《Ascension》


 PART 1

    [NYLA: 13th day of the 2nd Veth of Jot, year 327]


    The winter air was harsh on her lips as Nyla ran, her rushed steps muffled by the deep snow. She was breathing hard, and she knew the heavy footfalls of the Hilvorn beast were not too far behind her. Nyla took a moment to glance over her shoulder, her eyes widening as she saw the heavily muscled mass of fur, teeth, and cruel intellect close the distance between them.


    Nyla panicked and faced forward again, pumping her arms and legs faster, putting a little more distance between her and the beast. She felt tears begin to stream down her face as she silently prayed to Kalla, goddess of the hunt, for speed and endurance.


    ¡°No!¡± Nyla cried out as she felt the impact of something on her back, knocking her face first into the cold softness of the snow. She rolled onto her back just as a clawed hand swiped down, shredding the clothing that covered her chest.


    Nyla cried openly now, she wanted the end to come. She wanted the pain to be over, she wanted her life to be done. She had nothing left to give, everything had been taken from her. Now she was little more than bait for the Hilvorn beast.


    Nyla was losing blood. She felt what remained of her clothes absorbing her blood and beginning to freeze to her body. As her vision faded, she saw the jaw of the beast come down too close around her head.Just before the blackness closed in, a large boot kicked the jaw away. Then Nyla fell into unconsciousness, her mind replaying events seemingly to mock her.


    [NYLA: 1st day of the 4th Veth of Kiv, year 324]


    Nyla was a child of 16. She knew little of the world, other than the soft voice of her mother, and gentle hands of her father. She knew sometimes the men would go fight others from different tribes, but she had never understood why or who.


    The night before one of the warriors, Iven, had returned from somewhere with a strange woman and an even stranger object that seemed to sing out to Nyla. This morning the tribe elders had called for all the young women of the village to assemble, and one by one they were called into the elders'' home. Without fail moments later each woman would leave with a cloth pressed to their palm.


    Finally, it was Nyla¡¯s turn. She stepped past the heavy furs acting as barriers to the wind.. Inside was Iven, the Woman, and two of the Elders wearing strange masks. Iven held a knife, as did the woman.


    ¡°Sit, Nyla.¡± One of the elders said, voice muffled in the strange mask.


    Nyla sat and gave her hand to Iven when he gestured for it. In between the strange woman and Nyla was the object.A silver sphere that shifted with the harmony of sounds it produced. The strange woman pressed the tip of the knife into an already open wound, dropping two or three drops of blood onto the silver sphere.


    Iven pressed his own knife into Nyla¡¯s hand and drew out a small amount of blood, flicking the knife in a practiced manner to drop Nyla¡¯s blood onto the sphere as well. In the instant the blood of both women was in contact with the sphere, a strange low bellow¡ªreminiscent of an extremely ominous hunting horn, issued from the sphere.


    For Nyla and the other woman, there was a moment of intense understanding, almost as if they shared one mind. It also instantly made Nyla aware of what was going to happen, so when the moment of understanding ended she watched in almost slow motion as Iven slammed his knife into the back of the Elder closest to him, and then moved to snap the other elder¡¯s kneck with a quick jerk of his hands.


    In the dream-become-memory, time skipped forward to when she had been held in the Igval clan¡¯s prison, and one of the guards decided to try his luck with her¡­


    [NYLA: 13th day of the 2nd Veth of Jot, year 327]


    Nyla felt hands pressing to her breasts and panicked, thrashing against them to get away, the dream still fresh in her mind.


    ¡°Fool Woman! Lay still, or I¡¯ll do more harm than good!¡± A gruff voice said in strangely accented Jeshi.


    Nyla froze and took stock of her situation, realizing that while yes she was bare from the waist up, there was very little that was sexual in nature happening. Instead, she could feel very little, almost as if numbroot had been applied. ¡°What¡­What is happening?¡± Nyla¡¯s speech was slurred, and the environment was alien to her.


    ¡°Hilvorn beast tore you wide open. But no worries, I can patch you up pretty good, better than your kind could do anyways.¡± The strange voice said.


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    Nyla got a look at her savior then. He was tall, freakishly so. Nyla¡¯s head would only reach to just above his belt line. He was also pale, a peachy color with brown hair above his eyes and around his mouth. He was not a proper reddish hue for a male of any tribe or even a violet hue for a female. She realized she was looking at a being who was not Narvish. Then Nyla passed out once more.


    [CAL: 13th day of the 2nd Veth of Jot, year 327 | HSSD: 13MAY4735]


    ¡°Hilvorn beast tore you wide open. But no worries, I can patch you up pretty good, better than your kind could anyways.¡± Cal said, pressing a button to administer more anesthetic. He watched the small, strange, purplish humanoid stare intently at him for a moment before the drugs did their work and knocked her unconscious.


    ¡°Okay, now that our little friend is knocked the fuck out, let''s get her patched up, shall we Artie?¡± Cal said out loud to the empty room.


    ¡°Understood Cal.¡± A smooth voice seemed to emanate from the room, as Artie, the AI companion of Cal, spoke out, ¡°Now first things first, make sure that there is not a chunk of her breast missing. If everything closes up nicely, you can begin stitching.¡±


    Cal wondered again at the programming of Artie as he examined the small pair of breasts he was working on. Looking at her chest, the left breast was cut almost cleanly in two, her right had three shorter gashes on it, and before she had awoken, Cal had managed to pack all three cuts with a gel that served as a numbing agent and also aided in the healing process.


    Cal worked swiftly and surely under the direction and observation of Artie, and within an hour all four lacerations had been stitched and bandaged. Cal looked at his handy work, knowing she would have some scaring and maybe some sensitivity issues, but it would have to do. Cal also knew if he had taken her to one of the tribal gatherings nearby, she would have most likely been left to bleed out and die.


    Considering his options and the fact that this particular Hilvorn beast had originally been hunting Cal before it caught wind of the small being, Cal had felt that it was his responsibility to get her patched up and figure out what was going on. Cal thought all this as he finished wrapping her chest with bandaging, carrying her small frame to a sleeping pod that would detect and adjust to her optimal sleep settings.


    ¡°All we can do is wait now, right Artie?¡± Cal said more to himself than to Artie.


    ¡°I guess so, Cal.¡± Artie responded


    [NYLA: 15th day of the 2nd Veth of Jot, year 327]


    Nyla came to in complete bliss. Never before had she felt as she did now¡­comfortable, warm, and supported in all the places her body needed support. She felt as if she could sink into wherever she was and be perfectly content for the rest of her life. Then her body reminded her that not only was she healing, but she was hungry and needed to get up.


    Nyla looked around for a door to go outside, or at least a soilpot of some kind. A voice that seemed to emanate out from everywhere spoke then, ¡°The facilities I believe you are looking for are located here.¡±


    A line of light appeared around a door that Nyla had not noticed before. She walked to it and then had the embarrassing experience of having the disembodied voice talk her through how to utilize the strange soilpot.


    ¡°Thank you, strange messenger of the Gods.¡± Nyla said with reverence in her voice.


    ¡°Oh, I am not a messenger of the Gods.¡± The voice said with an amused tone.


    Nyla¡¯s eyes widened and she fell to her knees. ¡°I am sorry, I did not mean to offend one of the Gods!¡±


    Another door that Nyla had missed opened, and through it walked the strange pinkish creature. She stayed bowed on the ground. Cal looked up from the tray small tray of food he was carrying,¡°Umm, Artie, what''s going on?¡±


    ¡°She thinks that I am a God.¡± Artie said, the amusement still blatant in his voice, ¡°I wonder what that makes you Cal?¡±


    ¡°Okay, that¡¯s enough of that, Artie.¡± Cal said in a tone that broached no argument, ¡°And miss? Please, stand up. We are not Gods or their messengers or any such thing. I brought you some food, and I want to ask you some questions to make sure you are healing well. I also want to ask what exactly you were doing this far north, this late in the season?¡±


    Nyla looked around, embarrassed, and stood quickly. She took a seat on the edge of the miraculous sleeping platform, ¡°You are not Gods? But all of this.¡± She gestured around, ¡°And how you healed me so quickly¡­ and the voice.¡±


    ¡°It is a lot to take in.¡± Cal said, wondering where he should even begin, ¡°Well, why don¡¯t we start with names, and food, and go from there?¡±


    ¡°Very well.¡± Nyla said, accepting the tray that was covered in strange but delicious-smelling food, ¡°I am Nyla of no clan, formerly of the 13th clan, and former prisoner of the Igval clan.¡±


    ¡°Nyla, it is good to meet you.¡± Cal said before continuing, ¡°I am Callum, though everyone just calls me Cal, and the disembodied voice you hear is Artie, he is a¡­ well just think of him as a good spirit.¡±


    ¡°You can call me Artie.¡± Artie said.


    Cal watched Nyla as she processed the information. Good spirit was far more believable than Artificial Intelligence developed by humanity. Nyla nodded slowly, ¡°Very well, Cal, Artie, it is a pleasure to meet you both. I have some questions Cal, and you did as well. So, why don¡¯t we take turns asking and answering?¡±


    ¡°Sounds good, I¡¯ll start.¡± Cal said with a small smile, ¡°What were you doing so far north this late in Jot? I know that the tribes sometimes come north for hunting, but they usually send a large party. So what were you doing?¡±


    ¡°I was attempting to die. It was only after the Hilvorn beast began chasing me that I realized I did not want to die.¡± Nyla said in a very matter-of-fact way. ¡°Cal, forgive me if this is rude, but what are you?¡±


    ¡°I am a human, I believe I am the only one currently on this planet.¡± Cal said trying to imagine what would drive this woman to want to either freeze to death or be eaten, ¡°Nyla why did you want to die?¡±


    ¡°I was fed up with the disgusting way I was being forced to live.¡± Nyla said, her tone telling Cal that there was a lot more there to talk about, but now might not be the time, ¡°What is a Human?¡±


    ¡°That''s a good question.¡± Cal said, thinking for a minute about how he should answer, ¡°Artie why don¡¯t you take this one?¡±


    ¡°Very well.¡± Artie said. ¡°Humanity, or the human race, is what many call a precursor race. They were one of the first three races to achieve sentience in this arm of the galaxy. They are the only known precursor race to survive the collapse of their society, and currently have only two worlds around their original star, lovingly named Sol after countless media depictions. The Human Empire¡­¡±


    ¡°That''s enough Artie.¡± Cal said seeing Nyla struggle to understand a lot of what was being said. ¡°I know it is hard to understand, and when you do understand it, it will be difficult to believe. But I am a human who is not from your world. So my next question is, what do you plan to do next, now that you know you want to live?¡±


    Nyla stared up at Cal, the fleshy pink giant, and realized that he was probably telling the truth. He was an alien from another world, and she was trapped in a room with a strange disembodied voice, along with this strange giant. Nyla began to laugh, taking in the crazy that was everywhere around her, and she wondered how her life would change next.

 PART 2

    [CAL & NYLA: 1st day of the 3rd Veth of Jot, year 327 | HSSD: 26MAY4735]


    The days following her sudden awakening in the home of Cal and Artie were days of wonder for Nyla. She spoke at length with Cal and Artie both, learning about them. The most shocking thing had been to learn that Artie was not actually a sentient being, he was an artificial intelligence Cal¡¯s people had created.


    The information she had gathered could be summarized fairly simply. Firstly, Cal was a human. Humanity first left their planet long before any kind of history was tracked by Nyla¡¯s people. Humanity¡¯s technologies were so far ahead of anything Nyla had even heard of¨Cshe had mostly given up on trying to understand it. Artie was one such technology. How a people, even one as advanced as Humanity, could create such a being as Artie, confounded Nyla.


    Lastly, Nyla knew her time with Cal and Artie was coming to an end. Using the superior technology and medicine of Humanity, Cal managed not only to allow Nyla relatively pain-free healing but with minimal damage or scarring.


    After what seemed like her millionth checkup, Nyla stood bare-chested in front of the mirror and commented on the efficiency of the medicine, ¡°You could be very wealthy¨Chave all that you ever desired.¡± Nyla said, running her fingers along the thin lines of scaring that slashed across her chest, ¡°Had I not just been left to die by my people, I would have lost my breasts. I would never have been able to mother my children properly. This would make you a very powerful man here if you wanted, Cal.¡±


    Cal shrugged, ¡°I guess, but that¡¯s not really what I want, and¡­ well, suffice it to say that is not what I want.¡± Cal finished the statement by stepping up behind Nyla to help wrap a bandage soaked in nanotech, being careful not to touch her inappropriately.


    Nyla looked in the mirror at Cal¡¯s face. She grabbed his hand, placing it on her breast with a clearly non-medicinal purpose, ¡°A man with abilities and technologies such as yours could have whatever he wanted...could have whoever he wanted.¡± She pressed Cal¡¯s hand to her breast with clear intent.


    Cal looked at her in the mirror, his alien face still unreadable to Nyla. He gently pulled his hand away from her chest. To Nyla, the gentle force he had applied to remove his hand felt like an unstoppable wall of strength. All her effort to keep his hand there fell away. It was as if they were a blade of grass standing against the spring storm wall.


    ¡°Nyla,¡± Cal started as he continued to wrap the bandage with cold and clinical purpose, ¡°I appreciate what you are saying, and what you are trying to do. And I can even understand you might feel like you owe me something for helping you, but you don¡¯t. Humans in general¨Cnot just me¨Ctend to help when and where they can. Even if they shouldn¡¯t, so there is no obligation.¡±


    ¡°But don¡¯t your people fight?¡± Nyla said, not understanding why he would not take what was rightfully his according to her people''s ways, ¡°Don¡¯t they lust? Don¡¯t you seek something for the good things you have done?¡±


    ¡°Yes, we do.¡± Cal said patiently, finishing the wrapping of the bandage, ¡°We are probably more lustful, violent, loving, and warlike than you could possibly understand. But we have as a species agreed that our involvement and influence with lesser evolved races needs to remain minimal. I am violating that agreement slightly by helping you, but I could not just watch you die.¡±


    That stopped Nyla cold. Cal was violating his people''s rules to help her. She still felt she owed him for saving her, and she had little else of any value other than her body, ¡°What can I do to repay you then?¡±


    ¡°You do not need to repay me.¡± Cal said. ¡°You owe me nothing. But if you really want to do something, you can tell me your story, explain what happened that led you to want to die.¡± Cal knew that this would be rather personal, but he hoped it would make Nyla feel as if she had paid her debt¨Cwithout using her body as a currency.


    ¡°I can tell you that, but it is not a very interesting or complex story.¡± Nyla said and reached into the bundle of clothing remaining from the things she had worn when she was attacked. She pulled free a sphere, smaller than the metal sphere in her memory. She closed her eyes and focused. A moment later the sphere expanded in size.


    ¡°A Boyn-Ball.¡± Cal said with a smile, waving his hand and the ball zipped over to him. With seemingly almost zero effort, Cal stared at the ball and it changed its shape to a cube and then back to a sphere, ¡°You can find these everywhere.¡±


    Cal looked away from the sphere to see the dismay on her face, ¡°What¡¯s wrong Nyla?¡± Cal was immediately concerned.


    ¡°These spheres can be found everywhere?¡± Nyla asked, and she began crying. She explained that many of the tribes thought the Boyn-Balls were holy relics of the Gods, ¡°Because these spheres are considered holy if someone is capable of using one they are considered a Priestess. Many of the higher-ranked tribes covet Priestesses and will wipe lower-ranked tribes out to acquire even one more priestess.¡±


    ¡°Is it only females that are able to use the spheres?¡± Cal asked and Nyla nodded. ¡°Well, that would make sense. Women tend to develop psychic abilities first in any race. See, the Boyn-Balls are a psychic-reactive material, so those with psychic abilities are able to change the shape to some degree. The greater your ability the greater the change in the shape and ability to control that shape change.¡±


    As Cal spoke, he illustrated the point. First, he performed the simple cube shape he had done earlier. Then his brow furrowed, and Nyla could almost feel the wave of energy roll off of him as the cube became a shape with many sides that seemed to infinitely be folding in on itself. Nyla stared at it, trying to grasp what it was, only for it to snap back into a simple sphere.


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    ¡°The spheres,¡± Cal said holding the sphere out to Nyla, ¡° are the mark of a dying race. In an act of desperation, the alien race known as the Boynic sent out trillions upon trillions of these, hoping they would spark contact with another psychic species who might be able to help them with the issues they were facing at the time. But all they found was humanity. And as I understand it, we did what we could but we were unable to prevent their fall from history.¡±


    Nyla got the strange sense Cal was being evasive about something, but it was her story that was supposed to be told here, so she ignored it, ¡°Well, regardless. As you can see, I have minimal ability with the holy spheres, and because of my pathetic ability, my tribe was almost entirely wiped out. Only myself and the three strongest warriors were spared. I was trained to use the spheres and told my duty was to provide the tribe with as many divine children as possible. I was passed from one single man to the next in the hope I would bear a child.¡±


    Cal could see Nyla was doing her best to keep it together, so he simply listened, letting her have a moment. After composing herself, Nyla continued, ¡°After that, and after I learned I would be imprisoned for the rest of my life serving the same purpose, I decided it was better to sneak out and die on my own terms rather than to simply live as they would allow.¡±


    Cal paused before he spoke, ¡°Well, I can respect that. I do have to ask, what kind of life do you think you will have now? If you come back bearing the mark of the Hilvorn beast, do you think you could have any semblance of a normal life?¡±


    Nyla thought about this for a moment, ¡°Probably not. In order to sneak away, I had to poison one of the guards watching over the other prisoners and me. Even if they did forgive that, they would never believe I had been injured and healed in only a few short days.¡±


    ¡°That is fair.¡± Cal said as he thoughtfully rubbed his chin, ¡°Those rules I mentioned I was breaking? Not to interfere? I am trying to find a way for you to go back to your life without more intervention from me.¡±


    Nyla understood. As much as she wanted nothing more than to remain with Cal and Artie, she figured it would come to an end sooner rather than later. Only one thought permeated her mind, ¡°I¡¯ll miss you and Artie.¡±


    ¡°Thanks, Nyla,¡± Cal said, ¡°I¡¯m sure that Artie will miss you as well.¡±


    They both waited for Artie to speak up but nothing happened,¡°That is odd.¡± Nyla said. She had grown used to the strange voice¡¯s often crude, but witty interjections.


    ¡°It is strange,¡± Cal said with a concerned look on his face, ¡°normally you can¡¯t shut the bucket of bolts up.¡± Cal walked over to a supposedly blank wall, tapping it at his chest height. A seam formed where Cal had tapped it, and a chunk of the wall slid to either side, leading them from the room that had been Nyla¡¯s only interaction with the ship to a room that held screens displaying a glut of information Nyla could only guess at.


    Cal took the only seat in the middle of the room and Nyla realized every screen in this room was angled to be visible from the strange seat, ¡°Computer, display sub-process Seven-A-I-Niner-Three.¡±


    The screen directly in front of Cal shifted from a strange display of a lot of circles and dots rotating, to an image that Nyla could only marvel at as it seemed to display an ever-changing net of strange symbols and other even stranger images.


    ¡°That¡¯s weird, Artie is directing a massive amount of power and memory to utilize the sub-space comms.¡± Cal said, leaning back in his seat, ¡°Artie, command directive, report to user.¡±


    Artie¡¯s voice seemed to once more emanate from everywhere, but without its usual playfulness it now seemed more mechanical and monotone, ¡°Artificial Intelligence Serial number Q-Seven-Niner-T-F-Five¨C¡±


    ¡°Cancel serial read, confirm designation.¡± Cal said, interrupting what Nyla could only guess was a very long number.


    ¡°This unit is designated as a companion model for user Callum Nigel Rittlebach, preferred name of Cal. Cal has designated this unit Artie.¡± Artie said in that monotone way.


    ¡°Okay that¡¯s good,¡± Cal said more to himself than anyone around, ¡°Artie, terminate user reporting.¡±


    A faint beep was the only response that Cal got, ¡°Well let''s give him a second.¡± Cal said.


    They sat in silence for a moment before Artie spoke, this time in his usual playful tone, ¡°Cal, a message from UCH, you should see it.¡±


    Without waiting for a response Artie put the message up on the screen directly in front of Cal. On-screen, a woman with long blonde hair and green eyes spoke, ¡°To all humans, hello from Earth! I hope this finds you well, as what I have to say will not be easy for many of you to hear. There has been a cancellation of all off-world permits, Leave, and PCS orders in effect for the military. Return to your station of origin on Earth or Mars immediately, through the fastest means available. To the general population, the United Council of Humanity requests that you return to Earth as soon as possible.¡±


    Nyla looked from the screen where the woman was speaking a garble of sound she could not understand to Cal. Cal¡¯s face seemed pale. She wanted to ask Cal what was happening, but the woman on the screen began speaking again.


    ¡°The next part of this is a temporary relief from directive P-Zero-Seven-A-Niner. All people currently in contact or on-world with another race: secure contact with the local leadership and secure an ambassador. At the very least, please bring a representative member of the species you are in contact with.¡± The woman said this and paused, still looking into the camera.


    ¡°Special instructions will follow for specific individuals. Please remain in contact with your AI and continue to make your way home with the dignitaries you bring.¡± The woman on the screen froze for a second before the message started over.


    ¡°Cal.¡± Nyla said, looking at his face which seemed to have fallen to a dark place, ¡°What¡¯s happening?¡±


    Cal was about to speak when a new message appeared on the screen. The same woman, looking far less composed¨Cin fact, she looked exhausted. She spoke with a sigh, ¡°Cal, I¡¯m not gonna play the stupid games, so let me simply say this. Humanity is going to need you on this one. Everyone has told me you won¡¯t come, but I am sending this anyway. If you decide to come, be fast.¡±


    Cal pressed a button, clearing every screen, and sat back in his chair, letting out a long sigh of his own. Nyla waited patiently and Cal gave her a look, ¡°Well Nyla, you have a choice. Apparently, something big is going on, so do you want to be the first of the Narvish to travel to another world?¡±

 PART 3

    Nyla didn¡¯t think she had heard him correctly. ¡°I am sorry, what?¡±


    ¡°Do you want to go to my home world?¡± Cal asked, smiling at the small woman.


    Nyla thought for a moment. The thoughts running through her mind were incessant, questioning his motives, questioning whether she had the right to go with him. ¡°I do, but¡­¡± she hesitated.


    ¡°But what, Nyla?¡± Cal asked.


    Nyla¡¯s heart fluttered at the sound of this strange god-like being speaking her name with such familiarity. ¡°Will I ever see my homeworld again?¡±


    Cal laughed. ¡°Of course, this should not take long. Either way, if you come or not, I like this world, and I still feel somewhat responsible for you, so I will be back one way or another.¡±


    Nyla¡¯s mind raced until she finally nodded. ¡°Very well, I would very much like to see your homeworld.¡±


    Artie chimed up. ¡°Cal, we have clearance for, wow¡­.¡± Artie trailed off.


    ¡°Well, don¡¯t keep us waiting, Artie. What is it we are cleared for?¡± Cal asked.


    ¡°In accordance with UCH directives, Callum Nigel Rittlebach is currently given clearance Siera-Niner-Zero-Zero, full authorization of autonomy for any and all actions in line with prospect Uniform-Hotel-Charlie-Zero-Zero-One.¡± Artie said in the strange mechanical way that he had been talking earlier. His voice switched back to its normal playful tone before continuing. ¡°Currently speaking, you have clearance for anything and everything, in accordance with, well, The Thing.¡±


    Nyla noticed that Cal tensed at the mention of ¡®The Thing.¡¯ Nyla decided just to ask. ¡°What is ¡®The Thing?¡¯¡¯


    ¡°My job.¡± Cal said somewhat dismissively. ¡°Now, with this clearance, Nyla, on Earth, we speak many languages, the one used most is what has become known as Common. It''s a bastard mix of English, Russian, German, and Mandarin. If you want, I can keep talking to you in your language as I have been, or I can give you an injection of nanites that will give you a functional ability to speak and understand every language in the human archives.¡±


    Nyla didn¡¯t hesitate this time. ¡°Yes, please, I want to be able to know what is going on around me.¡±


    ¡°Very well,¡± Cal said, turning away, ¡°Artie give her the works, anything that will improve her health, her ability to survive on Earth, or anything else she wants, that''s all you. I will get the ship ready to go.¡±


    ¡°Understood, Cal. Nyla please enter this room.¡± Artie said, and a door outlined in blue light opened up.


    ¡°Okay, See you in a few Cal.¡± Nyla said, and Cal nodded, a look of deep thought crossing his face as he turned to the monitors around the chair and began to tap away.


    For Nyla, the next hour or so was spent talking with Artie, being asked all kinds of questions, and finally being given a single shot with a strange metallic-looking liquid.


    ¡°Don¡¯t worry Nyla,¡° Artie reassured her, ¡°I have checked and rechecked that nothing in the shot will interact poorly with your biology. I also have one more question to ask you.¡±


    Nyla noticed that the way he asked implied secrecy. ¡°What is it, Artie?¡±


    ¡°If you would like, I can also give you an implant that will allow you to be in contact with an AI of your choosing, and until you get one of your own, if you ever do, I will keep you informed of anything you might need to know.¡± Artie said in what could only be described as a whisper.


    ¡°Okay?¡± Nyla said with uncertainty, and a metallic arm, something she recognized as a robotic arm from her talks with Artie, unfolded from the wall and quickly attached a small metal disk to the side of her head, under her hair. ¡°Is that it?¡±


    ¡°It is. Are you understanding me?¡± Artie said inside her head.


    ¡°Oh, that''s unsettling.¡± Nyla said.


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    ¡°That''s what I said the first time I experienced it.¡± Cal said, standing in the doorway. ¡°So how much of an upgrade did you authorize for yourself, Artie?¡±


    Artie responded with a tone that seemed more natural now. ¡°Um, well, I figured that it would help.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m not mad. You do you, Artie, just don¡¯t exceed the Crenshaw Point.¡± Cal said before focusing on Nyla. ¡°So you ready?¡±


    Nyla nodded. ¡°I think so. Cal, what are you wearing?¡± Nyla took in his outfit. It looked good on him, but it also looked¡­ predatory.


