Sky Riders: The Rising Sun
To Iterum

Eliana awoke with the light of early dawn touching her face.At first, the rushing of the river nearby disoriented her, and she sat up,blinking in confusion. The first thing she spotted was the elf. Caelum lay onthe grass a few feet away, his arms folded behind his head. He turned his blueeyes on her when he saw her sit up.

“Ah, you’re awake,” he said, sitting up as well.

She looked at the ground beside her and found the egg rightwhere she’d left it, close to the base of the now-extinguished fire. She pickedit up and felt the hard, smooth surface. It was warm again. She breathed a sighof relief, and prayed that she’d warmed it quickly enough.

“How’s the egg?” Caelum asked from where he sat.

“I think it’s alright,” she answered. “It feels warm atleast.”

“Can you sense the hatchling inside?”

She looked up at him. “I… hadn’t thought of that,” she saidslowly.

He moved to her side. “Well, I don’t know much aboutdragons, but I do know that elves can often sense the presence of an unborncreature, either inside the womb or in the egg. Have you ever done that?”

Eliana shook her head.

“Can you sense the presence of creatures around you?”

She nodded. “If I try.”

Caelum gestured at the egg in her lap. “Then try.”

She looked down at the egg, resting both hands on top of it.She hesitated for a moment. What if she couldn’t sense the hatchling? Did thatmean it was dead? She wasn’t sure she wanted to replace out.

She pushed the thoughts aside and expanded her mind the wayshe had done when tracking the egg’s mother, directing it at the golden egg.Almost immediately, she felt a warm presence resonating from inside the egg,strong, calm, and beautiful. Even in her mind, the dragon’s essence was gold,humming with brilliant life.

The presence stirred, as if it had felt her touch. A flashof light seemed to stream across her mind, radiating a pure and simple joy. Hismind seemed to caress hers, and somehow, she knew that he was happy to feel hertouch.

Eliana laughed out loud, happiness bubbling inside herchest—half hers, half the hatchling’s.

“What is it?” Caelum asked with intense interest.

“He’s okay,” Eliana said with a wide smile. “He’s… he’s morethan okay. I can’t explain it, but… I think he’s… happy. He’s happy I’m here.”

An overwhelming love for that golden egg and the littledragon inside seized her heart, and she pulled it close to her chest again.

The elf gave a half smile. “I’m sure he is,” he said. Thestatement intrigued her, but she didn’t have a chance to ask his meaning beforeCaelum stood, holding a hand out to her. “Come on. We should be on our way. Myfamily was expecting me in Iterum by sunrise today; they’re probably worried.”

Eliana took the offered hand and he pulled her to her feet.She put the egg back over her shoulder, holding it close to her side so that itstayed warm. Caelum quickly repacked the blanket he’d given her into his bagwhile she strapped her sword belt back onto her waist. He slung his bow andquiver across his back and turned to her.

“Ready?” he asked.

She gave a quick nod, fighting to conceal her anxiety.“Ready.”

He started along the riverbank, Eliana following a few stepsbehind him. A part of her still wondered if the elf could be leading her intosome kind of trap. For whatever reason, he seemed to genuinely want to take her to Iterum. What couldhis motives be? If he wanted the egg, he easily could have killed her and takenit. So why guide her to the elven city, which had been hidden from humans formore than five centuries?

The silence began to nag at her, and she finally spoke. “Yousaid your family had been expecting you in Iterum at sunrise. Is the cityreally so close?”

Caelum laughed and glanced over his shoulder at her as henavigated his way over the rocky riverbank. “If you hadn’t been very close toIterum, I would have passed by you on the riverbank and not disturbed you. Asit was, you were within a few miles of the city, and I thought you might be asorcerer.”

“So naturally you had to attack me.”

He gave a small chuckle. “Naturally,” he replied withoutlooking back at her.

After a brief pause, she asked, “How old are you? I’ve heardthat elves can live for over a hundred years.”

