Sky Riders: The Rising Sun -
Into the Fray
All noise in Amiscan immediately vanished. Every eye staredat the Rider. Every face was tense, waiting for something to happen. The elves'collective gaze shifted to Caelum, awaiting some kind of order. It was as ifthe entire encampment were resting on a drawn bowstring, poised for flight,waiting on a cue to act.
Caelum's expression was taut, but determined. His blue eyesseemed a darker shade than normal and his mouth was pressed in a thin line. Atlast, he spoke. Though his voice was low and heavy with anxiety, it rangclearly through the snow-shrouded village.
"The first line of archers will climb to the peakimmediately," he instructed. "Take as many down as you can while theyclimb. When they get too close, fall back into Amiscan. The humans will followyou, believing it's a retreat.
"Second line will be in the trees near the base of themountain. Attack as soon as the first line has passed. Those on horseback willbe with the second line. It is your duty to split the human ranks. Divide them,and force the larger part to the village.
"The rest of you, remain in the village until thehorsemen have herded the larger portion of soldiers to you. They, you attack.
"We must make this swift," he said, raising hisvoice a little. "We cannot give them a chance to reach our Rider. She iswhat they are after, and they will stop at nothing to reach her. Youfour," he said, pointing to four large, male elves dispersed throughout thenearby crowd, "will guard the hill that leads to the Rider's quarters.Seal it off, and do not allow anyone to enter. I will seal the upper entrancewhen I join the front line."
Eliana opened her mouth to protest, but Caelum snapped tothe troops, "Now, move out!" The army, including her new personalbodyguards, dispersed quickly. Only Caelum remained behind, and she turned onhim with an indignant scowl.
"You're going to seal me in?" she shouted.
"Not now, Eliana," he replied quietly, hissingthrough gritted teeth.
He tried to walk away from her, but she followed, hecklinghim for an excuse for his asinine idea. "You expect me to sit inside of asealed cave while you put yourself in the front line of the battle? What is thepoint of this, Caelum? They already know I'm here! They just saw me onthe other side of that mountain! You can't fool them into thinking I'm nothere!"
He finally turned to face her, his blue eyes still dark withanxiety. "I will not take any risk with your life that is not absolutelynecessary! You will stay inside of the cave—inside the sealed cave—untilthis is over! There will be many more battles, Eliana, and we will need you forthose. I won't let your blood be spilled now, here, in Amiscan."
"You'll need me for the other battles?" she askedincredulously. "To do what? Sit safely in an ivory tower and look down onthe slaughter around me? Act as a symbol for people to die around? I am not ahelpless damsel, Caelum! I—!"
"Just go!" he shouted. "You are a soldier inthis army and I am your captain. If you continue to disobey my direct orders, Iwill have you dragged to that cave and shackled to your bed! Am I clear,Rider?"
She stared at him with burning, furious eyes, breathingheavily through her nose. He met her gaze with a hard expression, unyielding.Finally, she hissed through her clenched teeth, "Perfectly clear,captain."
“Let’s go, Oriens,”she said sharply in her mind. She turned away from Caelum and marched intoAmiscan, towards the hill that hid her quarters—or more accurately, she thought,her new prison. But if Caelum wished to banish her to her quarters like amisbehaving child, she would oblige for the moment. She would not stay forlong.
Oriens followed her, barely squeezing past Amiscan’s huts asthey entered the square at the center of the village. He ducked his long,golden neck and followed her through the hill’s opening, then down the longtunnel to their large, round room.
The dragon sighed as he stood in the center of the room,staring at the opening above him. “So.How long do we wait to enter the battle?”
His thoughts were tensed, coiled like a spring. Eliana couldfeel her dragon’s urge to fight, to prove himself. It was in his nature, justas it was in hers. Her thoughts were silent for a moment, brooding as shesnatched his saddle from its rack and quickly saddled him, preparing him forflight at a moment’s notice.
Once the saddle was on, Oriens settled onto the ground.Eliana sat beside him, her back against his shoulder. Finally, she replied, “As soon as the first line falls back.”
There were several long minutes of silence. She coulddistantly hear the sounds of the elves shouting to one another, the crunch ofboots and hoofs on the snow outside. Then she heard the sound of earth beingmagically moved into place, sealing up the hole in the side of the hill.
She sneered to herself at the sound. “This is ridiculous,” she grumbled to Oriens. “How fragile does he think I am?”
“Just be patient,”her dragon replied. “We will have ourchance to prove ourselves soon enough.”
