Sky Riders: The Rising Sun

It was the coldest morning of the year. The soldiers’ breaths hung on the air in a thick fog every time they breathed, but nobody seemed to notice. All eyes were on the endless rows of bodies laid out on the frozen earth before them.

The soldiers had done as Eliana had asked. Red and black uniforms now rested in neat rows, alongside the green and brown. Each soldier from both armies had their arms crossed over their chests, their eyes closed in repose. In all, there were four hundred and twenty-seven dead—seventy-six elves and three hundred and fifty-one humans.

The bodies nearly covered half of the practice fields outside of Amiscan, but it didn’t truly matter. In the elven way of burial, there were no graves left. The bodies returned entirely to the earth. Caelum had told her how, so that she could be a part of it.

The elf captain stood beside her now, her dragon on her other side, and he stepped forward. Quietly, he said, “Let us return our people to the earth from whence they came.”

Eliana and the surviving troops all raised a hand towards the lines of bodies. The Rider placed a hand on Oriens’ shoulder, and she felt his magic tingling beneath her skin, flowing through her. She stared ahead of her at one of the dead human soldiers—the one she had killed—and pushed her magic outwards towards him.

Slowly, the four hundred and twenty-seven bodies began to sink into the earth, as if it were quicksand. Flesh, uniforms, weapons, and all, the human and elven soldiers were absorbed by the soil beneath them. After a few minutes, nothing but snow-covered grass remained. The army continued staring at the spot in silence for a moment, then began to move away.

Caelum remained at her side, and he put a warm arm around her, pulling her closer to him.

“Is that really it?” she asked quietly. “No memorial? No markers? No graves?”

“It is our way, Eliana,” he answered. “We draw our magic from the earth, and so it is to the earth that we return when our own magic has left us. They may be gone, and there may be no marker, but they will be with us still—as they are a part of the earth, so they become a part of us, as we draw our magic from it.”

She sighed, considering this. “I suppose it is beautiful, in its own way.”

He gave her shoulder a gentle squeeze. “What is truly beautiful is that you have convinced elves to lay humans to rest in the elven way, beside their own kin. I don’t know that that has ever been done before in all of the history of Paerolia.”

“They didn’t seem too happy with me when I suggested it,” she said quietly.

He sighed. “Give them some time, Eliana. The only thing most of them know about humans is that they’re supposed to hate them.”

“I know,” she said. She thought of Oriens’ earlier words and reminded herself that she, too, was human. “Then why do they not hate me?” she asked.

“To them, you’re just our Rider—an elf as much as they are. But this is a good first step, Eliana. Perhaps this burial will mark a new beginning for them, a change in their perspective.”

“They can’t just begin to change their minds, Caelum,” she said, feeling a determination filling her chest. “If this war is ever going to end, we need to change their minds now. We are going to need to fight side by side with the humans who are willing to join us. We can’t continue to believe every human is an enemy. We can’t continue to hate.”

He was silent for a moment, then he wrapped his other arm around her and pulled her close so that her back was pressed against his chest. “That is why we have you, Eliana,” he whispered in her ear, “to teach us better.”

A bitter taste filled her mouth and his words. “How? You know why I killed that man. How can I teach anyone to be better?”

He seemed to consider this question for a moment, resting his chin on her shoulder. “I know you believe your own words, Eliana, even if you are still struggling to make them true in your heart. We will celebrate tonight,” he finally said. “The mourning has ended and we can now rejoice in our victory. You can speak to them then—tell them what you told me. They will listen.”

“How do you know?”

“Because they love you, Eliana. You are their Rider, their protector. They trust your judgment. If they didn’t, they wouldn’t have buried the humans as they did. They will hear what you have to say.” He released his hold on her and took a step back, leaving her feeling cold again. “For now, we should head back to the village.”

She shook her head, still looking at the unmarked ground before her. “You go ahead. I know you have things to take care of. I’d like to stay here a while longer.”

She could feel his blue eyes on her, studying her, wondering if it was wise to leave her alone. At last, he nodded. “Very well. You know where to find me if you need anything.”

