Sky Riders: The Rising Sun
Awakening

Astrum closed his golden eyes and spoke. His voice rangclearly through the small, circular room. There was something distant andancient about his words, as if they had slipped from the pages of one of thecenturies-old volumes below them.

"Lies, deceit,and selfish greed

Are what make this war begin.

We have made blood enemies

Out of those we called our friends.

“Centuries lie beforeus;

Lives lost and both bloods shed,

But there is one who will end it

In the time far ahead.

“Barely a child shewill be,

With blood of both in her veins.

An outcast among both our kinds

But a spirit that cannot be tamed.

“Fire will be herally,

Joined by a dragon of brilliant gold

And they will fly together

Just as the Riders did of old.

“One more will standbeside her,

Descended from our finest kings,

But he will give up his noble throne

To aid the girl and all she brings.

“At the time we needher most

She will fight to end the war,

Bridging the divide between us:

Elves and humans, friends once more."

The golden eyes opened again, watching Eliana carefully. Shestared back in silence, perplexed; hearing the prophecy herself had not doneanything to alleviate her confusion.

However, it seemed to be enough evidence for Caedis. “Yousee!” he exclaimed. “It couldn’t possibly be anyone else! You have a goldendragon and a former elven prince tohelp you! Are you going to try to tell me that’s just mere coincidence?”

Caelum… She hadn’tconsidered that he could be the elven man in the mural. She had tried not tospend much time thinking about the prophecy at all, but even she had to admitit seemed possible now.

“I still don’t understand,” she said to Astrum. “How doesthe prophecy being about me depend on me?”

The white fox smiled and shook his head. “Humans and elvesalike have always tended to assume that the things I prophesy are carved instone, that it must all happen a certain way. But that is not the way Fateworks. Destiny does not negate choice.My prophecy will be fulfilled, one way or another, at one time or another. If thefirst should choose not to fulfill it, another will come who can, and so on, untilit is done. Could this prophecy be about you, Oriens, and Prince Caelum? Yes.Does it have to be? No. It all depends on you.”

With that, the bushy white tail disappeared out of the rounddoorway, somehow summoning and descending on the disk on his own. Elianablinked in surprise as realization dawned on her. She felt Oriens in her mind,absorbing the information as well.

“It is about us,” Elianamused quietly.

“But only if we wantit to be,” he added. “We have achoice in our own destiny after all. It is not decided for us.”

Despite the elves’ beliefs and Astrum’s prophecies, the paththey took was ultimately their decision.

“We don’t have to takeon this responsibility,” she thought wistfully. “We could leave it all behind, allow someone else to come along andtake on the duty.”

She wanted to believe her own words, but even as she thoughtthem, they both knew that there was only one decision they could make. As muchas Eliana wanted to run from this responsibility and this prophecy, she couldn’t.If they walked away, there was no telling how much longer this war wouldcontinue before another came along to end it. There was no knowing how manymore lives would be lost before the bloodshed would be stopped.

“We will be the answerto the prophecy,” she sighed in her mind. To her surprise, she felt a senseof relief come over her. She didn’t have to try to fight this any longer. Thechoice had been hers all along, and now that she had made it, she was ready toface it.

She sensed her dragon’s agreement. “This is the only choice we can make, they only path we could possiblychoose to follow.”

She nodded. They’d made their vows to Iterum and Amiscanalready. They would make the same vows to anyone who joined their ranks, andthey would fight with them and for them until they drew their last breaths.

“Our destiny is ourown, Oriens,” she thought. “And thisis it.”

Mara and Caedis were watching her curiously, as if they wereaware that she was mulling over Astrum’s words, making a decision that coulddecide the fate of Paerolia. She met their gazes expressionlessly.

“We should replace Laurus,” she said. “We need to get back toCaelum and Ispera as soon as possible.”

Mara nodded and led them out of the mural room and onto thethin wooden disk, which quickly took them to the floor of the archives. Lauruswalked in as soon as the disk had settled into the floor. She carried a largebasket of herbs and vials, her black cloak around her shoulders.

“I’m ready,” she announced, brushing a few wild curls awayfrom her face.

