Sky Riders: The Rising Sun

Ater fought to jerk his hands out of her grasp, but she held him tightly as Oriens carried them back to the earth. The black dragon landed several yards away, watching them cautiously, as if she was unsure of what she was supposed to do now that her Rider was not in her saddle. Eliana yanked Ater out of the saddle and pinned him to the earth.

“How?” she demanded through gritted teeth. “How did he find you a dragon? How are you a Rider?”

“You think you’re so special?” the young elf snapped. “You think you’re the only one who can saddle one of the brutes?”

Eliana looked down at Ater’s hands, which she held pinned to the ground on either side of his head. “You have no mark…” she murmured. She looked back at his face, finally realizing why his dragon behaved so strangely towards him. “That dragon did not choose you. You are forcing her to fight for you. She is not your dragon.”

“Aelodi is mine!” he screamed angrily.

His feet found her stomach and he kicked her off of him, knocking the wind from her body. They both immediately leapt to their feet, pulling their swords from their sheaths. They began to circle each other slowly, like animals.

“Aelodi follows my orders!” he continued to shout in range. “You think a mark on your hand makes you a better Rider than me?”

“No,” she answered sharply. “I think it makes me an actual Rider. You are not a Rider, Ater. That dragon only obeys you for fear of Peior.”

The elf rushed forward suddenly, swinging his sword at her. She raised her own, and their blades crashed against one another with a grating sound. He hacked at her furiously several times. He was fighting in anger, and she blocked the blows easily. After a few attempts at attacking, Ater sprung back again, and they began to circle one another once more.

“Why are you doing this Ater?” Eliana asked. “Why serve Nocens? Why give yourself over to Peior and his Dark magic?”

“They killed my parents,” he growled.

“And Peior tortured you!” She saw him flinch at her words. “I felt your pain when I was in your mind. I felt your fear. He nearly ripped you apart. So why give in to him?”

“I had no choice!” he snapped. “I could either fight the Dark magic and die, or give myself to it and live! Peior made me his apprentice. Nocens gave me Aelodi. And so I serve them. Besides, Eliana,” he added with a frightening chuckle, “Dark magic feels… incredible. I think you’d like the power.”

“Ater!” a sharp voice cried from above. They both looked up to see Peior hovering over them. “Use what I taught you! Finish her now!”

A dark smile came to Ater’s lips. “Dark magic doesn’t have the limits elven magic does,” he said. “Did you know that? There is a word in the old language, kept secret by those who dared to enter into the Dark arts. Do you know what that word does?”

She eyed him warily as he moved around her. She had a few ideas of what the possibilities could be. “Ater… don’t do this.”

“I can kill you with one word, oh mighty Rider. One word from my lips and you will fall without a fight. Some prophecy,” he scoffed.

“Ater!” Peior screamed again. “Do it now!”

Eliana rushed forward, her blade in hand. She knew she needed to distract him, keep him from speaking. She had to stop him from saying whatever word could so easily end her life. They fought back and forth, swords clashing loudly as the blades danced between them. Neither of them gained an advantage.

Suddenly, Ater dropped his sword. Eliana swung her blade at him again, but he caught her wrist in his left hand and brought his right hand to her throat. Her golden sword fell to the grass as she stared into Ater’s black eyes, struggling for breath.

“Do it!” the voice screamed from above.

“Ater,” she gasped. “Don’t. Don’t do this. Your parents wouldn’t have wanted this. They wouldn’t have wanted their son to be a murderer. Don’t give in to him.”

“I’m not giving in to him, Eliana,” he sneered. “I am giving in to myself. The Darkness is a part of me now. It has been for a long time.”

She’d wanted so badly to save him. But whatever had once been left of the young elf was long gone now. There was nothing but Darkness left. Her mind touched Oriens’ where he’d been crouching nearby, ready to attack, waiting for her signal. He sensed what she wanted.

The dragon unleashed a massive roar that shook inside her body. The heat of flames raged around her as she raised a narrow shield around herself. Ater shrieked and stumbled backwards, quickly dashing the flames aside with a swipe of his arm—but not before the flames had burned into his flesh.

The elf fell to the ground, howling in pain. Eliana seized her sword from the ground and leapt on top of him, pinning him down again. He writhed under her, but not in an attempt to escape—he was still squealing in pain. She stared down at his blackened flesh, his agonized face. Her hands shook as she held the point of her blade to the burned throat.

