Sky Riders: The Rising Sun
The Prophecy

Eliana woke early the next morning, before the sun had fullyrisen. She slipped from beneath the covers and leaned on the edge of the windownear the bed. Outside of it was one of the balconies of woven branches she’d seenbefore. Carefully, she slipped through the window and stood on the balcony,looking out over the high, white walls that surrounded the courtyard.

She could see nothing but trees from her to the horizon. Thesun turned the green canopy an orange hue, as if fall had already come toPaerolia. She took a deep breath, drawing in the cool, fresh morning air. Thepeace she felt was strange. She was in a foreign place, among a race that sheknew little about, and yet she still felt at home.

Perhaps it was the magic of Iterum that Caelum had spokenof, or perhaps it was because, deep down, she knew that these were her mother’speople, and she knew that her mother would have wanted her to come here.Whatever the reason, Eliana knew that something tied her to this forested city,no matter how little she understood the people who lived in it.

With a sigh, she slipped back through the window and crossedthe room to the carved wardrobe. She extracted a pair of breeches and a tunicand slipped them on, then pulled on her own, dirty boots. She returned to thebed and sat on the edge of the mattress, unsure of what to do with herselfuntil Caelum awoke and took her to this teacher he’d promised to introduce herto.

She took the golden egg from its shelf and unwrapped the fabricsling from around the shell. She cast the dirty fabric aside and ran her handsacross the smooth, shining surface of the egg. Eagerly, she pushed her mindtowards the egg. Ever since she’d first touched the egg’s presence on the bankof the river, she’d had a constant desire to do so again and again.

The unborn dragon’s mind touched hers almost immediately,warm and welcoming. He seemed more aware of her than was normal, and she saw astream of light across her mind again, a sign of his happiness. She smiled toherself and tried focusing her thoughts into words, as she had done to thehorses on the top of the cliff.

“I’m going to takecare of you, little one,” she promised silently. “You are safe with me.”

She thought she felt the egg shiver slightly in her lap, andthe infant’s mind seemed to pulse with a contented happiness. Eliana sighed andpulled the egg to her chest. How could she already feel such love for somethingthat had not even been born?

There was a light knock, and she looked up to replace Caelumstanding in the doorway that opened to the bridge. He had a small smile on hislips. “Good morning,” he said. “Been up long?”

Eliana shook her head and rested the egg on her pillow.“Only a few minutes.” She stood.

He nodded at the golden shape. “How’s the egg?” he asked.

“He’s fine,” she said. “I’ve been practicing touching hispresence and he feels… happy, I suppose.”

Caelum’s smile widened a little. “You’ve already beguncommunicating with him?”

Eliana shrugged. “I suppose you could call it that. It’s notas if he speaks though. I just… feel his emotions. Like I can see his happinessin my mind somehow.”

He chuckled. “That’s wonderful. Now, are you hungry? They’vejust delivered breakfast to my quarters for us.”

She nodded and followed him across the bridge. His bedroomwas furnished in a similar fashion to hers, and he led her down the spiralingstairs into a matching sitting room. A platter of fruit, bread, and cheeserested on a low table in front of a comfortable-looking sofa.

They sat, and Eliana ate quickly and silently, eager forthem to be on their way. He laughed at her haste.

"If I didn't know any better," he teased, "Iwould think you were in a hurry to get away from me."

She looked up at him, leaning back comfortably on the sofabeside her as he bit into a pear. He seemed utterly relaxed, which on its ownwas unusual to her. Everyone in Vegrandis became immediately tense when sheapproached. She realized as she looked at him that the very last thing shewanted was to be in a hurry to get away from him. He made her feel... accepted.

Eliana just gave him a small smile and replied, "Theonly hurry I am in is to get the answers that you promised me."

“Well,” he laughed, “don’t choke in your attempts to getthem.”

They finished eating and she stood. He stood as well, andgestured to the open doorway. “After you.”

