Sky Riders: The Rising Sun

Eliana straightened in the saddle, immediately tense and alert. Her heart pounded in her ribcage. A mixture of fear and adrenaline pulsed through her veins.

“Move!” Caelum shouted to the ranks.

Immediately, the marching pace increased to a brisk jog, set on a course to intercept the army of red tunics. Oriens trotted alongside the men, jarring Eliana as she clung to the saddle.

“We’re not going to reach Thys in time!” Caelum exclaimed, his voice tight, on the edge of panic. He increased their pace even more, and many of the dwarves began to fall behind the humans and elves.

“I’ll slow them down,” Eliana replied.

“Don’t!” he yelled at her.

She ignored him; her decision was made, and he couldn’t stop her. “Let’s go, Oriens!”

The dragon took two long, loping strides, then leapt into the air with a bugle that trembled across the open valley. Several horses in the human army started at the sound, throwing their riders. The golden wings carried them close to Thys and Nocens’ men until they were sweeping over the enemy’s heads.

Several of the red-clad men slowed long enough to fire arrows and throw spears in their direction. Eliana swept the majority aside with a flurry of wind while Oriens dodged the rest. The soldiers below them raised their shields as their own weapons fell back on their ranks.

“Slow them down, Oriens!” she commanded.

“With pleasure!”

He released a deafening roar, accompanied by a jet of fire. The flames struck the grass in front of the soldiers as Oriens passed overhead, drawing a line of fire in front of the army. The men shouted, drawing to a halt in front of the dancing heat, stalled by the fiery wall. As they tried to extinguish the flaming blockade, Eliana directed her dragon towards Thys.

“We have to prepare the people in the city,” she told him. “They may be able to hold Nocens’ men back long enough for Caelum and the others to get here.”

Oriens carried them over the city-fort’s high walls, where archers gazed up at them in wonder. They landed in the middle of the city’s large, open square. Armed men immediately surrounded them, swords and spears raised. She knew, however, that it was only a precaution; if they’d wanted the Rider and dragon dead, the archers would have tried to take them down.

Eliana quickly pulled off her right glove and lifted her hand in the air so they could see the flame-shaped mark on her hand. “I am Eliana. I am a Rider of Iterum. Oriens and I are here to assist you until the united armies can arrive.”

One man stepped forward between a pair of spear-wielding soldiers. “I am Tadal,” he said, “leader of the people of Thys. What army do you speak of?”

“They are approaching now to help you defend your city. They are the united forces of all races of Paerolia—the humans, elves, and dwarves. We mean to overthrow Nocens, but we cannot defeat him if he takes your city.”

Tadal grunted. “Do you think we planned on allowing him to simply come into our city and raid our homes? Thys will not fall so easily. Not even to a tyrant like Emperor Nocens.”

She gave a grim smile. “Perfect. Are your men prepared for the attack?”

He nodded. “Aye. Every man within our walls has been armed.”

“And where are your women and children?”

“Hidden in the chambers beneath the city.”

Eliana nodded. “I can see you are well prepared. Oriens and I will attempt to delay Nocens’ men further. Is there a way to let the United Army safely into your city?”

“Aye, Rider. There is a gate hidden on the east wall of the city. Tell your captains to take your people there.”

She acknowledged the request with a brief nod, then pulled up into Oriens’ saddle. He jumped skyward again, smoke rolling from his nostrils in thick tendrils. They swept back over the line of red tunics, pouring fire into their ranks by magic and maw. The humans’ advance slowed, but they continued to press forward.

The United Army was inching closer to Thys, their forces looking miniscule against the landscape in comparison to the sea of red. Eliana reached out to Caelum with her mind and found his thoughts in a state of frenzy.

“What are you doing?” he shouted in her thoughts.

“Just shut up and listen to me for a minute,” she snapped back, interrupting any lecture he might have given her. “The people of Thys are prepared to fight Nocens and defend their city, but they’ll need as much aid as we can give. Take the men to the east wall of the city. There is a hidden gate there where you will be permitted to enter. I’ll make sure Nocens’ men can’t follow you.”

For once, he did not argue with her. “Alright. Just promise me you’ll be careful.”

“I’ll be fine.”

She severed the connection with his mind and directed Oriens for another attack. She knew it had been an empty promise, telling Caelum she would be safe. Things could make a turn for the worse at any moment, especially if the Dark Rider or Peior appeared.

The human soldiers screamed in agony as the dragon and Rider set flame to their ranks. Eliana tried to block out the sound, to not think about what she was doing. A pair of pleading green eyes filled her mind, and she shook it away. She’d only killed one man before. She didn’t want to think about how many more she was now killing.

