To Lead And To Learn

Shirley

The next day one of the conventional teachers comes to the squads housing when I'm visiting them, trying to find out what they are best at. He immediately starts yelling. 'All in line!'

I instantly have my bow and arrow in hand. 'This is my squad and you should ask me to have them do something.'

The Orks both look at me with a glimmer of admiration. Meanwhile the teacher walks over to me. He is a tall Elf and somewhat intimidating. 'You still have to listen to me, Wing Leader in training. If I give an order you follow that order.'

I draw my bow before he gets to close. 'I'm also the one trained by your council member and the Mage of the council so don't think I'm afraid to let my arrow fly.'

The Elf stops in his tracks. 'So... you are a defiant one. Very well. In that case, you lead your squad. But if it goes wrong, you are responsible. Now you bring them outside for flying lessons if you please.'

I turn to them. 'Please grab your saddles and call your dragons outside. I would like to get this over with so we aren't being yelled at any more.'

The Elven girl giggles softly while the big human just looks away while sighing. Then I turn to the tall Elf. 'You can get things done without yelling. Now if you will excuse me, I've got to find my own dragon and saddle him up.'

As I walk past him he gives me a look that tells me he hates me. I go straight back to my room where I saddle up Rashter and tell him shortly what happens, using images in my mind to support it. He grumbles. 'I already hate that guy, but have to warn you to. Don't push your luck with the teachers. You need them even if you don't like to admit it.'

I sigh. 'Yeah I need them. But that doesn't mean they can disrespect me or my squad.'

He nods. 'I'm glad you take responsibility over them. But still do keep in mind that they are not you. Protect them to much and they will become unruly.'

After some fiddling with the saddle I'm finally ready to get in it. With some trouble I get in the saddle and let Rashter fly us to the others. I see the teacher stand next to a vibrant green dragon of about average size. However as Rashter starts moving in for the landing even that dragon follows the example of the dragons and people of my squad to stand back. Rashter is by far the largest dragon here, being larger than Celeste and rivaling the leader. As I unbuckle my legs and slide down the tall Elf looks at Rashter with open mouth. 'A... Wild Dragon... you are bound to a Wild Dragon...'

Rashter chuckles. 'Former Wild Dragon. I will fly with someone on my back, but only if it is Shirley.'

The Elf steps backwards. 'All right... now, miss Shirley, tell your squad you'll be practicing formation flying and to follow your dragons lead...'

I climb back into his saddle and prepare to take off as the Elf stops me. 'I want to see three formations. One is the travel V formation. Second is the straight in line formation, third the combat wing formation with you central. Whoever flies right side behind you in the first formation is your right hand from now on, same with the left side and left hand. Chose well.'

I look around the group. I really think the Ork male would make a good right hand but I'm afraid he would think with his axe to much. I cannot pick the Elf though as she is an archer like me. She would be better off at the back of the pack to support instead of at the front. The brute I would probably like in another wing than mine so he definitely not... 'Noruk, you will be flying on my right behind me. Oruk behind you and miss Elf behind Oruk. Miss Ork, you will be on my left behind me with mister Ork behind you. That leaves one place for the last person.'

Noruk nods quickly and mounts his dragon quite enthusiastically. His brother gives him a quick pat on the shoulder before he does that and follows his example. The Elf seems disappointed, same as the brute. The female Ork lets out a war cry as she climbs on her dragon, a somewhat bulky brown one. Then the male Ork walks over. 'Why didn't you let us fight for leadership as it should be?'

I turn to him. 'I know none of you, nor do I know what you are strong in or weak at. Fighting is but one aspect of our life. My right hand, as my left hand, must be able to keep a cool mind under pressure, not draw an axe and charge in. I don't doubt your loyalty, nor that of anyone else here, but from what I've seen your fellow Ork is just more capable. The Elf is also not an option as she is an archer and not strong at the head of the pack.'

He grumbles. 'I would like it if you reconsidered your choices, Wing Leader. There are better options than what you chose.'

