The Bird and The Dragon

07-344 Parisya and Sandau

Neatly packed in a wooden box, supported, cushioned, and wrapped in a thick cloth, was a tarnished metal cylinder. It had no obvious openings, but there were two handles, like the spiked jaws of an insect. The middle section had a scattering of uneven marks like a handful of small stones had hit the surface hard.

“This should stop the dragon momentarily,” Khiandri said to Kvenrei and Bladewater who had followed her to a small room in the estate’s basement.

“I didn’t even know about that locker,” Kvenrei said shaking his head. This was his childhood home, but Khiandri had been there when it had been constructed and she knew more about the house than he did. An extra space had been built inside the stairs with the only access from the side of a cabin below the stairway. Kvenrei was sure he should have found it and he kept pondering the other possible secrets hidden in the walls.

Bladewater observed the cylinder closely but kept her fingers away. “What is it?”

“That storage was not intended to be easy to find, because the dragon ordered those weapons destroyed. We got these from the nocturna in Duha. They date before the end of the world and they disturb the local matrix cohesion causing the dragon to immobilize. At least in theory,” Khiandri explained.

“How long does the effect hold and what will it do for us ordinary humans?” Bladewater continued her questions.

”I don’t know if it is even possible to kill a dragon. The cohesion returns in minutes or hours, depending on the area. The hit is not healthy, but probably not lethal either. These were not intended to be used against humans, at least not against humans like us, without artificial additions in the nervous system.”

“Have you tested it?” Kvenrei asked.

Khiandri shouldered the weapon and wiped the surface questioningly with her finger. “This used to activate before they were packed away.”

“A hundred years ago? Maybe it needs to be recharged?” Kvenrei said.

“Or it needs a separate source of energy?” Bladewater said and took the cylinder from Khiandri. The navigator turned it around, searching for something, and put the weapon cautiously on the table. She looked through the packing material finding a transparent stick the size of her finger. With careful movements, Bladewater moved the stick behind one of the handles until there was a soft noise and the stick was sucked inside the handle.

Khiandri took the weapon, wiped the cylinder and at this time her gesture summoned a transparent frame to float beside the cylinder.

“I don’t recommend firing it indoors,” the navigator took steps backward.

Khiandri pointed the weapon to the floor and closed the frame. The stick was pushed out a bit later, now milky white.

“Is that the energy it has?” Kvenrei asked. The principles of the past technology were lost, but its destructive power was well remembered.

“Maybe. There are no sigils. Has anyone checked it?” Bladewater said and Khiandri looked at her questioningly. “I mean someone who understands old Ranito’s protocol? It is a comprehensive listing, and I liked the approach on…”

“Bladewater,” Kvenrei interrupted the lecture to come. “Khiandri just said this was taken a hundred years ago from the nocturna. They have their military doctrines to maintain the weaponry.”

“I really must ask Esrau about this.”

”With some hands-on experience from being a target I can assure you they have operating weaponry,” Khiandri said dryly.

“But why you kept it?” Kvenrei said. Storing such unreliable weapons indoors seemed foolish. When the question came out, he realized his father had always prepared for quick changes in his plans, and keeping weapons able to slow down a dragon at hand was reasonable, considering Ikanji’s history.

”Ikanji never trusted the dragons. And Agiisha won’t expect this weapon as none should be left. Its mere existence may buy us time,” Khiandri said, packing the item back into its box.

“True. Are you still going to talk to her? I mean, using that keepsake is just an escape plan?” Bladewater said, her eyes on the weapon, her fingers twitching a little.

“I have a reason to find her. Agiisha believes I wish to hear about my daughter and my time in the orbit. Agiisha was -I mean was- my friend. I wish we had weapons to hurt it.” Khiandri’s eyes were calm, but her voice was veiled in with steel.

”I still think it is a reasonable plan. Khiandri is not connected to us and Agiisha has no reason to suspect her summoning,” Kvenrei said.

“Why didn’t you contact her earlier?” Bladewater asked.

