Sky Riders: The Rising Sun
Recruits

Caelum was moaning in his sleep. He tossed from one side tothe other, then back again. His breath came in short, desperate gasps, sweatcoursing down his face. Eliana placed a cool, wet cloth on his forehead, tryingto wipe away some of the sweat. His face burned her fingertips as she touchedhis cheek. Fear and anxiety clutched at her stomach.

“Why isn’t he getting any better?” she asked the womanstanding next to her.

Ispera squatted and put an arm around her daughter’s shoulders.“I don’t know, Eliana,” she answered truthfully. “I’ve dealt with Dark feversbefore, but never anything like this. Peior’s magic is much stronger than evenI expected—and I have seen him work for years, even been the subject he’spracticed on.” She sighed heavily. “Prince Caelum is beyond my ability to Heal.”

Eliana turned her head sharply towards her mother, her eyesgrowing wide with panic. “You mean there’s nothing that can be done?”

“No, no,” she answered quickly. “I simply mean I cannot do it. Not alone, at least.”

Caelum suddenly twisted, his back arching, a horrible screamripping from his throat. “NO!” he screamed. “PLEASE DON’T! LEAVE HER ALONE!”

The two dark-haired women placed their hands on the elf’schest and shoulders, trying to force his thrashing body back on the sofa.

“What’s the matter with him?” Eliana shouted desperately.

“It’s getting worse,” she answered through gritted teeth.“He’s started hallucinating. A Dark fever makes you start seeing things. Yourgreatest fears come to life in your mind.”

Caelum screamed again. “ELIANA!”

She blinked back her tears and pressed harder on hisshoulders. At last, he quit thrashing and settled back onto the cushions, stillpanting in his sleep. Ispera sat back and pushed her hair behind her ears.

“We’re going to need help,” she said quietly.

“Laurus,” Eliana whispered.

Ispera’s purple eyes turned to her daughter’s identicalones. “Who?”

“Laurus,” she repeated, a little louder. “She’s the Healerin Iterum.”

Her mother smiled brightly. “I remember her. She was myapprentice. She must have taken over as Healer after I ran away with yourfather. She truly had the Healer’s touch.”

Eliana nodded. “Astrum says she’s the best there is. Ifanyone can help, it’s her.”

There was a sudden pounding on the door, and Eliana leapt toher feet, prepared for an attack.

“Eliana, open up!” a voice called.

Her heart settled, and she opened it a crack to see who waspounding so loudly and what they could possibly want. It was Caedis. He lookedwind-swept and exhausted, but excited. She opened the door wider to let him inout of the snow that fell outside.

“Are you alright?” she asked cautiously. She was stilladjusting to them being civil to one another.

He nodded eagerly. “Yes, yes, I’m fine. Better than fine!”

She suddenly remembered where he had been. Caedis, Teleas,and a few other men from Vegrandis had set off for surrounding villages twodays earlier, hoping to ferret out a few allies among their neighbors.

“I take it you were successful?”

“Beyond what we ever dared to hope!” he exclaimed. “Every manin every village has agreed to align with us! Once they heard we had a Rider,they were more than eager. You’re what everyone’s been waiting for—a symbol torally around, someone to lead them against the emperor.”

She sighed and shook her head wearily. “What have you beenleading them to believe, Caedis? That some great general has arrived to leadthe charge? You know that I am no leader.”

He grinned stupidly at her. “You are now.”

She made an irritated noise and pinched the bridge of hernose. “I don’t have time to think about this right now. I have other problemsto deal with.”

Caedis shifted his weight to gaze over her shoulder. “Theprince?” he asked, nodding in the direction of the sofa.

She nodded slowly. “Yes. He’s getting worse. I need to go toIterum and bring back their Healer. I’m hoping she can help him.”

“Then what are you waiting for?” he asked. “You should havegone there a long time ago. They need to see those books you showed us, and youneed to warn them that Prince Nocens knows where they are. You never know whenthey’ll be attacked.”

She looked up at the man in surprise. She hadn’t thought ofthat, preoccupied as she’d been with Caelum’s state. But if Nocens and Peiorwere going to come after her, Iterum would be the first place they would look.