    A sharp-looking grey was the base of the outfit, with sharp lines of black starting at the hem of the trouser legs and flowing up in a strange pattern that made Nyla think of violence. The coat had similar patterns, and on the shoulder were two black loops of cloth with a single silver emblem on each shoulder. The entire effect was intimidating. For some reason, Nyla felt that she was looking at a whole new person.


    Cal looked at Nyla for a moment and then smiled. ¡°It¡¯s my uniform, that''s all.¡±


    ¡°Cal does not like talking about his job.¡± Artie said in her mind.


    ¡°I can tell.¡± Nyla responded in her head without thinking, and Artie let her know that he was indeed able to hear her.


    Nyla followed Cal out of the small room she had been in and found that there was another seat next to the one that Cal had taken. ¡°Alright, Nyla. I am not going to explain how it works because, frankly, I have no idea. What we are about to do is called an interlaced folding space jump. Please take a seat.¡±


    Nyla sat down. ¡°Now, I highly recommend that you pick a single screen and focus on it, as having something to focus on makes the transition much less distressing, mentally.¡±


    Nyla nodded and then began to watch Cal, as he looked from one screen to another. In the background of the ship, and in between Cal and Artie telling each other things, Nyla felt a strange whine build. The sound put her teeth on edge and made her head hurt.


    ¡°Standby for jump.¡± Cal said, and Nyla sank back into the chair, focusing on the monitor directly in front of her. The whine rose higher and higher in pitch, almost in time with Cal¡¯s counting. ¡°Jump in 5¡­ 4¡­ 3¡­ 2¡­ 1¡­ Jump!¡±


    Nyla let out a gasp and gritted her teeth. Pain washed over her, emanating from her head. Then as quickly as it had built, the whine dissipated and finally fell silent, and with it, the pain that she''d felt. Cal groaned, ¡°Apparently, what you are feeling is space unfolding itself.¡±


    ¡°Well, I¡¯m glad it is over quickly.¡± Nyla said, stepping up to follow Cal, eager to see the world that he called home.


    Cal opened the door and smiled back at Nyla, ¡°Welcome to Earth!¡± He said and opened the door to the outside.


    Nyla stepped out and thought that something wasn¡¯t right. The world looked much the same as the world. Other than a lack of snow that was surely outside in her world, it looked identical. ¡°It¡¯s beautiful, Cal. It just seems like humans would have great cities.¡±


    Nyla heard laughing both inside her head and out, and then Artie spoke to her. ¡°Turn around Nyla.¡±


    Nyla turned and beheld a silver city reaching higher than any mountain; vehicles with humans sat atop them, floated through the air, and the sheer size of everything made Nyla¡¯s mouth fall open.


    ¡°Is that more what you expected?¡± Cal asked, and Nyla nodded. ¡°Good, now let''s go and see what the hell is going on.¡±


    Nyla nodded and watched as things passed by. People and beings of hundreds of races passed all around her, but wherever she looked, there were strange silver rings that people walked into and out of without reappearing on the other side. She asked Artie what was going on.


    ¡°Humanity almost destroyed their planet entirely,¡± Artie explained, ¡°after they came to their senses and ended the hostilities, the humans spent a century and a half fixing Earth and making it into the pristine world you see before you. To prevent the population from causing damage with pollution, the humans decided that rather than actually live on the planet, they would live in pocket dimensions linked to the planet.¡±


    Nyla was about to ask Artie to explain further when she noticed how Cal was received. Everywhere that they had walked so far, it seemed busy and crowded, but they had yet to be accosted as one normally would in a crowd. Mutters follow them as they continue down their path.


    Nyla notes that some have looks of pity for Cal, others have what can only be hatred plastered across their faces, and others look honored to even be in his presence. They pass through two large doors after walking in silence for roughly fifteen minutes.


    Upon entering the large room, Nyla saw the woman from the screen seated at the head of a large assembly of humans and other beings. When she took note of Cal, she stood and spoke. ¡°All those assembled will know and let the records reflect that the Bearer of Sin has arrived.¡±


    The room fell silent. Nyla looked around, uncomfortable with the attention that was directed toward her and Cal. She looked at Cal and saw an expression of judgment on his face as he surveyed the crowd with something close to disdain. Cal locked eyes with the woman and responded. ¡°I would like to speak with you.¡± Cal turned and walked from the room through a different door, and Nyla followed, seeing the woman who seemed to be in charge scramble to obey Cal.


    Nyla looked at Cal and wondered who he was once more. Who was this man who was so kind to her but now seemed as if he held contempt for his own race? Who was Cal that he would so casually boss around someone who supposedly held power among his people? Who was the Bearer of Sin?

 PART 4

    ¡°I would like to speak with you.¡± Cal said, turning to walk from the room through a different door. Nyla followed, seeing the woman who seemed to be in charge scrambling to obey Cal.


    When they finally got to a private room, Nyla decided she had more questions than she would ever have answers to, so her wisest path would be to watch and listen. Cal and the woman faced off against one another as if they were about to rip each other¡¯s throats out.


    Suddenly the woman let out an excited shriek and lept to embrace Cal. Cal responded with a hearty laugh and firmly hugged the woman as he spoke, ¡°It¡¯s good to see you, Tannya.¡±


    ¡°You as well, Callum. It has been too long. Why don¡¯t you at least write a message every now and then?¡± The woman spoke as Nyla stared on in confusion at the two, who moments ago had seemed at odds with each other.


    ¡°Well, I will try to remember in the future, Tannya.¡± Cal said, turning to a very confused Nyla, ¡°Tannya, this is Nyla. She has come as a representative of the Narvish people. She is also my friend.¡±


    The woman turned to Nyla and bowed to her, ¡°I hope that my brother is treating you well Nyla. If he isn¡¯t, or if he does anything you don¡¯t like, let me know, and I¡¯ll whoop his ass for you!¡±


    Nyla smiled. These two reminded her so much of her own people and how siblings bantered. But she also fully recognized these humans were infinitely more advanced than her, so she might want to temper her idea about what an acceptable level of force was in comparison to these giants.


    ¡°Thank you, Tannya?¡± Nyla said hesitantly, and then turned to Cal, ¡°Cal can I ask you a question?¡±


    ¡°I guess it¡¯s time I give you some answers, isn¡¯t it?¡± Cal said and sat down, his sister Tannya taking a seat next to him, ¡°Alright Nyla, please take a seat.¡±


    ¡°Thank you.¡± Nyla said, looking at her friend Cal. She asked the question pressing most in her mind, ¡°Cal, what does it mean that you are the Bearer of Sin? And why does everyone look at you with such a mixed bag of emotions?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s just my job, and it really doesn¡¯t mean much¡­¡± Cal started and was cut off.


    ¡°Cal!¡± Tannya seemed upset, ¡°You know that attitude is what makes people react to you the way they do! Tell her the truth!¡±


    ¡°Fine!¡± Cal said, taking a deep breath and settling his gaze on Nyla, ¡°You remember how I said we humans were a precursor race? Well, part of that for humanity was figuring out how to prolong our life almost to the point of immortality. I am almost four hundred and sixty-three years old. Actually, my birthday is in about a week.¡±


    ¡°Ohh, I have to get you a gift!¡± Tannya said, tapping the arm of her chair and begining to wave her hands strangely in the air.


    ¡°Well anyway,¡± Cal continued, ¡°long before I was born even, humanity fought many gruesome wars against themselves and against other races. But each time, we were left with a population struggling with the morality and weight of the atrocities they had committed.¡±


    Cal took a breath, ¡°Roughly two hundred years before I was born, some psychologist had an epiphany, why treat tens of thousands when you could treat one? Train one person to be the ultimate warrior, then have them simultaneously control tens of thousands of robots through some bastardization of science, sheer luck, and good old human brutality.¡±


    ¡°It worked.¡± Cal sounded sick to his stomach. ¡°The first time, it was a close call, but just before the young man¡¯s brain simply shut itself off to stop the pain, he managed to win. The second time it was easier, they knew how to manipulate the brain to make it work even faster this time, so the man died the day after.¡±


    Nyla saw a pattern and was not sure that she liked what was coming. Cal continued. ¡°The third time, a programmer named Crenshaw voluntarily augmented his brain with enough computing process augments he surely could deal with whatever happened. And it worked again. The only downside is he became so hyper-aware of himself he could perfectly recall every face he had slain and every atrocity he had committed in excruciating detail. His solution was not suicide, but an attempt to lock humanity into a pocket dimension and vent the atmosphere.¡±


    Nyla remembered Cal telling Artie not to exceed the Crenshaw Point, and that made a lot more sense now.


    ¡°This went on until just before I was born. Young men would be selected at the age of seven and trained until they were 18, then whenever a catastrophe, war, or life and death decision needed to be made, this person would bear that sin, and then kill themselves.¡± Cal was silent for a moment before continuing, ¡°This process let the human race believe themselves better than everyone else. For the one who had done the evil thing killed himself so surely the sin died with them.¡±


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    Cal fell completely silent at this point, and Tannya stepped in to continue the story, ¡°When I was five, I remembered the men from the Department of Warfare and Defense coming to inform my brother he was the new Bearer of Sin. I remember my mother and father crying, expecting him to be dead by the time he was twenty-two at the latest.¡±


    Tannya smiled at her big brother with a warm and inviting face. It made Nyla feel safe as she continued speaking,¡°Part of the program allows the young men who are chosen to come home once a month. Before the program, Cal had been a quiet and reserved child. But it seemed like combat training awakened him.¡±


    Nyla looked at Cal, who was smiling as if he remembered something funny. Tannya continued telling Nyla the story, ¡°He thrived in the environment, and when he turned twenty-one, he was called upon to settle a dispute through force. It was a massacre. Cal terminated the enemy with cold, efficient precision. Afterward people expected him to take his life as all the others had.¡±


    ¡°I finally got sick of everyone looking at me like they were surprised I was still alive when I had my twenty-fifth birthday. So I approached the Department of Warfare and Defence with a proposition. I would continue to be the Bearer of Sin for as long as I was alive.¡± Cal said, shrugging, ¡°I realized I was good at it. I was good at combat, and I was not as bothered as others by the things I had to do. The way I saw it, I was protecting my sister and her family from ever having to fight and from ever having to have one of their children do my job.¡±


    Nyla thought about all this for a moment. ¡°So, how long do you intend to do this job for?¡±


    Without a moment''s hesitation, Cal smiled and said, ¡°So long as humanity wars, I will never make another do this job.¡±


    ¡°Well, that day may be here sooner than you think.¡± Tannya said, sounding like she was shaken to her core.


    ¡°So what is going on?¡± Cal said. ¡°Now that we have caught up, let''s get to business, I guess.¡±


    ¡°We have made contact with another precursor race from another Galaxy.¡± Tannya said, her face going somewhat pale, ¡°But rather than trying to care for their Galaxy like every other precursor, they are what we would rightfully classify as extremist xenophobic religious fanatics. Long story short, they killed off every other race in their Galaxy. They met us by accident, and they assumed we would have followed a similar path and wiped out sentient life here. They were not happy to learn we existed and we support other sentients.¡±


    ¡°What happened?¡± Cal asked, and Nyla could not help but notice the shift in his tone, from his usual playful way of speaking to something¡­ dangerous.


    ¡°Well they attacked the Shen. That is a race directly uplifted by the Hoffnev who were a Precursor race here in our galaxy.¡± Tannya said, explaining things for Nyla helpfully, ¡°To simplify, they are the strongest force in the galaxy other than humanity. Needless to say, the Shen had little difficulty in killing the fanatic ship. The other Precursor, they call themselves the Jix, stated they would not attack humanity or any of its uplifted races, but any other races they encountered would be ¡®cleansed¡¯ as they say.¡±


    ¡°So we finally meet another precursor race, not on the verge of disappearing, and they turn out to be dickheads.¡± Cal said, and proceeded to ask several questions, all of which Nyla missed because she was panicking.


    ¡°Nyla,¡± Cal finally said, ¡°are you okay?¡±


    Nyla nodded. ¡°Yes, I am just worried, if they are on the same level as humanity¡­ my world, while not exactly full of kind people, would stand no chance.¡±


    ¡°Correct,¡± Tannya said simply, ¡°but that is why we are here. We want to figure out what is going to be done. If we are going to fight, or if we will simply Ascend every race we can to a point where they are not at risk from the Jix.¡±


    Cal¡¯s eyes went wider than Nyla had ever seen, ¡°The council is in agreement with this?¡±


    ¡°No,¡± Tannya said, ¡°but if it''s a choice between the death of trillions of people, and hundreds of races wiped from existence, I can¡¯t think of many who would stand in the way.¡±


    ¡°Fair,¡± Cal said, ¡°Well, let''s get this show on the road then. Nyla, congratulations on taking part in your first intergalactic crisis. Let''s all return and shake things up with the council, shall we?¡±


    Cal stood and began to lead them back to the hall with all the people.


    ¡°Welcome to Earth.¡± Tannya said in parting to Nyla before returning to her seat.


    ¡°Welcome to Earth indeed.¡± Nyla thought to herself.


    ¡°May the adventures you have be worth the hardship you endure.¡± Artie said, trying to reassure her in some way.


    ¡°At least I won''t be bored.¡± Nyla thought and watched the room fall silent once again as Cal took a seat seeming to place him at odds with everyone in the room.


    Tannya spoke, and her voice echoed through the hall, ¡°Now it seems the council is here, as well as representatives of three hundred and seventy-four different races. I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but I must tell you of the Jix.¡±


    Nyla watched the blood drain from every non-human face in the room and knew that her life and the lives of countless millions of people were about to change forever.

 PART 5

    ¡°I hate to be the bearer of bad news,¡± Tannya said, looking around the assembled representatives of a staggeringly large portion of the sentient population of the galaxy. ¡°But unfortunately, I must tell you of the Jix.¡±


    The meeting seemed to stretch forever as Tannya relayed what she had already told Nyla and Cal. Cal was not paying attention as she tried to take in all the different species and cultures represented in this room. After she had given up, she then tried to conceive of how a room as massive and grand as this could be built.


    Cal sat next to Nyla. He was paying attention, but whenever he saw her looking at him, he flashed her a smile. Cal was wondering at what point they would ask him to commit some atrocity or another. He hoped that they would choose to elevate rather than exterminate. His mind began to wander as he thought over the options, and then he heard Tannya call out.


    ¡°Bearer of Sin. I would ask you to witness the vote.¡± Tannya said, drawing her prepared speech to a conclusion.


    Cal stood, looking imperious with his hand clasped behind his back. ¡°I will witness.¡±


    Tannya nodded and looked around the room. ¡°Ladies and gentlemen of humanity and of the races represented here, I offer you three choices. The first is to do nothing and respond on a case-by-case basis. The second is to begin the process of elevating every race that we can to the point that the Jix would be unable to interfere with them. And the last¡­¡±


    Tannya paused, letting the room adjust as if she expected what would happen next. Every set of human eyes and many of the eyes of the more advanced-looking races turned to lock on Cal. Nyla shrunk down in her seat. She knew that they were looking at Cal, but she swore that she could feel the weight of their collective gaze crushing down on her. She looked at Cal and saw that, if anything, he looked at home under the intense scrutiny. He seemed to revel in it. Tannya spoke once more, ¡°The last option is to unleash the Bearer of Sin once more.¡±


    The room remained silent for a moment and then a voice that was quite mechanical spoke, seeming to emanate from everywhere.


    ¡°Please take the pad from the chair in front of you. On it, you will find the three options presented for vote. Please select the option that you wish to happen. You have exactly 60 seconds to register your vote beginning now.¡±


    Nyla looked and saw that the language on the pad was in her language. ¡°How is this possible?¡± Nyla asked Artie.


    ¡°I am translating from Earth Common to your language.¡± Artie said, and Nyla accepted the answer before reading the three options and selecting the one that she felt best suited what she wanted.


    What felt like an eternity passed in silence before Nyla once again heard the strange disembodied voice speak from everywhere. ¡°The votes have been registered. Thank you for your cooperation.¡±


    Tannya stepped up to the podium. ¡°Ladies and gentlemen, we have our answer. Humanity will now undertake the task of elevating the 1,739 known species of our galaxy. I put forth this call to all the peoples of Earth: Come and share your knowledge, your skills, and your passions with those who need them. All are welcome. Peace, prosperity, and perseverance guide you.¡±


    The humans in the room echoed that thought back to Tannya. ¡°Peace, prosperity, and perseverance guide you.¡±


    Nyla climbed down from the chair she was in and followed Cal from the room. He led them out of the building and into a transport, as soon as Cal got on, everyone else quickly vacated. Cal chatted mindlessly with Nyla until he finally directed her to step off of the hovering platform.


    She continued to follow Cal and entered the building, following behind him. Inside, another human led them to a private room where they took a seat and Cal spoke quickly to the person who had led them there. They nodded and left, leaving Cal and Nyla alone.


    ¡°Welp, I don¡¯t know about you, but I am starving.¡± Cal said, taking a seat in one of the well-appointed chairs.


    ¡°I am quite hungry as well.¡± Nyla said, wondering if this would be the last time she spoke with Cal. ¡°Cal, what happens now?¡± she asked, climbing up into one of the seats across from him.


    ¡°Now¡­¡± Cal said thoughtfully. ¡°Now the real work begins. Individuals and teams will be assigned to different races. Those teams and individuals will begin the work required for the different peoples to be uplifted¡­¡±


    Cal took a breath as if to continue explaining the process. Nyla interrupted him. ¡°I mean, what happens to me, and what happens to you?¡±


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    Cal smiled and held up a data-pad. ¡°I have just listed my intent to return to your world and uplift your people.¡±


    Nyla was surprised to feel how relieved she felt knowing that Cal would be returning to her world. The remainder of the evening was uneventful as the staff of the building they were in brought them plate after plate of food, and they talked about nothing of importance. When Nyla felt as if she could no longer keep her eyes open, she and Cal were led up some stairs and into a suite of rooms with two bedrooms and a common room. Without any prompting, Nyla walked into one of the rooms and collapsed onto the bed for a night of fitful sleep.


    The next morning Cal and Nyla ate food left outside their room for them and discussed what would happen today.


    ¡°So firstly, I want to go shopping,¡± Cal said, ¡°it¡¯s irregular for me to get back to Earth very often, so I have some things that I need and some things that I want for what we have to do. I also want to get you some things as your role on your world has just changed drastically.¡±


    ¡°What does that mean?¡± Nyla asked as she finished her second plate of something called hashbrowns.


    ¡°It means that you will be working with me.¡± Cal took a drink and paused his eating. ¡°Nyla, do you realize what is about to happen to your people? Do you understand that this process is generally not painless? This will change you and your people in ways that none will be able to foresee.¡±


    Nyla thought about what Cal had said in silence as they both finished their meal. ¡°I can only think that whatever fate awaits us is better than the extermination the Jix offer.¡±


    ¡°That is a fair point.¡± Cal said as he thanked the server who was clearing away dishes. ¡°So let us get to it.¡±


    Nyla nodded, standing up to follow Cal out of the building. After successfully navigating to a different part of the city, he led her into a store where young men and women worked to bring boxes, bags, and other goods to people waiting in small alcoves that seemed to display an astonishing variety of goods.


    Cal led them to the back and into a private room where several small plush chairs waited. Cal looked even more giant than usual in the chair. Nyla, however, seemed to fit perfectly. A young woman came in and missed Cal, who sat with his back to the wall that held the door.


    ¡°Hello?¡± The young woman seemed hesitant. ¡°I am sorry we can wait for your parents¡­¡±


    She was interrupted by Cal. ¡°That woman is not a child.¡±


    Nyla watched the woman jump slightly in surprise and turn to face Cal. Nyla expected more of the cold shoulder that Cal seemed to accept stoically. Instead, the young woman let out an excited squeal and threw her arms around Cal.


    ¡°Uncle Cal!¡± The woman said with a big smile giving Cal a big hug. ¡°I take it that they are going to make you work?¡±


    ¡°Nope,¡± Cal said, letting the young woman go. ¡°They decided to uplift everyone.¡±


    That got an eyebrow raised from the young woman ¡°Everyone?¡±


    ¡°All known races.¡± Cal said, his tone serious. ¡°So I will be working but not in an official capacity. I will be working to uplift Nyla¡¯s race.¡± He gestured to Nyla, who was still sitting.


    Nyla stood and smiled at the woman. ¡°Hello, I am Nyla.¡±


    The young woman looked surprised. ¡°Oh, I am sorry for calling you a child. I am Karla. Cal here is my uncle.¡±


    Nyla smiled and was about to reassure Karla that she was not offended, but the woman suddenly took on an almost giddy smile and continued talking. ¡°You just looked so cute in the chair, and now that you are standing up, you are even cuter.¡±


    She looked like she would have continued on her rant had Cal not stepped in and cleared his throat. ¡°Karla, we all know that you love cute things. But we are here for business, actually, so¡­¡±


    ¡°Oh!¡± Karla blushed, nodding apologetically. ¡°Of course, so what can I do for you?¡±


    ¡°Well, Nyla here will be working with me to uplift her people, so she needs the works.¡± Cal said, noting the confusion on Nyla¡¯s face.


    ¡°I mean, I¡¯ll get her what I can on the allotment from the¡­¡± Karla started to say but was cut off once more.


    ¡°No, just bill it to my expense account, I doubt that even the council would dare resist me with the potential for a call-up should their current course of action fail.¡± Cal continued to talk with Karla as she began tapping away on a screen.


    Nyla thought about what he had just said. Cal was expecting the uplifting of the races to fail. But he pushed forward with a smile and grim determination. He was alien. Nyla¡¯s people would enact a plan but once they had selected a path, they would not even consider another possibility until their primary plan had utterly failed. It was one of the reasons that the strongest clans operated the way that they did.


    ¡°You all right?¡± Karla asked, placing a gentle hand, giant though it was, on Nyla¡¯s back.


    Nylas nodded, and refocused on what was happening. ¡°Yes I am fine, what is it that I am doing?¡±


    Karla smiled and excitedly took her hand and led her to stand on a pedestal that had risen from the floor. ¡°You are going shopping on my uncle''s dime!¡±


    The words elicited such excitement from the young woman that Nyla could not help but feel excited as well as she asked what shopping was, then saw Karla¡¯s eyes light up.


    Seeing that things were well in hand, Cal stood and excused himself. ¡°I have something to attend to, Karla. She is your responsibility till I get back.¡±


    ¡°Oh, don¡¯t worry I¡¯m sure the two of us can find plenty of ways to spend your money,¡± Karla said mischievously.


    Cal smiled and nodded to Nyla, who watched him walk from the room as images of dresses filled her vision.

 PART 6

    Nyla was exhausted. The past several hours with Karla had drained Nyla of anything resembling a normal level of energy. But she also discovered why Karla had been so excited. Shopping was indeed fun, but she didn¡¯t know how Karla still had energy. In the top left of the display shimmering in the air in front of the two women a number had slowly been building upward. It had long left the numbers that Nyla had names for behind.


    Karla glanced over at Nyla. ¡°I think we can call it there. Why don¡¯t we go get some food and just relax until Cal comes back?¡± She asked with a smile.


    ¡°That sounds good.¡± Nyla said and stood from the chair, and following Karla from the building out onto the street. As they walked, Nyla spotted something that made her eyes go wide. ¡°A tiny human!¡± she exclaimed under her breath.


    ¡°A baby, yes.¡± Karla said and continued walking. ¡°Humanity as a whole keeps its families, specifically the children and the elderly, protected.¡± She gestured to the shimmering portals that seemed to be materializing and destroying people as they walked in and out. ¡°We have a pocket dimension layered inside of pocket dimensions and black holes. Access to it is limited to the direct family of the inhabitants only.¡±


    Nyla thought for a moment. ¡°Why would you tell me this? Isn''t the location of your loved ones something that you should guard with more care than that?¡±


    Karla smiled. ¡°Tell me Nyla would you care to face my uncle in combat, even with a hundred of the finest warriors of your people?¡±


    Nyla recalled everything that had been said about Cal, and the aura of danger that she had sensed from him a couple times, and shook her head. ¡°Even if it was hand-to-hand combat only and not dealing with the vast technology difference between humanity and my people. I think Cal would decimate any force we could send at him.¡±


    ¡°Good, not many other races have a sense for combat.¡± Karla said approvingly. ¡°As to why I tell you about the location of our family, firstly the security is top notch. And secondly is that if somehow, Cal were to fall in battle. humanity is not helpless.¡± She gestured into a window they were passing.


    Nyla looked and saw that inside there were people of various ages, and they were all practicing with something that looked incredibly similar to her people¡¯s Kat¡¯Nash blades. As she watched she realized that those who were leading the class were teaching where to slice in order to land a killing blow. Nyla¡¯s eyes widened. ¡°Do all humans do this training?¡±


    ¡°Admittedly, no, they do not.¡± Karla said. ¡°But the thing about humanity is that we have an attitude problem. If someone comes and hurts us, even the most peaceful of humans is capable of great violence. The big difference between, for example, those masters there,¡± she gestured at the two men leading the class in the dojo, ¡°And Cal is three things. First, he is intent. Those men learn and teach their skills for cultural reasons as well as self-defense. Cal learned to fight with the sole intent of killing. Second is the breadth of training. While those men are masters and almost certainly know more about their specific style of fighting than Cal does, Cal was taught the most effective and lethal methods of every style of combat that we still have a record of. And last is motivation. Cal is incredibly unique in that he feels it is his duty to ensure that humanity survives and that no other ever has to do his job. While most humans can be motivated to fight in desperate times, Cal is able to summon up the will to fight for almost anything.¡±


    Nyla walked in silence the rest of the way to the restaurant Karla had chosen, processing what Karla had just told her. As she sat down and the menu popped into existence in front of her, Nyla heard Artie''s voice in her head. She was starting to get used to it, but it still startled her.


