Sky Riders: The Rising Sun
Sparring

The fields surrounding Amiscan were filled with soldiers,each of them engaged in various forms of training—archery, sword play, magic,and even hand-to-hand combat. Eliana approached slowly, unsure of what she wasexpected to do. Caelum had not appeared this morning to give her anyinstructions; she had not seen him since his sudden disappearance the nightbefore.

After waiting for him for nearly an hour, she had dressed inthe green-and-brown uniform of the army and set out to train on her own. Shehad her quiver of gold-and-white-fletched arrows across her back. Her swordrested against her hip, and she clutched her black mahogany bow in her righthand. A few soldiers glanced towards her as they approached, obviously curious,but they did not stop what they were doing, and none of their faces lookedfamiliar.

“Eliana!” a voice called.

She looked towards the sound and sighed with relief to see afamiliar face approaching her. He grinned childishly and waved. She waved backwith a small smile of her own as he trotted towards her.

“Hello, Iocus,” she said when the blonde elf reached her.

“What training are you doing today?” he asked.

She shrugged. “I don’t know. Nobody told me what I shoulddo.”

Iocus laughed at her obvious naiveté. “That’s because you decide what to work on. The soldiersknow best where there weaknesses lie, and they train according to their ownneeds. So, what do you most need to work on?”

She glanced around the field at the various types ofactivities. Her eyes paused on the few pairs of elves that sparred withoutweapons. They moved quickly and fluidly, looking more like dancers thanfighters, striking and blocking with fists and feet. She nodded in theirdirection. “Well, I’ve never done that before.”

“Perfect!” Iocus said with a smile. He placed a hand low onher back and guided her firmly towards the end of the field where theweaponless elves sparred. As they drew near the group, Iocus spotted a figuresitting outside the group, restringing a bow. “Raena!” he called.

Eliana’s heart dropped into her stomach as the blonde womanturned to face them. Hatred immediately filled Raena’s blue eyes. She set downthe bow she’d been fixing and stood, turning towards them and crossing her armsangrily over her chest.

“Yes?” she asked in a short, sharp voice.

“Eliana need a sparring partner,” Iocus answered, pressingthe Rider forward with his hand on her back. “She wants to practicehand-to-hand.”

There was a brief pause, then a malicious smile played overRaena’s thin lips. “It would be my honor,”she said in a poisonously sweet voice, and she gave an exaggerated bow.

“Wonderful!” Iocus patted Eliana lightly on the shoulder.“Good luck, Eliana! I should get back to the sword field. My sparring partneris waiting on me.”

With that, he turned and jogged away, leaving Eliana atRaena’s mercy. The Rider swallowed, wishing she hadn’t sent Oriens out huntingin the mountains that morning. She reached out to him with her mind, but he hadmoved beyond her mental reach. She was entirely alone with the one elf whohated her more than any other.

“Well,” she said with the same mocking grin on her face.“Shall we begin, oh great and wonderful Rider?”

The bitter sarcasm in her voice inflamed Eliana’s anger, andthe word leapt from her lips before she was able to stop it. “Yes,” sheanswered tersely.

Eliana dropped her sword, bow, and quiver, and stepped outinto the open space. Raena began to circle her, her movements catlike. Shetried to follow the elf, rotating as well, waiting for her to strike. There wassomething feral in those blue eyes, and Eliana felt certain this would not be atraining session—this was going to be a personal grudge match. Raena wouldspill every last drop of her blood if she got the chance.

Suddenly, Raena rushed forward, faster than Eliana hadanticipated. She felt the blow to her head before she ever saw it coming, andshe stumbled backwards, spinning towards her attacker again. She was alreadyupon her again, and Eliana raised her arms quickly, managing to deflect the kickRaena aimed at her face.

Raena took a quick step backwards, snarling silently,recalculating her approach. Eliana didn’t wait for her to decide. She rushedtowards the elf, letting her hatred for the woman course through her. Shelashed out with one closed fist, then the other, throwing half a dozen blows.Raena blocked them all easily, her lips turning up into a smug grin as she didso.

As Eliana tried to strike again, Raena caught her wrist. Sheswung with the other hand, but the elf caught that one as well. With a shout,Raena shoved backwards with all her strength, and Eliana was sent flyingbackwards. The earth knocked the wind from her chest, and she tumbled overherself before springing back to her feet.

But Raena was still quicker. No sooner had Eliana reachedher feet than the elf swung out with one leg. Her booted foot struck the Riderin the side of the face. She felt blood beginning to pour from her mouth almostimmediately. She fell back to the earth, her head spinning, pressing herfingers to her split, tender lip.