He led her through the palace and into the city. A few elveswere already in the streets, and they waved and called greetings to Caelum andwelcoming words to Eliana. They crossed the city square and continued betweenthe trees until they reached a building unlike any other Eliana had seen in thecity.

The building was comprised of four trees, which grew closelytogether so that their trunks actually joined one another. Their branches tangledtogether high above her head, and there was a wide, open doorway at the base ofone of the trees.

“This is the library,” Caelum said, with a gesture at thefour trees. “This is where our history lies. We have records that date back tothe time when humans first arrived in Paerolia. Everything you could wish toknow about the elves lies here. And,” he added, “this is where we will replaceyour teacher, and all those answers that you seek. Shall we?”

Eliana nodded, and Caelum led the way inside. The inside ofthe library looked as if it were made entirely of books. She look around inwonder at the shelves, which were carved into the tree’s rounded walls andreached up as far as the tree’s structure would allow. The only places that didnot contain books were the places where the trunks grew together, connectingthe four trees.

Where the trunks connected, there were large archways,leading to the adjoining trees’ interiors. There was a doorway directly infront of her, and one in the wall to her left. From the doorway in front ofher, a dark-haired, female elf entered the room.

Unlike most other elves, who wore their hair loose, thewoman had her hair twisted into a bun at the back of her head. She wore a long,blue dress, and her face was open and friendly. She smiled at them as sheapproached.

“Caelum!” she called cheerfully. “Glad to see you again sosoon.”

He nodded. “And you, Mara.” He gestured at the girl besidehim. “This is Eliana, the one I told you about. Eliana, this is Mara. She’s thearchivist here. She knows all you will need to know about our history,traditions, and even our magic.”

The woman held out her hand to Eliana, and they shookbriefly. “It’s a pleasure to finally meet you, Eliana. Everyone is very curiousabout you, especially me. Caelum visited me yesterday, before the feast, andtold me you wished to learn as much as you could about your mother’s people.”

“So… you know?” Eliana asked hesitantly. “You know that I’mnot an elf?”

Mara laughed. “Of course I do. Why do you think I was so eagerto meet you?”

Eliana shrugged her shoulders slowly and uncertainly.“Frankly, I still do not understand why you’d be so eager to meet me.”

The archivist smiled. “You will soon. Now, let me show youaround.” She gestured at a shelf low on the wall and said, “Our histories beginhere.” On the shelf were several loose papers, which had been gathered togetherwith a leather string tied in the corner. “Our earliest records are from a fewloose pages of an unknown elf’s personal journal. In the ones that we have, hedescribes the appearance of humans in Paerolia.”

“You mean humans weren’t always here?” Eliana asked.

Mara shook her head. “Not at all. We don’t even believe theelves have been here forever. Our legends say we crossed here in a great shipfrom another land. We call it the Far Land, for lack of a better name. We werehere for many centuries, by our estimates, before humans arrived. The author ofthose pages describes them as being rather primitive. They arrived in verysmall, rough boats, and they did not speak our language. The elves welcomedthem and helped them to settle into a part of the land.”

She gestured at the rising shelves, which were filled withscrolls and a few bound volumes, and continued, “The histories continue,becoming more recent as you move upwards in each room. Follow me.” She led themthrough the door on their left into another round room, identical to the other.The shelves here contained more bound books than scrolls.

“This room,” Mara said, “contains a history of the centuriesof peace between humans, elves, and dragons. They also speak of a group ofpeople—men and women, humans and elves—that they called Sky Riders, or moreoften, simply Riders. It does not explain how, but these people were eachbonded to a dragon. They rode them through the skies, and they had great magic.They acted as the peacekeepers in Paerolia, and they were revered as kings andqueens.

“Remember these ones, Eliana,” the librarian said, smilingat her. “They will be important to you.”

