The Blending 07 - Deceptions, page 29
And then the entity containing the flesh form Korge was born, an entity much strengthened from all but the last time it had been called forth. That strength was clear when compared to the other four entities awaiting it, a fact the other entities were also aware of. Those other entities hung back, giving it the honor of floating out first, and it lost no time in doing so.
Those flesh forms down among the dwellings, who had been going about various mundane tasks, were no longer doing so. Instead they now ran screaming, for the first of the alien flesh forms had come into view. The strongest entity floated toward the alien flesh forms, the other entities following, and when the strongest reached the aliens it attacked.
But to no avail. The aliens seemed entirely unaware of the strongest entity’s presence, its efforts against them blocked by what appeared to be an aura of some sort. Its failure gave the entity distant anger, and while it hung motionless in its frustration it became aware of the fact that the lesser entities were not equally as motionless. The four of them surrounded the aliens and attempted to increase their strength by reflecting it back and forth between themselves, and they did accomplish a surprising increase. But even so, their efforts did nothing to breach the aura surrounding the enemy.
Which brought the strongest entity distant fear. An urge came for the entity to flee and preserve itself, but instead it attempted to add its own superior strength to the effort of the others. Its presence did indeed add to the effort, but still that aura remained untouched, and now the enemy began to slay those flesh forms it found among the dwellings …
And then it was Thrybin back to himself, as he and his Blendingmates exchanged looks of disbelief. That protective aura around the invaders … How could it possibly be so strong and resistant?
“Well, now we know for certain,” Dinno said, heavy despair in his tone. “Even with five of us, it wasn’t possible to break through that aura of protection. We can’t do anything to save those people who stayed in the village, so we’d better get going ourselves. Once the village is entirely theirs, they’ll move on again.”
Thrybin watched them get to their feet and start to head back to the horses, and he suddenly found himself standing as well without remembering how it had happened.
“You can’t all run off and desert me!” he shouted, making them pause to look back at him. “It has to be some kind of mistake that we weren’t able to reach them, it has to be! We can’t just run away in defeat—!”
“Why not?” Gardan asked flatly, looking at Thrybin as though he were less than himself rather than more. “Don’t you think we knew it when you tried to make your entity run away? The only thing that kept you with us was the fact that your Blendingmates aren’t as craven as you, otherwise all that marvelous strength you’re so proud of wouldn’t have been added to our own. Which was supposed to be the original idea, I think, even though it made no difference.”
“He doesn’t want us to ‘desert’ him because he hasn’t yet made himself the hero of this crisis,” Reesh said, and he had the nerve to speak in a tone filled with disgust. “If he leaves with us now he has to admit that his marvelous plans were the daydream we told him they were, and he can’t live with that idea. Just like those people in the village, he’d rather lie to himself than deal with the unacceptable.”
Thrybin was furious all over again, and nearly attacked his so-called associates by himself. But then he remembered that he didn’t have to do anything alone, not when he had the strongest Blending around to work with him. With that in mind he turned to his Blendingmates, intending to tell them what he meant to do, but they were no longer in the places he’d left them. They were joining the others in heading for the horses, and when they turned to glance back at him there was disdain in their eyes. Disdain!
Rage tried to rise in Thrybin, but suddenly all anger was replaced by fear. His Blendingmates had believed him when he’d told them how strong they would be once they bonded, strong enough to do anything they cared to. But it hadn’t worked out that way, and they also knew that he was the one who had tried to make them run away while the others were still fighting against the invaders. That they’d walked away from him said something terrible, so terrible that Thrybin couldn’t bring himself to think about it.
So he simply stumbled along after everyone else, promising himself that he would straighten out all the trouble once they’d put enough distance between themselves and those murderous invaders. He would be their leader again, the leader of everyone in the whole empire!
Twenty-one
It had been a more than interesting day, filled with work and new beginnings, and everyone seemed as glad as I was that the day was nearly over. When I say everyone, I mean my Blendingmates. The Gracelians in their new Blendings were still drunk on their recent experiences, and seemed to find sitting in one place for very long an impossible task. I found their reactions amusing and touching, remembering as I did how I’d reacted in the beginning. But I also found watching them tiring, so I watched instead the new groups of refugees being helped by the villagers to find places to rest.
“It’s a lucky thing we got the first group of escapees on their way when we did,” Jovvi commented, just about reading my mind. “If we hadn’t, there would have been no room at all for these people.”
“And thanks to us they’ll even have what to eat,” I agreed. “The new Blendings had no trouble Encouraging the crops that were almost ready for harvesting into ripeness and the crops only recently planted into growing faster. That way the villagers won’t suffer for sharing what they have, and they got to share in the meat our own Blendings brought into reach.”
Jovvi was about to say something else, when Naran came over to crouch beside where we were sitting. Our Blendingsister looked disturbed, and didn’t wait for us to ask what was wrong.
“We need to get the men back from wherever they went,” she told us in a soft voice. “We’ll be having visitors in just a little while.”
“Lorand went to check over the new arrivals, so he isn’t that far away,” Jovvi said, her brows high. “Vallant and Rion are with our own people, setting up watch schedules. What have you Seen?”
