Sky Riders: The Rising Sun

“Eliana!” a voice called. She moaned and stirred, throwing an arm over her eyes. “Eliana!”

She blinked and sat up, looking around her in confusion. She’d expected to see the humble surroundings of Otium’s hut, with the old woman standing in the bedroom doorway, nagging her to wake up. But the light streaming through the round window was not the sunrise, but the sunset. The room and the bed were not her own, and the figure in the doorway, silhouetted by the sunset, was not Otium—it was Caelum.

He had changed from his travel-worn clothing and now wore a pair of formal black trousers and boots. A loose white tunic of silk was belted at his waist with a strip of black cloth. He smirked at her rumpled appearance as she rubbed the sleep from her eyes.

“You hardly look ready for the feast,” he remarked teasingly.

Eliana jumped to her feet as she remembered. “How long have I been asleep?” she asked hurriedly. “When is the feast starting?”

Caelum laughed. “You have a little time still. The feast begins when the sun sets below the horizon. There should be a white dress in your wardrobe; elves always wear white to evening feasts.” He gave her a nod and started back across the bridge as he said, “I’ll let you get changed.”

Eliana stepped over to the clay tub in the back corner of the room and stared blankly at it for a moment before hurrying over to the doorway. “Caelum!” she called.

He turned back to look at her, standing in his own doorway. “Yes?”

“Where do I get water from?”

He gave her a mischievous grin. “From the tree.”

She sighed. “And how do I get the water from the tree?”

The mischief grew on his face. “Just ask it.”

Eliana rolled her eyes in irritation. “Caelum, could you please?” She was not used to being teased—at least, not in a friendly way—and she very quickly became defensive.

He laughed and crossed back over the bridge. “Of course.”

She watched him as he stepped over to the clay tub and placed his hand on the wooden wall above it. After a very brief moment, water began to pour from the wall into the tub, like he had opened a spring within the wood. “See?” he said with a smug grin. “Just ask.”

Eliana smirked and shook her head. “I don’t think I will ever understand elven magic.”

“If you are willing to learn, I believe you will.” The tub was filled, and Caelum touched his fingers to the wall. The spring of water stopped. “You should hurry,” he said. “As the guests of honor, it would not be ideal for us to be late to our own feast. I’ll meet you outside in half an hour.”

He disappeared across the bridge, and Eliana quickly undressed and slipped into the water. To her surprise, it was warm, and she gave a sigh of pleasure as she sunk in it up to her shoulders. She gave herself a few moments to enjoy the sensation, then began to quickly and fiercely scrub the grime and dirt from her skin. She washed herself from head to toe, then forced herself to step out of the warm water and seized a towel from a nearby shelf in the wall.

After hurriedly drying, she turned to the nook in the wall that held the clothes the elves had given her. The white dress Caelum had told her to wear hung in the center of the wardrobe. She extracted it and examined it for a long moment.

It was more beautiful than anything she had ever worn in her life. It was made of soft, flawless silk, with golden thread detailing the hems of the sleeves, neckline, and the bottom of the dress. It was the kind of dress that even the wealthiest girls in Vegrandis would be sorely jealous of.

Eliana smiled a little to herself, imaging what those girls’ expressions would be if they saw her—the half-breed outcast—wearing a dress like this. She slipped into it excitedly, relishing the feeling of the soft silk on her skin, enjoying the perfect fit of the dress.

She found a wooden comb and mirror on a shelf above the washbasin, and she quickly combed her hair into a smooth, black sheet, letting it hang loosely below her shoulder blades. She examined herself briefly in the mirror. If Vegrandis could see me now, she thought with some satisfaction.

Before leaving the room, she stepped back over to the bed and knelt on it, facing the shelf in the wall. She softly touched her fingers to the golden egg shell, sensing the life inside. “I’ll be back soon,” she whispered to the unborn dragon, unsure if he could hear her or not. Then she stood and headed down the stairs to the base of the tree.

Caelum was waiting for her below, leaning against the trunk of the tree, and he straightened as she emerged. “Well,” he said with a charming smile, “you look even more like an elf when you’re not covered in dirt and jumping into rivers.”

