Jack felt his arm being shaken once again. He pulled his arm away. His mind was foggy. There'd been something important he was doing just a moment ago... Something to do with Angela... Then the incessant shaking of his arm returned, and he opened his eyes. "Wha..?"

As the images faded, S'haar's face came into focus. "I'm sorry, I'd let you sleep longer, but they found B'arthon. He wants to speak with you."

Jack sat up, trying to process what S'haar had said while trying to remember what he'd been doing just a moment ago. It had been important, but... Then it dawned on him. He'd been asleep. Whatever it was he was struggling so hard to remember was a dream, nothing more. He shook his head to try and clear it, only to regret it when the world started to spin. "How long...was I..?"

S'haar sighed. "A little over half a day, though after what you pulled, you'll probably need twice that. However, B'arthon insists on speaking with you."

Jack frowned as he tried to drag the rest of his mind into some semblance of wakefulness. "Why me? Between you and the chiefs, I'm pretty low on the chain of command. It's not like I can do anything for him."

S'haar shook her head. "I don't know, but he's being insistent. Honestly, I'm half tempted to just turn him over to the chiefs right now, but I figured you'd be happier if you heard what he had to say before he is executed."

Those words finally woke Jack up the rest of the way. "Yeah, I guess there's no way around that, is there? Not that I'm claiming he deserves mercy, but still..."

S'haar shook her head. "No, with the number of people dead or missing, the hill people are out for blood. All I did was grant him a temporary stay so you could hear whatever he had to say. After that, He's theirs."

Jack shrugged. Given everything that'd happened, he had to admit the noble had kind of dug his own grave. Honestly, given...everything, Jack didn't know why he wasn't out for blood himself. Maybe he was just tired of all the death. Since he'd crashed on this planet, it had been one emergency after another, and he just wished he could go disappear into a hut somewhere and shut out the universe for a few years. The last time he'd felt like this was... Well, that didn't matter right now.

Rubbing his eyes, Jack finally nodded. "Alright. I'll go speak to B'arthon. I'll need a translator, though. I'm assuming that'll be you?"

S'haar's scowl made her thoughts about B'arthon clear. "I wouldn't let you within a hundred paces of that wolgen without someone at least as competent as me by your side!"

Jack actually chuckled at the protective tone in her voice. "Well, given your resume, that's a pretty short list, isn't it?"

S'haar frowned in confusion. "What's that word? Resoomeh? It didn't translate..."

This time it was Jack's turn to frown, though it didn't take him long to figure out the problem. Without Angela listening in and actively updating the translator, it wouldn't be able to translate any new words or terms. Of course, it was still a miracle it functioned as well as it did now that she was... but every untranslated word would be another reminder that she was no longer here... Of why she was no longer here...

Jack shook his head again. However he was feeling, he had a job to do. "Alright. Let's go get this over with."

-

Finally, the human walked in. B'arthon hadn't been sure if they'd kept him waiting intentionally, but Jack seemed even more sickly than usual. S'haar held him by the arm as he settled into his seat, as if the human was some infirm elder needing assistance for even basic functions. This was the person who dismantled his unstoppable army? However, as the room seemed to spin under B'arthon's seat, the noble was reminded he wasn't in any better condition.

Gripping his seat, B'arthon closed his eyes momentarily and waited for the sensation to pass. When he opened his eyes again, he saw the small human gazing at him with piercing blue eyes. The noble remembered the first time he'd seen those eyes. They'd seemed furtive and frightened like some sort of prey animal to be dismissed. Of course, now that the noble's life work was in tatters, it was evident there was more to the mind behind those eyes than was immediately apparent.

Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.

Finally, the human spoke. Of course, the words were gibberish, but soon enough, S'haar began translating. "You wanted to see me?"

B'arthon nodded. "Yes, I suppose I wanted to get one last look at the person taking over my empire. I want to hear what you've got planned."

Jack tilted his head a bit as if confused, then, after a moment, he answered. "What makes you think I'll be taking over? I'm no noble. I have no title. I didn't even lead our alliance into battle against you. That was S'haar. All I did, all I ever did, was advise a little here and there."

