Sky Riders: The Rising Sun

Oriens’ voice spoke in Eliana’s mind, waking her before daybreak. “Someone is coming.”

She rubbed her eyes and sat up. Caelum seemed to have heard Oriens as well; he was just stirring, sitting up and looking at the door with some consternation. When he saw that she was awake, he gave her a tender smile.

“Looks like our sleep is over,” he said.

She moaned and dropped back onto the mattress. Her peaceful night of dreamless sleep in Caelum’s arms was over, and another day of war awaited them. She turned and propped herself on an elbow, watching Caelum as he put his tunic back on and pulled on his boots.

“Does it have to be?” she grumbled.

He chuckled at her pouting expression and leaned over to kiss her forehead. “Believe me, if I could make it any other way, I would,” he said. “But we both lead this army, and we will both be needed today.”

Eliana sighed and crawled discontentedly out of bed, trying to smooth her rumpled green tunic as she tugged her boots on. With a yawn, she went over to Oriens and patted his neck.

“Good morning, old friend,” she said. “So who is coming to see us at this ungodly hour?”

“Felsen,” he answered, his eyes on the door, as if he expected it to open at any minute, “and a number of other dwarves, if I’m correct. And I usually am.”

A moment later, a loud knock echoed through the empty cathedral. Caelum strode forward and pulled one of the large doors open. Just as Oriens had said, Felsen stood in the doorway with many other dwarves behind him, each of them holding a large, shining piece of metal in a variety of shapes and sizes.

“Captain Caelum,” Felsen said in surprise, “I did not expect to find you here.”

“I was just speaking to Lady Eliana about our plans for today,” Caelum answered.

“Please, come in, Captain,” Eliana called from where she stood.

Felsen and the other dwarves filed in, lining up in front of the Rider and dragon. The dwarf captain cleared his throat before he spoke. “My men have worked through the night with many of the elves and humans, making armor for our troops. It occurred to us late into the night that we had not yet created armor to protect our greatest asset—Oriens Fehr Zuhnden.”

Eliana’s eyes ran along the line of dwarves and the pieces of metal they held. “This is all armor for Oriens?” she asked.

Felsen nodded. “We made the metal as light as possible so as to not hinder his flight. It’s not much, but these plates will provide protection for his underbelly.” He held up the piece in his own arms and added, “And this will cover his head.”

Oriens surveyed the armor with satisfaction. “It truly is excellent work for such a short time,” he said.

Eliana added, “You have my deepest gratitude, Captain Felsen. I cannot express enough appreciation for your efforts in protecting my dragon.”

“We have not forgotten you, Fehr Zähmer Eliana,” he said with a smile. Two of his men stepped forward at a motion from their captain, and they held out the smaller burdens they carried. “We made your armor of the same metal. It is minimal, as there were limited materials, but I hope it will help.”

She opened her mouth to thank him again, but she was interrupted as a yellow-haired human burst through the partially open door. The group in the cathedral turned to look at him with some concern as the young man stood, hands on his knees, trying to catch his breath.

At last, he managed, “Rider… enemies… at the wall…”

Eliana frowned at him, trying to comprehend his butchered sentences. “Are we under attack?”

He shook his head. “Come and see.”

The dwarves carefully piled the armor along one of the walls and they all followed the messenger back out into the streets of Thys. They dashed through the square to the western wall. Captain Tadal stood atop the parapets, looking down on the other side. His face was creased in a deep frown. Caelum and Eliana climbed up beside him and peered over the stony ramparts.

Caelum grimaced. “I had forgotten about them.”

Goblins and their massive wolf mounts milled about below the wall, glaring up with matching black eyes. They had, indeed, forgotten about the tracks they’d seen and the news they’d received from Bolandri. They’d been too concerned with intercepting Nocens’ armies.

As Eliana looked down at the fearsome army beneath her, they seemed to somehow know who she was. The moment they saw her, the goblins began to shout and shake their weapons. Even the wolves howled and snarled deep in their throats.

She drew back from their sight and looked at Caelum. “What happened to the human army?”