She turned hastily to her mother. “I’m going now,” she said,quickly kissing her on the cheek. “Take care of him for me. I’ll be back beforesunset tomorrow.”

Ispera looked at her daughter with a frown. “It’s late,Eliana. Shouldn’t you wait until morning?”

“No,” Eliana answered quickly, grabbing her Rider’s jacket.“Caedis is right. I should have gone a long time ago.” She pointed at thebrown-haired young man. “You. You’re coming with me.”

His eyes grew wide. “What? Me? To Iterum? On a dragon?”

“Yes,” she answered, grabbing his forearm and pulling him tothe back door. “I’ll need the elves to believe that the humans are willing toalign with us. You’re my evidence.”

She dragged Caedis out of the house, bringing the saddle andbooks along with them, and into the grassy open area.

“Oriens!” shecalled.

“Already on my way,”he replied. “Caedis is right. We shouldleave now.”

The moonlight caught the golden hide as Oriens landed infront of them. He turned his emerald eyes on the pair, a slight smirk curvinghis mouth and revealing the points of his long, white teeth. Caedis stumbledbackwards, apparently taking the smirk to be a snarl. He tripped over his ownfeet and landed heavily on his backside.

Eliana laughed. “It’s okay, Caedis,” she said, pulling himto his feet. “Oriens won’t hurt you.”

“Are you sure?” he asked hesitantly, brushing off the backof his trousers.

“Of course she is,”Oriens said to their minds. “I’mperfectly tame.”

“I…” Caedis started. He stopped, letting his gaze fall tothe ground. His voice was low as he spoke again. “How can you forgive me forwhat I’ve done?”

Oriens lowered his head so that it was level with the man’s.Brown eyes met green as Oriens said, “MyRider led you to my mother’s nest. And yet I still chose her as my Rider.Neither of you knew that what you were doing was a sin. You were doing what youhad been taught to do over centuries. You have my forgiveness, Caedis, asEliana does.”

Caedis nodded once, slowly. “Thank you, Oriens.”

Eliana smiled to herself as she tugged on her gloves. “Ifwe’re quite finished here, we should be on our way.”

Oriens bent his legs so that she could put the saddle on hisback, and she tied the old volumes—still bundled in Caelum’s cloak—to the side.She swung up onto the saddle and extended a hand towards Caedis, who stillstood hesitantly on the ground. He looked at her offered hand, then eyed thedragon warily.

Eliana sighed. “Will you swallow your cowardice and get uphere?”

He scowled, his pride obviously injured. As she had known hewould after her slight against his courage, Caedis grasped her hand and climbedup behind her. Once he was safely in the saddle, she signaled to Oriens, andhis massive wings lifted them into the air. Caedis let out a shout of surpriseand wrapped his arms tightly around her waist.

She wriggled slightly in his powerful grasp. “Stop trying tocrush me!” she cried above the wind rushing past them.

His arms loosened a little, but he still held to hertightly. Eliana smirked to herself. The man who had tormented her from the timethey were children was terrified, and completely at her mercy.

“Don’t you dare,Eliana,” Oriens warned her silently.

“Oh, you know Iwouldn’t,” she responded with a silent laugh. “But you must admit, it’s a rather fun prospect. We’d only scare him abit.”

“Fun? Yes. Right? No.”

“Fine. Killjoy.”

Oriens chuckled beneath them, and Eliana glanced over hershoulder at the pale face behind her. He looked slightly ill. “Are youalright?” she asked.

She saw him swallow hard, then nod. “Yes. Yes, I think so.”

She shook her head with a smile on her face. His discomfortwas entertaining her far more than it should have, she knew, but the old waysbetween them were still hard for her to forget. They flew wide of Vereor,avoiding any villages in between. They couldn’t afford to be spotted. The nightwas silent besides the rushing of Oriens’ wings as they rhythmically beat atthe sky. She felt herself growing drowsy as she leaned forward against thedragon’s neck.

“Don’t fall asleep!” Caedis cried out in surprise.

“I’m not,” she answered slowly. “Besides, it’s not like I’msteering him or anything. Oriens knows where he’s going better than I do.”

