Sky Riders: The Rising Sun

Two hundred and twelve of their men were killed—forty-six elves, seventy-two dwarves, and ninety-four humans. The attack had come the moment Oriens and Eliana had taken into the sky after the Roc, as if the goblins had been waiting for that very moment, as if they’d planned for it. They had attacked from the rear, catching those at the end of the line off guard. That was the moment when most of the damage had been done. When their men had finally been able to fight back, the battle had mostly been in their favor.

The weary survivors gathered the fallen to the clearing, where the elves buried all of the dead—elves, humans, and dwarves—in the elven manner. It was the simplest and quickest way to bury them, and nobody protested. Ispera and Laurus continued their way around the camp, Healing the more serious wounds while a few other elves tended to those that were less threatening. Every face in the camp seemed to have aged ten years during the battle.

Eliana sat beside a large fire at the edge of the clearing, watching Oriens plod tiredly along the edge of the forest. She’d told him to stop; he’d refused. She’d persuaded him to pause long enough to have his wounds Healed so that the goblin’s poisoned blade wouldn’t sicken him, but the moment that was finished, the dragon set back on his track.

His Rider’s injury, though now wrapped and healing quickly, had greatly upset him. Eliana was beginning to worry that he would side with Caelum, and the two of them would stow her away in another cave when the time came to face Nocens’ army.

Denio, Kana, Felsen, Ja’ol, Caedis, and Teleas were all fine—or at least, they were alive. Denio and Kana had sustained only minor injuries. Felsen, rough and sturdy dwarf that he was, had made it through the battle unscathed.

Caedis and Teleas were not as lucky. They had been at the end of the line where the goblins attacked first; it was a miracle they survived the loss of blood. Ja’ol had proven himself to be an even greater warrior than they had suspected. He’d been at the rear of the line as well, but had still managed to avoid serious injury.

After the shock of the attack had subsided, the dead buried, and the wounded cared for, a new emotion began to wind its way through the camp. Soldiers still clutched their weapons with white knuckles, but it was no longer with the fear of attack. Rather, they longed for another attack. They wanted revenge for the blood of their friends and family. Anger was what now caused them to cling to their weapons.

Eliana looked up from her musings as Caelum approached her. “We’re meeting,” he said softly. “Do you feel well enough?”

“Of course,” she answered.

He helped her to her feet and she followed him to where he had set up his tent. She could feel Oriens watching her briefly, then he continued to his patrol, allowing his mind to mingle with hers. Eliana ducked into the tent to find the rest of the army’s leaders already assembled—Caedis, Teleas, Ja’ol, and Felsen, as well as Kana and Denio.

Caedis and Teleas were both heavily bandaged—Caedis about the head, and Teleas around his bare chest. They both looked pale and weary, as if they were still barely hanging on to life. Still, Teleas gave her a weary smile. Caelum and Eliana settled into the circle of grim faces.

Denio was the first to speak. With a heavy sigh, he asked, “What now, brother?”

“Our plans have not changed,” Caelum responded flatly. “We must continue on to the Shyrn Plains. We should leave at first light.”

“We were ambushed,” Caedis growled, his voice raspy from exhaustion. “How do we know they won’t attack again?”

“We don’t know, but if we turn back now, those two hundred and twelve soldiers will have died for nothing.”

“What about supplies?” Felsen asked. “We barely had enough to get us through the journey and a few days of battle as it was. Between the ogre and the goblins, we’ve lost much of it. We’ll hardly have enough to get us through the next few days.”

“Stricter rations. And we can barter for more food in the first town we come to on the plains. Any more questions?”

There was a long pause, which was ended by a soft whisper. “How did this happen?” Eliana asked.

All of their eyes turned to the Rider, all containing the same look of sadness. It was apparent from their expressions that no one had the answer.

“They ambushed us, Eliana,” Caelum answered with a sigh. “We were caught unprepared in the middle of the night.”

“I shouldn’t have left the company,” she muttered. “They were clearly waiting for that to happen.”

Caelum blinked at her. “Eliana, you flew off to rescue a soldier. You couldn’t have known they were waiting for you to leave.”

