Sky Riders: The Rising Sun
Advance

The cave was crowded once again, the air crackling withtension. All eyes were on Ja’ol, willing him to take back the news he had justdelivered. The tense silence seemed to drag on for hours.

At last, Kana spoke, her meek and quiet voice soundingpowerful and commanding in the stillness. “Are you certain?” she askednervously.

Ja’ol nodded curtly. “Aye, your majesty. Emperor Nocensbegan mobilizing the full force of his armies shortly before my men and Ileft.”

“But are you sure he was not sending them to Iterum?” Denioasked, leaning forward anxiously.

“Quite sure. I was one of the captains meant to lead thefirst squadron. We received the order directly from Peior. We were to take anindirect path through the plains, gathering men along the way, towards theeastern cliffs. Peior was supposed to meet us there to give us furtherinstruction.”

Another silence fell over them as a dark and terriblecertainty settled over them. This was it. Nocens was no longer underestimatingtheir forces. He was sending his entire army to Amiscan.

“How many?” Caelum asked quietly, his voice low and anxious.

Ja’ol looked nervous. “I couldn’t place an exact number onit myself. But one of my commanding officers guessed there would be nearly ahundred thousand, once they’d gathered the men from the villages along theway.”

Eliana felt her heart drop into her stomach. A hundredthousand… It was nearly double the number of men, elves, and dwarves they hadat hand—and that was only if Felsen’s estimates of the dwarves’ distant armieswere accurate. There were those elves in the far-flung clans that they had sentambassadors to, but Caelum hadn’t expected there to be more than a few thousandof those. They were outnumbered—greatly outnumbered.

Eliana swallowed hard and met Ja’ol’s eyes. “How long do wehave?”

He chewed on his lip, calculating. “If you were to wait forthem to arrive here, you’d have a month. If you were to meet them on theplains, two weeks.”

“They know too muchabout Amiscan,” Oriens said in her mind. “If they came here, they could corner us on the cliffs. We should meetthem on level ground.”

The Rider relayed her dragon’s suggestion to the rest of thegroup. They considered this for only a brief moment before all nodding theiragreement.

“Captain Felsen,” Denio said, “have you received word fromthe dwarves in other parts of the land?”

The stocky dwarf nodded. “They are readily awaiting thesignal to join us.”

The king looked pleased. “Excellent. Send word that they areto get to the plains by any means possible as quickly as they can.” Felsenimmediately sent one of his men off with the message. Denio looked at hisbrother. “Caelum, we’ll need to get word to our ambassadors as quickly as possiblethat they are to bring whoever is willing to fight to the plains. Send Astrum.I am not fond of having him away for so long, but he is the swiftest messengerwe have.”

Caelum acknowledge his younger brother’s command with a firmnod. Eliana could feel nervous excitement mounting in her stomach. It was thebeginning of the end—either for her or for Nocens. The time had come for themto march out and meet Fate head on.

Preparations began immediately. Once again, the excitementof war had all of Amiscan in a bustle. Nobody seemed to walk anywhere; everyonewas constantly running, darting from one place to another in a frenziedenthusiasm. Plans were made for those who would remain behind—the human and elfmothers and their young children, and those too old to fight. They would takerefuge underground in Zwûrdgit Stöhl. Many of the childless women—both humanand elf—had elected to join the ranks and fight alongside the soldiers.

Those who would be fighting prepared themselves for thefortnight-long march to the distant plains. The wild horses had returned at thecall of the elves. These, along with the tame horses the humans had broughtwith them, were prepared for the load of supplies they would carry. Everyperson in Amiscan had something to do—training, packing, or praying to whatevergods they believed in.

Most of Eliana’s time was spent with Oriens, doing all theycould to refine their aerial maneuvers. Oriens proved to be an agile flier;there seemed to be very few things he could not accomplish when they were inthe sky. Eliana only hoped that this would be enough when they had to face theblack dragon and her mysterious Rider.

The prospect of facing them was like a dark, loomingshadow—a piece of the unknown. They didn’t know what training their opponentsmight have available to them. Whereas Oriens and Eliana were left to fend forthemselves in terms of aerial training, the Dark dragon and Rider could havepractical guidance. Their skills in flying, fighting, and magic could farexceed that of Eliana and Oriens. But they wouldn’t know until they were facingthem.