I give him a stern look. 'Maybe. That is up to you and the others to proof. Maybe the Elf now picks up sword fighting and excels at it, meaning she is better at the front of the pack, or maybe misses over there fashions a bow that survives more than one shot with her incredible strength and is better off at the back. We'll see later on if I have to change the flying order once I know who is best at what position. Now mount up so we can train.'

Rashter jumps into the sky as soon as I'm buckled in. The others follow though at first it is a mess, until I hold my arms in a V. Behind me the dragons find their places though with some hesitation. Two arms outstretched. They start falling back into a straight line behind me. Well straight... it goes all over the shop. I have to suppress the urge to yell as I know it is Noruk behind me and he already tries his best. Finally a line starts to form. When it finally is formed I hold my left arm horizontally with my fist balled against my right elbow, which is aimed upwards. Combat formation.

Noruk moves his dragon to right in front of me, just like the female Ork does on the left. Then Oruk moves in to the right of Noruk, just behind the wing of his brothers dragon, and the brute moves in to the left behind Oruk. On my left I see it all go wrong. Where the Elf finds her position instantly the male Ork tries to overtake the female Ork. As a response she bellows a war cry to him as if to scare him back but he seems to want nothing to do with it. Just as they are about to clash I put my left hand on my staff on my back and form a fireball with my right, which I fling towards them. It misses them both but the message is delivered. I then point to an empty field and lead the squad down.

Once landed I get off of Rashter and walk towards the male Ork who also got off of his dragon. I start yelling at him, venting my fury at him. 'What the hell is wrong with you? You could have gotten both of you killed with your stupidity, not to mention all the others! Did your parents drop you on your head when you were a kid for you to act this stupid?'

He stands up straight. 'You, human, don't command me. You have my respect, as has she, but I don't take your orders. You haven't proven yourself.'

I put a hand on my knife. 'You better start taking my orders or I'll find someone who will. I'm your Wing Leader and you are to listen to me. Your stupidity happens in your own time, not during training or battle. Next time you may find I don't mis with a fireball. Now get on your dragon.'

Surprisingly he obeys as I turn around and walk back to Rashter.

In the evening I'm sitting at my desk in my room. In front of me I got a schematic of seven circles in a V, each with lines next to them. I have to draw up a flight schedule to get this ruckus over with but I just cannot get a good one thought out. Every pattern I think off will cause its own problems. That is when I hear a relatively hard knock on my door. I put my hand on my knife as I answer. 'Come in.'

The Ork female enters and walks over, though she stays some distance away from me. 'We need to talk about today, Wing Leader. Please don't see this as disrespect.'

I turn to her and let go of the knife. 'I don't see it as disrespect. You are right, today was a mess. I bloody nearly killed him right there and then.'

She nods. 'I have no doubt you do. Considering you beat an old, wild dragon into submission and went down the Nobels path you have shown strength. However, Treknal does not see it like that.'

I chuckle. 'If it is a fight he wants, it will be a fight on my terms. One that starts with me knocking an arrow on my bow and ends with his dead body. I have no time to deal with insurgencies. I have spells to study, places to be and things to do.'

She grumbles. 'That is not what he wants. Treknal is a traditionalist. In Ork tradition the strongest Ork is the leader. To truly be his boss, you have to beat him. Beat him in hand to hand combat.'

I get up and walk to the balcony. 'In his eyes that may be the truth, but a good leader knows his or her strengths and weaknesses. I'm not physically strong. My strength lays in my archery and although limited use of magic. That and my guts. I'm not afraid. Neither death nor darkness scare me. However it still is foolish to try and beat an Ork in hand to hand combat. You are known for your incredible strength and agility, as well as your brutality in combat.'

Now she chuckles. 'Some of us have grown past it... up to a point. He didn't, sadly. However, if you eventually do manage to beat him, the best would be if you beat him in front of as many people as possible. That would bring him into line. Orks don't just need respect. Orks need honor.'

I close my eyes for a moment. 'In that case I will do it. I will challenge Treknal. I will challenge him in unarmed combat, however if he accepts it is at my terms.'

