Destiny (31 page)

"Yes, I was definitely feelin' a good deal more strength," Vallant said, mostly to Rion but to the rest of us as well. "If this doesn't make us at the very least equal to the invaders, I'm throwin' my hands up and goin' home."

"And the rest of us will be going with you, because we don't have anything else left to try," I agreed with a shrug. "Did you all notice that when we were Blended? That if we don't win now we never will?"

"I certainly did," Naran said with a sigh. "Our chances at victory have increased tremendously, but it's still up to us to turn the possibility into reality."

"You know, suddenly that doesn't worry me," I said as a revelation of sorts broke through. "We keep fretting over the fact that we aren't being guaranteed victory, but didn't we decide a long time ago that nothing is guaranteed until it actually happens? Even if the probabilities show everything stacked against us in the coming fight, there's still the chance that one of those litter bearers could trip and make the others drop the litter. Falling could break the neck of one of the enemy, and that would be the end of all the probabilities stacked against us. So let's not worry about the fight, only about where we put our feet."

"I think I'll take that excellent advice personally," Lorand said with a laugh while everyone else made sounds of agreement. "I'm probably the least graceful of all of us, so I
need
to take the advice. What are we going to do now?"

"We're going to have some tea and relax for the next hour or so," Jovvi said firmly before anyone else could answer. "Vallant will have one of our associate Blendings keeping an eye on the enemy, so we have nothing to do but gather all the strength we can. When the time comes, we'll then go out and put those invaders in their place. Does anyone think we won't?"

Jovvi looked so fierce when she asked her question that the rest of us simply shook our heads without showing our inner smiles. We
were
going to win, I knew we were…

Rion protected us from the rain on our way back to the house we'd slept in, and then he went off to think about what he would make for lunch. The rest of us got tea and sat down on our sleeping pads, but I, personally, found relaxing beyond me. I wanted to get on to the fight and have it behind me, but we couldn't even go out to meet the invaders at the place we'd decided on. Putting our bodies within reach of the enemy's slaves would have been colossally stupid, and we couldn't afford to be stupid…

"You know, I've been thinking about those invaders," Lorand said, appearing suddenly beside my sleeping mat. "They remind me quite a lot of your parents, Tamrissa."

"In what way?" Vallant asked, making room for Lorand on his own mat. "I didn't notice the enemy tryin' to fix her up with a husband."

"They've done everything
but
that," Lorand said with a chuckle as he sat and looked up again to see my faint smile. "They're just as arrogant as Tamrissa's parents were, demanding that we all do as they say, and they completely dismissed what
we
want. They also think we'll never find an effective way to argue with and resist them, and the whole point of their lives seems to be to get their own way no matter how many other lives are ruined in the process."

"I hadn't noticed that, but obviously you're right," I said with brows high. "Those people
are
just like my parents, going their merry way without once stopping to think about anyone else. And they need taking down just as badly as my parents did. Now I really can't wait until the fight starts."

I got to my feet and carried my tea over to a window, staring out into the rain as I enjoyed a sense of anticipation. I happen to love rainy days, finding the gentle confinement when indoors a snug and comfortable thing. If I have to go out in the rain the world seems different, as if it's enjoying its cleansing as much as I enjoy the smell of freshness. Yes, rainy days have always been special for me, and this rainy day would turn out to be more special than all the rest.

I lost myself in daydreams of sweet revenge for a while, thinking about the past and making plans for the future, and the sound of Vallant's voice came as a surprise.

"All right, brothers and sisters, the time for action has arrived," he said, his voice full of happy anticipation. "Our associate Blendin' tells me that the enemy is almost to the place we want them to reach, so it's gotten to be
our
turn to move."

"Yes!" I breathed, then headed back to my sleeping pad. "Okay, is everybody ready?"

"Not quite yet," Naran said, surprising me. "We don't know how long this will take, so a quick trip to the facilities is in order."

Everyone seemed to agree with her, and I discovered that that included me. We all took a turn using the facilities, but it still wasn't long before we were back to our sleeping pads.

"Okay, is everybody ready
now
?" I asked as I looked around. All I got in response was amusement, so instead of saying anything else I simply reached out to them. Their answering touches were immediate, and then it was the Tamrissa entity once again.

I knew the point at which I'd wanted the enemy to be met, so I flashed there without having to confer with our current guard entity. The slave flesh forms walking in advance of the enemy's litters were already in sight, so our arrival was just in time.

The others are arriving behind us
,
the Vallant part of me said.
Our associate entity informed them of the impending battle after reporting to us.

Good,
the Naran part of me said in approval.
Their presence is required in some way.

Our own presence is required to an even greater
extent
,
the Rion part put in.
Will it be necessary for us to announce our readiness to the enemy?

I believe my senses detect the beginning of their
Blending
,
I replied, pleased that the necessary awareness had now developed.
They should be with us in no more than a moment.

-You are too late,
- the enemy entity announced an instant after it had formed. -
Clearly you thought to attack before this entity was prepared for you, but such an action would not have been possible. This entity is more than prepared, and so shall it ever be.
-

-And you are mistaken,-
I told the enemy, annoyed by its air of smug superiority. -
It was necessary that you be fully prepared to face us, else we would have taken advantage of your earlier lack of attention. Our aim is to defeat you where others may see your defeat, an aim which we now mean to accomplish.-

-A pity, then, that it shall be this entity's aim which is accomplished instead,-
the enemy responded. And then that roiling began inside it which indicated it was in the process of gathering the power.

