Sky Riders: The Rising Sun
Mind Games

“Can you still hearme?”

Eliana sighed and opened her eyes. “Yes.”

Caelum frowned at her from where he sat before her, his legscrossed. “Eliana,” he scolded aloud, “you mustlearn to close your mind to other people. If your mind is open to anyone at anytime, you can easily be killed.”

“I don’t see how it matters. Humans can’t read thoughts likeelves.”

Caelum shook his head. “We don’t know the extent of humanabilities anymore,” he said firmly. “There may very well be sorcerers who havethe ability to enter minds like elves do. And it is more than reading thoughts.”

“I know, I know,” she grumbled. Caelum had been instructingher on the complexities of mental warfare every day for the two weeks she’dbeen in Amiscan. A powerful elf could not just hear someone’s thoughts; theycould control them, both mind and body. It took a great amount of effort andmagic, but it was possible, if someone could fully enter your mind.

“And anyways,” Eliana added, “I’ll never be able to learn todo this with you training me.”

He looked at her, confused. “And why is that?”

“Because…” she hesitated, then sighed, deciding she neededto offer him an explanation. “I don’t wantto block you out of my mind. I’m… used to letting you into my mind now. Itwould hardly be any more difficult to shut out Oriens than to shut out you.”

Her words made him smile a little, and he shook his head inexasperation. “Very well.” He glanced around them and spotted a young,dark-haired soldier trotting past. “Ater!” he called.

The boy stopped and glanced back at them. His eyes were avery dark shade of purple. “Yes, sir?” he asked hesitantly.

Caelum gestured him over. “Come. Our Rider needs your helpin her training.”

Ater looked surprised for a moment, then pleased. “Gladly.”

He turned and trotted back towards them, taking a seat inthe grass beside his captain, facing the Rider. He had the lean, undefined formof someone who was very young. Eliana didn’t think he could be more thaneighteen.

“How old are you?” she asked hesitantly.

He lifted his chin defiantly. “Sixteen.”

She nodded and didn’t ask anything further; she didn’t wantto insult him. He was, after all, a man by both human and elf standards, ifonly just.

“Alright,” Caelum said, “Ater, I need you to enter Eliana’smind. She’s going to try to block you, but don’t give up easily. She needs tolearn to shut people out.”

Ater shrugged his slim shoulders. “Easy enough.”

His purple-black eyes locked on hers, and she immediatelyfelt him trying to enter her thoughts—a firm, persistent pressure in her mind.She struggled to form a barrier around her mind, but after only a few seconds,she knew she had failed.

“Too easy,” hesaid in her thoughts, a smug grin on his face.

She narrowed her eyes at his arrogance. Of course, Caelumwould replace the cockiest elf in the army to invite inside of her mind.

Caelum noticed the grin on Ater’s face and the frown onEliana’s. He sighed. “Try again,” he instructed, knowing she had failed.

Ater’s presence left her mind. She closed her eyes for amoment to recompose herself and tried to close off her thoughts. When sheopened her eyes again, Ater was already staring at her. The moment she lookedup, his eyes trapped hers. She strained to hold him off, feeling his proddingmind as he sought a weak spot in her mental defense. This time, the young elftried for several minutes but, again, he broke though.

“Hello again,” helaughed in her mind.

She sighed in frustration and rubbed at her temples. Shelooked over at Caelum, prepared to make another bid for ending these ludicrousabuses of her mind. The expression on his face stopped her. He looked genuinelydisappointed.

“Eliana,” he instructed wearily, “you must blockade your thoughts. You have to keep a constant barrier up—not just try to putone up when you feel someone entering your mind. If you let it down for even amoment, someone can get in.” He looked at the young soldier beside him. “Ater, letEliana try to enter your mind. Eliana, I want you to see what a strong mentaldefense feels like.”

