Nimr was led out by the two elders, followed by the others who had been in the house. Maidens went before them adorned with flowers, scattering petals over and before Nimr and the procession. The rest of the villagers lined the path to the green.
He was led to the centre of the table and sat at the head. Villagers had constructed a gazebo over his seat to protect him from the sun. Sharnak spoke, “We now welcome and honour this hero for the rescue of the child Leth.” He began to clap and cheer, the others did also. Food was brought in and they sat down to eat.
Nimr looked magnificent riding upon a horse, two leopards in his entourage. Good hunters flocked to him. The elders were weaklings so he therefore needed to be in charge. He was a mighty hunter, he should lead the people. There were not enough men from the surrounding villages who agreed that he should be their leader. His rhetoric was not good enough to convince all the villages that he should lead them so he took his young men, his hunters, into the wilderness and the mountains to show them hardship and train them in the arts of war. They became tough and brutal, good at spear and bow, disciplined and willing to follow their leader into any venture he suggested.
The closest village to his was Clem’s. His men went into the village and rounded up the adult males. When Nimr entered the village he gave them all an ultimatum. “Become my subjects, or you shall be put to death.”
The men of the village looked to Clem and his two sons. Clem stood firm and spoke up to Nimr, “Me and my sons shall never submit to an upstart who threatens murder and promises servitude.”
Nimr looked at the soldier closest to Clem and nodded. The soldier raised his spear and brought it down into Clem’s heart. His sons leapt forward too late to stop it, they too were speared to death. The rest of the male villagers knelt in submission. This is how Nimr became the ruler of the valley, usurping the natural leadership of village elders. Some of the men he took to be his soldiers, others he made to work in his fields to provide food for his growing army and to build his city and the walls around it. He gathered those from the surrounding villages into this city either by war or promising them that they would be safe from the wild creatures.