There was amusement in his voice, and she began to wonder ifhe was just perpetually amused by everything. “I’m 23 years old. Elves do livelonger than humans, but we age at a very similar pace. We are children untilabout the age of 14, when we are considered adults. We simply remain at ourphysical peak for longer. Whereas a human male may be fully grown and at hisgreatest strength between the ages of 20 and 45, an elf will be at fullstrength from 20 to 85. Then we begin to decline, and most of our elderly passaround the age of 150.”

The number startled her, but what surprised her more was thefact that the elf was only four years her senior. There was something wiseabout him that had made her assume he was much older. Silence fell between themagain, now walking side by side.

The quiet did not seem to bother the elf at all. He walkedcalmly and easily, appearing content to listen to the sound of their footstepson the rocks and the river rushing by. Eliana sighed, trying to relax as well.But the unfamiliarity of the situation made it impossible. She frequentlyglanced at the elf, studying him. She had never encountered an elf in herliving memory, and she was fascinated by his features.

His hair was a pale blonde and was cropped short, showinghis pointed ears; their shape made her own ears seem practically human, whenshe’d always felt they were so elven. His features were sharp and angular, asif they’d been chiseled from a stone, and yet they were somehow delicate aswell. His skin was smooth and pale, free of freckles or any other marks.

Abruptly, Caelum stopped and faced the river, startling her.She halted as well, looking at his back as he studied the river. After amoment, he looked over his shoulder at her and said with a crooked smile, “Wecross here.”

Eliana looked at the river. The water flowed more rapidlyand powerfully here than at any other point in the river. It was at least fiftyfeet across at this point, and the water swelled and churned in white rapids.

She looked back at the elf’s amused blue eyes. “You’recrazy,” she said decisively.

Caelum laughed and motioned her forward with a movement ofhis head. She stepped up beside him as he said, “Trust me.” Then he squattedbeside the river and pulled a knife from somewhere in his boot. “Just watch.”

Eliana watched him intently as he pressed the sharp point ofthe knife into his left index finger. A red bead of blood welled on hisfingertip as he pushed the knife back into his boot. Then he held his fingerout over the water.

The bead of blood dripped from Caelum’s finger, and Elianawatched as it fell into the river. As the blood hit the surface of the water,she expected it to dissipate in the calmer waters by the bank, trailing outalong the surface. But it didn’t. The blood struck the surface and began tosink like a small, red stone.

She leaned slightly over the river, watching withfascination as the drop of blood disappeared in the dark waters. Slowly, afaint yellow light began to glow somewhere in the water’s darkness. Thechurning river began to roil more violently, as if it was being boiled over afire. She leaned further over the water, fascinated by the glowing, churningsurface.

With a deafening roar, the river burst upwards in a wall ofwhite water. Caelum’s swift hand grasped her shoulder and jerked her backwards.She bumped roughly into his chest as the water roared up in front of her face,spraying her skin with mist.

Then, just as quickly as the water had risen from theriverbed, it dropped back into it. Where the wall of water had been, there nowstood a bridge of black stones. The rocks glistened with the river’s water. Thelow walls that lined each side of the bridge were covered with thousands ofwhat appeared to be tiny, red rubies.

Caelum gave her a gentle prod in the back, and she looked upat him. He smirked at her very obvious unease. “Go on,” he said with a nod atthe bridge. “I promise, it’s perfectly safe.”

Eliana took a deep breath and stepped out onto the bridge.She gripped the top of the black wall firmly, wary of the river swallowing thebridge up once again. Her hands ran over the red rubies in the top of the wall.She looked at the stones, and realized abruptly what they were—the stony dropsof blood from those that had crossed the bridge before her. She jerked her handaway and stopped, only a third of the way across the bridge.

“What’s the matter?” Caelum asked from behind her.

“Nothing, I just…” She paused, steadying her voice, notwanting to sound frightened. “Why don’t you go first?”

She heard him laugh at her. “You’re not scared, are you?”