“I’m sorry,” she whispered shakily. “I’m sorry.”

She shoved the blade into the elf’s neck. His pained shrieks stopped immediately. She pressed her eyes shut, tears leaking beneath her eyelids and down her cheeks. She pulled her sword from his flesh and tumbled onto the grass.

“Why did you do this?” she screamed, sobbing. “Why did you make me do this? I’m sorry!”

Above her, Peior let out a shrill, terrifying laugh, shaking her from her agonizing guilt. She stood shakily, picking up her sword again. Oriens had come to her side and was standing over her, glaring up at the dark figure in the sky, growling deep in his throat.

“Your Rider is dead!” Eliana shouted at him, her voice cracking. “You have taken an innocent child, and you’ve turned him into a monster. You forced me to kill him! This is your fault!”

Peior laughed again, louder now. “Ater made his choice, Eliana. You think your elves are so pure and above fault. Do you think he is the only one who could be persuaded against you?”

She tightened her grip around her sword. The sorcerer smiled down at her, gesturing with his right hand. Eliana’s eyes followed the gesture to where the black dragon still crouched against the grass, looking wary. A figure stood at her side, sword in hand, watching Eliana and Oriens.

There was a second Rider. Disbelief filled her chest, along with a sense of pain and betrayal. She took in the blonde hair, and the smiling, childish face.

“No,” she breathed. “No, no, no, no, no. Not you… Please, Iocus, not you.”

The elf gave her what appeared to be an apologetic look, holding out his arms to his sides. “Yes, Eliana,” he sighed. “It’s me.”

“For how long?” she demanded, her wounded sense of betrayal turning to fury. “How long have you been serving him?”

Iocus laughed, his usual, cheerful laugh. It mocked her. “The whole time, sweetheart. It was my job to stay close to you, to get as close to you as I possibly could. I thought I was doing well.” He made an irritated face and added, “But I didn’t account for Caelum.” He sighed and shrugged one shoulder. “Still, I had many opportunities to kill you, but Peior hoped to capture you instead, to turn you Dark as we did to Ater. By the time we decided it was just simpler to kill you, Caelum was hovering over you like a watchdog and I didn’t get the change. Ah, well, I suppose there is more than one way to kill a Rider.”

Suddenly, Oriens leapt at the elf, his teeth flashing as he roared furiously. Aelodi, the black dragon, threw her weight forward as well, colliding with the golden dragon just enough to make him miss his intended target. Then she shrank back, as if unwilling to do more than was necessary to keep the elf alive.

Eliana took advantage of Iocus’ distraction. With a shout and a forward thrust of her arm, she sent a swirling tornado of flames hurtling towards him. He leapt to the side, narrowly avoiding her magic. As he hit the ground, he extended one hand towards her. The earth jerked away beneath her like a rug, making her fall to her back.

He leapt atop her, his fist immediately colliding with the side of her face. She grunted in pain, then twisted and thrust her body upwards, throwing him off of her. She grabbed for the dagger in her boot, but he caught her wrist, wrenching it to the side and making her shout in pain.

She felt Oriens in her mind, anxious to aid her, but unable to strike at their thrashing, entwined bodies. She threw her head forwards, crashing her forehead into his nose. Iocus shouted and released her, holding both hands up to his face, blood seeping between his fingers.

Eliana directed her palm at her sword, which lay in the grass a few feet away. A gust of wind swept the blade up into the air, sending it hurtling towards Iocus’ chest. The elf saw the golden sword flying towards him and lifted his hand as well, knocking it aside with his own burst of wind. The distraction had worked.

His gaze attracted by the sword, Iocus had not seen Eliana’s dagger rise from her boot. By the time he had dashed the sword aside, the tiny point was behind him, at the base of his skull. When he felt it, he looked up at the Rider in surprise, becoming very still.

“Well done,” he said with a laugh. “Caelum has made you quite the fighter.”

She hesitated, staring at him, Oriens snarling behind her.

“What are you waiting for, Eliana?” Iocus laughed.

“I cared for you,” she said in a shaky voice. “I trusted you. You were my friend!”

“So sorry, darling. Nothing personal.”