“They wanted me and Oriens out of the way so they could attack you. It was all planned. The Roc, the wolves, the goblins. They were all following someone’s orders.” She looked up at Caelum, her gut filled with a nauseating certainty. “That goblin said they were ordered to attack us. They are in allegiance with Nocens.”

She felt the tension in the air grow thicker and saw the others stiffen at the idea. They stared at her for a moment, wide-eyed, as if expecting her to retract the statement. They they glanced at one another, obviously hoping someone would refute her.

It was Kana who spoke first. “How could someone manage to control beasts such as Rocs and Kaer wolves? Goblins, maybe, as they are perfectly intelligent beings, but animals?”

“As far as the wolves go,” Felsen mused, scratching at his beard, “one could ask the same thing about our horses. I don’t think the Kaer wolves were anything more than the goblins’ attack dogs and mounts.”

“But what about the Roc?” Teleas asked. “They couldn’t possibly control a beast of that size, especially not one that flies.”

“They could with magic,” Caedis pointed out quietly.

Another pause hung in the air as they each considered what this could mean. If Nocens was aligning the creatures of the Kaers against them, he had to know that they were approaching. He was expecting them. But how far had his armies gotten? Were they already in the plains, waiting to attack the moment their allied army reached the open?

“The tracks…” Caelum murmured under his breath.

“What tracks?” Teleas asked, as all eyes turned to the elf captain.

Caelum looked up as if just remembering they were all in the tent with him. “The tracks of the goblins and the wolves,” he supplied. “They were traveling together, but I don’t think they were the group we encountered.”

“What makes you think that?” his brother asked.

“The tracks were old. They’d been marching well ahead of us for some time, so why march away from us, just to double back the way they’d come? I think there are more of them, and I think they’ll be waiting for us beside Nocens’ army on the Shyrn Plains.”

~*~

They left before the first rays of dawn had reached the western side of the Vodaer Pass. The soldiers filed past the place where the bodies had been absorbed by the earth. Many placed trinkets, wildflowers, and other tokens on the ground, paying their last respects to their friends and comrades, who would remain in this untouchable part of the mountains.

Eliana stopped before the grassy area and stared at it. Nobody would be able to return here to visit the bodies of their loved ones. Nothing would mark the death of these men and women in this forsaken part of the land. Her mind touched Oriens’, emanating a desire to create a memorial for these soldiers, as they had for Ivi—something to mark their passing.

Caelum seemed to sense her intentions. His strong hand gently seized her arm, drawing her attention away from the burial place. “You have to conserve your strength,” he asid. “We don’t know what might be waiting for us on the plains.”

She grudgingly obeyed and turned away from the gravesite, walking beside him into the dark shelter of the forest. Oriens continued to patrol the area around her with a watchful, protective eye. They quickened their pace, marching briskly through the Vodaer Pass, eager to escape the Kaers by midday.

Eliana’s back was still wrapped carefully in bandages and it gave a throb of pain every few minutes. Ispera had told her it would be that way for a while, as it was nearly impossible to remove all of the poison from the wound without cutting deeper into her back. Her body would have to eliminate any remaining toxins on its own.

Caelum kept a watchful eye on her throughout the journey, while Oriens kept a watchful eye on everything around her. No harm could have to come her even if she had gone searching for it. Her two bodyguards were more alert than they had ever been before.

Suddenly, the trees opened up before them, and they could see the Shyrn Plains spread out below. Every member of the company breathed a sigh of relief at the sight of the beautiful, open valley. The grass stretched for endless miles, hedged on all sides by a high ridge of mountains, isolating this valley from the rest of Paerolia.

“You should fly down,” Caelum directed her. “The slope is much too rocky for Oriens to walk. But stay close to the mountains. Nocens’ men could be waiting anywhere.”

Eliana nodded and climbed onto Oriens’ back. He lifted them into the air and they glided easily down the mountainside, leaving the rest of the party far behind. She could sense his relief at getting her off the ground and back in the safest place he knew of—with him in the sky. They soon settled at the base of the mountain in a small stand of trees and waited for the remainder of the company to descend.