Raena knelt beside her, gripping the front of Eliana’stunic. She pulled on it, lifting the Rider’s torso from the ground; she wasstronger than she appeared. She leaned in, her lovely face close to Eliana’sbloody, dirty one.

“Well, well,” she whispered. The fingers of her other handtouched the blood at the corner of Eliana’s mouth, and she looked at it for amoment before wiping it on the Rider’s tunic. “Your blood looks just as filthyas I thought it would.”

The familiar fury flamed up inside of Eliana, fueled byyears of taunts and torments from every villager in Vegrandis. She placed ahand on Raena’s chest, shoving her away with all of her strength and rage. Apowerful current of wind burst from her hand, unbidden, and sent Raena archingthrough the air. She landed several feet away, striking the grass with a dullthudding sound.

The elves in the field had stopped their training and were nowgathering in a loose circle, watching in fascination. Raena lay still for amoment, evidently shocked. She was still just long enough for Eliana to beginto worry that she’d actually injured her. Then she began struggling to herfeet, snarling like a wild animal. She looked positively rabid as she startedtowards the Rider, who had risen to her feet as well.

“Why, you filthy little—!”

Raena didn’t bother to finish telling Eliana what she was.She raised her hand in the Rider’s direction, though she was still several feetaway, and clenched it into a fist. Eliana recognized the motion immediately;Caelum had made the same gesture towards the guard at the gates of Iterum, onthe day that Oriens had hatched. And she quickly learned what the guard hadfelt.

She tried to inhale, but it was as if nothing was there. Theair around her had completely vanished. She opened her mouth, struggling togulp in some form of oxygen, but there was none. Raena’s lip curled withviolent amusement as Eliana fell to her knees, spots swimming in front of hereyes, lungs burning.

The circle of elves stood, staring, watching it all.

Raena’s voice sounded far away as she laughed. “And you’re supposed to be our Chosen One?The one from the great prophecy? You are weak!You are a filthy little mongrel who is much too easy to kill. You are nothing!”

Eliana was on her hands and knees now, the edges of hervision darkening. Distantly, she heard someone shout from the crowd. Raena’shand immediately dropped back to her side. Air rushed back into Eliana’s lungswith such sudden force that it felt as if her chest was going to burst. She layon the ground, gasping and coughing, but relieved by the feeling of warm oxygenin her lungs.

“What did you think you were doing?” the angry voiceshouted.

Eliana raised herself to her knees again and looked up tosee Iocus grasping the front of Raena’s tunic, his normally cheery face inchesfrom her, glowering with fury. Raena was doing her best to look innocent, butshe was failing.

“I was sparring with her,” she replied in a falsely calmvoice.

“Sparring includes neither magic nor trying to kill your opponent!” he spat back ather.

The woman yanked Iocus’s hand off of her tunic and shovedhim away, taking a step back. “Don’t you lecture me, Iocus! She used magicfirst! And this has nothing to do with you!”

“Nothing to do with me?” he repeated in a loud, furiousvoice. “You just tried to kill my Rider! You tried to kill our Rider!”

A low murmur spread through the crowd as the elves evidentlybegan to realize that what they’d just witnessed had not been an innocentsparring match at all. Eliana saw one dark-haired woman slip away through thecrowd, heading back towards the village. The rest continued to whisper amongthemselves, their expressions beginning to look angry.

By that time, Eliana had gotten enough air circulatingthrough her body to stand. She struggled to her feet, wobbling slightly. Shecoughed again before replaceing her voice.

“Raena,” she finally managed, her voice sounding raw andraspy. All eyes turned to her. “How many ways are you going to try to kill mebefore you give up?”

“What?” the woman snapped back.

“This is the second time you’ve tried to kill me, and youtried to kill my dragon before he ever hatched. But every time, you’ve failed.”

Raena’s eyes widened at the mention of the egg she’d stolen.Eliana had recognized her beside the waterfall all those months ago, but shehad never said or done anything about it. The elf’s surprise made it apparentthat she had hoped she’d been unrecognized.

“Yes,” Eliana went on, her voice growing stronger. “I knowit was you who stole Oriens’ egg and tried to destroy it. Before we’d even met,you tried to put an arrow through my throat. And now this. Tell me, Raena, isit worth all of the effort? No matter what you try, whether you succeed or not,he will never want you.”

Rage flashed through her blue eyes, and Eliana knew that shewas about to attack her again. She started forward and Iocus grabbed her arm.She quickly shook it off with a snarl and made towards the still-dazed Rider,her expression demanding blood.

“Raena!”