Iocus swiftly raised his hand towards her, clenching it into a fist. The breath ripped itself from her lungs, breaking her concentration. The dagger dropped to the earth as Eliana fell to her knees. The elf smiled, ever cheerful.

And then Oriens sprang forward. His golden neck extended outwards like a striking serpent, his fangs shining. Iocus’ eyes jerked upwards at the dragon, looking startled. The black dragon roared a warning, but Aelodi was too far away to intercept the larger dragon this time. Before the elf could react, Oriens had landed atop him, his white fangs sinking into the pale flesh.

Iocus did not even have time to scream. He was dead in an instant. Eliana felt the air rush back into her lungs. She coughed and sputtered, trying to regain her breath. Oriens’ head hung over her a moment later, looking down at her worriedly, his golden maw tainted with blood.

Peior gave a violent shriek, drawing the Rider’s and dragon’s gazes. They looked up at where he hovered in the sky. He gazed back at them for a moment, teeth bared in fury. Eliana reached for her sword, expecting him to attack, but the sorcerer lifted the folds of his black cloak and disappeared from the sky.

Eliana’s gaze was suddenly drawn to the body not far away, lying in an ever-growing pool of blood. A part of her desired to look down at him, to confirm that it had, indeed, been the elf she’d called her friend—the light-hearted, cheerful, childish elf. But Oriens spoke in her mind.

“You don’t want to see him like that, Eliana. I… did not leave much of him that would be recognizable.”

She shuddered and turned her gaze away, looking towards the crouching black form several yards away. She was surprised to see that Aelodi was still in the same spot where she’d landed, gazing back with fearful eyes. The sunlight struck her dark hide, giving of the same strange blue tint Eliana had noticed when she’d first seen her.

“Has she spoken to you yet?” Eliana asked, determined to ignore Iocus’ body.

“Yes,” he answered. “The moment the sorcerer disappeared, her mind opened to me, as if he’d been blocking her thoughts.”

“Will she allow us to approach her?”

There was a pause as he relayed her question to the other dragon, then, “Yes.”

Eliana walked slowly beside Oriens, and the pair cautiously approached the dragon. She watched them warily, looking ready to fly if they made one unexpected movement.

“Can I speak to her?” Eliana asked her dragon.

His answer was the same. “Yes.”

She reached out to Aelodi’s mind with her own. The black dragon recoiled briefly from her unfamiliar touch, then allowed the Rider into her thoughts. Aelodi’s mind was strange. Like a large room with only a small candle, darkness lurked at the corners of her thoughts. She had been corrupted by Peior’s control.

“Aelodi,” Eliana said slowly and gently. “How did you come to be under Peior’s control?”

She felt the dragon consider whether or not she should share the information before she finally answered, “My egg was stolen from its nest. I can remember the feeling from inside the egg when Peior’s Darkness touched me. It frightened me, but I couldn’t escape it. When I hatched, Ater and Iocus were both there, and they were as Dark as Peior. They attempted to force me to mark one of them but… I could not. A bond cannot be forced. And so they used their magic to force me to do as they commanded.”

Eliana remembered an image she had conjured from Nocens’ mind—a dark-haired boy holding a black stone. She recognized now that it had been Ater holding Aelodi’s egg.

“Eliana,” Oriens interrupted, “we are needed back in the battle.”

She nodded. “Aelodi—.”

She shook her armored head before the Rider could ask the question. “I will not join you. I have been forced into battle more times than I care to remember. I will not be forced to fight a war that is not mine.”

Eliana sighed. “I understand. Will you stay nearby until the war has passed? I will be happy to help you remove your saddle and armor. Then you may be free to do as you wish.”

“Free…” The word echoed around her mind for a moment. “Yes, I will wait,” she said.

Eliana thanked her, then turned back to her own dragon. “Let’s get back in the, Oriens.”

She pulled her aching body back into the saddle and he carried her up into the sky, leaving Aelodi to slip into the forests to hide. They had traveled a good distance from Thys during their airborne battle, and they now raced back as quickly as Oriens’ wings could carry them.

“Poor, Aelodi,” Oriens said softly. “She did not tell you all that she told me. They tortured her, tormented her, punished her with Dark magic to get what they wanted from her. She is a wild dragon in spirit, because she has never been bonded to a Rider, but she has been forced into being a servant.”

“Will she be okay when she returns to the wild on her own?” Eliana asked.