    ¡°Nyla?¡± Artie said, his tone inquisitive.


    ¡°Yes, Artie?¡± Nyla responded mentally.


    ¡°I just wanted to let you know that I will alter the menu to have symbols. Anything with a green triangle is something that you can eat.¡±


    ¡°Thank you Artie.¡± Nyla said.


    ¡°No problem!¡± Artie exclaimed before silencing himself. Before Nyla¡¯s very eyes, the menu shifted and a couple of items disappeared entirely from the menu, with a good number of the remaining dishes gaining a small green triangle next to them.


    After a short discussion about food, Nyla and Karla ordered, and they continued talking about various things before settling on the topic of Nyla¡¯s people. Karla would ask a question, and Nyla would answer. The story of how Nyla had met Cal also came up, and when she got to the part where she had offered herself to Cal, Karla barked out a short but harsh laugh.


    ¡°Oh, honey,¡± Karla said in a reassuring tone, ¡°don¡¯t take the rejection personally. You look too similar to human children. On top of that, Uncle Cal is weird when it comes to interactions with women outside our family. I have on a couple of occasions, seen women make not-so-subtle passes at him, and he shuts them down completely.¡±


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    ¡°I really look like a child to you all?¡± Nyla said, looking down at her body. She had always believed that she had an exceptionally womanly figure.


    ¡°It¡¯s your height. Don¡¯t you worry. You are fine in every other department, but your height just makes us think that you are a child.¡± Karla smiled at Nyla. ¡°Besides, I am sure you have men back home falling over themselves to be with you.¡±


    Nyla stiffened, and her tone grew icy. She stared straight ahead and briefly told Karla of her history with her people. How she had been captured and used in the hopes of breeding more with her abilities.


    Karla said nothing. The deep familiar bass of Cal¡¯s voice spoke softly from behind her. ¡°I didn¡¯t know all that. Sorry I ever suggested you go back. If you want, we can let the Jix have them, I will even give them directions.¡±


    The notes of his voice, while pleasing, sent a cold chill though her spine as Nyla looked up into Cal¡¯s eyes. She knew at that moment, if she said to,he would do exactly as he had said. Nyla opened her mouth to object and her voice caught in her thought, the part of her that relived the torment every time she closed her eyes, fighting to be let out and scream ¡°YES¡± to watch her people burn.


    The only sound that escaped Nyla¡¯s throat was a slight gasp and then Karla spoke up, interrupting Nyla¡¯s thoughts. ¡°Cal! Don¡¯t scare us like that! You nearly made her choke on her words!¡±


    Nyla was thankful for the distraction, and she quickly drank some water to drown the murderous thoughts in her mind. Cal nodded. ¡°Well, forgive me then. Though I dare say from the amount that I saw you spent, I am entitled to a bit of goodwill?¡±


    Karla shrugged and took an exaggerated sip from her glass of water. Cal took the seat next to Nyla and placed an order for several dishes. As they waited for the food to arrive, Nyla and Karla asked Cal what he had been up to.


    ¡°I just got done checking in with my¡­handler? My Boss? The old guy that deals with everything that I demand from the council.¡± Cal said.


    ¡°Well, mom says that Mr. Gren is a kind person.¡± Karla said.


    ¡°Oh, he is!¡± Cal said with a reassuring tone, ¡°He just also happens to be the king of bad news. Nyla, we should head out as soon as we are done. We will be having a guest join us.¡±


    They ate their meal at a relaxed pace, and when they were finished, Karla promised to come and see Nyla on her world. Cal led them back toward the council building.


    ¡°Who are we going to get, Cal?¡± Nyla asked, sensing that Cal was not happy with something.


    ¡°Someone who should either be dead or forbidden from setting foot on this planet.¡± Cal said absent-mindedly.


    Nyla decided it was best to leave him be and asked Archie instead. ¡°Archie, who is it that we are getting.¡±


    Instead of Archie¡¯s voice, a strangely mechanical voice spoke. ¡°Access denied. User EX-009173 does not have clearance.¡±


    Nyla was unsure of what that meant, so she decided that her best option was to simply follow. When they finally arrived at the council chambers, Cal led them directly to his sister¡¯s office. Shoving the door open and walking in heedless of the shouts to stop by two strange beings and another human.


    ¡°Ah, Cal, you are here.¡± Tannya said, her tone as emotionally neutral as any Nyla had ever heard.


    The contrast between the neutral emotion and the anger in Cal¡¯s voice when he spoke shocked Nyla, but she listened intently. ¡°Yes, I am here. Where is the little shit?¡±


    The two strange beings who had been outside were walking in with weapons drawn and leveled at Cal when another voice spoke up. ¡°Heshna, Valpin, I suggest that you drop your weapons and return to your post before Cal here decides that you can no longer be ignored.¡±


    The two beings looked at the speaker, who was somehow behind Nyla, and then nodded and left. Closing the doors behind them. The speaker who had dismissed them stepped forward and bowed slightly to Cal.


    ¡°Good evening, Bearer of Sin, I am Pinetil.¡± The feminine speaker said.


    Cal grunted. ¡°What the fuck do you want?¡±


    Nyla overheard little of the discussion. She was in awe of the woman, Pinetil. While Nyla stood at only half the height of Cal¡¯s impressive 6¡¯2¡± of height, Pinetel seemed to be an intermediary. At 5¡¯5¡± in height, Pinetil was the most beautiful creature that Nyla had ever seen.


    Pinetil had long, flowing hair that seemed to float around her, it frowned from her scalp, nearly to her knees. Her skin was as pale as the first snow on Nyla¡¯s homeworld. Her hair and skin seemed to radiate a golden light. And, to top it off, Nyla felt somewhat jealous of her figure as she seemed to have an amalgamation of feminine aspects from both races. Her body seemed to curve in all the right ways.


    Nyla looked at Cal and wondered why he was so hostile to this woman. ¡°Excuse me,¡± Nyla said, and Pinetil turned to face her, ¡°I just wanted to say that you are beautiful.¡±


    Pinetil smiled ruthlessly and then dismissively turned back to Cal. ¡°And that is why we are right, if you would only see¡­¡± she fell silent rapidly.


    Nyla looked at Cal, and had to stop herself from fleeing. The look on his face was unlike anything she had ever seen, it looked as if the fires of damnation burned in his eyes and he seemed tense, as if he longed for nothing more than to strike.


    Cal spoke, his voice a cold blade that felt as if it did its own kind of damage. Every word made all three women shiver as he spoke. ¡°Nyla, allow me to introduce our guest. This is Pinetil Axshram, prime representative of the Jix and newly appointed ambassador. She will be joining us on your world.¡±


    The room seemed frozen and Nyla wanted to run.

 PART 7

    ¡°Nyla, allow me to introduce our guest. This is Pinetil Axshram, prime representative of the Jix and newly appointed ambassador. She will be joining us on your world.¡± Cal said, his voice eliciting a flight response from the entire room.


    The room seemed frozen and Nyla wanted to run, but she fought through the fear and spoke, offering her hand to Pinetil as she had seen humans do when they met one another. ¡°It is a pleasure to meet you Pinetil.¡±


    Pinetil brushed her hand across Nyla¡¯s dismissively. ¡°Yes, Yes. And its Ambassador Axshram, Prime Representative of the Jix to you.¡±


    Anger flared in Nyla¡¯s eye and Cal smiled as a cruel grin passed across Nyla¡¯s face. ¡°I will try and remember that Pinetil.¡± Nyla said, watching the hand gripping anger of Pinetil as she turned on Nyla, her facade of calm dropping away as the woman stepped forward.


    ¡°No you will address me appropriately, or I will flay your hide from your body and then after that I will bring my people to your world and watch as they sterilize your entire race. I¡­¡± Pinetill froze, seeming to remember there were others in the room, and looked coldly behind her to where Cal sat watching with crossed arms.


    ¡°Just you remember one thing Pinetil,¡± Cal said drawing himself up to his full height and flipping the switch on what Nyla would call his scary mode, ¡°your people failed to fight the Shen, and from what I hear they are more than willing to take the fight to your people, as they want more of the strange alloy you build your ships from. Imagine, if you would Pinetil, that there was a singular man who could not only bring the full might of the Shen, but also the vastly superior might of humanity to bear on you. And then imagine that your people were stupid enough to send an envoy to act as ambassador to humanity, and that envoy managed to not only irritate that singular man, but also to threaten one of the few friends that man had¡­.¡±


    Cal paused watching the color drain from Pinetil as her eyes seemed to get wider and wider with every word. Cal let it sink in and then spoke once more. ¡°But I am sure your people are not as dumb as this scenario indicates, are they? Because if all you really want is war, then by all means, throw a punch so I can kill you and do what you just described to Nyla. If, however, it is not your intention to start a war and your people mean to stand by the agreement they made to not enter our territory, I would suggest you apologize and remember that for the duration of your time here, Nyla is for all intents and purposes, higher ranked than you, and personally protected by me. Understood?¡±


    Pinetil nodded and turned to Nyla. ¡°Forgive me Nyla, I misspoke, I would not deign to tarnish your honor in any way. Consider it a failure of the communications tech.¡±


    Nyla, just happy to be done with the situation, nodded. ¡°Apology accepted, but please do not speak to me like that again.¡±


    ¡°Of course.¡± Pinetil said through clearly gritted teeth. The fact of Nyla making a demand of her offeneded her immensely. ¡°If you will excuse me.¡± Pinetil turned and left the room.


    ¡°Remember, tomorrow morning, zero-six-hundred, landing pad zeta niner.¡± Cal called after her with mocking civility. As soon as the door closed the smile fell from his face and he turned to Tannya. ¡°So can I¡­¡±


    Tannya cut him off. ¡°No. Nope. No! Do not kill her and hide the body. You are taking her with you. And don¡¯t kill her there either. That is final Cal!¡±


    Cal looked sad but nodded. ¡°Very well, let''s go over the stuff with Nyla so we can get some rest and get on our way tomorrow.¡±


    ¡°Very well.¡± Tannya said and took a deep breath before launching into a long explanation of how the uplift process worked. In her mind, Nyla summarized the key points.


    ¡°First, unification, through alliance or violence, unification is the key. Second, ideological uplift, introduce basic scientific concepts which undermine the more fanatical of the religions. Third, trade, humanity will open trade and act as intermediaries between all the races, providing a sense of value to the things every race has to offer. And finally the uplift, humanity will provide full access to the galactic networks, and the medical/scientific advances those contain. From there it is up to us to use this knowledge as we see fit.¡± Nyla was repeating what was being explained to her in her head.


    ¡°This is all good and well, but let''s focus on the first step.¡± Cal said. ¡°Nyla it will depend on you heavily if we are to unify your people without use of my particular skill sets. And I am sure that our dear friend Pinetil will be doing her utmost to ensure our failure. So I want to know, what do you think will be our greatest opposition to unification?¡±


    ¡°The clans.¡± Nyla said without hesitation. ¡°Namely the Clans of the Twelve. They will not bow. To bow for them would be the same as to die. There is only one path for proverbial diplomacy. We must strive for the ascension of another clan, a clan outside the Twelve, and that will not be easy.¡±


    ¡°Hmm, please tell me more about the Twelve.¡± Cal said leaning back in his chair looking more interested in what she had to say than anything Nyla said before, so she obliged him and explained in great detail the inner workings of her people''s culture.


    After an hour or so Cal stopped her. ¡°So basically it''s a society that functions around strong male warriors and a system of marriage and enslavement of telepathically-gifted women to strengthen the weaker aspects of the men. Those who are not directly claimed by a clan or a man are used as breeding chattel. Does that basically summarize what your society is?¡±


    ¡°Yes.¡± Nyla said embarrassed at how Cal had so easily summarized her people. ¡°The only thing in addition to that is the belief in a broad pantheon of gods ranging from Aarag God of Might, to Yillna Goddes of Lust. The select god or goddess of worship varies from clan to clan and heavily influences who they will interact with and what their sources of income will be.¡±


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    ¡°Can anyone just create a Clan?¡± Cal asked.


    ¡°Not anyone. It has to be a man who has received the blessing of a god, and he must have at least four others to join his clan.¡± Nyla said, wondering why he asked.


    ¡°Hmm. Interesting.¡± Cal said and then glanced out the window. ¡°As much as I would like to finish my questions, we need to sleep. Tannya will you take care of everything as far as getting things loaded on my ship?¡±


    Tannya nodded. ¡°It is already being done. You and Nyla get some sleep.¡±


    Cal and Nyla made their way back to the lodgings from the night before. The owner spoke quickly with Cal who smiled and thanked them. Heled Nyla to her room before retiring to his own room without another word. Nyla lay awake wondering if she would ever sleep knowing what was coming, but thankfully slipped into a restful sleep.


    The next morning the proprietor of the lodging woke her by gently tapping on her door. Nyla woke, dressed and ate a delightful breakfast before finding a transport waiting for her. Inside was a note from Cal which simply stated he had to leave early and would be waiting for her at the ship.


    When Nyla arrived at the ship, thanks only to Artie and the driver knowing where she needed to be, she took a seat on a bench as Artie requested, and waited, despite the clanking and clunking she could hear inside the ship. She sat for several minutes and then felt someone staring at her. Nyla looked behind her and saw Pinetil standing over her.


    ¡°What are you waiting for?¡± Pinetil asked, still staring down at Nyla in a way that made her feel uncomfortable.


    ¡°I was asked to wait here by Artie.¡± Nyla said, deciding she had nothing to worry about.


    Pinetil harrumphed in a dismissive way, and made to go through the open door. Mid step Pinetil was flung backwards almost twice the distance she had walked from the bench to the door. ¡°What in the name of the One God was that?!¡± Pinetill exclaimed angrily.


    From the door walked a humanoid robot that looked strikingly like one of her people. It was the same height as Nyla and displayed the musculature and appropriate clothing for a male of the Narvish. ¡°Hello Nyla.¡± The robot said in a voice which was familiar.


    ¡°Artie?¡± Nyla asked, confused.


    ¡°In the flesh!¡± Artie said, striking a dramatic pose. ¡°Well maybe not in the flesh, but in the metal. Cal wanted me to be able to help when we are planet side again so he made me a frame to walk around and help with.¡±


    ¡°This is an AI?¡± Pinetil asked, looking with glee at the android in front of her. ¡°Its coding will do.¡± She muttered to herself and pulled out a strange flat board and held it facing Artie, and waited with a victorious look on her face. The moment dragged on, and on, and on.


    ¡°I¡­ I don¡¯t understand?¡± Pinetil said in confusion, glancing in between the board and Artie. ¡°Is it not working?¡± She muttered to herself once more.


    ¡°Oh it is working,¡± Artie said with a strange tone Nyla had never heard from the AI before, ¡°I mean if you can call the mediocre level it operates at as ¡®working.¡¯¡±


    Pinetil¡¯s eyes bulged as she looked at Artie. Artie spoke once more. ¡°While I understand you have a mission ambassador, and I will not physically harm you, please understand what you just tried to do counts as assault to AI. At least AI created by humanity. If you attempt to strip back my firewalls for any reason ever again. I will write and transmit a sentient virus capable of crippling your race¡¯s entire communications network.¡±


    Artie waited a moment to see if Pinetil would respond. When she did not, Artie spoke again. ¡°Very well. Now then ladies, if you would be so kind as to follow me.¡± He led them into the ship, thats interior seemed to have changed. After guiding them past several cargo holds which Nyla did not remember from her previous trip, Artie asked them to sit in the room Nyla recognized as the bridge of the ship. Cal was already seated and getting some systems running.


    ¡°Good morning ladies. Please take a seat. We will be returning to Nyla¡¯s home world shortly.¡± Cal said with a smile to Nyla.


    They sat and waited quietly until Cal spoke once more. ¡°Alright, last chance if you need something before we go. Once we leave, I am not coming back for as long as possible. No? Nothing?¡±


    Nyla and Pinetil both shook their heads. Cal smiled and turned back to the screens around him, tapping buttons. ¡°Artie, get us on the road.¡±


    ¡°Understood Cal!¡± Artie¡¯s voice said, emanating from the ship. As before Nyla felt a strange whine build. The sound put her on edge and made her head hurt despite knowing it was coming.


    ¡°Standby for jump.¡± Cal said, and Nyla sank back into the chair, choosing to watch Pinetil who seemed to be suffering as Nyla was.. The whine rose higher and higher in pitch, almost in time with Cal¡¯s counting. ¡°Jump in 5¡­ 4¡­ 3¡­ 2¡­ 1¡­ Jump!¡±


    Nyla let out a gasp and gritted her teeth. Pain washed over her, emanating from her head. Then as quickly as it had built, the whine dissipated and finally fell silent, and with it, the pain that she''d felt.


    ¡°Welcome back home Nyla. Let''s begin our work then shall we.¡± Cal said, standing from his chair and guiding them outside. When they looked out, Nyla¡¯s breath caught. She had expected them to re-emerge in the far north where they had left when she first met Cal. Instead, the area they were in was one every Narvish had heard of.


    In front of her, arrayed in a massive circle in a valley which had oddly perfect geometry to it, were the clanhalls of the Twelve Great Clans.


    Cal stood surveying the view. Nyla could see members of her race pointing to the ship and suddenly she felt very self conscious. Cal spoke. ¡°We are going to build our own clanhall right here, and slowly bring the other clans under us. This is the beginning of a new time for your people Nyla.¡±


    ¡°The beginning of the end.¡± Pinetil said with a twisted sense of joy in her voice.


    Suddenly a horn rang out and Nyla felt her heart skip a beat. The pattern and sound of the horn told her that the clan closest to them was being called to arms, and it was the First Clan of the Narvish, renowned for its brutality and merciless nature. She wanted to run, but she saw how firmly Cal stood, how he seems as a bulwark which storms would blow themselves out upon, and remembered she was here to change the world.


    ¡°The beginning of the end of the old ways at the very least.¡± Nyla said and began relaying information to Cal about the First Clan. A group of several hundred Narvish, all wearing the colors of the First Clan and carrying vicious looking blades, poured up the small mountain they had landed on. Nyla thought to herself, ¡°at least if we fail, we will die quickly.¡±

 PART 8

    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.


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    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.

 PART 9

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 PART 10

    The following day was the beginning of a long and arduous slog through the world of construction. Nyla realized how little she knew of the topic as she watched Artie and Cal calculating load-bearing members and ensuring the structure would hold up to the sometimes tumultuous weather of her homeworld. Where they were worried it would fail, Arite and Cal would go through immense pains to hide the more modern materials used to brace the wood.


    Throughout it all, Pinetil kept calling everything Artie and Cal did crude or lesser. At the end of a month, though, she and Nyla both stood with mouths agape at the beauty of the Clan Hall Cal had built. Every door, every window, every minute detail was a work of art.


    Double doors twice Cal''s height and three times his width opened onto a long hall set with massive tables and pillars of Venwood. The ceiling was supported by elegant flowing arches seeming never to end, flowing into each other and the columns as smoothly as if they had grown there. Above the door, the head of a massive creature Cal called a dragon was carved from a massive chunk of Crystal Cal had dug up while excavating into the mountain for the back of the building.


    The effect was stunning. If Nyla had not been to Earth and seen what the Humans were capable of, she might have thought Cal a God even more than when she had first met him. Cal walked up beside the two women. "Pretty cool, isn''t it?"


    Pinetil nodded, still examining everything she could see from outside. Nyla spoke, "It is unlike anything I have ever seen before on this world. It will bring you immense power and status."


    "Come on in and explore the hall," Cal said as he smiled at Nyla and continued talking. "I started with the basics of an old Viking long hall and moved from there. The long halls of old didn''t have the tunnel systems this hall does, but it is needed."


    Nyla let Cal lead her from place to place, talking about the symbolism and processes of each part of the structure used or contained. Then he led them to the small door on either side of the dais holding what Cal called the High Table.


    "Both doors lead to the communal chambers and deeper in the mountain to a massive storage room for food and other goods. Each of us gets a room, and there are plenty of rooms for other people. He led them to a hallway off the main tunnel and allowed them to pick one of several rooms. They all spent the rest of the day moving into their rooms and settling in.


    A horn blew outside the hall when the sun was low in the sky. Cal was waiting for her when Nyla got to the grand entry doors. "Let''s see what the new neighbors think, shall we?"


    Cal threw the doors open just as Pinetil walked up behind them. What awaited them was a group of roughly 60 Narvish men and women. Many of the women bore the marks of holy women. When Cal stepped outside, lights hidden throughout the structure''s exterior burst into life, bathing the area in a calming light.


    "Greetings," Cal said, switching from his normal common to the local language, "what can I help you with so late in the day?"


    A male stepped forward, drawing himself up to his full height. Nyla thought he was huge, but even so, he was smaller than Jurrog and certainly smaller than Cal. The male looked up at Cal with distaste in his eyes. "I am Kreshnal, leader, and head of the second clan and appointed speaker of this party."


    Nyla also looked and saw the leaders of the third, fifth, sixth, and eighth clans in the group. She spoke in Common, with Artie''s aid, quickly telling this to Cal. He nodded almost imperceptibly. "Very well, Kreshnal, welcome to the Clan Hall of the clan of the storm dragon. I would also welcome the other clan leaders in the group. Now once again, what can I help you with."


    Kreshnal, feeling as if he had lost the element of surprise when Cal acknowledged the other leaders, reassured himself and spoke again. "The cowards of the First Clan, who rule only through trickery, have warned you are not to be trifled with, but I am Kreshnal! I am a warrior without equal; my honor and the honor of my clan demands I take your women and claim your clan hall as my own. I am¡­"


    The next sound anyone heard was a crunching sound as Cal''s fist impacted Kreshnal''s face. Kreshnal crumpled to the ground as if someone had just cut the strings holding him up. The rest of the group froze, waiting for the next move.


    Cal took a deep breath. "I do not intend to bring death to you all, but I can if necessary. The first clan thought to do the same as you, but I can assure you none on this planet has a chance. So I will offer you friendship instead. The choice is yours; send a message with your decision tomorrow. For now, take this fool and leave my sight before I show you the meaning of the phrase ''A Dragon''s Wrath.''"


    The crowd scrambled to leave; two men scooped Kreshnal from the ground, where he still napped, and trotted off into the dark.


    "You are either brave or stupid, and it remains to be seen which one." A female said before heading in the same direction as the rest of the group. Cal smiled.


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    After they had all departed and Artie had verified they were gone, Nyla spoke. "Cal, they are not above sending an assassin in the night.."


    Cal smiled, not the usual warm and cheerful smile, but something darker, colder, more calculating. "I am counting on it. Artie, you know what to do."


    "Understood, Cal. Nyla, Pinetil, please retire to your rooms until morning; I will stand guard." Artie said, and Nyla nodded before heading off to sleep.


    The next morning, Cal, Nyla, and Pinetil came out to find no less than twelve Narvish gagged and bound on the floor just inside the hall''s main door.


    "Good morning, Cal, good morning, Nyla. I hope you slept well." Artie said from where he stood.


    "Good morning Artie. I take it we had some visitors?" Cal asked, gesturing to the hogtied people on the ground.


    "Yes, three from the seventh clan, one each from the 8th, 9th, 6th, 5th, 4th, and 3rd, and three more from the second clan," Artie said, gesturing to the individuals from each clan as he named them.


    "Hmm, the first clan is keeping its word, and anything below the ninth is waiting to see how things pan out, I would guess," Cal said, deep in thought. "Nyla, how is this usually dealt with among your people?"


    "I honestly don''t know," Nyla said, "it is not something I have ever had to worry about."


    "Fair," Cal said and then raised an eyebrow in Pinetil''s direction, "any thoughts, ambassador?"


    "Kill them and preserve their heads on spikes along the roof of the hall to dissuade this in the future," Pinetil said without missing a beat.


    "Don''t know what else I expected," Cal said, then moved to one of the assassins, removing their gag. "Tell me, what should I do with you?"


    Cal looked down at one of the three assassins from the seventh clan. The clan member smiled up at him. "You should hold still while I slip my blade in your eye. "


    "Ah," Cal said, "See, you all seem to think I have no choice but to let you go, so why don''t I call all the clan chiefs here and ask them to watch as I torture you to death? I mean, at least one of you has to be the child of a chief tasked to bring back my head."


    Cal and Nyla watched the blood drain from over half of their faces. Cal nodded. "Very well, let''s do that. Artie, please fetch the clan leaders of the clans these men and women belong to, and bring the first clan as well. I want to send a message."


    Artie nodded, and Cal re-gagged the bound assassin. Cal smiled at Nyla. "Let''s eat; I am sure it will be a couple of hours."


    Several hours later, Artie returned with the clan leaders in tow, several sporting some injury; behind them came a cluster of bodyguards. Artie spoke. "As requested, the leaders of the clans."


    Cal smiled. "Good; go get our other guests, Artie."


    Artie nodded and moved to go inside when one of the clan chiefs stepped forward and spoke. "Hold, I have a grievance with you, Artie, and with you, strange creature."


    Cal and Artie both turned and waited in silence. The chief, who had sounded self-assured a second ago, now looked uncomfortable. "Firstly, I would demand to know by what right you summon us all here and by what right you send your demon to threaten us into coming here."


    "Fair questions, I guess," Cal said, and Artie turned to go and drag the three assassins from the seventh clan outside. "Before I answer, these belong to you, don''t they?"


    Cal gestured at the three younger Narvish, who Artie had piled like so much refuse. The indignant clan leader of the seventh clan looked at the three and shook his head. "No, I do not know these people."


    "No?" Cal said,  his tone amused. "Last night, they came here and attempted to attack me and mine. If they are not yours, what about these?


    Cal quickly helped Artie bring the rest out and lay them so the clan leaders could see the faces of their assassins. "No one wants to claim these as part of their clan?"


    Silence reigned. Though Nyla swore, she could feel the air growing colder by the second as fear filled the area. Cal smiled again. "Very well, death it is."


