Chosen Destiny (24 page)

I’ve fought at her side many times.” Meagan slung two quick bolts down the street.

“Doria. It can’t be.” Lissandra shook her head. “She doesn’t even know about the

mission.”

“Carrie might have told her or it could be any one of your friends. It might not be

Doria, but it’s someone who’s aware of her favorite tricks.” Meagan’s sword slashed

through the air.

“You’re sure this is something she does?” Samiel would have liked to stop and look

at her as they talked but the
tandini
weren’t going away. He could hear the stress in

Meagan’s voice.

“Yeah, when we went scouting in the mountains, she’d spell the
chitan
just like

these
tandini
were spelled. Supposedly so that no one could spot them while we were

on foot, but it made them damn hard to find when we came back to ride home. She

always enjoyed that part.” Meagan sent another bolt hurtling down the street.

“That’s how you know what to do.” Samiel nodded.

It sounded as if the other woman had a definite skewed sense of humor, even then.

That didn’t mean she was the Dark Sorceress, but the fact that it was one of her tricks

was suspicious.

“Now you’re trying to blame Doria. Even though you’ve become some kind of

freak now that you have those swords, I never thought you’d let them make all your

decisions.” Lissandra threw up her hands, but quickly began throwing bolts of energy

down the street.

“Pace yourself. You always have to remember your own strength. You have allies

here. It takes time for a witch’s power to rebuild.” Meagan’s voice sounded too even.

Samiel knew that remark must have hit a nerve.

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“I only wish she let us make all the decisions.” Samiel couldn’t hold back a grin.

The idea was appealing.

“We’re not making much of a difference, if you haven’t noticed.” Lissandra’s tone

dripped sarcasm.

“That’s where being experienced and a freak comes in handy. That Dark Sorceress

is pouring more
tandini
into this area. See that swirling wind at the back of the group?

That’s my spell making them visible.” Meagan said.

“And what are you going to do?” Lissandra stepped into Samiel’s peripheral view

as she hurled two quick arcs. The young witch seemed intent on ignoring any advice

Meagan gave.

“That’s where being a
Tiria
comes in handy. I’m going to push the others back and

destroy those we’ve already taken down. We don’t want her getting that magic back.

Any magic I take will give me strength.” Meagan suited action to words.

The mob of
tandini
screamed and clawed at the ground as they were herded down

the street by an invisible wall. Only the unmoving forms of the fallen
tandini
remained.

Samiel led the way down the street. Meagan stepped forward and knelt beside the first

beast. Samiel kept a wary watch on the seemingly defeated enemy. It wasn’t unheard of

for a Dark Sorceress to set a trap spell on
merdanon
or one of their other creations. Some

exploded, injuring and sometimes killing anyone who got too near. Others snared the

unwary in an attempt to hold the captive until the Dark Sorcerer could arrive to kill or

incapacitate the victim. That wasn’t happening to Meagan.

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Meagan took the power from the first one then the next two
tandini
near her. Samiel

kept watching until she’d taken the power from the last defeated beast. She took a deep

breath and slowly straightened. The scent of her arousal drifted to him on the breeze.

He could tell just by that sweet smell that her power was running high. If she needed a

little power drained, she’d say something. He was confident about that. Samiel threw

three fireballs at the front line of
tandini
. He didn’t know what the Dark Sorceress was

planning or if she’d even show herself, but this show of force probably wasn’t just for

intimidation.

Meagan didn’t pause. Her blade swung through the air. He saw the power begin to

glow on the tip of her sword before she flung an orb down the street. The battle took

awhile, but finally only the last few beasts remained. Meagan sent an arc flying down

the street. It hit and the
tandini
fell. The street had been cleared.

Meagan knelt between two dust-covered creatures. “This was too easy. She’s not

finished yet.”

“She’ll show, but she won’t hang around if things don’t go her way. She’s not going

to put her life on the line today.” Samiel put a hand on her shoulder.

“How are you? Do you need to take some power? I’m feeling on edge and a little

distracted right now.” She looked over at him.

He inhaled, noting that her arousal had increased. She had taken a lot of power

already and there were probably still
tandini
to destroy. She could probably take a little

more without absolutely needing it, but he didn’t want her distracted.

“I can take some of your power if you need. We’ll probably be facing more trouble.

I’ll get someone here to help you if it’s still too high.” He waited while she finished with

the last of the
tandini
.

“That would be good.” She rose to her feet.

He stepped up behind her. He slipped an arm around her waist pulling her back

against him. He conjured the potion that would counter the venom. He held it up in

front of her. She took it and gulped the liquid. He waited until she’d sent the vial away.

He wanted to be sure that there was no chance of any effects dulling her senses. He

licked her neck to prepare her, then bit. She flinched a little. A bit of blood rose as he

withdrew his teeth, but her power hit him just before he began to actively drawing it.

Maybe he’d underestimated the amount of power she’d taken in. He took what he

could. Her body relaxed back against him. He licked the drops of blood off her

shoulder.

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“I think we should move on and see how the others are doing.” Meagan looked to

Samiel and Lissandra.

“Yes, checking in with the others sounds like a good idea. I wonder if they were

attacked as we were.” Samiel nodded. “It shouldn’t be too hard to find them. This

villages isn’t that big.

They began walking through the streets. They moved cautiously through the

debris-strewn roads. The false
tandini
might not be the only danger here. The Dark

Sorceress could have set a trap. He was sure that there would be more than one attack.