She made a face at him. “Um, thank you?”

He laughed. “I suppose I should rephrase that.” His smile softened and he said, “You look beautiful, Eliana.”

Nobody had called her beautiful before either, aside from her father and Otium, and she felt a slight flush of pleasure come to her cheeks. Her stomach gave an unexplained flutter as she met his smiling eyes. All her life, she’d been hideous to everyone around her, because of what she was. And now, she was being called beautiful and remarkable by this strange elf.

What an odd change, she thought to herself. She didn’t know what she’d expected from the elves. Tolerance, perhaps, but not this open acceptance. Not being treated as an honored guest of the royal family. Not being looked at in the way Caelum was looking at her now.

Caelum held out his arm to her. “We should be on our way,” he told her. “They’ll all be waiting for us.”

Eliana slipped her hand through the crook of his elbow, and he led her back through the palace and out into the city. The roads were empty aside from them and a few animals that slipped between the trees. Eliana looked around her at the glowing orbs of light that hung in the air along the paths and around the elves’ homes. They emitted warm light in a variety of hues—gold, orange, blue, green—so that the city seemed to be resting beneath a rainbow.

“What are those?” she asked.

“Magic,” Caelum answered. “You’ll learn how to make them someday.”

“You seem very certain of that,” she remarked, giving him a sideways glance. “In fact, you seem very certain of many things about me. Why is that?”

He just smiled at her in that way he had. “You’ll see tomorrow, I promise.”

“And until then I’m just supposed to trust that you mean me no harm?”

Caelum laughed. “If I meant you harm, Eliana, you certainly would not be in Iterum. You never would have made it off the riverbank.”

She pursed her lips and made no response. Certainly, she wanted to trust him; he had brought her here, to Iterum, after all. He’d offered her and the egg safe harbor. But nineteen years of being treated suspiciously had taught her to treat others the same way. However, for the time being, she had no choice but to follow along with him. She was his guest, and she had to behave as such. And, she admitted to herself, he intrigued her.

She was distracted from her thoughts by the sound of music coming from up ahead. It caught her attention, seeming to pull her in, and she found herself walking towards it more quickly, her face flushing with excitement. Caelum pulled her back gently, slowing her down.

“Calm down,” he said with a chuckle.

She looked up at him and blinked, realizing suddenly what she’d been doing. She shook her head. “I’m sorry… I don’t know what…”

“It’s the music,” he told her. “It awakens something in us that we can’t explain. Just try not to listen too intently. It’s easiest if you keep speaking to me. It’ll distract you.”

She gave it a try, saying the first thing that came to her mind. “Do you think it’s possible that my mother is here?” she asked. “I don’t know what happened to her after the villagers drove her out. She may have come back here.”

Caelum shrugged. “I suppose it’s possible. But unfortunately I don’t know. There are a few clans of elves that live away from Iterum, so she may have joined one of them.”

“If she’s alive,” Eliana added quietly.

He made no reply, but she wasn’t sure if it was because he hadn’t heard her, or because they were now approaching Queen Ivi and Prince Denio. They stood ahead of them on the path near a stone arch. Through the archway, Eliana could see the elves of Iterum. They were dancing freely and wildly to the intoxicating music. Orbs of light hung above their heads, casting a multicolored glow on their pale, laughing faces. Eliana clenched her teeth and gripped Caelum’s arm, fighting the urge to join them.

“Caelum!” Queen Ivi called as they approached. “There you are. Why must you always worry me?”

“Sorry, Mother,” Caelum sighed. Eliana could hear bitterness in his voice. “I know I tend to disappoint you.”

She shifted uncomfortably and saw Denio sigh and shake his head, as if this were a familiar exchange. Queen Ivi ignored her eldest son’s remark. She glanced around them, as if searching for something.

“Where is Astrum?” she muttered, then called out, “Astrum!”

A pale shape immediately caught Eliana’s eye, slipping through the trees towards them. She stared at it as what appeared to be a pure white fox slunk silently towards them. It came and sat at the queen’s feet, looking up at Eliana with great, golden eyes. She felt frozen by that golden gaze, staring back unblinkingly.

