Sky Riders: The Rising Sun
Defenders of Thys

Eliana straightened in the saddle, immediately tense andalert. Her heart pounded in her ribcage. A mixture of fear and adrenalinepulsed through her veins.

“Move!” Caelum shouted to the ranks.

Immediately, the marching pace increased to a brisk jog, seton a course to intercept the army of red tunics. Oriens trotted alongside themen, jarring Eliana as she clung to the saddle.

“We’re not going to reach Thys in time!” Caelum exclaimed,his voice tight, on the edge of panic. He increased their pace even more, andmany of the dwarves began to fall behind the humans and elves.

“I’ll slow them down,” Eliana replied.

“Don’t!” he yelled at her.

She ignored him; her decision was made, and he couldn’t stopher. “Let’s go, Oriens!”

The dragon took two long, loping strides, then leapt intothe air with a bugle that trembled across the open valley. Several horses inthe human army started at the sound, throwing their riders. The golden wingscarried them close to Thys and Nocens’ men until they were sweeping over theenemy’s heads.

Several of the red-clad men slowed long enough to firearrows and throw spears in their direction. Eliana swept the majority asidewith a flurry of wind while Oriens dodged the rest. The soldiers below themraised their shields as their own weapons fell back on their ranks.

“Slow them down,Oriens!” she commanded.

“With pleasure!”

He released a deafening roar, accompanied by a jet of fire.The flames struck the grass in front of the soldiers as Oriens passed overhead,drawing a line of fire in front of the army. The men shouted, drawing to a haltin front of the dancing heat, stalled by the fiery wall. As they tried toextinguish the flaming blockade, Eliana directed her dragon towards Thys.

“We have to preparethe people in the city,” she told him. “Theymay be able to hold Nocens’ men back long enough for Caelum and the others toget here.”

Oriens carried them over the city-fort’s high walls, wherearchers gazed up at them in wonder. They landed in the middle of the city’slarge, open square. Armed men immediately surrounded them, swords and spearsraised. She knew, however, that it was only a precaution; if they’d wanted theRider and dragon dead, the archers would have tried to take them down.

Eliana quickly pulled off her right glove and lifted herhand in the air so they could see the flame-shaped mark on her hand. “I amEliana. I am a Rider of Iterum. Oriens and I are here to assist you until theunited armies can arrive.”

One man stepped forward between a pair of spear-wieldingsoldiers. “I am Tadal,” he said, “leader of the people of Thys. What army doyou speak of?”

“They are approaching now to help you defend your city. Theyare the united forces of all races of Paerolia—the humans, elves, and dwarves.We mean to overthrow Nocens, but we cannot defeat him if he takes your city.”

Tadal grunted. “Do you think we planned on allowing him tosimply come into our city and raid our homes? Thys will not fall so easily. Noteven to a tyrant like Emperor Nocens.”

She gave a grim smile. “Perfect. Are your men prepared forthe attack?”

He nodded. “Aye. Every man within our walls has been armed.”

“And where are your women and children?”

“Hidden in the chambers beneath the city.”

Eliana nodded. “I can see you are well prepared. Oriens andI will attempt to delay Nocens’ men further. Is there a way to let the UnitedArmy safely into your city?”

“Aye, Rider. There is a gate hidden on the east wall of thecity. Tell your captains to take your people there.”

She acknowledged the request with a brief nod, then pulledup into Oriens’ saddle. He jumped skyward again, smoke rolling from hisnostrils in thick tendrils. They swept back over the line of red tunics,pouring fire into their ranks by magic and maw. The humans’ advance slowed, butthey continued to press forward.

The United Army was inching closer to Thys, their forceslooking miniscule against the landscape in comparison to the sea of red. Elianareached out to Caelum with her mind and found his thoughts in a state offrenzy.

“What are you doing?”he shouted in her thoughts.

“Just shut up andlisten to me for a minute,” she snapped back, interrupting any lecture hemight have given her. “The people of Thysare prepared to fight Nocens and defend their city, but they’ll need as muchaid as we can give. Take the men to the east wall of the city. There is ahidden gate there where you will be permitted to enter. I’ll make sure Nocens’men can’t follow you.”

For once, he did not argue with her. “Alright. Just promise me you’ll be careful.”

“I’ll be fine.”

She severed the connection with his mind and directed Oriensfor another attack. She knew it had been an empty promise, telling Caelum shewould be safe. Things could make a turn for the worse at any moment, especiallyif the Dark Rider or Peior appeared.

The human soldiers screamed in agony as the dragon and Riderset flame to their ranks. Eliana tried to block out the sound, to not thinkabout what she was doing. A pair of pleading green eyes filled her mind, andshe shook it away. She’d only killed one man before. She didn’t want to thinkabout how many more she was now killing.