The four of them headed back towards the practice fieldsbeside the palace. Denio and Queen Ivi stood together beside Oriens, speakingto someone that Eliana could not see. When they approached, the queen andprince turned in their direction, and she saw the woman in front of them. Itwas the same dark-haired elven woman that Caelum had indicated on the morningthey’d left for Amiscan—Kana.

Denio smiled warmly. “Eliana! Come, please, I want you tomeet Kana!”

She briskly stepped forward and took the woman’s handsbetween her own. “Congratulations,” she said with a smile. “I couldn’t behappier for you both.”

Kana smiled shyly and said in a quiet voice. “Thank you,Rider. It means very much to me to have your blessing.”

“Please, call me Eliana. After all, you’re going to beroyalty soon enough.”

A blush crept into Kana’s fair cheeks. “Yes, I… I suppose Iam, aren’t I. I hadn’t thought of that.”

Eliana laughed briefly. “You’re marrying a prince and youdidn’t think about becoming a part of the royal family?”

Kana reached out to Denio, who took her hand with a tenderexpression on his young face. “I suppose,” she said slowly, “I was just sohappy that he asked me that I… I didn’t even consider anything else.”

The Rider smiled softly, observing the loving tendernesswith which the two elves gazed at each other. It made her heart ache forCaelum. She turned away from the pair and spoke to Queen Ivi.

“It’s time for us to return to Vegrandis. We should getLaurus back to Caelum as soon as possible.”

The queen gave her a brief hug, whispering in her ear,“Please, take good care of my boy. Bring him home to me.”

“Of course,” Eliana answered quietly.

Ivi released her, and Eliana turned to look at her dragon,who was waiting patiently, still saddled. “Readyto go?” she asked.

“You know,” heanswered with a dragonish smirk, “if youcontinue to treat me like a carrier pigeon, I may just stop letting you Ride meone day.”

“I’d like to see youtry,” she chuckled. “Can you handlethree passengers from here to Vegrandis?”

“I’ll manage, thoughwe may need to stop once for me to rest.”

“Whatever you need,”she replied with a nod. She looked over her shoulder at Caedis and Laurus.“Ready to go?” she asked.

They both nodded in the affirmative, and Eliana swung upinto the saddle. Caedis climbed up behind her and took Laurus’ basket, settlingit between his legs and Eliana’s back. She pulled Laurus up in front of her,squeezing them all tightly into the small saddle.

“Okay, Oriens,”she said. “Back to Vegrandis.”

The dragon’s wings beat laboriously, then finally pulledtheir weight into the air. Ivi, Denio, and Kana waved at them until they wereairborne, and they swept away over the treetops.

“I wish you had waiteda few more months to decide to give me such a load,” Oriens complained. “I could have handled it easily then.”

“Nonsense,” sheteased. “It will make you stronger.”

“Then why don’t you try it?”

She laughed, and they headed southwest, towards the villagewhere Caelum waited.

~*~

Eliana quickly pulled the saddle off of Oriens, thanking theweary dragon with a kiss on his scaly forehead, then ran towards Otium’s house.Caedis and Laurus followed close behind. The door opened for them before they’dreached it, and the old widow stood in the doorway, looking strained andexhausted.

“Thank heavens!” she cried. “Prince Caelum has gottenworse.”

At that moment, a scream tore through the late afternoonair, making Eliana’s heart feel like it was being shredded to pieces. “NO!ELIANA! PLEASE, NO! DON’T HURT HER!”

She rushed inside and tossed the saddle unceremoniously onthe floor, rushing to her mother’s side as the woman struggled to stillCaelum’s thrashing body. Eliana dropped to her knees at his side and wrappedher arms around his shoulders, trying to hold him.

“I’m here,” she whispered, her voice shaking. “I’m here,Caelum. I’m here.”

Slowly, his thrashing quieted until he trembled in her arms,sweat soaking his brow. “Please don’t die,” he whimpered softly. “Eliana, don’tleave me… Please…”

She reached for the nearby cloth and basin of water. Shesoaked the cloth in the cool water, then wrung it out, gently wiping it acrosshis burning forehead. “I’m not going anywhere,” she whispered.

Ispera sat back with a sigh. “He’s been doing this every tenminutes or so for the past hour, and it’s worse each time,” she explained. “Hejust keeps screaming your name, like someone’s ripping his heart out.”