“Astrum,” Queen Ivi said, “please prepare the elves for the feast.”

The little fox dipped its pointed white muzzle, still looking at Eliana. “Yes, your majesty.”

Eliana drew back in surprise as the words emerged from the fox’s mouth. She glanced between the three elves around her, but nobody else seemed startled by the fact that the animal had just spoken. Only Astrum seemed to notice her surprise. A look of amusement entered his golden eyes, and a small smile curled up the corner of his long mouth. Then he turned and walked silently through the arch, his white tail high.

The moment the fox disappeared through the arch, the music and laughter stopped, and there was a clattering and scraping, as if furniture were being moved across the stone floor of the village square.

Eliana leaned towards Caelum’s ear and whispered, “What was that?”

“Astrum” he responded in an equally quiet voice. “He has served the royal family for as long as anyone can remember. He is a Seer, and immortal. The elves hold him with as much respect as the king and queen themselves.”

“Seer?” Eliana repeated disbelievingly. “Immortal?”

Caelum laughed. “I wish I could explain Astrum to you, but we hardly understand him ourselves. He comes and goes as he pleases, speaks in riddles, and never bothers to explain himself. But his prophecies are never wrong.” He looked down at her with an expression that she couldn’t quite decipher. It was as if he knew something that he wasn’t sharing. Something about her. It made her uneasy.

In front of them, Queen Ivi put her hand through Denio’s arm, and the pair of them started forward through the archway. Caelum and Eliana followed in their wake. Through the archway, the city square had been covered with long banquet tables and benches. The elves were standing quietly behind the benches, watching with smiling faces as Eliana and the royals entered the square; she was beginning to wonder if elves were perpetually happy.

She scanned the faces as she passed them. Several of them turned towards each other and exchanged curious whispers at the presence of the strange girl on Prince Caelum’s arm. Something prodded at the back of Eliana’s mind, as if she had forgotten something that desperately needed her attention, but she could not remember what it was.

A face caught her gaze. It was a beautiful face beneath long, blonde hair, and the blue eyes were narrowed in hatred. She recognized the face—Raena. Their eyes met, and the same cold, bitter voice shoved its way into her mind.

“Half-breed tramp,” the voice spat. Eliana could feel the pure, poisonous hatred in the voice. “That is where I belong. Caelum should be escorting me.”

Caelum touched the hand that rested on his arm, and Eliana forced her gaze away from Raena’s, looking up at him. His brow was furrowed in concern. “Are you alright?”

She nodded quickly. “Yes. Fine.”

It was apparent he didn’t believe her, but he said nothing. They reached a table on the far end of the square, with four chairs behind it. Astrum sat in front of the table, swishing his white tail from side to side. Denio pulled out one of the center chairs for his mother, and Queen Ivi sat. She nodded at the crowd, and there was the sound of movement as everyone sat.

Caelum pulled out Eliana’s chair and pushed it in behind her before sitting next to her, between Eliana and his mother. Once everyone had sat, elves carrying food-laden trays began to file through the archways on each side of the square. Platters were set on the table before the four of them.

Eliana eyed the food hungrily; she had eaten only Caelum’s bread and cheese in the last forty-eight hours. The servers filled their plates as others set equally full trays on the other tables. Her fingers fiddled with the fabric of her dress, resisting the urge to dive into her food like an animal.

Once everyone’s plates were full, Queen Ivi picked up her silverware and looked around at the crowd. “My friends,” she said from her seat, “please, enjoy the feast.”

Evidently, this was the signal. All of the elves began serving food onto their plates, and the royal family began to eat. With relief, Eliana tore a piece of bread from the chunk on her plate and bit into it. It had a deep, rich flavor unlike anything she’d ever tasted, and she sighed with ecstasy.

Queen Ivi leaned forward, looking at her around Caelum. “Tell me, Eliana,” the queen said with a friendly smile. “How is it that you have never been to Iterum? Most elves of the wandering clans come at least a few times in their lives.”

Eliana blinked at her, the rich bread still filling her mouth. The queen did not know what she was. She swallowed hard and looked at the woman, then at Caelum. His eyes were widened slightly, and he was moving his head from side to side very slightly. He didn’t want her to admit what she was. But then what was she supposed to say?