Silence fell again in the cave and continued for anotherhalf hour. Then, suddenly, the light in the room dimmed, like a cloud coveringthe sun. Eliana and Oriens both looked up to see the hole above them closing,the earth sliding into place. Caelum and the first line of archers had reachedthe peak. Now, as far as Caelum knew, she was perfectly protected, sealedinside the cocoon of safety he’d carefully constructed for her.
The room was plunged into darkness and the magic orbs grewbrighter around them, casting a dull, multicolored glow on the walls. Elianasighed and dropped her chin to her knees. She closed her eyes and allowed hersenses to align with Oriens’.
Her hearing immediately sharpened, and they both strainedfor several minutes to hear sounds of the battle high above them. For a longtime, there was only silence. Then, there were faint, distant screams. Elianastiffened, wondering if they were humans or elves.
“Probably humans,”Oriens rumbled. “They likely weren’texpecting the elves to be at the peak waiting for them.”
He fell silent again, and they both continued to listenthrough his ears. Only the occasional cry reached them as the elven archerscontinued to pick off the ascending humans. Eliana could imagine the casualtiesthe humans would face at this point. They wouldn’t be as swift at climbing themountain as the elves, and they would fall quickly.
Suddenly, there was a rumbling sound, and Eliana joltedupright, looking towards the ceiling. “What was that?” she asked aloud.
Oriens was looking up at the mountain as well. “I don’t know…” he said slowly. “Perhaps…”
She sensed his thought before he even pressed it towardsher. “The sorcerer,” she finished forhim.
He gave an anxious rumble in his chest, and his head dippedin a brief nod. A different cry rose up, reaching where they rested on thefloor of the cave. It was repeated several times before Eliana understood it.
“Retreat! Retreat!”
Eliana leapt to her feet and immediately swung up intoOriens’ saddle. The dragon rose swiftly and jumped upwards towards the ceiling,excitement and nervousness coursing through both of their bodies. The dragonhovered beneath where the exit had been sealed.
Eliana focused her mind on the wall of earth above her.Caelum had not simply disguised the entrance. Hundreds of pounds of stone andearth hung over her head, sealing her inside of the cave.
“Can you move it?”Oriens asked.
“I think so…” Evenin her own mind, she sounded uncertain.
She raised her marked hand above her head and willed thestones to move. She heard them beginning to shift above her, grinding againsteach other, showering her with dirt so that she was forced to turn her faceaway. After a moment, she paused to collect her breath, trying to draw magicfrom the mountain instead of her dragon.
“You only need a smallopening,” he said in her mind, practically fidgeting with eagerness. “Just enough for me to slip through.”
Eliana nodded and resumed her work. Her face reddened fromthe effort, but at last, a stream of light appeared above her; a moment later,and she had just enough of an opening for Oriens. She smiled to herself andtightened her legs in the saddle straps.
Then, with an adrenaline-charged roar, Oriens burst throughthe opening and out into the winter sunlight. Eliana looked down thesnow-covered mountain to see that the armies had moved farther away from herthan she’d hoped. The second line was already attacking at the base of themountain, the horsemen doing their work of dividing the human army.
“Let’s go, Oriens!” shecried.
“With pleasure!”he answered, roaring aloud once more.
The faces of both humans and elves turned towards the sound.For a brief moment, the battle ceased as surprise crossed all of their faces.Terror then fell on the faces of the humans. The elves, however, gave a shoutof joy at the appearance of the roaring golden dragon.
“Veholum!” they cried in unison. Then, still shouting, theyturned and fell back on their enemies with renewed vigor.
The stunned humans quickly recovered and answered the elvesas best they could. Oriens and Eliana swept down the mountain towards thebattle. As they reached the clamoring armies, a dozen arrows rose up from belowthem. Oriens tucked in his wings and rolled, the arrows glancing off hisshining scales. The soldiers who had fired, distracted by that act, fellinstantly beneath elven blades.
Eliana pulled an arrow from the quiver on her back andplaced it on the string of her mahogany bow. She drew back on it, holding itfor a moment at the corner of her mouth as she scanned the battle below. Hereyes found Iocus. The elf was battling three humans at once, smiling as if,despite it all, he was still truly enjoying himself.
She released the arrow and struck one of the humans in hisshoulder. The soldier fell with a shout of surprise and pain, and Iocus quicklydispatched him. The elf glanced up at her briefly with a grateful smile, thenreturned his attention to his remaining two opponents.