“My memory was slow to return. I was planning to travel north when the Kanden work was concluded.”

“Agiisha won’t be alone. We must prepare for her guards,” Kvenrei said. An ambush was easy to build, but Anhava’s or Patrik’s presence was always a factor to be accounted for.

“That is why the call will come as a surprise and from a remote location. There won’t be many men. Pakhui will secure the perimeter,” Khiandri analyzed.

“Only if Jenet doesn’t report to Agiisha,” Kvenrei pointed out.

“It is unlikely. The worm would already be here should she know. I trust Jenet in what comes to my daughter and Agiisha’s unlikely behavior.”

“Jenet said something about the principles. What was it about?” Bladewater said.

“In the old world, they were the dragons’ laws, but Ikanji had a theory some of them were the safety interlockings related to the great matrix. Jenet of Ardara was one of the guardians to see that all the rules were observed. There were many laws, but the main ones were: the dragons control the connection, and the connection controls the dragons; the great matrix is a closed system; the ainadu are users, never owners…”

“That’s where Ikanji broke the rules,” Kvenrei said. “By his choosing. Then there was: it is voluntary.”

“That one is subjective, and it was a reason for the rebellion,” Khiandri said.

“Let’s not forget: ensure the core is stiff before using it,” Kvenrei continued and Khiandri giggled like a young girl.

“Are you two serious?” Bladewater asked.

“This is the only prayer ainadu have. Everyone learns them,” Kvenrei said trying not to grin.

“Some of it is utter nonsense,” Khiandri laughed.

Planning and preparation took time for the actions were kept secret from Agiisha. It was a nerve-wracking operation for no one knew what the dragon saw and who was reporting for it.

Khiandri wanted to meet the dragon on the hills by the sea. There was a sightseeing place a few hours ride from the city. She said she had met Agiisha a long time ago in the same place.

“During the war, we decided the future of the ainadu there, but I didn’t understand the importance of my decision then. But what passed on that day has led us to this situation.” Khiandri told Kvenrei when they walked the garden.

Khiandri looked beautiful and sad and Kvenrei felt himself too young and inexperienced compared to her, even if they were about the same age. He couldn’t help but imagine Khiandri in the past, in this same garden, with Ikanji and Kvenrei was sure he was nothing compared to his father.

“What it was?” he asked, feeling his spirits drop.

“We had just arrived at Watergate. It was the cold season and Khem had betrayed us. Ikanji was ready to surrender; the injuries and all the death and blood were breaking him. He had come that far only for me. That night I promised Agiisha to take Ikanji back. I hated such scheming, but we needed him alive.”

“Did you love him?”

“I liked Ikanji before he became a strategej, but for me, it was only a short romance with a pretty noble boy. It took time, but after the rebellion and war, yes, there was a period when I loved the man he became. In the end, I hated him.”

Kvenrei knew the story, but Khiandri’s words hurt him. Khiandri had been Ikanji’s first love, but the relationship never developed and she had a family with another man. Later the rebellion took Khiandri’s companion and their children but threw Ikanji on her way.

“But it didn’t last…” Kvenrei said trying hard to sound like he was only talking about history.

“We had our fights, and all the decisions and deeds during the war were difficult to overcome. He planned to take over the New Freedom. That was the thing that finally broke it for me... But it was a long time ago. He would not be the same man, should he be alive.”

Khiandri’s voice was cold when she talked about the past. She looked into Kvenrei’s eyes and said: “It is history, Kven. Ikanji is dead and I am getting over him. I loathe both him and what the dragon did to me, but at least the long sleep brought me to the same time with you.”

Khiandri touched Kvenrei’s cheek with her lips and he smiled, feeling a warm happiness spreading into his body. They were moving slowly in this relationship if it was one, both of them still carrying the past hurts. Kvenrei felt he could love this woman and hoped such a future was not going to be crushed under the dragon’s hidden weaponry.

Kvenrei wanted to send his offspring to safety before meeting the dragon and Tiago and Liida were overjoyed about a new trip to the south. Meina was having a phase where she was against everything, but her opinion was not counted.