Suddenly, the white shape of Astrum leapt up onto the wooden table, landing silently between the platters of food, drawing everyone’s attention. The laughing, chattering elves all quieted at the white fox’s movement. He moved to stand in front of Eliana, and trapped her in his golden gaze again.

Then, the fox opened his muzzle and spoke:

“Such a thing I’ve never seen

In all my many days.

She does not know what she is,

She does not know our ways.”

He stepped around her goblet and looked at Caelum sitting beside her.

“He turned his back on the throne,

But for a much greater cause.

He will join the one that’s half

To raise fire, wings, and claws.”

He brushed past the pile of fruit at the center of the table and stood in front of the queen.

“And so, my queen, the time is near

When we see the mighty change.

Power given, a kingdom ended,

And the battle rearranged.”

And then, the white fox turned, leapt off the table, and disappeared into the trees.

Eliana looked at Caelum, who seemed unsettled. He was watching his mother warily, as if waiting to see what she would say, how she would interpret the Seer’s words.

Queen Ivi blinked, staring into the distance for a moment. Then she let out a short laugh. “Someday, I will get Astrum to stop speaking in such muddled riddles.” She gestured at the musicians, who sat near their table. “Music!”

They stood, raised their instruments, and began to play. Almost immediately, Eliana felt the blood rush to her head. Her breathing became shallow and excited, and her heart started to race. She remembered what Caelum had said about trying to block out the music’s effects by speaking, and she searched her mind desperately for something to say. But all she found was music.

The musicians were so close, and her head was spinning, spinning, spinning with the sounds of the instruments. Caelum looked down at her. His face looked flushed, and his eyes were bright; the music seemed to be affecting him too. Still, he managed to frown in some concern at the vague smile that was spreading across her face.

He opened his mouth to speak to her. She heard drums and the strumming of a lyre. Eliana giggled. Caelum was speaking in music. The elf shook his head and said something, which sounded like the trilling of a pan flute. She let out a burst of laughter.

Frowning at her—but with a hint of amusement in his bright eyes—Caelum stood and took her by the forearm. She let him pull her from her seat, hoping that they were going to dance. Instead, he guided her gently through the archway nearest their table, leading her a short way down the path, where the music was quieter.

He stopped and faced her, holding her firmly by the shoulders and peering down at her with some concern. She smiled stupidly up at him. “Are you alright?” he asked. She heard his words this time, but the music was still ringing in her head.

She laughed without knowing why. For some reason, his question seemed incredibly funny to her. Still giggling like a giddy drunk, she threw her arms around his neck, nearly knocking him over. He sighed in apparent exasperation and pulled her arms away from him. He grabbed her by the shoulders again, more tightly this time, and looked firmly down at her.

“Listen to my voice,” he said sharply. Eliana blinked at him, and the fuzzy halo that seemed to be surrounding him grew dimmer. “Tell me your name,” he demanded.

She paused briefly, then said, “Eliana.”

“Good. What’s my name?”

“Caelum,” she answered slowly.

“Do you know where we are?”

She nodded. “In Iterum.”

“And what do you have back in your bedroom?”

She felt herself growing more somber. “A dragon’s egg…”

He sighed and let go of her shoulders, apparently satisfied that she was no longer going to act like a complete fool.

Eliana shook her head, trying to brush off the lingering confusion in her mind. She touched her fingers to her temple. “What was the matter with me?”

“The music,” he answered. “Elves who grow up around it are used to it. It intoxicates us, but we can control our reactions. But for you, with it being so close, it affected you more heavily—like a person who has never had mead before drinking an entire barrel in one sitting.”

She felt that that was a fairly accurate description of the way her head was spinning.

"Are you feeling better now?" he asked, still looking at her with some concern.

She nodded slightly. "I think so."

Caelum smirked at her. "You're rather amusing when you're intoxicated," he remarked teasingly.

Eliana felt herself flush, suddenly embarrassed by the way she'd thrown her arms around him. "Well, I'm happy I could amuse you," she answered, avoiding his eyes.