Tadal answered by pointing to the southwest. Off in the distance, camped at the base of the mountains, were Nocens’ men. Even from that distance, Eliana could hear their laughter and singing. They were not concerned. The pawns would go first; they would finish what the beasts could not when the forces inside Thys were weakened.

“Are you familiar with fighting these monsters?” Tadal asked.

Caelum gave a short nod. “They ambushed us in the Kaers. They’re strong and vicious, but their fighting style is simplistic. They attack without organization. So unless Nocens has found a way to make them more intelligent and to teach them battle strategies, we can defeat them.”

Tadal grunted. “Let’s hope this will be as easy as you say.”

“I didn’t say it would be easy,” Caelum muttered. “I just said it could be done. There are many of them and, as I said, they are strong. It takes at least three men to bring down one of those Kaer wolves.”

“Or one person and a dragon,” Eliana interjected. The two men turned to look at her. “I’ll go in first,” she said. “Oriens and I can distract them, turn them away from Thys, and we can do a fair amount of damage ourselves. When they’ve all turned to us, your men can attack.”

“I will not use you as bait,” Caelum answered immediately.

“Don’t be so hasty, Captain,” Tadal argued. “It seems a good plan to me.”

Caelum wheeled on him. “Captain Tadal, you have not seen half the things we have seen. Nocens has a Rider as well. If anything happens to Eliana or Oriens, do you think we will stand even a glimmer of a chance when that Rider and dragon arrive? It is pure foolishness to risk their lives unnecessarily.”

“This is not unnecessary,” Eliana said quietly, “and I don’t need your permission to do this, Caelum.” He turned to her, obviously prepared to argue, but she went on, cutting him off. “You know that we can’t fight these creatures from our walls. It will take more force than our arrows to bring them down, and we will lose too many men in basic, open combat. We need a plan, and this is the best one we have. You know it.”

“I will not let any harm befall her,” Oriens said from where he sat on the ground inside the city wall.

Caelum glanced down at the dragon momentarily, then looked back at Eliana. “Very well,” he said with a short nod. “But remember what I am entrusting to you.” His voice entered her mind, and he added silently, “The life of the woman I love.”

She nodded. “I know. I won’t fail you.”

“You should go prepare yourself, Rider,” Tadal said. “Captain Caelum and I will gather the men for the attack once you have sufficiently distracted the beasts.”

Eliana turned and climbed down the wooden ladder to where Oriens waited for her. “We are fighting alone today, little one,” he said.

“Yes,” she answered. Even in her mind, her voice shook with anxiety. “We will stand alone today.”

“But at least we will stand alone together.”

“Always,” she responded with a smile.

The dragon and Rider returned to the cathedral where their new armor awaited them. With the assistance of several dwarves, Eliana fitted Oriens with his new armor. The metal plates overlapped one another along his neck and belly, completely covering the softer scales while still allowing him relatively free movement. A large plate covered his face and curved down over the top of his snout. With some adjustment of the straps, Eliana fit the saddle on over the armor.

Oriens arched his neck, baring his teeth in a menacing snarl. “How do I look?” he asked.

“Absolutely terrifying,” Eliana answered with a smile.

She began to strap on her own armor. She struggled with the laces on the bracers for several minutes, her trembling hands failing to secure them properly. Finally, she allowed the dwarves to do it for her. The armor was minimal, consisting of only a small, light breastplate, armguards, and leg bracers; they would offer her additional protection, but they wouldn’t weigh her down.

After twisting her hair up into a knot and strapping her golden sword to her waist, she looked up at her dragon. “Are you ready?” she asked.

He nodded his metal-clad head. “Ready.”

They marched out of the cathedral, flanked by the dwarves who had aided them in their preparation. The rest of Thys had begun to stir in the early morning hours, and hundreds of pairs of eyes watched them from every doorway, window, and side street. Thoughts from unprotected minds drifted through hers. All of them wondered the same thing—“Will she live?”

She found it mildly interesting that every single person’s concern was focused on her. Of course, she couldn’t expect them to doubt Oriens’ ability to survive any battle. He looked like an unstoppable force, treading beside her in his armor, and nobody else knew that he would die if his Rider fell.

