The Bird and The Dragon

10-344 The Three Kings’ Land

Khiandri’s green eyes glimmered in the darkness like glass when she shook the sleeping man.

“Kvenrei, wake up. We must leave, he is here.”

Kvenrei opened his eyes to see Khiandri bending over him. Her braid had unraveled, and strands of black hair flowed to his chest. All the placidity and apathy were gone, and Khiandri was her lively self, full of movement and wary energy. Kvenrei took her hand. “We are safe, Khiandri. Ikanji has pampered you like a baby.”

“I am never safe with him. He was going to lock me in the estate.”

“It was a lifetime ago. You discussed with Agiisha; do you remember anything?”

Khiandri sat on the bed holding Kvenrei’s hand like it was the only thing anchoring her to reality. “I remember kissing you. I remember us building the signal and igniting it.”

”It turned out to be a mistake, but we survived. You met Agiisha and she did something to you; you have been sleepwalking. Ikanji said your mind would eventually wake. We are in Saharan, on the western border of the Three Kings’ land.”

“I woke up next to a man, but he was not the Ikanji I used to know. He has Ikanji’s face, but not his expression, breathing, or body. Not even his hair.”

“The dragon built that body, and his mind is…I don’t even know. Agiisha spoke like he was her creation, but he resembles the father I knew. He doesn’t remember everything he should, but still, he feels like himself.”

“I don’t want him here, alive or dead. Hug me.”

Kvenrei smiled and wrapped his hands gently around Khiandri. “You are safe, and the dragon is not here. You made it through.”

The woman pressed her head to his shoulder slowly relaxing. “I like you and your nickname, Bird. You are a good man.”

“I am a dead man if Ikanji finds you here.”

“He used to be jealous, but that’s his problem. This is my choice, my relationship with him broke ages ago.”

“You are a brave one.”

“I led a rebellion once, silly Bird. Why are we here?”

“Hiding from the dragon. Jenet was here, waiting for us as we agreed. We must travel to the forests to find Marci and need nocturna’s help. We are waiting for a message from a man called Esrau, he is a kind of friend.”

“Just hold me, I am cold. I am not going back to the room where he is sleeping.”

Kvenrei lay down and Khiandri set herself by his side, resting her head on his shoulder, her face turned to the door. She was wary, but also tired and fell asleep quickly. Kvenrei lay awake long, listening to Khiandri’s breathing, wishing she was going to be fully conscious in the morning. He hoped this version of Ikanji was better suited to dealing with things going against his will than the father he had known.

Kvenrei woke alone in the bed, but Khiandri’s scent lingered on the pillow. He smiled while dressing and only the heated argument he heard when approaching the dining hall made him sober. Bladewater was lounging by the door and waved for him to follow.

“Khiandri woke from her stupor and is arguing with her husband or whatever Ikanji is. Let’s find breakfast from somewhere else.”

Kvenrei nodded, the evaluation was reasonable. He was not going to step any closer to the kitchen. “Where is Patrik?”

“Having a training session with Jenet.”

Kvenrei took his jacket. Patrik and Jenet had spent a lot of time together in the close combat training. He had participated only a few times but the pair’s habit of starting too early in the morning was only one of the reasons for missing the sessions. The living memory was too creepy for him, and Patrik was too perfectionist. Both shared a common trait for serious training and kept themselves entertained.

Jenet and Ikanji had managed to share the house without killing each other. Jenet had counted Ikanji to have paid for his sins and Ikanji had been too busy with Khiandri to mind the living memory.

Saharan was a small town, only a crossroads for the trade routes by the river. The even rows of trees started on the easter side of the built area, a clear opposite to the untidy western growth. The river flew from north to south marking the border for the lands belonging to the Three. The town had a row of piers with their storages, offices for some trading companies, a guesthouse, a few dozen other houses, and the building where the Three operated a school and a hospital. There were two restaurants and during the last month, they had learned to know the town and its inhabitants.

Kvenrei and Bladewater hung the morning around the local tradesman’s house. At lunchtime, they summoned the courage to return to the hired house.

“I can hear nothing, and the windows are unbroken,” Bladewater said calmly. “Probably the strategej controlled his emotions.” Kvenrei shook his head, he didn’t want to go in, but he followed the navigator.

Inside an unfamiliar jacket caught Kvenrei’s attention. It was hanging on the wall shrinking Khiandri’s coat to the child’s size. Jenet appeared in the doorway with noiseless steps.

“We have a visitor. She has a message for you, Navigator and she refuses to give it to anyone else.” The navigator followed Jenet to the living room without glancing at the mirror. Kvenrei followed them.

On the sofa, an unknown female nocturna was discussing with Khiandri. She was wearing green and brown clothing and her long, greying hair was braided with a black ribbon threaded among the hair. She noticed the navigator and rose to greet her.

“Navigator Thomms, a message for you.” The nocturna presented a spotless envelope from her large pocket. “I have been ordered to wait for your answer.”

The navigator thanked her and opened the letter with a knife Kvenrei gave her. The navigator read. “I must discuss this with my companions. You may wait here.”

“I’ll call the others,” Jenet said and left to find the two strategej, who generally avoided each other.

They met on the covered terrace because it was the largest room after the living room. Ikanji glanced at Khiandri but positioned himself on the opposite side of the room. Kvenrei was feeling unsure and stood by the navigator. The ex-pair’s relationship was probably in a stormy state, and he didn’t want to interfere.