    From just inside the door, he pulled the chainsaw he had used to fell the trees for the hall. And with the flip of a switch, the saw spun to life. Cal Casually walked to one of the leftover stumps of Venwood and cut a notch in the log.


    The clan leaders were in shock at how casually Cal did this. Then Cal grabbed one of the assassins, placed them on their knees with their head resting in the notch, held the saw above the assassin''s neck, and then made as if to swing it downwards.


    "Wait!" A desperate voice cried out from the cluster of clan leaders. It was the leader of the 9th clan. "Please, he is my son; I would ask you to spare him."


    Cal locked eyes with the leader and nodded, pulling a knife out to free the assassin. He then looked at the rest of the assassins. "I know every clan here except for the first clan sent someone to try and kill me this last night. I am not generally a forgiving man, but I understand the choice you made. You wanted to test me, and maybe you could kill me and claim some of my wealth for your own. It is a choice I understand completely."


    Artie was quickly freeing the assassins he had captured, and they were slinking back to their clan leaders. Cal continued speaking. "I will forgive this one time. But I demand an answer here and now, will you be my enemy or not? Each of you will answer here if you are my enemy, and starting tomorrow, if you declare yourself to be against me, we will be at war. Before you leave today, I will have your answer or assume we are at war. Until then, I ask you to dine in the hall of the Storm Dragon and partake of my clan''s wealth. Food will be served in a moment."


    Cal turned and headed inside, followed by Artie, Nyla, and Pinetil. Cal spoke as a quiet wave of conversation washed over the crowd outside. "Artie put on a roaring fire in the hearth, set the tables for everyone, including the bodyguards, and then brought a pig and spit it in the hall. In the meantime, I will be at the high table and have some wine if you would."


    "Of course, Cal," Artie said, turning to Nyla, "You want anything, Nyla?"


    "I guess whatever Cal is having and maybe a snack if you are going to be cooking anyways. Thanks, Artie." Nyla smiled at Artie.


    Pinetil opened her mouth to speak, and Artie promptly turned and left.


    "Now what, Cal?" Nyla asked, looking around as the clan leaders and their entourage began to filter in one or two at a time.


    "Now, dear Nyla, now we see how the day goes and hope we are many friends wealthier by the end of the day."


    "And if it doesn''t work?" Pinetil asked, a poisonous tone in her voice.


    "Then, on the marrow, I show the Clans what War really is," Cal said, taking a swig from a crystal goblet Artie had placed next to him.

 PART 11

    Nyla watched Cal as he seemed to size up the other clan leaders. A shiver went down her spine when she realized the look he had on his face was the same look the Hilvorn beast had on its face as it chased her. She recognized it now as a look that loved the thrill of the hunt, a look that for all intents and purposes, signaled the end of its target.


    Nyla also knew the clan leaders were acutely aware of this as they partook of the food Cal had offered them. They ate in silence. Their entourages, however, were loud and rowdy Each man and woman were taking all they could get their hands on, the strange meats Artie delivered seeming to delight them. Finally one of the clan leaders yelled. "Silence you fools!"


    The groups of bodyguards and failed assassins fell silent under the glare of their leaders. Cal smiled and stood. "Who are you to presume to issue orders in my clan hall?"


    The venom that dripped from his voice sent a chill down the spines of every being in the room. Even Artie had frozen midway between a serving platter and Nyla''s plate as he tried to give her another slice of roast beef. Nyla looked on in terror as Cal stalked over to the table the clan leaders had chosen and sat at its head. Cal spoke again. "I asked who you think you are to give orders here? Please, go ahead, speak up."


    You could not have had a more profound effect had you dropped the heads of their spouses into the laps of each clan leader. Terror seemed to emanate from every one of them, with one exception. Kreshnal, the leader of the second clan, was shaking with rage.


    "Who am I?" he demanded, looking from the other leaders to Cal. "I am the leader of the second clan. Clan of the Karago''Jan, fiercest of hunters! I will not bow and kowtow to an upstart demon such as yourself! If I demand silence while I dine that it is MY business!"


    "So it was you who spoke?" Cal asked.


    "Yes, it was me!" Kreshnal exclaimed. "And I will not be bullied for it!"


    "So tell me Kreshnal," Cal said reaching over to the plate of the clan leader next to him and taking a piece of meat from it. "What do you think so far? Can we be allies, or will I have to wipe your clan from the face of the planet?"


    "You DARE!" Kreshnal screamed. "How dare you speak to me in such a way. Friends?! Why would I want to be friends with you? You are a..."


    The only sound that burbled from his throat after that was the sound of Kreshnal dying as his lungs filled with blood. Kreshnal turned to see his daughter standing behind him holding the knife coated in his blood. The girl smiled with tears in her eyes as she lowered her father to the floor.


    "I am sorry father, but we can not win against him. He is a beast the like of which you can not fathom. Mother always told you your attitude would get you killed. I am sorry it had to be me, but for the sake of our clan, and for my siblings, I can not let you fight this war." The girl was barely holding back sobs.


    Kreshnal surprised Cal then, placing a gentle hand on his daughter''s cheek and wiping the tears from her face. He smiled and let out his last breath. The girl stood, seeming to draw strength from that final act of comfort with her father. Her eyes locked with Cal''s.


    "My father called you a demon, and he may be right. But I know this is not a fight we can win. So, if you will have me as representative of the second clan, and if the other leaders will recognize me, I will declare the second clan as allies of the Clan of the Storm Dragon." She spoke well, even forcing out the strange words that formed the clan name Cal had come up with.


    "What is your name, young lady?" Cal said, his tone holding something that Nyla could only call a regal note.


    The young woman spoke. "My name is Kre''Ana in honor of my father."


    Cal raised an eyebrow, and the leader of the first clan, Jurrog, stepped forward to speak. "Cal, this young woman is known to me. I will recognize her, and if you would accept it, I would grant her recommendation as an honorable and intelligent woman who would serve well as the leader of the second clan."


    Cal could tell that Jurrog was saying this to vouch for the young woman, but also as a comfort for Kre''Ana''s sake. She smiled in thanks to Jurrog and bowed her head slightly. Cal smiled.


    Cal looked around the room, specifically making eye contact with each clan leader. "Kre''Ana has asked to be recognized by the leaders here, so what say you all?"


    The room was awkward for a moment, then all at once the other leaders seemed to be scrambling over themselves to try and confirm their support of the new leader of the second clan. Cal laughed heartily, "It seems to me, Kre''Ana, that congratulations are in store. I recognize you may not be happy with how it happened, but I also understand the strength it takes to do what you did."


    Kre''Ana nodded and glanced at the body of her father. Cal looked for Nyla and waved her over. Quietly and in English, Cal spoke to her. "Can the death rights of your people wait, or must they be completed tonight?"


    "They can wait. It is customary to wait to gather the entire clan, and then wait one day to allow all a chance to settle their debts with the dead." Nyla explained.


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    "Kre''Ana," Cal said, once again speaking Narvish, "if you will allow it, I will have your father''s body preserved until such a time as you can gather your clan, and then it will be brought to anywhere you wish."


    "I would appreciate such a gesture," Kre''Ana said, seeming almost relieved and letting tears seep from her eyes.


    Cal raised his voice and spoke to all the clan leaders. "Here and now, declare your intent. Are we friends or foes?"


    The vote was unanimous. With the first and second clans both in allegiance with Cal, there was almost no choice. Cal smiled at the group. "Send runners to your clan halls and summon all who can attend. Tonight we celebrate the new leader of the second clan, as well as our newfound unity!"


    The day wore on with a steady trickle of Narvish arriving from the clans after the runners had been sent out. When the sun set Cal had Artie light two massive crystalline braziers in front of the hall, more food seemed to constantly appear on the tables and everyone was provided with all they could eat and drink. Nyla knew some technology was in play, probably managed by Artie, for even as fast as the AI frame was, there would be no way for Artie to keep up with it all.


    When the crowd had been fed to their liking and most everyone had at least a pleasant buzz from the drinks being served, Cal rose and spoke to the crowd. "Tonight, we celebrate Kre''Ana''s rise to the position of clan leader, as well as the unification of our peoples. Tonight marks the beginning of change, and it may be hard, but I can promise it will be worth it."


    A cheer erupted from the crowd, and Cal waited for it to settle. "In honor of that, I will tell you, in the world where I come from, thousands of years ago, there was a group of people called the Vikings. During their time, they were warriors with almost no equals. They warred with one another, just as you do, they pillaged lesser tribes, just as you pillage the lesser clans. They were like the Narvish, thousands of years ago, and maybe in a few thousand more years, you will be telling other people how they are like you were today!"


    The crowd could tell he was leading up to something, and the things of which he spoke were things they could all understand so they waited eagerly. Cal smiled and continued. "So in the honor of my ancestors, and in honor of the Narvish who are so similar to the Vikings of old. I offer heitstrengingar! In times of old, heitstrengingar was the swearing of a solemn oath. The oath I swear is to you all. So long as we are allies, I swear to defend you, your families, and everything you hold dear as if it were my own!"


    The roar of approval washed over Cal and the clan leaders as Cal took an ornate drinking horn from Artie, then he pricked his finger and allowed a drop of his red blood to fall into the drinking horn. Cal raised the horn and called out at the loudest volume he could. "Heitstrengingar!"


    He passed the horn to Jurrog, who understood what to do. "I too vow these things, should a call be issued, First Clan, will come and send your enemies to Zavrak! I vow this in the traditions of the ancestors of Cal. Heitstrengingar!"


    Jurrog pricked his finger and allowed a drop of blood to fall into the drinking horn. Seeing what was expected, Kre''Ana followed suit. When they had all declared their support and put a drop of blood into the horn, Cal raised the horn over his head with both hands. "With this, we become one, your clan leaders and I will be bound in blood as well as oath. Heitstrengingar!"


    Cal took a sip from the horn and passed it to Jurrog once more. Jurrog had paled, he knew this was a test, should he or any other clan leader refuse to drink, they would become targets for the rest. Jurrog had hoped to roll with the changes and come out on top, but it seemed Cal was several steps ahead. "Heitstrengingar." Jurrog called out, without much heart in it, and drank.


    The night after the Heitstrengingar ceremony devolved into one long drinking contest. When Nyla awoke in the morning, she found herself not at the table where she remembered passing out, but in her bed, with a bowl of soup and a drink of some kind next to her. She ate the food appreciatively, her head throbbing with every bite. She drank what she thought was water and almost instantly her headache was gone. She drank more and finished the food before leaving her room and heading out into the hall.


    Narvish bodies lay everywhere, passed out where they had fallen. Artie walked among them making sure none were hurt or having any difficulties breathing. He saw Nyla and gestured to the side of the high table to a small door she had not noticed before. A stairway behind it took her up to a platform on the roof, cleverly hidden from view below. On the platform, Cal sat in a chair, Nyala took the empty chair next to him.


    "You are good at manipulating my people." Nyla said, thinking back on the events of the night. "I wonder how much Jurrog hates you for what you did, making him swear publicly to join you like that."


    "I know how to speak to warriors," Cal said, "Your people, the Narvish, are warriors. Maybe not warriors like I am used to, but I meant what I said. Your people remind me of the Vikings from Earth."


    "I think you are a warrior, I think my people are children to you. Children who know not what powers they tempt if or when they attack you." Nyla said thoughtfully. "I do not regret this, but it is what I think."


    Cal laughed and smiled at her, Showing her a smile that Nyla liked to think was reserved only for her. "You might be right, but I am the result of humanity fighting for thousands of years amongst ourselves, we developed thousands of different weapons, styles, and methods for fighting during the age of the Vikings. This was when we had little more than the Narvish have now. I am, in all things, totally devoted to war. I have to be. Because of my devotion, I understand how your people think, I understand how they treat those less powerful, and I understand what they want."


    Nyla was surprised, Cal was a monster when it came to combat. What little she understood of him told her that much, but the fact that he felt some kind of connection to her people was interesting, to say the least. "Well, I offer you this Cal."


    Cal turned and gave her his full attention. She picked up his mug of drink and pricked her finger dropping her blood into it. "No matter what my people choose, if they elect to fight you or if they choose simply to follow you, I will be your ally. If I must, I will be your only ally. I will stand by you until you choose to send me away or until I die. This I swear, heitstrengingar."


    Cal smiled, put a drop of his blood into the mug, and looked at Nyla. "To you Nyla, and only to you, I swear this, should the end come and should the greatest sacrifice be demanded, I swear it will not be you who pays it. Heitstrengingar."


    Cal took a drink and handed the mug to Nyla. She took a drink and felt something deep down inside her stir uneasily. What he had sworn to her made her feel uneasy and sounded almost like a prophecy. She opened her mouth to speak, but decided that nothing she had ever heard of could harm Cal so, what was she worried about? Together the two of them watched the sunrise and light the valley.

 PART 12

    After everyone else in the hall finally woke from their alcohol-induced slumber, Cal and Nyla made their way down to take seats at the head of the hall. While they ate, the clan leaders of the second through twelfth clans all came forward, clearly nursing a hangover. Each of them made similar overtures of how last night was a grand event, and they intended to uphold the vows they had made the prior night.


    As they continued this parade of insincerity as Nyla quietly called it, she began to wonder why she and Cal were not as affected as the rest. Even Pinetil seemed like she was doing her best to hide from the sounds of everyone else.


    "Artie, can you tell me why it seems like Cal and I are the only ones who did not end up completely inebriated?" Nyla asked, using the neural link.


    "Ah," Artie responded, "Well, it''s a political thing."


    "Please explain how it is a ''political thing.''"


    "Well, your society is a strength-based society. iteral physical strength, so if you and Cal are seen drinking and eating more than everyone else, yet suffering no consequences it is a projection of strength. Now, the fact is I made everyone else''s drinks much stronger. Except for Cal, his drinks would have killed you all, but one of the unfortunate side effects of all the nanite treatments he¡¯s undergone is he can drink without getting drunk." Artie said all of this as Nyla watched him have conversations and help people to their feet.


    "That makes a lot of sense. Thanks, Artie. One more thing, why would it matter if I appear strong?"


    "For much the same reason Nyla. While Pinetil might be more powerful than you in some ways, here on your homeworld, your people will automatically assume you to be the more powerful. They probably assume you to be Cal''s mate."


    That made Nyla pause. It is true, if a clan leader has a weak mate, they are often looked down upon by others. It isnot uncommon for a newly elected clan leader to end their relationship if their partner is weak.. Often becoming clan leader has stipulations such as who sould be the leader¡¯s spouse.


    "Artie, you know Cal better than me. Will it bother him if people think I am his mate?" Nyla asked.


    "Nyla, I honestly do not know." Artie said, "What I can tell you is Cal has never interacted with women like that while I have known him. The fact that he has displayed any emotional interest at all is franklyquite shocking."


    Nyla was shocked, and she blushed deeply when she saw Cal look over to her and smile. "Thanks Artie. Back to reality."


    "And oh, what a reality!" Artie said with a jovial impression.


    After the last of the other clans departed Pinetil drank her fill of water. The sun was high in the sky and Nyla thought it would be a quiet day until Pinetil spoke. "Cal, I have received word from my people. They have requested a meeting with you."


    The words froze Nyla, she suddenly felt very small in the grand scheme of things. Cal must have seen her flinch because he smiled at Nyla and then addressed Pinetil. "I would be happy to visit your people. But I think this is something they should get cleared through Earth leaders. I am generally a walking declaration of war so we should make sure there are no hesitations about this."


    Pinetil looked as if she would protest, then thought better of it. "As you wish."


    Nyla relaxed but she was unable to shake the gnawing in her stomach.


    Nyla spent the next several hours working with Cal and Artie to devise plans to begin incorporating the smaller clans into theirs. The ideas seemed simple enough, but Nyla could see this was not Cal''s greatest strength. He was a man of war, through and through. They were about to contact the first clan when Artie froze.


    "Cal, communication from Earth." Artie said.


    Cal sighed. "They approved it, didn''t they?"


    "Yes."


    "Very well, let us prepare then." Cal stood and turned, leading them to the ship. Moments later, Pinetil arrived wearing her best clothes. "I hope everyone can keep a civil tongue."


    Pinetil nodded as she and Nyla strapped themselves into chairs under Artie''s watchful gaze. "They should. I have warned them of their potential to launch us into war should they offend you."


    "I can stay here if you want." Nyla directed her statement to Cal.


    "That would be foolish." Pinetil said, surprising both Cal and Nyla, "If you stay here, the chances that Cal returns to find your head on a pike outside the Clan Hall is incredibly high. While I may find your people insufferable, I do so relish this game that is being played out by you and Cal. So please come with us, stay alive so the games may continue. Maybe, just maybe, when you see more of my people, you will understand why you should simply submit to our will."


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    Nyla was unsure if she should be angry or flattered, or something else entirely, so she chose to remain silent. Cal checked her harness as Artie checked Pinetil''s. Cal smiled at her reassuringly. "No worries. Quick trip, then we come back and really get to work."


    Nyla nodded, and Cal went to his seat. Artie''s walking frame seemed to meld into the floor slightly and then go slack. Suddenly, Artie''s voice came from everywhere as it had when Nyla first met him. "Destination received from the Jix ambassador''s office. Destination confirmed by FTL Scan from nearby vessels. Begin Jump Calculations... Jump in 5¡­ 4¡­ 3¡­ 2¡­ 1¡­ Jump!¡±


    Nyla let out a gasp and gritted her teeth. Pain washed over her, emanating from her head. Then as quickly as it had built, the whine dissipated and finally fell silent alongwith the pain that she felt. The sensation was identical to her twoprevious experiences. Cal looked like he was used to jumps.


    "Very well." Cal said and stood, quickly stepping into a side room of the bridge, and returning in the grey uniform that Nyla still found to be a good look for him. "Ambassador, lead the way."


    Pinetil stood and nodded, standing tall and acting with a level of importance that once again made Nyla feel incredibly small. She felt slightly better when Artie''s walking frame fell into step next to her.


    The first thing Nyla was shocked by was the complete lack of isolation of the Jix. For every Jix she saw, there were at least four others of different alien species. The second thing Nyla realized was that every non-Jix she saw wore minimal clothing, looked miserable, and wore some kind of red and black collar. As they walked, she saw the collars being used to cause drastic pain in the non-Jix.


    The third thing she saw that made her realize she hated the Jix idea of ''submission,'' was a man. A male Jix to be precise, who wore something Nyla could only guess signified some kind of religious or governmental importance. As he sat at a table eating food, a female of some other species was under the table, performing fellatio on the Jix male. He turned his body, forgetting what was happening under the table. In his movement, apparently, he felt some sensation of pain to his nethers. The response to this was instant.


    "Useless, whore! Guess I will have to buy another." The male Jix said as the female who was under the table began to make pleading sounds. The male Jix snapped his fingers and the female convulsed and dropped dead, the flesh around where the collar rested was smoking.


    Nyla walked faster to stay close to Cal. She already noticed people looking at her in disgust when they realized she wore no collar.


    As they moved through the crowd, she tried to ignore the abuse taking place around her. In doing so, she focused her attention on the surrounding buildings and realized that despite the horridness of the people around her, they lived in a beautiful city. The architecture was sweeping and flowed like water from the ground toward the sky, giving the impression of hapless hands reaching toward the heavens.


    They walked for what seemed an hour before Pinetil finally pointed out an exceptionally tall building. "There it is."


    "Finally." Artie said under his breath, sounding annoyed.


    Just as they were about to make the final stretch of roughly a quarter mile, a hand shot out and seized Nyla by her arm. When she looked back, she found herself face to face with a male Jix who wore the strange symbolic clothing she saw on the man from earlier. "Where is your collar slave?"


    Nyla jerked her arm free and turned to look for Cal. She also called out to Artie via the implant. "I am no slave."


    "Of course you are, no lesser race may resist the Jix. And I represent the High God Jishernax. None may resist my will. Now come along you little..." The Jix priest trailed off as if seeing Nyla for the first time. "What are you? You are not one of the cleansed. You are not one of the new slaves either. What are you?"


    "New slaves?" A voice asked behind the priest, causing relief to wash over Nyla.


    "Oh yes! Jishernax has blessed his faithful with access to an entire galaxy of new slaves, and one race of nuisances. We will eliminate..." The priest trailed off to find Cal standing inches from them.


    "Interesting," Cal said, his tone in the region of frequency Nyla knew meant danger. "Tell me more of the new slaves, oh and I would love to hear of the one race."


    "You are unclean. You do not need to hear the blessings of Jishernax. I will be taking my slave and leaving." The priest took Nyla by the arm.


    Nyla looked up to see Pinetil gesturing almost frantically to the priest from behind Cal''s back. The priest seemed to be picking up whatever message she was trying to convey, but it was too late. Cal smiled, a pulse of energy several times stronger than when he had stopped her people washed over Nyla.


    Everything seemed to freeze in an area around them. Cal calmly reached out and removed the hand from Nyla''s arm. Cal locked eyes with the frozen priest and spoke in a tone which Nyla had never heard before and wished to never hear again. "I am going to break your fingers now, and deliver a message to do it. Call out to your god, see if the great Jishernax dares face me."


    He gave the priest a moment, and fluid started leaking from the priest''s eyes. Cal nodded and gabbed the first hand and began snapping fingers. Delivering one word of his message with every crack of bone.


    "I. Am. A. Human." Cal said and then pulled up the other hand of the priest in preparation. "She. Is. Not. A. Slave. Understand?"


    As more power washed over Nyla, whatever Cal did ceased having an effect and the priest screamed. The sound was something Nyla would never forget. He made as if to run into the shocked and unmoving crowd that was too confused to move even after Cal stopped using his power. As the priest turned, Cal stopped and grabbed him by his robes and pulled the priest close to look him in the eyes.


    "I asked you a question. Two actually. And I will have answers, either from you or from another. So tell me of the ''new slaves'' and tell me if you understand." Cal said calmly, like nothing strange was happening.


    "I... I... I..." The priest was at a loss for words. He took a sobbing breath and quickly relayed information between sobs. "I... only heard from the other priests... The new slaves... Apparently, there are five of them... they are called the Shen... That is all I know... And yes I understand... Please... Let me leave?" The priest acted as if he would fall to his knees and renounce his god if Cal had asked it. Cal shoved him away dismissively.


    The priest disappeared into the crowd as they made it into the building Pinetil led them to in complete silence. Cal turned on Pinetil when they entered. "I want any Shen who are here brought to me. Now. We had an agreement. You have violated this agreement. Shall I begin laying waste to this world?"


    Pinetil looked actually panicked and sweat formed on her brow. "I was unaware of this. Please, at least attend this meeting and give me until it is over to find out what is going on. I swear I will do my utmost."


    "You will have five minutes after this meeting to present your findings. Should they be unacceptable, I will begin and end this war that is brewing between our people in the matter of a day. Do you understand Pinetil Axshram?" Cal said, the tone of his voice letting Pinetil know it was the Bearer of Sin speaking with full authority and not Cal.


    "I understand. Now please follow me." Pinetil said, visibly deflating, but still sweating.


    Pinetil lead them to a waiting area, where she stepped through a door. "Thank you Cal."


    "I am sorry that happened." Cal said in response to her thanks. "I warn you Nyla, if this goes wrong, you need to immediately do what Artie says and go with him to the ship. Do you understand that?"


    "Of course Cal." Nyla said, realizing for herself that, in this moment, Cal was not her friend, he was a weapon, and he was here on a mission.


    Just as she was about to ask him something, the doors opposite the one they entered through opened and Pinetil stood waiting. "The Divine Council of Jishernax''s Chosen will see you now, Bearer of Sin."


    "Good, then let us begin." Cal walked boldly into the room with Nyla and Artie following behind him.

 PART 13

    Cal and Nyla strolled into the room. Cal seemed to wash across the floor like a shadow. Nyla hoped she looked even remotely as confident, but she doubted it. Nyla decided she would like nothing more than to return to the ship and wait for Cal there, but the looks of the other Jix and the thought of trying to brave the crowds outside on her own made her decide to stay.


    "Welcome Bearer of Sin." A female Jix said, sitting at the head of a long sloping table, clearly designed to make anyone who sat at it seem superior to those addressing the council. Cal fell into a wide stance, his hand loosely clasped behind his back. Nyla could feel that even though he looked relaxed, Cal was ready to move at a moment''s notice.


    "Hello, Jix Council of Something or Other." The scorn in Cal''s voice did not go noticed as he very clearly misnomerized the council,.


    "Why you filthy, disgusting, unclean, heathen..." A male Jix moved to stand but was interrupted by the woman sitting at the head of the table raising her hand.


    "High Priest, I understand your anger, but I assure you, from what I hear, standing up to this man could and would cost you more than you are willing to pay. As one of your young acolytes found out only moments ago." The woman waved her hand at the wall and it suddenly began replaying the events from outside, the ten sickening snaps of the priest''s fingers.


    "He assaulted a priest!" the high priest yelled. "That is death."


    Cal surprised everyone, interjecting into conversation. "No, I am death. I am the Bearer of Sin, here on official request from your people. I, in good faith, came with all haste and was assured by your ambassador, Pinetil Axshram, that my party would not be accosted. And yet, your young priest there decided he could do as he pleased, so he paid with his fingers for using them to touch something that was not his. Be glad he bought what he did."


    "Oh, and what is it he bought, Bearer of Sin?" The priest said, his tone still flippant and disbelieving.


    "Hebought you peace." Cal said, addressing the woman at the head of the table. "I take it you have been informed what I am, and what I do for a living, and that in all matters of war I am the ultimate decision?"


    The woman nodded, not speaking and looking slightly concerned. Cal smiled a predatory smile. "Then would you, in my position, be as lenient as I have been, especially when I found out you have five of the Shen, which is surely a breach of the temporary peace that we have agreedto. You struggled to fight the Shen, I am the might of Humanity. While you slaved your way across the galaxy, my people fought wars the likes of which you could not imagine. The weapons we have are beyond your limited comprehension. I. Am. Death. I bear the sins of the entire human race, and the limits I am willing to go to to ensure that humanity and its allies are safe from harm are beyond anything you can conceive of!"