“The Gracelian assembly members are on their way, and a large group of invaders is only a few hours behind them,” Naran answered with a sigh. “The invaders will get here in the small hours of the morning, and they won’t wait for daylight to attack.”
“So we have to be ready for all of them,” I said with my own sigh. ‘Those assembly people will probably make almost as much trouble as the invaders.”
“Maybe not,” Jovvi said, preparing to get to her feet. “If they’re coming here rather than staying in their camp, they must have discovered that they can’t handle the invaders alone. That realization should make them behave politely, at least until they find out about the High Blendings we’ve formed. Let’s find the men, and then we can greet our visitors in the proper way.”
I rose to my feet as well, and then we went looking for the rest of our Blending. Rion would be disappointed that his idea about shelter for us would have to wait to be tested, and I felt a small bit of disappointment myself. It would have been nice to be alone with Vallant again, but somehow the … edge of my need for Vallant’s complete attention had been dulled. He and I would be together at some time, and waiting was no real hardship.
When Lorand heard the news, he left his link group members and the Earth magic people from our second Blending to finish working with the newcomers.
“Happily, we’ve already got most of these people taken care of,” he said with a smile that quickly vanished. “I just hope we can keep them in good health.”
With the invaders coming there was no guarantee of that, even though we’d already stopped a different group of them. For that reason we all seemed lost in our own thoughts as we went to find Vallant and Rion, and when we located our last two, Vallant needed only a single glance at us.
“What’s wrong?” he asked at once, Rion immediately joining him in coming toward us. “I knew everythin’ was goin’ too smoothly for it to last long.”
“The Gracelian assembly members will be here soon, and a large group of invaders is only a few hours behind them,” Naran said, delivering the news herself when Jovvi and I remained silent. “And from what I could See, the invaders won’t wait until morning to attack.”
“So we’ll soon have another chance at gettin’ some answers,” Vallant commented, obviously feeling more optimistic than the rest of us. “What do you mean when you say a ‘large’ group, Naran? How large is that?”
“At least three times the size of the group we defeated at that village,” Naran answered at once, her gaze turned inward the way it usually was when asked a question like that. “I’m still having trouble breaking through that flux, but I have the impression that there’s even more trouble coming beyond that group of invaders. Exactly what it is, I can’t tell yet.”
“My guess would be that their leaders are movin’ forward,” Vallant said, now sounding depressed. “That means we’ll be facin’ whoever put that aura of protection around the invaders. I have to admit I’m not lookin’ forward to that. Things won’t go the way they did with the Astindans.”
The rest of us exchanged glances, knowing exactly what Vallant meant. The Astindans had shown a sense of honor that went far beyond the usual, but these invaders had shown just the opposite. To send your forces to kill everyone they reached, to blithely destroy lives, and then move on to destroy even more lives … It was a vicious, heartless, inhuman thing to do, so there would be no coming to terms with the leaders of the invaders.
“I’d say that makes things easier for us,” I put in, determined to lighten the heavy gloom that had settled on everyone. “We could have destroyed the Astindans piecemeal, but we all knew they had a right to try getting their own back. That doesn’t hold true for these invaders, so we ought to feel very little guilt when we wipe them out. Even if we have to stretch some to do it.”
I’d added that last just to show I hadn’t forgotten the very real possibility that the invader leaders had more strength than we did. The reminder could well have brought back the gloom, but instead everyone seemed to brighten.
“I’ve always been more comfortable with the idea of bestin’ someone bigger than me,” Vallant said with a sweet smile sent in my direction. “Takin’ someone my size or smaller always felt like cheatin’, and I don’t much care for cheatin’. Let me tell the others what’s goin’ on, and then we’ll go and meet those assembly people.”
We waited while Vallant walked back to the others and explained what was going on, and when he rejoined us I directed our steps toward the fire where our meal had been prepared. There was still tea left, I knew, and I definitely wanted a cup.
Everyone decided they also wanted a cup of tea to brace them, and by the time we’d all helped ourselves our first wait was over. One of our people came over to say that the assembly members had just reached the outskirts of the village, so they ought to be with us very shortly. As we stood sipping our tea and waiting, I wondered which of the five major talents would be leading the group. Logic said that that Korge fool would have taken over, but I had the strangest feeling—
“There they are,” Jovvi said, and it was clear she’d known of their arrival without needing to be told about it by that sentry. “And look who’s riding at their head.”
I did look, but I wasn’t sure I believed. The man Olskin Dinno rode in front, but right beside him was Satlan Reesh. Somehow Reesh had lost that air of constantly being out of his depth, and Dinno wasn’t projecting distaste at being in the man’s company.
“Better yet, look who’s trailing behind all alone,” Lorand murmured, amusement in his voice. “I wonder what Korge could have done that it turned everyone against him.”
“That everyone seems to include his own Blendingmates,” Rion observed in a matching murmur. “If they aren’t deliberately ignoring Korge, I’ve never seen the act.”