B'arthon barked out a derisive laugh. "All you did was 'advise?' Please, do you take me for a fool? Who's design were those ranged weapons of yours? Who devised the plan that outflanked my first army, then escaped right from under the nose of my second? Who's strategy resulted in an army of over two thousand seasoned warriors being surrounded and defeated by a thrown-together alliance of workers and tribes numbering less than half our number?"

B'arthon spat on the ground to clear some blood and bile from his mouth before continuing. "Don't get me wrong, S'haar is a great warrior. She rivals her father's skill with the blade and has a natural ability to command respect and get argu'n to follow her into battle. But if it had just been her leading that army, we would have run you over like a kovaack charging through a herd of churlish. She may have led in name, but you defeated us. She may continue to lead in the eyes of our people, but it'll be you who determines the path of our future."

Jack simply shook his head. "I think you misunderstand. If I had been here without S'haar, you would have run us over just as quickly because I would have never gotten anyone to listen to a thing I said, and I'm not talking about needing a translator. We've both got strengths and weaknesses. It's only together that we stood a chance at survival. We're a package deal. But all that is aside from the point. As I said, we were only fighting for survival because you backed us into a corner. I don't think either of us has any interest in ruling anyone or anything."

B'arthon shook his head in frustration. "That's more or less what I thought you'd say. That's why I insisted on speaking with you now. You don't get it. You might not need or want to rule anyone, but they need you. My father and I tore apart the valley's way of life and restructured them into an entirely new society, and it can't be turned back quickly or easily. Maybe if it had stood for a while longer and everyone had a chance to see how it would work and how it could benefit everyone, any other noble could step in and run things effectively enough until someone with proper brains seized control again, but right now if they are left in the current power vacuum most of the villages in that valley won't survive the winter. The death count will make that historic battle of ours look like an afterthought in comparison. Even if you don't want to rule, someone must take charge to lead our people through the winter. Whether you plan to continue or dismantle the empire, it'll take someone with a keen mind and the ability to adapt on the fly to hold everything together long enough for the storm to pass. Trust me, there's not one noble in the lot capable of doing anything even remotely that ambitious. Either you take the lead, or everyone dies. If you were more like De'haar or Dek'thul, maybe you could walk away and let that happen, but I don't think you can. I think you are too noble and sentimental to allow that many people suffer while you have the skill and knowledge to save them. In fact, I'm betting my life's work on it."

Jack sat back in thought. B'arthon's little speech had certainly had an effect, and the noble could see that seemingly innocent mind working as the human processed everything B'arthon had said. Finally, the human spoke again. "Maybe there's something to what you are saying, but you're still forgetting something. As smart as you think I am, I still couldn't get anyone to follow me into battle against a wet paper bag, let alone allow me to lead a country. You need someone who can command respect. Someone people will listen to without having to provide a ten-minute explanation behind every little idea they try to bring up. You need someone who can lead, and that's not me.

B'arthon grinned. He might not have been much of a hunter, but his quarry was cornered now, and it was time to go in for the kill. "Well, good thing you have someone with you whose strengths you were extolling a moment ago happen to fit that demand exactly. I believe you called yourselves a 'package deal.'"

This time it was S'haar who frowned, speaking on her own behalf. "And what makes you think I'm willing to take charge of anything? I've always disliked authority, and I don't think I'll like it any better just because it's me giving orders!"

B'arthon looked the female in the eyes and smirked. "Simple, really. You'll do it because it needs to be done, and anyone else will only serve their self-interests and destroy many lives. It would infuriate you knowing you had a chance to prevent that, and you threw it away. You'll do it because otherwise, someone like me, but less competent, will take power."

This time Jack answered again. "You're forgetting something else. We couldn't 'take power' even if we wanted to. Power has to be given voluntarily or taken by force. No one is likely to do the former, and we have neither the ability nor the desire to do the latter."

B'arthon's grin began to widen before he doubled over as a new wave of pain and nausea hit him. It didn't matter, though. He only had to keep it together a little longer. After a moment of shallow breathing to regain control, the noble sat up and grinned again. "Luckily for us all, I happen to know someone in power who can solve that issue immediately. Call forth my remaining warriors. I would like to address them one last time."