Once Caelum had given her the silent signal to come out of hiding, Eliana and Oriens rejoined the troops and they continued their march across the empty plains. It felt strange to Eliana, being so much in the open, so exposed to everything, but she was relieved to not have to worry about what may be lurking behind every tree. They marched in a straight line towards the first small town they saw. When they were three miles from it, they stopped.

“We’ll set up camp here,” Caelum instructed.

“But it’s hardly past midday,” Teleas objected. “We should try to gain as much ground as we can with the light that we have.”

The elf shook his head. “We need to gather information first. We’ll put together a small group to enter the village and barter for supplies. We’ll get as much information as we can while we’re there. Once we know what’s going on in the valley, we can decide on a course of action.”

No one else complained; they were relieved to have at least half a day’s break from the never-ending march. Camp was quickly erected and people sprawled out on the open grass, enjoying the first view they’d had of the blue sky in days. The leaders of the army gathered in Caelum’s tent once more.

“Who should we send?” Caedis asked.

“Both you and Teleas bear too many injuries to not raise questions,” Felsen pointed out.

“And we don’t know how they’ll react to elves and dwarves,” Teleas added.

“But we can’t send just anyone,” Denio pointed out. “We need at least one of our captains to go with the group.”

“I could go,” Ja’ol offered.

Caelum nodded in consent. “Yes, you seem to be the best candidate, Ja’ol, but I think I should come as well. If there is news of Nocens in the valley, it may be best for it to reach the ears of the captains first.”

“But they may recognize you for an elf,” Teleas said.

Caelum shrugged. “I managed to get through Vereor without being recognized.”

“Until you stormed the palace,” Eliana muttered. No one seemed to hear, and she added in a louder voice, “I should go as well.”

“No,” Caelum said bluntly, not even looking in her direction.

“You can object all you want,” she answered in a calm voice, “but I will go. They’re less likely to recognize my elven blood than they are yours.”

He finally looked at her. “Perhaps, but I am not willing to risk the life of our greatest asset.”

“But perhaps your pawn would prefer to move of its own accord,” she hissed in response.

She could see that the words stung him, but she didn’t care. She knew that his redoubled protectiveness was due to the night’s battle, and if she allowed him to coddle her now, he would never permit her to fight when the time came to face Nocens’ armies.

“I think Eliana should go,” Denio put in. Caelum gave him a look that hinted at murder as consequence for such a betrayal. Denio ignored his brother’s deadly gaze and met the Rider’s eyes. “Eliana, I’ve come to love you as a sister since your arrival in Iterum. I would hate to have anything happen to you. It would be a great loss to our armies, but to me personally as well. But more so, I would hate to see you unhappy, and I’m afraid you won’t be happy unless you’re allowed to fulfill your duties as our Rider.”

She gave him a grateful smile, surprised by how definitively he could understand her. “Thank you, Denio.”

He smiled back in the wise, gentle way he had adopted since becoming king. “Don’t think having my permission to enter the village gives you permission to do as you please there. Please act with the greatest caution. We cannot afford to lose you.”

She nodded. “Understood.”

“Fine,” Caelum snarled. “But you will stay with me while we’re there.”

Eliana ignored him and turned to the rest of the captains. “So we have Caelum, Ja’ol, and myself going. Who else should we take?”

“We could take a few of my own men,” Ja’ol offered.

“I suppose we could take three of them, but we should take another woman. It may look strange for me to be traveling alone with a group of men.”

“Most of the human women were in the back of the line when the goblins attacked,” Caedis pointed out. “They have too many injuries not to raise suspicion.”

“Then it will have to be an elf.”

“Can we risk sending another elf?” Teleas asked. “Too many fair folk together could draw attention.”

“It’s a chance we’ll have to take,” Eliana answered with a shrug. “One woman with five men is certain to draw attention, and we can’t take a human woman.”

“The woman you saved from the Roc would certainly be happy to aid you,” Denio said.

She nodded. “I will ask her myself. So it’s settled then. As soon as we can gather everyone who will be going, and whatever supplies we can spare for bartering, we’ll head to the village.”