The elf stopped immediately, her expression of hatredturning to one of guilt and fear as she looked towards the sound of the voice.Eliana followed her gaze. Caelum was shoving his way through the crowd,followed closely by the dark-haired woman who had slipped away earlier. Raenashrank back, leaving Eliana where she stood, slightly bent as she tried tosteady her spinning head.

Caelum planted himself firmly in front of Raena and glowereddown into her face. “Is it true?” he demanded. “Did you attack Eliana? Did youtry to kill her?”

Raena straightened herself and lifted her head, managing tolook defiant. “Yes. She attacked me with magic first. I defended myself as Ifelt necessary.”

Iocus interjected, stepping up to them. “Raena had Elianaoutmatched in hand-to-hand and she continued to attack. Eliana lost control andstruck her with magic unintentionally. Raena retaliated by drawing the air awayfrom her. And in my opinion, sir, she was not going to stop.”

Caelum looked from Iocus back to Raena. “Do you haveanything to say for yourself?” he snapped.

She cast Iocus a dirty look, then met Caelum’s gazesteadily, her face expressionless. “No, sir,” she said calmly.

Caelum’s jaw clenched, and Eliana saw a faint, red glowforming around him again, as she’d seen it once before. “Go!” he shouted,pointing behind him towards the mountains, the glow flaring slightly.

Raena look startled, her calm façade shattered by the singleword. “What? Go? Go where?”

“Do you think I care?” he shouted in her pretty face. “Go toIterum. Go wander the desert for all I care! Just get out of here! You aredismissed from Iterum’s armies. I want you gone within the hour, and if I eversee you near Eliana or Amiscan ever again, I will kill you myself!”

“But, Caelum—!”

“Go!”

Raena bowed her head and started towards Amiscan. Eliana sawtears beginning to slide down her pale cheeks as the other elves parted, givingher a wide berth. Nobody attempted to offer her any comfort. The way theyavoided her reminded Eliana of Vegrandis, how the villagers had avoided herlike she carried a disease. If Raena had not just tried to kill her, she mighthave felt sorry for her. As it was though, Eliana felt nothing but relief ather departure.

The red light around Caelum did not dim, but grew brighteras he turned to the surrounding soldiers. “And what did you do?” he snapped. “Itrusted each of you with our Rider’s safety, and you stand by and watch thishappen? How much longer would you have waited if Iocus had not stepped forward?Would you have allowed your Rider to be murdered in front of your eyes?”

The elves made no answer, but shifted uncomfortably,avoiding their captain’s gaze. He turned away from them and finally facedEliana, the fire around him finally dimming slightly as he stepped towards her.She straightened and tried to meet his gaze calmly, but her body swayed, herhead spinning again.

Caelum quickened his step and caught her against his chestas her oxygen-deprived legs buckled under her. Immediately, he swept her intohis arms and marched through the crowd, towards the hill in the center of Amiscan.

“I’m fine, I’m fine,” she grumbled weakly. But despite herown protests, Eliana wrapped her arms around his neck and pressed her face intohis shoulder. His spring-rain smell seemed to slow her head’s wild spinning.

She sighed and trailed her fingers across his shoulder, overthe skin of his neck, and into his hair. His arms tightened around her at thetouch, the muscles in his shoulders tensing. Then, he sighed in a resigned way.

“Please,” he whispered, “don’t do that.”

“Why not?” she muttered, her face still resting at the baseof his neck.

At the back of her mind, Eliana knew she was still slightlydelirious, or she never would have behaved so forwardly. As it was, she felt asif everything was happening in a strange, surreal world, where there would beno consequences for her actions, no matter how ridiculous they might be. Andshe was relishing the feeling of having him hold her so close.

She hadn’t even noticed that they’d entered her quarterswhen he laid her on the bed. She tried to keep her arms around his neck, topull him there with her, but he easily unlatched her fingers and forced herhands to her sides. She gave an irritated sigh as he lifted the blankets andpulled them over her.

“Because,” he finally answered, placing a cool hand on herflushed cheek. His eyes looked sad, somehow. “I just… can’t…”

The words rolled off of her like water from a duck’s back.She knew that the words should have hurt, but her emotions were still numbed byher delirium.

“Okay,” she whispered groggily, snuggling deeper under theblankets. “Later then. We can talk about it later.”

He smiled softly and shook his head as he brushed her hairaway from her face. “You should rest. I’ll bring you some food later.”

She barely heard the end of his sentence. Her eyes closedagainst her will, and she fell into a deep, exhausted sleep.

