Sky Riders: The Rising Sun
From the Stone

Denio, Oriens, Teleas, and Caelum gathered at the cliffs tosee them off. There was a tension in the air around the group; each of themknew that what occurred in the stones beneath them could determine the outcomeof the war. But nobody said it. Eliana hugged Oriens’ nose as he silentlywished her good luck. Then she turned to face the two brothers.

The younger of the two embraced her and smiled, though shecould still see the strain about his eyes. “Kana wishes you luck as well,” hetold her. “She would have liked to come herself, but she was ill this morning.”

Eliana nodded in understanding. She was not blind. She hadnoticed the queen’s odd behavior, her recurring bouts of sickness, theprotective way she wrapped her arms around her stomach; Eliana was certainthere would be a prince or princess within the year.

Then, she glanced at Caelum, who was watching her withserious eyes. She hesitated, then steeled herself and stepped towards him.Whatever anger he might have towards her, she needed to speak to him one lasttime, in case things went wrong.

She met his firm gaze with an air of confidence. “Are yougoing to wish me luck, Captain?”

His answer surprised her. “You promised.”

She frowned slightly, forgetting to pretend to beindifferent. “What are you talking about?” she asked in confusion.

His voice was low, full of anger, disappointment, and pain.“You promised… no more stupid stunts. Do you remember?”

She did. It had been after her first encounter with Peior.She gave a short nod.

“Then what do you call this?” he snapped.

She returned his angry glare. “Don’t forget, Prince Caelum,that you’re not for keeping promises yourself.” He looked about to argue, butshe plowed on. “You promised not to let the realyou run off again. When that Caelum comes back, we can discuss me and my stupidstunts.”

Patting Oriens on his broad shoulder, Eliana turned to thetwo men who would be accompanying her into the dwarves’ dark tunnels. Caedisand Iocus both gave her curt nods, signifying their readiness. Without a singleglance over her shoulder, Eliana began the descent over the steep edge of thecliff to the sands below, her two companions following close behind.

The dirt and rocks slid beneath her feet as she made her waydown the rock face. There were plenty of ledges and handholds, so the threefigures descended quickly and without much difficulty. Eliana jumped the lastseveral feet to the soft sand, the two men landing quickly beside her. A whitefigure waited on the beach for them.

“Astrum,” Eliana said in surprise, “what are you doinghere?”

“I decided it would be best for me to accompany you,” hereplied. “I know the way, and I may be of some assistance with the dwarves.”

She lifted her shoulders slightly and gestured ahead of her.“Well, lead on then.”

He turned his tail to them and proceeded at an easy lopedown the length of the beach. The three soldiers lengthened their strides tokeep up with him. Tangled masses of cliff scrub clung to the rocks on theirright, as well as a few gnarled old trees that had forced their way intoexistence in the squalid environment.

Astrum stopped at an inlet of the sea. The waves rushed pastthem into a small cave in the cliff, ocean spray shooting upwards in a finemist. Eliana looked down at Astrum, who was gazing back up at her with a calmlook of certainty on his long face. She understood the expression. This was it.

Caedis and Iocus seemed to catch the look as well. The humanman sighed. “Well,” he said, “we could pull back the water with our magic. Withthe three of us, we should be strong enough that we can walk in on dry ground.”

“Not possible,” Astrum said. “If you force the waves back,when you release them, the entire cave will flood, and possibly even the dwarves’tunnels. Unless you want to drown potential allies, I don’t suggest it.”

“It will take timing then,” Iocus said. “We’ll have to ridea wave in.”

“How do we avoid getting washed back out?” Eliana asked.

“I suppose we could use our magic then,” Caedis said. “If wecan’t hold the water back, we can use our magic to spit us out inside. If thereare tunnels in there somewhere, there must be some kind of dry ground. A simplespell should get the water to push us out onto land.”

Eliana sighed. “Alright then. We’ll leave our bows here, butkeep your swords. If the dwarves are not as kind as we’d hoped, I don’t want usto be entirely without weapons.”

All three of them removed the bows and quivers from theirbacks, stowing them behind a shrub that clung to the cliff. A thought occurredto Eliana, and she looked down at the white wolf, who was watching thempatiently.

“Astrum,” she asked, “how did you replace this place anyways?”He looked back at her with silent, knowing eyes. Realization struck her. “Youknew all along, didn’t you? Why didn’t you tell us before?”