    Cal unconsciously released waves of power with every word. And when he felt Nyla gently tug on his clothing, he suddenly realized that the council was physically pressed into their seats. He took a breath and gave an appreciative nod to Nyla. "I apologize, but this is what I am. Many of my own people call me a monster, and normally anything political is left to others. But you requested me personally. So speak. Tell me what you wish to know, and then I will leave and hopefully, we will never meet again."


    The council members adjusted themselves in their seats, and the woman at the head of the table cleared her throat. "Well, yes, we did request you. But to be totally honest, we did not expect you to be as, shall we say, blunt, as you are."


    Cal smiled that wolf''s grin again. "I am a predator through and through, Divine Empress Axshram. Just as your daughter is a politician through and through. Why would I bother to play coy with the prey?"


    The Empress laughed. "You are a clever man, though I suspect that the AI next to you has something to do with your knowledge."


    Cal shrugged and nodded. The Empress continued. "So I will be blunt as well Cal, but in a moment."


    Just then Pinetil returned and whispered into the Empress''s ear. She brought in five Shen women and one Shen man, all of them nearly naked, revealing their royal purple skin and herculean physiques. They did not seem like slaves, despite the red and black collars around their throats, they walked tall and every movement seemed to defy the Jix.


    When the Shen laid eyes on Cal and saw his uniform, they all smiled. The man chuckled. "The Bearer of Sin himself is our hero huh? Might just have to do a jig."


    "Remove their collars." The Empress to one of the men at the table.


    "Empress!" The high priest said. "These slaves are my personal prop..."


    "I said remove their collars!" The Empress hissed to the man she gestured to, then turned on the high priest. "And I do not remember asking your thoughts on the matter. I also do not remember sanctioning the taking of new slave races. Maybe the collars would look better on you, High Priest?"


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    When the collars were removed, Cal faced the six Shen. "How many of you were there?"


    "Just the six of us." One of the women said. "We were all in an escape pod together. After they sucker punched our ship, they scooped the pod and booked it back here. Can''t say they had a good time with any of us."


    "Good. Artie, please escort these six to the ship." Cal said.


    "Understood Cal." Artie said, stepping forward. "If they try and stop us?"


    "Let them try, I don''t have a collar on now." The male Shen said, shrugging his shoulders and seeming to grow larger.


    "If they try and stop you, let me know, and then destroy every computer system you have infiltrated so far." Cal said, turningback to the Empress. "I trust they will not face similar issues I faced in coming here."


    The Empress smiled and shook her head. "No, I don''t think they will. We should talk candidly Cal. Council members, please do me the favor of letting me talk with Cal and his young associate in private. Also escort these people to Cal''s ship so we don''t end up with a war on our hands."


    Several people looked as if they wanted to object, but a glare from the Empress convinced to follow her orders. Moments later only Cal, Nyla, Pinetil, and Empress Axshram remained.


    "Firstly, allow me a moment to check on my daughter, if you would Cal." Cal nodded. "Pinetil, how are you, is he treating you well? Are you eating enough? Do you need anything?"


    "I am well mother, he treats me just fine, and I eat plenty." Pinetil said blushing slightly, as Cal chuckled.


    "Something funny to you Bearer of Sin?" The Empress asked.


    "No, it is always amusing to me that no matter what race, no matter how evolved a people are, a mother is still a mother. Some twisted law of the universe I guess. You simply sounded much like my own mother when I come home from a long time away."


    "True enough." The Empress looked at Cal with a deep sense of appraisal in her eyes, before turning to Nyla. "You there, small blue one."


    "Yes?" Nyla said unsure of how to act or talk.


    "Tell me of this man. Tell me why you side with him rather than fight your own battles, rather than submit to the Jix, why did you pick him?"


    Nyla thought for a moment. "If you are asking about me personally, I think I have fallen in love with Cal. That would be the simplest explanation. But as to my people, Cal is not giving them much of a choice. He is rather dead set on dragging them into a modern world that I am unsure they are prepared for."


    "Spoken with truth, if ever I have heard it." The Empress said, turning her attention back to Cal. "Cal, if I were to tell you there are forces that haunt our people in ways you could never understand, what would you say?"


    "There is always something new to learn." Cal said. "But I can also see where that would put my people''s superior tech in a place of value for your people."


    "Correct. That is a problem for another time. As it stands, I want to ask what it would take for you to stay out of any war fought between humanity and the Jix. If you name it and it is in my power to give, then it will be yours." The Empress looked at Cal expectantly.


    "There is nothing you could give me other than my death to keep me from war." Cal said, his tone dropping into that dangerous range again. "Of the seven races who have thought to kill me, and then my people, only one remains."


    "Not just a psychopath, but a principled psychopath." The Empress said. "Very well, I will leave it at that, as I assume nothing else I have to say would matter. At the very least, please take this as a token of my appreciation for your understanding in the events of today."


    The Empress offered him a crystal, embossed with what Nyla could only assume was her signet. The Empress also handed one to Nyla. "For the stupidity of the priest."


    "Thank you." Nyla said with a smile.


    "Well, I guess that is all I needed. I am sorry we could not have a longer discussion, but it seems that fate would hold us at odds with each other. Take good care of my daughter, Bearer of Sin." The Empress said, then made a dismissing move with her hands.


    Cal turned and followed Pinetil from the room, with Nyla close behind him.


    The walk back to the ship was uneventful. It seemed wordgot around about what Cal had done earlier, and people moved out of his way as if he were a rock in a river. Nyla walked quickly, nearly jogging to keep up, she was rather winded when they finally got to the ship.


    Inside Artie waited with the six Shen, and Cal talked with them. "So, ladies and gentleman, where is it I can drop you off?"


    "If you could drop us on Kallantis, it would be much appreciated," one of the women said.


    "Not a problem. Do any of you need medical treatment, or anything else before we get on the way?"


    "No, Artie has been taking good care of us. We just want to get home," another woman said.


    "Very well. Artie please see to their seating. Nyla and I will get us underway. Pinetil you can wait in your seat." Cal added the last bit when he noticed two of the female Shen eyeing Pinetil in a way that Cal worried would lead to a dead Jix Princess.


    Within twenty minutes, with Nyla mostly just following Cal around the ship, they finally strapped into their seats. Cal looked back, "We are going to jump to Kallantis, then to Nyla''s world. So bear with me and just stay seated. Artie will make sure they get out okay and tell us when to jump.


    Nyla nodded. She gritted her teeth moments later when the pain began in her head. It subsided like normal, then for five minutes, they sat quietly. Nyla looked over at Pinetil. "Your mother seems nice."


    Pinetil looked shocked. "You know she is the woman who leads our people. The people who want to cleanse the galaxy of the impure and turn all those who we deem worthy into slaves. you understand that right?


    "Yes, but still, she seems nice." Nyla said, shrugging in confusion at her own feelings on the topic.


    Pinetil looked strangely emotional when Cal spoke. "Alright, jumping again."


    The pain came once more, and when they exited the ship they found the Clan hall exactly as they had left it. Other than the three Narvish youths sitting at the firepit outside the hall.


    When they saw Cal, they jumped to their feet, and dashed over, falling to their knees and pressing their heads to the floor. The words that came out their mouths surprised Nyla, but Cal just smiled.


    "Clan Lord of the Clan of the Storm Dragon, please let us join your Clan." The three said in unison.


    Through the mental link Artie passed on a message from Cal who was pulling the two men and one woman to their feet and welcoming them. "Let the games begin!"

 PART 14

    The three new members of the clan fell into roles quickly. Now that a relationship had been established with the most important clans, Cal moved to become known for something. Nyla was still determining what he was up to, but Nyla had been asked to bring the three new clan members to the workshop Cal had made for himself deep in the mountain.


    "Nyla, are you the clan leader''s mate?" The female youth said.


    "No," Nyla said with a smile, "while I may have feelings for him, I do not believe he reciprocates my feelings."


    Nyla saw a look she had seen on many a young woman''s face when she planned to bed a man she fancied. Nyla smile. "If you wish to try and capture his heart, by all means, try, but also remember he is not Narvish, and his emotions are far more intense than ours. At least, that is the experience I have had."


    The young woman blushed. "Of course, Nyla, forgive me."


    Nyla smiled at the young woman and saw both of the young men looking at her as if she might bite them. She did not know what had been told to the three of them, but they all behaved as if she were a high priestess and not just a friend of the clan leader. She opened her mouth to disabuse them of the idea, but the door in front of her opened, making the young people drop their jaws on the floor.


    "But... But... We are underground. Deep underground!" One of the young men said, looking at the massive room''s blue sky and grassy floor. Cal sat in the center of the room, his eyes closed, psychic energy rolling off of him in waves that felt like they might tear the very world apart if he wished it. The young woman, who had planned on bedding Cal only moments before, now looked at him with fear and awe.


    "What is he? My affinity for the holy relics was minuscule, not enough to even be considered a lesser priestess. Still, I can feel the power coming from him." The young woman spoke, tearing her eyes from Cal to look at Nyla. "Are the rumors true? Has a god descended to walk among us and show us the mistakes in our ways?"


    Nyla laughed. "No, Cal is not a god, though I will admit that is what I thought when I first met him."


    "That was very funny." A disembodied voice said, seeming to come from everywhere at once.


    "What was that?" The second young man said, falling into a ready stance.


    "That would be Artie, back in his usual form," Nyla said, addressing the room. "It was funny, though I will admit I prefer knowing the truth than not."


    "Fair enough," Artie said, and reality seemed to ripple, and the blue sky and grass vanished to reveal a sterile white room with machines all around it. "Cal, they are here."


    "I know," Cal said, smiling and standing. "Welcome, everyone."


    "Good morning, clan leader." The three youths echoed simultaneously.


    "I have not had a chance to get to know you all as well as I would like. That is what I would like to do today." Cal said, looking at each of them in turn.


    "You want to get to know us?" The young woman asked hesitantly.


    "Yes, first of all, I don''t think I ever got your names. I was a little preoccupied when we returned to find you outside." Cal said.


    "Ha!" Pinetil said from where Nyla had just noticed her seated next to the door they had entered. "That is the understatement of the century. You told them all welcome, then made Artie deal with everything while you sulked in your room."


    "As Pinetil says, I was not a good host. So I would make up for it." He gestured to a workbench that had chairs around it. Three on one side and two on the other. "Please join me."


    Nyla took the chair next to Cal, and the three young Narvish sat opposite them. Cal started. "So, first of all, the Clan Leader title is one of many that I have. To make life easier, I will ask that you simply call me by my name, Cal. In return, I would know all of your names."


    The young woman spoke first. "My name is Hista. It is said my name is derived from the true name of the Goddess Yillna."


    Nyla took a breath. Yillna was a Goddess of Lust, the statement Hista had just made was culturally believed to be as forward as a young woman could possibly be. She had essentially declared herself on par with the Goddess of Lust or possibly even part of the Goddess herself.


    Cal smiled an emotionally neutral smile. "It is good to meet you, Hista."


    Next was the young man who had been shocked by the outdoor appearance of the workshop. "I am Gorn, Clan Le... Cal."


    The other two youths snickered at Gorn. Cal ignored them. "Gorn, it is good to meet you!"


    Cal looked at the last young man. "I am Hudnarin."


    "It is good to meet you, Hudnarin. It is good to meet all of you." Cal said, smiling, and Nyla noted it was not the smile she usually saw on his face. Cal continued speaking, "So, Hista, Gron, Hudnarin, what are your skills? What can you offer to the Clan of the Storm Dragon?


    Hista''s face drew up like she had tasted lemon. "What do you mean?"


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    Cal''s face was suddenly expressionless. "I mean, what skills do you have that will benefit not only you but the others in the clan as well?"


    Gorn was excited. He began speaking at a rapid pace. "Oh, I have many skills, Cal! I have spent time with many of the Clans of The Twelve and done many jobs. My most recent was with the first clan, and there I was studying under their craft master to learn to use the Leaves of Venwood trees in making art and rooves."


    Cal smiled a genuine smile at Gorn. He could tell the young man was genuinely excited. "Well, that is good. As you can tell from the clan hall, we like to work with Venwood, both the wood of the tree and the leaves, and I think you and I can come up with any number of things for you to do. The Storm Dragon welcomes you, Gorn."


    It clicked in Nyla''s head. That last phrase was the official greeting and welcome used when someone joined a clan. Cal had been doing his own research on these three before he spoke with them. She decided to watch what would be a fantastic show.


    Next, Cal turned to Hudnarin. "What about you, Hudnarin? What can you off the Storm Dragon?"


    Hudnarin stared blankly at Cal, locking gazes with the human, until he finally burst out in a smile. "In all honesty, I am unsure. I do not know what you need or what skills I have that you would desire. I did not hold much of a position, and the clan that Hista and I come from is not a member of the twelve. The last time I heard our potential rank, we were between forty and sixty. The only thing I know for sure is that I can hunt and have been trained in the basic use of a spear."


    "A warrior then," Cal said, nodding in approval. "I can always find a use for an able-bodied person willing to learn. Are you willing to learn Hudnarin?"


    "Of course!" Hudnarin said enthusiastically.


    "The Storm Dragon welcomes you, Hudnarin," Cal said again. Then turned to Hista. "What of you, Hista? What can you offer the Storm Dragon?"


    Hista looked like she wanted to spit at him for suggesting she had to offer anything. "Well, as I said, My name is said to..."


    "Yes, yes, I know. derived from the name of the Goddess of Lust and all that." Cal said, waving his hand dismissively. "I want to know what you can offer to the clan. The whole clan. Unless you intend to make that offer to every person in the clan? I did not think you were the type, but far be it from me to judge your career choices."


    Hista looked ready to explode. "I am NOT!"


    Cal stared at the young woman. Still waiting for an actual answer to his question. He waited as the young woman composed herself. Then smiled and, in her sweetest tone yet, spoke once more. "I am sure I can offer you something."


    "I am not sure you understand," Cal said. "I do not need anything from any of you. But you all want to be a part of the Storm Dragon, and as you saw, I welcome any who have something to offer to the Storm Dragon. So what do you have to add to the Storm Dragon? What is it you do that will benefit every single clan member?"


    Hista ground her teeth and spoke in a tone that desperately tried to hide how angry she was. "I am willing to learn, I have worked in communal kitchens before, and of course, I can perform general labor."


    Cal nodded. "Good, you shall be Artie''s assistant in the kitchens then. You hear that, Artie? This one is your responsibility."


    "Understood, Cal." The disembodied voice said again, startling the three new members.


    As Artie''s walking frame entered through a door, Cal looked at Hista and spoke. "The Storm Dragon welcomes you, Hista. And I welcome all three of you, so long as you work to benefit the clan, I can assure you of great things to come. Welcome, and please enjoy your time here. I expect you all to not only work but to also live well. If there is anything I can do to make your lives easier, please do not hesitate to ask, and I will see what I can do."


    Artie walked over to Hista. "Hello, Hista, and welcome to the Clan of the Storm Dragon. I will begin preparing lunch and would like some help, just a little, and I also want to show you where we will primarily be working."


    "I''ll help as well, Artie," Nyla said, walking with Hista towards the door.


    Nyla glanced back to see the two young men talking animatedly with Cal about something. Cal glanced up and smiled at her as she turned the corner into the hall.


    <hr>


    Artie was a master chef. Nyla knew it was due to a massive database of cooking skills and reference materials, but it was still fun to watch. While Hista was far from Artie''s level of skill or speed, it was apparent she had cooked before. Knowing her skills lay elsewhere, Nyla did her best to stay out of their way and simply fetched things that Artie asked for or cleaned up stations he and Hista were done with.


    After finishing the meal, Artie asked Hista to put the dish into the oven after setting it to cook the meat casserole they had prepared. Hista had said yes, and then as soon as the door closed, Hista turned to Nyla, taking off the apron Artie had insisted she wears, and threw the garment at Nyla.


    "I get it. I can''t believe I thought you were his mate. You are just a servant." Hista nearly snarled at Nyla, "So go ahead and clean this up and put the dish inside. Then do something useful and bring me a drink."


    Hista stormed out, and Nyla did her best to reign in her emotions, tears forming in her eyes. Pinetil''s voice cut through the silence. "Why do you let her treat you that way? And why do you cry over the words of a self-proclaimed harlot?"


    "Oh! Gods Protect me. Pinetil, please, not right now. I really can''t... I just can''t right now." Nyla said, taking the last waste and dropping it into the recycler.


    Pinetil surprised her then and walked over to place the casserole in the oven. Pinetil gave Nyla an appraising look and nodded. "Just remember, Nyla, you are friends with the most powerful individual I have ever met. He seems to have a soft spot for you. Never undervalue yourself; never let a woman like Hista tell you what you''re worth."


    "Thank you, Pinetil," Nyla said with a smile. She closed her eyes to wipe the tears from them, and when she opened them, Pinetil was gone. Nyla suspected she would deny ever having the conversation. "I appreciate it, Pinetil, but I have my own ways of teaching lessons."


    Nyla tapped into her connection with Artie. "Artie, tell me, will spicy foods, like I read about in a cooking book, kill a Narvish? I know there were things you told me I could not eat on Earth."


    "No, the things I flagged as unedible to you were dishes that contained high concentrations of garlic," Artie said, then responded before Nyla had a chance to ask. "The thing you are looking for will be in the top right cupboard. It is a green jar with dark oil in it. Three drops is what I would recommend, but you could also just put a straw in the jar and hand it to her."


    "How... How did you know?" Nyla asked, retrieving the jar from the cupboard with the help of a step stool.


    "I was the one who did research and investigated those three. I knew what kind of person she was. After being included and showing a friendly demeanor as you did, I had hoped that Hista would not try the same thing she apparently always did. Still, when it became clear, I set a process that would alert me to any interactions between her and anyone else that held a negative tone. That and she is not as quiet as she thinks. I could hear her in the hallway." Artie paused, then spoke in a smug tone. "She is in the main hall, sitting in your seat at the high table whenever you finish that drink she asked for."


    "Thank you, Artie. I''ll be sure to get it to her right away." Her tone betrayed her intent. Artie laughed in her head as she rubbed the label, which read ''artificial pepper oil 1 million Scoville'', off the bottle, dropped a metal straw into the jar, and went to find Hista.

 Part 15

    Nyla felt bad as she watched Hista take the pepper oil and take a deep sip from the metal straw. She felt less bad as she watched Hista''s face go through multiple shades of red, and the woman threw the jar of pepper oil away, letting the remains of what she had sipped up fall from her mouth. "What have you done to me, you worthless wench!?"


    Nyla smiled at the cruel comment. "Simply made you a drink befitting your personality."


    "You have poisoned me!" Hista said awkwardly as she tried to scrape the strange oil from her mouth.


    "No, I have not. If I had wanted to poison you, I am fairly certain there are things far more suited to killing a Narvish woman than pepper oil." Nyla took a breath. "I am not a servant. I am Cal''s Friend, and I care for him just as he cares for me. I know I am unskilled compared to others, but I help where possible. Don''t forget it. Otherwise, it won''t just be pepper oil in your drink next time."


    The sight of Hista nodding frantically as her eyes watered and grew wide at the threat while her lips swelled from the heat made Nyla smile as she walked back to her room. She passed Pinetil in the hallway and noticed an appreciative smile as they walked past each other.


    <hr>


    Nyla''s lesson was not easily forgotten, but it did not stop Hista from making snide remarks. Over the next few weeks, Nyla got called many names by Hista, but not once did the woman attempt to command Nyla to do anything. She also tried very hard to ensure that she and Nyla were not alone in the same room for too long.


    This only served to strengthen the chasm between herself and the others. While she continued trying to seduce Cal, Gorn and Hudnarin quickly proved to be fantastic craftsmen, working to learn all they could from Cal. Cal also spent a fair amount of time working with both of the young men on their speer work and helping them learn how to fight together to defend the clan.


    <hr>


    Gorn looked to Hudnarin. "How does he keep it all straight in his head?"


    "I don''t know," Hudnarin said, looking down at the mathematical formula that would let him calculate the surface area for the sphere he wanted to craft. "I just... I don''t understand it."


    "Maybe," Nyla surprised them both as she spoke up from where she was working on a project of her own, "it has to do with schooling. I know Cal has talked about how he was taught things and how different human children are taught, and it always comes back to a school."


    "What is a school?" Gorn asked, his mouth fumbling with the strange English word.


    "A place of learning," Nyla said without interrupting her work. "It is a place where everyone goes to learn things and be given the basic skills and knowledge that Cal''s people deem essential."


    "Nyla, have you been to school?" Hudnarin said, also fumbling the word.


    "No, though I have been fortunate in other ways to be taught many things by Cal and Artie. You should ask Cal to teach you or at least arrange to teach you."


    Both Hudnarin and Gorn seemed excited by this and left to find Cal. Upon hearing the idea, Cal agrees and says it will be a fantastic thing for all of the three newcomers to participate in. After a few days, an AI that Cal explained was used for teaching only was installed into a newly dug chamber underground.


    For three hours a day, Hista, Gorn, and Hudnarin all attended classes where they were taught math, and basic sciences, even some military history. Gorn and Hudnarin seemed to excel, each challenging themselves to push father than the other, but Hista fell further and further behind.


    Hista seemed to grow angrier and angrier until one day, she walked out of the classroom and past Nyla, who heard her muttering darkly to herself.


    Nyla went to sleep, not knowing where Hista had disappeared to. She did not like the woman, but she still worried about her. Cal had bid Nyla, Gorn, and Hudnarin to rest as he knew she was safe. Nyla suspected that the sudden disappearance of Artie had more to do with it than anything else. So she went to sleep.


    Nyla was awoken by an alarm blaring. Throughout the clan hall and in multiple languages, all variations of Narvish, a voice similar to Arties, gave instructions on a loop. "Danger! Danger! The clan hall is under attack. Do not attempt to engage the intruders. Do not leave your room. Stand by until the problem has been resolved. Shelter in place!"


    Nyla was panicking. She had never been in this situation before, so she did as the voice told her and reached out to Artie. "Artie? Are you there? What is going on?"


    "I am here," Artie said, "and we are under attack."


    Anger flared in Nyla, "Oh really? The Gods Damned loud alarm didn''t tell me that."


    "Nyla, I was unaware that you were this feisty!"


    Nyla could practically hear the smirk in Artie''s voice. She took a deep breath before continuing. "Sorry, you are right, but seriously, what is happening?"


    "Several smaller clans, many of whom have a limited ability to fight alone, have banded together and are now making their way through the clan hall with some assistance."


    "What assistance?"


    "Let me show you," Artie said before forcibly activating the view panel in Nyla''s room and then feeding an amalgamation of security visuals into it.


    Nyla watched the image coalesce on the panel and felt her heart drop. Coming down the hallway towards her room was a mob of Narvish men and women, almost all of whom held weapons. Leading them down the hall was none other than Hista.


    As she watched on the screen, the mob approached her door, and Hista reached out to try and open the door but could not budge it. From inside the room, Nyla watches Hista begin to throw a fit, ranting and raving loud enough that she could be heard.


    After her initial outburst, she steps back and gestures to two burly Narvish, and they step forward with axes. The two Narvish men begin to take powerful swings, the sounds of their axes impacting the door echoing through the room and driving Nyla into a panic.


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    "Nyla, take a breath," Artie said, letting her have a moment, "and remember that this is your home, as much as Cal''s. Do you really think Cal would leave your door as nothing more than Venwood?"


    Nyla was trying to calm down, but the thump, thump, thump of axes into the venwood prevented her until a strange clanking sound happened. Nyla looked at the screen and saw the axes had a fractured chunks missing.


    "Artie, what is that? What did Cal do to my door?" Nyl asked.


    "That is what happens when you slam a weaker metal in titan-alloy. Cal put a thin veneer of Venwood over a solid titan aloy security door. They could stand there for the next thousand years, hitting it with axes, and they would never get through. So don''t worry." Artie said all this, and Nyla did relax, but when the sound of the axes started again, it was rather unnerving.


    The next hour was nerve-racking for Nyla. On a logical level, she knew that there was no way the mob was getting into her room, but everything altogether was making her nervous and apprehensive about every little sound.


    And had she not heard what she was hearing, she might have melted into the bed beneath where she was sitting, trying to relax.


    "Well, what do we have here, Hista? Did you bring friends?" Cal''s voice called out, easily penetrating the walls and noise created by the axes clanging into the door.


    "Oh, you''re here," Hista said, clearly bored. "You should leave. You are outnumbered. I don''t know what trick you used on the clans of the twelve, but these men and women will not be taken in like the two simpletons who came with me those weeks ago."


    "Nyla, can you hear me?" Cal asked, clearly ignoring the men hitting the door with axes.


    "Yes, Cal, I can," Nyla responded.


    "You can open the door; they will be unable to harm you."


    "Okay," Nyla said, her heart racing, she had no doubts about Cal''s words, but it did not change the fact that she was panicking. Nyla opened the doors to find every Narvish in the hall frozen and that familiar, comforting wash of power emanating from Cal. She walked quickly to Cal and stood back and to his right.


    "I am going to let you all move again, as what I am doing has stopped every muscle in your body from moving, even those that allow you to breathe. If you move to attack or do anything other than lay down your weapon, I will kill you." Cal said, and then after a moment, Nyla felt the warm presence of Cal''s power fade, and the Narvish in the hall collectively took a deep breath, some dropping to their knees.


    "What are you all doing?!" Hista demanded as she watched the mob she had assembled drop their weapons. "He used his trick, now is your chance. You all wanted this, so here we are!"


    Hista looked around and locked eyes with one of the brawny axe wielders. Quickly sliding up to him, she whispered in his ear, but Nyla still heard what she said. "Strike him down, and I will be yours. You can slake your lust in me until the gods are satisfied you have been rewarded."


