“Hi, I’m Cal. I assume you’re either the man, sorry squirrel in charge, or the squirrel that reports to him,” Cal said through the gate. There was a single taller squirrel than what he had seen in the grove standing on the other side and another thirty or so squirrels closer in size to what he had already fought.
“I represent the great leader in all his endeavors. You may address me as though I was him for the remainder of your life.” The bigger one spoke slowly and deliberately as it made its threats.
“Wait, how come I can understand the bigger squirrels? Is it the mana mutation?” Cal yelled back to the party, both genuinely curious but also trying to annoy the creature that threatened him.
“Probably. I told ya I wasn’t an expert here,” Onelder called back.
“Yeah, that’s kind of what I figured,” Cal called back before speaking through the gate again. “Honestly, big guy, the direct threats to murder me are refreshing. It’s not going to happen, well, probably not. Okay, it won’t happen twice. So how about instead of a fight to the death, we just overthrow your oppressive leader, and everyone gets to live in harmony?”
“What if I instead feed you your own tongue.” The squirrel asked.
“I just want everyone to remember that, for the record, I tried to talk through this,” Cal said before opening the gate. “Alright, get in here, let’s fight. But and a very big but, when I win this, I want you to take me back to the thing you are taking orders from. I want to take care of this before it becomes a bigger problem.”
The squirrel’s response was to punch Cal in the face with enough force to knock him back two steps.
“Ouch!” Cal yelled in surprise. He followed up his cry of pain by launching the squirrel into the air from a quickly raised stone slab. While it was airborne, he blasted it twice with lightning bolts and then let it crash to the ground.
“Is it still alive?” Ethel asked from a distance.
“Yeah, my attack was a lot more showy than murderous, but I bet it hurt like hell. I’m pretty sure he broke my nose, and I really hate broken noses.” Cal whined a bit as he walked over to where the squirrel lay, face down in the dirt. He kicked it gently in order to roll it over so he could speak to them face to face.
The squirrel was panting loudly, clearly in pain. Cal ignored this as he spoke. “Okay, starting over. Hi, I’m Cal. What’s your name?” He asked. His eyes gave away much more anger than his voice did.
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“Third Smasher.” It answered through several more grunts of pain.
“Does that mean there are two more above you? Actually, don’t answer. As you just saw, we are in a very different category when it comes to power compared to the rest of you. So here’s what’s going to happen. One of my friends is going to treat your injuries enough to get you on your feet, and you are going to take me and two of my friends to your boss. The rest of your flunkies are going to stay here and help to fix the damage that was caused by the occupation of these innocent squirrel’s grove. Understood?” Cal stared down into its eyes, watching for any signs of aggression.
“I understand.” The monstrous squirrel answered as it climbed to its feet. It then whistled, causing the rest of the squirrels to file in slowly. “Don’t look at me like that. You all saw what happened. If you wish to fight him yourselves, be my guest. Otherwise, do the smart thing. He said to help the squirrels rebuild while we go on a nice trip, the great leader. So just do it. Where is this healer you spoke of? Standing isn’t exactly easy, thanks to whatever you hit me with me.” The squirrel turned back to Cal as he asked.
“Oh yeah, come with me. I suppose we can get some of you fixed up.” Cal led the squirrel to Ethel and explained what was going on.
“Fine, I’ll get him back into walking condition, but which two of us are you expecting to come with you?” Ethel asked after the brief explanation.
“You, and hopefully Tiffany. We may need his translation skills. Otherwise, I’d just ask you.” Cal answered.
“You can try, but I get the feeling the crab, despite his size, is somewhat of a giant coward. He’s over by the shore if you want to invite him while I get this thing back into walking strength.” Ethel pointed to one of the small ponds in the grove.
“Thanks. Hey, Dad, Jen, can you start directing the rest of these squirrels on how best to help the rebuilding efforts?” Cal asked before going to find Tiffany.
“Yep, got it,” Stan said.
Cal found Tiffany relaxing just below the water’s surface. He waved his hand until the crab understood his signal and surfaced. “Is there something I can help you with, Cal?” He asked once his head emerged.
“So I’ve got the leader of this war party willing to take myself and Ethel to their leader. I was hoping you’d join us in case we need any help with some of the harder translations.” He asked.
“I would rather not, but I suppose I’ve found myself embroiled in a new age of magic, heroics, and swordplay. Considering I never expected to live this long, maybe it’s best I decided to accompany you. After all I did help with Excalibur finding their new bearer.” Tiffany sounded incredibly unsure of themselves as they spoke.
“Look, I’m not saying you have to, but it would be really helpful if you could. All the help we can get on this insane adventure we’re entangled in is always welcome.” Cal said, trying his best not to sound like he was pressuring the crab.
“I suppose the knights would come without a second thought and I do very much miss them, so I will join you.” Tiffany rapidly blinked his eyes as he said this.