but Naran had told Rion sadly that only Vallant’s body had been involved. His mind and heart had been another place entirely, and Naran had ached for his very obvious pain. And that confrontation between Vallant and Alsin Meerk also still hovered on the horizon…
“Let’s take seats and get started quickly,” Jovvi said, bringing Rion’s attention back to his surroundings. “I got the impression that High Master Mohr and his friends intend to come by again in a while, and I’d like to be through before then. And even more importantly, we need to know if we’ll have a solution to the problem of the ambush, or if we need to think of one ourselves individually.”
It wasn’t possible to argue with that, of course, so Rion chose a chair next to Naran’s and arranged himself comfortably. A moment later he felt Jovvi reaching out to him, and then—
And then the entity was formed again, this time much more quickly and easily than the last. The one who completed it was no longer fearful and hesitant, and the bonds to the others of its flesh forms had been properly strengthened. Now for the problem which had been put, the problem of how the attackers due later this morning might be met and bested. The memories…
The entity breathed a silent sound of satisfaction to itself, now knowing what must be done. There had been confusion the last time because the problem was properly two problems, not merely one. The first part was that there were insufficient link groups with the entity’s flesh forms for an effective defense, and the second was that the approaching allies knew nothing about how they would be attacked. They needed to be told not only of the impending attack, but also how to resist it and reply to it. Once that was done, there would no longer be a problem.
And now the entity knew exactly how they might be warned and informed, with the enemy having no idea that the effort was being made. It was an old technique which would solve the difficulty, and was also the one the entity had been attempting to remember. Clarifying the problem had brought the memory back at once.
And with the thought the entity floated quickly out of the inn, knowing precisely where it was going. The allies of its flesh forms would already be on the road, albeit still some hours away. They would surely have been out of reach to the entity, were the link groups with its flesh forms not warned and already formed. It was necessary to draw heavily on their strength, but speed and … solidity were essential.
The speed was there, and the entity made good use of it. Far faster than the fastest horse might have galloped, it floated back along the road its flesh forms had taken until it reached the allies, who were moving at their own best speed. The entity slowed to a stop at a point on the road somewhat ahead of the column, and then manifested a representation of its six flesh forms. It was meant to seem to the allies that the flesh forms were there in the road, and so it did.
“Look, the five of them are back!” someone at the head of the column shouted, and those in the column pulled their mounts or wagon horses to a halt. “Why have they come back?”
“There must have been trouble,” the one called Alsin Meerk replied, speaking over his shoulder as he urged his horse on ahead. “Stay here and get the column stopped, and I’ll find out what’s wrong.”
*“The trouble is not here, but ahead of you,”* the entity said into the Meerk flesh form’s mind once he had reached what seemed to be the six flesh forms. *“We are not he
re either, but have come to give you warning. Send for members of the strongest link groups, for there is something they must be shown.”*
The Meerk being hesitated a moment in uncertainty, but then he turned his mount and rode back along the column. It took several moments, but at the end of the time there were five other beings with Meerk before the entity’s representation.
*“As our strength is limited, this must be done as quickly as possible,”* the entity said to the five in their minds. *“There will be a large force of enemies who attempt to ambush you as you come to the place called Colling Green, and this is the way they must be fought.”*
Into each mind the entity placed the woven pattern of his or her aspect which would form the much stronger tandem link groups, and then they were all given the method of defeating such tandem groups. As High practitioners they all nodded their understanding with smiles of delight, so the entity returned its attention to the Meerk being.
*“The enemy’s presence will undoubtedly be shielded by their Spirit magic members, therefore must you all be prepared beforehand,”* the entity sent. *“Allow only one Blending entity to be on the alert for your group, and caution it not to draw on the strength of the tandem link groups. This entity means to draw on them once all of you are close enough, and before then will do what it may to protect your column. That may prove to be very little, so be prepared to ward off sudden attack.”*
The Meerk being nodded and began to open his mouth in questioning, but the entity ran perilously close to the end of its strength. For that reason it withdrew even more rapidly than it had gone out, and then—
And then it was Rion back again, but one who felt completely drained and hollow. Looking around showed Rion that the others were in like condition, and Jovvi shook her head.
“Every time the entity does something new, I find myself standing with my mouth hanging open,” she said, sounding as weary as Rion felt. “But this time I’m sitting like that, because I haven’t the strength to stand. And I think I need another breakfast.”
Rion joined the others in agreeing to that, then turned his full attention to Naran. A glance had shown him that she was even more drained than the rest of them, undoubtedly because she’d had no link group to draw strength from.
“Naran is definitely in need of more food, and I think we all need some rest,” Lorand said as Rion put his arm about Naran in an attempt to lend her a bit of strength. “First we’ll eat, and then we’ll get the second Blending to stand guard while we get a few hours of sleep. If they watch for the arrival of both the attackers and the column and wake us when one or the other is sighted, we should be all right.”
Once again no one felt the urge to argue, so they all rose and made their way back to the dining room. The staff was more than startled to see them returning for a second meal, but not nearly as startled as the man Mohr and his friends. They’d apparently been waiting until breakfast was over before approaching them again, and seeing the six of them—plus the link groups—back at tables and demanding food brought the Guild men and merchants a good deal of confusion. They hovered for a moment, as though expecting the matter to be a ploy of some sort to avoid conversation, but when the food was brought and everyone tore into it as though starved, the four men retreated to rethink their position.