For some reason, this thought frightened her more than thinking of her own death—knowing that her dragon must follow her into the dark abyss if she were to fall. More than anything, she wanted Oriens to survive this. A world without that golden dragon seemed a dark place to her, even if she were not in it.

The crowd in the city square parted on their approach, and they strode into the center of the square where the army’s leaders were waiting. Their faces were all solemn as they met Eliana’s gaze. She felt as if they had already resigned her to the grave.

Tadal broke the grim silence. “How long do you want us to wait before sending out our men?”

“Until we have turned them all away from Thys,” she answered. She was surprised by how steady and certain her own voice sounded; inside, she was trembling. “Once their backs are turned, send your men in from all sides. They will be unprepared, and we should be able to dispatch them quickly.”

Tadal acknowledged her command with a sharp salute. “Aye, Rider.”

Eliana drew a breath, then said with a nod. “Very well. Good luck, Captain.”

She grabbed hold of Oriens’ saddle and pulled herself up, attempting to steady her trembling limbs. When she looked down, she met a pair of worried blue eyes, watching her closely. Caelum looked ready to leap into the saddle after her.

“Don’t worry,” she said, trying to soothe him, though her own heart was threatening to burst from her chest. “I’ll see you soon.”

He answered with three words. “I love you.”

“I know. I love you too.”

She forced herself to look away from his face and turned her eyes skyward. “Let go, Oriens.”

He crouched for a moment, then jumped high into the air, snapping open his large wings and circling above the city. Immediately, the eyes of the goblins and their lupine mounts were on the golden dragon and his Rider. Their hoarse shouts and eerie howls tore at the air. Eliana looked down at them from her place high in the sky. All eyes were on her, just as she wanted.

She took a deep breath, preparing herself for both the inevitable and the unknown. Oriens seemed to draw a breath at the same time, and when he released it, fire rained down on the wolves and goblins. They scattered before the flames, but an unlucky few did not escape the inferno. Goblins and wolves screamed in pain as the fire engulfed them.

The others gazed for a moment at their burning comrades, and Eliana took advantage of their distraction. Oriens dove downwards, landing heavily in the midst of the enemy, crushing a few of the slower goblins beneath his clawed feet. Almost immediately, they were charged upon from all sides. Oriens whipped his tail, flattening the attackers behind him against the earth.

Eliana leaned from the saddle, her sword flashing gold for a moment before becoming drenched in the blood of a goblin. Oriens roared, tearing at the Kaer wolves with his long, white fangs. Those goblins that rode astride the wolves hacked at her legs with their massive curved swords. The blades glanced off of the metal that shielded her shins, and she made a silent note to thank Felsen again before embedding her blade in a goblin’s neck.

The monsters seemed to learn quickly that they could not reach her from her perch on Oriens’ back. Their attacks instead turned to her dragon. The Kaer wolves—either by their riders’ commands or by their own instinct—circled Oriens, darting in one at a time to snap at his legs and neck and tail. Most of the attacks glanced off of his armor or scales, but a few found the soft, unprotected under sides of his legs, drawing blood and making Eliana’s legs twinge in empathetic pain.

The Rider jumped from the saddle and landed on the soft grass. It seemed to be what her enemies had been waiting for. Two Kaer wolves charged at her, the goblins on their backs raising their swords over their heads. She tumbled to the side to avoid the first, rolling back to her feet just as the other came upon her.

She shut her eyes and thrust her sword upwards, piercing the wolf’s neck. It made a pained gurgling sound as she yanked her blade away, then crumpled to the ground. She quickly dispatched the wolf’s rider as he tried to jump from the wolf’s back.

The other wolf had turned around and was charging her again. With a jerk and twist of her wrist, Eliana pulled a stone from the ground and sent it hurtling at the approaching beast. She heard the cracking of a skull as the stone collided with the wolf’s head. The animal tumbled to the earth, crushing the goblin beneath it.

She glanced around to find Oriens snapping at the wolves around him while more of the creatures turned to her. The entire company of monsters had turned away from Thys and were converging on them in a howling, snarling, roaring mass.

“Oriens!” she screamed aloud.