Eliana gave a nod of acknowledgment and listened to his footsteps crunching on the snow until they faded. She forced her own frozen feet forward, to the place where the green-eyed man had been taken back into the earth. With a sigh, she knelt in the snow.

She pressed her hand down, through the freezing powder, until she touched the hard ground. “Forgive me,” she thought, praying that somehow the man’s spirit would hear her. “Forgive me for what I have done to you. And I swear, I will remember you. I will remember the anger and hate I felt when I took your life, and I will remember you as I try to erase that hate from our land—and from my own heart. I will always remember you. I swear it.”

She could feel Oriens listening silently, touching her emotions, trying to make sense of them. She knew it was difficult for him. He was a dragon, and he didn’t understand her sorrow at taking a life, though he tried as best he could.

Eliana sighed and stood again. “I wish I could know his name,” she thought.

“What you have done to honor him and his fellow soldiers is enough, Eliana,” Oriens replied. “You must forgive yourself.”

She nodded slowly. “Perhaps someday I can. Someday, when I make restitution for what I did. And it will begin in Vereor.”

“When are you going to tell Caelum your plans?” the dragon asked.

She shrugged silently. She had not yet told the elf about her plans of going to Vereor to find Ater. She knew he wouldn’t be happy with the idea. Despite what he had said about believing her to be capable of protecting herself, she knew that he still would not allow her to freely waltz into Emperor Corpanis’ palace.

“I suppose I’ll tell everyone tonight,” she replied. “They all deserve to know before I leave. If I don’t return, they should know why their Rider left them.”

~*~

A large bonfire blazed in the middle of the snowy expanse between the mountains and Amiscan. Shouts and laughter echoed around the village as the soldiers danced together. Some of the elves had brought their instruments to the outpost, and they were now stirring the elves into an uncontrollable frenzy with their music.

The dancing was much freer in Amiscan than it was at the feasts Eliana had attended in Iterum. Bodies were pressed close together, and many couples began to kiss passionately in the middle of the dancing. It was an enthralling sight for the Rider, who stood alone on the outskirts of the celebration.

Oriens had left just as the fire was being lit. “I can’t stand parties,” he’d told her with a laugh. Then he’d flown off to hunt until the festivities ended.

Eliana heard footsteps crunch on the snow behind her. “Why don’t you join them?” she asked without turning around. She knew who it was. There was only one presence that could make her heart beat so painfully in her chest.

Caelum moved to stand beside her, smiling softly in the firelight. “I suppose I am not quite as wild as my fellow soldiers.”

“Ah, I see,” she muttered with a nod. “The captain is too good to celebrate with his underlings.”

He laughed, catching the joke in her voice. “And what of the Rider, eh?” he retorted. “Common elves not good enough to be your dancing partners?”

She smirked and shook her head. “Just thinking.”

“About what you’ll say to them?”

“Yes,” she answered with a short nod. “I need them to understand that it can’t be about blood anymore. There is so much more to this fight than humans and elves. There has to be.”

Caelum shrugged and sighed, “Well, I suppose now is as good a time as any.”

She looked up in confusion and saw him raise his fingers to his lips. He whistled loudly, startling her. The music immediately stopped and the elves turned their heads towards the captain and the Rider who stood beside him. Many of them still embraced their dancing partners.

“Our Rider has something to say!” Caelum called. He pressed a hand gently and firmly against her back, and gave her a slight push forward.

She stared at the hundreds of pairs of eyes, which were all watching her expectantly. She swallowed, wishing Oriens were there to tell her what to say again. Then she took a breath and began, “My friends, I want to express my gratitude to you for the respect you showed the fallen humans. I know that… many of you probably did not understand my wish to bury them with the elves. But…”

“Speak up,” Caelum whispered at her back.

She raised her voice, forcing it to sound confident. “But we cannot continue to believe that every human is our enemy. If that is true, then… half of me is your enemy. My father was a human, and he was one of the greatest men I ever knew. He loved my mother deeply, and she was an elf.

“My parents cast aside the hatred they’d been taught, and my wish is that we can now do the same. Because we need the humans to be our allies. We need to rearrange this battle. It is my belief that there are many humans who would join us, and it is my intention to find them.