It seems to be necessary that we allow the enemy to
strike first,
my Naran part informed me.
The reason for such an action eludes me, yet am I not unsure.

Perhaps we must allow the attack so that we may be certain of what level of strength is available to us,
my Jovvi part surmised.
In past attacks, we were merely able to withstand the enemy. Now we must also be able to reply.

We
shall
be able to reply,
I stated, my annoyance growing.
The enemy means to bend us to its will, and that I shall not allow.

My anger flared even as the enemy stuck, which was a fortunate thing. The strength brought against me was as full as it had been the previous times, and although I was able to withstand the attack much more easily I found I was still unable to reply. The frustration of that truth added to my anger as the enemy struck a second time, even more strength behind the attack. I knew I lacked a certain knowledge, a certain procedure…

And then the obvious finally made itself known. I had very little experience as the initiator of the Blending, and therefore still thought as a segment. Previously my place had been to add my ability to that of the others, but now the reverse was necessary. I knew I must add the ability of the others to my own, in a
true
Blending of minds and talents.

As quickly as the thought came, that quickly did I act. My Blendingmates had been … behind me, so to speak, but now I brought them forward in a full and proper union. I felt my flesh form breathe a sound of satisfaction, and then the enemy struck a third time.

-This entity perceives that you have gained some small amount of strength,-
the enemy informed me smugly as I gave a whisper of distance to allow myself greater freedom of movement. -
You have, however, no hope of standing forever against my superior ability. When one or two of your flesh forms collapse, they and the others will then be mine to do with as I please.-

And then a fourth attack came, harder than the previous ones and obviously meant to jar me back to my body. This time there was no reason to give ground or allow the attack to touch me in any way, and once it had washed past me harmlessly I couldn't hold back a very nasty smile.

-Well, I'd say that that's all the chances
you're
going to get today,-
I sent, making sure the enemy was able to perceive my amusement. -
Now it's my turn, and I can guarantee I won't need more than just the one.-

-For what reason do you seem so strange?-
the enemy put with an odd quiver behind the question. -
Never has this entity seen such a thing before, and the perception distresses me. You are an unnatural freak, and therefore must be destroyed. Then all those behind you will be this entity's property, and they will be made to -

The entity's comments broke off when I struck at it, and then it was gone. I was able to tell that most of the members of the enemy Blending were at least reeling if not actually unconscious, so I quickly turned my attention to the slaves surrounding the litters. It took very little effort to neutralize them and freeze them in place, and then I turned to my associate Blendings and our new Gracelian allies.

-We'll have to move a bit briskly now, my friends,-
I sent. -
We don't want the enemy Blending members disappearing into the landscape before we have the chance to nail them down. Once we have
them
under control, we can free their slaves and decide what to do with them all.-

Everyone's entity agreed with me, so I quickly dissolved the Blending. My Blendingmates sat staring at me wide-eyed and open-mouthed for a moment, and then Vallant broke the stunned silence.

"Tamrissa, what did you
do
?" he asked weakly, still staring at me. "Everythin' was goin' the same as usual, and then suddenly it was just me instead of the entity. What did you
do
?"

"I have no idea," I answered with a small laugh as I got to my feet. "Whatever it was, it seemed like the right thing to do so I did it. Are you all just going to sit here with your jaws down to the ground and hand the enemy a chance to get over the battering we gave it?"

That comment made them snap their mouths shut at least, and a moment later they began to stand. It took another moment before we were all heading to the door of the house, but at least we didn't have to stop to saddle our horses. The horses had been prepared before we went to the confrontation, just in case it turned out badly.

Everyone else was either mounted or getting that way, so we headed toward where we'd left the invaders. The slaves were frozen in place, of course, leaving nothing to keep us from making our way to the five litters. The people standing to either side of each litter looked a bit worse for wear from what we'd done to them, but since they were also frozen in place it didn't matter.

One by one we pulled the Blending members out of their litters, and all but one were unconscious. That one snarled when we opened her litter and tried to use Water magic on us, but Vallant had no trouble smacking her down. She calmed after that and got out of the litter on her own, but her arrogance was definitely tinged with confused fear. She was about my size and faintly pretty with very light eyes and hair, her light skin even more pale than that of the slaves.

"Sit down next to your Blendin'mates," Vallant told her when she simply stood next to the unconscious bodies. "We have a number of questions, and you'll be answerin' them."

"I don't answer questions for slaves," the woman returned as she looked off into the distance, obviously trying to ignore us. "I don't know why I even bothered to explain."

"You explained because you weren't given any choice in the matter," Jovvi said, her normally gentle voice showing a hard edge. "Your Blending had an advantage because it used techniques we weren't yet familiar with, but you as an individual have no more than average High strength. You won't be
allowed
to refuse to answer - or to disobey."

"How dare you speak to me like that?" the woman demanded even as she sat herself on the ground. Her accent was even more lilting than the one Borvri Tonsun had used. She and the other, unconscious, woman of the Blending wore trousers of a sort like the men, flowing trousers of what looked to be silk in bright colors without decoration.