“No,” she snapped, a little too firmly to be believable. “Ijust… I don’t know where we’re going, so I think I should follow you.”

It was a poor excuse to use when they were standing on astraight bridge, but it was the only one she could think of. Caelum shook hisblonde head with amused disbelief.

“My blood opened the bridge,” he told her, “so it willcollapse as soon as I step off. It’s the way the spell was designed, so nobodycould follow us across the bridge to Iterum. So, unless you want to be standingon the bridge when it disappears back into that river, I suggest you go first.”

Eliana let out a breath and continued forward withouttouching the blood-jeweled railings. Caelum followed close behind her on theslick, black stones. Finally, with a feeling of relief, she stepped onto thefar bank of the river. The elf paused a moment to make sure that she was safelyon solid ground, then stepped off as well. Immediately, the black bridgedropped below the water’s surface and disappeared in its churning depths.

She stared at where it had disappeared until Caelum touchedher arm, drawing her attention away from the river. “Come,” he said, “we’renearly to Iterum.”

She turned and followed him into the woods. “How did you dothat?” she asked, gesturing back at the river.

“Any elf can open the bridge to Iterum,” he said with ashrug. “That’s why the river requires a drop of blood; elven blood raises thebridge. Human blood does not.”

Eliana paused, considering this, then asked hesitantly,“Could I open it?”

He looked sideways at her with a thoughtful expression. “Idon’t know,” he said slowly. Then he smirked and added, “Perhaps you’d openhalf of it.”

Despite herself, Eliana smirked at the light-hearted jest.Her half-blood status had been mocked her entire life, but always maliciously;no one had ever been able to make her smile at the fact that she was ahalf-breed. She realized then that humans were as wrong about elves as they hadbeen about dragons. There was nothing savage about the young man who walkedbeside her.

She looked around at the woods and realized that they werecontinuing to head south, away from the river and into the thickening trees.“Should we continue east?” she asked.

“Why?” he replied.

“I thought Iterum lay in that direction. The stories sayIterum is on the eastern-most point of the continent.”

He chuckled. “I told you it was closer than you thought. Didyou think you were still correct in it lying to the east in spite of that?” Thewords were spoken teasingly, so she took no offense at them. The elf continued,“The story about Iterum being on the eastern cliffs was created by the elvesthemselves. We want humans to believe that’s where it is. On the east cliffs isAmiscan. It is a small village where we train our best archers and strongestsoldiers. Any human who believes he is attacking Iterum will replace himselffacing the best warriors in the elven nation. Iterum is actually hidden in thesoutheast, only eight miles from the capitol of the human empire. We keep ourenemies close, and they never suspect it.”

Eliana mulled this over in silence as they continued south.The forest grew thicker, and the trees grew gradually larger and rounder. Shelooked upwards, marveling at their height. She had never seen trees so tall inher life.

There was something strange, yet familiar about the forest.Somehow, Eliana felt as if she’d been there before. A feeling of connectionstirred in her mind, and she felt her senses become heightened. She could hearevery stirring of birds in the treetops, felt the faintest breath of windbetween the trees. She became exceptionally aware of everything about her body,from the feeling of her feet carrying her along the forest floor, to everyheartbeat and breath she took.

She sought for words to explain this to Caelum, but onlymanaged to say, “This place feels… strange.”

Still, the elf nodded, as if he understood exactly what shehad meant. “It’s the trees,” he explained. “The trees in this forest have grownhere since long before humans or elves ever came to Paerolia. They possess agreat amount of ancient magic. As elves, we can feel it. We draw magic from theearth, including from these trees. That’s why our magic is stronger here thananywhere else.”

Eliana noticed immediately how he had called them bothelves, and she smiled a little to herself. He had not tried to differentiateher from himself, to make her feel less of an elf than he was. He had spoken asif she truly belonged here.