“I don’t care! Don’t sleep!”

She sighed, still pressing her head to the scales. “You areso paranoid,” she muttered.

Despite Caedis’ insistence on her staying awake, shecouldn’t seem to keep her eyes opened. She hadn’t slept through a night forlonger than she could remember—the battle, then Vereor, and now helping Isperatend to Caelum.

Quite suddenly, Oriens was in her mind, waking her up. “We’re nearly to Iterum.”

She sat up and surveyed the land far below them. She couldsee the long, wide river that bordered the elves’ lands. The sun was justbeginning to rise over the city. She smiled. It felt good to be home.

Shouts rose up below them as they soared over the elvencapitol. Caedis carefully leaned over to look down as well. “Where are thoseshouts coming from?” he asked.

She suddenly realized that he had no idea they were overIterum. The city was difficult to see in the dim morning light. She pointed atthe narrow walkways in between the trees.

“It’s Iterum,” she explained. “The elves have seen us.”

Eliana felt his muscles tighten behind her. She couldn’tblame him. They were landing right in the middle of his enemies’ capitol. Asfar as Caedis knew, she was leading him into an ambush.

“Caedis,” she called to him, as Oriens circled over thearchery field to land, “you are with a Rider and dragon. Nothing is going tohappen to you.”

Oriens’ feet hit the ground heavily. Caedis slid off firstand Eliana followed. All around, dark shapes were rushing forwards. Someconjured up light orbs as they approached, lighting their smiling faces in thedarkness of early dawn.

“Veholum! Veholum!” they cried repeatedly.

A familiar face ran through the crowd towards her. “Eliana!”Denio called.

She laughed as he pulled her into a tight hug. “Denio!”

“It’s wonderful to see you again! I heard about the battlein Amiscan. The messenger they sent said you and Caelum went to Vereor. Whereis Caelum?” He looked over her shoulder to see Caedis standing where heexpected to replace his brother. He frowned as he took in the brown hair and browneyes—clearly human traits. “Who’s this?” he asked slowly.

Eliana stepped aside and motioned Caedis forward. Caedisstepped up cautiously, doing his best to look unafraid. “This is Caedis. He isfrom Vegrandis, the village where I used to live. He and the rest of thevillagers, as well as those in surrounding villages, have sworn to join us.They will help us fight the emperor and win the war.”

Denio’s reaction did not surprise her. He thrust his handforward, grabbing Caedis’ firmly. “Wonderful! Welcome to Iterum, Caedis. I’mDenio, Caelum’s brother.”

Caedis looked surprised. “So you’re a prince too?”

Denio nodded. “So you’ve spoken with my brother then?”

“Um, not exactly,” he said, shaking his head. “Eliana toldme he was a prince from Iterum.”

Caedis’ hesitation seemed to signal to the young prince thatsomething was wrong. He looked at Eliana, his violet eyes full of concern.“Where is Caelum, Eliana?” he repeated.

“In Vegrandis,” she answered quietly. “He’s been injured,and he’s very ill. That’s why I’ve come back. I need Laurus to come back withme and help him. Ispera can’t do it alone.”

“Ispera? Who’s Ispera? How did Caelum get hurt? What happened, Eliana?”

She sighed and pressed her fingers to her temples. “I’ll tellyou everything, but I only want to do it once, so I need to see you, Mara,Laurus, and your mother.”

~*~

They gathered in the throne room inside of Domus, and Elianarecounted her story as quickly as she could, telling about Caelum’s torture andreplaceing her mother, and she returned the long-lost texts to the archivist, whoaccepted them with wide, tear-filled eyes.

She gestured at Caedis, who stood behind her in awkwardsilence as she continued, “The people of Vegrandis have been recruiting othervillages to join us in the fight against the emperor. The humans are tired ofthe tyranny they’ve lived under—the emperors have done nothing but causesuffering for centuries, and they’re ready for it to end. I want to gather anarmy and move against the capitol.”

Denio met her eyes steadily. “You’re asking a difficultthing, Eliana,” he said. “We would be taking a great risk by doing this.Countless lives could be lost.”

