First Patrol

Matriarch jumped onto the steel railing that bordered the ship's side facing the land. She took a deep breath of the crisp morning air – spring was just blossoming, so the temperature was still rather low. The female looked up, feeling the gentle wind ruffle her feathers – it was a cloudy day.

A lot had changed on the islands over the past dozen or so days. With the arrival of the new season, the surrounding landscape had completely transformed, making the areas she knew so well almost unrecognisable. The water around the ship, until recently partially frozen and extremely turbulent, now flowed around the metal hull in gentle waves.

The changes made it necessary to send several patrols to the mainland to gather some information about the situation on the islands after the winter. Matriarch was not very happy with this turn of events - now that she was no longer young and much more experienced than most flyers, she believed that leaving Steelwater carried with it considerable danger that not everyone was capable of dealing with. Such expeditions were definitely beyond her current capabilities. The female had to think carefully about who to entrust with this responsible task.

The cloudy, exceptionally grey and monotonous sky was suddenly cut through by what looked like a bright flash, diving towards the lazy, dark waves. Right behind it, a slightly less blurred shape moved, struggling and completely unsuccessfully trying to catch up with this mysterious lightning bolt. Matriarch smiled to herself at this sight. Over the years, Polaris had perfected her already above-average flying skills, while Gianna still had a hard time keeping up with her.

The Matriarch climbed even higher on the railing, ignoring the stinging pain in her still unwarmed joints. The older female whistled loudly, digging her small claws into the narrow gaps between the metal panels building the ship deck. This sign was well known to all members of her faction.

Polaris, who had meanwhile hidden behind the ship's side in flight, shot up like a geyser, hovering in the air a few metres from her adoptive mother. Gianna, slightly disconcerted by this unexpected manoeuvre, was unable to muster such grace - her heavy, somewhat restrictive exoskeleton did not allow for such a sudden increase in altitude.

It took several seconds before the two flying females finally settled on the ship's deck, stretching their wings, warmed by flight, with relish. Neither of them intended to keep Matriarch waiting - they both moved quickly towards the railing, from where the leader of Steelwater, watched them vigilantly.

Matriarch followed them with undisguised pride and affection. This brief but impressive display only confirmed her belief that she had made the right choice – these two would have no trouble handling the complicated reconnaissance mission. Seeing the excitement and youthful energy flowing from the movements of both females, she knew there was no time to delay. She explained the necessity of the patrol in a few concise words, then informed the younger females that they would be responsible for this task. She ended her explanation with a short ‘understood?’ - both nodded.

Polaris had been waiting for this. She loved to fly, especially when she had a higher purpose. Until now, she had patrolled the vicinity of Steelwater many times and regularly, but Matriarch had never sent her on a serious mission deep into the islands - she was too afraid for her adopted daughter. That was why she was so pleased with this sudden show of trust in the white female.

The plan was simple. They were to set off as soon as possible (taking advantage of the fact that the morning was exceptionally cloudy, so Polaris did not have to fear the sun, which was so unpleasant for her). This time, it was not their responsibility to patrol the ship's surroundings or the coastline - those tasks had been assigned to someone else. Polaris and Gianna were to fly almost in a straight line inland, at times lowering their flight enough to see everything that was happening on the ground clearly and easily. During this patrol, their main target was the jungle on Isla Kela (or at least its outskirts closer to the ship). They were to thoroughly examine the area and report (and, if possible, immediately check) any deviations from the norm.

They did not delay in starting their expedition. They were driven not only by a sense of duty, but also by a constant high level of excitement. The females took flight almost immediately after receiving detailed instructions about their task - Polaris' take-off was slightly faster and more elegant than her partner's. Before Gianna had reached the appropriate altitude, the female covered in white, delicate skin had already managed to spin several circles in the air.