Ater nodded and looked back at her with a confidence thatmade her yearn to humble him. She locked onto his dark violet eyes and reachedout to his mind. She was met with what felt like an impenetrable wall of steel.She frowned in surprise, and Ater smirked at her expression.

She continued probing at his defenses with determination. Everybody has a weakness, she thought toherself. There was always a soft spot in every defense. It was just a matter ofreplaceing and exploiting it. As she continued staring at the young soldier’seyes, a thought occurred to her.

Cockiness was Ater’s weakness. He was certain of his victoryover her. In a sword fight, she could have exploited that weakness easily. Buthow did it apply in this game? His defense still looked perfectly seamless.Then it struck her. An overconfident army would fail to guard their rear. Inthis, perhaps Ater would do the same.

In her studies of mental combat, Eliana had learnedeverything there was to learn about the mind’s capabilities. Caelum had toldher that, when entering the mind, most would enter the conscious part of themind; the conscious parts were where you could take control of someone. But thesubconscious parts were just as vulnerable, and could be exploited if you wereable to access them. She was certain that Ater—young and arrogant as hewas—would never expect anyone, much less her, to reach for that part of hismind.

She focused her efforts as she probed along the wallsurrounding Ater’s conscious mind. Then she reached the subconscious, and shesmiled to herself. Just as she had expected, his defenses were not as strongthere. With all of the mental effort she could muster, she threw her thoughtsagainst the weak wall and plunged through it, entering the young elf’ssubconscious thoughts.

A sudden rush of images flooded Eliana’s mind. Two elves—aman and woman—standing before an execution squad as a scream filled the air.The woods, streaming past her as she ran. A city of tall buildings. A beautifulpalace. A pair of black eyes in a pale face. A pale hand reaching for her,clutching at her throat. Agonizing pain shot through her mind.

Eliana recoiled from the image with a gasp, yanking herthoughts from his. Once again, she was staring into Ater’s young face. But now,his dark violet eyes were wide with fear.

“H-how did you do that?” he stammered, his voice trembling.

“I… don’t know,” she answered slowly, still feeling the palehand on her throat in Ater’s memories. She’d recognized that face, those eyes.It was the Dark sorcerer she had battled. When could Ater have seen him? Whathad happened between them?

“I won’t do this anymore,” the boy said quickly. “I’m done.”He jumped to his feet and ran off between the huts.

Caelum looked at Eliana, his expression surprised andconfused. “What happened?”

She stared after where the young elf had disappeared. “I… didn’tknow that would happen…” She explained her reasoning about Ater’s defenses, andhow she’d entered his subconscious instead of his conscious mind. She thendescribed the different images she’d seen.

Caelum frowned when she described the soldier’s memories ofthe Dark sorcerer. “The first two memories, I can account for,” he said aftershe’d finished. He sighed and shook his head before going on. “Ater’s parentswere executed when Ater was barely ten years old. They made an attempt on myfather’s life. They refused to reveal why, but we could only assume that they’dbeen working for the human emperor. The rest of Ater’s clan tried to keep himaway during the execution, but he’s always been quick of foot and even quickerof mind. He slipped away from them and reached the field just as the archersperformed the execution.

“After that, he ran—disappeared into the woods. We sentelves out to search for him, but they lost his trail, and there was nothingelse we could do. He returned four years later, battered, bruised, obviouslyhaving experienced serious torture. I was the one who found him. He was…”Caelum paused and sighed, rubbing a hand across his face. “He was broken.

“I took him to Laurus. When she examined him, she said he’dbeen tortured with Dark magic. His mind was… ravaged in ways she’d never seenbefore. It was months before Ater even spoke, but he refused to say what hadhappened to him.”

Eliana was staring again at the spot where Ater haddisappeared, sadness welling inside of her. The bravado made sense to her now.He’d been broken to a point that nobody should have been able to return from,and now, he was doing all he could to appear strong. And she had pulled thosememories to the surface again.