Caelum and the rest of the men were still over a mile away. The elves were moving ahead of the humans, the dwarves falling further behind. Nocens’ soldiers were practically at Thys’ gates. Oriens carried them back over the walls and into the city. She jumped from the saddle as Tadal rushed to meet her.

“Rider,” he called to her, “the red army is approaching the gates. What are your orders?”

“You are the commander of these men, Captain Tadal, not I. There is no need for you to come to me for orders. Your men know you and trust you to lead them. I leave them to your command.”

He nodded shortly. “As you wish, Rider.” He rushed off towards the western wall, where the archers were preparing to attack.

Eliana stopped another man as he ran past her. “You there!” He slid to a halt and turned to look at her, his eyes widening at the sight of the golden dragon behind her. “Show me the hidden east gates.”

Without a word, he turned down a nearby street and motioned for her to follow. She ran after him, Oriens lumbering along in her wake. They wove through the wide streets for several minutes before at last reaching the eastern wall. A pair of massive wooden doors was bolted shut, the hinges rusted closed from countless years of disuse.

“Can these gates even been opened?” she asked in exasperation.

“I’m not sure, Rider,” the man answered with a shrug. “They haven’t been opened for as long as I can remember.”

She sighed in frustration. “Very well. Thank you.”

As the man turned and headed back the way they’d come, Eliana studied the gates. The large wooden bar across the doors would be easy enough to remove; it was the rusted hinges that concerned her. Each hinge was nearly as long as her forearm, and completely covered in the thick, red-brown rust.

“Any ideas?” she asked her dragon.

He gave a tooth-filled grin. “One.”

Flames danced across her mind’s eye. “It’s always fire with you, isn’t it,” she smirked.

“Well, I am a dragon, after all.”

“Alright, let’s try this your way.”

Oriens released a tiny, carefully controlled jet of flame, directing it at one of the massive hinges. After a few moments, the thick rust began to fall away, leaving red-hot metal behind. He cut off the flame and moved to the next hinge.

“Use water to cool the metal,” he instructed her.

She did as he said, pulling cool water from out of the air and drenching each glowing hinge. It was not long before the rust had been burned away, and the large hinges shone in the early-evening light. Eliana climbed into Oriens’ saddle and he lifted them over the wall to view the other side of the gate.

The entire outer wall was overgrown with thick vines, obscuring any sign there might have been of the gate. Eliana focused her magic on the vines’ living energy, and the plants slowly drew back from the gate, revealing the great wooden doors. As she finished her work, the roar of war reached her ears. Nocens’ men had reached the western wall.

They flew back out over the city. The men of Thys were raining arrows down upon the red-clad men. A handful of sorcerers were in their midst, casting enchantments at the soldiers below. The United Army was close at hand, and the captains of Nocens’ army had begun to notice.

Commands were shouted out over the din, ringing above the noise of war, and the northern rank began to divide itself from the rest of the red army, redirecting their efforts towards Caelum and the others. Eliana drew a breath and directed her marked hand at the earth. She strained against the weight of the soil and stone, sweat breaking out on her forehead. Slowly, a wall of earth rose between her enemies and her allies.

The humans stopped, staring upwards at the eight-foot wall of dirt and rock that had appeared before them. Eliana and Oriens turned to their troops, landing on the ground beside them.

“Are you alright?” Caelum asked immediately.

“Yes, fine,” she panted in reply. She was breathless and shaking from the effort of erecting the wall, but she did her best to not let it show. “If you can avoid it, keep our men from fighting outside the city walls. We need to get them into Thys, to help defend the city.”

He didn’t question her, and Oriens took to the sky again, drawing the attention of the human troops, who were still stymied by her wall of earth. Arrows soared up at them, but the powerful golden wings lifted them higher, above the reach of the weapons.

The dragon kept them at this height, away from harm’s reach, as Eliana focused her efforts on maintaining her wall. A few men tried to climb it, and she cast them back with bursts of wind. The wall was pulled down in a few spots by sorcerers hidden in the army’s ranks, and she erected it again, feeling her energy waning, sweat pouring into her eyes.

Suddenly, Oriens’ body shuddered and jerked to the side. She threw herself forward in the saddle to keep her balance.

“What was that?” she asked.

“Magic,” Oriens answered, wincing from the pain of the blow.

She glanced around quickly, instinctively looking for the pale face and white hair. A burst of purple light flew up at them from below. Oriens dove sideways, missing it narrowly. The energy from the orb crackled in the air around them, making Eliana’s hair stand on end. She spotted the source of the attack. It was not Peior, as she’d feared, but a small, bald man in a blue robe amid the red tunics.