Caelum and the rest of the men were still over a mile away.The elves were moving ahead of the humans, the dwarves falling further behind.Nocens’ soldiers were practically at Thys’ gates. Oriens carried them back overthe walls and into the city. She jumped from the saddle as Tadal rushed to meether.

“Rider,” he called to her, “the red army is approaching thegates. What are your orders?”

“You are thecommander of these men, Captain Tadal, not I. There is no need for you to cometo me for orders. Your men know you and trust you to lead them. I leave them toyour command.”

He nodded shortly. “As you wish, Rider.” He rushed offtowards the western wall, where the archers were preparing to attack.

Eliana stopped another man as he ran past her. “You there!”He slid to a halt and turned to look at her, his eyes widening at the sight ofthe golden dragon behind her. “Show me the hidden east gates.”

Without a word, he turned down a nearby street and motionedfor her to follow. She ran after him, Oriens lumbering along in her wake. Theywove through the wide streets for several minutes before at last reaching theeastern wall. A pair of massive wooden doors was bolted shut, the hinges rustedclosed from countless years of disuse.

“Can these gates even been opened?” she asked inexasperation.

“I’m not sure, Rider,” the man answered with a shrug. “Theyhaven’t been opened for as long as I can remember.”

She sighed in frustration. “Very well. Thank you.”

As the man turned and headed back the way they’d come,Eliana studied the gates. The large wooden bar across the doors would be easy enoughto remove; it was the rusted hinges that concerned her. Each hinge was nearlyas long as her forearm, and completely covered in the thick, red-brown rust.

“Any ideas?” sheasked her dragon.

He gave a tooth-filled grin. “One.”

Flames danced across her mind’s eye. “It’s always fire with you, isn’t it,” she smirked.

“Well, I am a dragon, after all.”

“Alright, let’s trythis your way.”

Oriens released a tiny, carefully controlled jet of flame,directing it at one of the massive hinges. After a few moments, the thick rustbegan to fall away, leaving red-hot metal behind. He cut off the flame andmoved to the next hinge.

“Use water to cool themetal,” he instructed her.

She did as he said, pulling cool water from out of the airand drenching each glowing hinge. It was not long before the rust had beenburned away, and the large hinges shone in the early-evening light. Elianaclimbed into Oriens’ saddle and he lifted them over the wall to view the otherside of the gate.

The entire outer wall was overgrown with thick vines,obscuring any sign there might have been of the gate. Eliana focused her magicon the vines’ living energy, and the plants slowly drew back from the gate,revealing the great wooden doors. As she finished her work, the roar of warreached her ears. Nocens’ men had reached the western wall.

They flew back out over the city. The men of Thys wereraining arrows down upon the red-clad men. A handful of sorcerers were in theirmidst, casting enchantments at the soldiers below. The United Army was close athand, and the captains of Nocens’ army had begun to notice.

Commands were shouted out over the din, ringing above thenoise of war, and the northern rank began to divide itself from the rest of thered army, redirecting their efforts towards Caelum and the others. Eliana drewa breath and directed her marked hand at the earth. She strained against the weightof the soil and stone, sweat breaking out on her forehead. Slowly, a wall ofearth rose between her enemies and her allies.

The humans stopped, staring upwards at the eight-foot wallof dirt and rock that had appeared before them. Eliana and Oriens turned totheir troops, landing on the ground beside them.

“Are you alright?” Caelum asked immediately.

“Yes, fine,” she panted in reply. She was breathless andshaking from the effort of erecting the wall, but she did her best to not letit show. “If you can avoid it, keep our men from fighting outside the citywalls. We need to get them into Thys, to help defend the city.”

He didn’t question her, and Oriens took to the sky again,drawing the attention of the human troops, who were still stymied by her wallof earth. Arrows soared up at them, but the powerful golden wings lifted themhigher, above the reach of the weapons.

The dragon kept them at this height, away from harm’s reach,as Eliana focused her efforts on maintaining her wall. A few men tried to climbit, and she cast them back with bursts of wind. The wall was pulled down in afew spots by sorcerers hidden in the army’s ranks, and she erected it again,feeling her energy waning, sweat pouring into her eyes.

Suddenly, Oriens’ body shuddered and jerked to the side. Shethrew herself forward in the saddle to keep her balance.

“What was that?”she asked.

“Magic,” Oriensanswered, wincing from the pain of the blow.

She glanced around quickly, instinctively looking for thepale face and white hair. A burst of purple light flew up at them from below.Oriens dove sideways, missing it narrowly. The energy from the orb crackled inthe air around them, making Eliana’s hair stand on end. She spotted the sourceof the attack. It was not Peior, as she’d feared, but a small, bald man in ablue robe amid the red tunics.