An airy voice spoke from behind them, “He needs to have theDarkness removed from his mind.”

Ispera looked up in surprise. “Laurus?” The Healer nodded,and Eliana’s mother jumped to her feet, throwing her arms around the woman’sneck. “Look how you’ve grown!”

Laurus laughed, her pale eyes moistening as she embraced hermentor. “Everyone thought you were dead,” she said. “It is truly wonderful tosee you again, Ispera.”

“And you,” Ispera answered, pulling back. She looked towardsthe elf on the sofa, who was breathing shallowly and raggedly. “Do you knowwhat can be done for him?” she asked. “I’ve never dealt with anything like thisbefore.”

“I have only seen something similar once,” Laurus replied, “whenthe young elf Ater was brought to me. I didn’t know how to treat it then, buthe somehow managed to recover on his own. Since then, I have studied the matterfurther. When one is tortured with Dark magic, the Darkness can imbed itselfdeeply in the mind, feeding on the fears of the host. It’s especially painfulto elves, because our magic is of the earth, and so it repels the Darkness.”

“Is there something you can do?” Eliana asked, kneelingbeside Caelum’s trembling form.

Laurus nodded slowly. “Yes, but it’s complicated anddifficult. And I can’t say for certain that it will work. I’ve never tried itbefore.”

“But if we don’t try?” the Rider asked hesitantly.

Laurus’ voice was quiet. “Based on how far gone he alreadyis… the Darkness will consume him. Then he can either willingly subject himselfto it and become Dark himself… or he will die.”

“What do we have to do?”

Ispera and Laurus immediately set to work, grinding herbsand mixing potions, all under Laurus’ instructions; the former apprentice nowguided her teacher. After nearly an hour—and several more feverish outburstsfrom Caelum—Laurus held a swirling, silvery substance in the vial in her hand.

“Now,” she said, “we must add three of the four elements ofelven magic.”

“Which three?” Eliana asked.

“The three that are notCaelum’s strongest element.”

“What is hisstrongest element?” Ispera asked.

The two women looked at Eliana. “Water,” she saidconfidently. “Caelum’s element is water.”

“Are you certain?” he mother asked.

She nodded firmly. She clearly remembered him summoning the watersphere when they entered Amiscan. And he was like water to her—his soothing,healing presence, like water to her fire.

Laurus nodded in return. “Very well. Each of us must choosean element to add. I will add earth.”

“I’ll add air,” Ispera said.

“And I’ll add fire.”

Laurus set the vial on the floor and the three dark-hairedwomen knelt in a circle around it. Caedis and Otium stood beside the fire,watching curiously. They each held a hand over the vial, their fingertipscentimeters apart, forming a triangle in the space above the flask that heldthe silvery substance.

“On my count, summon your element,” Laurus instructed. “One.Two. Three.”

There was a spark in the triangle of space between theirfingers, and a green flame sprung to life, whipping about in the small flurryof wind. The green flame slowly descended, dropping down the neck of the vialand landing in the swirling, silver liquid. Immediately, the color changed to abrilliant blue. Laurus stood, picking up the flask.

“When Caelum drinks this,” she said, “it will force theDarkness away from his mind. It’s painful, and it only lasts for a moment.”

“Then what good will it do?” Eliana asked in surprise.

“The potion can only separate the mind of the host from theinvading Darkness. Someone must then enter his thoughts and remove theDarkness.”

“How?”

“It must be someone he is very close to. Darkness feeds onfear, anger, and sadness, but it flees from any other emotion. If you enterCaelum’s mind, Eliana, there will be emotions that the Darkness cannot control,and it will leave.”

She stared at her in surprise for a moment, trying tounderstand what the Healer had said. It sounded absurd to her. A sudden screamof pain tore itself from Caelum’s throat, cutting through her.

“Okay!” she cried hastily. “Give it to him! Hurry!”

Ispera and Eliana held Caelum as still as they could whileLaurus tilted the silvery-blue substance down his throat. The moment the vialwas emptied, Caelum’s screams grew louder and more pained. His back arched andhis hands grabbed at his skill, as if trying to hold it together, just as hehad done when Peior had tortured him. Eliana stared in blank terror as thebeautiful face contorted with shrieks of pain.

“Eliana!” Laurus shouted at her. “Now!”