He laughed quietly. “We should return to the feast,” he said.

She hesitated. “What about the music?” she asked. The effect it had had on her unsettled her. She didn’t much like the idea of losing control of herself again.

He gave her a small smile and pulled her hand back through his elbow. “Just focus on me. Talk to me. Don’t even listen to the music.”

She allowed herself to be led back through the arch, back towards the music. As she drew closer to it, she could feel it beginning to weave its way into her mind again, pulling up an unreasonable giddiness.

“Caelum, perhaps you can tell me something,” she said, trying to force back the effects of the music. “When we met Raena and Laevis in the woods this morning, you said that you had told Raena not to cause me any harm. How could you have told her that?”

He paused for a brief moment, in which the music began to tug at her again. But when he spoke, the feeling ebbed away. “It’s difficult to explain… It’s something that elves do without thinking. I mean, how do you explain to someone how you breathe? You simply do it.” They’d returned to the table, and Ivi and Denio cast them curious looks as Caelum pulled out Eliana’s chair for her. He continued speaking to her, ignoring their looks.

“I suppose it’s similar to the way you can sense someone’s presence. First, you learn to identify the presence—human or elf or animal, friend or foe. Sometimes, if you know the person well, you can identify precisely who the person is just as easily as you could by sight. Once you learn that, you can learn to speak to any presence that you can sense.

“In a way, you open a sort of connection between your mind and theirs. Then you just… kind of push your thoughts to them. Of course, it’s considered very rude to enter another’s mind unless you know them very well, or unless it’s absolutely necessary.”

She remembered how the horses had listened to her unspoken commands when she’d pushed the thoughts at them, the way the dragon had spoken to her mind. “Can any elf do it to anyone else?” I asked.

“If their magic is strong enough,” he answered, sitting beside her again. “However, it is possible to block people from entering your mind, if you know how. Our history books say that humans could once do it as well, but I don’t know if they still can.” He looked at her. “I suppose you would know the answer to that better than I would.”

Eliana shrugged and shook her head. “I’ve never encountered anyone who could do it. But I suppose it’s possible that some can. Do you think humans have just forgotten?”

“Possibly,” he replied with a shrug of his own. “But I believe it’s a skill that can be learned. Our books also say that it’s the only way dragons can communicate. You said you spoke to the egg’s mother, correct? That you promised to protect the egg?”

Eliana nodded. “She did enter my mind, like you described. I could… feel her there. Everything she was feeling, I was feeling.”

Caelum cocked his head in interest. “It must have been a very strong connection.”

She shrugged. “I suppose. I… felt her die. It was very… well, it was unsettling.”

He nodded in understanding and briefly reached across the space between them, touching her hand. “I imagine it would be.”

The touch distracted her briefly. She was not used to receiving a gentle touch of any kind from anyone but Otium. He withdrew his hand after only a moment, and she dropped her hand into her lap, then redirected the conversation back to her intended path. “So I suppose that means that Raena would know how to speak to someone’s mind, right? Since you said you spoke to her that way before she attacked me.”

He looked at her suspiciously. “Yes… Raena is very familiar with communicating that way. Why do you ask? Has she spoken in your mind?”

Eliana shrugged lightly, dismissively. “Once or twice.”

“What did she say?” he said, his blue eyes intent on her.

She shook her head and lied, “I don’t even really remember. It was nothing important.”

He cocked a pale eyebrow at her. “One doesn’t enter another’s mind to say nothing important.”

Eliana sighed. “It was only twice. Once in the forest, just after she fired her arrow at me. And then the second time, as we entered for the feast. She seemed… angry with me. Jealous even. I believe it had something to do with you.” She looked up at him again, searching for an answer in his expression.

He looked tired, and he rubbed a hand across his forehead. “In part, Raena was another reason I chose to abdicate the throne. As the future king, it was my responsibility to marry someone that my family chose for me. Raena is a member of one of the noble families, and so she was chosen to be the future queen. Everybody was quite pleased with the match—except for me, of course. And surprisingly, Astrum.” He cocked his head, looking thoughtful for a moment. “What was it that he said to me? ‘The one chosen is not your chosen one.’ Something like that. Astrum is always quite vague.”

