The Bird and The Dragon

“Are those algae flowering?”

Bladewater looked at where Jonathan pointed. “Yes, they are pretty…wait.” She took the binoculars and observed the growth. “There is another cocoon ready to hatch. I’ll report the captain.”

“Are we in danger, is it about to explode?”

“Look at the algae. They are in full bloom, and at this time of the year, it is a sure sign of a coming explosion. We must keep our distance.” Bladewater gave Jonathan the binoculars and disappeared to the flight deck where Jonathan was strictly forbidden to enter.

Soon Odysseia was gaining more altitude and flying away from the hatching site. DeLangre took his navigator’s warnings seriously and ordered the charting to continue from the safe height of one kilometer. The mapping and measurements proceeded until the late afternoon when steam was noticed rising from the site.

The captain canceled the measurements and ordered all the equipment to be targeted toward the potential hatching. More steam escaped and rafts of algae loosened from the cocoon under the sea. They floated away, carried by the underwater currents churning the waters around the cocoon. Steam and gas were blowing out like from a geyser and when the cocoon exploded it happened without further warning.

A massive pillar of water and steam rose to the sky shedding pieces that looked small from the distance. The pressure and sound from the explosion rumbled over Odysseia shaking and turning it. Jonathan stared at the sky his ears ringing. The explosion cloud was climbing over Odysseia’s altitude and hit a jet flow speeding towards the west. Material was dropping to the sea and Jonathan was thankful for the distance that prevented him from seeing the remains of the behemoth.

A little later the navigator was arguing with DeLangre about following the flow. “The jet flow may have blown Serenia’s remains towards the west. That would explain why there is so little debris.”

“No one would survive that,” the captain said.

“What if there is a cemetery for the behemoths?” Bladewater asked invoking an old seafarer’s tale.

“It’s but a story.”

“Maybe, but considering the flow patterns…I wouldn’t be surprised to find a place where the remains rain down. It might be worth investigating for the potential reefs.”

Jonathan listened hiding his smile; Bladewater knew her captain’s weak points. DeLangre didn’t believe in finding survivors, but he possessed scientific curiosity towards the phenomena of the sky to rival Bladewater’s.

Eventually, Odysseia followed the path marked in the sky by the explosion. The airship flew on the atmosphere’s safe, lower layers where the temperature was not too cold. The few hours spent in higher altitudes had lowered the inside temperature to an uncomfortable level.

One day was left of the light time and Odysseia was hovering over a broken island chain. It was a treacherous maze of isles, rocks, and the ruins of dead technology. The remains reached the sky like broken fingers. Bladewater had been awoken in the middle of her sleep for they were on the borderline between Watergate’s light and dark sides and the winds were strong and erratic. The navigator knew her work and she had found a calm layer of air.

Only the dark circles under the eyes told of Bladewater’s lack of sleep when Jonathan arrived at the common room. He took breakfast from the table and sat with the woman. Voices from the flight deck revealed DeLangre was giving out commands. Jonathan scanned the view outside. The natural rocks were covered in fallen and broken buildings, thick cables, and glass-like glimmering which covered random areas like molten crystal. In many places, waves were rushing among a few still-standing towers. Some of them, the huge cylinders, seemed to rotate, but it must have been an illusion created by the interplay of water and shadows. The low murmur was trembling in the air, the wind playing in the ruins.

“Some of Serenia’s remains are on the beach,” Bladewater said. “A blanket is hung from a stone like a flag like someone had tried to signal their survival.”

“Will the captain send someone to check it?”

“I told him I would go there, and he forbade me.”

“And I still do. Thomms, it is too dangerous,” Samuel DeLangre said stepping into the room like Jonathan did not exist.

“I have been down there before,” Bladewater said.

“When?” the captain asked.

“When I came to this side of Watergate. I stopped there.”

“But it is a cursed place. Isles are haunted by the ash specters and the wind and waves will crush the boats.”

“There is nothing cursed in there. Only some remains of the past. Remains, from which we could learn. But you are correct, captain. We can’t risk taking Odysseia down there. I’ll take the boat.”

“I’ll come with you,” Jonathan said automatically. His curiosity was almost as pressing as his urge to keep Bladewater safe.

The captain was unwilling to let Bladewater go, but the navigator stood her ground. In the end, four men were assigned to Bladewater. They were lowered to the sea on a boat belonging to the airship’s equipment. The men were volunteers and none of them originated from Khem. The boat was removed from its cables, and they rowed to the island following Bladewater’s orders.

The shoreline had a ramp, a broken plate of partly molten material from the past. They latched the boat to a stone and investigated the material that sea and wind, or maybe human hands had gathered on the shoreline. There was a hat, a wet pillow, and pieces of furniture. Some of the items were spread on the rocks to dry.

“Is this the place you told me about?” Jonathan asked.

“I think so.”