Suddenly, a slow voice spoke from the entrance to the throneroom. “Ah, there you are, young Rider.”

They all turned in surprise to replace Astrum walking towardsthem, though none was as surprised as Caedis, whose face turned ghostly pale atthe sight.

“Hello, Astrum,” Eliana said quietly to the white fox.

He did not answer her greeting, but moved to stand in frontof Denio, his golden eyes boring into the prince’s purple ones. “Denio, do youbelieve the old prophecy I made so many centuries before your birth?”

Denio looked starled by the question. “Yes. Yes, of course.”

Astrum moved again, standing beside the Rider, his eyesstill on the prince. “Then you should not hesitate to join Eliana in thebattle. The prophecy cannot be fulfilled if the elves do not fight. Withoutthem, Eliana will fail. Your Rider and her dragon, and all who fight with them,will be killed without the aid of your armies.”

There was a long silence. Then Denio looked at his mother.“What do you—?” he began.

The queen shook her head firmly. “No, Denio. This is yourchoice now. It will not be long before I give my power to you, and make you theking of Iterum. You must learn to make these decisions on your own.”

Denio sighed and looked at Eliana again. “Very well,” hesaid with a short nod. “You have the full support of Iterum’s armies. Whateveryou require, you will receive it.”

“I need the elves to leave Iterum.”

The elves all looked startled. “What?” Denio sputtered.

“Nocens knows where Iterum is. I don’t know how or when hefound out, but he’s been here, Denio.I invaded his thoughts, and I saw Iterum. Every street, every tree was clear inhis mind.”

“But where would we go?” he asked.

“Amiscan.”

“They know where that is as well. They will replace us easily.”

Eliana shook her head and answered quietly, “The time forhiding is over, Denio. The time for fighting is now. Move all of the elves toAmiscan as soon as possible. We don’t know when Vereor’s armies will decide toattack. It’s a miracle they haven’t already. Caedis and the other men fromVegrandis will gather the humans who will fight with us. They will join you inAmiscan as soon as possible. We will gather our troops there and prepare forthe final battle.”

Denio covered his face with his hands. There was a longmoment of silence before he whispered, “I suppose I have no choice. I have toprotect them. We’ll leave for Amiscan within the week.”

Queen Ivi spoke again. “Then I suppose we have a wedding toplan.”

The prince’s face pulled away from his hands to look at hismother. “What do you mean?”

She smiled at him softly. “It’s tradition for marriages ofthe royal family to take place within the palace. I will not allow thattradition to be thwarted by some silly war.”

“But,” her son stuttered, looking frantic. “But you haven’tchosen anyone for me yet!”

A small laugh escaped the queen’s lips. “I’m old, Denio, butI’m not yet blind. Kana will do nicely.”

Denio stared at her in shock for a moment, then a brightsmile lit up his face as he embraced his mother, who laughed warmly.

The smiling prince turned to Eliana. “Will you and Caelum beback for the wedding? It wouldn’t be the same without you both.”

She sighed. “I don’t know, Denio. I hope he will be wellbefore then, but if he isn’t… I don’t want to leave him again. Not unless thetime for war comes.”

He nodded in understanding. “But if Laurus is able to Healhim, you will come, won’t you?”

She matched his happy grin and answered, “I wouldn’t miss itfor anything. And I know Caelum wouldn’t either. He’ll want to be here evenmore than I.”

Denio stepped forward and pulled her into a hug. The earthysmell, so much like Caelum’s, brought tears to her eyes. When at last shepulled away, Eliana turned to Laurus. The Healer was staring off into thedistance, looking like her thoughts were a million miles away.

“When can you be ready to go?” she asked her.

Laurus jumped to her feet, her dark curls bouncing, andlooked at Eliana as if she’d forgotten she was there. “Oh! Within the hour! Ijust need to gather my… my things, and we can be on our way.” With that, sheran off down the staircase.

Caedis leaned close to Eliana and whispered skeptically, “She’s the Healer that will save yourprince?”

“Don’t underestimate her,” Eliana answered in an equally lowtone. “She’s more powerful than she appears.”

