The following morning was hectic. Nyla watched Cal rushing to and fro, getting things ready. Artie had been dispatched on some chore, and now Cal was relying on Nyla, Gorn, and Hudnarin to do much of the manual labor that Artie would have seen. 

Nyla didn't mind, and as she worked with Gorn and Hudnarin to prepare a large amount of food, Gorn suddenly looked up with concern in his eyes. "Nyla, is he... Is he a devil? He is our clan leader, but I would know what he is."

Nyla took a deep breath and locked eyes with Gorn. Hudnarin desperately tried to look uninterested, but how he leaned in betrayed his true feelings. Nyla let her breath out as a sigh. "I don't think so, maybe a little bit. It is difficult to explain. You know by now that he is a human? A race that is far older than ours and so advanced as to be seen as gods by undeveloped races like ours."

They both nodded, forgetting their task to listen. Nyla smiled at them and made a point to focus on her work while she spoke so they would do the same. "The humans, they are compared to us, beasts of war. I have been taking classes with Artie, and he has shown me much of the history of humanity. The wars and battles they waged, not only with other races but within their own, make our wars seem like nothing more than children's squabbles."

Nyla paused, letting what she had said sink in. "They faced many enemies, their battle-tech marching ever onwards, until they faced something called a swarm. It was a collective conscious silicon-based lifeform. The humans won, they always win in the end, but the soldiers who fought in the battle were broken. Throughout human history, humanity has seen how the minds of humans would break in combat, so they came up with a solution. They would look to choose one person to train to be the ultimate warrior, and then when the time came, they would let this one warrior control the entirety of the human's vast military assets, most of which are automated. They struggled with the concept but made it work, and it became the practice for the warrior to kill themselves after completing the war they were to fight in."

"Is Cal the next one?" Hudnarin asked. 

"Cal is currently the Bearer of Sin; he has apparently fought many battles in this position and refuses to kill himself, so no other ever has to do his job." Nyla looked down at her hands working at chopping vegetables. "He is a kind man, but as soon as you cross a line and betray him or threaten anything he holds dear, he is a devil. He is the devil who comes to call and collect the souls of those who would dare offend those he cares for. Do you want to know if he is a devil? I would say yes, but if you treat him and his with respect, he will not harm you. Hista learned that the hard way."

They were silent for a moment, then Gorn spoke. "What did Pinetil mean when she said he treated us with a sense of decency?" 

Nyla opened her mouth to try and explain how she saw Cal and how he seemed to deal with things, but she was interrupted by Artie coming through the door. "You will see soon enough. All of you should take your seats in the Grand Hall." 

Nyla nodded as Artie began to whiz around the kitchen, performing tasks at a speed that defied logic. She and the other two members of the clan went to the table where Cal sat, Nyla took her seat to the left of Cal, and Pinetil sat to her left. On the right of Cal Gorn and Hudnarin sat. They all chatted idly as time passed until, finally, a Narvish man stepped in and began announcing the clan leaders of the Clans of Twelve. When they were finished, the Clan leader of the first clan stood to speak, and Cal beat him to the punch.

"Apologies, Jurrog, we are awaiting a few others," Cal said, and Jurrog looked confused and nodded, sitting back down. Moments later, the leaders of the lesser clans began to stream in, taking seats as directed by Artie. As they came in, the clans of the Twelve began to laugh and taunt the lesser clans, calling them names. Some even dared to cop feelings of the female clan leaders. Cal watched it all happen, and those in the room thought it was accepted. But Nyla could tell that he was none too happy.

"Brothers! Sisters of the vow! Heitstrengingar!" Cal said when the hubbub finally died down. The clan leaders of the Clans of the Twelve echoed the call back to Cal. They all drank and took their seats once more after a brief cheer. "Tell me, friends, what is this? I hear of you using my name to bully the lesser clans. And who dares insult another guest in my clan hall."

The silence could have killed if Cal had not filled it with words. "Heitstrengingar. It is a vow to uphold the honor of one another. to protect everything your ally holds dear. Yet, you tarnish my name by insulting people in my clan hall and telling them I am a demon you will unleash if they do not offer their prettiest daughters to you? One of you explain." 

The pause stretched on seemingly forever, only to be broken by the leader of the 6th clan. He raised his glass to Cal, calling out the ancient vow again. "Heitstrengingar, Cal of the Storm Dragon. It is true many of the twelve have done as you say, but why should we not. You compared us to the greatest warriors from your homeworld. If we are as powerful as beings who can travel from plane to plane, why should we not revel in this power? They are weak. We are strong. They should fear us."

A cheer went up from the clan leaders. Cal and Nyla both noticed that the clan leaders of the first and Second clans glanced nervously at each other, not cheering. Cal laughed, and the cheering faded out. "Tell me, if that is how you want this to play out, why should I honor the Heitstrengingar? Jurrog, Kre'Ana, you both seem like you know nothing of this. Tell me, did you need to use my name to further your goals?"

"No, Cal." Jurrog said, "I took the vow to be one of honor. One that would reflect the shame of my actions onto you if I should do what has been done."

"I, too, did not do these things, " Kre'Ana said, "while I did not interpret the vow as Jurrog did, I felt that using the name of one more powerful than me would only display my own weakness."

Cal nodded, and the faces of the other clan leaders fell. Cal locked eyes with each of them for a moment. "So, am I not stronger than you? As you say, should I not break the Heitstrengingar and ravage your clans for my benefit? Should I take your sons and daughters simply because I can? Maybe I should kill all of you here so your stupidity is not replicated?"