“I will go to Vereor and other cities and villages. I will find those who will fight with us. But I cannot do that unless you are willing to accept them.”

They were all listening with rapt attention now, ready to hear what she had to say. “If you wish to fight beside me, your Rider, then you must be willing to fight beside human soldiers. You must be willing to die protecting your human brothers, as I am willing to die to protect each of you. Are you willing to make that sacrifice?”

A unified cheer rose up from the crowd, and Eliana smiled, her spirits lifting. She spoke loudly and confidently now, “Then together, we can bring down the emperor and end the hatred he spreads throughout the land! I will go to Vereor. I will find our brother Ater and I will bring him home with our human brothers. Then together, we will end this war!”

There were cheers and applause, accompanied by the chanting of “Veholum! Veholum!” Eliana smiled to herself. They were ready, she thought. They would join with the humans when the time came. And she would fight for all of them—human and elf. She was certain of it.

The music started up again and the elves return to their celebrating with more jubilation than before. It was then that Eliana could feel Caelum’s eyes on her neck. He had remained silent, but she could almost feel the anger pulsating from him. She turned slowly to face him and found the elf watching her with a stony glare.

“What do you mean you’re going to find Ater?” he hissed.

Before she could answer, a pair of strong arms grabbed her from behind, lifting her off the ground and spinning her in the air. When her feet had been returnd to the solid earth, she turned and looked up into Iocus’ smiling face.

“Vereor, eh?” he asked with a laugh. “Sounds like quite an adventure! Are you going alone?”

“She’s not going at all,” Caelum interrupted, taking a step towards Iocus, who still had his hands on Eliana’s waist.

Iocus frowned, looking down at the Rider again. “You’re not?”

Eliana scowled at Caelum. “Yes, I am.”

Iocus glanced back and forth, between his Rider and his captain, as they glared at each other in silence. At last, the soldier gave an awkward laugh, letting his arms come away from the girl’s waist.

“Alright then,” he said. He held out a hand towards her. “Would you like to dance, Eliana?”

She glanced at Iocus’ extended hand, then out at the dancing silhouettes, which were all pressed close together. The memory of Iocus’ quick and frantic kisses across her face filled her mind for a moment. She turned her eyes briefly to Caelum, who looked both angry and stunned.

Eliana turned back to Iocus with an apologetic smile. “Thank you,” she said, “but I’m not much of a dancer.”

He smiled and shrugged, letting his hand drop to his side. “Let me know if you change your mind,” he said, then he turned and went to join his dancing comrades.

She watched him go, then turned sharply back to Caelum. “I’m going,” she said firmly.

“You think I’m going to let you enter the emperor’s palace?” he snapped, fighting to keep his voice low, to not let the celebrating elves hear. “Why do you insist on trying to get yourself killed?”

Eliana glanced around them, then grabbed Caelum firmly by the wrist and pulled him between a pair of huts, away from the elves’ eyes. “Ater has been taken!” she hissed, when they were away from anyone’s hearing. “Don’t you understand what that means, Caelum?”

“Of course I do,” he answered angrily. “He is either being tortured for information, or he is supplying it willingly.”

“And you will just leave him in their hands then? You will either let him die there, or you will let him share Iterum’s secrets? I have to go after him!”

“Eliana, you can’t do this! It’s stupid and reckless”

She grit her teeth and folded her arms across her chest, glaring angrily. “Iocus thinks I can do it,” she muttered angrily. A fire seemed to spark in Caelum’s eyes at the mention of the soldier’s name, but she didn’t let him interrupt her. “I’m tired of you thinking so little of me, Caelum! I am more capable than you think I am, and if you won’t help me get Ater back, Iocus will.”

Eliana turned sharply on her heel and started back towards the dancing masses. If Iocus wanted to dance with her, she would let him dance with her. If he wanted to kiss her, she would let him kiss her. She didn’t care anymore.

Caelum’s strong hand grabbed her firmly around the wrist, forcing her to turn and face him again. “You’re not really going to go after him are you?” he asked, looking stunned at the idea.

