The Bird and The Dragon

6-345 Shibasa

The winds had forced Odysseia to retreat, and they had to wait almost a day for it to return. Patrik was feverish and restless. Marci’s nose bled white mucus and she was tired.

The airship finally arrived like a cloud. Their smoking fire had been seen and Jiir Gattesund, dark circles around his eyes guided the boat to the beach. He listened to Kvenrei’s recap looking at the sky, now lightened by the day.

“One day I’ll follow her,” the young man, who once had been Stephanem Veringe, said and Kvenrei wanted to believe him.

Captain Samuel DeLangre met them over the dinner. Patrik was dozing in medicated unconsciousness and Marci had fallen into deep sleep when she had gotten into the bed. DeLangre looked older, losing his trusted navigator had been a hard hit. Even if Jiir was a competent replacement, he didn’t possess Bladewater’s inborn abilities. “I trusted Bladewater with my life and with my ship, I hope her keen senses serve her in the path she chose,” he said.

On the first night, Kvenrei went to Bladewater’s cabin to bury his head in the pillow still carrying her scent. He felt the distance as a physical pain in his chest, making him question their achievements and the price paid for them. He lay there until he heard the door opening and Khiandri sat on the bed.

“Oh Kven,” she said softly, moisture in her eyes.

“I never shared her bed,” Kvenrei said in a muffled voice, embarrassed about how she had found him.

“I know. One may grieve the departure of a friend even more than the death of a lover. She was my friend too. A wise woman with a dream. I used to be like her, but I lost my courage.”

Kvenrei reached with his hand and dragged Khiandri down, hugging her, feeling a little better for the touch.

They lay for some time, getting comfort from each other. When the tears had dried Khiandri sat up, caressing Kvenrei’s hand. “My sweet Kven, I still need to gather myself. There has been too much happening in too short a time. Will you wait for me?”

“Of course. This has been a lot to go through…and it’s not over yet.” Kvenrei pushed himself up, his eyes puffy. He thought he was a shame and he should act more like his father, the unshakable strategej, anchor, and protector for Khiandri, but he shook the fancy away. Yes, he wanted Khiandri, wanted to kiss her, learn to know her in all ways, but he admitted he needed time. Khiandri smiled at him and Kvenrei felt a weight shifting in his heart. Maybe he didn’t need to fill the void his father had left. He could find his way.

Khiandri gave him a small kiss on the lips. “I must shake the weight of my past. I have lost two men to death, and I strictly forbid you to be the third.”

“It’s my pleasure to obey, my lady,” Kvenrei smiled and watched dreamily as Khiandri left for the cabin she shared with Marci.

Sullen Miss Ohanu received them at her house by the sea. The building was covered in scaffolding and the garden was bare, flushed away except for a few trees. The sea had hit the building hard, but the repairs had already started.

Kvenrei’s children were unharmed and evacuated to Miss Ohanu’s house. Patrik was left in Andraka’s care for Ohanu claimed he knew about medicine or at least knew several practitioners. Patrik’s wound had gotten worse. He understood its severity but accepted the potential consequences with a one-sided shrug, hiding his emotions.

Despite the situation, the sight of Patrik made Kvenrei smirk; Patrik and Andraka had the same hair color and similar skin tones. Patrik sat on a stool while Andraka cleaned the wound and spread ointment to his shoulder. Both men wore carefully neutral expressions: they were highly suspicious of each other but masked it with a grim determination. They were like two feral dogs forced to be in the same room.

After the door had closed Ohanu affirmed Kvenrei’s interpretation of the situation. “Your brother should better heal quickly or those two will cause trouble.”

“I don’t understand why your butler is willing to use his precious time in Patrik. Patrik specifically said he accepts anyone else’s care.”

“Because dear Andraka recognizes a diva when he sees one,” Ohanu laughed, the noise bright and happy. “And he knows how to deal with someone like Patrik to prevent a depression caused by the injury. It’s not about gentleness and understanding, it is about the spite towards the healing process, In the end, your pretty brother will do anything just to get rid of Andraka’s care.”