As always, he knew what she wanted. He charged towards her, knocking aside two wolves. As his golden form rushed past her, she seized the lower strap of the saddle and allowed his momentum to swing her onto his back. As Oriens galloped westward, Eliana glanced over her shoulder. Every wolf and goblin in the group was following.

The wolves were faster than she had expected, and she soon found one on either side of her, their white fangs flashing at her feet, trying to grab her and tear her from the saddle. Suddenly, one of the goblins leapt from the wolf’s back, grabbing her left leg with his long fingers. His mouth found her leg and he clamped down, one of his massive, curved tusks piercing the back of her thigh, just above the knee.

She wailed in pain and brought her blade down hard on top of his bald head, splitting open the thick skull. The goblin’s grip on her loosened as his jaw went slack, and his body fell to the earth, the tusk tearing its way out of her flesh.

“Up! Oriens, up!” her mind screamed.

The golden wings flew open mid-gallop, yanking them into the sky with a powerful thrust. Warm blood poured down her leg as they skimmed just above the heads of the goblins. As they all watched her, throwing curses in their rough language, the armies from Thys came spilling out of the forest at the base of the mountains.

The United Army crashed against the unprepared goblins and wolves like a wave into rocky cliff. The beasts fell before swords, axes, arrows, and magic. There were howls of pain and shrieks of fury as the monsters tried to turn to face this new enemy. Eliana ordered Oriens back into the fight.

He radiated concern about her wounded leg but obeyed, diving downwards and scattering the creatures below them. Fire roared from his open mouth, sending Kaer wolves yelping towards the mountains in pain and fear, leaving their goblin riders on the grass to be overrun by the advancing humans, elves, and dwarves.

Despite her dragon’s silent warnings, Eliana returned to the ground, hacking at anything that came within reach of her blade. She felt as if her mind had become separate from her body; she was vividly aware of everything that happened around her, but nothing that was happening to her. She did not feel the pain from her wounded leg, the warmth of the blood soaking her trousers, or the blows of the goblin-made swords against her breastplate.

Around her, her compatriots battled furiously against the enemies. They were fighting well, clustered in pairs and small groups as they brought down the massive wolves. Dwarves hacked at the animals’ legs with heavy axes, while human and elven swords sought the soft flesh of their necks. The three races battled side by side as if they had done so for centuries.

Her eyes found Caelum, the only one fighting alone in the battle, somehow managing incredible grace amidst the gore. He glided out of the way of a charging wolf and leapt onto its back, beheading the goblin there in a flash, then driving his blade into the back of the wolf’s neck. The beast fell dead beneath him, and he leapt off, landing lightly on his feet and running at full speed towards Eliana.

He said nothing when he reached her, but fell in beside her and continued fighting. She welcomed a second comrade in the battle, as yet more monsters fell upon her. It seemed that for every goblin or Kaer wolf that fell, another simply rose to take its place. Eliana’s body was growing weaker, and her injured leg began to tremble beneath her. Her head felt light, and black dots blurred her vision.

Their troops were soon beating the enemy back against the mountains. Nearly all of the wolves had fled, and only a few goblins remained to attempt to turn the battle in their favor. But those who remained soon realized that their fight was over, and they turned for the shelter of the forests, running after the mountains who had disappeared long before.

Cheers broke out among the men as they watched the last of the goblins disappear into the shadows of the trees. Eliana’s breath burned in her lungs as she wiped her blade on the grass and returned it to its sheath. She limped back to Oriens and laboriously climbed into his saddle, her teeth grit against the pain.

Caelum was suddenly behind her in the saddle, his arms around her, holding her steady. “Hold on, Eliana,” he said. “We’ll get you back to Laurus and Ispera. They’ll take care of you.”

“I’m fine,” she muttered stubbornly, shaking her head against the haze of spots that clouded her vision.

He didn’t answer her, but instead said to her dragon, “Take her home, Oriens.”

Oriens carried them both over the heads of the men and back to Thys. Once they had landed in the city square, Caelum lifted her easily from the saddle and carried her to the infirmary. Eliana allowed her head to rest against his shoulder until they entered the dark room.

