Bad Example

Caiya furrowed her eyebrows, questioning me. “Are you sure this is OK?”

“Sure it is,” I said, scanning the skies. “Hold on tight.”

I pulled on my wyvern’s reins, making him bank tightly to the left, underneath the Aldur’thar Bridge and landing on a small ledge that jutted out from the rest of the rock foundation. I scanned the skies once more, the ground, the bridge above. Satisfied, I lifted Caiya down from the wyvern and then dismounted as well. She brushed off her skirt nervously, shivering a bit from the cold, but her eyes sparkled with excitement. “You know, the other orphans won’t believe me,” she whispered.

I removed my helmet and shook out my hair, and looked down towards the girl. “It doesn’t matter what they think,” I said softly, smiling. “You’re never going to learn anything if you don’t experience it first-hand.”

I untied the strings strapping the SGM-3 to my back and I gently set it on the ground, turning it on and making adjustments. I kneeled to the ground, propped it up on my knee and looked to Caiya. “You see those Skybreakers flying around?”

She nodded.

 “Well, Korm Blackscar – that big ugly orc on the flying ship,”—Caiya giggled—“wants us to shoot them down. They work for the Alliance and they’ve been very naughty.”

Caiya thought for a moment. “So we’re punishing them? Like putting them in time-out?”

“…Right. That’s a very good way to put it. And, well, since you’re such a big girl, I thought that you might like to help me.”

Caiya smiled, then beamed. She nodded, and I beckoned her closer.

“Good girl,” I said, and showed her how to hold the end of the launcher, how to look through the crosshairs, and pointed out the auto-target feature. She repeated the process to me, and pleased with her answer, I pushed the yellow button on the side. “Safety’s off,” I reported out of habit. I locked eyes with Caiya, and we both grinned. “Whenever you’re ready, just aim.”