She clenched her teeth in fury, drawing up her magic again.Without any spoken signal, Oriens dove downwards, roaring in anger to draw thesorcerer’s attention. As the man focused his mind on casting another spell atthe descending dragon, a wave of earth fell over him, burying him beneath itsweight, making him vanish completely. The soldiers around him stumbled back inshock. Eliana turned away.

The United Army had reached the eastern gate, which had beenopened from the inside, and were rushing into Thys. Eliana allowed herself tosigh in relief. They were going to make it. She remained where she was,defending their flank from attack, until the last dwarf had run through thegate. Then she flew back into Thys.

She found the forces in a worse state than she’d hoped. Manyof the archers had been injured or killed, and the forces at the top of thewall were thinning. A few ladders had been erected from below, and Thys’ menstruggled to fight back the red-clad soldiers that were ascending.

“All archers to the wall!” Eliana screamed at the incomingforces.

Not one person hesitated. Immediately, elves, humans, anddwarves alike filled the places of those who had fallen from their positions.Once again, they drove back the encroaching forces of Nocens’ armies. Theladders that had somehow found purchase on the stone barricade were quicklyforced back, falling to the earth with whatever unfortunate men were on them.

Elves, dwarfish spell-weavers, and human sorcerers stoodshoulder to shoulder, casting spells down into the red ranks. Eliana spottedCaelum on one of the towers, alternately firing arrows and magic at the menbelow. Ispera and Laurus rushed into the infirmary, aiding the humans withtheir Healing magic.

Eliana took a moment to run her hands along Oriens’ bellywhere the magic had struck him. A large bruise was forming on the soft scales,changing the pale gold to a dull, bluish-gray. She ground her teeth in anger,feeling almost grateful she had killed the man that had injured her dragon.

“We should stay withinthe walls for now,” she told him.

“But there’s little Ican do from here.”

“I know. But you needto rest, Oriens. I’ll join the archers on the walls.”

She sensed his resentment at her orders. She knew he wantedto fight, but she also knew that if she allowed him to fly out over the armyagain, he would be the primary target for every arrow, spear, and spell thehumans could cast at them. She had been careless enough to let her dragon beinjured once that day, and she would not repeat the mistake.

Eliana joined the soldiers on the wall and found herselfstaring down at a milling mass of red tunics. She knocked an arrow to herstring and stared down the shaft for a moment. There were so many faces, all ofthem seeming to stare at her, meeting her gaze with green, pleading eyes. Sheblinked and shook her head, clearing her mind. Then she fired the arrow intothe nearest serpent-and-sword crest, the shaft sinking into the soldier’schest. The man fell back off the ladder into the crushing mass of soldiersbelow.

She repeated the motion countless times, reaching for the arrowsthat were continuously being supplied to the soldiers by the other men. Whenthere was no arrow to reach for, she used as much magic as her dwindling energywould permit. She stopped trying to count how many she had killed, thinkingonly of striking at the emperor’s crest, trying to forget that there were menbehind the red tunics.

It doesn’t matteranymore, she told herself again and again. This is war.

Suddenly, a new cry rose from their foes, and Nocens’ armybegan falling back from the walls. The archers in Thys ceased firing, holdingtheir arrows as they all stared at the sudden retreat. Eliana glanced around toreplace that the sun was sinking below the horizon. The red forces were calling fora respite during the nighttime arrows.

No cheers arose from within Thys as Nocens’ men drew back.They knew that this was far from over. Wearily, the archers climbed down fromthe walls, making room for the night watchmen, setting out to search forfriends and loved ones, praying to replace them alive. Eliana dragged her wearybody to where Oriens waited, still irritated, in the city square.

“Have you seenanyone?” she asked him.

“Yes. Lots of people,”he answered snidely.

“Oriens…” He knewexactly who she wanted to hear about.

He gave an irritated snort, then answered, “Yes. Captain Tadal just took Denio and Kanato replace a place to sleep. Ispera and Laurus are in the infirmary still, helpingto care for the injured. Felsen was with one of his lieutenants, seekingshelter for the rest of the dwarves, and Teleas just came by, searching forCaedis.”

“But you haven’t seenCaedis, Caelum, or Ja’ol?”

“No.”

She glanced around anxiously, searching for the faces of herthree missing friends. “I’ll be back,”she said.

“Of course,” hegrumbled in reply, still resentful at being left behind.

Eliana set off for the infirmary, slipping into the narrowdoorway of the building as silently as possible. The injured were laid out onblankets throughout the large room. Their moans of pain echoed around her,clawing at her ears. The smell of blood and sweat permeated the air. She triedto shut it all out as she searched the room for her mother. Eventually, shefound her in a distant corner of the room, wrapping a white bandage around aman’s head.

“Mother,” she said as she reached her side, “have you seenCaelum, Caedis, or Ja’ol?”