“It was the Dark man,” she said quietly, certainly. “When Isaw him in Ater’s mind I felt… pain, like nothing I’ve ever felt before. Like ahot knife in my mind…” She shuddered a little at the memory.

“I’ll speak to him,” Caelum sighed.

“No,” she replied quickly, looking back at him. “I should doit. I was the one who… who made him relive that again. I’ve faced that sorcereras well, even if only for a few minutes. And…” She paused, looking down at thegrass, tearing thoughtfully at the blades. “And I know what it’s like to watcha parent be killed in front of you.”

She lifted her eyes hesitantly to Caelum’s face. He waswatching her with sadness and sympathy in his blue eyes. “Your father,” he saidquietly. “You never told me how he died.”

Eliana sighed and ran a hand across her face. “I haven’ttalked about it since… since it happened.”

He reached across the space between them and gently took oneof her hands, stopping her from tormenting the grass further. His gaze heldhers, his expression earnest. “Will you tell me?”

She hesitated. The only one outside of Vegrandis who knewwas Oriens, and that was only because he’d been in her mind when she relivedthe experience in a nightmare, as she often did. But what reason did she haveto keep it from Caelum? There was none.

Slowly, she nodded. He waited patiently as she gathered herthoughts, swallowed, then spoke. “It happened when I was five years old.Earlier that day, I’d been playing with some of the other children in thestreet. When their parents saw, they were furious. They came to our home thatnight.

“They set fire to the house with us inside. I remember… Iremember my father taking me from my bed. It was hot. There was smokeeverywhere. It made my eyes water. He tried to carry me down the stairs, but wewere trapped by the fire. So he ran into his room and bundled me in a blanket.

“There was a window there that faced away from the village.We had one friend in Vegrandis—Otium—and my father started yelling for her. Shecame to the window, and he yelled at her to catch me. Then he dropped me fromthe window. I landed in her arms. The blanket had fallen over my face, so Icouldn’t see… But I heard the house collapse. Otium was yelling my father’sname—Tego! Tego! But of course there was no answer.

“He… he was gone. And from then on, I lived with Otium. Shehid me for a few months before the villagers found out. I think the only reasonthey didn’t kill me then was because even they weren’t cruel enough to murder achild with their own hands. And after that…” She sighed and shrugged. “I guessthey just got used to me being there. They tormented me when it suited them,and ignored me the rest of the time. And I just… survived, I guess.”

She fell silent, staring out towards the ocean. She didn’twant to look at him, to see the pity she knew would be in his eyes. She didn’twant to be pitied, least of all by him. After a moment, Caelum reached up andtouched her cheek, softly turning her face towards his.

When she met his gaze, there was no pity in his blue eyes.There was only an expression of gentle determination. He studied her facebriefly, his fingers brushing her cheek.

“I wish I had been there,” he said quietly. “I wish I couldhave protected you then. But I promise, I will do all I can to shield you fromsuch sadness again.”

Eliana gave him a small smile and hesitantly touched thehand that rested against her skin. “What’s done is done. And though I only hadhim on this earth for five years, my father has been with me every day of mylife. He taught me to be strong, to not be ashamed of who I am or where I comefrom. I have become the person I am because of what he taught me.”

Caelum smiled softly back at her. “He would be proud of you,Eliana. I know he would be.”

“Thank you,” she whispered back.

He held her gaze a moment longer, then looked away with asigh. He seemed to grimace a little as he drew back his hand, and she thoughtshe saw a look of regret pass over his features. Then it was gone, and helooked at her with a relaxed, cheerful smile.

“Give Ater some time before you speak to him,” he said,changing the subject. “He probably won’t want to see you any time soon. Whatyou did was very clever, breaking through his defenses like that. He’s probablya little frightened of you now.” He laughed a little as he added this.

Eliana forced an amused smile, trying to forget the way he’dwithdrawn from her. “A pity I can’t build defenses as cleverly as I can breakthrough them.”