The second Blending, which had gone to bed after standing watch all night, was roused and told what was going on, and then they were left to keep watch again while all the rest of them got some sleep. Once the link groups awakened the second Blending would be able to share their strength, as Rion and the others hoped to draw strength from the approaching allies. A question fleeted across Rion’s mind at that thought, but in the face of his weariness and his concern over Naran, it was quickly gone again.
It seemed as though they’d barely closed their eyes before they were roused again by the second Blending, letting them know that the column would soon be approaching. They hadn’t yet located the enemies who meant to attack, but that wasn’t surprising.
“They’realmost certainly hiding behind their Spirit magic members,” Rion said to Naran after sitting up in bed and rubbing at his eyes. “We’ll be fortunate indeed to locate them ourselves before they attack. You still seem close to exhaustion, my love. No one will think any the less of you if you remain here and regather your strength in additional sleep.”
“I know that, my love, but it isn’t possible,” Naran replied with a strengthless smile that was nevertheless filled with confidence and assurance. “I know now that the lack of my talent will make the entity less than it needs to be, so I must be there with you. Possibly the entity will find a way to strengthen me even without my having a link group to call on.”
“It may indeed be possible,” Rion agreed, rising to his feet and waiting until Naran circled the bed and joined him. “We’ll ask the others when we reach the sitting area.”
They left the bedchamber then, and found the others leaving their own bedchambers at the same time. They’d had less than three hours of sleep, but some small measure of strength seemed to have been returned to all of them.
“The column is less than half an hour away,” Vallant said once everyone had gotten cups of tea and found seats. “The second Blendin’ kept searchin’ all around, but still can’t locate the attackers. I think we need to see if we can reach those special tandem link groups in the column now.”
“And we also need to find a source of additional strength for Naran,” Rion added after everyone’s immediate agreement about trying to reach the groups in the column. “Our last excursion exhausted her, and there has to be something our entity can do.”
“We’ll make that a priority even before we search for the attackers,” Jovvi said after putting her teacup aside. “Having Naran collapse will do no one but our enemies any good, and the entity will certainly understand that. Is everyone ready?”
Rion belatedly put his own teacup down, and then Jovvi reached out to all of them. Once again there was no difficulty in Blending, and then—
And then the entity looked about, knowing precisely the reason for its being there. Those attackers, the ones who meant harm to the entity’s flesh forms’ allies, hadn’t been located. It would be necessary to make the effort to find them at once, which ought to be possible for it despite the failure of the second entity. And perhaps now that the column was so close…
The entity reached out rather than floated, and a moment later found just what it had been hoping for: the approaching allied link groups, formed in tandem in the new way. The additional strength available was tremendous, and the entity immediately allowed it to spread out in its being. Now it would be able to accomplish something!
Floating swiftly out of the inn, the entity began to look around. It was able to see the possible places of concealment for the enemy to use, of course, therefore it began to go over those places first. The three least probable locations proved empty of life, as did the second most probable. The first most probable, however, was where they were, a fact the entity frowned over. Those who led the enemy should have known better, which could well mean that those leading them were less than the best strategists and tacticians available. Although it could also mean that they attempted to lull the entity into a false belief concerning their ability. Best would be to keep an open mind…
The enemy was indeed well hidden behind the ability of a tandem group of Spirit magic users, but now the entity was able to pierce the screen of their power. There were one hundred and fifty of them, three sets of tandem link groups, and they were poised ready to attack as soon as the column came within reach. The level of their strength was a good deal more than normal, but not in comparison to the strength of the entity’s tandem link groups. In point of fact the enemy was now almost helpless in comparison, which meant they needn’t be destroyed.
With that in view, the entity floated away to make contact with the third Blending entity, the one on guard for the column. It shared with the third the knowledge tha
t it might now partake of the strength of the second tandem grouping with the column, and also what it might do to aid the entity. Taking over the enemy forces as it and the second Blending entity had done in the place called Widdertown would be simplicity itself, and there might even be information gathered from their new prisoners which would aid them.
Therefore did the entity and the third begin to radiate power back and forth between themselves, their intention being to convert all of the enemy at the same time. They had nearly reached the point where it would become possible, when something entirely unexpected occurred. The enemy, apparently able now to perceive the use of that power, suddenly screamed as though in great pain, and then there was a … gap of some sort where they had formerly been. The entity, filled with confusion, broke off its effort with the third entity, then floated to where the enemy had been. Was it possible that they had found a way to escape? Or perhaps they merely shielded themselves…
It took no more than a moment to discover that the enemy had neither escaped nor found a way to shield themselves. Bodies lay everywhere in the place of ambush, to both sides of the road, and not one spark of life remained to be found. This event puzzled the entity, and after reporting the fact—and the location—to the third entity and leaving it and its tandem link groups to continue looking about for further enemies, the entity dissolved—
—to thunderstruck horror, at least for Rion. His hands trembled as he looked about at the others, to find that they all appeared as drawn and shaken as he felt.
“Knowin’ they were about to be taken over signed their death warrants,” Vallant said hoarsely as he ran a hand through his hair. “Those five lowlives must have done that, preferrin’ to see them dead to havin’ them under our power. Strengthwise they were completely unimportant, those bastards must have known that, but they made them die anyway.”
“Just to deny them to us,” Jovvi said in agreement, her face pale and sickness in her lovely eyes. “Something like that goes beyond cruelty, and shows just how unimportant the lives of people are to them, even the lives of their own. How many more times are we going to have to go through something like that?”