Caelum redoubled Eliana’s combat training, pushing her toher limits every day, testing her to the very ends of her abilities with sword,magic, bow, and fist. No matter how well she did or how much she improved, itwas never enough to please him. He grew tenser each day, snapping and barkingat her, always reminding her that one mistake in battle could cost her herlife.

He needed her to be as prepared as he could possibly makeher for the battle that lay ahead. Anything that he could do to increase herodds of survival, he did it. They both knew that this battle was a great chessmatch, and Eliana and the Dark Rider were the kings. If she fell, their chancesfell with her.

He was also sure to remind her upon occasion what her deathwould do to him. In the moments that he was not barking orders at her, he heldher tightly, begging her to do all she could to survive. So, he did everythinghe could to prepare her for the near future. She was simply happy he was nottrying to keep her from the battle.

In a mere three days, every soldier in their ranks was readyto move out. Those who remained behind exchanged tear-stained goodbyes andembraces with their loved ones before being ushered down the hidden tunnel tothe dwarf city. Eliana and Ispera said their own fond farewells to Otium, thenthe widow joined the rest of those staying in Zwûrdgit Stöhl. Once they haddisappeared from sight, all eyes turned to Caelum.

There was a pause, in which the troops seemed to tense likea drawn bow, waiting for the command that would send them forward into the restof their lives. “Let’s move.” Caelum spoke the words quietly, but they seemedto still echo around the now-deserted village. The bow had been released, thearrow had taken flight, and only time would tell if it would strike the target.

Eliana’s body felt heavy with anxiety and dread as shepulled herself into Oriens’ saddle. His wings lifted them into the air,buffeting the troops below them with the heavy downdraft. They climbed higherinto the dawn sky, their senses keyed for any unexpected changes in the westernsky. Eliana let her mind reach out to those that were open to hercontact—Caelum, Denio, and Ispera. They each acknowledged her silent touch withacceptance, but made no effort to speak to her. Like Eliana, they had too manyother things to think about.

She was afraid. Afraid to die. Afraid to lose the ones sheloved. Afraid of what she had led these innocent people into. But mostly, shewas afraid of the unknown. The near future suddenly seemed like a dark veil,shielding what lay beyond until it was too late to turn back. She didn’t knowwhat would happen, or if all of their efforts would make any difference. Allshe knew was that she knew nothing.

She sighed and leaned forward against Oriens’ neck, allowingherself to sink into a sleepless stupor, her mind drifting freely between herbody and her dragon’s. She felt a low hum of comfort vibrate in his throat, andhe wrapped his warm presence around her, keeping his silent vigil for the restof that day’s long journey.

They flew without stopping for the remainder of the day.When those on the ground below them stopped to rest, Oriens and Eliana wouldfly ahead to ensure there were no approaching dangers. By the time they flewback to the army, they were on the move once again. Eliana ate and drank fromthe supplies she’d packed onto Oriens’ saddle. The faithful dragon insisted hecould wait until nightfall to replenish himself.

It wasn’t until the sun had begun to sink below the westernhorizon that Caelum touched her mind and told her they were stopping for thenight. Oriens settled himself on the ground on the outskirts of the camp. Wearyand saddle-sore, Eliana slid to the ground and relieved Oriens of his burden.Once the straps had been removed from around him, he trundled over to thenearby river and dipped his massive maw into the cool water.

Eliana set off to replace Caelum, Ja’ol, Felsen, and Teleas.They would not be getting much sleep that night. There was planning todo—strategies to arrange, options to consider, supplies to ration. The five ofthem had been selected as generals over the armies, with Caelum and Elianaheading the chain of command, answering only to Denio. Eliana suspected it wouldbe a while yet before any of them got a full night’s rest.

As Eliana trotted into the circle of tents, she passed Iocussetting up for the first watch. He threw her a wary glance, then becamepreoccupied with replaceing something in his pack. He had not spoken to her sincethey had brought Felsen and his men to Amiscan. She couldn’t blame him,considering he had been punched by his commanding office and threatened by adragon the last time they’d been together. But she missed his friendship andeasy-going manner.

The men were right where she had expected them to be—in alarge tent in the center of the circle, already talking about battlestrategies. They were gathered around a large map, which was sprawled acrossthe floor and held down by four stones. Eliana took her place on Caelum’s rightside and sat herself on the ground beside him. She groaned as her aching legsprotested the movement after a long day in the saddle.