The girl’s interest had already been piqued by Mara’sdescriptions, so she simply nodded in agreement. Mara continued on to the nextroom, and they followed. Her cheery expression darkened as her eyes settled ona large, empty portion of the shelves. Eliana spotted the gap immediately.

“Where are those ones?” she asked, nodding at the emptyshelves.

“Gone,” Mara sighed. “Those books contained recordsdetailing the beginning of the wars between elves, humans, and dragons, and thedisappearance of the Sky Riders. Shortly after the war began, the volumesvanished, and now, nobody can remember why this war began, and so we don’t knowwhy we continue to fight this bloody war or why our people hate each other sodeeply.”

“And nobody knows who took them?”

Mara shook her head. “Not for certain. It is rumored that aboy, under the commands of the human emperor, snuck into Iterum and stole thebooks from the archives. But how a single boy could enter the city and escapewith all of those books is beyond me. Personally, I don’t believe the oldstory.”

The archivist sighed again. “But, moving on now, the rest ofthe room contains records of the early battles of the Great War.” She walkedthrough the room and into the fourth, final section of the library. “As doesthis room. Centuries of wars, the successions of kings, and our fewinteractions with the dragons since the beginning of the war are all containedhere, up until the present day.”

Eliana noticed that this room had only a few shelves filled.The majority of the upper shelves, from just above her head to the top of theroom, were empty, waiting to receive more records of the elves’ history.Through one of the doorways, she saw the room in which they had started, andthe doorway to the city beyond. She started towards it.

“Hold on,” Caelum called, amusement evident in his voice.

Eliana turned and looked at him. Mara and Caelum werestanding beside one another in the center of the room, looking at her withsecretive, excited smiles on their faces. The archivist made a quick motionwith her wrist, and a disk of wood lifted out of the floor where they werestanding, raising them about a foot in the air and hovering there.

She stepped towards them cautiously, eyeing the wooden disk,which looked as thin as paper and incapable of supporting their weight. Caelumheld out a hand towards her, obviously asking her to step up onto the disk.

She tilted her head and raised an eyebrow uncertainly. “Areyou sure it’s strong enough?”

He just smiled, still holding his hand towards her. “Trustme, Eliana. Some things are far stronger than you would ever believe.”

She took his hand, and he pulled her up onto the hoveringdisk. As soon as her feet were on the thin piece of wood, it began to moverapidly upward, startling her so that she gripped Caelum’s arm tightly. He justsmiled and patted her hand reassuringly. She didn't loosen her grip.

The disk came to a halt high in the air, just above wherethe shelves stopped. Above the highestshelf was an opening, which revealed a small room at the center of the fourtrees. The disk slid sideways and came to a halt in front of the doorway.Caelum stepped off the disk and into the room, then offered his hand first toMara, then to Eliana, helping both women into the room.

As soon as Eliana stepped off, the disk slid back to thecenter of the room, then dropped rapidly to the floor of the archives, where itdisappeared seamlessly into the wood below. She watched it until it vanished,then turned her eyes back to the room. She froze, staring at a massive, bejeweledmural in the far wall.

Mara spoke. “When the Great War began, Astrum gave aprophecy. He prophesied of the end of the war between the races—an end that weall continue to wait for with great hope.”

In the wooden walls of the little room, there were intricatecarvings of great armies. Eliana recognized the shapes of men and elves,charging towards each other, weapons raised, arrows and magic flying betweenthem, frozen in the wood—two armies that would never meet their foe.

“He spoke of three who would end the war,” Mara went on. “Hepredicted that they would unite the races of this land, and return it to whatit once was. The first would be a woman, an outcast among both humans andelves. She would raise a great, golden dragon, and the two would be the firstSky Riders in five centuries. The third would be an elf, one of our own, and hewould offer sanctuary to the woman and the dragon when they needed it most.

“The woman would unite humans and elves, bridging the dividebetween our two races. And with the dragon at her side, she would unite thethird race of the Great War, bringing peace to Paerolia again.”