A glance at Korge’s Blendingmates suggested that they were bent out of shape by something, so it looked like Rion’s comment was true. It’s hard to imagine what someone could do to alienate his Blendingmates, especially when they’ve bonded, but Korge seemed to have managed it. Our sight-seeing had given the head of the column time to reach Vallant where he stood beside Naran, and Dinno looked down at the two of them with mild surprise.
“If you people are here, the rest of you can’t be far away,” Dinno commented. He glanced around to locate “the rest of us,” and then returned his attention to Vallant. “We thought you’d decided to leave us to our own devices. What made you stop here in this village?”
“It was fairly obvious that the folks in this village needed some help,” Vallant answered blandly, telling the complete truth without actually admitting a thing. “Why are all of you here as well? Did somethin’ happen to bring you back?”
“I’m sure you already know what happened,” Dinno said with a sigh, not quite meeting Vallant’s gaze. “Another group of invaders appeared at that other village, and we were helpless against them even working together. And even with Korge’s ‘extra strength,’ I might add.”
“You’ve changed your minds, haven’t you?” Antrie Lorimon said to Vallant as she moved her horse up to where Dinno had stopped. “You’ve found that you can’t abandon us after all, so you’ve stopped in order to give us the help we need. I can’t tell you how happy I am to—”
“No, don’t start thankin’ us,” Vallant interrupted, wiping away the woman’s smile of relief and delight. “We aren’t here to help your group, not when you persist in refusin’ to help yourselves. We’ll be workin’ with people who aren’t afraid to try somethin’ new when their lives are at stake.”
“What are you talking about, you fool?” Korge came charging up to demand, fury clearly all through him. “We are the legal authorities around here, and either you help us or you don’t help anyone! Do you understand me?”
“Better than you know,” Vallant all but drawled in answer, “havin’ someone steal your thunder, someone whose efforts you can’t claim as your own. And as far as bein’ the legal authority around here goes, you forfeited that position when you lost against the invaders. Or didn’t any of you realize that?”
“How dare you tell us what your opinion of the matter is?” Korge came back at once while the others simply looked thunderstruck. “Who and what we are is beyond your efforts to change, no matter your estimate to the contrary! We are members of the assembly, fool, and the only way that can be changed is by—”
Korge’s words broke off abruptly, as though a terrible idea had just come to him. He looked around wildly in the direction of his associates, but most of them had gone pale or closed their eyes in understanding.
“Yes, I think you’re finally gettin’ the idea,” Vallant said to Korge in that same drawl, but his tone had sharpened just a bit. “Waitin’ for those who can’t cut it to step aside is a waste of time, a truth we learned really well at home. The people here wanted nothin’ more than the chance to do things right, so we gave it to them. Did you really think we would abandon them because their leaders are fools?”
Korge had started to rage incoherently, but the others simply sat their mounts without speaking. I thought they intended to stay that way all night, but then Satlan Reesh drew a deep breath.
“It’s amazing that when the worst thing you can imagine actually happens, it turns out not to be as horrible as you were picturing,” the man said, surprising all of us. “I expected it to be a while before our positions were gone from us, and I thought I needed the time to get used to the idea. I’m astounded to say I’m not nearly as shocked as I expected to be, and I may even be rather relieved. The worst has happened, and I’m actually ready to pick up the pieces and go on with my life.”
“You know, I think I feel the same way,” Dinno said in answer, looking at Reesh with surprise. “I also expected this to be the end of the world, but it isn’t, is it?”
“Of course it’s the end of the world!” Korge screamed, glaring at Dinno and Reesh together. “These interfering imbeciles have broken the law and taught people how to Blend! That act goes counter to everything we stand for, and the outlanders must be punished—along with the dupes they forced into doing their bidding. Wake up, you fools, and work with me now!”
And with an imperious glance at his Blendingmates, Korge sat his horse staring at us with spite and malice. I suddenly had the impression that a Blending entity floated not far away from us, and I was about to defend us when I realized that Korge couldn’t be part of that entity. He sat braced on his horse, but didn’t have that distant, distracted look that someone takes on when they Blend. The same was true of the rest of the assembly members, so I simply held my fires ready and waited.
“Well, what are you waiting for?” Korge demanded the next moment, obviously speaking to his Blendingmates as well as to the other assembly members. “We have to Blend and do our duty, and we have to do it now.”
“You really are a fool, but you’re clearly the only fool among us,” Reesh told the man with obvious distaste and a small headshake. “Even your Blendingmates know how much stronger these people are than we, so the only ones likely to be punished would be anyone stupid enough to go up against them. Why don’t you take yourself off somewhere and stop bothering everyone.”
The disdain in Reesh’s voice hit Korge like a slap across the face, doubly so, most likely, because of who the comment came from. It was very clear that Satlan Reesh had somehow changed on the inside, and because of that now came off as a different man. Gardan looked at Reesh with faint respect and Lorimon stared at him with raised brows, but Dinno simply smiled. Korge, still apparently in shock, glanced around as though about to say something, but no words came out. He must have also noticed the expressions on his associates, and finally, truly realized that he stood all alone.
