The Bird and The Dragon

Khiandri Taan stood on a stone-covered terrace with a breathtakingly beautiful view over the starlit sea. She felt the weight of her surname when her gaze grazed the horizon. After the war, while creating a new nation, the ainadu had given away their surnames to have a clean start and to emphasize the equality of the new governing system.

But many baby girls were named Khiandri to honor the hero and the original bearer of the name had gotten her surname attached to her name as a nickname. It gave her a sense of power, but it was a heavy reminder of the history.

From the continent side, the terrace was hidden behind a cliff, and bushes flowering with yellow, fragrant flowers. The wind from the sea played with the woman’s dark hair, which flowed like ink to the back of the green jacket she was wearing together with her riding skirt.

Pakhui had organized the area patrol with Kvenrei and the men were in their prepared positions, hidden from the dragon as well as they could manage. The ainadu had argued about the navigator’s presence in meeting the dragon, but Bladewater had been adamant about being the one to use the weapon of the old technology. In the end, no one else had volunteered to hold the old rifle and the navigator was with Kvenrei in a hideout.

Khiandri scratched a match and ignited the fire they had prepared. The flames spread and soon the carefully set and prepared pattern was drawn out with fire. The symbol was almost ten meters in diameter and filled the whole terrace. It was formed like Agiisha’s symbol, an abstract dragon in flight, its wings coming together below it forming a circle. Khiandri had said it would be enough to summon the dragon.

The symbol burned bright and hot and Khiandri stood on the edge, waiting. The fiery heat warmed her back, but the cold sea air made her hide her hands in her sleeves. She stood immobile like a statue, waiting for the dragon.

An hour passed, then another and the fire had died into embers. Nothing had changed, but Kvenrei saw the dragon’s human form stepping out: a black silhouette against the glow. Khiandri sensed something and turned to face Agiisha.

“You, of course,” the dragon said, its voice clear and controlled. “My name, spelled in fire. I had to come and see it. Why did you call for me, Khiandri?” Agiisha’s words didn’t steam in the cold air, but Kvenrei imagined he felt the energy glowing inside the dragon.

“Do you remember the last time we met here?” Khiandri asked. “You told me the ainadu would need Ikanji, and you needed me to keep him alive and under control?”

Agiisha smiled showing her black teeth and laughed, the noise rolling like marbles. “I remember. You did it, my wonderful Khiandri. We are still in control of the north.”

“You lifted me in the orbit and returned me to the world only when his life was over. And you took away our child, the unborn still in my womb.” Khiandri’s voice was without accusations, it was the tone filled with true faith, a believer talking to her goddess.

“Yes, that way Ikanji stayed alive and on the course where he was needed. I spared you the sorrow, your relationship was over, and your fight would have torn apart everything we built.”

”I have always been your tool,” Khiandri agreed, her face serene, her eyes reflecting the dying fire. “But what did you do to the child? She still had five months until her birth.”

“Your daughter slept and grew until it was her time to wake. She descended to Watergate twenty-six months ago.”

“Where she is? How old is she now?”

“Please, reformulate your question. Do you want her time outside your womb or her age in the standard years?”

“Her human age, Agiisha,” Khiandri said gently.

“Eleven years and ten months.”

“Thank you, Agiisha. Return her to me now, please.” Khiandri’s talk carried formal pauses and tones like she followed a protocol.

“I can’t do it, Khiandri.”

“Why not?”

“It would break your mind.”

“You have lost her, haven’t you?” a new voice said beside the dragon. Kvenrei saw a man in black clothing standing by the dragon’s shadow, hidden by its black aura. The man lifted his head.

“Ikanji,” Khiandri breathed. His long hair was the color of sun-bleached sand, and his pale face was younger than Kvenrei remembered.

“It was my name. When did you lose contact with our child, worm?” Ikanji was not moving, but the words carried commanding sharpness, the arrogance Kvenrei connected to his father. Agiisha’s essence focused, its aura flowing into the chosen form.

“My apologies, Khiandri. I calculated this meeting would strengthen his connection to the real world, but I see his model is still unbalanced,” the dragon ignored Ikanji’s words.

“Yes,” Khiandri said slowly. “Indeed. What was it about? I was supposed to talk to Ikanji before he kills himself. We’ll need him against the nocturna.”

“Khi, she is manipulating you at this moment, raising the memories in your blood,” Ikanji said, but the dark-haired woman was not hearing or seeing him, she stared at the dragon.

“Ah, look at this, strategej. Khiandri needs some calibration after her stasis. Very good you brought this out.”

“Agiisha, you are breaking all the contracts. This is madness.” Ikanji’s voice was calm, but its tones highlighted his opinion.