~*~

When she awoke several hours later, the sun was directlyover the opening in the roof. It was late afternoon. She glanced around, themorning’s events settling on her heavily. A plate of fresh fruit sat on thetable beside her bed. In the chair in the corner, a blonde-haired elf satslumped, his head resting on his fist, looking at the dragon who was curled inthe center of the room.

Her heart gave a little jump of excitement at the sight ofthe short, blonde hair. Then he looked up at her with an impish smile, and herheartbeat settled to its normal rate. It was Iocus. He and Oriens lookedtowards her in unison, then the elf jumped to his feet and plopped himself ontothe edge of her bed.

“How are you?” he asked eagerly.

“Fine, I think,” she answered, pushing herself up into asitting position.

He made a sympathetic face. “That a pretty rough experience,what Raena did to you. It can wear you out for a good while.”

“Yeah,” she answered quietly. She gave him a small smile,meeting his earnest blue gaze. “Thank you for stepping forward, for stoppingher.”

His smile returned. “You don’t think I would have actuallylet her kill a Rider, do you?”

She shrugged. “Nobody else did anything.”

He sighed a little, appearing to think about this fact for amoment. “I think… they all wanted to see what you would do—what you could do. I think they expected you tobe able to do something incredible. I was just the first who recognized thatyou couldn’t fight back.”

She sighed irritably, looking away. “People have all ofthese expectations because of that prophecy,” she grumbled. “But… perhaps I’mnot as strong as they think I am. The magic I used in that fight wasn’t evenintentional.”

He shrugged, as if this mattered very little. “You’re stillnew to elven magic. It can get away from you sometimes, and it can be difficultto use it under distress. Still, you area Rider, so I’m sure you’ll be stronger than any of us someday.”

Eliana gave a dismissive shrug, looking at the wall.

Iocus touched her shoulder, drawing her attention back tohim. “Are you sure you’re alright?” he asked, tilting his head with anexpression of worry on his face.

“Sure,” she said with a forced smile. “Just still a littletired.”

“Alright,” he replied with his usual cheeriness. “Well, ifyou’re sure, I’ll let you alone. I just wanted to see how you were.”

“Thank you, again,” she said.

He nodded and stood, giving a slight wave before trottingdown the short flight of stairs and off through the tunnel.

In the center of the room, Oriens gave an irritated rumblein his chest. “I thought he’d neverleave.”

She laughed and slipped out of bed, descending the stairs towhere her dragon rested. “Be nice,”she scolded him silently. “He did save my life, after all.”

“Both of ours.”

“What do you mean?” sheasked standing in front of his graceful golden face.

He tilted his head to the side. “Don’t you know? I thought Mara had told us about it in one of ourlessons…”

“Told us what?”

“If a dragon decidesto imprint on a Rider, it’s more than their minds that are connected—it’s theirvery lives. A dragon lives only for a day or two after the Rider has beenkilled. Just long enough to seek their revenge for the Rider’s death.”

She stared at him in silence for a moment. “Why would any dragon decide to mark a Riderif it means death when the Rider dies?”

He gave a snort of laughter. “Would you rather I hadn’tmarked you?”

“Of course not,” shesaid with a quiet chuckle, stroking his nose. “But wouldn’t it be easier for you if you hadn’t?”

He shrugged his great, scaly shoulders, making his wingsrustle against his hide. “Perhaps. But adragon will always feel that his life is incomplete without a Rider. No matterhow wild a dragon may be, a part of him will always yearn for the bond that wasnever formed. It has been that way since the first Rider was marked.”

“How do you know allof this?” she asked curiously.

Oriens paused. “Ijust… do. When we are in our eggs, our mothers share their thoughts with us,giving us their memories. And so knowledge is passed from one generation ofdragons to the next, so that we never forget our history or our duty.”

Eliana let this sink in as she sat on the ground in front ofhim. He lowered his large head into her lap, and she scratched him behind hischeekbone, making him hum happily. After a moment of silence, she spoke,changing the subject.

“I assume you heardabout Raena.”

“Yes,” heanswered. She sensed his anger and agitation at not having been present. “Caelum managed to contact me when I was onmy way back to Amiscan, about an hour after it happened.”

She sighed. “So she’sgone then.”

“I saw her starting upthe mountain, alone, as I flew back to you.”

So it was over. Raena had been dismissed from the elven armyand banished from Amiscan. It was possible that Eliana would never face herjealousy or hatred again. For some reason, it bothered her. Suddenly, all ofthe bickering and angry glares seemed so petty, and yet, it had led to this.

She leaned forward and rested her cheek against the top ofOriens’ head, taking in his warmth. She tried to be pleased at Raena’sdeparture, at the ending of all of that hatefulness. She failed.