After two weeks of monitoring their progress, out of the one-hundred-and-fifty-six Flights, less than ten were progressing at the pace that he had hoped for. He decided to take a ruthless approach. He assembled his entire Wing, all twelve hundred dragons, and explained to them how their performance would be measured, giving a score out of a hundred, with a pass mark of fifty. For each Flight that failed to meet the target, the Flight Leader in charge of the Flight with the lowest score would be either retired, or if they were still in their period of mandatory military service, court marshalled, and there would be no option to transfer. If they had dragons that were truly not up to the job, they had better put in transfer requests now while they still had the chance.
A week later, Pan approached him with the report that he had compiled. "Commander," Pan said, a stickler for observing military etiquette. "I have the report prepared for the progress of the training this week. I'm afraid it's not that good."
Perak frowned. Pan was prone to understatement so this did not bode well. "Be specific, Pan. How many Flights failed to reach the target?"
"One-hundred-and-twenty, sir," he replied. "Only thirty-six were successful."
"What! That's pathetic. Are they not taking me seriously?" Perak had not anticipated failure on this scale.
"They're not used to this sort of training, sir. Long distance running, navigation on the ground, problem solving… they're just not happy doing it. It doesn't make sense to them to be doing this in the day when they could be flying. Improving their air combat skills."
"Fools! We train in the daytime at the start; then we'll move to training at night. How could they fly then?"
"Of course, sir. I understand, sir. But the men, they are not happy with this approach. I have heard many of them grumbling about it."
Perak seethed. This was not to be tolerated. "What was the lowest score for a Flight?"
"Zero, sir."
"Zero? How is that even possible? Just completing one of the six daily runs would have given them a point. They would have had to try to get a score that low."
"It is hard to comprehend, sir, but I'm afraid ten of the Flights managed a zero score."
"Ten! This is simply intolerable. Are they all under one Squadron Commander?"
"No, sir, although one does have half of them. I am pleased to say that none of my Squads were in that group."
Perak fumed quietly, declining to ask how many of his passed the mark, knowing the answer would disappoint him. Perak decided that harsher methods were called for.
"Go, assemble the men. First though, send me your entire Squad."
"Of course, sir. May I ask what you require them for?"
"No, just carry out my orders," Perak snapped, and Pan nodded before scurrying away.
Within half an hour, the entire Wing of twelve Squads was gathered, and the men spent half an hour watching in silence as Pan's Squad constructed a large metal cage. Perak stood on and watched, glaring at his dragons menacingly. When they had finished their work, he sent them to stand to attention with the rest of the Wing. Perak moved to the front and surveyed them, with the setting sun behind him, still glaring at them all in silence, until he could sense that they were getting uncomfortable.
"So, my orders were not taken seriously. I set an easy target of fifty, and only a quarter of you managed to meet that. I ask myself, are you all just incompetent, unworthy of the air that you breathe? Is it possible that such a useless, incapable group of Blue Dragons could exist, and be all gathered under my command?" Perak paused for a moment, before continuing. "Then I realised that there is another possibility. Ten Flights among you failed to score even one single point. I had anticipated that some of you may struggle at the start, so established a scoring system that would make it easy to get at least a few points, to prevent you becoming demotivated. To score zero, means only one thing; that you tried to score no points. Flight Leaders of these ten Flights, approach the front."
Ten Flight Leaders shuffled slowly to the front. Seven of them were trying to avoid his gaze, but three met it defiantly. Perak turned to the Squadron Commander who was responsible for the Squad that half of the Flight Leaders had come from.
"Squadron Commander, I note that half of these men are from your Squad. Join them at the front."
The officer walked casually to the front and stood at the right of the men. He was an older man, perhaps fifteen years senior to Perak, and met his gaze with a contemptuous look.
"Squadron Commander, you have failed to motivate your men to excel. Let me rephrase that: you've failed to prevent your men from performing abysmally. Explain yourself."