Eliana stared at the mural, at the three figures that stoodbetween the two armies, towering above the carved wooden figures. These threewere carved of precious metals and glistening jewels. The dragon drew her eyesfirst. It was carved of solid gold, carefully detailed with scales, glisteningclaws, and wings outstretched over the other two jeweled figures. Its eyes wereshimmering emeralds that seemed to shine more brightly than any other jewel inthe carving. It was both terrifying and beautiful, and it seemed to glare downat her with those captivating emerald eyes.

She had to force her gaze away from the beautiful dragon tolook at the other two figures. Under the dragon’s right wing was a pale-hairedman, who was clearly an elf. He had smoother, angular features and sharplypointed ears. His stood in profile to her, and his eye was a shining sapphire.

The elf stood with his back pressed to the third figure,each of them facing one of the charging armies as they stood under the shelterof the dragons’ wings. Eliana moved her gaze to this third figure. It was awoman, with long black hair. Her eyes was a pale amethyst, which seemed toindicate an elven ancestry, but her ears were not pointed—or at least, notenough that it was noticeable in the mural.

She stepped closer to this mural, narrowing her eyes at thewoman, unable to determine what she is. She looked towards the two elves, whowere studying her with interest. “Is she human or elf?” she asked.

“Perhaps you could tell us, Eliana,” Caelum answeredquietly.

She frowned and looked back at the mural. Then Mara’s words cameback to her. She looked sharply at the archivist. “Say that again,” she said hurriedly.“The part about bridging the divide.”

Mara tilted her head curiously but repeated, “The womanwould unite the two races of humans and elves, bridging the divide between ourpeople. And with the dragon at her side, they would unite the third race andbring peace—.”

Eliana turned abruptly to Caelum, not allowing the archivistto finish. “That’s what you said to me by the river,” she said quickly. “Caelumyou can’t actually think— You can’t actually believe that I—!” She could not even replace the words to express suchan absurd idea.

“You must see it,Eliana,” he said insistently, that irritating, amused smile on his face, likeshe was foolish for not believing this insanity. “You have the blood of bothraces in your veins, just as the prophecy says. You even have a golden dragon’s egg!”

“You do?” Mara interrupted suddenly. Apparently, Caelum hadnot told her that much yet.

They both ignored her, and Caelum went on. “Do you evenrealize that a golden dragon is unheard of? It’s not something that just happens. Do you really believe thatcould be a coincidence?”

“I am only going to protect that egg until the hatchling canfend for itself, like I told you. Then, it can go on its way and replace its… Sky Rider, or whatever your people callthem, and they can save the world together.”

Caelum ran his hands through his pale hair in exasperation.“How do you not see this, Eliana? Youare a half-blood—an outcast among humans and elves.”

Eliana drew back at the words, scowling furiously, feelinginexplicably wounded by the simple statement. She’d been called far worse than outcastduring her life, but for some reason, his use of the word hurt. After all ofhis insistence that her blood didn’t matter, after treating her like she wasmore than just some mongrel… She had thought she belonged here, that Caelum, atleast, did not think of her as something so different from what he was.

But now the truth had come out. This was what he had beenkeeping from her. He believed her to be an outcast, a rogue oddity who couldfree his people from their hiding. That was all. Anger boiled inside her,threatening to bring bitter tears to her eyes, but she pushed that aside, andallowed the fury to burst from her mouth instead.

“Outcast?” she repeated furiously. “So that is what I am, isit? I shouldn’t have expected anything more from you. Humans hated me for whatI was. Why should elves be any different?”

He blinked, evidently surprised by the sudden shift in thisconversation. “No, that’s not… Eliana, I didn’t mean it the way it sounded!”

She ignored him and raged on. “I followed you here blindly,faithfully, prepared to trust you. But you only brought me here because youhoped your people could make me into a weapon—a weapon to end this war for you.Well I will not be anyone’s weapon, Caelum! I will not have my life and myfuture decided by a group of superstitious creatures who worship a carving on awall. And I will not allow you totell me who I am!”