“I do not know. She has never hunted. They kept her chained when not being Ridden for fear of her flying away.”

“You will have to help her then.”

“Yes, I suppose I will.” Oriens paused, then asked hesitantly, “Are you going to be okay, Eliana? I know you cared for Iocus. His betrayal has wounded you.”

Eliana let out a heavy sigh. “I’d prefer not to discuss it now, Oriens,” she answered. “For now, I just want to pretend none of this ever happened.”

They passed over the red army, drawing their attention and their arrows. Most glanced off of the armor on Oriens’ plated belly. Eliana’s arms tingled with pain as the few he could not avoid tore through the dragon’s wings. They landed in Thys to find the defenses nearly as strong as they had been when they left. Men were still falling from the wall, but the gate was holding and the human soldiers had not yet succeeded in entering the city.

As Eliana climbed back up to join the archers, Caelum descended on her, looking frightened and relieved. “Are you okay?” he asked breathlessly. “What happened? Where’s Peior? The Rider?”

“I’m fine,” she answered hastily. “I’ll explain more later. There’s not time now. Peior disappeared and the Rider… Caelum, there were two of them.”

He blinked in confusion. “Two? How is that possible?”

“They weren’t true Riders, Caelum. The dragon, she was forced into their servitude by Dark magic. But, Caelum, the Riders… they were Ater and Iocus.”

The elf blinked in shock and surprise, the blood draining from his face. “Iocus? Ater… we had our suspicions, but Iocus? How could he—?”

She shook her head. “I don’t know, Caelum. But there’s no time for this now.”

He nodded in agreement and they rejoined the line of archers as they stepped forward to fire another round at the soldiers. The men beside her were beginning to look weary. Nearly all of them were bleeding from one wound or another, but none left their positions.

A volley of arrows rose above their walls from below. Shields were lifted, but they could not stop them all. Many flew into the midst of the Thys defenders. Eliana heard Caelum grunt in pain beside her. She turned towards him to find a red-and-black-fletched arrow protruding from his right arm. He quickly grabbed it and yanked it out, tossing the projectile aside as if it had been nothing more than a splinter in his finger.

The sky darkened to a deep red as the sun began to sink again. A horn blew from the back of Nocens’ army, followed by several more spread throughout the ranks. Slowly, the men began to pull back, retreating once again from the wall. The United Army had survived another day.

The weary men climbed down from the walls, dragging their worn and tired bodies towards the infirmary or their own quarters. Eliana followed, walking through the city square. Angry shouts from the building set aside for the wounded reached her ears, and she drew curiously nearer.

She peered in the doorway to see several soldiers trying to restrain one man as he kicked and screamed, not in pain, but in anger. As she looked more closely, she recognized Caedis. His entire chest and right arm were wrapped in heavy bandages.

“I am not too badly injured!” he screamed at a rather startled-looking Laurus. “I can fight tomorrow! You can’t stop me!”

The Rider slipped into the room and moved to stand beside Laurus. When Caedis saw her, he stopped his thrashing.

“Eliana!” he exclaimed. “Tell that madwoman I’m fine! Tell her I can fight!”

She looked at the Healer beside her. “What’s wrong with him?” she asked.

“He took some heavy magic to his chest and right side,” she explained airily. “He has serious burns from it. Too much strain will cause the blisters to rupture and become infected. I would Heal it with magic, but because magic is what caused it, I cannot negate the effects. He has to heal naturally.”

Eliana looked back at Caedis, who was watching her earnestly, waiting for her response. “Stay in the infirmary where you can be taken care of,” she instructed.

“What?” he shouted at her. “Eliana, you will let me fight! You cannot stop me!”

“Caedis!” she yelled back, silencing him. “You will stay in this infirmary and do as the Healers instruct or I will send you to hide beneath the city with Thys’ women and children! Am I clear?”

His jaw tightened as he glared at her in silence. He didn’t acknowledge her order, but she’d hardly expected him to; he was still getting used to treating her as a commanding officer after nineteen years of endlessly tormenting her. She took the fact that he did not protest further as a sign of acquiescence.

Caelum was waiting outside of the infirmary when she exited the building. His hand slipped into hers as they walked back towards the cathedral. They had stopped trying to hide from everyone. It no longer mattered. Most were too busy to notice a stolen kiss here or there, and even if they did, they could all be dead before it mattered.

