Destiny (28 page)

"But until then we'll be working as one," Honrita said with a small laugh. Vand would have brought up any overlooked points if he could have, and his failing to do so only proved there weren't any. "I would really love to Blend for the first time today, but I'm afraid that my strength isn't quite up to it. We'll have to leave Blending for tomorrow, then, but after that we'll truly be united."

"And more so after we've bonded," Kadri murmured, staring at Arbon Vand like a vulture looking at a dying body. "Since bonding is absolutely necessary to a Blending for it to be as strong as possible - "

"You really are out of your mind," Vand told her with a strong sound of ridicule. "You people may be able to force me to go along with you, but there's no way you can force my body to enjoy the idea of lying with a skinny and overbearing old maid, a skinny and mindless near-old maid, and a fat fool. Even Earth magic can't accomplish miracles."

Kadri showed outraged insult and Seeli looked even more mindless than usual, but all Honrita felt was confusion - and mortification.
Her
, a skinny and overbearing old maid…?

"What are you idiots talking about?" Honrita demanded, a bit more shrilly than she'd intended. "What do you mean by bonding, and what has that got to do with people lying with one another?"

"You never completed a class of your own, did you?" Vand said to her, a gleam of some sort in his dark eyes. "If you had you would have been told about everything that Blending entails and requires. Your pudgy friend over there knows that Blending members are supposed to lie together, but apparently you don't. What's the matter,
Dama Grohl
? Is the idea of lying with men too disgusting or frightening to consider? Well, it really doesn't matter because you're going to have to get along without the bonding anyway."

Honrita was very tired, but Vand's sense of amused ridicule came through to her clearly. As did Kadri's frustrated hunger and Seeli's trembling confusion. Stelk Faron stood as stiffly disapproving as ever, but his mind shuddered with fright and self doubt and distaste. All that came to Honrita in a distant and distracted way, her own mind too numb with shock to form any true opinions or reactions.

We're nothing but a bunch of misfits
, Honrita thought through the safety of distance.
Ayl didn't choose the strongest talents he could find, he chose the most twisted and incapable so we'd be easy to manipulate.

But that idea enraged her so greatly, she was able to pull part way out of the shock. Ayl might
think
he could manipulate misfits, but she
knew
she could. And she would, as soon as she had a chance to think for a while.

"Since we aren't quite ready to Blend yet, discussion about relating matters is a waste of time right now," Honrita announced as she stood, looking only at the three people by the door. "We'll all go home and say nothing of any of this to anyone, then meet back here again tomorrow morning. After we Blend, discussions will then be in order."

Giving her people orders made Honrita feel a small bit better, but she still hurried out of the old house on her way to the place she now called home. She knew she needed to sleep for a time, and once she'd regained her strength she'd be able to consider what she'd been told.

I
will
be able to think about it
, she vowed silently,
I will, I will…!

Deslen Voyt sat with Brange and Chelten Admis and some of the others in the tavern, all of them with tankards of ale in their fists and laughter in their voices.

"… and those boys turned green when they saw it was
me
they would have to face," Admis was telling the others with a chuckle. "The little girl who did all the talking would have been easy to stomp flat, they thought, having no idea how hot Fire magic can make things even with a Low talent involved. I was just there to save the little girl some trouble when everybody started to laugh at those three. Getting laughed at is something almost nobody can take without getting wild."

"The ones at the corner where
I
was couldn't seem to understand why everyone wasn't getting all fired up," Deslen put in with his own chuckle. "The people were standing there and listening, but they all looked blank when the speaker mentioned all those rumors he thought were circulating. Then the man
I
was there to protect started to argue with the speaker, and in a couple of minutes everyone was laughing at the fool for trying to lie to them. The speaker really lost it then, and I had to quiet him down."

"With Water magic first and then a fist, I bet," Brange said, showing a lot of satisfaction. "I heard you handled it really smooth, Voyt, but I'm not sorry I wasn't there to see it. I had a lot better show to watch, the one where Feriun and that fool noble were taken down."

"Did Noll really go foaming at the mouth?" Admis asked while some of the others put other questions. "And what did they do with Feriun?"

"Feriun and Noll were standing in an alley watching the speaker where
you
were, Admis," Brange answered after waving a hand for silence. "When they saw things starting to go really wrong they tried to disappear, but we were in the alley behind them and another group of us blocked the way to the street. Noll tried to tell everyone that Ruhl was also a noble, but we all knew that Ruhl had given that up to join a Blending. We pretended that Noll was lying about Ruhl, and Noll got so wild he actually started to scream."

"But what about Feriun?" Deslen put, firmly controlling his continuing hatred of the man. "He always acted like a noble himself, so he ought to get whatever they give to Noll."

"That's … probably not going to happen," Brange said slowly, now looking faintly disturbed. "From what
I
hear, we're more than a little lucky to have gotten out when we did. If any of the rest of the boys convince them that they want to come over to our side they'll let them, but they won't have the trust that we do. And for the ones that
don't
want to change their ways… Well, let's just say that Feriun might have some company when he's put down."

"Put down?" Deslen echoed, finding himself surprised. "Do you mean they might really do that to him?"

"That or put him under control for the rest of his life," Brange said with a shrug. "I don't know which I'd hate more, so I'm glad I don't have to decide."