She leapt forward, pressing her hands on either side ofCaelum’s head, on top of his own. She plunged her mind deep into his. Theonce-familiar mind was now foreign to her. There was no comforting voice, whichhad so often spoken in her thoughts. The elf’s mind was cold, dark, and silent.

She searched desperately through Caelum’s mind, trying toreplace something that felt like the mind she loved so dearly—a thought, a memory,anything. Laurus had given her no instruction; she’d only said that it wouldflee. So how would she know when it had fled?

She forced her thoughts deeper into his mind, searching forany sign of Caelum’s consciousness. There was nothing. No memories. No thoughtsor emotions. Only that cold, miserable Darkness, which she felt slowly creepinginto her own mind.

Suddenly, in the middle of the dark void, she saw a figurelying before her, twisted and moaning. She recognized him immediately andcalled out to him frantically. He looked up, but the blue eyes were now blackpits, filled with hatred.

“Caelum?” sherepeated.

He opened his mouth, but instead of words, a low hissescaped his throat. Then the figure closed his eyes, his teething grindingtogether. The body began to jerk violently, thrashing from side to side.Suddenly, a scream echoed around her, but it was not Caelum’s voice this time.It was high-pitched, furious, and terrifying. It echoed through Caelum’s mind,and Eliana trembled with the effort of not fleeing from the sound, back to thesafety of her own mind.

Suddenly, the figure that was not quite Caelum was still. Adark shadow hovered over him, darting around his shape, as if trying to replace away back into his body.

“Eliana?” Caelum’svoice seemed to come from everywhere around her.

Another hiss came from the dark shape and, suddenly, it wasgone. The blackness around her disappeared with it, as did the lifeless form ofCaelum before her. Slowly, she began to feel the familiarity of Caelum’s mindas it returned to normal.

She heard his thoughts. “Wheream I? What’s going on? What happened?”

A few of his memories flashed before her, several of themcontaining her own face. She sensed realization coming to him, felt himnoticing her presence in his mind. And then she was pushed from his thoughts ashe barricaded his mind once again.

Eliana opened her eyes and found that she was breathingheavily, her hands still on either side of Caelum’s head. She looked down andfound his blue eyes gazing back up at her, a small smile on his lips.

“Hello there,” he said quietly, reaching up to brush theback of his fingers over her cheek. “I was beginning to wonder when I would seeyou again.”

She made a sound between a sob and a laugh and pressed herface to his chest, wrapping her arms around his neck. “You’re alive,” shewhispered.

She felt him stroke her hair as he answered. “Yes, becauseof you.”

Eliana sat back, dashing away her tears with embarrassment.Caelum slowly pulled himself upright, wincing in pain, and looked around him.“Where am I?” he asked.

Eliana gestured at Otium, who still stood by the fire, andanswered, “This is Otium’s home, where I lived after my father died. We’re inVegrandis.”

His brow furrowed. “We’re in a human village?” His gaze fellon Caedis. “Who’s he?” he asked suspiciously.

“Caedis,” she answered.

He looked at her with sharp, blue eyes. “The one whotormented you for all those years?”

She nodded. “But things are different now, Caelum. All ofVegrandis know about Oriens, and they’ve chosen to join us. So have many of thepeople in the villages nearby. They all want to fight with us, to fight theemperor.”

Caelum rubbed a hand across his eyes, trying to make senseof everything she’d said. When he opened his eyes again, they came to rest onIspera. “Aren’t you… the woman from the dungeons?”

Ispera gave a small curtsy. “Hello, Prince Caelum. I’m happyto see you awake. My name is Ispera.” She smiled at him. “I remember when youwere born. It was shortly before I left with Tego.”

Caelum blinked and shook his head. “What? Tego? Eliana,isn’t that…?”

Eliana nodded. “My father’s name,” she finished for him.“Ispera was the Healer in Iterum before Laurus. She’s also my mother.”

Caelum pressed his fingers to his temples and closed hiseyes again. “I swear I will never be unconscious again,” he said with a groan.“Too much happens when I am.”

The Rider chuckled and took his hands in her own, pullingthem from his head. He opened his eyes again and met her gaze.

“By the way,” she said with a smile, “did I mention Denio’sgetting married?”