Most of the injured from the previous day’s battle had been Healed and sent back to the ranks. Only a few of the more seriously injured—those whose Healing would take time—remained in the infirmary.

“Is she alright?” Eliana heard her mother cry.

The Rider lifted her head and she managed a small smile. “I’m fine, really. But you know Caelum.”

“Oh, yes,” Caelum agreed good-naturedly, laying her on a blanket on the floor, “paranoid, bothersome, over-cautious, over-protective Caelum.”

“Roll onto your stomach, Eliana, so we can look at the injury,” Laurus’ whispery voice commanded.

She did as she was told so that the three elves around her could survey the damage. She heard someone draw a sharp breath while another let out a small “Oh” of sympathy. Eliana turned her head enough so that she could see Laurus’ face.

The Healer caught her gaze and shook her head in disapproval. “That is an uncommonly nasty wound, Eliana,” she said.

“The puncture wound tears straight through the muscle,” Ispera agreed from Eliana’s other side, her voice tight with worry. “And it looks like it may have splintered part of the bone as well.”

Eliana sighed. “How long?” she asked wearily.

There was a pause as the two Healers considered. “A few hours at most,” Laurus said.

“But it will be painful, dear,” Ispera added. “The wound is ragged. We’ll have to guide the muscles back together very slowly and carefully, not to mention piecing together the splintered parts of the bone.”

“Fine,” the Rider muttered, turning to rest her chin on her hands. “Go on.”

She could sense the three elves exchanging glances over her back, then heard the shuffling of the two Healers leaving to gather their supplies. Caelum moved to sit cross-legged in front of her. A small smirk was on his face.

“Something funny, Captain?” she asked him.

He shook his. “Not particularly, but you are a strange girl. Do you know that?”

She shrugged. “I’ve been told that once or twice.”

“Here I was, panicking over your injury and loss of blood, and you act as if you’ve simply cut your finger on a piece of parchment.”

She gave a grunt of laughter. “Pain builds character,” she answered. She shifted uncomfortably as she tried to adjust her breastplate.

Caelum noticed her discomfort. “Here,” he offered. “Sit up.”

Eliana rolled over again and sat up with her back to him. He carefully helped her remove all of her armor. As he took off her left leg brace, she noticed for the first time that her brown breeches had been stained a deep red from the middle of her left thigh down to her boots.

“Was there really that much blood?” she asked in surprise.

“I told you it was a nasty wound,” Laurus answered as she approached again, bandages in her arms.

Ispera was right behind her with a small vile in her hands. “You need to roll on your side, Eliana,” she said.

Eliana moved stiffly to obey her and soon found her head cradled in Caelum’s lap. She looked up at him in mild surprise.

He smiled down at her. “Comfortable?”

She nodded and turned back to her side. She didn’t protest as he began to run his fingers over her disheveled hair. One of the women behind her tore open the leg of her breeches to better expose the wound. Eliana winced once as they quickly cleaned it, but soon relaxed under Caelum’s soft touch.

“Okay, Eliana,” her mother said, her voice sounding far too soothing to mean anything good. “I’m going to need you to stay as still as possible. I’m going to apply the salve to the wound. It is going to hurt, sweetheart, but we need it to help speed the process and remove any infection while we try to Heal it.”

The Rider nodded in understanding. She felt a liquid substance enter her wound. At first, all she felt was the surprising chill of the Healing salve. Then, a terrible burning sensation filled her leg. She couldn’t hold back the scream of pain, and her body instinctively jerked away from the Healers.

Caelum’s arms immediately wrapped around her shoulders, holding her as she trembled and screamed in agony, tears streaming down her cheeks. His body bent over hers, pressing his lips close to her ear. She knew he was whispering something to her, but she couldn’t hear him over her own whimpers and sobs of agony.

She turned his face against his arm as he cradled her head and bit down onto the sleeve of his tunic, trying to hold the pain inside. His arms tightened around her as another spasm of pain racked her body and another scream escaped her lips, muffled by the cloth between her teeth.

“It’s okay, Eliana,” she distantly heard him whispering. “You’re going to be okay. I’m here. I’m here.”