She jerked way from his hand angrily. “What does it matter to you?” she snapped.

He looked hurt and angry at her harsh words. “How can you not know that he is attracted to you?” he demanded.

Eliana met his gaze with hard, flat eyes. “You really believe that I don’t know, Caelum?” she asked quietly.

He blinked at her. “And… and you’re still going to go after him?” he asked disbelievingly. “Eliana, it’s Iocus, for the gods’ sakes!”

“And?”

“And he— He’s… He’s not nearly good enough for you!”

She scoffed and rolled her eyes. “So that’s you’re only objection then?” she asked quietly. “Because if it is, I’m going to find him anyways.”

Eliana paused for a moment, waiting for an answer, silently praying that he would stop her. She knew that there was something between them—there had to be. It couldn’t just be her. Everything that had occurred between them, it couldn’t mean nothing. Caelum was glancing around frantically, as if searching the surrounding trees for his answer.

At last, Eliana sighed and shook her head. “For once in your life, Caelum,” she whispered, turning away from him, “can’t you just tell me the truth about something?” She began to walk quietly away.

“I’m jealous!” he shouted at her back.

The words made her halt immediately, and she turned to face him. “What?” she breathed, hardly believing she could have heard him right.

Caelum took several quick steps forward until he was once again standing in front of her. He took a breath, pushing both hands through his short, blonde hair and repeated, “I’m jealous, Eliana.”

“Of Iocus?” she asked with a shake of her head. “Why?”

“Because I— I don’t know! I just… I hate the way he looks at you—like you’re some trophy he wants to add to his collection. And he doesn’t… he doesn’t have to try to hide the way he feels about you, like…” He gave a furious shout, his expression one of near pain.

“I’m so sick of this!” he cried, throwing his hands into the air. He stepped up to her and grabbed her upper arms, staring intently down into her eyes. His expression was frantic, desperate, pleading. “I’m sick of fighting, trying to hide the way I feel about you. Ever since I pulled you out of the river that first day, you’ve completely bewitched me. I didn’t mean for it to happen. I didn’t want it to happen, but it did. And now every time I’m around you, I feel completely unhinged!

“You have so much control over me and I hate it, but I never it to end! I can’t make any sense of the way I feel when I’m with you. And I know I shouldn’t have these feelings for you, because you’re a Rider, and we both have responsibilities and my feelings for you just complicate things but…”

He sighed, still looking down at her bewildered expression. “I’m so tired of fighting it, Eliana. Because I can’t stop thinking about you. Not for a moment. And I can’t keep pretending that I don’t… that I don’t care for you as deeply as I do…”

Eliana stared at him for a long moment, trying to make sense of what he had said. She had felt something between them. She had prayed that it was not only her. As much as she had hoped he felt something for her, she had not expected this—this frantic, desperate confession. This was Caelum—wonderful, perfect, unreachable Caelum. Could he have really said those things to her?

“Caelum, I…” She trailed off. She couldn’t seem to fit enough air in her lungs to form a complete sentence. It felt as if she had taken a heavy blow to the chest, and the air had been forced out of her. “Caelum, I don’t—.”

Slowly, she saw the mask begin to fall back into place. The hundreds of emotions that had danced in his eyes began to recede, replaced by a flat, stony expression. He gave a short nod and released her arms, taking a step backwards. “I understand,” he said without inflection. “You’re a Rider. You have more important things to worry about than this. I’m sorry I said anything.”

And he turned away. She stared after him for a few, frantic heartbeats. Then she found her breath again.

“No!” she shouted at his back.

His head snapped around to face her, and the mask had shattered. Her single word had sent it crumbling away, and she could see the aching hope in his eyes—the same hope that she felt. She took several long strides before she stood in front of him again. She grabbed his tunic with both hands, forcing him to stay in front of her, to face her. She would not allow him to turn away from her again—not at a moment like this.

“Why are you so completely dense, Caelum?” she shouted. She knew that what she was trying to say would not come across well if she was shouting it, but for some reason she couldn’t stop herself. “How could you ever think I have something more important to worry about? And how could you ever think you had reason to envy Iocus? You couldn’t possibly begin to even imagine what you mean to me! Next to Oriens, you are the most important person in my life, and you are a fool if you could ever even think that—!”