He laughed and stood, holding a hand out to her to pull herto her feet. “You’ll get there,” he said as she took the offered had. “For now,we’ll have to replace someone else to help you practice. Someone who’s not deathlyafraid of you.” He chuckled, then added in a murmur, “Though that may bedifficult if Ater tells them what you can do.”

She sighed and closed her eyes, pressing her fingers to herright temple.

“Headache?” Caelum asked.

She nodded and looked at him with a sardonic smile. “Whowould’ve thought that having your mind repeatedly assaulted would cause aheadache?” she said sarcastically.

He gave a short laugh, then said, “Call Oriens and go for aRide. That always helps you to relax.”

Eliana smiled to herself. He knew her better than he everadmitted. “I think I’ll do that.” She paused, trying to gauge his expression,uncertain of what his reaction would be, but she finally asked, “Do you want tocome?”

His lips immediately pressed together in a line, and sheregretted asking. “Sorry,” he said, shaking his head. “I have… I have things totend to with the soldiers.”

She forced herself to look unaffected, acting like shebelieved him. “A captain’s duties are never over,” she said with an unconvincingsmile.

Caelum’s responding laugh was just as forced. “Go on, now,”he said, nodding towards the hill that led to her quarters. “And be careful!”

She gave a dismissive wave at his remark and trotted throughthe opening and down the tunnel to the cave she shared with Oriens. She calledout to him in her mind.

“Oriens! Come back toAmiscan!”

She could sense him shifting the direction of his flight,coming back towards her even as he asked, “Ithought you were going to be training all afternoon. What’s wrong?”

“Nothing,” sheanswered. “Caelum gave me a break. Do youwant to fly?”

The only response the dragon gave was a surge of joy in hermind. After only a few minutes, Oriens’ great form blocked the light from theopening above the cave, and he landed heavily on the stone floor. Elianaquickly grabbed the saddle from a rack against the wall and tightened thestraps around him before jumping onto his back. The dragon spread his wings andlifted them upwards swiftly, rocketing out throuh the top of the cave and intothe bright sunlight of the late-autumn afternoon.

All thoughts of Ater’s memories and Caelum’s distantbehavior were torn from Eliana’s mind as the wind rushed past her ears,stinging her cheeks. The feeling of sweet, unconditional freedom rushed throughher as Oriens carried her higher into the sky. He climbed until the air beganto thin, then started drifting lazily downwards, crisscrossing back and forthover Amiscan.

“Something wasbothering you when you called me,” he said. “What’s on your mind?”

Eliana sighed as her briefly-forgotten troubles came back toher. “Not my mind really…” she said. She repeated to Oriens what she had toldCaelum about Ater’s memories, as well as what Caelum had told her about theyoung soldier’s past.

“Strange,” Orienscommented when she’d finished. He paused, and she sensed a serious thoughtforming in his mind.

“What are youthinking?” Eliana asked after a moment.

“You don’t suppose thesorcerer could have… manipulated Ater somehow? If his parents were executed bythe elven king, he would have reason to turn against Iterum.”

She mulled this over. She had not considered thepossibility, and she assumed Caelum hadn’t either, since he had not voiced thisconcern to her. After a moment, she shook her head slowly. “I don’t think so,” she said. “Isuppose it’s possible, but you didn’t feel the pain that I felt when heremembered that sorcerer. And Laurus said he’d been tortured terribly. I thinkhe must have been lucky to escape. And besides, if he were working for the humans in some way, whyhasn’t there been an attack on Iterum?”

Oriens gave a thoughtful grunt. “I suppose. Nevertheless, I think we should keep an eye on the boy. Ifhe is not our foe, I believe he could use us as his friends.”

She nodded in agreement.

“Now,” the dragonsaid, “enough of this serious talk. Whereshall we fly?”

She glanced around them and spotted the drop-off to the seaa few miles to the east. “The ocean,”she answered.

