Cal watched and waited as the small horde of Narvish approached. Nyla could see that he was judging them, and she could see he was unimpressed by her people. Cal stood, unmoving, for the forty-five minutes it took the first clan to climb up to them. When they arrived they surrounded the ship and those who had arrived on it, beginning their war cries. Cal remained as unflinching as stone, Nyla tried her best to have faith in Cal but there were a lot of the First Clan, even Pinetil seemed to be sticking unnecessarily close to Cal which bothered Nyla for a different reason.
The only one who seemed wholly unconcerned with anything going on was Artie. He brought out a piece of equipment with his frame and was making marks on the ground around the ship. Nyla could swear she heard him whistling as he worked. Suddenly the war cries stopped in unison and Nyla could hear a brief refrain from Artie before he stopped whistling.
Right in front of Cal, Nyla, and Pinetil stepped forward from the crowd a massive Narvish man. The average height for a Narvish of either gender was about three feet,. This Man stood almost five feet tall, towering over the other Narvish. Cal smiled down at the Narvish man from his towering height of six feet four inches tall.
“Who are you demon?” The tall Narvish man said, “Who are you to come here, steal one of our women and flaunt your strange magic”
With the last word, the Narvish man gestured to Artie and Pinetil. Cal smiled and then spoke. “I am Cal, and I intend to build a new clan hall right here. I intend to rip your society apart and build it back into something more than your paltry divisions and alliances. I am Cal and I am here to change your world, and there is nothing you can do to stop me.”
Cal turned to walk away from the large Narvish and felt something strike him in the back. When he glanced over his shoulder he saw the Narvish man with his fists balled up and waiting for Cal to take a stance. “This is not your land demon. I can not allow anyone to build a clan hall above the most feared First Clan. Fight me, so I can strike you down and claim the woman you stole.”
“I will fight you.” Cal said, turning his body to face him. “But I would suggest you pick at least two others to fight with you If I win you will not interfere with me in any way ever again. Deal?”
The large Narvish man thought about this and looked up to Cal’s face, before barking out three names. Two men and a singular woman stepped forward. The woman took a seat and began to chant. Nyla stepped forward to Cal. “She is attempting to bless the men who fight you.”
Pinetil smiled and laughed when she heard Nyla say this. “That is what they use the paltry psionics they have for? Maybe I should show them real power…”
Pinetil was cut off by Cal shaking a finger at her. “Ambassador, I thought you would want me to fail, the earlier the better so you could go home.”
Pinetil froze and said nothing else. Cal smiled at Nyla. “I can see her power, don’t worry Nyla, I have nothing to fear from any of these warriors.”
Nyla nodded and watched as the rest of the warriors began to tap out a steady beat with their weapons, boots, and anything else they felt would make a sufficient noise. Cal stepped forward and spoke. “I give you this one chance to decline the powers of that woman, for if you use your people’s power I will use my power. If you do not use her powers, I will fight you only with what I am.”
The three warriors who were to fight him laughed at his words. The tall one spoke. “You are clearly a demon. What kind of warrior goes into battle without the blessings of their gods?”
“Very well,” Cal said and moments later the battle started. Nyla watched and was in awe of Cal who fended off the three warriors, all of whom were giants to Nyla, as if he were dealing with three children. The three warriors were clearly distraught at how easily Cal was deflecting their blows.
Cal finally started laughing and simply stood as the three male Narvish struck at him. The tallest turned to the woman who was still seated and chanting and spoke. “Strike him down!”
Cal heard the woman’s tone and pace change as she chanted, and suddenly he felt a pressure on his psionic shielding. He was honestly surprised at how much force this woman had generated, but enough was enough.
“That is enough of this.” Cal said and quietly removed the mental limiters he had placed on his power when coming to this planet. “EVERYONE. STOP!”
The command resonated through the crowd, not so much heard as felt in their very souls. Nyla stood frozen along with every other Narvish within hearing distance. Nyla caught a glance out of the corner of her eye, of Pinetil with eyes wide in fear and frozen in place. Once again, the only unaffected being in the circle was Artie who was still painting markings on the ground.
Cal calmly stepped forward, keeping the psionic pressure on everyone just enough to freeze them, and gradually increasing it on the three warriors with every step he took toward them. By the time he was face to face with them, the woman and the two smaller males were lying flat on the ground from the pressure Cal exerted. The tallest locked eyes with Cal. Cal could see every muscle straining in his body in this one act of defiance. Cal smiled. “Tell me your name warrior.”
The pressure on everyone suddenly fell away, and many of the surrounding warriors collapsed to the ground. The large Narvish man struggled to keep his feet and did so, before looking up at Cal with a sense of fear in his eyes. “I am Jurrog, head of the First Clan, and mightiest warrior of the Narvish people.”
“Well Jurrog, I am Cal, I am the sole defender of my entire race. I have fought battles the likes of which you could not begin to understand.” Cal stared at Jurrog, and Nyla could swear an understanding passed between the two men. Cal continued speaking. “I offer you this, Jurrog, call today a tie between us, and return to your clan hall with your people and never bother me again. In return, I shall not meddle in the affairs of the First Clan, at least for the foreseeable future. Do you accept my offer?”
Jurrog thought for a moment. “I would ask one more thing.”
Cal nodded and smiled at the proud warrior. Jurrog spoke once more. “When the time comes for you to conquer the clans as you stated you would do, let the First Clan be not your enemy. Let us instead be counted among your allies. Whatever that means specifically, we can work out when the time comes, but for now, let us be allies. Your fledgling clan and mine.”
There was a note of hope in Jurrogs voice as he asked this. Cal smiled and offered his hand. Nyla quickly stepped forward and explained to Jurrog what this was. The two men shook hands and a cheer went up from the First Clan, as they all turned to follow their leader down the mountain.
“He hates you.” Nyla said, sensing the anger that rolled off of Jurrog.
“He can hate me all he wants, as long as he honors what he just said. If not, I can replace him easily enough,” Cal said, and he and Nyla turned back to see Pinetil sitting unsteadily propped up on the ship. “You alright ambassador?”
“How does one being have so much power? What are you?” Pinetil asked, staring at Cal.
“Didn’t they tell you, ambassador? I am the monster of humanity.” Cal smiled at Pinetil and walked back into the ship with Nyla in tow.
“What do we do now?” Nyla asked as he led her just inside the door to the first cargo hold.
Cal smiled so big Nyla worried his face might split in half. “Now, sweet Nyla, we build a clan hall, unlike anything your people have ever seen!” Without another word, Cal began grabbing crates and hauling them outside.
Nyla grabbed a crate and followed. Artie spoke to her just then, utilizing the comms implant. “Cal really likes to build things, so when he found out he was going to build a clan hall, he made plans to go all out, I think we are all in for a surprise at how this will turn out.“
Nyla smiled and silently continued to help. As the sun began to set they had almost completely emptied the first cargo hold. Cal stopped them. “Artie, will you watch everything tonight?”
“You got it Cal.” Artie said with a funny salute and then went to sit down on a tall stack of boxes and crates.
“Now for the rest of us, let us get to bed. Tomorrow we build a hall to honor not only our clan, but the human clans of old. Tomorrow we build a hall worthy of Thor himself.”
Nyla smiled at the intoxicating enthusiasm Cal was exuding, wondering who in the name of Yillna Thor was.