A sudden presence touched her mind and Eliana stiffened withthe realization that someone was following them. There was no noise in theforest aside from the sounds of their own footsteps and the animals in thetrees, but she was certain that they were no longer alone.

“Caelum,” she whispered, drawing closer to him. “We’re beingfollowed.”

He didn’t even seem surprised, much less bothered by thisinformation. He nodded calmly and continued walking as he answered, “Yes, Iknow. There are two of them. They’ve been following us for a few minutes now.”He looked down at her and saw the wariness in her eyes. “Don’t worry,” he saidwith a reassuring smile. “They’re elves—guards from Iterum. We’re fairly closeto the city now.”

“How do you know all of that?”

His smile widened a little. “I know it the same way you knewwe were being followed. I can sense it. My senses are simply more trained thanyours are. But I’m sure that, in time—.”

Caelum stopped abruptly, the smile immediately disappearingfrom his face. His head snapped to his left, and he glared out into the forest,muttering something under his breath.

“What’s the matter?” Eliana whispered, her heart suddenlyracing in her chest, preparing for flight.

He did not respond. In the silence of the forest, she heardthe faint twang of a bowstring.

“Move!” Caelum snapped.

Too swiftly for her to respond, he seized her arm and pulledher towards him. A sharp pain stung at the side of her neck, and the pair ofthem tumbled to the ground. Above them, an arrow, fletched with green and whitefeathers, struck the trunk of the nearest tree with a quiet thunk.

Caelum sprang to his feet almost immediately after hittingthe ground. “Where are you?” he shouted.

Eliana stared at him in disbelief, one hand pressed to theside of her neck, where warm blood was now streaming over her skin. Why wasn’the drawing a weapon? His bow, his sword, his knife—anything would have mademore sense than standing there, screaming at the trees like a madman.

But he continued to shout. “I command you to step forwardand show yourselves!”

Without a sound, two shapes appeared between the trees,moving towards them quickly. One was female, with coloring as pale as Caelum’s.The other was male, with long, raven-black hair as dark as Eliana’s; his eyeswere a deeper shade of violet than her own. It was apparent that it was thefemale elf who had fired the arrow; her bow was in her hand, and the arrows inher quiver bore the same green and white feathers.

Caelum’s pale face had reddened slightly as he glared at thewoman. “Raena!” he snapped. The woman flinched. “What in the gods’ namespossessed you to fire when you knew it was me?”

“I did not fire at you,my lord,” Raena answered in a quiet, icy voice. “The stranger…”

The woman’s icy blue eyes moved to where Eliana sat on theforest floor, her back against the tree. Here expression was cold, angry, andfull of hatred. As soon as their eyes met, a harsh voice shoved its way intoEliana’s mind, making her flinch. “Youhave no right to be here. You have no right to be near him. If Caelum hadn’t pulled you out of the way,you would—.”

Caelum stepped between them, blocking Eliana from Raena’ssight, and the voice disappeared from her mind. “I told you she was my guest!”he barked. “I ordered you not to cause her any harm. You knew she was one of us!”

“She is not one ofus,” Raena growled quietly.

Eliana tensed at the familiar disgust in the woman’s voice,prepared to defend herself, to fight, as she so often had, for her simple rightto exist. In front of her, she saw Caelum’s fists clench at his side. The treebehind her quivered slightly, and Raena’s arrow fell to the ground beside her.

Caelum spoke again, but quietly now; somehow, this seemedmore dangerous than his shouting. “She has elven blood, and so you will treather as you would treat any elf. Am I clear, Raena?”

It was apparent to all of them that there was no room forfurther discussion. Raena dipped her head and let her eyes rest on the ground.“Yes, my lord.”

Caelum looked at the male elf, who until then had remainedsilent. “That applies to you as well, Laevis. Eliana is my personal guest, andyou will treat her with the respect that she deserves.”

Laevis bowed his head briefly. “Yes, my lord.”