Ispera shook her head, never removing her concentration fromher work. “I have not seen either of the first two. Ja’ol came in not long agowith a minor arrow wound to his shoulder. He should be on the other side of theroom, among those with less serious injuries.”

After quickly scanning the opposite side of the room, Elianafound the dark-haired man sitting against a wall, a ragged, blood-stained clothpressed to his shoulder. His face was pale and tired as he waited for treatmentfrom the human healers. She worked her way over to him, winding between thesleeping patients on the floor.

“Looks like they got you, Captain,” she said as she squattedin front of him.

He opened his eyes and gave her a tired smile. “It’s nothingmuch, Lady Eliana. I’m far too stubborn to die from anything like this.”

She gave a quiet laugh. “Well, we certainly can’t continuefighting without you in the best shape possible. May I see it?”

He nodded and removed the rag, revealing the small puncturewound in his left shoulder. Eliana studied it briefly before deciding that shehad enough energy left to Heal the wound. Taking the rag from his hand, shewetted the cloth with water from the air and cleaned the area. Then, placingher hand over the injury, she felt a small amount of energy leave her as sheclosed the wound.

“Thank you, Rider,” Ja’ol said with a more cheerful smile,surveying the freshly mended skin.

Eliana nodded. “It’s the least I can do, Ja’ol. We can’tfight this war without you. Have you seen Caedis and Caelum?”

Ja’ol smirked. “Yes. Captain Caedis was grumbling about nothaving had the chance to get up onto the wall to fight. Captain Caelum wasrunning about in a panic, trying to replace you.”

She thanked him for the information and exited theinfirmary. Captain Tadal was just passing the doorway and spotted her as sheemerged.

“Ah, Rider,” he said, approaching her. “I’ve just shown yourelf captain to your quarters; he took your dragon with him. He requested that Itake you there if I were to see you. He seemed very concerned about something.”

She nodded, doing her best to act like Caelum’s concern wassimply a matter of some army-related business that needed her attention. “Verywell. Please take me to him.”

Tadal turned, motioning for her to follow, and led heracross the square and down a wide street. He stopped in front of a large, domedbuilding. Eliana gazed upwards at the ornate, stained glass windows.

“These are my quarters?” she asked in surprise.

He shrugged, rattling his armor. “The cathedral was the onlybuilding large enough for your dragon.”

She thanked him and slipped in between the large doors,which were cracked open. The pews had been pushed against the walls to clearthe space for her large, golden steed, but the altar at the end of the room hadnot been moved. Statues of the gods of Thys stared down at her from theirperches, making her uneasy.

Caelum and Oriens sat facing each other in the middle of theroom, engaged in silent conversation. The moment she entered, they turned theirgazes on her. Caelum stood and rushed over to her, pulling her into his armswith murmurs of relief and thanks.

When he finally allowed her to pull back enough to look upat him, she asked, “You’re not angry with me?”

“Of course I am,” he answered with a smile, brushing back apiece of her hair. “But I’m too grateful that you are safe to bother withthat.”

She smiled a little, then leaned her head against his chest.His arms tightened around her and she felt his lips brush the top of her head.

“Are you tired?” he asked.

She nodded against him, unwilling to replace the energy tospeak. He suddenly swept her up into his arms and carried her to where he hadbeen sitting beside Oriens. A lumpy mattress had been thrown on the cold, stonefloor, and he set her on it, pulling the rough blanket up over her.

“There,” he said softly, his lips brushing her forehead.“Now sleep well, my Rider.”

He turned to go, but her hand closed around his wrist,stopping him. “Where are you sleeping?” she asked.

He shrugged slightly. “Tadal said he would replace me a placewhen I was ready.”

“Stay with me,” she said softly.

A small smile touched his lips. “Are you sure?”

She gave a tiny nod, her eyelids beginning to pull down overher vision. Caelum kicked off his boots and pulled his dirty, green tunic overhis head. He slid beneath the blanket, his warm body filling the space besideher. She shifted closer to him, nestling her head beneath his chin as hewrapped his arms around her. His heartbeat was slow and steady against hercheek, and she smiled.

“I like it here,” she whispered.

A chuckle rumbled in his chest as he answered, “In a coldcathedral, in a strange city, with our enemies at the gates and those grotesquestatues staring down at us?”

She laughed softly. “No. I mean I like it here.” She touched her fingertips to hisbare chest. “Right here, where I can hear your heart beating.

“Stay close to it, my love,” he whispered, “because itbelongs to you.”

A hundred thousand enemies waited outside the walls of thecity. Eliana didn’t know if she would live to see the next sunset. The fate ofPaerolia rested on her and her dragon. And for the first time in nearly afortnight, there in Caelum’s arms, she slept peacefully.