At the last part a small fireball ignites at my fingertips.

She leaves me now, which gives me a chance to look out to the stars and the city in the dark. This place is quite the sight, with the low buildings with the taller wall around it, occasionally an Elven building between grown from the trees itself. People here live in harmony, showing off their own cultures yet when it comes down to it no culture is prevailing. An idea starts to form in my head. Maybe, maybe.... Maybe I can treat my squad like that. Have them show their culture and learn their cultures, but myself not being of any of their cultures.

Celeste

For some reason Shirley called the entire council down to the barracks. When we arrive there it seems she also invited most of the Dragon Rider teachers and several other barracks to witness... something. I see the leader standing in the corner, surprisingly silent. Something is going on here. This isn't Shirley. Soon I see her at the edge of a circle formed in the middle of her squads barracks. With a loud voice she speaks. 'Yesterday some Ork thought he could challenge my leadership and defy my orders unchallenged. His stupidity nearly killed two dragons and another Ork. Conform Ork tradition I now challenge Treknal in unarmed hand to hand combat.'

The entire room goes silent. My mind races as I realize what is going on. She is challenging a male Ork in hand to hand combat? Does she have a death wish again? What is going on in that mind of hers? However, one thing is obvious. The Ork, Treknal, is not answering the challenge. Shirley looks around the room. 'So what will it be, Treknal? Are you a coward who only dares challenge my leadership when you don't risk losing your honor? Or are you afraid of getting beaten by a girl?'

An angry call comes from the crowd. 'I'm not afraid of you! I will show you the power of an Ork! I accept your weak challenge!'

As the bulky Ork steps into the circle unarmed she casts a spell causing a ring of fire to be lit around them. So that was her plan. She is using her magic. As she stands there she speaks loudly. 'Treknal, the rules are simple. Leave the circle and you lose. Being unable to fight on, you lose. Asking for mercy...'

He interrupts her. 'I get it already. I lose. Not that any of those would ever happen in a fight against a human. Especially not you.'

Shirley seems to laugh. 'There is one other thing. We both have those rules. But these, next to no weapons, are the only rules. This is an equal battle. And this is your last chance to step down.'

So now I get it. She is going to use her magic. I see the Ork roar and charge her. Shirley response by sidestepping his charge, causing Treknal to almost instantly lose the battle. As he comes to a halt near the edge of the circle she rushes him and hits him in the head so hard his tusk cracks. As he hits her back she blocks with both arms. It still sends her flying but she doesn't get hurt to much. Then she gets up. 'Heh. I thought you were a specialist at hand to hand combat. You are being beaten by a weak human girl. I guess your brawn is worth nothing after all. Time to find someone to replace you.'

Treknal charges her again. This time Shirley charges him back and at the last second slings herself on his back. Treknal trashes around and tries to swing her off with very little success as Shirley in turn pushes her knee in his back. It doesn't do a lot to Treknal either but make him roar. Meanwhile the crowd is going nuts. I don't know what Shirley is doing here but she isn't using her magic as I expected she would be using it. She isn't extraordinarily strong or fast. Only the one hit on his tusk seems like an enhanced hit. Then I notice something. She grabs hold of the cracked tusk and snaps it clean off, using it to slam Treknal in his face. He roars in pain and anger, dropping to his knees. The few seconds she gets from it, she uses to kick him in the midrib.

This seems like a turning point as Treknal doubles over grabbing his chest in pain. She then grabs him by the hair and drags him to the edge, just causing the Ork to trash even more, though she is groaning loudly to with how heavy he seems. He lashes out to her once more. This time she sidesteps it and grabs the arm, putting her knee in Treknal's neck and holds his face in the fire. He starts screaming and roaring. Then one word can be made out of it. 'MERCY!'

She gets off of him and raises her arms in the air, though her right hand is still balled in a fist. She did it. She beat an Ork. As the fires die down Treknal walks out of the circle and returns with his axe, kneeling in front of her and offering her his axe. As a response she uses her left hand to fold his fingers around the axe. So now I got a why. She has learned something about some Ork tradition and used that. This girl may be smarter than me...