    The brawny man smiled and turned to face Cal. Cal did not even uncross his arms."Young man, I know you are excited at the prospect she has offered you, but I can assure you, you can not kill me. If you attack, you will die a most horrid death."


    The brawny man smiled, hefting his axe. "You have no weapon and got the drop on us earlier. I like my odds and, as an extension, the odds that I will have Hista as my own."


    Cal sighed in exasperation as the young man lunged at him. Nyla felt a power that was cold and evil. In a split second, the young man who had been mid-lunge was suddenly flattened into the floor. His entire being compressed to the thickness of paper. Blood sprayed everywhere, covering those nearby, and Hista screamed.


    Cal wiped a speck of blood from his face. "Now then, shall we talk?"


    "But you... You can not kill!" one of the Narvish said.


    Nyla was surprised to hear Pinetil''s voice laughing from the other end of the hall where she and Artie stood. "What could have possibly given you that impression?"


    The Narvish who had spoken turned to face Pinetil. "It is what we were told. We were told that he only had the priestly power demonstrated earlier and could only stun large groups as he did."


    "You simple fools," Pinetil said with disgust, "that man you so casually dismiss, who has been treating you all with a sense of decency that frankly bewilders me, is the most powerful man on this planet. If he so wished, he could kill your gods, and he would smile the whole time while doing it. He threatened my entire race simply for attacking a race allied with his own. He threatened my people, who are so much stronger than your own, as to be incalculable, and we were scared. That is how strong he is."


    "Pinetil," Cal said calmly, "I think they understand what you are saying. Please, will one of you tell me what is happening here?"


    An older male, Narvish, stepped forward. "I guess you could say that I am the leader of this party, other than Hista, and we came to secure allegiance. Initially, we sent Hista, hoping she could seduce you and grant us favor as a mate of yours. We did this as the clans of the twelve have been using your name and the name of your clan as a weapon against us. Forcing us to give them things and people, or else they would call on you to wage war against us."


    Cal closed his eyes and took a deep breath. Then opened them once more. "I understand. May I make a request, please? Let us all get some rest, and tomorrow, you should all return here. You may camp outside if you wish, but come tomorrow for a meeting to discuss this?"


    The leader nodded, gesturing the narvish to leave. Cal spoke once more, "And leave me Hista. She is by all accords a member of my clan and must face the consequences of her actions."


    The leader nodded again, and Hista, looking defeated, stood to the side and let the mob pass. After they all had left, Cal looked up. "Everyone to the main hall, Artie if you would, food and drink for everyone except Hista, and summon Gorn and Hudnarin. Then please see to this poor pool of blood and then secure the compound."


    "Of course, Cal," Artie said and continued his task. By the time they had all settled into their chairs, except for Hista, standing across from the grand table, Artie was nearly finished securing the compound.


    They ate in silence, all of them ignoring Hista. Then, when they finished eating, Cal picked up his massive chair with one hand and carried it around the table to sit in front of Hista. "Tell me why."


    "I... They... You... I just could not stand to see you with such an ungrateful woman as Nyla, so I..." Hista was trying desperately to lie her way out, but Cal was having none of it, and Hista was aware of that.


    So, she did what she would always do. She used her arms to push her ample breasts together, giving everyone in the room a look at what she had to offer. "I am yours clan leader. Lord of the Storm Dragon. Your wish is my command. Should you command me to strip here and now so you could take me, I would not hesitate. I..." She stopped when she saw the storm cloud building in Cal''s face.


    "You simply are incapable of doing anything for anyone else. Well, we can fix that. Artie, begin if you please." Cal said and stood, taking Hista by the shoulders, setting her in his seat, and holding her there as Artie began to tattoo symbols on her head; she struggled and squirmed to no avail, Cal and Artie holding her motionless with little effort.


    Cal spoke as he did so. "Hear me, Clan of the Storm Dragon, before me is a traitor, one undeserving of mercy and unworthy of the Storm Dragon. So I condemn her to the only ones who could be so merciful. Hista of the Storm Dragon, from this moment forward, you are Hista of the Gods. Unto the protection of the Gods, and only the Gods I cast you. Forever more will you have to rely on the goodwill of the Gods. May the Gods grant you mercy where I could not."


    Nyla, Gorn, and Hudnarin spoke in unison, through reflex at the deeply ingrained ceremony. "May the Gods welcome you and bless you with a quick death, Hista of the Gods."


    Artie finished his tattoo work just then, stepping back to reveal a pattern of symbols, mostly triangles, and squares, with a single circle at the center of the forehead. Nyla, Gorn, and Hudnarin all glanced at each other; they agreed with the actions being taken, but they all knew Hista would not survive.


    Cal stood lifting Hista, crying and screaming, begging Cal to reconsider. Cal ignored her and opened the door to the grand hall, setting Hista on her feet outside. "Goodbye, Hista of the Gods. May the gods grant you mercy."


    Cal closed the door and returned to the group after locking the door. "I think we should all get back to bed."


    Without a word, the entire group filtered back to their rooms, mostly to lay awake thinking about what they saw.

 PART 16

    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?"


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    "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.

 PART 17

    Cal begins to talk about the affairs of the greater galaxy. When he reaches the four-hour mark, the glossed-over looks, and grumbling stomachs tell him it is time to let them all eat a meal. So he does. Cal watches as the clan leaders eat in perfect silence, their mouths working on autopilot as they mull over the things that Cal has told them.


    When they finally get to the end of Cal''s discussion, they all look as if they might as well surrender. Pinetil surprises them all and steps up. "I know you all probably have a negative view of myself and my people. So I will simply say this: your people would be better off. There are things in the dark that my people barely fight off on a regular basis. So know that everything Cal has said is true, but not the whole picture."


    Cal nods, "She is right. What she speaks of is a group of creatures humanity has called flare entities. In humanity''s past, we worshiped them as gods, and they used us as playthings. So we killed them." Cal went on to describe the strange beings humanity had dubbed flare entities. They lived in the hearts of stars and often had strange reality-bending abilities, and they often thrived on the suffering of others.


    With every word, Pinetil''s eyes grew wider and wider. The blood draining from her face left her paler than normal. Finally, one of the high-ranking ''high priestesses'' stood and spoke with disdain. "You mean to say that you killed your gods? You truly must be a demon, for no mortal can go against the will of the gods."


    Cal and Pinetil both sharpened hawklike gazes on the woman who shrank under them. Before either could speak, a sudden outburst filled the room.


    "You are all fools!" Nyla said, trying desperately to contain her emotions, "I begged for Cal to save my people. I went to the human homeworld and voted as a representative of our people to have humanity step in and help not only us but every race. The things I saw made me realize how little we know. Here is a man who is coming clean with you about what is happening, and you refuse to believe him. Instead, you place your faith in entities none of us have ever seen and who, if they really do speak to us, only ever demand war and suffering!"


    Cal looked at Nyla with sadness in his eyes. Nyla spoke. "I should have left you all to rot; it''s what you all did to me. The silver cities of the humans would have made for a wonderful home, and I could have been living a life you all could never understand. Do you think this hall that Cal built is something special? Yes, it is, to us who live in dirt and wood. The city that I saw on Earth would make this hall look like a child''s plaything! If they refuse to come to their senses, I say we are done with them, Cal. I would rather spend the time on any world, even Pinetil''s homeworld. At least there, we might be able to do some good."


    The tears flowed down Nyla''s face, and she turned to go to her room. When she left the hall, Cal smiled at the assembled leaders. "Well, there you have it. You all must decide if you want to come together to be something more than what you are now, or you must decide to continue to suffer. Please eat, drink, and be marry. I will come for an answer in the coming morning."


    Cal left, and Artie and Pinetil left with him. Artie went to fetch Nyla at Cal''s request, and moments later, the four of them were on the rooftop dining area, eating a small feast of their own. Pinetil had not dropped her eyes since the comments Cal made about Flare Entities. Finally, Cal smiled at Pinetil. "I guess I need to do some explaining."


    Nyla looked from Cal to Nyla, and back then, Nyla and Pinetil nodded, and Cal settled into his chair and began to speak.


    "Every star in existence houses a certain number of entities known to humans as Flare Entites, and like I said earlier, we once worshiped the one in our star as a god," Cal said, watching the two women for any strange reactions. "One of the unspoken rules of the galaxy is that to be a Precursor race, you must meet a few criteria, but the three biggest ones are as follows: One, you must have achieved space flight before any other surviving species in your galaxy. Two, you must have multiple planets inhabited. The third and often secretly kept requirement is that you must have either slain or thrown off your Flare Entities control."


    Nyla and Pinetil looked at Cal with wide eyes, and he chuckled. "It is insane, I know, but being that humanity is the way it is, we killed our god and then set about wiping Flare Entities from the Milky Way. They started the war after seeking retribution for the death of the being who lived in our star, and we simply finished the war."


    Pinetil was shocked. "But... But How! The gods are not able to be killed. That is why we must..."


    Cal looked at Pintil sharply. Pinetil clapped her mouth shut, realizing she had been about to divulge secrets. Cal nodded. "I figured that was about it. I noticed it when I set foot on your world, Pinetil, and it explains so much about your people. The reason you all make so many suffer is why your people are as devout as they are. You may have slain the Flare Entity in your home star, but another far more powerful one showed up and forced your submission, didn''t it?"


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    Pinetil meekly nodded. "The dark God Ixkan, may his wrath spread through reality."


    Cal and Nyla waited, and Pinetil drew a deep breath and then began to relay her people''s secret history. "When we killed the Flare entity in our home star, we rejoiced. We thought that we could grow into a peaceful people. We began to explore our galaxy in earnest. We discovered many hundreds of species. We strove to be friends with them all. Some were slaves. I will admit that my people have never had compunctions about slavery. But for the most part, we would meet a species that had left its home planet, and we would help them throw off their own Flare Entity, and then we would establish friendly ties with them."


    "You used to be friendly?" Nyla said, surprised.


    "Yes, Nyla, my people used to be great peacemakers," Pinetil said wistfully. "Regardless, it all ended when we encountered the apostles of the Dark God Ixkan. They were a horde the likes of which we had never seen before. So we fought them when we had to. The different species we had met along the way helped here and there. But it was mostly the Jix fighting. We finally realized that many of the worlds we helped were beginning to fall to the dark god. When that happened, the entire population of the species would change from whatever they were before to more of the swarm. The leadership of the Jix concluded that to stay as we are, we would have to walk a fine line between worshiping this god and fighting against the changes and the swarm. We also realized that the only way to guarantee the continuation of our friends was to protect the species ourselves. Remove them from a position of power and place ourselves in a position to shield them from what would come. So we made them an offer: become our slaves and have your species continue on, even if it is in some limited form, or see if you can hold out against Ixkan."


    "When you found the humans, why didn''t you ask for help?" Nyla asked. "I am sure that Cal would have helped, and humanity seems rather helpful in general."


    Pinetil laughed. "Oh, we would have, but unfortunately, we have encountered Precursor species before, and they have tried to help us, and they have all joined the swarm. Though I must admit, none have been so advanced as humanity. When we encountered the humans, we nearly thought it would end the same. But back to the not-so-kind history of my people. Of our allies, four agreed to become our slaves and to modification, and even agreed that we should modify them to assist as best as possible. The first of these was the Keln; they were already on their way to being a slave species willingly, so this simply accelerated the process. Their entire species feeds off of the endorphins and pheromones released by sex; as such, they have evolved to be compatible with any form of sex, and also the ability to change their form to entice their partners."


    "The second species was the Lin''Pat." Pinetil continued, grateful that Cal and Nyla were simply letting her speak. "They are what you would call generalists, so we use them for most household positions, servants, guards, et cetera. Third came the Dentros, a multilimbed species with dexterity and precision beyond anything a machine could reproduce. They now do a vast majority of the manufacturing and assembly of the entire Jix empire. Last came the Paggnot, A species that was rather unremarkable and was modified for dumb labor. Their already average intelligence was dropped lower, and their brains restructured to literally crave the feeling of completing an order. This is what we did to our allies, to our friends in the name of protecting them."


    "Why are you so cruel to them then?" Nyla demanded, "The things I saw in your world, the way that the slaves were treated, how do you justify that?"


    "I would bet that they don''t," Cal said, looking at Pinetil with an appraising gaze. "I think that what she just told us is something not shared openly, and honestly, even if I were to go and slay Ixkan now, they would probably not be willing to give up their slaves. She just said that one of the species is responsible for the empire''s production. But you knew all this, Pinetil. Why would you tell us this? You could have just said you had no idea what I was talking about, and that would have been the end of it. So why?"


    Pinetil looked like she might scream and rip her hair out with how panicky she looked. "I want out. My mother wants out, and we have no way to protect those we care for other than to continue to hold power and continue the delicate balancing act against Ixkan."


    Pinetil dropped to her knees before Cal, grabbing his hands in hers. "I have never had hope before, Cal. Never, I will do anything I must. You can have me as a slave, take me as a wife, or pass me around the entire population of Earth as a sex favor if that is what it will take, but I have hope because of you. You, and through you, humanity, are a force unlike anything I have seen. Please, Cal, save my mother, save my people."

 PART 18

    "Save your people!" Nyla exclaimed. "How? How can he save your people? What they need is a lesson in morals, not a savior. Tell me, oh, pitiful princess of the Jix, what would my people become if humanity had not stepped in and told you to fuck off? What would we be?"


    Pinetil, already in an emotionally vulnerable state, flinched at Nyla''s words. "There are other races than the ones that I mentioned; they are mostly used as Pleasure species, and your people would most likely become one of them."


    "Oh well, that''s great." Nyla said, turning to Cal, "Yes, Cal, please save these people so that they can make sure that I become nothing more than a bedwarmer! That is not what friends do to their friends, Pinetil! Gods above, and you had the audacity to accuse humanity of wanting to fuck everything in its path."


    Nyla stormed off, with Artie behind her. Nyla gets out the door, and halfway down the stairs, when she finally takes a breath and calms down, realizing she may have been a bit harsh, she turned back to go to Cal and Pinetil, Artie left to deal with the others in the hall. When Nyla got to the door, she heard Pinetil''s voice and could see through the cracked open door.


    "...like she thinks I don''t know those things. I know my people and the church are morally bankrupt! I wish I could change it. But I can''t. That is why I asked you."


    "I know," Cal said, letting her vent, and still sitting where he had been. Pinetil still knelt in front of him.


    "I do what I can, as does my mother, but if we push too hard, they will have us killed as heretics! Then there would be nothing we could do!" Pinetil surprises Nyla then by bursting into tears. Nyla felt bad and moved to go and comfort Pinetil when the woman spoke again. "I want nothing more than to change. I don''t want to be the way that my people are."


    Pinetil took Nyla and Cal by surprise when she suddenly rose up from her kneeling position, sat on Cal''s lap, and wrapped her arms around his neck, planting her lips on his for a long, wet, kiss. "I may be an ambassador, and I may have some social mores about other races, but I can not deny what I feel when I look at you, Cal."


    Cal quickly stands up, gently pushing Pinetil away from himself. "Pinetil, I am essentially the property of Humanity, and until you and or your people renounce their horrid practices and until you can figure out whose side you are on, you should probably refrain from touching me like that."


    With that Cal turns to leave and sees Nyla, tears streaming down her face sprinting down the stairs. Cal lets out a deep sigh, "Well fuck."


    Nyla cries as she runs into the Venwood forest surrounding the Clan Hall. Somewhere deep in teh back of her mind, she has a brief flash of memory as this is roughly how she left her last clan and met Cal. She knew this was a bad move, but she did not care, she needed to be away from everything.


    The tears continued as she moved further and further into the woods. She thought something that surprised her, "I hate Pinetil!"


    That thought almost brought her to a standstill. Even when she had first met Pinetil and known what she supposedly was, Nyla had not hated the Jix Princess. She had been surprised at the thoughts that Pinetil expressed, and had even worried that they might come to pass. But Cal had been there the entire time, unafraid and completely willing to demonstrate why these things would be bad ideas. But now the thought that Cal might pick Pinetil over herself? It was unbearable.


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    "Then again there is a chance that he may not pick anyone. I am being childish. Cal is a man of many, many years. And besides, all I have heard, admittedly it is a small amount, is that Cal has not had many, if any, relationships." Nyla continued running into the ever-darkening woods, lost in her own thoughts. She finally comes to a conclusion. "I think... I think I love him..."


    She comes to a stop, breathing hard, resolving herself to return and tell Cal how she felt. In that moment as she turns back from the direction she thinks she came from, she realizes just how deep into the woods she is, and how dark the sky is. She turns slowly trying to orient herself using the few stars she can see beginning to fill the sky. When that proves futile, she sighs, and yells out loud in frustration, "Great Nyla. Just great!"


    As she finished yelling, and thinking that maybe her outburst had not been wise, she hears a thud, followed by a chittering sound that any member of any clan could have recognized. She turned to see the six white glowing eyes of a Droxxik.


    She looked at the insectoid herbivore and knew that it would kill her without a doubt. While it may not eat her, she had invaded its territory. Every instinct in her body told her to run, but she knew that the Droxxik were among the fastest creatures on the planet. Faster than a Hilvorn beast, and certainly faster than her. So she did the only thing she could, she faced the Droxxik, and prepared to dodge.


    The Droxxik were a species of insect that fed exclusively on the sap of the Venwood tree. It had a sharp and powerful beaklike snout that it used to bore holes into the incredibly dense trees. It used the sap as a coating on the outside of its carapace as well. This resulted in a creature who while blindingly fast, could also withstand any attack that Nyla might produce. Nyla chuckled as she reviewed what she knew of the creature. She had run into the woods wanting to be alone, but now she wanted nothing more than for Cal to tell her not to worry as he crushed what he would shurly find to be an annoying insect.


    She snaps back to focus on the Droxxik, just as it lunges at her. She dodges and hears the Droxxic impact with the Venwood Tree behind her. Hoping that its strange snout wast stuck momentarily, or that it was disoriented, Nyla took off running as fast as she could, hoping that she was headed in the right direction. As she ran she screamed for help.


    She begins to see more of the stars as she sprints as fast as she can and realizes she is headed in the right direction. She nearly burst into tears of joy, thinking to herself, "I''m going to make it! I''m going to make it! I''m....."


    Her thoughts are interrupted as pain blooms from the back of her right shoulder, and she watches in horror as the snout of the Droxxik tears through her flesh and emerges from the front of her shoulder. The Droxxik rips free, and moves back, watching her fall. Nyla''s eyes fill with tears, as she closes them, unable to fight the creature in front of her.


    She hears the chittering cry of the Droxxik and braces herself for the impact she was sure would end her life when suddenly a feeling of psychic power washes over her. It is not the cold, calculating, near god-like power of Cal. Nyla opens her eyes to see Pinetil step from the trees, an aura of silver emanating from her body, as she gazes upon the Droxxik. The Droxxik in turn, faces this new opponent, making its chittering call. Pinetil smiles cooly at the Droxxik rasing her hand as if to wave at it.


    "Bugs should be squashed," Pinetil says and slams her hand down in the air, sending a wave of silver power at the Droxxik, which is instantly flattened into the dirt, its carapace making a horrible crackling squelch as it dies almost instantly.


    Pinetil goes over to Nyla helping the smaller woman to her feet and wrapping her should wound with a bandage that seemed to materialize into her hands. Once first aid had been completed the two women walked back towards the Caln Hall. As they break teh treeline and head towards the door, Pinetil turns to Nyla.


    "We need to talk." The Jix princess said staring intently at Nyla.


    Nyla gulped wondering what unpleasantness Pinetil might have in store, but she steeled herself and nodded. "Very well Pinetil. Lets talk."

 PART 19

    Nyla and Pinetil sit in the empty kitchen. Pinetil is sipping on some kind of wine from her homeworld, and Nyla is drinking the human drink hot chocolate, which she has come to love. Neither of them is excited about this conversation, but deep down, they both know it needs to happen.


    Nyla, who had just gotten comfortable in the silence, is a little surprised when Pinetil breaks it, "Nyla, I am... I am unsure why you fled. I have an idea, but I would hear your words before I make any assumptions."


    Nyla cast a weary glance at this seemingly hesitant Pinteil, but the taller woman''s body language reinforced that she was feeling exactly what Nyla heard in her tone. A deep breath to steady her nerves, Nyla began to speak, "I have known Cal for only a few months, as have you. But in that time, he has done things that I had not thought possible for me and things that no other male of my species has ever even thought of doing for me. And to him, they are nothing; with a wave of his hand, he brings the clans to heel, squashing their attempts for power like a stroll in the woods. For someone like me. Someone who has been cast out and used by her own people to see what he does and then to see someone like you..."


    Nyla glared at Pinetil, letting the venom of her thoughts taint her voice. "Seeing someone like you, who is by your own admission someone who would continue my torment, throw yourself at him and declare your love for him for all intents and purposes. It ripped my heart out."


    Pinetil blushed and then looked downtrodden. "Well, when you put it like that, I understand why you would be upset. I did not mean to express myself to Cal as I did.  I just... No one has ever given me a sense of hope as he has. You are right. He does things that others would balk at. He walked into my homeworld without a care in the world, unafraid of anything we could do. I have no doubt that had we attempted to subdue him, we would have been wiped from reality."


    The two women stared into their drinks, silence again enveloping them both. This time, it was Nyla who broke it. "I am sorry I ran into the woods and worried everyone."


    "And I am sorry that I caused you such grief," Pinetil said, then with a smile, she reassured Nyla. "I think you should talk with Cal."


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    "What?" Nyla sputtered, nearly inhaling a mouthful of hot chocolate.


    "I think you should tell Cal..." Her voice quickly faded, and Nyla saw her eyes glance to the door. When she looked, she saw Cal there, as cool as always.


    "I think the three of us should have a little pow-wow," Cal said.


    "Cal, I''m sorry for..." Nyla started as he walked forward and simply gave her a gentle hug.


    "I am glad you are well, Nyla." Cal said, then turned and hugged Pinetil, "And I am glad you helped her."


    He made himself a glass of hot chocolate and sat with the two slightly stunned women. "I am not a prize to be won. You both have made amusing guesses about me, why I am single, and what it takes to win me over. I want to clarify that I am not opposed to a relationship; I never have been, but I have never found someone I thought would be a good match. You both have qualities I admire in a prospective mate, and you have things I can not tolerate for various reasons."


    Cal locked eyes with Pinetil. "You, Pinetil, are technically an enemy combatant, I can not start a relationship with you. You also hold a couple of world views fundamentally opposed to what I stand for; this is not a deal breaker; I''m just laying all the cards on the table."


    Next, his gaze locked with Nyla, "And you, Nyla, are a member of a species I am working to uplift. There are a multitude of laws in place that I am unwilling to violate, mostly in place to prevent a human from setting themself up as some kind of sex god on a backwater world. Until such a time as I am done with my work, I will not be able to interact with you romantically."


    "So both of us have no chance, at least until major changes happen," Pinetil said indignantly.


    "To a certain extent, yes," Cal said, his gaze not rising from his cup.


    "That is so unfair!" Pinetil exclaimed.


    "It''s fine. I can wait." Nyla said in a small, sad voice.


    Pinetil was shocked. Cal simply smiled at her.


    "Well, I am going to bed!" Pinetil said, storming out of the kitchen.


    "I think I will go to bed as well," Nyla said as she gulped down the last of her hot chocolate.


    "Have a good night," Cal said, and when he was sure she was in her room, he sighed as Artie walked in and began working on the dishes. "Artie, I need your help. We need to begin researching for a black-sun operation."


    Artie froze, his system working overtime to process what he had said, as it was one of several requests that would instantly brick a normal AI, but because he was Cal''s, he had special permissions. "I understand. Should I inform your handler?"


    "No, just keep it theoretical for now, but I would like to have a full workup in case it is needed," Cal said, smiling at his friend and helper. "You''re the best artie. Have a good night."


    "You too, Cal!" Artie said, washing dishes as his artificial mind began pulling together exabytes of data at insane speeds

 PART 20

    The next few weeks were a slog for everyone involved. Cal, Nyla, Artie, and Pinetil, along with the new members of the clan, were fighting a verbal war of unification. The weaker clans who had been raided over and over and only had ten or fifteen members signed on immediately.


    As everyone worked on unification, Pinetil and Nyla seemed to avoid Cal. When they spoke with him, they received the same level of interaction that they had always received from him. But neither of them felt satisfied. Pinetil was awash in a sea of emotion that she frankly had no way of reconciling, as she had never thought she would feel as she did about what her people would call a lesser species. Nyla, on the other hand, simply felt that she had fallen deeper into her feelings for Cal than she originally had. Both Nyla and Pinetil also felt a deep level of annoyance at the number of clans that offered up the women of the tribe in an effort to gain Cal''s favor.


    One day, as Pineitl and Nyla assisted Cal and Artie in creating some raised planter beds along the path that had begun to form from the clan hall down the mountain to the other clan halls, Artie froze, then spoke. "Ambassador Pinetil, I am currently receiving a request for communication from the Jix royal palace. It is coded as a missive from your mother. It is also flagged as being to both you and Cal."


    "Let''s go see what''s up. Shall we?" Cal said, placing a rock into the latest structure he had been building. "Come along, Artie, Nyla."


    The group began making their way back, nodding and saying hello to the members of the newly expanded clan as they did so. When they returned to the clan hall, Cal led them to the ship, where they made their way into a comfortable sitting area, and Artie acknowledged the hail. And a holographic display of the Divine Empress Axshram. Cal smiled. "Divine Empress Axshram, to what do we owe the pleasure?"


    "Bearer of Sin, Daughter, oh, and the small blue woman as well. Good. It is good to see you all here. Unfortunately, today is not a social call but a call to inform you both of something. Ambassador Axshram, effective immediately, you are recalled to the palace. After the festival of Ix''Grom, the priests determined that our strength was greater than that of the humans. To the bearer of sin, I ask you to return my daughter. You will be granted amnesty of conflict for the duration of your trip to bring her here and then to leave." The Empress said, then paused in a motion that would have probably ended the call, before locking eyes with Nyla, "And to you, small blue woman, I would ask that you hold onto the gift I gave you last time so that it may be claimed from your corpse."