She clenched her teeth in fury, drawing up her magic again. Without any spoken signal, Oriens dove downwards, roaring in anger to draw the sorcerer’s attention. As the man focused his mind on casting another spell at the descending dragon, a wave of earth fell over him, burying him beneath its weight, making him vanish completely. The soldiers around him stumbled back in shock. Eliana turned away.

The United Army had reached the eastern gate, which had been opened from the inside, and were rushing into Thys. Eliana allowed herself to sigh in relief. They were going to make it. She remained where she was, defending their flank from attack, until the last dwarf had run through the gate. Then she flew back into Thys.

She found the forces in a worse state than she’d hoped. Many of the archers had been injured or killed, and the forces at the top of the wall were thinning. A few ladders had been erected from below, and Thys’ men struggled to fight back the red-clad soldiers that were ascending.

“All archers to the wall!” Eliana screamed at the incoming forces.

Not one person hesitated. Immediately, elves, humans, and dwarves alike filled the places of those who had fallen from their positions. Once again, they drove back the encroaching forces of Nocens’ armies. The ladders that had somehow found purchase on the stone barricade were quickly forced back, falling to the earth with whatever unfortunate men were on them.

Elves, dwarfish spell-weavers, and human sorcerers stood shoulder to shoulder, casting spells down into the red ranks. Eliana spotted Caelum on one of the towers, alternately firing arrows and magic at the men below. Ispera and Laurus rushed into the infirmary, aiding the humans with their Healing magic.

Eliana took a moment to run her hands along Oriens’ belly where the magic had struck him. A large bruise was forming on the soft scales, changing the pale gold to a dull, bluish-gray. She ground her teeth in anger, feeling almost grateful she had killed the man that had injured her dragon.

“We should stay within the walls for now,” she told him.

“But there’s little I can do from here.”

“I know. But you need to rest, Oriens. I’ll join the archers on the walls.”

She sensed his resentment at her orders. She knew he wanted to fight, but she also knew that if she allowed him to fly out over the army again, he would be the primary target for every arrow, spear, and spell the humans could cast at them. She had been careless enough to let her dragon be injured once that day, and she would not repeat the mistake.

Eliana joined the soldiers on the wall and found herself staring down at a milling mass of red tunics. She knocked an arrow to her string and stared down the shaft for a moment. There were so many faces, all of them seeming to stare at her, meeting her gaze with green, pleading eyes. She blinked and shook her head, clearing her mind. Then she fired the arrow into the nearest serpent-and-sword crest, the shaft sinking into the soldier’s chest. The man fell back off the ladder into the crushing mass of soldiers below.

She repeated the motion countless times, reaching for the arrows that were continuously being supplied to the soldiers by the other men. When there was no arrow to reach for, she used as much magic as her dwindling energy would permit. She stopped trying to count how many she had killed, thinking only of striking at the emperor’s crest, trying to forget that there were men behind the red tunics.

It doesn’t matter anymore, she told herself again and again. This is war.

Suddenly, a new cry rose from their foes, and Nocens’ army began falling back from the walls. The archers in Thys ceased firing, holding their arrows as they all stared at the sudden retreat. Eliana glanced around to find that the sun was sinking below the horizon. The red forces were calling for a respite during the nighttime arrows.

No cheers arose from within Thys as Nocens’ men drew back. They knew that this was far from over. Wearily, the archers climbed down from the walls, making room for the night watchmen, setting out to search for friends and loved ones, praying to find them alive. Eliana dragged her weary body to where Oriens waited, still irritated, in the city square.

“Have you seen anyone?” she asked him.

“Yes. Lots of people,” he answered snidely.

“Oriens…” He knew exactly who she wanted to hear about.

He gave an irritated snort, then answered, “Yes. Captain Tadal just took Denio and Kana to find a place to sleep. Ispera and Laurus are in the infirmary still, helping to care for the injured. Felsen was with one of his lieutenants, seeking shelter for the rest of the dwarves, and Teleas just came by, searching for Caedis.”

“But you haven’t seen Caedis, Caelum, or Ja’ol?”

“No.”

She glanced around anxiously, searching for the faces of her three missing friends. “I’ll be back,” she said.

“Of course,” he grumbled in reply, still resentful at being left behind.

Eliana set off for the infirmary, slipping into the narrow doorway of the building as silently as possible. The injured were laid out on blankets throughout the large room. Their moans of pain echoed around her, clawing at her ears. The smell of blood and sweat permeated the air. She tried to shut it all out as she searched the room for her mother. Eventually, she found her in a distant corner of the room, wrapping a white bandage around a man’s head.

“Mother,” she said as she reached her side, “have you seen Caelum, Caedis, or Ja’ol?”