~*~

Their small party of seven approached the village cautiously, doing their best to look like a family of travelers. Caelum and Shyli—the elf the Roc had taken—had the hoods of their cloaks pulled up over their ears. Eliana allowed her hair to hang loose and cover her ears as she’d done in her youth. Ja’ol and his men—Jhonen, Olain, and Adaris—carried heavy packs of excess items that could be used for trade.

Eliana could feel her heart pounding in her throat as they drew closer to the village’s entrance. It was much like Vegrandis, as there was no gate to block the entrance into the village, and she could see straight down the main road through to the other side. There was no one in sight. An eerie silence seemed to hang over the village.

Their group halted on the edge of the little town, all of them reaching for the weapons they’d carefully concealed under their cloaks. Olain, the largest of Ja’ol’s men, took a few slow steps forward, his sharp eyes examining the spaces between the huts. After a pause, he motioned the rest of them forward.

“Wait a moment, Eliana,” Caelum whispered. “You follow behind me. Shyli, you in front of me.”

They both obeyed without question. Shyli moved forward, following closely behind the four human men, Caelum a few steps behind her. As Eliana moved to follow Caelum, a pair of strong arms seized her from behind, clamping her arms down to her sides and covering her mouth with a large, rough hand.

She screamed out to Caelum with her mind as she writhed in the stranger’s grip, trying to break free. Caelum wheeled around immediately, yanking his sword out from under his cloak and starting back towards her. No sooner had he taken two steps than more men appeared from between the houses, stopping him in his tracks with half a dozen arrows pointed in his direction. The cold steel of a small knife pressed to her throat, and Eliana winced in pain.

Caelum’s eyes flashed and his voice leapt into her thoughts. “Stay calm. Don’t use your magic. We’ll get out of this.”

His blue eyes sized up the men around him, as if considering whether or not it would be wise to attempt to fight them all himself. Shyli and the other men were similarly restrained by a dozen more archers. Caelum moved as if to take another step forward. The strings of the bows drew further back, and the man holding Eliana pressed the knife harder to her throat. She whimpered as she felt the blade draw blood.

Caelum quickly dropped his sword and raised his hands in the air. “There, I’m unarmed,” he said quietly. “I beg you, don’t hurt her.”

“And yer friends,” a gruff voice said, close to Eliana’s ear.

Shyli, Ja’ol, Olain, Jhonen, and Adaris set their swords at their feet. The men around them gathered the blades and tossed them well out of reach.

“Who are you? What do you want?” Caelum asked.

“Yer not the one to be askin’ questions, boy,” the man snarled. “Just who do you happen to be, and why are ya here?”

“My name is Jai,” Caelum lied easily. He gestured towards the rest of our party. “That is my sister, her husband, and his brothers.”

“And what about this pretty little one?” the man chuckled, pressing the point of the knife to Eliana’s cheek. She resisted the urge to take the earth out from under him.

The muscles in Caelum’s jaw tightened, and she saw a momentary glow of fire around him before he managed to control it; luckily, the villagers did not seem to notice. “That is my wife,” he said through clenched teeth.

“Yer lyin’!” he answered with a laugh. He seized Eliana’s left hand and held it up for everyone to see. “She has no ring.”

Caelum blinked at being caught in his lie, but he quickly recovered. “We had to trade her ring for food,” he responded smoothly. “We’ve been traveling for some time. Now, I beg you, release her.”

The grip around her momentarily tightened, then she was suddenly pushed towards Caelum. She stumbled into his arms, and he pulled her to his chest, kissing the top of her head—whether from relief, or to further convince the villagers of their supposed relationship, Eliana wasn’t sure.

The Rider turned around and got her first look at the man who had seized her. He was large, both in height and girth, with a thick brown beard and sharp, dark eyes. She glowered at him as she touched the warm blood on her neck.

“Ya haven’t answered my second question,” he barked. “Why are ya here?”

“We are only looking for a place to trade before continuing on our journey,” Caelkum answered. “We did not expect such hostilities when we entered your village.”