“I did not wish to bring the dwarves into a battle until Iwas sure of your decision to face your fate.”

“And what is my fate?” she asked quietly.

He shook his head as he looked away. “I cannot say, Eliana.”

“But you do know, don’t you?”

There was a short pause before he answered, “Yes, I do know,so far as you remain on the current path you are on. As I said before, what Isee is not written in stone. You always have a choice. And every choice youmake changes your future, so every time you make a decision, I can see adifferent end for you.”

“What kind of end do you see now?”

He looked up at her again. His white fur heaved with a sigh,and she thought she saw something sad in his expression. “Eliana, please do notask me any more questions.”

She nodded respectfully and said in a quiet voice. “As youwish.” She looked over her shoulder to see that Caedis and Iocus were watchingher, listening to her conversation with the wolf. “Are you ready?” she asked.

The two men nodded and stepped up beside her. They poisedthemselves on the very edge of the inlet, watching the rise and fall of thewaves. They waited until the water had almost completely pulled back into thesea, then dove into the waves. They surged forward on the next wave, rushingtowards the cave. Eliana ducked beneath the water to avoid colliding with thetop of the cave mouth.

The sunlight almost completely disappeared as they werethrown into the cavern by the water’s force. She felt the sea start to pull herback out. With a flick of her fingers, the water around her spiraled upwardsand roughly deposited her on a slab of smooth stone. She grunted as she tumbledon the rock, then sat up with a groan, looking around for her companions.

Astrum sat calmly beside her, his white fur somehowcompletely dry, watching with patient golden eyes. She spotted Caedis severalyards away on another outcropping of rock. His spell had not been as precise ashe had hoped, and he was now left in a precarious predicament. He would have tonavigate around a thin ledge of wet stone to get to where Eliana was lying infront of the dwarves’ tunnel.

Iocus sat on the same slab of stone she had landed on. Hehad a hand pressed to his forehead. Blood oozed between his fingers and traileddown the side of his face. The always-cheerful elf gave her a sheepish grin.

“What happened?” she asked, moving quickly to his side.

He shrugged slightly. “Didn’t duck quickly enough when thewave pushed us in. Hit my head on the edge of the opening.” He seemed to seesome sign of horror on her face, because he asked, “Is it really that bad?”

Eliana pulled his hand from his head to examine the wound,then sighed. “I don’t think so,” she answered. “It seems rather deep, but Ishould still be able to Heal it. My mother taught me how.”

She touched her fingers to his forehead and felt thefamiliar rush of magic through her body. Iocus’s skin knit itself togetherbefore her eyes, completely closing the gash. Eliana sat back with a smallsmile of satisfaction.

Iocus touched the spot where the wound had been, then lookedat her with a crooked grin. “You’ve leaned quite well, my dear.”

The term of endearment made her stomach twist withdiscomfort—quite a different sensation from when Caelum had called her“darling.” The elf leaned forward suddenly, catching her unawares, and coveredher lips with his. She stiffened, freezing in surprise as one of his handslaced through her wet hair, pulling her mouth more firmly to his.

An angry roar in her mind startled her back into her senses,and she quickly shoved the elf away. He looked down at her, apparentlydisappointed and confused. She pressed the back of her hand to her mouth,breathing heavily.

“I will kill him!”a voice screamed in her mind. It was not Oriens’ voice, as she’d expected. Itwas Caelum. Evidently, Oriens had allowed the elf into his mind while he sharedEliana’s sight, just as they’d done back in the palace in Vereor. She quicklypushed the two prying presences from her mind and threw a wall around it,blocking them both out.

A pair of soggy boots hit the rock as Caedis landed besideEliana and Iocus, after making his journey around the perimeter of the cave. “Two elves, Eliana?” he asked inobvious distaste.

Eliana and Iocus both looked up at him. “What are youtalking about?” the elf asked.

“You and that prince,” he answered.

The normally childish elf seemed to be becoming ratherirritated. “What? Caelum? What about him?”

The human shook his head in exasperation. “Eliana, you, andCaelum,” he responded slowly, as if speaking to someone with dim wits. “Bothyou and that prince seem to be pursuing her.”

Iocus turned his blue eyes to the silent Rider beside him.“Caelum?” he repeated incredulously. “CaptainCaelum? He is pursuing you?”

Eliana turned away from his gaze to replace Astrum watchingthem with what appeared to be amusement. “Perhaps we should discuss thisanother time,” the wolf said softly. “There are much more important things weshould be tending to.”