Deslen joined the others in sitting quietly for a moment, disturbed in an odd way. Seeing Feriun put down would hardly bother him, but seeing the man controlled… Just as Brange had said, there was something hateful about watching a man being controlled. Being cleanly dead was an easier idea to accept…

"Well, it's time for me to be on about my business," Admis said after finishing his ale in a single swallow. "I have a number of meals to cook tonight, and the last one will be the most important. That little girl with Fire magic promised to come by to see what I can do. If she likes the meal well enough, she just might get curious about some of the other things I can do."

Everyone laughed as Admis got to his feet with a wide and open smile on his face, but Deslen felt a small twinge of jealousy. Admis had already found a woman to be interested in, but he, Deslen, hadn't taken that step yet. He'd been holding back because of worry over being found out by the government, but now that that worry was gone…

"I have to be on my way, too," Deslen said after finishing his own ale and standing. "I only have a couple of more classes, and then I'll be able to get to work as an official guardsman."

Brange and two others also got to their feet, and they left the tavern together to walk to the building where classes were held. On the way, Deslen remembered about that quiet woman who was in his class. She wasn't shy, just quiet, and even though she wasn't beautiful she was at the very least pretty.

Maybe it's time to ask her if she'd like to have a celebration dinner with me once we finish the class,
Deslen thought.
Even if she says no, there's a woman I saw once in Brange's class. Maybe
she'll
want to have dinner…

Deslen started to whistle as he walked along, and oddly enough he wasn't the only one in the group to do it…

Chapter Seventeen

It was still raining the next morning when Jovvi awoke. They'd all taken shelter in the abandoned houses of the village, and there was only a small bit of crowding. Some of the Blendings had had to double up or share their shelter with their link groups, but at least everyone was dry and fairly comfortable.

"I wonder if the enemy is enjoying this weather," Lorand said from where he crouched beside the hearth. He'd started a fire, and the room was already beginning to grow cozier. "Tents may give shelter, but they don't do well with keeping out the damp."

"But they travel in those litter things," Tamma put in as she moved closer to the growing fire. "They probably don't care how wet their slaves get, so they might be on the advance again. I think we ought to take a look."

"I agree," Rion said from where he still sat on his sleeping pad beside Naran and hers. "I have the definite feeling that they weren't delayed as much as we wanted them to be, and something needs to be done to slow them down again."

"He's right," Naran confirmed after yawning and stretching. "We do need to do something to slow those people down. If we have to run away from them, the probabilities will start to go against us."

"The Blendin' entity on watch agrees with all of you," Vallant said from where he stood. "I just got the report, and the invaders' entity managed to fill in just enough of the pit we put in their path to let them all cross over it. They're comin' straight on again, and too many of our people are thinkin' about withdrawin'."

"Then we'd better get to it," Jovvi said, rising to her feet. "If you'll give me just a moment to visit the sanitary facilities, I'll be ready to initiate the Blending."

Jovvi wasn't the only one to use the sanitary facilities, but it didn't take long before they all sat on their sleeping pads again. They hadn't yet had their breakfast, but eating could wait until they knew the meal would continue uninterrupted.

When the Jovvi entity formed, she first checked with the lesser entity on watch to discover the location of the enemy in order to flash to the area. The Jovvi entity arrived to see the invaders in the distance, the various flesh forms moving along at a steady pace.

They appear to be only a matter of hours away from us,
the Tamrissa part of the entity said.
We must make a more effective effort than our previous one.

The effort should also be more than simply a gesture,
the Vallant part of the entity said.
There must be true disruption and delay.

I have a thought about how we might accomplish that,
the Lorand part of the entity responded.
The flesh forms walking to either side of each litter could well be members of the enemy's link groups. If those members should be put in jeopardy, the enemy would need to pause to effect their rescue. If the effort the enemy had to make was strenuous enough, its flesh forms would also require a time of rest.

Yes, an effort such as that would certainly delay them,
the Naran part put in.
The delay adds greatly to the probabilities surrounding ultimate success.

Then let us proceed,
the Jovvi entity contributed to her other parts, already knowing the details of the plan mentioned by the Lorand part. The enemy entity remained unformed, therefore was there little difficulty for the Jovvi entity to do as was required. Air magic held a thin layer of road and side-of-the-road material in place while Earth magic removed the dirt below to a depth of thirty feet. The excavation was made ahead of the advancing slave life forms in the shape of a large circle, and Air magic held the surface in place while the slave life forms passed over the excavation.

When the five litters were carried into the circle, however, the surface layer was allowed to collapse. The litters remained untouched, but those life forms walking to both sides of the litters disappeared rather abruptly. The bottom of the excavation had been filled somewhat with loose dirt to offer some protection to those who fell, but a thirty-foot fall still inevitably caused injury and distress. Some of those slave life forms walking both ahead and to the rear of the litters also ended in the excavation, which had been made just wide enough to disallow an easy traversal by the litters.

The enemy entity appeared suddenly to roar all about itself as it assessed what had been done, and its anger and agitation pleased the Jovvi entity enough that she withdrew from the area. Then it was Jovvi alone again, to see Tamma's amusement.

"Did you all get how angry they were?" Tamma asked as she glanced around. "We didn't do anything totally harmful, and that seemed to be the enemy's main complaint. They can't just shrug and continue on, they have to rescue their people and then repair the road. But it's too bad we
couldn't
do something really harmful, and specifically to
them
."

"That would mean not facin' them, and we already agreed that we can't just wipe them out when they're not lookin'," Vallant pointed out as he stretched. "If we don't actually win over them, everybody will know it and they'll start livin' in terror waitin' for the next group to show up. And if next time there's more than one Blendin', people won't even try to fight."