The man paused, then made a motion to the men around them. The arrows were lowered, and their swords were kicked back to them. The rest of the group moved to stand behind Eliana and Caelum, their blades now sheathed.

“My apologies, but these be wary times for us, Master Jai.”

“What has put your people so on edge, sir?” Caelum asked, his arm still securely around Eliana.

“You can be callin’ me Bolandri. Jus’ las’ night, a horde o’ them beasts from the Kaers come marchin’ past our village. Some came righ’ through, took a few of our supplies with ‘em.”

“What kind of beasts?” Caelum asked, his voice wary.

“Big, monster Kaer wolves and them ugly goblins. We get a few o’ them venturin’ down into the valley, but it’s usually in winter when food’s runnin’ short for ‘em up in the mountains, and they never come in packs like they did las’ night. If ya plan on continuin’ through the plains, ya best be careful. They kept movin’ farther out into the plains, ‘stead of headin’ back to the mountains like usual.”

Eliana felt Caelum’s muscles tighten at the news. He had been right. There were more wolves and goblins, and for all appearances, they were moving to join Nocens’ armies.

The elf’s voice was calm when he finally spoke to Bolandri again. “I appreciate the new, Bolandri. As it is, we have far more weapons than necessary for our group. Perhaps your people could use more?”

Bolandri nodded slowly. “Aye, that we could. What’re ya lookin’ for in return?”

“Food and blankets,” Caelum answered immediately. “And whatever you have that is on this list.” He held out a roll of paper that Laurus had given to him prior to leaving camp; it contained the names of several herbs she and Ispera would need for Healing.

Bolandri stepped forward and took the paper in his large hands, running his eyes down the list. He nodded. “We got some o’ these things, but not all of ‘em. What’ve you got?”

Ja’ol, Adaris, Jhonen, and Olain slipped the packs from their backs and opened them up. Bolandri’s men stepped forward and sifted through the array of swords taken from the army’s dead. One man pulled out a thin elven blade.

Examining it closely, the man exclaimed, “They’re like nothin’ I’ve ever seen before!”

Another stepped forward and inspected the same. “That’s no human blade,” he whispered.

Bolandri frowned suspiciously. “What kind o’ blades are those?”

“Elven,” Caelum answered shortly, surprising Eliana with his honesty.

Shock registered behind the man’s beard. “How’d ya get elf swords?”

“That’s not the reason we’re here,” Caelum responded coolly. “All you need to know is that they’re stronger and more durable than any human sword, and they would serve your people well. So, do we have a deal or not?”

Bolandri hesitated. For a moment, Eliana thought he would refuse. Then, he gave a curt nod. “Aye, we have a deal.” Turning to the men closest to him, he said, “Get these folks food an’ blankets enough to fill their packs, an’ whatever we’ve got on this list.”

He handed the paper to another, and the men disappeared into the houses around them, taking the packs with them. It wasn’t long before the men began to reappear, the packs now filled with the supplies the army needed. Once they were fully burdened with all the supplies they could carry, Caelum stepped forward and offered his hand to Bolandri. The burly man took it in his own and shook it shortly.

“Sharpness to your blades,” he said roughly.

“And wind to your arrows,” Caelum replied appropriately.

Eliana blinked in surprise at his knowledge of the common human phrase. Then Caelum took her hand in his own and they led the group out of the village and back towards the camp, which was indiscernible behind the distant hills. Eliana breathed a sigh of relief as they stepped out of the village.

Caelum looked down at her with a smirk. “You weren’t scared, were you?”

She frowned at him. “Excuse me for being a little nervous when I have a knife to my throat,” she answered, touching the blood that was now dried on her neck.

“I’d forgotten about that,” he said with a concerned expression. “Here, let me.” He paused and put his hand over her neck. There was a brief tingling sensation, and then it was gone. Caelum smiled. “There. Just like the first day we met.”

She rolled her eyes. “Yes. Why does it seem that my neck is always threatened when I’m around you?”

He shrugged as they continued their journey back towards the rest of the army. “At least it gives me the opportunity to be the hero for a change.”

Eliana laughed and rolled her eyes, and Caelum held her hand a little more tightly.