“Your neuron capacity is still limited by your original modeling and this iteration is outside your reach. You will get that ability when we improve your initial responses.”

Kvenrei took a painfully slow breath and glanced at Bladewater, whose eyes were fixed on the dragon through the weapon’s sights. She sensed the gaze, and her lips formed the question: “Your father?”. Kvenrei nodded, for it could be no one else. Somehow the dragon had raised Ikanji from death or created a live-like replica of the man, complete with the menacing glare and the defiant behavior.

Khiandri did not move, but Ikanji kept on arguing with the dragon. It was clear he was unable to do anything else. Kvenrei’s ears caught a series of soft rustles from the background, a fist or feet connecting to the meat. They were followed by an almost voiceless gurgling, someone shouting through a closed throat.

“Alarm me, if something happens,” Kvenrei whispered and crawled away. He trusted the length of his father’s monologues.

Behind the bushes Pakhui was sitting on Patrik, the strategej’s hands locked between the ground and their bodies. The air was thick with the mental fight, but the captain’s hands on Patrik’s windpipe played against the strategej, who was about to faint. His head lolled to the side and Kvenrei smiled when Patrik’s eyes widened from recognition. The half-brother was at his mercy.

“That thing is not strategej Ikanji. It is not my father. He died. The dragon has lost her mind and built a monster,” Patrik whispered when Pakhui gave him a little air while pressing his knife to Patrik’s throat. The captain glanced at Kvenrei, asking his opinion.

“Did Agiisha send you?” Kvenrei asked.

“Yes, but I take back all my oaths. The dragon is not an ally anymore. It has broken all the rules. It is unpredictable and dangerous.”

“How many of you are here?” Pakhui whispered.

“A group of eight. Anhava is circling the other side. And Ayu…Agiisha wanted her to learn.”

“What in the dark water have you done to my daughter?”

“She made her way to the dragon.”

“Let’s get Khiandri. And send someone to take Ayu,” Kvenrei said to Pakhui turning to leave, steeling himself to hear Patrik’s last, bloody breath.

“Wait, I can help,” Patrik said weakly and Pakhui seemed disappointed.

“Kill him only if he turns his coat again,” Kvenrei decided cursing his softness. He couldn’t let Pakhui kill his brother. Patrik was a cold-hearted scheming monster of a man, but he probably had no other option between Anhava and Agiisha, and he was a brother. Pakhui rolled away leaving Patrik to draw painful breaths.

On the terrace, Agiisha waved her hand. Master Anhava dropped down the cliff landing soundlessly on the stony surface. He was wearing his usual black and carrying a sheathed sword.

“Anhava, take Lady Taan to the city. She needs rest and I must check her memories.” Anhava bowed and took Khiandri’s hand.

“Wake up Khi! Let her, you snake!” Ikanji was shouting, but the dragon’s aura rose to cover the man and muffled his voice.

Bladewater fired her weapon. A pale blue glow surrounded the cylinder and the air smelled of ozone. The dragon stepped backward, its aura retreated and cocooned her. Anhava dragged Khiandri in front of him as a human shield. Kvenrei ran, Patrik on his heels, but Ikanji was faster. Agiisha’s control had left him, and the man slipped behind Anhava like a shadow, took hold of the back of his coat, and threw him effortlessly down. Khiandri took two graceful steps and fell like a butterfly with broken wings.

Anhava fought Ikanji weakly. The shorter man was hitting his head in fury. “You will not touch her! She is mine!” Ikanji raged on, his fists bloody, blood on his face and clothes, and continued hitting even when Anhava could only cover his face.

Patrik tried to touch the dragon, which lay covered by its inky aura like a shapeless black bulge on the ground. It was impossible to define if Agiisha was inside. Kvenrei ran to Khiandri. Her eyes were open, but they showed no mind, no persona. He shook Khiandri and tried to raise her to her feet.

“Khiandri? Khiandri, do you hear me? We must leave.” She leaned on him and rose slowly. Kvenrei led her away from the terrace.

Patrik didn’t hurry. He poked the dragon’s cocoon with a half-burned stick and threw it to the aura, but it clattered to the stones. Patrik turned to Ikanji. The father and son had not been in contact and this Ikanji showed no recognition, but he halted his violence towards Anhava. The strategej who had come back from death rose taking Anhava’s sword. “Go away. I have a dragon to kill. I should have done it earlier.”

Patrik bowed and took a step back. Ikanji stared at the blackness pushing his sword against it. Its blade turned luminous and sparked when resonance flowed, but nothing else happened. Ikanji gave a murderous glare to the cocoon and turned his eyes towards the sky.