The horsemen had done their work, and more than half of thehuman army was now being herded towards Amiscan, where the rest of the elveshid, awaiting their chance to inflict some damage. Eliana directed Orienstowards the smaller group of soldiers, which was still managing to hold off thesecond line of weary elves.
They dove down into the center of the battle, scatteringsoldiers all around them. Just as she had hoped, the human army turned towardsthe towering, golden threat, swords and bows raised in their direction. Orienslashed out, catching two soldiers between his teeth. The rest jumped back andturned to run, but they were met with elven soldiers. Their distraction costthem dearly, and they fell to the earth among the others.
Eliana leapt from Oriens’ back and drew her golden blade,ready to test its strength. Two men rushed towards her, swords lifted. Oriensswept one aside with his clawed front leg, roaring furiously. Eliana smiled toherself and faced the one that he’d left for her.
The soldier bellowed and swung his sword downwards in aheavy, barbaric manner. She parried it easily and spun so that she was at hisback. She raised her sword, prepared to thrust it into his exposed spine, butshe hesitated. She had never killed a man before.
In that brief moment, the man wheeled around to face her,swinging his sword at her head with both hands. She used her blade to guide itharmlessly passed her, then drew the golden edge sharply across his shoulder.He dropped his sword and fell with a shout of pain.
Four more men rushed at her. Oriens snapped at two of them,grabbing them between his teeth and hurling them across the snowy field. Theremaining two balked, and Eliana struck one in the temple with her hilt beforethe second attacked. She blocked two of his strikes, then sliced deeply intohis calf, making him fall to the ground with a howl of pain.
She glanced around her to replace that the elves between thetrees now outnumbered the humans in this portion of the army. The rest of thisportion of the battle would be easy for them to finish. Eliana turned andgrabbed the straps of the saddle, pulling herself up with one hand, the otherstill gripping her sword.
“Back to Amiscan,Oriens!” she cried as she swung onto his back.
Oriens leapt into the sky, his claws snatching at a few boldhumans as he rose, and they soared to the village, where the larger portion ofthe human armies now faced an unexpected onslaught from the remainder of thehidden elves. The dragon roared again as they approached, but this time, onlyone head lifted towards the sound.
Caelum stared up at them with shock and what appeared to befear on his face. Once again, Oriens dropped them into the very center of thebattle, and Eliana leapt immediately from his back, striking at anyone who camewithin reach of her sword, using her magic when it was needed. She left soldierswounded, bleeding, unconscious, but never dead.
Her mind seemed to be inseparably connected to Oriens’.There were moments when she was unsure if she was striking with sword or claws.Her shouts sounded like a roar in her own ears. She saw every soldier thatOriens faced, as well as the ones she fought. The dragon and Rider fought sideby side, felling all that came within reach.
This, she thought, is what Veholum truly means.
She felled another soldier and yet another figure quicklyreplaced him, but this was a figure she knew. Caelum stepped up to her side,stopping the attack of a soldier that had been charging for her. “What are youdoing?” he shouted, his blade flashing as he battled the soldier.
“Exactly what I’m supposed to be doing!” she repliedangrily, slicing a deep gash across a nearby human’s back.
Another man fell on him, and Caelum growled deep in histhroat, though whether it was at the soldier or at her, Eliana wasn’t sure.From the corner of her eye, she saw a man raise a bow towards her. She turnedto face him, but the arrow was already loosed, flying straight at her chest.
She had a brief moment of clear realization, knowing thatthere would be no way to prevent the arrow’s tip from burying itself in herchest. When the arrow came within a foot of her heart, it suddenly fell to theearth, as if it had struck an invisible wall.
For a moment, both Eliana and the archer stared in surpriseat the fallen arrow. Then he reached for another arrow. This time, however, shewas ready. She raised her right hand, and a blast of flame struck the man,knocking him backwards. He screamed in pain and terror as he rolled on theflames that engulfed him.
Eliana turned to Caelum, knowing immediately what hadhappened, what had made the arrow fall.
“Drop the shield!” she screamed at him.
He made no answer, but continued to fight off a particularlytalented swordsman.
“You can’t keep protecting me!” she shouted. In her anger,she raised a wave of earth beneath the soldier he fought, hurling the manbackwards, away from Caelum. He bowled over three other red-clad soldiers as hefell.
Caelum looked over his shoulder at her briefly. His eyeswere aflame and blood dripped form a shallow cut along his hairline. “Watchme!” he snapped.
She let out a frustrated, wordless scream as he turned awayfrom her and forced his way between two elves, who were fighting back to back.She thought that the shield might drop, since he was no longer close to herside, but as a human swung a sword towards her, it stopped in midair.