“But there is nothing in the sky,” the man said scanning the horizon.

“It is not visible from here. It reflects the light most curiously. I didn’t want Odysseia to fly over this place.” Bladewater glanced towards the airship ensuring it was where it was supposed to be. It was waiting for them over a kilometer from the shoreline, at a height of two hundred meters. “That hill-like structure on top of us, the machinery is in there.” Bladewater led them uphill. The navigator walked with bare hands, but the crew was armed. All the men except one were scanning their surroundings for danger. One of them seemed to be stricken by a sense of wonder.

They circulated the structure and found a fire someone had built but failed to ignite. On top of the fireplace, a white curtain was hanging from the wall, hopelessly stuck to rusted metal wires.

“The doorway is here,” Bladewater guided and pointed towards a road, almost covered in dirt. A corroded set of rails was still visible on its surface. Jonathan imagined the road surrounded by walls, maybe built in a tunnel when it was in use. The end of the world had broken and changed everything, baring the hidden places to the open air.

“What caused all this destruction?” he muttered.

“According to the histories the lift system had three cables. Only one remains. Maybe something fell and crushed this place,” the navigator answered quietly. Jonathan nodded, it was difficult to imagine a city or a spaceship or even a behemoth falling from the skies even when he stood in the middle of the evidence.

They followed the rails to a nonregular opening resembling more a broken rock than anything human hands had made. Jonathan went in first, he didn’t want Bladewater to step into the darkness where the monsters from the past might lurk. He didn’t trust the crew like he didn’t trust any hirelings serving the guilds and companies.

The room was huge. Its floor was covered in wreck, but most of the rubbish was piled along the walls. There were sand and stones, but tangled wires, rusted pipes, and pieces of broken machines. Sickly plants were clinging to life among the wreckage, their roots sucking the meager sustenance from the thin soil.

Someone had built a rickety shelter on one wall. Jonathan hardly noticed it at first. inside, for the room was dominated by an illuminated circle on the floor. It was like bright sunlight flowing from no obvious source. Jonathan approached the light cautiously and was on the circle’s perimeter when the source appeared. A transparent cable was hanging from the sky and the circle of light spread from where it connected to a pedestal.

“Please, be quiet. He is asleep,” a voice said from the middle of the light. “Please, don’t wake him up or he goes on a rampage again.” Someone was leaning on the pedestal and rose slowly. It was a young man, almost an adult, his clothing shredded and his head bandaged with a dirty rag.

“Did you survive Serenia’s wreck? We are here to save you.” Bladewater said. The youngster blinked his eyes understanding the visitors were real.

“Yes. There was an explosion. I woke up here and Miss Jakob thought I was dead.”

Bladewater walked to the young man and hugged him tightly. “Hush don’t worry. I am Bladewater Thomms, the navigator of Odysseia. Is Miss Jakob asleep?”

“No, navigator, miss Jakob is gone. She fell. To the sky. Along the light.” The youngster held Bladewater like he was drowning and his words dried in his mouth. Bladewater gave him some time to gather himself.

Jonathan checked the perimeter. Someone was lying in the hut. He was a man with long black hair, wearing the whitest shirt Jonathan had ever seen, black trousers, and shoes so thin they were like socks. Jonathan pointed him to Bladewater, who shook her head, forbidding Jonathan to wake him.

“What’s your name?” Bladewater asked the youngster.

“Jiir Gattesund, navigator.”

“And what position did you hold in Serenia?”

“Junior engineman, navigator.”

“Very good Jiir, who is the man over there?”

“183-Anteron.”

Bladewater raised her eyebrows. “A peculiar name. Was he a passenger?”

“It reads in his shirt, navigator.” Jiir pointed to the left side of his shirt showing the place for a label. “No navigator, he was not on Serenia.”

“Where did he come from?”

“Along the light, navigator. A day after Miss Jakob disappeared.”

“Tell me everything, Jiir.”

“There was a small room on the pedestal. It was warm inside and Miss Jakob had taken me there. I was on the beach when I saw that room floating on top of this ruin. It was rising and then it disappeared. Miss Jakob was nowhere to be found.”

“And that man appeared a day later?”

“Affirmative, navigator. There was a voice like the wind on the reeds and like people muttering and then another room, a blackened one was falling along the light. It came down too fast, hit the pedestal, and rolled over. It is that one.” Jiir pointed to a rectangular box lying away from the light. At least two similar ones were among the rubbish.

“Thank you Jiir, you have been helpful.” Bladewater smiled and waved one of his men to take care of the youngster. The navigator started to approach the hut, but Jonathan stopped her.

“Let me do it. He may be dangerous.” The sleeping man was an otherworldly creature. His skin was too faultless, the hair too thick, the body too slender and balanced. Jonathan circled to where his legs lay and kicked them grinning. “Wake up time! The rescue party is here!”