“Shoot again!” Kvenrei shouted to Bladewater while guiding Khiandri.

“I can’t. This thing is heating up and the screen is gone.”

Ikanji noticed Khiandri. “Release her,” he commanded and dropped the sword. Its blade crumbled into thin feather-like pieces. Kvenrei stepped aside and Ikanji took Khiandri’s shoulder and waist like they had all the time in the world. “Sweetest, I am here. Let’s take you to the safety.”

“Dad, the horses are here.”

Recognition brightened Ikanji’s eyes. “Kvenrei. The dragon will arrive soon, lend me a hand.”

Kvenrei took Khiandri’s hand, and the men stumbled away from the terrace, through the bushes, and down the slope. Bladewater threw away the glowing cylinder and ran with them. Patrik managed to keep up, running awkwardly like Pakhui had hit him too hard.

They ran on, along the stony downward slope, keeping away from the winding path. “You mean Agiisha is healing herself?” Kvenrei asked.

“The dragon body is rising from the horizon. It will not land, it doesn’t need to.” Ikanji was breathing lightly even if he carried most of Khiandri’s weight.

“The dark and cold,” Kvenrei cursed and increased the speed hoping the dragon wouldn’t be able to tell them apart from all the humans in the area.

Pakhui appeared from the left. “The route is open; we had an encounter with the enemy. Two down…my lord Ikanji!”

“Cut away from the contact, regroup, and guard the retreat. Watch the sky, take cover if you see anything,” the strategej gave his orders without losing a beat and Pakhui’s worshipping smile didn’t go unnoticed by Kvenrei.

They were astride and escaped to the darkness. The route was planned and prepared and they stopped only a few hours later when it was time to rest. Trees covered the resting place and there was water and food stored. Patrik was pale, but conscious and had managed to ride. Khiandri had sunken into stillness and was not reacting to touch or speech when Ikanji helped her from the saddle. Kvenrei kept his distance, for he felt jealous.

Pakhui had sent men to find Ayu, but nothing had been heard of them. Kvenrei was worried. He had believed his firstborn would manage anything, but Agiisha had changed, and all the rules were broken.

Now the captain was looking at Ikanji and Khiandri, but he whispered his words to Kvenrei. “A woman from the orbit and a dead man walking. One has lost her mind and the other has lost his body, and the dragon has taken them both. What shall we do with them?”

“What do you mean?” Kvenrei asked.

“What is this talk about the orbit?” Ikanji said without taking his eyes from Khiandri, whose hair he was gently smoothing.

“The dragon lifted Khiandri there when…you parted,” Kvenrei said cautiously.

“Lifted to her small world, inside her matrix to knit her net inside her mind. Inside our child’s mind,” Ikanji said quietly, his voice full of threat.

“I understood you died, so this was a surprise,” Bladewater interrupted in her unique style.

Ikanji shifted Khiandri into a better position in his lap before answering. “Yes, I am dead. My mind was carried over to the great matrix and stopped existing. This body is not the original. My thoughts, memories, and emotions feel like they belong to me, but I don’t know if any of them are genuine. If I am but a creation of that worm, sketched into existence from her ideas.”

“They say the machines of the old had the skill to grow and to program, but this is beyond my wildest dreams.” Bladewater was interested.

“The dragons are not born. They are made,” Ikanji said. “She wanted company. But she wanted to choose it. I am the answer.”

“Maybe, but we must evade Agiisha for now,” Kvenrei said.

“Let’s ride to the forests. The nocturna hate both the ainadu and the dragon,” Bladewater answered.

“True, that is a long grievance,” Kvenrei agreed.

“They would kill us,” Ikanji pointed out.

“No, I know this Esrau Frenk, a nocturna. He might help us,” Patrik said.

”I met Esrau again after that episode in the hot segment. He and I share an enemy,” Kvenrei admitted but sharpened his tone. “Why Ayu was there?”

“She is an ambitious young lady.”

“You did it.”

“You started it by introducing her to Agiisha. I would have kept her away from that contact.”

Kvenrei stared at his brother, but Patrik had it right. Meeting the dragon in the theater had been a turning point in Ayu’s life.

Bladewater shrugged. “We can’t return for her. I also know this captain Esrau. Jenet gave your daughter to his folk. We planned to meet Jenet after talking to the dragon.”

”Ayu can take care of herself,” Kvenrei said steeling himself for the facts. Getting his girl was impossible.

“My child should better be all right,” Ikanji said with a murderous tone but turned it into a gentle murmur. “We will get her back, Khi. All will be good like it was supposed to be.”