“You may be right. I don’t see Patrik giving up and slipping into melancholy.”

“Of course, I am right, Ikanji, age comes with wisdom,” Miss Ohanu chuckled.

Marci’s health didn’t improve. The girl stopped talking and the white liquid flew also from her ears. She looked pale under her covers and Khiandri didn’t leave her side.

“I don’t see the colors anymore,” Marci answered when Andraka asked how she felt. “She is silent. It all is silent. I hear nothing, no one is out there.”

Andraka only nodded and changed a fresh linen under Marci’s head. “The infection is spreading. I’ll fetch an expert. These incidents are not unknown in Shibasa…some willingly expose themselves to the past chemicals in the hope of attaining beauty, immortality, or healing. The results are almost always disappointing, but they have provided experience for Shibasa doctors.”

“It was an accident,” Khiandri said holding her chin high and staring at Andraka.

“I was not blaming you. Do you want a doctor?”

“Yes, do it, please.”

Wearing a bright turquoise dress with a daring neckline and high heels doctor Livia Nemez was nothing Kvenrei had imagined an end-of-the-world doctor to look like. Instead, Livia seemed to perfectly well suit Miss Ohanu’s circles. She inspected Marci, listened to her lungs, checked the eyes and ears, and finally took a sample of the mucus.

“This resembles perdidine,” Livia said her tones showing she had used to speak with the rich and the eccentric. “It is separated from nocturnas’ locus spiritus and they use it in their initiation rituals as Professor Ridden has illuminated in her works.”

Kvenrei stood by Khiandri listening with slight disbelief as the doctor continued: “The genuine product is almost impossible to come by, but the hopeful are keen on buying a fake substance. Usually, it results in an allergic reaction, but this is something more.”

Livia dropped the mucus into a tube where it dissolved into light green liquid. She mixed it with practiced movements, drew liquid into a pipette, and dosed it to eight test tubes ready in their stand. Livia inspected the tubes: tilted them, smelled, and pointed to light to see them better.

“You told the girl was exposed to structural dust. It must have included self-regulating or constructing elements for they are now replicating inside Marci’s body. Usually, those are not biologically compatible with humans, but she has been out of luck.”

“How will we treat her?” Khiandri controlled her voice, but it carried authority and Livia seemed to sense it. The doctor returned the tube to the stand and touched Khiandri’s wrist.

“The crystals will continue what they have always done, but in the wrong environment. Maybe they’ll reach bone…the effect will depend on where they end. Finally, the pain will increase, and she is likely to die.”

Khiandri removed her hand from the doctor’s hold. “I asked how she will be healed.”

“We can try to make Marci’s body a difficult environment for them, but it will be a straining process and she is already weak. The result is unsure. If the situation grows too painful...”

“Thank you, doctor Nemez. I expect to see your plan in operation as soon as possible.”

When Livia had left Khiandri sat on Marci’s bed petting the girl’s leg. “I’ll take care of you. We’ll make it safely home. She didn’t mean the things about the pain, dear.”

Kvenrei felt like crying. He would have been willing to do anything for his children and understood Khiandri would not travel until the situation was over in one way or another. They had heard nothing of the dragon and Kvenrei was ready to wait day or weeks.

Marci was treated by making her breath scented steam. Her ears were rinsed, she received magnetic therapy, her skin was rubbed with ointments, and she was made to drink vast amounts of acidic liquid. Nothing seemed to make a difference. Khiandri couldn’t decipher what was happening in Marci’s body, but she tried to use her resonance skills even if they were of no help. “It is like watching a soup. You see the surface and some glimpses on the below, but it all is vague and shapeless,” she said.

“I believe in you, but how was Ikanji able to work with my bones?” Kvenrei asked.

“Her mother created that technique. It got them hunted by the dragon Saa and shoved him into the rebellion. I miss his skills now.”

Six days after their arrival to Shibasa Kvenrei woke to noises from the staircase. He took a poker from the fireplace and moved silently to the door. A crouched figure was on the stairs making scratching noises. It took a few seconds to understand that it was Marci, who had detached the carpet from the stairs, ripping it from a seam. She was sitting there, scraping the dry glue, and putting it into her mouth. The weak glow betrayed the lights moving in Marci’s eyes.