Eliana growled as she glared at the man, and the groundbeneath him shifted, growing around his legs, trapping him in earth. Shestomped over to the confused, struggling soldier and struck him in the templewith her sword hilt. She knew it was not a fair or noble fight, but nobilitywas far from her mind in that moment. She was angry, and misdirected aggressionwas her only outlet.
Nearby, Oriens continued roaring and striking out withclaws, teeth, and tail. There was no shield around him, but he seemed to beenjoying himself. Most of the soldiers scattered when the golden dragon stompedclose to them. The few who were courageous enough to try to thrust their swordsinto Oriens’ chest soon found themselves between two rows of white, knife-liketeeth.
Suddenly, there was another earth-shaking rumble. Eliana andseveral around her fell to their knees as the earth trembled beneath them. Hereyes darted around frantically, and then she spotted the dark shape, hoveringin the sky above her. His black cloak billowed around him as he sent jets offlame down into the battle below. Elves fell with screams of pain, and thehumans cheered.
“Oriens!” she screamed.
The dragon was already galloping towards her. As he ranpast, she seized the saddle’s lowest strap, allowing the momentum to swing herupwards. No sooner had she landed in the saddle than Oriens launched them intothe sky, straight towards the dark shape.
The dragon roared, and the sorcerer turned towards them witha smile, as if he had been waiting for this moment. He remained motionless,allowing the golden shape to hurtle towards him. Then, he raised his hand.Oriens’ wings snapped to his sides and they plummeted down.
“Open your wings,Oriens!” Eliana screamed to his mind.
“I can’t!” hegrunted, wriggling as he fell, trying to free himself from some unseen force.The ground rushed up at them. “Get readyto jump, Eliana,” he said, his voice frantic. “Before we hit the ground, jump off. Use your magic to soften yourlanding.”
She didn’t have time to argue with him. A split secondbefore the great, golden form struck the ground, she leapt from the saddle, anda current of wind pushed her to the side. She tumbled harmlessly across thegrass, Caelum’s shield softening the blows. Oriens struck the ground with aforce that made the earth shake, his body carving a deep, wide trench in thegrass as he slid.
Eliana leapt to her feet immediately and raced to herdragon’s side. Her body ached from the force of his crash, but she saw himstanding, shaking his head, stretching his wings, which were apparently nowfreed of the magic that had bound them.
“Are you alright?”she asked as she reached him.
He gave a curt nod, his eyes up on the sky, where thesorcerer waited for them. He looked as if he were laughing, but the sound didnot reach them over the roar of the battle.
“Fit enough to fight,”he answered. “And that is what matters.Get back in the saddle.” As she clambered up, he said, “You need to use your magic. Throw everything you can at him. Keep himbusy defending himself so he can’t attack.”
She nodded in understanding, and he launched them back intothe sky. As soon as the sorcerer was within range, she gave a shout and beganhurling every ounce of magic at him that she could manage. The dark shapedarted away from her attacks, blocked them with his own magic, vanished herspells in his cloak.
She quickly felt her body beginning to drain from theeffort, and she called on her narrow repository of human spells, which wouldn’tdrain away her own energy. She shouted the words as rapidly as she could,throwing spell after spell at him as Oriens tried to dart in with teeth andclaws. The man began to look panicked at the onslaught, which never gave him achance to counter.
Desperately, he whipped his cloak around his head anddisappeared, reappearing a moment later a few feet from them. “This is notover!” he shouted at them. “Your days are numbered, Rider!”
And with another swirling of black fabric, he vanished.Their eyes darted around them, but he did not return. Breathing heavily, Elianadirected her gaze to the battle that continued below them. Despite theirsorcerer’s retreat, the human soldiers fought on.
“Back to the battle,Oriens,” she panted wearily.
The dragon snarled in agreement and descended quickly,landing back in the middle of the battle. Weary of body and drained of hermagic, Eliana plunged back into the fray. As she sliced the tendons of a man’ssword arm, she spotted Caelum, caught in a heated battled with two humansoldiers. He thrust, parried, and twirled, trying to fend both of them off atonce.
His face was twisted in concentration, trying to maintainthe shield that he had erected around her. With his focus divided, Caelum didnot see the archer at the corner of a nearby hut. Eliana spotted the man in redas he reached for an arrow, and her heart leapt into her throat.
“No!”
It took her a moment to realize that the shout had come fromher own throat, and she was now sprinting towards the man, who waited for aclear shot between the grappling soldiers. She screamed as she descended on theman, and his head turned towards her as her golden sword sliced a deep crevicein his bow arm.