Eliana saw Caelum’s back relax slightly. “Good,” he said,his voice holding less tension. “Now you will both return to Iterum. Tell mymother I will be there soon, and ensure that the guest chambers are preparedfor Eliana.”

“Yes, sir,” they answered in unison. As quickly and silentlyas they had arrived, Raena and Laevis disappeared back into the trees.

Caelum let out a sigh, then turned towards Eliana, who stillsat silently against the base of the tree, one hand pressed to her neck. “Iapologize,” he said quietly, kneeling beside her. “I don’t know what possessedRaena.” He softly touched the back of her hand with his own. “Here, let me seeit.”

Eliana hesitated, then moved her hand away. The elf pursedhis lips as he studied the long, thin scratch on the side of her neck. With aquiet sigh, he pulled a piece of cloth from the sack he carried and folded itinto his hand, then pressed the cloth against the trunk of the tree. She sawhim narrow his eyes briefly, as he had done when starting the fire on theriverbank, then he pulled the cloth back again. It was soaked with water.

Carefully, Caelum used the wet cloth to clean the blood awayfrom the wound. Then he pressed the palm of his hand against her neck. Elianastiffened slightly as a tingling sensation ran over her skin. In less than amoment, the feeling disappeared, and Caelum withdrew his hand.

Eliana reached up and touched her neck where the scratch hadbeen. It was now perfectly smooth—no scratch, not even a scar. No sign of theinjury remained. She looked up at Caelum in astonishment.

He smiled softly as he took her hand and began to wipe theblood from her palm and fingers. “More elven magic,” he said in response to herunanswered question. Once the blood was cleaned away, he stood and held a handout towards her. “If you wish, I’m sure you could learn it.”

She took his hand and let him pull her to her feet. “Youthink I can learn elven magic?” she asked.

Caelum shrugged. “I don’t see why not. Your ability to sensethe presence of others suggests that you have the ability. It’s just a matterof training. Now, we should be on our way. They’ll be expecting us in Iterumnow.” He let out an irritated sigh. “Which likely means that they will preparea feast.” It was apparent that the idea of a feast repulsed him.

Eliana followed Caelum as he started in the direction thatRaena and Laevis had taken, leaving the green and white arrow lying at the baseof the tree. After a few moments, Eliana had gathered her thoughts enough toask the question that had been bothering her since hearing the elves’conversation.

“Why did they keep calling you ‘my lord’?”

Caelum tilted his head backwards and gave a deep sightowards the forest canopy. “It’s nothing, really,” he replied. “If you have anynoble blood in your veins, everyone in Iterum insists on calling you by aridiculous title, no matter how much you oppose it.” He looked back towardsher. “At least I’ve gotten them to stop that infernal bowing. Well most of themanyways,” he added with a smirk.

Eliana gave a small smile in response. “Noble blood? I’m notbeing escorted by the king, am I?” she asked with a laugh.

Caelum laughed as well, shaking his head. “No, I can tellyou most definitively that I have no claim to the elven throne.” Suddenly, henodded ahead of them. “Look,” he said. “The gates of Iterum.”

She turned in the direction he’d indicated. Not far ahead ofthem, two large, white trees stood towering above the others. Their branchesmet and grew intertwined, forming a great arch, high above her head. Betweenthe massive trunks, hundreds of small branches grew woven together. Vines hadclimbed over the branches, blooming with white flowers. Eliana stopped andstared upwards at the tall gates.

Caelum stopped as well, looking at her. “What is it?” heasked.

“I feel like I know this place,” she said quietly. “LikeI’ve been here before.”

From the corner of her eyes, she saw him smile crookedly ather. “Elves feel a connection to the very soil of Iterum. So whether youacknowledge it or not, this proves that you are as much an elf as I.”

Warmth tingled through Eliana’s body as she absorbed thisfeeling of connection. For the first time in her life, she felt as if shebelonged somewhere. Clutching the golden egg close to her side, she followedCaelum towards the gates. The blossom-covered branches swung open, welcomingher into Iterum.