Ispera shook her head, never removing her concentration from her work. “I have not seen either of the first two. Ja’ol came in not long ago with a minor arrow wound to his shoulder. He should be on the other side of the room, among those with less serious injuries.”

After quickly scanning the opposite side of the room, Eliana found the dark-haired man sitting against a wall, a ragged, blood-stained cloth pressed to his shoulder. His face was pale and tired as he waited for treatment from the human healers. She worked her way over to him, winding between the sleeping patients on the floor.

“Looks like they got you, Captain,” she said as she squatted in front of him.

He opened his eyes and gave her a tired smile. “It’s nothing much, Lady Eliana. I’m far too stubborn to die from anything like this.”

She gave a quiet laugh. “Well, we certainly can’t continue fighting without you in the best shape possible. May I see it?”

He nodded and removed the rag, revealing the small puncture wound in his left shoulder. Eliana studied it briefly before deciding that she had enough energy left to Heal the wound. Taking the rag from his hand, she wetted the cloth with water from the air and cleaned the area. Then, placing her hand over the injury, she felt a small amount of energy leave her as she closed the wound.

“Thank you, Rider,” Ja’ol said with a more cheerful smile, surveying the freshly mended skin.

Eliana nodded. “It’s the least I can do, Ja’ol. We can’t fight this war without you. Have you seen Caedis and Caelum?”

Ja’ol smirked. “Yes. Captain Caedis was grumbling about not having had the chance to get up onto the wall to fight. Captain Caelum was running about in a panic, trying to find you.”

She thanked him for the information and exited the infirmary. Captain Tadal was just passing the doorway and spotted her as she emerged.

“Ah, Rider,” he said, approaching her. “I’ve just shown your elf captain to your quarters; he took your dragon with him. He requested that I take you there if I were to see you. He seemed very concerned about something.”

She nodded, doing her best to act like Caelum’s concern was simply a matter of some army-related business that needed her attention. “Very well. Please take me to him.”

Tadal turned, motioning for her to follow, and led her across the square and down a wide street. He stopped in front of a large, domed building. Eliana gazed upwards at the ornate, stained glass windows.

“These are my quarters?” she asked in surprise.

He shrugged, rattling his armor. “The cathedral was the only building large enough for your dragon.”

She thanked him and slipped in between the large doors, which were cracked open. The pews had been pushed against the walls to clear the space for her large, golden steed, but the altar at the end of the room had not been moved. Statues of the gods of Thys stared down at her from their perches, making her uneasy.

Caelum and Oriens sat facing each other in the middle of the room, engaged in silent conversation. The moment she entered, they turned their gazes on her. Caelum stood and rushed over to her, pulling her into his arms with murmurs of relief and thanks.

When he finally allowed her to pull back enough to look up at him, she asked, “You’re not angry with me?”

“Of course I am,” he answered with a smile, brushing back a piece of her hair. “But I’m too grateful that you are safe to bother with that.”

She smiled a little, then leaned her head against his chest. His arms tightened around her and she felt his lips brush the top of her head.

“Are you tired?” he asked.

She nodded against him, unwilling to find the energy to speak. He suddenly swept her up into his arms and carried her to where he had been sitting beside Oriens. A lumpy mattress had been thrown on the cold, stone floor, and he set her on it, pulling the rough blanket up over her.

“There,” he said softly, his lips brushing her forehead. “Now sleep well, my Rider.”

He turned to go, but her hand closed around his wrist, stopping him. “Where are you sleeping?” she asked.

He shrugged slightly. “Tadal said he would find me a place when I was ready.”

“Stay with me,” she said softly.

A small smile touched his lips. “Are you sure?”

She gave a tiny nod, her eyelids beginning to pull down over her vision. Caelum kicked off his boots and pulled his dirty, green tunic over his head. He slid beneath the blanket, his warm body filling the space beside her. She shifted closer to him, nestling her head beneath his chin as he wrapped his arms around her. His heartbeat was slow and steady against her cheek, and she smiled.

“I like it here,” she whispered.

A chuckle rumbled in his chest as he answered, “In a cold cathedral, in a strange city, with our enemies at the gates and those grotesque statues staring down at us?”

She laughed softly. “No. I mean I like it here.” She touched her fingertips to his bare chest. “Right here, where I can hear your heart beating.

“Stay close to it, my love,” he whispered, “because it belongs to you.”

A hundred thousand enemies waited outside the walls of the city. Eliana didn’t know if she would live to see the next sunset. The fate of Paerolia rested on her and her dragon. And for the first time in nearly a fortnight, there in Caelum’s arms, she slept peacefully.