He let go of her hand to pull open the large doors. When they stepped inside, Oriens was curled up on the stone floor, his armor removed. Ja’ol was standing patiently beside him. She’d forgotten that she had requested that the captain come see her. The idea that had inspired the initial invitation had almost entirely flown from her mind during the day’s events. Now, however, the plan came back in full force, bringing with it the realization that it was the only choice.

“You asked to see me, Rider,” Ja’ol said.

“Yes. We have not gained much ground against our enemies, have we. The Rider is gone, but the majority of Nocens’ men remain. I have an idea that may help end this, and it will get you your daughter back.”

Ja’ol’s eyes brightened. “You do?”

She nodded. “Yes. Nocens said that in order to get your family, you had to bring me to him and join his ranks. I promised you your family would be free if you stayed true to us and I still hold to that promise. But I cannot bear to think of your daughter with that man any longer. You can get her back tonight. You will bind me and take me to Nocens.”

“Absolutely not!” Oriens screamed in her head, accompanying the noise with a roar that shook the cathedral.

Somehow, Caelum managed to make himself heard over Oriens’ racket. “Eliana, you can’t do this!”

Ja’ol just stared at her. Once the other two had quieted down, he asked, “Why, Rider?”

She shook her head. “Nocens is going to hide at the back of his army forever. Even if we defeat them, he would retreat back to Vereor and continue his tyranny. He must be killed. I can’t do that from within Thys. You need your daughter, and I need the opportunity to end him. This way, both can be done.”

Caelum grabbed her shoulders roughly and jerked her around to face him. “Do you think I’m going to allow you to do this? Eliana, this is pure insanity! Do you know what he will do to you?”

She reached up and took his face between her hands. “Caelum, what choice do we have?”

His eyes roved over her face frantically, as if searching for an answer there. “Anything,” he whispered. “Anything but sending you as the sacrificial lamb. Not that. Please.”

She could feel Ja’ol’s eyes on them, but she ignored it. It didn’t matter. After tonight, she may not see either of them ever again.

“I have to do this,” she answered quietly, pressing her forehead to his and closing her eyes. “I have to, Caelum. Otherwise, this will never end.”

“No, please,” he begged, his voice trembling. “I can’t let him take you from me.”

She reluctantly pulled away from Caelum’s arms and turned to Ja’ol. “Gather a few of your men,” she commanded calmly. “We move out in an hour.”

Ja’ol nodded, still looking slightly stunned, and left the cathedral. Caelum silently slipped to the ground, his head cradled in his hands. The way he seemed to crumble reminded her of how he had collapsed into her arms the night his mother had died. Eliana looked away from him and up at her dragon. His emerald eyes were solemn as he looked at her.

“Do you think I’m a fool, Oriens?” she asked him.

“Yes. A very brave fool.”

“So you understand why I have to do this?”

“You are a part of me, Eliana. I always understand you.”

She turned her eyes back to Caelum, sitting on the cold stone, trembling. She sunk to her knees in front of him and touched his face. He looked up at her, his eyes wet and full of anger and fear.

“Don’t do this to me,” he pleaded.

Her heart throbbed with pain. “Oh, Caelum…” she whispered. “I’m not doing this to you. I’m doing it for them. This is why I bear the mark of a Rider. I have to do everything in my power to free these people.”

Caelum stopped arguing with her. He grabbed her around the waist and pulled her to him, kissing her hard. Tears fell to her cheeks as she laced her fingers through his hair and kissed him in return, tasting the salt of their tears. She felt his hands shaking even as he clutched her tightly, trying to hold her there with him.

He pulled away from the kiss and turned his face into her neck, resting his head on her shoulder. His strong arms held her in his lap. She pressed her cheek to his head, running her fingers through his blonde hair, savoring his scent and the closeness of his warmth.

“Will you come back to me, Eliana?” he asked quietly, his breath warm against her skin. “Come back to me just as you are now.”

She understood his meaning. “Yes, Caelum. Yes, I’ll come back to you.” She pulled deftly back from him and reached up to unfasten the necklace. “Here,” she said, pressing it into his hand. “I want you to keep this for now.”

“Why?” he asked, closing his fist around it.

She forced a smile, trying to keep the fear from showing on her face. “So you can return it to me. Because I will come back for it. That’s a promise.”