“Marci? Are you sleepwalking?” Kvenrei approached hiding the poker behind his back. The girl’s behavior was weird, but something like that could be expected from one possessed by the end of the world curses.

“Hungry,” Marci muttered chewing the sticky pieces. She had yellowish drool on her cheeks and her nails were broken.

“Let’s go to the kitchen to get you something proper to eat. Let me help you.” The man gave his hand to the girl, but Marci took a tight hold of the carpet and hissed angrily. The eerie green light in her eyes made Kvenrei consider if picking her up forcefully was wise.

“Dad?” Liida asked. She was standing on the upper level wearing a robe.

“Come to help,” Kvenrei said. He wanted to save Khiandri from this episode, and Marci seemed ready to scream should she be removed.

Liida walked there with her bare feet and kneeled two steps below Marci. The glue was tightly stuck to the carpet and Marci had only managed to remove small pieces. Liida took a dagger from her sleeve and carved out a sheet of glue offering it to the younger girl like sugar. Marci took it happily, held Liida’s hand with her sticky fingers, and followed her to the kitchen.

Kvenrei set Marci by the side table and randomly opened the cupboards without a clue what he was looking for. The girl didn’t want fruits, fish, meat, bread, jam, seeds, salt, or cookies. Liida offered her a greasy spatula, the flavorful liquid used in cooking broths and oily marinade, but Marci only sniffed them and continued chewing the glue. In exasperation Kvenrei put various spices to the table opening them: dried berries, salts, herbs, and peppers.

Marci tasted the red salt but spat it out. Then she took the glass jar with transparent grains, whose bitter smell Kvenrei connected to preserves. Marci put one in her mouth. It reacted with the moisture turning into a thick jelly. Marci swallowed and took more grains. Liida gave her a glass of water and a spoon sitting beside her, grinning widely at her father.

Marci added the grains to the glass and topped them with dried pieces of some tree bark. Kvenrei felt ridiculous when Marci drank the smelly, clotted drink, but he assumed the items in the kitchen were no worse than the stuff the doctor had fed her. Marci let out a small, horrible-smelling belch. The table was a mess of opened containers and their spilled contents.

“Was it tasty? Let’s get you cleaned,” Kvenrei said to Marci, whose eyes were losing their green glow.

“I’ll help her. You clean this,” Liida said quickly and Kvenrei agreed. His daughter was almost an adult and more capable of managing some items than him.

Marci started to recover, and the mucus flow stopped. She demanded more of the jelly, which was an algae product. Doctor Nemez disagreed, stating the parasite growing in Marci needed the minerals, but Khiandri didn’t listen to her, and Marci got what she wanted. Two weeks after the return to Shibasa the girl was up and around.

Patrik’s wound had closed, but the fresh scrub was surrounded by a lacelike, bluish pattern, the evidence of exposure to the dust. He was still in pain and hardly able to lift his arm. Andraka continued applying his ointment and Patrik had vowed he would be able to travel when the time came.

The storm on the Shallow Sea and the lights in the sky had bred many rumors. They covered the second end of the world, the waking of the olds, and the new coming of the artificials. The city was restless, and many doors and windows were marked with protective symbols, summonings, and dismissals in equal share. Preachers had appeared on the streets to proclaim the coming of the olds. Among this chaos the first message from Esrau had reached Shibasa: “The dragon is on the move to Parisya.”

Liida and Tiago wanted to go north with their father, but he had decided to leave them to Shibasa with Pakhui.

“But Ayu is already there!” Tiago said.

“And I will send her to the south if I can. I want you all to be safe.”

“Marci travels with you, it is unfair,” Liida argued.

“They need me. Can I borrow your room in Parisya?” Marci asked, she had taken a liking to Liida.

“Um, sure. Hey Marci, you can also borrow my dolls if you want. I don’t play with them anymore.”

Pakhui was left standing stoically with the children as the airship left for the north.