The officer gave him a hard look. "The men are not used to performing these tasks. These are not the tasks of a warrior. We are Blue Dragons, and we fight as Dragons. These are the activities of children, who are yet able to transform."
Perak gave him a cruel smile. "So you would rather train as a dragon?"
The Squadron Commander nodded. "Yes, sir. It's how I have trained since before you were born."
Perak nodded in return and turned to Pan's men. "Take them to the cage. Put them in there and lock the door."
Pan's men advanced forwards and seized the men, who looked startled but didn't resist, and were forced to enter the cage; the door was locked behind them.
"You have deliberately performed badly, against my command. Disobedience will be punished. Do you understand?"
The men nodded, unsure of what was coming.
"You think you can choose how you behave while under my command. You will all learn how wrong you are. You wish to train as dragons. Well, transform. Now!"
The men looked at each other in confusion, unsure of what was being asked.
"It's a simple command," Perak continued irritably. "Transform in the cage. Do it now. Show me what you can do as a dragon."
The men shrugged, and quickly transformed. The cage was large enough to hold all eleven, who sat down after transforming, looking a little confused. There wasn't a lot of room to move around.
Perak turned to the rest of the men. "When a soldier refuses a direct command in battle, what is the punishment? You!" he shouted, pointing at a Flight Leader.
"Death, sir," the man replied.
"These men have refused a direct order. We are training for battle. How should they be punished? Should it be any different from disobedience in battle? Should it be any different for the men under their command?"
No one answered, unease spreading over the men.
Perak smiled. "I am going to be lenient. Tell me, why do you think we are training in this way?"
A man raised his hand and Perak nodded at him. "So that we can fight at night."
"Exactly!" Perak replied. "Why can't we fight as dragons at night?"
The men looked at each in bewilderment. "Come on, you again. What's the answer?"
"Transforming at night isn't possible, sir," the Flight Leader replied.
"Wrong, boy. It's possible. It will just kill you. Just as not transforming back is a death sentence. Oh, it's getting a little dark. I hope you can all see the dragons in the cage. Now, next question. Who can tell me what Dragonweed is?"
The sun had almost set, and the light was fading quickly. A hand was raised at the front. "It's a rare plant, sir, which can stop you from transforming back to human."
"Exactly! It is rather rare. But do you know we have some kept in the camp here? Can you guess where I've had this plant put?"
Suddenly one of the Blue Dragons in the cage shrieked loudly in fear. He attacked the cage bars violently, throwing his weight at the door. Seconds later the others joined in, with chaos breaking out. Fire spurted from the cage as they tried in vain to weaken the metal.
The sunlight faded completely, and the only light was that from the dragon's fire, none of them transforming back to their human form. Perak ordered lamps to be lit all around the cage, where the dragons continued to desperately attack the bars.
"Come on, come on, no on
e answered my question. Where do you think I've had the plant placed?"
The men watched in horror, as one by one, the dragons stopped attacking the cage bars and started to shriek in agony. They writhed in the cage, muscle spasms causing them to jerk violently and without any control. Bursts of fire erupted from their nostrils, but they clearly had no control over their bodies any more. The sound was soul wrenching, and the screams lasted for several minutes before they started to fade, and the dragons' movements started to slow down till there were only a few twitches, and then they were all still and silent, each one clearly dead.
Perak turned to face them, his face determined and furious. "I will be lenient. I will not condemn their men to join their fate. Not today. But ever disobey me again, and we will have another sunset display. Now, zero pointers. Approach the front."
The sixty men all moved to the front, each looking terrified and shocked.
"I'll have six volunteers. Ah, yes, you six at the back. Come to the front." Perak nodded to one of Pan's men, who was holding a large sack. He ran over to the men and opened the sack, and gave each of them a wooden stick before giving the last one to Perak.
"Armed combat," Perak began. "Pointless during the day. After all, what can a stick do against fire, teeth and claws? During the night? A different story. Our enemy do not train with these weapons. Like you, they think them a waste of time. How do you think an untrained man would fare against one skilled in the use of these weapons?"