He dropped his bow with a shout of pain and fell to hisknees, clutching at the wound. She raised her sword to his chest, panting withanger and exertion. The soldier’s green eyes looked up at her, frightened andpleading.
“Please,” he whimpered as he knelt before her. “Please, Rider,I beg you. Don’t kill me. Don’t—“
Rage welled up inside of Eliana, and the man did not get torepeat his plea. With a shout of fury, she drove the point of the sword intohis chest, sinking it into his flesh until half of the blade was buried insideof him. She jerked it out again, the golden metal seeped in red.
The soldier gasped in surprise and pain, then his eyes wentblank, and he fell to his side, pouring his blood on the white snow. Elianastared at him for a moment, her mind blank. She looked at the thick, red blooddripping from her sword. Then, realization struck her.
Her sword fell to the snowy ground without a sound, and shedropped to her knees beside the soldier. He was still gasping for breath,staring at her in pain and horror. Her hands fumbled at his tunic, pressinghelplessly against the wound.
“No, no…” she muttered, nausea welling up inside of her.“No, I didn’t mean… Please don’t...”
Beneath her hands, the soldier’s body shuddered, and he wasstill. What have I done? He was dead.He had begged her for his life, and she had killed him. She turned her head andvomited into the snow, then crumpled to the ground beside the dead man, herbody trembling. What have I done?
She closed her eyes, feeling the warm blood of the manbeside her on her hands, her neck, her tunic. What have I done? Around her, she heard cries of retreat rise fromthe human army. Cheers broke out among the elven ranks as the enemy fled away,back to the mountains.
She remained beside the body of the man whose life she hadtaken, wishing it were her. I deserve todie… It should have been her own blood she was now lying in. Instead, itwas the blood she had spilt with her own hands in blind rage. It was the lifeshe had taken.
Distantly, she heard somebody screaming her name in thedark. “Eliana! Eliana!”
She remained still, her body numb, her mind overcome withagonizing guilt. The shouting voice drew closer. It was comforting and angelic,that voice, but its beauty was tainted with a note of panic. The voice was ather side then, and she felt an arm slide under her head.
“No!” the voice sobbed. “No, please no!”
The angel was crying. Warm tears splashed onto her chest.Distantly, part of Eliana’s mind thought that this was wrong—angels shouldn’tcry.
“Eliana!” he cried again. This time, the name came from hislips in a deep, sobbing sound. He repeated her name again and again, his voicebreaking with overwhelming grief.
She felt a pair of strong but gentle hands wiping thesoldier’s blood from her neck, searching for an injury. He thinks it’s my blood, she thought numbly. If only it were…
Her eyes fluttered open and she found herself staring into avast expanse of blue. Not the blue of the sky, but the eyes of the angel, stillwet with tears. He made a choked, sobbing sound and closed his eyes, tiltinghis head back in relief. Then he bowed it and pressed his face into her neck.
His arms held her tightly as she felt his tears wetting herneck. Wearily, she put one hand on his back as she looked up at the cloudywinter sky. His body was trembling with suppressed sobs and overwhelmingrelief.
“Caelum…” she whispered near his ear. “Caelum, I killedhim.”
He pulled back just enough to look her in the eye, putting ahand to her cheek. “What?” he asked quietly.
She turned her head towards the fallen warrior who laybeside her, still staring into her face with scared green eyes. Tears began torush down her cheeks. “I killed him!” she sobbed. “He begged me to spare himbut I didn’t! I didn’t! I killed him!”
She was shouting, hysterical with grief and terror at whather own hands had done.
Caelum pulled her close to him, holding her trembling bodytightly. “It’s okay,” he whispered, softly stroking her hair. “You’re safe.Everything is okay.”
“No it’s not!” She shouted the words into his tunic, herface against his chest. Sobs punctuated her words sharply. “I want to die. Ideserve to die!”
His grip tightened around her. “Don’t you dare say that,” hehissed in her ear, his voice trembling. “I thought I had lost you, Eliana. Iwon’t stand for anyone to wish that were true. Not even you. Don’t you say it.”
Sobs shook her as one word repeated itself over and over inher mind. Murderer… Murderer… Murderer…
“Eliana.” It wasOriens, speaking gently and soothingly to her guilt-wracked mind. “Sleep, Eliana. We will take care of you.”
The dragon pressed warmth and comfort into her mind, and shegladly surrendered to his request, slipping into blissful darkness, where shecould feel nothing.
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