He didn’t look convinced, but made no further comment.Eliana looked to Denio again. “You should probably replace Kana,” she said with asmile. “She may like to know that she’s going to be marrying you in less than aweek’s time.”

Denio laughed. “Yes, you’re probably right.” He followedLaurus down the spiraling staircase.

Eliana sighed and looked around her. Queen Ivi sat on herthrone, her face lined with deep thought. Mara was reverently poring over theold volumes, which had been lost for so many centuries, Astrum at her side.Caedis stood in the corner, beginning to look overwhelmed.

Astrum looked up at her, his golden eyes bright with whatlooked like pride. “Thank you for returning these to us, Rider Eliana. Theymean much to our people.”

“I only wish I could have found them at a better time,” sheanswered. “You finally have them back, but now you must leave them behind to goto Amiscan. It seems a waste.”

The fox shook his white head. “Don’t concern yourself withthat. We have ways of protecting the archives in times of war—even in ourabsence.”

Mara stood, lifting the books with her magic. She smiled atEliana, tears still in her eyes, as she said, “Come with us. Let’s restorethese books to where they belong.”

Caedis and Eliana followed Mara and Astrum out of the palaceand through the city. The archives were silent as Mara carefully placed theancient texts in the long-empty spots on the shelves. At last, she stepped backand surveyed her handiwork. Every space was now filled. Not one book wasmissing.

Suddenly, Mara grabbed the Rider, pulling her into a tighthug. “You truly are the answer to the prophecy,” she sobbed.

As she tried to pry herself out of Mara’s choking hold,Eliana heard Caedis ask, “What’s this prophecy everyone keeps talking about?”

Eliana finally freed herself from the archivist’s grip andturned to him, answering, “Astrum made a prophecy hundreds of years ago about agirl who would raise a dragon and end a war. She’s supposed to be a rogue, anoutcast among both humans and elves. The elves think it’s about me.”

“And you don’t?”

She sighed and shrugged. “I don’t know. I don’t think I amthe answer to anything. And… I don’t wish to believe that my future has alreadybeen decided for me.”

Mara sounded exasperated as she interjected, “Follow me,Caedis. You can decide for yourself whether or not Eliana is the prophecy.”

She stepped briskly off in the direction of the next room,where the circular disk lay hidden in the floor. They all stepped into the areaand, with the same circular motion of her wrist, Mara lifted the disk out ofthe floor and they rose up to the hidden room with the bejeweled mural.

They stepped into the room, sunlight speckling the floorthrough the canopy above. Astrum swiftly and silently stepped in front of thethree large figures in the center of the mural and sat in front of them, gazingupwards at them with those golden eyes.

“Incredible,” Caedis whispered respectfully. “That’s themost beautiful thing I’ve ever seen.”

Eliana found her attention focused on the raven-haired womanon the right. She was beautiful—far fairer that Eliana was, by her ownestimation. She had features that could be attributed to any elven woman—pureblack hair, amethyst eyes—but what about the prophecy? Not everyone was an outcastamong both races. But surely there hadto be someone better suited to end this war, she thought.

It can’t be me,she thought. I don’t want it to be me… I don’t want thisresponsibility. I don’t want my choices to already be made for me.

Her gaze drifted downwards and landed on the soft, white furof the immortal spirit. Why hadn’t she thought of it before?

“Astrum,” she said.

He turned his eyes to her, a knowing smirk on his foxymouth. “Yes?”

“Is it me?” she asked slowly. “Am I the girl from theprediction?”

His grin grew, showing the points of his teeth. “That alldepends on you.”

“Don’t be silly, Eliana!” Caedis suddenly cried from besideher, gesturing up at the mural. “Look at it! She looks just like you!”

She shook her head. “Caedis, have you looked around yousince being in Iterum? There are many elven women who have those same features.It could just as easily be Mara,” she said, gesturing at the archivist.

“Perhaps, but Mara doesn’t have a golden dragon hoveringover her.”

Eliana had no response to this, so she turned her attentionto Astrum again. “What do you mean, it depends on me?”

Astrum stood and turned his back on the mural so that he waslooking directly up at her. “Perhaps it would be easiest if I simply repeatedmy prophecy from all those centuries ago…”