Caelum gave her a concerned look, but continued with what hehad been saying. Pointing to the center of the map, he said, “If we keep movingat the same pace, we’ll meet them on the northwest edge of the Shyrn Plains andprevent them from taking the cities there.”

Eliana let her eyes drift across the map in front of her. Itwas a highly detailed rendering of Paerolia; it was clearly elf-made, as it hadIterum and several other hidden elf cities marked. Caelum’s finger rested nearthe center of the continent, on the edge of the Shyrn Plains. The sprawlingflat lands covered the southwest quarter of Paerolia.

Most of the rest of the land was either mountainous orcovered in forests. A few isolated valleys dotted the land, including theMaraeria Valley, where Vegrandis was located. A strip of desert traveled eastand west, traveling across the northern part of Paerolia. It was called theShesol Mal, or Burning Sands.

Legends said that it had once been a fertile strip of landthat traveled the length of the continent. At some point in the early yearsafter humans had arrive, before they had learned to work with the dragons, thewild ones had laid waste to the farms there, burning straight through the lusharea and leaving it the wasteland it was today. A mountain range bordered thenorthern edge of the Shesol Mal, with a few forests beyond. These were distant,uninhabited regions that no man dared traverse.

Eliana stared blankly at the spot marked “Iterum” in themiddle of the Eilol Forest. She wondered distantly if she would ever returnthere—if anyone ever would. A pale hand suddenly appeared before her eyes,waving across her vision and breaking her self-induced trance. She lookedaround quickly to replace the five men watching her closely.

Caelum studied her face with concern. “Eliana, are youalright?” he asked.

She put on her best smile, trying not to look exhausted. “Ofcourse. Please, go on.”

He gave her one last worried look, then continued to explainthe status of their supplies. Eliana mentally shook herself and put every ounceof concentration into listening to Caelum’s words. They had several long daysahead of them, and if she gave in to exhaustion now, she wouldn’t make it theShyrn Plains.

The days continued in an endless sea of trees and mountains,filled with the constant beat of Oriens’ wings beside her. Eliana developedsores from the endless hours in the saddle, but she refused to complain. Herbody was heavy with fatigue, growing heavier each day. Despite her exhaustion,she found it impossible to sleep at night, when the darkness and the quiteallowed her fears to come upon her.

She knew Caelum had not been sleeping either, judging fromhis haggard expression and bleary eyes. There was little time for them to spendtogether. Their responsibilities to the army kept them apart except for whenthey met with the other generals to plan and strategize.

The soldiers marched through endless forests and overcountless unnamed mountain ranges. All the while, Oriens and Eliana flewcontinuously, going ahead to look for danger, returning to ensure everyone wassafe, then circling overhead before repeating it all again.

In the late afternoon of the ninth day of their march,Oriens shook Eliana from her mental haze. “Look,”he said. It was the first word he’d spoken that day.

Eliana squinted at the horizon ahead of them to replace amassive shadow looming in the distance. “Whatis that?” she asked in awe.

“The Kaer Mountains.The last thing standing between us and the plains.”

She stared in wonder at the looming monoliths. They weretaller than any mountains she had ever seen; the tallest peaks disappeared intothe clouds. She had heard of the Kaers, just as she’d heard of the Shesol Mal.There were stories of the monsters that lived in the dense woods covering themountains’ lower face. They were creatures that lived only in the Kaers and in one’snightmares—giants, goblins, trolls, ogres, and flesh-eating birds as large as ayoung dragon, called Rocs.

Few people ever dared to enter that mountain range. Thosewho did never returned, or lost their minds completely. It was a terrifyingplace, the backdrop for Paerolia’s most bone-chilling legends. The monstersthat now lived there had once populate the entire continent. But men, elves,and dragons had driven them into the mountains, where they hid in theimpenetrable forests. There they stayed, only venturing forth occasionally,leaving behind petrifying tales of bloodthirsty monsters and the heroes thatdestroyed them.

Oriens stopped and hovered as Eliana reached her mindtowards Caelum for the first time that week. “Caelum,” she said, once he had allowed her into his thoughts, “I can see the Kaers.”

She felt relief, coupled with fatigue, cross their mentallink. “Good,” he responded. “Only a few more days.”

That was all he said, then the link was closed. Elianasighed, wondering what could lie in wait for them in those towering mountains.A cold realization settled over her. They would likely leave those mountainswith fewer men than they entered with. A shiver trickled down her back, likeice rolling along her spine. This would not be easy.