Oriens immediately turned in that direction, and they glidedlazily over the land. At last, the cliff was before them. The waves poundedagainst the small, sandy beach and the rocks that protruded from the ocean’sdepths, sending up a fine spray.

As they crossed above the ledge of the cliff, Oriens gave anexcited bugle and said in her mind, “Holdon!”

Eliana leaned forward and held tightly to the straps at thefront of the saddle, grinning as her heart began to pound with excitement. Thegreat golden wings folded against the dragon’s side, and he turned his nosedown towards the beach. They dropped over the edge of the cliff, speedingdownwards with alarming speed.

She heard herself scream with adrenaline as the rock-studdedsurf rushed upwards like a churning wall of blue. At the last possible moment,Oriens snapped his wings open, jerking them into a horizontal position andleveling them out over the water. Both of his front paws dragged in the water,sending a wave of salt water up over his back.

It soaked Eliana’s legs and the edge of her tunic. Shelaughed loudly and leaned back, her hands stretched above her head, her facetowards the sky, and gave an exhilarated shout. Oriens laughed deeply as well,weaving lazily from side to side over the waves below.

As the adrenaline in Eliana’s blood slowly seeped away, shesighed and leaned back in the saddle. She kicked her feet up onto Oriens’ neck,resting her heels above a spike, and linked her hands behind her head. It was aprecarious position to Ride in, but she knew Oriens would not let her fall.

“Feeling better?” heasked.

She smiled contentedly, closing her eyes and breathing inthe salt air. “Very much so.” Shestretched backwards with her left hand, her fingers delicately touching themembrane of her dragon’s powerful wings. “I love you, Oriens,” she whisperedaloud.

He turned his head slightly, catching her in his emeraldgaze. “And I you, my Rider,” heanswered in his deep, gentle voice.

They drifted peacefully in lazy circles, listening to thewhisper of the waves beneath them, letting their minds mingle. Oriens felt thespray of the breeze on Eliana’s cheeks. She felt the warmth of the sun on hisscales. All was right with the world.

Suddenly, Oriens jolted beneath her, jerking to the side asa stinging sensation shot through Eliana’s back. Her hands flailed out,grasping for a hold, as she tumbled sideways, slipping from the saddle. Herfingers closed around the saddle’s straps, and she frantically scrambled uponto the dragon’s back again. Once she was secure in the saddle, her legstightened into the straps, she looked around for some disturbance.

“What on earth justhappened?” she asked.

Now that his Rider was safely seated, Oriens turned sharplyand faced the cliff behind them. “We wereshot at,” he said. “An arrow torethrough my left wing.”

Eliana glanced back and found a ragged hole in the goldmembrane. The stinging in her own back was Oriens’ pain, not hers. Anger surgedthrough her, and she felt a burning desire to punish whoever had attacked herdragon. She turned her eyes to the beach, searching for a target for her fury.She found it.

Three figures stood on the narrow beach, under the shadow ofthe high cliffs. They were shrouded in black cloaks, hoods raised, remindingher of that old nightmare again. Two of the figures lifted bows, sending twoarrows speeding at the Rider and dragon. Oriens pulled up, and they hissed bybelow him.

“Get them!” shescreamed with her mind.

Oriens roared, her anger echoing in the sound as he chargedtowards their attackers. The bowmen fired again. Oriens tugged his wings intohis side and rolled away from the arrows before righting himself and his Rideragain.

Once they were upright, Eliana fired three balls of flame atthe beach in quick succession. There was a flurry of movement from the three figuresas they avoided the first, then dispersed the others. She couldn’t see who haddispelled her magic, but she knew now that at least one of them was a sorcerer.

As she prepared to attack again, she felt a presence in hermind, sinking into her thoughts like a pair of fangs. There was no voice toaccompany the presence, but there was no denying that it was there—ominous,silent, and powerful. She attempted to throw up a wall, to push out thepresence, but it burrowed deeper into her mind. Pain suddenly coursed throughEliana’s arms.