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    With that, the comms channel was shut down, and everyone in the room froze. Cal was deep in thought, Nyla felt deeply uncomfortable, and Pinetil worried that Cal would simply end her life then and there. Then Cal looked up and spoke orders to everyone. "Artie send a confirmation of receipt to the Empress, indicate that we are nearly done with a hardware scan so we will need to delay tewnty-four hours to depart. Then contact my sister and Mr. Grenn and let them know what just happened and aprise them of the need for a Black Sun operation. Also, have them reach out to the Shen and any others who are willing to take up the border guard while I deal with that."


    Without skipping a beat, Cal turned to Nyla. "Nyla, first things first, I need you to go get the crystal that the Empress gave you, then I need you to go to the First Clan, get the clan leader, and then have him assemble the rest of the clan, tell him we will be coming to join in the meeting after diner. Then come right back."


    As he turned to Pinetil, both Artie and Nyla rushed from the room to fulfill the orders they had been given. "Pinetil, I need you to tell me everything you can possibly tell me about what the Festival of Ix''Grom is and why the priests would be the ones deciding that the Jix are more powerful than humanity?"


    "Well, that second question is quite simple. My people have a strong belief that the Empress serves at the behest of the priests and, via them, at the behest of the god. They are semi-right, which brings us to the Festival of Ix''Grom." Pinetil took a breath and calmed herself. "Ix''Grom is the flare entity who resides in our star. During the festival of Ix''Grom, we sacrifice thousands of slaves and the entirety of our criminal population. It is a festival that happens every twenty or so years. Generally, after this festival, my people experience a great deal of growth. Both economically and psionically."


    The room grew cold as Cal stared at Pinetil. He took a deep breath and then sighed, long and hard. "So after sacrificing all those people to Ix''Grom, your priests decided, probably at Ix''Grom''s behest, that your new Psionic abilities would be enough to overcome the technological difference?"


    "Most likely." Pinetil agreed.


    "Well, guess we will have to dissuade them of that notion," Cal said, turning to leave the room and joining Artie in the control room.


    Pinetil stood stock still until he was gone. She wanted to pray but not to Ix''Grom. So she simply spoke to herself. "I don''t know what kind of real gods exist or if you know what kind of monster Cal is, but I thank you for putting him on the path of myself and my people."


    Then silently, Pinetil added another line as she left to follow Cal. "Please, Cal, if anyone can save my people, it is you."

 PART 21

    Nyla was in a strange mood. While she knew she was safe with Cal, she could not help but shiver at the threat of the Jix Empress. Still, she also suspected that Cal had yet to reveal the extent of his abilities. So rather than question why he wanted the crystal, she simply fetched it when asked.


    When she finally found it, she looked for everyone and found Cal and Artie on the ship. She caught the end of a conversation as she waited momentarily to enter the bridge. The door was left open, so she assumed it was not anything sensitive.


    "...And the fact that they would attempt to leverage this is unacceptable!" Tannya yelled.


    "I know." Cal''s voice lacked emotion, only cold, "But it is a non-issue. If worse comes to worse and the Flare entity is too ingrained, I can simply fracture the collective psyche, just as I had to do with the Shen. I hope to save some of the others that the Jix have enslaved. From what Pinetil says though, they are heavily modified and restricted mentally. Whatever there is may not be enough to reconstitute their species."


    "We can worry about that later, but for now, determine your action plan and get a move on. We are terminating the diplomatic channels we had open with the Jix. The Shen have stepped up to border patrol, along with the Gartians, Helfderdians, and the Kiltaxian Collective." Mr. Grenn said.


    "The Kiltaxians are always eager for a good war." Cal chuckled, "Very well. I will inform you of my moves; please relay any pertinent information to me via Artie. And send the Sworb to an intercept path."


    "Will do, Cal, And stay safe."


    "Always am, Tannya," Cal said, terminating the comms channel. "You can come in now, Nyla."


    Nyla came inside, walking to Cal and handing him the crystal. "Everything okay?"


    "Yes, it just never surprises me anymore how much people do not understand humanity and the extent we will go to for peace." Cal took a deep breath while he examined the crystal. "Several thousand years ago, my people had several phrases that were the byproduct of a couple of global conflicts, Aptly named World War 1 and World War 2. The phrases are MAD, and Collateral Damage."


    "What do they mean?" Nyla asked, her blood running cold at the thought of a war that covered her entire world.


    "MAD is an acronym. It stands for Mutually Assured Destruction. The idea was that two groups had enough firepower to destroy the world, and if one of them fired, the other would fire as well, ensuring that there would be no survivors. Collateral damage is a term that was used to discuss people who were non-combatants who were slain as a direct effect of war. Do you know how many people have to die for a species to come up with an idea like collateral damage or, even worse, acceptable losses? We have asked other races, and very few have these concepts." Cal was speaking absentmindedly as he examined the crystal.


    "My people have shaped our combat skills in a crucible of war and conflict that we carried out into the stars. Anything that we could not fuck, befriend, or harvest, we fought it. We have never lost. And on top of this, we are so far ahead of other races that they refuse to believe what we tell them, dismissing it as fantasy or outright lies. But Every now and then, we get to remind people. And right now," he suddenly applied a wave of psy energy to the crystal while pulling on the halves, "it seems that Pinetil''s mother wants us to show everyone what is what."


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    The crystal halves separated as he finished speaking, and a hologram of Emress Axshram floated in the air. "If you are watching this, it means that the priests declared war. And hopefully, I am still alive. If I am alive, I have asked you to return my daughter. Under no circumstances can you bring her back here. I have no right to demand these things from you or your people, Cal. But I make this request not as an Empress to the Bearer of Sin but as a mother desperately seeking help from a powerful man. Do not bring my daughter back; accept that my death is inevitable; instead, please save as many of my people as you can from Ix''Grom and his madness. To my daughter, I love you, Pinetil; I hope that you can find a happy and fulfilling life out in the wider galaxy. Do not come home. Forget about me. Thank you, Cal and Nyla, for carrying this message, though you did not know. I wish you both a long and happy life."


    "No!" Pinetil said from the door of the bridge, she stormed up to Cal, "I will not leave my mother to rot! I demand that you take me home right this moment!"


    "Pinetil I..." Cal started and was cut off.


    "I don''t care, Cal! That is my mother. No matter what you think of my people, I love my mother and can not leave her to suffer as she wishes!"


    "If you would let me finish, Pinetil," Cal said firmly, looking at Pinetil expectantly.


    "Very well." She harumphed.


    "Pinetil, your mother has directly threatened me and the species that humanity has deemed to be under its protection. As per my orders and the rules and regulations of the governing council, I am obliged to secure her as a potential terrorist. Normally, I would be cleared to execute her outright, but in this instance, I believe the information she could provide about other events would far outweigh any risk in keeping her around."


    "At this time, Pinetil Axshram, you are under arrest and released under your own recognizance. Any effort to escape or failure to follow orders from myself or Artie, will be punished. Do you understand?" Cal looked at her, his tone deadly serious.


    "I... I understand?" Pinetil said, very confused.


    "Good!" Cal said with a smile, then turned to Nyla. "Nyla, as the representative of one of the threatened species and the owner of the crystal that contained the admittance of foreknowledge of the declaration of war, you are called forth by the governing council to bear witness and, if needed, to determine punishment. Will you accept this role?"


    Nyla, just as confused as Pinetil, nodded. "I will."


    "Even better!" Cal said, taking a seat and gesturing for Pinetil and Nyla to take one. "Now then, shall we go and retrieve the prisoner? It would be a shame if someone or something got in our way."


    Artie''s voice, back to its more omnipresent form, echoed from around the room. "Yes, it would. Plotting a course to Jix homeworld."


    "Good, make sure to plot a stop to pick up the Sworb," Cal said.


    "Understood," Artie said, and then the strange humming whine started building.


    Before Nyla and Pinetil could grasp what was happening, the energy had built and dissipated, and Nyla felt strange. Cal smiled back at her. "You are the first of your race to experience the weightlessness of space. Welcome to space, Nyla."


    Cal undid his buckled harness and started floating. "Cal, open the observation deck if you would."


    Pinetil quickly rose to follow Cal, as did Nyla, though far more clumsily as she struggled to adjust to almost swimming through the air rather than walking. Nyla''s breath caught in her throat when they arrived at the observation deck. The view before her was terrifying yet beautiful. There was nothing around, no start, no planets. Only distant pinpricks of light.


    Nyla''s wonder was interrupted by her and Pinetil locking their eyes on a sphere that had suddenly appeared. A sense of dread that both women felt deep in their being washed over the two at the disturbingly perfect sphere.


    Pinetil finally spoke as she watched the sphere approach. "Cal, what is that?"


    Cal smiled cruelly, sending shivers down Nyla''s back, "That is the Sworb."

 PART 22

    <div>


    "The Sworb?" Nyla asked her tone one of incredulity.


    <div>


    "It has many names, but the Sworb is what I call it," Cal said with a grin. "I have also heard it called the M.D.A.D., The Em-Dad or Doctor Add. But what it all stands for is Multi-Dimensional Acess Device."


    <div>


    "So how is this important, and why do you call it a Sworb?" Pinetil asked as the sphere neared the ship.


    <div>


    "It is important as it is part of my arsenal. And as to why I call it the Sworb, I think it is an apt name. You may see why I call it that later, but for now, I just wanted to ensure we have it."


    <div>


    Artie''s voice rang out from everywhere, "Sworb acquired and stored, preparing for next jump to Jix homeworld. I recommend taking your seats once more."


    <div>


    Pinetil and Nyla followed Cal again, gliding through the zero-G environment to the ship''s bridge. When seated again, Cal said, "Make the jump, Artie, and maybe bring a larger frame for yourself this time. Don''t want to portray weakness, do we?"


    <div>


    "Of course, Cal," Artie said, and the pressure built again.


    <div>


    An instant later, the ship had reached a landing pad on the Jix homeworld. Cal stood, and Nyla was about to speak when she saw the look on Cal''s face. Gone was the somewhat odd and fun man she was used to. Gone was the leader of her clan. Before her stood the Bearer of Sin, a warrior without equal. She broke off eye contact with him as it almost physically hurt to keep looking at him.


    <div>


    Cal turned and looked at Pinetil, who drew in a sharp breath, seeing the same thing Nyla had, "Pinetil Axshram, remember that you are under arrest and only acting as a guide in an attempt to arrest a fellow criminal. You and Nyla will follow me. If we are accosted, you will inform any parties that we are here on diplomatic matters, as we technically are. If the accosting party persists in stopping us, they will be removed."


    <div>


    Pinetil nodded, and for a moment, Cal''s face softened, "I am not going to be using the kid gloves at this point; if my psionic pressure becomes too much for either of you, please let me know, and I will do my best to keep the spill over away from you both. Now let''s go."


    <div>


    Cal''s entire persona shifted to something cold and unrelenting as quickly as he had softened. They walked through the ship and made it to a door. Nyla was worried and reached out through her mental connection to Artie. "Artie? Are you coming with us?"


    <div>


    "I am always with Cal, but as far as my physical self, I will not be bringing it along, should fighting break out, I need to be able to devote everything to my primary operations and to assisting Cal. Don''t worry; if anything goes wrong, just stay close to Cal. You are safe." Artie said quickly as they walked.


    <div>


    Nyla was nervous and brooding when she first stepped out the door. The last time she was here, it had not been fun. But as soon as they stepped outside, she and Nyla took a sharp breath as Cal unleashed an aura of power that sent chills down Nyla''s spine. Around them, several Jix warriors in armor had drawn near and had been pushed back, warry hands going to weapons as they felt the wave of power.


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    <div>


    Pinetil stepped forward. "We are here on official diplomatic business; any attempt to intercept will be met with force. I would suggest you make appropriate arrangements. We will be leaving now."


    <div>


    She turned and bowed to Cal, who walked past her as if this was the expected course of action. Pinetil rose and fell in next to Nyla, who was quickly following after Cal, who was retracing their route to the palace from last time. Nyla watched one of the guards use a device to communicate with another person.


    <div>


    Pinetil was pale. "I hope they listen." She whispered.


    <div>


    "Me too." Nyla choked out, her stomach roiling with the constant waves of energy washing over her from Cal.


    <div>


    The three walked at a quick but relaxed pace and soon had a small force of guards moving ahead of them, clearing the way. They made good time to the palace, and upon getting there, the gates opened, and they walked into the grand hall where the Empress sat. Unlike last time, however, she was flanked on either side by a total of four Jix who had strangely glowing eyes and wore robes of deep maroon with a black teardrop on them.


    <div>


    "Bearer of Sin, you are early, and you have brought my daughter and the small blue woman. Is she an offering?" The Empress said, her tone solid and amused, but even Nyla could see that her eyes bore a hint of confusion.


    <div>


    "Empress Axshram of the Jix people. In concurrence with the laws of humanity, I have been tasked to make you answer to the governing bodies as a potential terrorist. I am hereby..." Cal was speaking formally, and as he did, the Empress''s eyes widened until Cal was interrupted.


    <div>


    "Who do you think you are? Human?!" Demanded one of the priests, "Our god, blessed be Ix''Grom, has determined that you will fall, and you come here on a mission of heresy?!"


    <div>


    Cal ignored the priest and started speaking once more. "I am hereby placing you under arrest, Empress Axshram. Please note that any attempts by you or others to inhibit my duties will be met with force..."


    <div>


    Again the priest scoffed and then reached out, the same strange glow in his eyes forming in his hand, and Nyla felt a strange sensation before Cal made a motion as if attempting to shoe a fly away. The room fell silent. For in that simple gesture, and with no sound, the priest vanished. He did not scream, he did not splatter into a wall, he simply vanished.


    <div>


    Nyla looked at Cal her blood running cold, and saw a manic grin on his face, he laughed, a sound that had no place amongst civilized people. He locked eyes with each of the priests and then settled on the Empress. "I said I would meet any attempts with force. Now, I will finish what I was saying. Inhibiting my duties will be met with force. Should the flare entity known as Ix''Grom attempt to intervene, he shall be purged from reality, just as I have done to every single purge entity in our galaxy. So make your move."


    <div>


    Cal smiled, seemingly dropping the temperature several degrees with his simple gesture, and the Empress rose to her feet. "I will go with you, Cal; I do not wish..."


    <div>


    "The mortal has made a claim that is amusing." A voice did not come from any throat present said, "I would know how he intends to back it up."


    <div>


    Sudenly the hair on the back of Nyla''s neck stood on end, every instinct in her body screamed at her to hide and cowwer in fear. Slowly, she turned to face the eight-foot-tall entity behind her. Cal turned easily as if looking to greet an old friend.


    <div>


    Cal smiled a warm smile that, in this situation, was almost more terrifying than his cold chuckle from earlier. "Hello, I am guessing that you are Ix''Grom."

 PART 23

    <div>


    Cal smiled. "It is not just a claim, Ix''Grom; it is a simple statement of fact."


    <div>


    Ix''Grom chuckled, "You have an unwarranted level of confidence for someone facing a god."


    <div>


    "If I were facing a true god, I might hesitate, but as far as I know, there are no gods, only pretenders such as yourself. You will not be the first I have slain; if I have anything to say about it, you will not be the last."


    <div>


    "Oh-ho? Not the first; please tell me which of my brethren you have slain? I have absorbed all the others of my kind in this galaxy. So for you to make such a claim is preposterous." Ix''Grom said with a cruel chuckle.


    <div>


    "I am not from this galaxy, and as far as which I have slain, I am personally responsible for the deaths of no less than four hundred and twenty-one flare entity deaths. The most recent one was named Ja''Kora. She fought valiantly, but she perished nonetheless. The flare entity in my home planet''s star was named So''Laru; he was the first to die when we decided to purge the flare entities. So I repeat," Cal took a breath, calm, cool, and collected, "I will kill you should you attempt to interfere with me."


    <div>


    Each flare entity had a unique name that was intrinsically tied to the star that birthed them and to who they were as a person. So, by giving him specific names, Cal had proven to a certain extent that he knew what he was talking about. Some part of Ix''Grom screamed in fear and rage, but the logical part of his brain refused to acknowledge it. Ix''Grom chuckled again, "Very well, prove to me that you deserve even a modicum of respect, and I shall not interfere. Impress me, mortal."


    <div>


    Cal smiled and spoke. "Artie, activate the Sword. Display at my location."


    <div>


    In front of Cal, a screen of pure psionic energy appeared, showing The Jix home world and the star that had birthed Ix''Grom. Cal spoke as the Sworb came into view. "We realized quite quickly when fighting the flare entities in our galaxy that your power is directly tied to the visible and non-visible light emitted from the star that births you. As you absorb others of your kind, you gain an increased efficiency in utilizing the light from other stars. As you are the only flare entity in this galaxy, you most likely have perfect energy usage from every star. So we came up with this to help bring flare entities down to our level."


    <div>


    Cal smirked; he did love seeing the pretend gods that were flare entities grow pale as she spoke. But he simply gestured to the display, and they all watched. The Sworb, upon achieving orbit, positioned itself between the planet and the star, and then it glowed bright white. It stopped being an orb, and as best as anyone could perceive, it became a two-dimensional white hole in the very fabric of reality. From this hole poured a stream of strange octopus-shaped machines. In a matter of moments, a wall of these machines formed a shell around the planet and extended their tentacles before a sudden pulse that made everyone on the planet shudder involuntarily.


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    <div>


    As the world''s populace panicked, a black sheen of energy contained by the machines spread to encapsulate the planet, plunging it into complete darkness, and light on the EMF spectrum could be seen being pulled into it. Visible wafts of energy began leaving Ix''Grom and floating up into the sky. Cal smiled as he suddenly pulsed with a light, unlike anything any of them had ever seen.


    <div>


    "We wondered how to block out all light from a star, but nature provided a solution. The one thing that you flare entities will never approach. A black hole. So we learned and mastered the art of manipulating black holes and made a way to completely coat a planet or any area in a nanometer-thick coating of a black hole. You are now one hundred percent isolated from the light and energy of the stars of reality. That is where I come in."


    <div>


    The part of Ix''Grom''s mind that had been screaming in warning earlier had shut down in panic, and the logical part was screaming at him to do something. But all he could do was watch as Cal closed his eyes and seemed to relax.


    <div>


    Nyla, who had, of anyone present, known Cal the longest other than Artie, quickly walked to Pinetil and her Mother, who had quietly slipped to stand behind Cal. "Can you feel it?" Nyla asked as quietly as she could.


    <div>


    Without speaking, Pinetil and her Mother, both with wide eyes, nodded. At that moment, the three of them felt a bubble of psionic energy form over them, and then Cal began to radiate energy. The remaining priests were compressed into a fine mist in moments. And Ix''Grom was driven to his knees. Cal smiled as if he were on a Sunday stroll.


    <div>


    "I am the antithesis to everything you are Ix''Grom. So, have I impressed you yet?" Cal asked a look on his face that begged the flare entity to fight.


    <div>


    "You have. I will not interfere." Ix''Grom said hoarsely.


    <div>


    "Good!" Cal said, and with a sudden thought, the massive pressure was gone, "Artie, wrap it up and recall."


    <div>


    Moments later, light energy rushed back into Ix''Grom and flooded the planet again. Cal turned to Pinetil and her Mother. "Now then, Empress, please gather what you need, and if you need any of your attendants, we understand that even though you are a prisoner, you are entitled to certain concessions as the leader of a species."


    <div>


    After a flurry of activity that lasted twenty minutes, Cal, Nyla, Pinetil, and the Empress, along with a host of fifteen attendants, walked towards the gates of the palace.


    <div>


    Ix''Grom stopped them. "you know this is not the end, don''t you?"


    <div>


    Cal smiled and locked eyes with Ix''Grom, "I can''t wait."


    <div>


    Without any further ado, Cal led the strange ensemble back to his ship and began the jump process to go to Earth.

 PART 24

    <div>


    The jump back to Earth was rapid and silent. It only took roughly an hour, and for that entire hour, the former Empress of the Jix empire had been thinking one thing.


    <div>


    "He is a monster," Pinetil said, voicing the words reverberating through her mother''s mind. "What even was that power. How does a mere man have that kind of power contained inside him?"


    <div>


    The Empress sighed. "When I first talked with a rep from Earth, they hinted that if we proved to be good allies, they had methods for increasing psionic ability that they may be willing to trade. My guess would be that Cal is what you get when you have the entire human race backing your psionic development."


    <div>


    Nyla perked up and remembered something that Cal had said. "The Boyn."


    <div>


    "What was that?" Pinetil asked.


    <div>


    Nyla pulled the Boyn ball out of her pocket, but not a day had gone by since she met Cal, and she had not practiced with it. She tossed it to Pinetil.


    <div>


    "Cal told me that the Boyn were the people who developed these. He said that they made them in an effort to find another perfectly psionic species to help solve some sickness. Humanity was the only species that they encountered. Even though they were not perfectly psionic, humanity attempted to help the Boyn but failed."


    <div>


    Cal, who had walked in just then, nodded at Nyla and spoke up. "The gift they gave us in return was a library of psionic methods honed over thousands and thousands of years of evolution and practice. Empress Axshram, Princess, we have arrived; if you follow me, we will take you into full custody."


    <div>


    Pinetil and her mother nodded and simply followed behind. The members of the Axshram household who had been brought along followed in silence. Instead of leading them to a prison or some such thing, Cal led them down a path that was familiar to Nyla and judging from the confusion in her eyes, it was familiar to Pinetil as well.


    <div>


    The doors they were led through led to Tannya''s office, where a group of people waited. Tannya smiled, "Cal, Nyla, Pinetil. It is good to see you all again. Empress Axshram, it is good to meet you. If you had your household follow these people, they would have been getting a medical checkup while we talked."


    <div>


    The Empress nodded, and her household members were led out, leaving Cal, Nyla, Tannya, Pinetil, and the Empress alone. Tannya seemed to visibly relax. "I can feel the residual psy-waves on you, Cal. Did you have to kill Ix''Grom?"


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    <div>


    "No," Cal said and glanced at Pinetil and her mother, "Though I would like to make it a point to do so. He stated he was the last of his kind in his galaxy, so I think he absorbed all the others."


    <div>


    "Understood, we can discuss that later. For now," Tannya turned to the Empress, "Empress Axshram, what do you want?"


    <div>


    The Empress was stunned, "I don''t know what you mean? I am here as a prisoner."


    <div>


    Tannya sighed. "We have excelled for so long as a species for two reasons: our frankly abhorrent war abilities and our social skills."


    <div>


    "Okay?" The Empress sounded unsure of what was happening.


    <div>


    "While it would be simple to lock you up and send Cal back to wipe your planet from the face of this reality, it is not something I like doing," Tannya said, locking eyes with the Empress. Instead, I would like to use our social skills to resolve this issue. So I ask, what do you want? Do you want us to fake your death? Do you want us to help your people? What do you want?"


    <div>


    The Empress looked completely shocked. "You... You would... You could help my people?"


    <div>


    "Oh yes, if you want. We will be helping those who are enslaved no matter what. We are already looking into ways to undo the genetic tampering that was done to them and create artificial genetic diversity. We have already performed a survey and found suitable planets for each race. We intend to free them." Tannya said this with a confidence that was unshakable.


    <div>


    The Empress looked like she wanted to say something but then glanced at Cal and let out what felt like a long-held breath. "I would love nothing more than for you and your people to help my people. But they are complacent. They no longer think that Ix''Grom is worth resisting. Some, like my family, have been perpetually on the lookout for a weakness. But generations of looking resulted in nothing. Those who got any ideas were generally killed. I also think that telling my people they can no longer keep slaves will turn most, if not all, against you."


    <div>


    "Well, one issue at a time. Let''s talk it out," Tannya said, and for the next two hours, they did exactly that. Finally, Tannya took a deep breath: "Very well, I think that is workable. Start with Ix''Grom, and go from there. As far as the slaves, we will not abide it for long. But as you said, a show of force might be the persuasion your people need."


    <div>


    They all stood, and two guards showed up to take Pinetil and her mother to a suite of rooms where they would stay, leaving Cal, Nyla, and Tannya in the office.


    <div>


    "So what do you think, Cal?" Tannya asked, leaning back in her chair, contemplative on her face.


    <div>


    "I don''t know, I think that Pinetil is not that bad, and from the little bits of her mother I have seen, I see where she gets it," Cal said, then his face darkened. "But the rest of her people. I worry if they will ever see the light."


    <div>


    "Fair," Tannya said, then sighed, "Oh well, take a rest, Cal. Either here or back in Nyla''s world, but get ready. I think that we will probably see a reaction from the Jix sooner rather than later."


    <div>


    "And then what?" Nyla said, scared of what would happen to her people.


    <div>


    "Then Cal," Tannya said, a sad look on her face as she looked at Cal.


    <div>


    Nyla looked at Cal, too, and remembered the grin on his face as he glowed with power standing over Ix''Grom in the dark. She nodded sagely, "And then Cal."

 PART 25

    <div>


    The weeks that followed were tense. Nyla spent much of her time working with Tannya to establish cultural guidelines for interacting with her people. Cal had left to check on the clan hall roughly twenty hours ago and just returned.


    <div>


    "Hey Nyla." Cal said as he walked into the office she had been given to work in.


    <div>


    "Hello, Cal. How are things back home?" Nyla asked, a note of homesickness creeping into her voice.


    <div>


    "They are good. The clans are arguing over how they want to deal with our supposed absence, but I straightened them out," Cal said with a reassuring smile.


    <div>


    Nyla took a breath to continue the conversation, then glanced from the papers she had been writing on to Cal and sighed. "What''s the point." She mumbled under her breath.


    <div>


    "What was that?" Cal asked.