Kvenrei didn’t know Patrik had kept his promise and Ayu was finding her way in the social circles. She had never mentioned her deal to Kvenrei and he rode to Sandau intending to get Ayu to travel south.

The clothes and fabrics business was still running, its daily operations managed by Ayu’s employees. Ayu had moved to the fashionable end of the main street and Kvenrei found himself in a staircase decorated with merging murals. Some paintings hung on the walls with no frames and a decoration created with ceramic pearls and colorful ribbons was nailed on the roof. The area was famous for its artists and the music flowing from an apartment underlined the atmosphere.

“Oh, you?” Ayu opened the door. “Come in.” The young woman wore trousers and a far too large shirt covered with a lace scarf reaching down to her knees. Kvenrei followed his daughter inside smelling yesterday’s cigarettes and the leftover vine. The narrow corridor ended in the living room. A door leading deeper into the apartment was covered with a curtain. This kind of housing seldom had a kitchen, but somewhere there was a communal cooking area. The fireplace had a small surface for heating the food, but it supported only a coffee pot.

The room had large windows, a sofa, a small table, a few cushions on the floor, and lots of art, probably by the people who had decorated the staircase. There were glasses and bottles on the table. The ash bin was full. Two open notebooks and a few additional papers covered in Ayu’s writing were on the floor.

“Nice place. I had something similar when I moved to live on my own,” the man said, deciding not to comment on the evidence about the drinking party.

“I fell in love with the windows. Mom’s place was too much a family apartment.”

“You can keep it rented. Or sell it, whatever you and your siblings decide.”

“I know. How is life in the estate?” Ayu sat on a cushion and Kvenrei seated himself on the floor.

“Good. How is it with Cassine?”

“He had some adaptation to do. It is all settled now,” Ayu lied. “Umbra has gotten a report on his arrival.”

“Great work. I knew it was a good plan to keep Umbra under surveillance.”

“Thanks. Shibasa is so far that any messages take ages to get there. It makes this easier.”

“About traveling…how about a vacation in the south?”

“Not interested. You just visited there not so long time ago. Tiago was still talking about it when I last saw him.”

“Tiago and Liida and Meina loved it. You could join us this time.”

“Maybe later. I have work to do.”

“Ayu, that was a rhetorical question, and the correct answer is ‘yes Dad’.”

Ayu smoothened her papers and looked at her father indifferently. “Why do you want me out of the city?”

“I don’t see you packing.”

“And you won’t. What has happened? Is Jenet back?”

“I said she is of no danger to you. But for some other reasons, I am not sure about your safety. I’d like you out for a while, just to be sure. Could you be a nice girl and obey your father?”

“No, and no. I have relationships to create and nurture. It is easier to take care of your assignments when you are not meddling in them. I am safe here, surely safer than when you are around.”

“That was unfair, Ayu. You are getting good at what you do, but I don’t want you to meet all the horrors hiding under the political beds.”

“I am not following aunt Jesrade. I keep out of the weird matrixes and the international politics. There is nothing to worry about.” Ayu was confident. “Except…you could give me some money. I’ll host a small gathering next week.”

“Your lifestyle bankrupts us all. Down us at least with style.“

“Thanks! You can be so sweet.”

“You follow your aunt just by belonging to the same family. Be careful, dear. And remember you don’t have to do anything like this, with Cassine and stuff. I am proud of you anyway.”

“The dragon calls you by name. I want to serve her and the ainadu like you do.” Ayu smiled and winked. “Or not like you. But I can be more than a businesswoman or the daughter of a border lord. I want to use the potential I have.”

“From the experience, I point out that it is unwise to poke your nose everywhere, but the same experience tells me you will do it anyway. Just send me a message when you are in trouble. No, send it before you are too deep in the trouble. I’ll do anything to help.”

Ayu looked like a woman swallowing a defensive speech she had been preparing. “I...thanks. I’ll be worthy of your trust.”