She looked down to see her hands moving in quick, jerkingmovements as her fingers released the straps of the saddle. Her legs began totug themselves out of their bindings on the sides of the saddle. Her body wasmoving of its own will—of someone else’s will.

Nausea turned in her stomach as she realized what washappening to her. The presence in her mind had taken control. Her body was nolonger her own. She tried to fight against the vicious consciousness in hermind, but it pushed her back, pinning her inside her own head as she silentlyraged against it.

“Eliana!” Oriensscreamed in her thoughts. “What’shappening?”

She was now leaning out of the saddle, peering at the oceanrushing by below.

She wasn’t even able to formulate a silent reply, but the dragoncould sense her fear and desperation. And then she plunged forward out of the saddle,head first, spinning wildly as she dropped towards the sea.

Oriens roared and dove after her. He darted around herfalling form, trying to replace a way to stop her spinning descent without harmingher, his mind filling with her panic and his own. With a snarl, he darted in andmanaged to snag her with his clawed foot.

“Block him out,Eliana!” he shouted in her mind. He hammered against her mind with his ownand, though she could hear him, he could not fully press his mind to hers. Hecould not get in to help her.

Eliana pressed her eyes tightly shut, trying to force theintruder from her mind, but his grip was firm. The effort sent shocks of painthrough her body as her mind and the foreign consciousness grappled for controlof it. She screamed aloud from the effort and the pain as she struggled toremember Caelum’s instructions.

His voice filled her mind, his kind face appearing beforeher. I will never see him again, shethought, and her heart ached. The presence in her mind seemed to draw back, asif flinching away from her emotion. Quickly, Eliana dug into the relinquishedground and forced the stranger’s mind away with all of her strength. Itvanished, leaving her body aching and trembling.

Oriens seemed to feel the presence leave as well. “Is he gone?” he asked, his voice tightwith anxiety.

“Yes,” she panted.“Get me back in the saddle.”

“Alright. Get ready!”

He rose a hundred feet above the sea, then released her fromhis claws. She controlled her fall, turning until her feet were beneath her.Oriens’ golden form swooped below her, and she landed roughly in the saddle.She quickly tightened the straps around her legs again, then directed her gazeback to their group of adversaries on the beach.

“Get closer!” shecalled to the dragon.

Dodging arrows, they flew to the shore, drawing closer tothe black-cloaked figures, whose faces were obscured in shadows. Eliana pulledat the magic in the back of her mind as she extended her right hand above thesea beneath her, straining to move the great, surging weight.

The waters rose up in a great wave, and she grinned. Thebowmen seemed to stumble back in surprise. With a shout, she swept her handforwards, towards the beach, and the wave followed the motion. It roared as itsurged at the cliff, then crashed down on top of her attackers.

Oriens pulled up, and they hovered for a moment, holdingtheir collective breath as they waited for the waters to recede to theiroriginal place. A dark figure rose up out of the water, hovering above theheaving surface. His hood had fallen back, and a pair of black eyes glared atthem from beneath the wet, bedraggled mop of white hair.

Oriens looped quickly backwards, trying to put space betweenthem and the Dark sorcerer. There was no need. The sorcerer dove back downtowards the water and grasped the cloaks of his two comrades, whose wet hoodswere over their faces like death masks. He pulled them both from the water, asif they weighed nothing. Then, without another glance at the dragon and Rider,he spun his black cloak around the three of them and they disappeared.

Eliana stared at the spot where they had vanished, her mindnumb with shock. How could he possibly be there, in Amiscan? Why had he come?Why had he left so quickly?

“He tracked us here,”Oriens snarled with his mind. “He intendsto kill us.”

“Then there can onlybe one reason why he left so suddenly…” Eliana replied quietly.

Their two minds shared the same thought. The sorcerer wouldbe gathering reinforcements, likely from the emperor himself. Soon, the entirearmy of Vereor would descend on Amiscan. And it was all because of them.