The Bird and The Dragon

It started to rain. The whisper the raindrops made when they hit the leaves and the branches covered any sounds from the pursuers. The group walked on until Huran found a place for his ambush. It was on an uneven ground, where those who followed were forced to walk in a line.

“Check that one,” Huran said to his men and pointed to a tree at the end of the narrow part of the path. The liquid flowing from its bark smelled acrid, and its trunk was warm against Patrik’s wet gloves.

“How long do you need?” Huran asked.

“As long as it takes,” Patrik answered. A soldier gave him the package containing his writing materials. Rain would make this challenging because it diluted everything and there would be no time for the matrix structure to harden properly. No one knew how long headstart they had over their pursuers.

Patrik needed an igniter to create the explosion, but he had only the blood in his veins and his skills with matrixes. “May I get a lift, please? I need to put this close to the canopy. The temperature is higher there.”

“The trunk’s gates are around here,” Huran said hovering his hand at the height above which the previous trees had exploded.“Hudson, help him.” Patrik took his equipment and climbed to the nocturna’s broad, rain-drenched shoulders.

“Be quick about it. They are not far behind,” Hudson muttered, but balanced himself by leaning his hands against the trunk.

Patrik considered his options. He had no clue of the trunk’s internal flows or how to target the explosion towards the path. He chose the option of brute force; a matrix to concentrate heat on a small area. It should be enough to ignite the explosive compounds gathering inside the tree.

Patrik dipped his pen into the special resin and drew the first glyph for the matrix with a practiced gesture. It was the dam, the power supply for the whole structure. He extended the three-dimensional network of lines quickly to create a combination that turned the power in the blood to heat.

A simple matrix would have sufficed, but it could be strengthened with a few additions and Patrik had learned all the additions to the basic structures. He had practiced them until he mastered them even in the dark and the rain, standing in the canopy of a possibly exploding tree.

The matrixes were a rude and wasteful way to harness the power carried in the blood - the power borrowed from the dragons. The matrixes were all about timing and shaping, about the art of creating a physical flow channel for the power. Every ainadu learned the basics as they learned to read, calculate, and sing. Most of them didn’t study the art any further and only a few had the skill and possibility to indulge themselves using the matrixes.

Patrik had put serious effort into his studies. He knew he was good with the matrixes. But he also knew that his useless half-brother Kvenrei possessed effortless brilliance on this field, something that was far out of Patrik’s grasp.

The matrix soon took the shape Patrik had planned. He cut his tattooed finger open and started to fill its power bank. Blood sank into the dark, gum-like ink and the matrix sucked its resonance. The dam was deep, and its filling took some time.

“What is going on?” Hudson sounded irritated. Patrik noticed that the residual blood, now empty from any power was dripping onto soldier’s helmet and under his collar.

“Don’t move or this spills.”

“Don’t spill it, you moron.”

His finger pressed against the cursed tree of this cursed forest Patrik thought about his half-brother. If he had gotten Kvenrei to carry his responsibilities along the track their father had set everything would have been much easier. But instead of doing what his bloodline and the state required, the young man had gotten himself a family. And now Kvenrei was badly playing a father while at the same time doing the wetwork for Anhava’s political agenda. And of course, Kvenrei interpreted his commander’s orders as he wished, resulting in him endangering his own life. Anhava’s plans were of course built to withstand Kvenrei’s impulses.

To add insult to the injury the half-brother was generally on the wrong course in his life and Patrik knew that he should do something for it. Father concentrated on his private matters and on guiding Kvenrei’s younger sister. Patrik had only Anhava's mutterings to go by, but they hinted that some internal work with matrixes had taken place and succeeded in the girl. Kvenrei had been just a test piece for the process. Patrik was not jealous of the power and the attention given to his half-sister. He knew the country needed everyone to emerge victorious from the difficult times ahead.

The dam in the matrix became full and a thick, red stain started to form on the trunk when no more resonance was absorbed. Patrik touched the helmet lightly with his foot. “Let me down.”

Patrik was lying on the ground against a rock. He was gagged and both his hands and feet were tied. Huran had run out of patience when Patrik had proclaimed, that he needed a line of sight to the tree for igniting it.

“So you didn’t make it to start automatically?”

“I could have done it, but not within this time window,” Patrik had lied. Maybe he could have created such a matrix, but it was unlikely. It was easy to write one, reliable effect, but the more conditions one added, the more power-hungry and the more unreliable the matrix grew. The nocturna did not need to know this, as it was all in Patrik’s interests to strengthen his enemy’s belief in the ainadu’s arts.