The men didn't answer, still frozen silent by the shock of watching their leaders die in such a horrific manner.
Perak nodded. "As I thought, you still don't understand. A demonstration is required. You." He pointed to the nearest man. "You've been training during the week. You should be able to do something with that stick. Attack me."
The man shook his head, looking scared.
Perak frowned. "Disobeying an order? After watching what happens to those who disobey? Do you think that is wise?"
The man shook his head, and staggered forwards, pushed by his comrades.
"Excellent. Now, I'm sure you want to avenge your leader. You have your chance. Go on; attack me with all that you have."
The man looked around hesitantly, receiving encouraging nods from his comrades before advancing slowly till he was about five metres from Perak.
"What are you waiting for?" Perak asked. "Make your attack."
The man suddenly looked more determined, and raised his stick before rushing at Perak and swinging at his head. Perak's movements appeared casual, almost lazy, stepping out of the way and letting him run past.
"Where are you going? I'm over here. Stop wasting time and attack!"
The man spun around, red faced, and beginning to look angry. He rushed at Perak, but controlled his run better, and swung at Perak again. Perak stepped towards him and swung his stick at the man's arm, causing him to yelp in pain and drop the stick. He lunged with his stick and struck him in the stomach, and the man collapsed to the ground, the wind knocked out of him.
"A little disappointing," Perak observed derisively. "I see how he achieved zero points. Next. Perhaps two of you. You two will do."
Two men advanced towards him, approaching cautiously as they neared. Perak nodded at them, and they both rushed him at once. Perak's movement was so quick that he appeared to blur in the dim light, striking at one man's leg and the other man's ankle. Both dropped to the ground screaming.
"I would have thought two of you would do better than one, but if anything it was worse. Take them away."
Two of Pan's men rushed over and dragged the screaming men away from the front. Perak looked to the last three. "Let's see if three of you can achieve what two failed to do. Attack!"
The three men spread out, trying to outflank Perak. They circled him to attack from three different directions. Just as they moved to attack, Perak sprung towards one of them, closing the gap very quickly. He struck him twice, once on the arm and once on the leg. The man dropped immediately, clutching his leg in pain. Perak turned and moved quickly to the second attacker, keeping the third away from him. Perak ducked under his attack and swung his stick hard, hitting the man with a backhand strike to the head, dropping him like a stone. He then approached the final man, disarming him with ease before hurling him to the ground, finishing the fight by stamping on the man's groin. Perak turned to face the rest of the Wing, who were watching in horror. Two of the fallen men were screaming in pain, but the other was silent, sprawled motionless on the ground. Perak nodded at Pan's men, who scurried over to move their fallen comrades. One started to lift the silent man, and after checking his neck for a pulse, turned towards Perak and shook his head.
Perak shrugged indifferently. "It appears that untrained men do not fare well against trained men. You can die just as easily from a blow to the head as you can from fire, claw and tooth. Imagine how many of the six would be joining him if we had been using these."
Perak drew his sword, slowly showing it to all the men.
"Learn these lessons. Learn them well. The skills I will teach you will allow you to kill our enemies far more effectively than anything anyone else has taught you. When the great battle begins, it will be won not by the great horde that charge in from the air, but before they have even arrived. It will be won by the troops I have trained, that I will lead, which will eliminate all the Red Dragons in the settlements that surround the cities. The ones that are always overlooked and flank our troops during the attack, condemning so many attacks to failure and soldiers to fall forgotten and uncelebrated. I know many of you idolise leaders like Kessick. Well, leaders like him have come and gone and have led thousands like you to their deaths with nothing to show for it, and there have been no statues to commemorate their sacrifices. Fighting for me, with me and having been trained by me, you'll be remembered as the ones who won this war.
However, disobey me again, and join these men. I am cruel. I am unforgiving. And I know how to kill you in more ways than you can imagine, as both a man and a dragon. Either learn from me by obeying me, and letting me teach you, or learn from me as these men have. Dismissed!"