“Captain Esrau answered my message,” Bladewater started. “He proposes to meet us in the forest institute -whatever it is- and has sent us a guide. The travel time is five days, but he doesn’t specify if he means our walking speed or…”

“They are centers for studying and breeding the vectors,” Patrik said from his chair beside Khiandri. He had recovered from the incident in the north but was still furious for the dragon and partly for his father. Ikanji’s return and change were difficult for Patrik to accept.

“An insect breeding spot,” Bladewater nodded.

Kvenrei noticed a lecture threatening them and turned the discussion. “A nocturna captain is calling us to go into the middle of the forest. This sounds like an ambush.”

“They could have attacked us any time here. I don’t think Esrau would do that,” Patrik said.

“I’ll go there,” Khiandri said. She was definitive on finding her daughter.

“I’ll join you,” Ikanji said softly and Kvenrei wondered how strong his love for Khiandri had been to carry over the decades and a rebirth. He was wondering if his own emotions could ever be that strong.

“I want to meet this Esrau. You keep on telling me he has been promised a hefty sum of money for killing me and I’d like to see if he could do it,” Jenet said and they decided to leave.

They walked in a line between the trees. The thin clouds scattered the sunlight as the nocturna called Alison answered their questions but refused to tell them about the destination or Esrau. The forests here were well controlled and the forest floor had paths, for the products were periodically gathered and transported away.

Alison said the forest produced carbon fibers used in constructing the airships among other purposes. Traveling was easy as they walked along the forest’s growth direction where the trees rose on both sides in even three-meter distances and the dark, smooth rows of trunks resembled a giant fence. The nocturna said no filter hoods were needed and they believed her.

The air turned more humid as they walked on, and the trees darkened, their canopies widening until they walked in a continual shadow. The navigator had picked a loose shred of bark, in which the forest excreted its products. She was absentmindedly rolling the bark on her fingers.

“I once heard a story about how the behemoths were fed carbon fiber to strengthen their shells,” Bladewater said.

Surprisingly Ikanji answered: “I have heard the same, but this product was but the first step in the process. The compounds they ate were a more refined mixture.”

“That would make sense. Where did you hear that from?”

“During my travels on the black seas and the dark forests, Navigator. But you were not even born then.”

Khiandri glanced at Ikanji acridly: “Was that what you did for all those years?”

“Yes, I traveled the planet listening to its stories. I gave one life to a family, one life to the sea, and the third one I spent for myself. Do you know that saying?”

“Of course, but you have had more than three lives,” Bladewater pointed out.

Ikanji laughed and calculated with his fingers: “True. One for my people, one for the sea, one for the city, and the last one for me.”

“How are you planning to spend your latest life?” Jenet asked from behind the line.

“How about a revenge?” Ikanji said coldly.

“I propose space,” Bladewater said still playing with the fibrous bark, which colored her fingers black.

The light time was on, and Alison chose their camping site to allow a small fire. The nocturna knew how to choose suitable wood for not all the wood was safe to ignite. She showed the burnable part hiding between the branches’ internal, hollow structure and the fibrous bark. The bark was easy to remove when one took hold of the right layer. Despite being debarked, the wood burned with colored flames and left behind an unburned structure, like a hollow spine.

Sleeping in the forest was difficult for Kvenrei. The trees made noises. There were small sounds like in a distant factory; clicks, gurgling, and rustling in addition to the ordinary noises made by the wind. Upon awakening one could see the silent birds hovering in the sky or insects marching in lines from tree to tree, disappearing into the branches. Once Kvenrei noticed a lacelike vine having changed its shape during the night. The round shape had turned into sharp lines, all pointing to their campsite.

On the first night, Patrik had asked about the forest fires and the explosion tendencies of the forest. Alison had assured him that such was very unlikely. Patrik still seemed suspicious and slept restlessly, turning in his sleep, and waking to the slightest sounds. After the second night, he had developed dark circles around his eyes.

On the way, they crossed the forest boundaries where the growth pattern, air, and light changed in a few steps. They crossed a low gas thicket resting in a nonproductive phase, which product Alison described as harmless and inactive and with no known use. They walked through a forest with straight, grey trunks lifting copper from the ground; its broken branches covered the ground in a thick layer because the northern wells produced the metal in a more suitable form.

They found a grove with soft, sagging leaves and thick vines covering the branches, spreading a heavy fragrance. Alison didn’t comment on that one but forbade them to touch the leaves. They met other travelers only on the fifth day when they reached a road. It was separated from the two forests by deep ditches. A pair of men were walking in a ditch, cutting the roots growing from the wall on even intervals from the forest side and spreading bright yellow paste to them. On the road, two horse carriages passed them.

“A surprise to see horses,” Patrik said.

“They won’t survive outside the forest,” Alison answered shrugging her shoulders.

The road led them to a clearing by a lake. There were several buildings, almost a small village.

“This is our destination. The forest institute number four,” Alison stated and led them to a white wooden house. People were hurrying around, and the number of nocturna surprised Kvenrei. Some of them were soldiers; armed and performing the military routines, but many walked among the humans like civilians. Kvenrei had never witnessed so many nocturna in one place, and never seen their children. A few kids ran past with fishing rods and Kvenrei noticed both had ordinary eyes, like humans did.

“They darken later,” Ikanji said.

“What?”

“The eyes. The nocturna are born with blue eyes.”

Alison didn’t mind their discussion but opened a door to a neat dormitory. “You may refresh. I’ll report your arrival. Don’t leave the building and about the food…ask the kitchen. We missed the lunch.”