It took longer than he expected to find any of the other groups. They found Gaellon and

two of the other witches first. They were in the midst of a battle with a swarm of
tandini
.

From the scattered forms on the ground, there had been many more than they now

faced. Meagan didn’t hesitate. She stepped forward and began hurling bolts of magic

down the street.

“Hang back, Lissandra, and conserve your energy. The Dark Sorceress could be

trying to drain power from those sent to fight her. Meagan can give energy to dragons

and vampires, but you’ll need time to recover yours.” Samiel gave the advice, but he

didn’t know if she’d accept it. Meagan had said Lissandra was inexperienced.

He stepped up beside Meagan and began to lob balls of fire down the street. He

saw the moment Gaellon realized they weren’t alone. Gaellon said something to the

women with him and they stopped hurling magic toward the
tandini
. Gaellon obviously

recognized the tactic. Dark Sorcerers flooded an area with
merdanons
—or in this case

tandini
—to make their enemies use a lot of power on the beasts before the Dark Sorcerer

attacked. Weakened, sometimes vampires were forced to flee or risk death or capture.

The Dark Sorcerers hadn’t completely stopped trying it, but they’d stopped trying it as

often since the first
Tiria
had been found. Most Dark Sorcerers were smart enough to

know that flooding an area with creations when a
Tiria
was there wasn’t a good

strategy. It offered a ready source of power to the one person who could use it and

supply it to others.

He didn’t know if this was the first time the Dark Sorceress had ever attacked

anyone before. He knew she’d set up trouble for others and probably a few ambushes.

This assault seemed unprepared, as if it had been put together in a rush. It was the only

reason he could think that she’d try this.

The
tandini
obviously weren’t being controlled by the Dark Sorceress. When

confronted by an attack from two sides, they didn’t change their tactics. They kept

pressing toward Gaellon. Not having a rush of beasts coming at them made destroying

the creations easy. As soon as the last
tandini
fell, Meagan stepped forward and began

taking power.

“I’m glad to see you. This isn’t the kind of attack I expected, especially not with a

known
Tiria
in the group.” Gaellon made his way through the scattered carcasses.

“I think the plan might have been to keep us separated and take out those she

could.” Samiel looked around the area. “After these creations are destroyed, we’ll need

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to find the others. We’re not going to remain separated. If she wants to play games, she

can play them when we’re together.”

“Can you two stop chatting? I know you saw how many
tandini
littered the street.

Someone’s going to have to take some of this power.” Meagan’s voice broke into the

discussion.

Samiel turned to face her. She knelt on the ground. He saw her drive her dagger

into the shoulder of a
tandini
. The beast dissolved into mist. Samiel saw her shoulders

shake. Her head tipped back and she groaned. She’d already destroyed most of the

magic creations. Her power had already been running high. It was no wonder that she

was stressed. She slowly stood. Her hands rubbed down her thighs. She was breathing

a little too fast.

“If you don’t mind, I could use some power.” Gaellon stepped forward.

“It would be a relief.” Meagan smiled. She extended her hand to Gaellon.

Samiel moved behind her and hooked an arm around her waist. The scent of her

arousal drifted in the air. He’d take some more himself. Gaellon lifted her hand to his

mouth. Samiel felt Meagan flinch a little. She was trembling and he knew that was

because she had too much power. As soon as Gaellon released her, Samiel licked her

neck, preparing her for the bite. Because the amount of venom from the multiple bites,

he created another preventative potion. She’d probably provide power to the other

dragons as well as the vampires. He held it in front of her. She took it and downed it.

He bit. Power rushed into him. He took as much as he could but knew she’d probably

need more taken if they faced the same situation when they found the others.

“Better now?” Samiel slid his hand over her stomach.

“I can handle it now. Let’s go. The others are probably in the same situation as

Gaellon was. I wish I knew what the Dark Sorceress was trying to do.” She sighed, but

then straightened, squared her shoulders and stepped away from him.

“We probably won’t have to wait much longer before she does something new.”

Gaellon grimaced.

Samiel agreed. The Dark Sorceress probably wouldn’t stick with this tactic. The fact

that none of her actions made any sense so far was a little worrying. An unpredictable

enemy was always dangerous. Samiel, Meagan and the others left the area and began to

look for the other groups. It didn’t take long to find more of their friends. They again

found them battling another horde of
tandini
. Eventually they found all of the others.

They moved as a group through the ruins. Jaeson hugged Meagan. Samiel was looking

around, wondering where to begin looking for the Dark Sorceress when he noticed

Meagan slowly moving down the street.

“What’s wrong, Meagan?” Samiel asked as he moved up beside her.

“I feel power in this direction.” She kept looking down the street, but she did stop.

“She’s right. The Dark Sorceress is doing something.” Jaeson took position at

Meagan’s side. “Do you know what was down that way?”

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“I know the coven house was supposed to be at that end of the village.” Meagan bit

her lip. “I can’t think of anything else that would draw the sorceress.”

Samiel could tell that she was ready to face the Dark Sorceress. If she’d seemed

angry or too eager, he might have been concerned. All he saw in her eyes was

determination. She wasn’t taking this personally. He knew she was probably angry

both with the Dark Sorceress’ betrayal and the fact that she hadn’t seen it coming.

Betrayal was hard for anyone to take, but Meagan was treating this as just another

battle. That reassured him.

They began walking toward the area where the witch was using power. They

passed what had once been two blocks of buildings and houses. When they went

around a last wall, they spotted a figure in the middle of a cleared square. It was a