“So you broke the engagement when you surrendered your right to the throne?”

He nodded. “I knew she would be unhappy about it. By surrendering the throne for myself, I sacrificed her rights to the throne too. I can’t imagine she was very pleased by it.”

Somehow, Eliana suspected that there was more to Raena’s bitterness than a lost crown, but she didn’t say so. She shifted the conversation back to the white fox, who had not returned to the feast after his strange words.

“What do you think Astrum meant by the things he said tonight?” she asked.

He smirked a little, as if he knew exactly what the Seer had meant, but before he could offer any explanation, Queen Ivi stood and the music—which Eliana had nearly forgotten about—stopped.

The queen spoke. “Elves of Iterum, my dear friends, I thank you for joining in this feast. It is with great joy that I welcome home my eldest son, Caelum. As you all know, he has been in Amiscan, helping to train our finest warriors, and now, he has returned home to us. And, to our pleasure, he has brought with him a friend—Eliana. As always, Iterum is happy to welcome another elf into our midst, and I hope you will give her the warm greeting that she deserves. I thank you for joining us, and I bid you good night.”

The crowd applauded, and the two princes stood. Eliana followed suit and took Caelum’s offered arm, following Ivi and Denio back across the square and through the arch that led towards the palace. They entered the white-walled building. The branches of Domus, the great tree, were hung with glowing white orbs that illuminated the large room.

The queen and her younger son bid Eliana and Caelum good night, then entered Domus while the girl and her companion continued around the tree and out the rear doors to the courtyard. The queen’s final words at the feast had called a question back to Eliana’s mind, and now that she was alone with Caelum, she decided to ask it.

She stopped and turned towards Caelum, fixing him with a sharp, searching gaze, her violet eyes demanding answers before she even asked the question. “Why did you not want me to tell your mother what I was? Why does she think I’m a full-blooded elf?”

Caelum gave a sheepish grin and rubbed at the back of his neck. “There is a lot that I cannot explain to you right now.”

She scowled at him. “You bring me to this city, acting as if I belong here, but I’m supposed to conceal my blood? Raena and Laevis know. Why shouldn’t your mother and brother know? I thought you said that my blood was nothing to be ashamed of.” Her voice was sharp and demanding.

“It’s not,” he answered quickly. “I promise, among us, your blood is never something you should be ashamed of. There may be those who don’t accept it at first, but that will change. It’s just…” he sighed. “Look, I promise this will all make sense tomorrow. But suffice it to say, if my mother knew about your blood—much less about that egg in your room—her perception of you would change entirely, and I didn’t think that the feast was the best time to reveal it all to her.”

“And why must I wait until tomorrow for this all to make sense?” she demanded. “I’ve followed you here blindly, and I would very much like to have some of my sight restored now.”

He tried to give her a reassuring smile, and he put his hands gently on her shoulders. “Because tomorrow, Eliana, I will take you to your teacher. She will be able to answer your questions much more thoroughly than I could. She will explain everything and, when you’re ready, she will start instructing you on elf magic. She is the finest teacher in Iterum. If you can wait just one more day, you will get your answers. Please, just trust me for that much longer. Once you have your answers, you can pass any judgment on me that you wish.”

Eliana studied him with narrowed eyes for a moment. She did not like that he was concealing something from her, but thus far, he had done nothing to make her distrust him outright. She sighed. “Very well. Until tomorrow then.”

He looked relieved, and he nodded. “Until tomorrow. Good night, Eliana.”

“Good night, Caelum.”

He stepped away from her and disappeared into the base of his tree. Eliana turned and entered her quarters, climbing the spiraling staircase to the bedroom. On the shelf above the bed, the golden egg seemed to wink at her in greeting, reflecting the moonlight from the window. She touched it with her fingertips, caressing the shell, then slipped out of her silk gown and hung it back in the wardrobe.

Among the clothes there, she found a soft nightgown, and she pulled it over her head before slipping into the soft bed. She knew that, after sleeping just a few hours before, she should not be tired. But her mind was weary from the music and the excitement of the evening, and she quickly fell asleep.