“Yes,” Eliana responded eagerly, jumping to her feet; shewould have agreed with anything that would change the subject at that moment.“Let’s go.”

She turned and quickly marched down the tunnel withoutlooking back. After a moment of hesitation, two pairs of boots and one set oflarge paws began to follow her in silence. They wound their way through thetunnels without speaking. As Astrum had said, lit torches began to appear,illuminating the tracks of hundreds of pairs of booted feet in the dirt aheadof them.

Eliana, Iocus, and Astrum all cast their minds outwards,searching for any signs of life. Slowly, she became aware of a cluster ofconsciences around the next bend, like a bright light at the end of a dark andempty tunnel. She stopped, holding out an arm to halt the others.

“Do you sense them too?” she whispered.

Caedis looked confused, while Astrum and Iocus nodded.Eliana placed her fingers on the hilt of her golden blade. Then, with a slowbreath, she started forward again, rounding the bend. They found themselvesstaring down the shafts of a hundred spears.

On the other end of those deadly sticks were the dwarves.Denio had been correct in his description of the race. The tallest of the groupwould have only reached Eliana’s chest, and their faces were engulfed in unrulybeards. Dark, beady eyes glared out at them from skin that was pale from a lifetimeunderground. Each dwarf was fully outfitted for war, from the helms on theirheads to the metal-studded boots on their feet.

“Who are you?” barked a dwarf from behind the line of spears.

Eliana slowly lifted her right hand, seeing the dwarves’grips tighten around their spears. The men on either side of her grasped thehilts of their swords, ready for an attack. Even Astrum was crouched low to theground, tension emanating from his every muscle.

Slipping the leather glove off of her hand, Eliana showedthe dwarves her palm, where the shimmering mark of a dragon Rider shone in thetorchlight. “My name is Eliana. These are my friends, Caedis, Iocus, andAstrum,” she said calmly, pointing to each of her companions in turn. “I am adragon Rider, and we have come to seek your help.”

The dwarf in the back eyed her suspiciously from behind hisline of warriors. Then, he barked, “Mühel!"

The spears were slowly lowered, though the dwarves that heldthem continued to eye her group suspiciously. Eliana’s companions relaxedslightly, and she allowed herself to let out a small sigh of relief.

"Fehr Zähmer,” the dwarf—evidently their leader—saidquietly. “So you have returned after all. We’d heard the roars of a dragonabove us for some time. We assumed the wild ones had ousted the elves.”

She shook her head. “What you heard was my dragon, Oriens.”

“Sigkeit!” the captain shouted impatiently at his warriors.They hastily made a path for him and he trundled forward. Iocus and Caedisloosened their swords slightly from their sheaths. Then the dwarf captainbowed. “Forgive the unfriendly reception, Fehr Zähmer,” he said, “but we had noreason to suspect that one such as you would come.” He stood, touching his fistto his forehead in an apparent salute. “I am Captain Felsen, leader of KingStährklav's armies.”

Eliana gave a slight bow in return. “A pleasure, Captain.”

“Come,” he said, turning back down the tunnel. “I will takeyou to King Stährklav. I am certain he will be happy to aid you in any mannerpossible.”

The dwarf soldiers turned and marched back down the tunnelin two perfectly marshaled lines, the stone echoing with the clang of armor.Eliana followed, Astrum trotting on her right, Iocus and Caedis close behind,still tense with suspicion. She knew what they must be thinking—that all ofthis was going far too well. Only Astrum’s obvious calm eased her own worries.If they were in danger, the Seer would know.

The tunnel seemed to continue for miles, dropping lower withevery step, twisting and turning and branching off in a confusing network ofstony halls. At points, Eliana, Caedis, and Iocus had to duck, continuingforward in a doubled-over position. Then, suddenly, the tunnel began to widen,the ceiling slowly rising.

As they rounded yet another bend in the stone hall, anextraordinary sight appeared before them. Rising from the stone, as if growingfrom the earth itself, was a city as large as Vereor. Thick walls surroundedthe city. Behind them rose buildings of solid rock, their spires reachingtowards the top of the cavern. From where she stood, staring in amazement,Eliana could see the gleaming of massive jewels and the sparkle of gold in thetorchlight. The dwarf city’s size and beauty left her breathless.

“Welcome,” Felsen proudly announced, “to Zwûrdgit Stöhl.”