Shirley

At the end of the fight and after accepting Treknal's vow I walk to Celeste. 'Did you enjoy the show?'

She looks at me studying. 'Why did you make so much of a ruckus just for some street fight with an Ork?'

I smile softly despite the pain in my right hand. 'Simple. In Ork tradition questions about leadership are decided in an arena, with a fight. Now because he fights with the axe and I with the bow it would either be me getting cleaved in half or him getting shot in the head, possibly with some people around us getting killed in the process. So unarmed fighting it was. Why so many people? Orks need to be beaten in front of a crowd or... it never happened. Now I did just that.'

Celeste nods. 'Shall I fix that hand of yours now that we are on it? Also why didn't you use magic? You didn't state a rule about not using magic.'

As I extend my right arm for her to heal I look back at the emptying barrack. 'I do not know. I could have used either the Lamia magic or the normal magic to beat him. But something told me not to. It felt dishonorable. I had to beat him... by the rules. It seems stupid as he didn't obey the rules of our flight either but I couldn't make myself just... cheat.'

Celeste looks at me sternly. 'Shirley, you endangered your life with this action. Even if you didn't kill him, could you have lived under him?'

I look at Treknal for a moment. 'No. But the situation was getting out of hand. If I didn't act now, people could die. If I didn't risk my life now to save my squad, then what kind of leader would I be?'

The leader speaks from behind me. 'A foolish leader, but a living one. Your actions today, though unwise, seemed to be necessary. It was unwise of me to put an Ork who is more... traditional in a squad whose leader is not physically strong. In all aspects, you should have lost.'

I nod. 'It was mostly luck, though I decided to go for speed and agility which seems to be the key to fight Orks. However, there is another reason I did this. I talked with the female Ork last night. She told me about the traditions of the Orks.'

The leader speaks softly. 'You respect their traditions. That is admirable however sometimes going for tradition isn't always the smart way. Sometimes it is best to stick to your own culture and let them worry about their own. You are not an Ork, nor are you an Elf or Dwarf. You are a human.'

I turn to him. 'With all due respect. To become a Rider is to leave behind all that you were to protect all that is. I'm not a human archer, but a Rider archer. I fight for all, not just humans. If my squad is diverse, I'm better off showing respect for their respective cultures and form a unity with that, than just going all hunter on them and sticking to my own culture. As a leader I should lead by example.'

The leader falls silent with that.

As calm returns to the barracks I sit down and watch the Dwarves brothers forge. They are far from unskilled and work together well. That reminds me to train my archery again. I go to the archery range and start practicing again. I don't notice at first that both the Elf and Treknal followed me to the archery range and are observing me. After some time I get approached my the Elf. She puts a hand on my shoulder. 'Why do you stick so tightly to archery and not go for learning something else like sword fighting?'

I turn to her. 'For the same reason Treknal focusses on fighting with his axe. Yes I can fight with a sword if I must. But I'm not good with it and never will master it. Same with magic. I can use it but never master it. That seems to be my curse. Not even the Dragon Guard council member could teach me sword fighting.'

She straightens her back. 'I guess I could be of some use here. You have to get the right teacher first. And I know where to get them.'

I'm surprised. 'How can you get better teachers than the Dragon Guard? We supposedly have the best teachers...'

She closes her eyes. 'I suppose we never properly introduced ourselves. I'm princess Sha'iva from the Elven kingdom. I could send for a sword master to train you.'

I nod. 'Now I understand why you were disappointed for not being my left or right hand. However, I can't be pulling you or anyone else forward even if they do me favors...'

Sha'iva stands there, somewhat taken back. 'It was not meant to be like that... miss. But I do think that if you wish to lead us from the front you have to know how to swing a sword.'

I turn to her. 'You can send for the sword master if you wish, but in the end I have to be practical. You are our only archer and we need our ranged support to be at the back. Especially with your claimed better eyesight.'

She nods once. Then I hear Treknal talk. 'Maybe one of you could train me to be an archer to so we aren't so crippled compared to the other wings?'