Cal looked around, and heads with wide eyes were shaking emphatic no's in his direction. "I do not want to do this thing, so I will give you one final chance to demonstrate that this was simply a mistake."

Cal sat back, waiting and watching to see what would happen. Then spoke one final sentence. "My people have a rule that is old compared even to your people, 'Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.'" 

"But you would be breaking your word! You would be no better. Only the first and second clans would have held their word." The leader of the fifth clan called out. And suddenly, bickering started between the clan leaders, both lesser and greater. 

Cal sighed deeply. Then stood and put a smidge of power into his voice, "THAT IS ENOUGH." 

Nyla felt the words in her bones, and every Narvish in the room clapped their hands over their ears. Cal stood for a moment. "You all seem to want to settle this your own way, so how do you want to settle this?"

"We would have a trial by combat, to submission or unconsciousness, but it would be fooled hearty." The leader of the third clan said.

"So you wish me to name someone else as my representative?" Cal asked.

"Yes!" Declared the leader of the seventh clan.

"Very well, to make this fair, I will ask all clan leaders, from highest to the lowest, to work together in this endeavor, so there is no saying it was not decided fairly. Because Surely, if all you sixty-some clan leaders are defeated by my representative, you will have no argument. I will even let you fight them all at once."

A grumble of approval was heard, and Cal surprised Nyla by turning to Pinetil. "Ambassador Axshram, I have a request. You are perpetually telling me how much better your people are than the Narvish, so take this moment to prove it. I name you my representative. I also ask you not to use psionics for obvious reasons, and you can not kill anyone."

Pinetil seemed to consider. "I simply have to make them surrender or knock them all unconscious, all without psionics? What is to stop me from simply looking to make you look bad?" 

"Artie will send a video of it back to your homeworld if you do that. If you are defeated honestly, it will never leave this hall, but if you win, I will tell you something I think you desperately wish to know." Cal smiled wickedly at Pinetil, who smiled just as wickedly back.

"Very well, Bearer of Sin, in this moment, I will fight for you," Pinetil said and began to strip away her fine clothes. When she was finished, she wore a skintight grey suit that revealed a well-muscled and lithe body with curves in all the right places. She stepped forward to face the gathered clan lords. 

Cal nodded and looked to the lords. "Is this acceptable?" 

A general grumble of approval washed over the clan leaders. Cal took his seat once more. "Very well, when this goblet hits the floor, the fight will begin; I will throw it in the air a few moments after I see you are ready. Those with abilities should use them now; I will give you time. But after this, there will be no complaining about the results."

The clan leaders all moved, some going and removing outer garments, others pulling hidden weapons from their clothing, and others seeming to meditate. Nyla could feel the waves of power coming from those who were meditating. And she worried for Pinetil until she directed her sense of power to Pinetil. Every one of her people had a distinct feeling of power, but they all generally felt like fuzzy heat to Nyla. Pinetil was frost-coated steel. Whatever ability she was about to use, Nyla could tell that it was powerful, nowhere near the staggeringly overwhelming force of Cal's power. Still, compared to any Narvish Nyla had ever met, Pinetil was a god in comparison. 

Cal noted they all seemed ready and lobbed the goblet into the air in a long arc. The moment it hit the floor, chaos erupted, and Nyla watched the clan leaders of her people fall one after another. Pinetil was a blur; she seemed to flash through the crowd of Narvish men and women, barely touching those around her; each time she did, though, a pulse of that strange power knocked the target of her touch back several paces, usually leaving them unconscious. It was clear who the victor was, and it seemed like it would go off without a hitch until someone landed a blow on Pinetil. 

Pinetil looked back at the lesser clan leader, who had somehow gotten a clean gut shot on Pinetil. Nyla knew it had been a mistake, and she watched as Pinetil's face became one of disgust as she pulled her hand back, a cold blue light coalescing around her stiffened fingertips. She lunged with her hand leading the way, and Nyla was certain she did not want to know what would happen to the clan leader.

Suddenly Cal was there. A sudden hammer of Cal's distinct power slammed down on the room, seeming to smother every other power in the room, even Pinetil's. He also had a hand around Pinetil's wrist, stopping her fingertips millimeters from the clan leader's face.

"Do you all accept your loss?" Cal asked, looking around the room, and those still awake nodded, seeing Pintil struggle to get away from Cal's hold on her. 

Cal tells Pinetil to cool down and gently pushes her toward the table where Nyla sits. He then walks around, waking all those who are unconscious, making sure no drastic medical intervention is needed. After all the clan leaders are awakened and seated again, Cal asks a simple question. "How many of you would like to fight many people like Pinetil?"

The room is quiet. The clan leaders seem to want to speak, but none dare to. Finally, Jurrog spoke. "I can comfortably say that none here would ever dare ask for that or a rematch with Pinetil."

Cal nodded in approval. "Good, that is good. But if you do not wish it, why are you so eager to bring that destiny upon yourselves."

The stunned looks and sudden aura of fear and panic that flooded the room from the clan leaders was exactly what Cal had wanted. "I know this is not your wish, so let me tell you what is happening beyond your world. Let me tell you of my people and of Pinetil's people. After that, we can discuss what you originally came here for."

In a shocking show of unity, the clan leaders nodded and sat at their tables with rapt attention as Cal began to tell them of peoples beyond their planet.