The group following them was led by a scout, a nearly invisible shape moving through the darkness. He had already passed the marked tree when Patrik noticed his presence. Far behind him came the first soldier and after him there were others. When the soldier had passed the tree Huran pressed Patrik’s shoulder to urge him to ignite the tree. The strategej opened his sight and concentrated on the switch in the igniter he had created. There were no alien memories, the dam opened, and the resonance flowed into the matrix.

It took five heartbeats and Huran had time to drag Patrik down, in the cover of the rocks. The tree made a few soft cracks when it heated, but with no further warning, its trunk exploded.

Huran’s men ambushed their pursuers from the distance, utilizing the light that silhouetted their enemy. Patrik started immediately to free his feet. Opening the ties was impossible without a blade, and he had to utilize the sight. Patrik had used it too much already, and besides it was difficult to guide the energy so close to one’s own body. Pain shot through Patrik’s leg when his tired mind slipped, but a whisper of smoke and the loosening of the ties told him they were burning nicely. Soon the rope dropped away, burned to pieces and Patrik rose to his numb feet to escape.

Patrik managed only a few steps before Huran ran to him and caught his tied hands.

“Run!” Nocturna dragged Patrik away. A tree exploded far on their left side and the air felt warmer. “A chain reaction. They are going to burn it all,” Huran continued while running forward. His steps didn’t falter. “Look around, strategej, find us a safe route.”

Patrik had no energy to open his sight, but he didn’t need it. Rain evaporated to mist where it hit the heated trunks. It was clear that he was alive only because Huran considered him as health insurance. Patrik planned on getting rid of the man, but Huran was physically too overpowering.

They crossed a muddy brook, filled by the rain, and climbed a low ridge. The clouds were red in the west where the forest was burning, and the fire was much closer than Patrik had estimated. “Shouldn’t rain extinguish it?” he asked weakly when Huran removed his gag.

“Not this fire,” Huran said. “Reaction escalates when water flows in the system through the broken trunks. A design fault in this type, this needs constant supervising…” Huran’s voice turned into a whisper. Momentarily he sounded more like a scientist than a soldier.

“Route towards the north is still open,” Patrik said, rubbing his head.

“We can’t go that way. There are too many patrols. Esrau is alive and he is following us. Let’s go on.” Like the words had been a summoning a lone man appeared in the forest. The forest fire reflecting from the clouds gave just enough light to see him. The man was running towards them with a spring in his step. Huran turned to the downhill slope, dragging Patrik behind him. They ran and slipped downwards, the ground was turning into mud.

A crossbow bolt passed Huran’s face, and a deep male voice shouted. "Stop Huran! You can't escape!”

The hand supporting Patrik disappeared. Patrik’s speed carried him a few unsteady steps before he slipped and fell to his stomach. When Patrik got up, his hands still tied, he saw Huran holding his sword, ready to meet his pursuer. The approaching nocturna was as tall as Huran, but his movements were more agile.

“Lieutenant Huran, you are under arrest for endangering the mission and your men. Orders by Commander Wratski. Drop your weapons and surrender.”

“You lost, Esrau. After this, they will never trust your rebellious whispers.”

"What is this chain reaction?” Esrau unsheathed his sword.

“Oh, you are begging to know. You think you understand the old protocols, but you are just a wet-eared puppy.”

“I was not expecting you to destroy the forest.”

“That was the ainadu. They found a main root.”

Esrau stood still, the sword in his hand, mirroring Huran’s pose. Both seemed ready to kill, but they kept on talking. Patrik scanned the forest and slope for any potential escape route, he didn't know who was lying and what the root had truly been.

“What did you inject in there?” Esrau asked.

“The ainadu did their wicked stuff. The dragon slave didn’t mention the details.” Esrau’s black eyes flicked on Patrik and Huran continued: “Don’t underestimate him. That one is more competent than he looks like.”

Esrau started to circle Huran. Men slashed each other but separated without shedding blood. Patrik made his decision and ran, trying to free his hands. It was difficult to keep his balance. Luckily the ties had become loose in the rain and when Huran had used it to handle him. Eventually, Patrik managed to free himself. Running in the darkness was risky and to Patrik’s horror mist started to form around the trees when they slowly heated up around him. Sounds of the two men trying to kill each other were still to be heard from behind.

Patrik walked following a random row of trees. All the trees were hot and located too close to each other. The even rows of trunks spread everywhere like the pillars of some hellish waiting hall. Thickening mist hung around them and the visibility was getting worse every second.

Patrik suppressed an urge to panic. He was not afraid to die, but he didn’t want to die in vain. There had to be a way to escape the fire and find a route to Haven. He followed the downward slope hoping to find a rock to slip under, a cave or even a pit, anything to shield him from the following nocturna and the impending forest fire.