She didn’t get to finish her sentence. Caelum grabbed her roughly around the waist and pulled her to him. His lips collided with hers, silencing her midsentence. She released her firm grip on his tunic and let her hands slide up to the back of his neck.

She felt him smile against her mouth as she laced her fingers into his moonlit hair, pulling his lips more firmly to hers. He pulled back slightly, softening the kiss, making it tender and sweet. She leaned against him, relishing in his touch, his smell, his taste. The world seemed to be nothing but him; it was all she could sense.

His hand touched her cheek and he drew back, laughing quietly. Eliana found herself laughing as well, though she wasn’t sure why, and she pressed her face against his neck, listening to his pulse racing. It was beating nearly as rapidly as her own.

She felt him press his lips to the top of her head, and he chuckled, “We’ve both been quite silly, haven’t we.”

“Yes,” she answered, her breath on the skin of his neck. “But mostly you.”

He laughed warmly and tightened his arms around her, holding her firmly to his chest. “Why must you be so difficult?”

She pushed back enough to look up into his smiling blue eyes and grinned. “It’s a Rider’s duty to make trouble.”

He shook his head in exasperation. “Another responsibility that I don’t agree with,” he whispered.

She sighed and returned her head to his chest. “I have to go, Caelum. We need to get Ater away from the emperor. Vereor is where this will all begin to end. If we want to end this war, we need to find out what Corpanis is hiding.”

Caelum took her hand and led her away from the noisy, dancing elves, to the outskirts of Amiscan. “How do you know he’s hiding something?” he asked.

“Nobody really knows how this war started,” Eliana said, “but there are stories—among both humans and elves. One of the stories I heard in Vegrandis is about the first known battle between humans and elves. They say the elves attacked first, but the elves believe the humans drew first blood. The elven records are gone. Perhaps the humans have some of their own. Perhaps they know how it all began.”

“It’s a stretch,” he remarked. They settled onto a clear spot of ground at the edge of the forest, where the branches of a large tree had protected the earth from being covered in snow. He put his arm around her, and she rested her head against his shoulder.

“I know. But at the very least, we need to try to get back Ater.”

He sighed. “I still don’t like the idea of you going into the palace,” he said gruffly. “It’s dangerous.”

“I know.” She gently took his free hand between her own as she spoke. “But it’s something that I have to do. I have to at least try to find answers. People are looking to me to somehow end this battle, and I think it’s high time that I started doing something to make that happen.”

“Does that mean you believe the prophecy now?”

She gave a short laugh. “I didn’t say that.”

He chuckled at her stubbornness. After a pause, he asked, “How do you plan to get into the palace anyways? The outer gates of the city have at least a dozen guards at any time. I’m sure the palace has more.”

She looked up at him curiously. “How do you know that?”

He smirked. “Where do you think we go when we go out on scouting expeditions? We don’t usually try to go into the city, but we watch the gates for any sign of them moving against us.”

Eliana shrugged. “Honestly… I have no plan besides going to Vereor. I’ll need to see the layout, observe the movements of the soldiers. But I’m sure I can come up with something, with Oriens’ help.”

“And mine,” he added quickly.

She lifted her head again to smile up at him. “Oh, you’re coming now are you?”

Caelum kissed her forehead briefly. “Well, I certainly can’t let you go alone. And you don’t think I’d let Iocus go with you, do you? If you’re going to stroll right into the heart of the human capitol, I’m at least going to be close by. I won’t risk losing you.”

She cupped his chin in her hand and pulled his lips to hers again, smiling against them. She thought her life had changed drastically when she’d found Oriens’ egg. How could it have possibly become more wonderful still? A part of her still quavered at the thought that she may wake up from this wonderful, perfect dream to find herself in Vegrandis again.

Caelum pulled away, taking her breath with him. His lips brushed her cheek briefly.

“Very well, my Rider,” he whispered, his lips grazing her ear. “We will leave tomorrow night—just you and me and your dragon.”

She closed her eyes and smiled. “That sounds wonderful.”