Matriarch watched these acrobatics in silent contemplation. Ah, Polaris—it seemed like only a few days ago that it had been just a small, cold, abandoned hatchling. In her mind's eye, Matriarch saw a younger version of herself, holding the delicate body in her beak, carrying it to Steelwater, a safe haven and Polaris's future home. How had it all gone by so quickly? She could have sworn that just yesterday, this young tropeognathus had not even been able to take flight, only watching the other flyers sadly from the deck of the ship, completely ignoring the advantage her broad wings gave her. A shiver of anxiety ruffled the mother's grey-green feathers. She trusted the young female's abilities, and she knew that Polaris, when complications arose, preferred to retreat to a safe place rather than rush in without thinking. Despite this, she was unable to accept calmly that she was sending her adopted daughter and her partner on their first serious mission, a complicated patrol that could end badly in many different ways. She sincerely hoped that one day she would look back on this stress with a warm, dismissive chuckle - in a few years, when Polaris had many expeditions behind her, along with the respectable experience that would come with them.

~*~

Getting inland proved to be a simple task, but one that required considerable endurance. The wind was favourable – the morning sea breeze blowing towards the mainland provided ideal conditions for gliding, all they had to do was spread their wings and let it carry them. Both Gianna and Polaris were good at this. They were both rather larger than an average tropeognathus, so their elongated wings were ideal for this type of task.

They flew into the mainland from the side of sharp, high cliffs. They passed this place without much delay, as it took only one glance to realise that these rocks were inhabited by practically no one. The further areas were a bit more interesting - the females often saw herds of dinosaurs below, roaming the wide plains. However, they did not encounter anything that required their closer attention.

This situation was about to change when they reached the edge of a dense jungle. From a distance, they did not notice anything that seemed out of the ordinary – just a normal tropical rainforest. The first few minutes of flying over the dense vegetation also did not bring any breakthrough. This was not surprising - the females were flying quite high in the sky, so it was difficult for them to see the details below. Until Gianna suddenly noticed a strange, intensely blue spot. She alerted her partner with a short whistle.

She had already heard about such unusual, bright spots of colour in the middle of the forest. When she talked to those who had returned from the War of Thorns, many of them mentioned strange, unnatural plants that grew in Atlantis. Most of them were unusually coloured, overgrown, and had a very negative effect on the surrounding flora. If it was indeed a plant of this type, Gianna and Polaris had to destroy it.

The females lowered their flight, gradually circling over this suspicious spot. The ubiquitous trees obscured the view, but Gianna could almost swear that the blue dot seemed to be moving. Could this plant be so contrary to nature?

Gianna and Polaris landed on one of the nearby trees, and the creaking branches bent under their weight. They had chosen the wrong landing spot - they were too close to the mysterious object and completely exposed. Anyone in the vicinity could see them.

Before they could refocus on their task, the blue dot jumped in surprise at the sudden commotion behind it. Dart instinctively ruffled the black plume on her head, turning towards the sound. When she saw the culprits of the commotion, she laughed loudly.

"Who are you, guys?!" It was clear that the albertosaurus had never seen a flying reptile before, especially one as large as an adult tropeognathus. The strange proportions of the females and the unusual patterns on their skin greatly amused Dart.

The females looked at each other, extremely surprised by what they had just seen. Not only was their ‘dangerous plant’ not a plant, but it was also mocking them. Polaris mechanically introduced them, not really focusing on her words, looking in disbelief at this strange creature standing on the ground. Admittedly, they had never seen anything like this phenomenon either. They instantly regretted that Matriarch was not with them - the experienced, wise female would surely know what to do.

After several seconds of careful observation (and some short, chaotic dialogue), the females began to recognise the shape of the stranger – yes, they had already brought similar dinosaurs to the shore. Most likely, it was a young albertosaurus. But how could one explain the strange, bright, almost painful to the eyes colour of her feathers? The linear black patterns on her sides, resembling more the warning signs of a frog than the colouring of a dinosaur?

Well, that could certainly be easily determined - the blue stranger almost jumped for joy at the thought of talking to these strange reptiles falling from the sky.

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