    <div>


    "I said, What is the damn point!" Nyla shouted in exasperation. "I am asking how things are going, but they really don''t matter, do they? Why should I be writing about how to deal with the affections of my people when there is a war looming over everyone. Pinetil has said as much; she and her mother are essentially preparing to be some kind of sacrificial lamb for Ix''Grom, and I am... I don''t even know, how am I helping? I''m not."


    <div>


    Cal chuckled at Nyla''s sudden expulsion of emotion. "You say that a war is looming, and maybe to many, it seems that way, but you were there. You saw that we have a way to deal with Ix''Grom. Why are you still worried?"


    <div>


    "Because you didn''t deal with him when you had the chance," Nyla said quietly before locking eyes with Cal. "You have the power; you had the opportunity; why not end him then and there."


    <div>


    "That is a good question," Cal said, taking a seat on the only other chair in the office. "I am a weapon. You know that. For all intents and purposes, I am a tool that humanity uses to remove obstacles. But at the same time, I am still a man. I have my own thoughts and my own code of conduct. I also recognize that I have some tendencies that push me into a mental diagnosis of some form of psychopathy or maybe some kind of sociopathy. It is what allows me to handle what my job is. I''m sure you have seen how I look when I finally disregard the rules and regulations. Because of this, I make a concerted effort to abide by my word. In that instance, I had not intoned that I would kill him. And I had already issued the ultimatum that if he obstructed me, I would attack."


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    <div>


    Nyla listened to all of this in silence as Cal confirmed some things she had suspected, especially after several conversations with Tannya. "So you were bound by rules from the government and by your own word?"


    <div>


    "Yep. It really is that simple." Cal said with a smile.


    <div>


    That smile used to turn her heart to butterflies, and to a certain extent, it still did, but she knew what was lurking behind that debonair smile. She had seen the cold, calculating machine of war that was Cal. She looked up at him. "Do you ever wish you were not the way you are?"


    <div>


    Cal sighed and slumped into his chair, "No. And I know that most people think I am rather fucked in the head for feeling that way, but I like my job. I like that I get to be a shield as well as a spear. I know you have feelings for me, and I am sorry if this is blunt, but I do not know if I will ever return your feelings. If that is not something you can deal with, I would highly recommend that you move on to someone else."


    <div>


    Cal stood and made as if to leave, then turned and locked eyes with Nyla. "Just know that no matter what you choose, I will always be your friend."


    <div>


    With that, Cal left, leaving Nyla alone in the office. Several hours later, Nyla was still thinking on what Cal had told her as she sat at a table with Tannya and Pinetil who Tannya was trying to groom as a potential leader for a new government among the Jix.


    <div>


    "Hello! Earth to Nyla! You okay?" Tannya asked, waving a hand in front of Nyla.


    <div>


    "What? I''m sorry, what did you ask?" Nyla asked, a little flustered.


    <div>


    "That is not important. What''s with you? Normally, you are quite attentive to our conversations. What has you frazzled?" Tannya asked.


    <div>


    Nyla hesitated then relayed the sum total of what she and Cal had discussed. "... and I don''t know how I feel about all that."


    <div>


    Tannya sighed heavily, and Nyla saw a confused look wash over Pinetil''s face. "Cal is a menace."


    <div>


    "What?!" Pinetil and Nyla said in unintentional unison.


    <div>


    Tannya chuckled. "Cal is a menace, but he is not wrong. In his mind, the emotions you both have for him are something he can ill afford. He has it in his head that he will be the last bearer of sin. He has said multiple times that he does not want anyone else to have to do this job. So he blocks any relationships that get further than he would like."


    <div>


    Pinetil glanced at Nyla before Tannya continued. "He is right, though. He is someone who faces emotions head-on and is not shy about telling people exactly what he is feeling. It is one of many reasons that he is an excellent warrior. And he is very bound by the rules. So, I would suggest the same as Cal. If you can not bear the thought of being in that kind of relationship, then find new prospective partners. Otherwise, I would be prepared to wait. Perhaps for a very long time."


    <div>


    Tannya yawned and stood. "I will leave you two to discuss what is on your mind."


    <div>


    Nyla and Pinetil sat in an awkward silence for a few moments before Pinetil spoke. "So what do you want to do?"


    <div>


    "I think that for right now, I will wait. I will see what happens between Cal and I," Nyla said very carefully.


    <div>


    "I think that is a good idea. For now, though, I will go to bed." Pinetil stood and left Nyla alone.


    <div>


    For no good reason, Nyla started crying.

 PART 26

    <div>


    The weeks that followed were a time of preparation. Messages with ever-increasing levels of hostility were received from the Jix, demanding their Empress and Princess back. Nyla, Cal, Pinetil, Empress Axshram, and a hodgepodge of people from the Earth government were sitting in a room watching the latest message from the Jix. The screen came to life with Ix''Grom standing at the forefront of a massive army.


    <div>


    "Humans, and more specifically the man who humiliated me, know that your time as a power in this reality has come to an end. You have slain your gods and taken the Empress of my faithful, so in an act of mercy, I will remove you and the scourge that you represent from creation. I will free those you have enslaved and show them the light of Ix''Grom. My priests will show them the true path to salvation filled with subservience and loyalty. I held back my power to amuse myself when last we faced. We will march on your world in three days'' time. Prepare yourself, even though your defense will be futile."


    <div>


    The screen went blank, and everyone was silent for a moment. Finally, Nyla broke the silence, "Why didn''t you just kill him when you had the chance?"


    <div>


    Cal let out an amused barking laugh, "Ha! Why indeed. Does anyone else care to answer?"


    <div>


    Cal gave looks to several people, and finally, a woman spoke up. "Humanity is not as homogenous as some people believe, especially when it comes to capital punishment and the existence of the Bearer of Sin. It is the fault of my faction, Cal, the monster he is, who was not permitted to wantonly slaughter Ix''Grom. Peace should always be given a chance, and I guess that it has failed here."


    <div>


    "As it has every time when it comes to Flare Entities. Why do you still insist on this foolishness if we had let Cal loose..." another man began berating the woman.


    <div>


    "Enough," Cal said calmly, and the room fell silent. Nyla noticed that many looked fearful whenever Cal looked at them. "As of now, The Jix and Ix''Grom have declared war. That makes our actions going forward my choice. So I will deal with it."


    <div>


    The woman who had said peace should be given a chance spoke up. "Bearer of Sin, I would like to lodge a formal complaint that..."


    <div>


    "Yes, yes, Urinalla, I have too much power, and I should not... Blah, Blah, Blah. I will register the complaint. In the hundreds of years we have known each other, I had hoped that you would mellow out about it, but whatever." Cal sounded exasperated.


    <div>


    "The rest of you, reach out, contact all the delegates you can, and make sure that they know what is happening. Ask all of them to provide any needed assistance to those who need it, and then contact the Shen. Ask them to provide border containment along the vectors that the Jix are going to use to enter the galaxy." Cal issued orders, and people jumped to complete them.


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    <div>


    Cal looked at his sister. "Tannya, we need a space lock on any back doors they might try to use. Please make it happen. I am going with Artie to the most likely point of entry and will face them there. You can funnel them to me if you want to. It will be fine either way."


    <div>


    Tannya nodded and left the room. Quickly, the room emptied as Cal issued more and more orders, until only Cal, Nyla, Pinetil, and her mother remained. Cal looked at all three of them, "You ladies have a choice. You are more than welcome to join me, or you can stay here. Either way, you should make a choice. I will be leaving before the day is over."


    <div>


    Cal left the room, and Empress Axshram followed without saying a word. Pinetil and Nyla looked at each other and nodded before following suit as well. They followed Cal to a door they had not been to before, and walking through the door, they found themselves on the bridge of a ship that displayed an image of the Earth.


    <div>


    "Where are we?" Nyla asked.


    <div>


    "Welcome aboard, ladies," Cal said, and the lights came on, revealing a bridge not dissimilar to the bridge of Cal''s usual ship. "This is the Earth Military Ship, Last Light."


    <div>


    As Cal sat in the captain''s seat, a number of screens of energy seemed to materialize, some showing graphs and others showing different views from all around the ship. Cal looked at several as he spoke, "Artie, are you uploaded and good to go?"


    <div>


    "Yes, Cal, I am ready." Artie''s voice came from all over the massive ship, making him sound larger than he had on Cal''s ship.


    <div>


    "Very well, everyone, grab a seat; we are moving since we are all here."


    <div>


    The three women grabbed a seat and were joined by two people who stepped onto the bridge in case moments before the ship began building that peculiar whine. When the whining peaked and then wound down, Cal stood and looked around at everyone, "Please make yourselves comfortable; we will be waiting here until contact with the Jix or until reports tell us where they come into the galaxy. Nyla, Pinetil, and Empress Axshram meet advisor Daren Tarkin and his son Killion Tarkin. They are, well, to be frank, they are my supposed leash, though they do not usually step on my toes."


    <div>


    The two men bowed and then left without saying a word. Cal went to stand next to the view screens, keeping an eye out for any early scouts. "There are rooms available, and Artie can make you all food. I will most likely be here, but I am open to talking if you want."


    <div>


    The three women followed the path indicated with a black line on the floor to the mess hall, where they all sat and had a cup of tea. Pinetil looked at her mother and asked one question, "Is it worth it to try and save our people?"


    <div>


    Nyla was shocked, but no less shocked than the Empress''s response made her.


    <div>


    Nyla watched as the two women seemed to have a silent argument as only a mother and daughter could. With a deep sigh, Empress Axshram seemed to slump, "I''m not sure, but I have to let him try, even if it means the death of our God and many of our people. I have to let him try."


    <div>


    <div>


    <div>


    <div>


    <div>

 PART 27 / 30

    From when they arrived at the point Cal suspected that the Jix would enter the galaxy to the time that the Jix actually arrived, Nyla seemed to stretch on forever. In reality, though, it was closer to seventy hours, according to the ship clock.


    Nyla breathed a sigh of relief when Cal''s voice called over the comms system so everyone could come to the bridge. She immediately felt guilty for a variety of reasons, but a part of her simply wanted this to be over.


    When Nyla stepped onto the bridge and took her seat, she only had to wait for a moment before Daren and Killion were the last ones to take their seats.


    Cal nodded to the advisor and his son before turning to address a virtual assembly of advocates and leadership visible on screens around him.


    "Ladies and Gentlemen, Stand by and witness the reason that the Bearer of Sin exists," Cal said, turning away.


    Cal opened his mouth to issue an order, but the room seemed to chill, and a younger woman on screen sighed in annoyance. Cal turned back to her, "Ambassador Ja''Nara, is something to your displeasure?"


    Nyla had to school her face into compliance because, unlike the Ambassador, she had caught the sheer annoyance in Cal''s voice. The woman, Ja''Nara, spoke with a tone that carried notes of someone used to being listened to.


    "I still do not understand why everyone seems to want to fight. All I ever hear from that sister of yours is, ''Let Cal deal with it'' or ''Well, we can always send Cal.'' It just seems like she intends to let her psychopathic brother kill to his heart''s content."


    "I see," Cal said with a smile, "and I understand. You and your supporters still want to try to negotiate with Jix. Even though they are led by and worship a Flare entity."


    "Yes, that is my purpose, to communicate. While I understand the circumstances of our first meeting and of their interactions with the Shen were, shall we say, less than optimal? I still wish we would have sent a diplomatic mission rather than the sham of a discussion that was had between you, the Jix, and whoever went with you." The Ambassador nearly snarled the words out.


    Cal was about to respond when Empress Axshram stood and spoke. "If I may, Cal?"


    Cal looked at her and shrugged, stepping aside and introducing her, "Ambassador Ja''Nara, may I present the Empress Axshram of the Jix."


    "Empress Axshram, it is an honor to..." Ja''Nara started but was silenced by a dismissive gesture from the Empress.The author''s narrative has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.


    "You seem to have a fundamental misunderstanding about my people. Yes, at this moment, I am placing a bet on Cal here that he can get rid of our god because that is what he is to us, a God. But at our core, at least now, my people are not kind. generations of making whatever choice we had to to survive under Ix''Grom''s rule has made us hard."


    "I understand, Empress Axshram, but surely you understand that all options should be explored before we resort to war, despite what Cal and his sister may think," Ja''Nara said, her voice unable to hide the disbelief that it held.


    "No, again, you misunderstand. If you and an entourage had arrived after our bout of fighting with the Shen, rather than Cal and the threat posed by Cal, you would be slaves." The blood seemed to fade from Ja''Nara''s face as she listened to the Empress.


    "My people wholeheartedly believe that we are chosen to rule over all others as complete masters. There is no room for niceties. We only respected the strength that was projected. We realized that in that moment, we could not beat you and enslave you. But if you had showed up with flowered words and tried to show us the error of our ways, we would have killed as many of your warriors as we could, enslaved the rest, and fought tooth and nail to control every single species in this galaxy, or kill them if they would not submit."


    "Does that answer your questions, Ambassador?" Cal asked, and the now pale woman nodded in silence. "Good. Now, as I was saying, you must bear witness to the rules and regulations put into place when the Bearer of Sin program was initiated. Do you all accept your duty here?"


    A round of confirmations came through, and just then, Artie interjected. "Cal, I am detecting local space disturbances. Prepare for contact."


    Cal ignored everyone then, focusing on the visuals that Artie was displaying on a monitor. Nyla watched him, and she felt herself grow fearful at what she was seeing. As he focused more and more on the screen, the shell of Cal fell away to reveal the brutal machine of war that is the Bearer of Sin. Every movement and every look seemed filled with cold, calculated intensity that could and would kill you. The room grew silent as everyone present began to pick up on Cal''s subtle shift in attitude.


    Finally, a rift appeared and divulged an armada of ships, with one massive one leading the way. Cal immediately tapped a button to hail the lead ship. "Jix forces, you are trespassing in this galaxy. This is your first and final warning. Leave now, renounce your Flare Entity, and you shall be spared. Failure to do so will result in the destruction of your fleet and the forfeiture of your lives."


    Moments passed, and looks were traded between Pinetil and her mother. Finally, a video transmission popped up. On the screen, Ix''Grom stood, "Ah, if it isn''t the lucky human. Bend the knee, Cal and I will not kill you immediately. I have decreed a holy crusade into this galaxy. My people will spread the one true way and the name of their only god, me, Ix''Grom. So what do you have to say, Cal?"


    The look on Ix''Grom''s face was one of someone who was completely used to getting everything that they demanded. The smile on Cal''s face was of a man who loved to slap that look off of people. Cal locked eyes with Ix''Grom. "Artie, deploy the Swarms and isolate the lead ship. Capture as many as you can, and kill the rest. I will deal with Ix''Grom."


    [Ix''Grom]


    Ix''Grom dismissed the communications screen, terminating the broadcast, and began issuing his own orders. As much as he boasted and pushed the Jix onward, a part of him screamed in fear. He remembered the smile that Cal held as he made Ix''Grom kneel in fear.

 PART 28 / 30

    <div>


    [Cal]


    <div>


    The time was now, and Cal knew it. He craved these times. Times when he didn''t have to pretend to be something else. Times when he did not have to deal with the emotions that others found so important but he found so useless. He paused as he strolled to the combat bays of the ship. Nyla was following behind him.


    <div>


    "Nyla," Cal said, "I need to warn you."


    <div>


    "About what?" She asked.


    <div>


    "I am not..." He searched for the most apt word, "I am not normal. A human psychologist would say that I lack empathy to a certain degree and that violence comes easily to me. I just want you to know that..."


    <div>


    "I know," Nyla said with a smile, "I have seen it come out a couple times. It changes nothing for me."


    <div>


    Cal paused for a moment. He knew that he had let his proverbial mask slip a couple of times, but he was somewhat surprised at Nyla''s response. "It really doesn''t?"


    <div>


    "Nope, and I know that Pinetil has expressed some feelings to you as well."


    <div>


    "Very Well. I will prepare, if you would return to sit with Pinetil and her mother it would be appreciated." Cal said and Nyla offered no resistance, turning to walk back the way they came. Cal banished all thoughts other than the thoughts of battle. His mind falling into an almost trancelike state.


    <div>


    [Ix''Grom]


    Ix''Grom was ready. He knew that the starlight blocking technology was what he needed to prevent being deployed. As he thought this a Jix Priest stepped forward. "The new drone systems have been activated and are deploying. It appears that the heretics are following suit."


    <div>


    Ix''Grom could feel the human ship divulging a number of drones that should not fit in their hangars. He nodded with confidence, "Yes, prepare a boarding party and initiate the attack."


    <div>


    Suddenly, every Jix and their slaves froze. Ix''Grom heard a voice he immediately recognized.


    <div>


    "Why don''t you and I settle this," Cal said using his psionic abilities, "Afterall, you are a god are you not. Defeating a mere mortal such as myself should be no issue."


    <div>


    Ix''Grom roared through the mental link that Cal had established and began clashing against Cal''s will.


    <div>


    [Nyla]


    Nyla watched the drones that were on screen. The Jix were fielding drones that seemed almost childish compared to the brutal machines that the humans were deploying. She was sure that there should have been other things happening.


    <div>


    "Artie," Nyla said quietly, "if you are not busy, why is there not something more..."The narrative has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.


    <div>


    Nyla struggled to search for the words she wanted, but Artie understood. "I am not busy, and the answer that you are looking for is Cal. He has isolated the Jix and their slaves and is essentially holding Ix''Grom in place with only his psionic abilities."


    <div>


    "Interesting," Nyla thoguht for a moment, "Artie can Cal get Ix''Grom out of his ship. Then maybe Pinetil and I can get the ship with the disabled Jix out of here."


    <div>


    "Stand by," Artie said, going silent for several minutes. "Cal says that he will attempt to pull Ix''Grom into direct combat. You should get Pinetil and her mother to the ship. In a moment, Cal will render all the Jix and their slaves unconscious."


    <div>


    [Cal and Ix''Grom]


    As Ix''Grom struggled against the insane power that Cal was bringing to bear against him. A sudden pulse from Cal rendered all of his priests, slaves, and every other person on his ship unconscious.


    <div>


    "Can''t risk keeping up that level of power expenditure, can you, silly human." Ix''Grom sneered.


    <div>


    "Something like that," Cal said noncommittally.


    <div>


    "Even in a battle you choose, you rely on what are essentially parlor tricks. In a fair fight, you would not last a moment before submitting or dying."


    <div>


    "Care to put that to the test, Ix''Grom?" Cal asked.


    <div>


    "Of course. I am a god; no mortal can beat me!" Ix''Grom shouted, despite his gut churning at the idea of facing the human again.


    <div>


    "Alright, well then lets settle this once and for all. Ill be out in a moment." Cal said breaking the telepathic connection. Ix''Grom felt a wave of power wash over the battle field an all the Jix drones were crushed flat. The human drones turned and returned to the ship.


    <div>


    Ix''Grom was terrified, but he knew that this was his only option. As long as he could prevent the deployment of the strange blackhole tech that the humans seemed to have, then he should be able to come out ahead.


    <div>


    A few moments later, Ix''Grom and Cal faced off in the vacuum of space.


    <div>


    [Nyla, Pinetil, Empress Axshram]


    <div>


    "Okay, it looks like Cal is distracting him," Nyla said, and Pinetil began piloting the simple shuttle that Artie had guided them to.


    <div>


    "Why did you come to help us?" Pinetil asked.


    <div>


    Nyla chuckled, "you know, you would think that after the several months that we have spent together you would know that this is just the way I do things. Besides, you are my friend Pinetil, I think that I should help you, even though I know that you may not like me at all."


    <div>


    [Cal and Ix''Grom]


    <div>


    The psionic energies that are pulsing and thrashing reality between Cal and Ix''Grom are astounding. Both of them seem at ease. Out of the corner of his eye, Ix''Grom catches sight of a shuttle.


    <div>


    "Ah, do we have interlopers. Can''t have that." He starts sending threads of willpower out to thrash at the shuttle, and Cal shuts them down.


    <div>


    "Welp, guess you want the full effect then," Cal said, signaling Artie to deploy the Sworb.


    <div>


    The Sworb comes flying out of a hold in the human ship, and Ix''Grom grimaces at it. With a muttered curse, Ix''Grom redoubles his efforts, lashing out at all three targets in front of him. "The stars in this galaxy have no masters, so they strengthen me. I will use this strength to crush you and your entire race."


    <div>


    Cal smiles and plays defense, putting himself between Ix''Grom and the shuttle. Artie pilots the Sworb to be in between Cal and the shuttle as well. "I think that you might be underestimating me Ix''Grom."


    <div>


    At that moment, Ix''Grom does something that feels like a bomb being set off in the psionic plane. He channels all of the resulting energy into a strike directed at the shuttle, and Cal bodily gets in front of it.


    <div>


    In the shuttle, Nyla draws in a panicked breath as Cal''s head snaps back. In the shuttle and in the strangely altered pocket of space outside, complete silence reigns until Cal begins to pull his head back down to stare at Ix''Grom.


    <div>


    Cal''s next words, devoid of emotion, frighten Ix''Grom: "My turn."

 PART 29

    <div>


    Ix''Grom was befuddled. "How is he doing this! He is a mortal! How?!


    <div>


    Where before, there had been a man who was challenging him, Ix''Grom now faced a machine. A machine that seemed to exist solely to try new ways of killing him.


    <div>


    "I have to admit that you are persistent." Ix''Grom said as Cal ripped a chunk out of his side, "What must your friends think of a monster like you?"


    <div>


    "They will think what they must." Cal said with a monotone voice that betrayed nothing. "I am not meant to have friends. I am a weapon. I am the bearer of Sin. I will bear what others can not, and I will do so for all time."


    <div>


    Cal rips out another chunk of Ix''Grom''s flesh, and as fast as he tears out chunks, Ix''Grom regenerates. Ix''Grom laughs out loud, "You think that this will kill me. I will wait until you tire, then I will kill you, and then I will enslave your people and kill anyone you ever held dear."


    <div>


    "Fine," Cal said, taking a moment, moving back from Ix''Grom, "I guess I should get serious."


    <div>


    Ix''Grom watches as Cal closes his eyes, and his whole being begins to glow with a pale blue light. With a deep breath, Cal opens his eyes, which also emit this strange, ominous blue light, and launches another attack at Ix''Grom.


    <div>


    Ix''Grom smiles as he plans to carry on as he has until he notices his regeneration performing slower than it should. Ix''Grom pours his willpower and energy into regeneration, and for a moment it returns to a point that it should. But then it begins to falter once more.


    <div>


    "No!" Ix''Grom says as he beings to loose ground against Cal, "What are you doing?!"


    <div>


    "Black holes absorb light," Cal said, without breaking stride and slamming his palm into Ix''Grom''s sternum, cracking ribs, "but they also emit light, or more accurately, radiation. I don''t actually understand the full science behind it, but my people call it Hawking radiation. It is something that I can mimic with my psionic abilities. I will tear you apart piece by piece, and the radiation will destroy you on a molecular level. Enjoy it, Ix''Grom."


    <div>


    [Nyla, Pinetil, & Empress Axshram]The author''s tale has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.


    <div>


    "What in the name of the Gods..." Nyla says, wondering what she is watching Cal fight.


    <div>


    "Whatever he is doing, the ship''s radiation alarms does not like." The empress says, and as she finished a claxon sounds, and radiation shielding descends over all observations ports.


    <div>


    Pinetil moves to the Comms station and contacts Artie. "Artie, what the hell is going on?"


    <div>


    "I am glad to hear you all are alive," Artie says, "And to answer your question, Cal is sacrificing his body to destroy Ix''Grom''s."


    <div>


    "What?!" Nyla and Pinetil say in unison.


    <div>


    "Cal is replicating a form of radiation with his abilities. He will win, but he will be sick for a while after this."


    <div>


    "Artie," Nyla said, "Please keep us appraised of Cal''s status if you would."


    <div>


    "Of course, Nyla," Artie said, breaking the contact.


    <div>


    [1 hour later, Cal]


    <div>


    Cal was struggling. He knew he would win, but this method was not one that he would look to repeat in the future.


    <div>


    "I will give you anything you want," Ix''Grom said, his head and upper chest the only parts of him that he is able to regenerate.


    <div>


    "I think that what I want is for you to die," Cal said, "I have been called many things, but merciful was never one of them."


    <div>


    "Please!" Ix''Grom said with desperation.


    <div>


    Cal ignored him placing a hand on either side of the floating head. "Good bye Ix''Grom. And good riddance."


    <div>


    Ix''Grom screamed, and Cal forced his hands together, crushing what remained of the false god. He makes his way to where Nyla, Pinetil, and her mother wait onboard the Jix ship.


    <div>


    [Cal, Nyla, Pinetil, Empress Axshram]


    <div>


    "Welcome back, Cal," Pinetil said with a smile and a nod.


    <div>


    "Glad to be back," Cal said, almost bowled over by Nyla, as she gave him a hug.


    <div>


    "Why would you harm yourself like that!" Nyla demanded.


    <div>


    "I will give you answers later, but I am going to be a little useless in a bit, and I want to figure out the plan," Cal said, feeling the psionic backlash from what he had done already starting to affect him.


    <div>


    Pinetil and her mother looked at each other before Pinetil spoke up, "Well, considering that this flagship probably has the most fanatical of Ix''Grom''s followers on it, we will fly it to Earth for your people to deal with."


    <div>


    "Then," The empress said stepping forward, "I would like permission to return home with my daughter to attempt to right some ancient wrongs, and change the path of my people."


    <div>


    Cal nods, "I am fine with that, but you will have to work it out with my people."


    <div>


    "And what about me?" Nyla asked.


    <div>


    Cal shrugged, "We still have a clan hall to run and need to elevate your people, which could take years."


    <div>


    Nyla nodded. The next hour, Cal gave reports and appeased different groups and their expectations of him. Finally, Cal and Nyla bid Pinetil and the Empress farewell before getting into their own ship, telling Artie to take them back to Nyla''s world.


    <div>


    Nyla looked over to see Cal pass out as the strange pain in her head built for the jump from Earth to her world.