Chapter 12: Dinner party
Crystal was the last to join the table, apologising quietly to the guests that were gathered in her house and had already started dining. She could feel her mother glaring at her, so she avoided catching her eye. There were sixteen of them dining at their home tonight; each of the members of the national security council, and their wives, children or other companions. The quarterly council meeting was to be held straight after the meal, an event that was to be hosted by them each time from now on, now that they had moved to the capital. Before they had relocated, her father always had to fly away for a few days for the meeting, but now, the meeting meant that he would be flying to see them. As well as looking forward to seeing her father, Crystal had been looking forward to the meal until her mother let her know that unless one of the council members spoke to her she should remain silent. What made it even worse was that he was here. That stupid boy brought along by the Keeper of Records. At least she hadn't been forced to speak to him yet.
Not everyone from the military council was present, but apparently that wasn't unusual. Only five members were able to vote—the commanders of each of the armies of the four principalities and the centre, which included her father, Lord Robert, commander of the Southern Army. The other members were consulted, and their support was important, but not necessarily required, so they would often miss meetings if there wasn't anything urgent to be discussed. This was especially true of the nine representatives of the most powerful of the noble houses, who rarely attended these meetings, and indeed none were present this evening. From time to time the princes appointed temporary advisors, but at the moment the only other members were the two permanent advisors, who were the head of military intelligence and the Keeper of Records, and one temporary member, the chief advisor to the King.
Crystal had listened patiently as her mother explained
all of this a few hours earlier, so she had an idea of who to expect at the table. Her father, as host, sat at the head of the table, three places to her right, and he smiled at her warmly when she glanced at him. Her father was rarely angry with her and wouldn't mind her being late, especially as he hadn't seen her since her birthday. She was seated beside another friendly face, Lord Lance, who was the commander of the Northern Army. A gruff-looking man, but a close friend of Lord Robert, related to him through two marriages (Lance's brother Prince Cornelius, the ruler of the Northern principality was married to Lauren, Robert's cousin, and Robert's niece was married to Lance's nephew on his wife's side) and someone who had always had a soft spot for Crystal. To her right sat the commander of the Eastern Army, Lord Daniel, a young commander who had inherited the role early in life after the untimely death of his father. She had met him just once and had hardly spoken to him, but he seemed pleasant enough. Opposite him sat Lord Jeremy, commander of the Western Army. Unlike the other commanders, he didn't wear his uniform, but was dressed in rather outlandish clothes better suited to a different sort of party. He appeared to be a bit bored, although that may just have been how he always looked. She had met him a few times, and although he was rather handsome and charming, she didn't take to him at all, although she couldn't quite say why. He just made her a little uncomfortable.
The Commander of the national army—as the army of the capital was referred to—was the King's eldest son and heir, Prince Henry. He sat two places to the left of Lord Robert, between Lord Robert and Lord Jeremy. This was the first time that Crystal had met him, although she had heard quite a bit about him from her father. The prince had a self-important, smug look about him, but he was rather good-looking, and was the heir, Crystal reminded herself, resolving to make as good an impression on him as she could.
Lord Lance's wife sat to the right of Lord Daniel. She was very well dressed but was showing her age and Crystal could tell that her hair had lost its colour, and the red was just dye. If only she could do the same. She had rarely met her, as she didn't really enjoy travelling and wouldn't fly as far as Black Rock. Furnace was quite a lot nearer to her home in Newcastle, so she had agreed to accompany her husband. The other reason for coming was to visit her two children who were at school in Furnace, Rosie and Henry. Henry wasn't a guest tonight, but his older sister, Rosie, sat between Lord Robert and Lord Lance. She was a year older than Crystal, and was, naturally, in the same school, being the place where all the elite sent their children to finish their education, although Crystal hadn't met her before tonight. She was a plain-looking girl, quite tall, and with broad shoulders, but had a pleasant way about her. Crystal wondered if she minded having to stay silent during the meal. She hoped to talk to her about it afterwards.
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