She shoved her way past him, only to replace herselfencountered by the empty space outside of the small doorway to the room. Sherepeated Mara’s hand movements without thinking, making a small circle with herright hand as she stared at the wooden disk below, wishing, in her anger, thatthe disk would come and take her away from here.

Almost immediately, the wooden circle raced upwards, thenslid across the open space and came to a rough halt in front of the doorway.She stepped onto it and stamped her foot, thinking, “Get me away from here!” The disk sped outwards, then downwards.

It descended halfway to the floor before coming to a suddenhalt, nearly making her tumble over the edge. It shuddered briefly, thenstarted upwards.

“Eliana!” she heard Caelum’s voice call to her as the diskrose towards the doorway again. “Eliana, will you just listen to me, please?”

She stamped her foot furiously on the wood. “Go down!” she demanded in her mind. Thedisk jerked, then descended, but immediately shuddered to a halt again beforerising upwards once more.

“Eliana! Please, let me explain!”

She stomped on the wood like a child having a tantrum andsnarled at it, “Go down, you cursed thing!”

The disk quivered as if it wanted to obey her, but wasunable to. It continued upwards, then began sliding sideways, towards the roomwith the mural. Eliana turned her back as Caelum stepped onto the wood andstared at the opposite wall. She felt his presence beside her, but he saidnothing as the disk descended to the floor once more.

She remained obstinately silent, her arms crossed over herchest like a pouting girl, ignoring his presence, yet keenly aware of hisnearness at the same time. The moment the disk sank into the floor, she steppedoff of it and started briskly towards the door.

“Eliana, please stop,” he said in a desperate, but quietvoice. His hand closed gently around her forearm.

She turned, jerking away from his grasp. “Don’t touch me,”she hissed.

He held up his hands in a placating gesture. “Alright, I’msorry. Just, please… you have to believe me, I did not mean what I said in theway you imagined. I simply—.”

“You simply looked at me on the bank of that river, and youpassed judgment on what I was—on who I was,” she snapped. “You found outthat I was a half-blood and instantly set me apart in your mind. It’s been doneto me my entire life. For once…” She sighed and crossed her arms. “For once Ithought this place would be different. For once, I thought I belongedsomewhere.” She straightened a little, her voice going hard again. “But I waswrong. I am as separate here as I was in Vegrandis. An outcast, like you said.”

She turned and started away from him again, but he followed.“Where are you going?”

“To get the egg and my sword. Then I’ll be on my way.”

“You’re leaving?”

“Are you going to stop me?”

He was quiet a moment, following in her quick footsteps.“No,” he answered quietly. “But I intend to uphold the words I spoke by thatriver. I will continue to follow you. Whether you like it or not, I believe youare the girl in the prophecy, and I can’t very well let you go off on your ownwithout knowing that you’re safe.”

He seized her hand tightly, forcing her to stop and facehim. “Eliana,” he said in a soft voice, taking both of her hands in his. Itdistracted her from her anger, and that fact irritated her. “I believe that youare one of the most important creatures to ever be born in this land, and it ismy intention to protect you from harm. Now, if that belief offends you, I amsorry.” He paused and touched a hand cautiously to her cheek. She remainedstill, feeling the softness of his fingers on her skin. Why did it feel as ifher heart was racing with something more than anger? “It has never been myintention to hurt you. I only wished to show you why I believe you are trulyremarkable.”

She held his blue gaze, reading his eyes. His expressionheld nothing but sincerity. He’s a fool, she thought, but he is anhonest fool. She did not wish to be anybody’s prophecy, or anybody’ssavior, but if Caelum chose to believe that she was, did that mean that she hadto leave the safety of Iterum? Did that mean that she had to leave him...?

“Who else knows about the egg?” she asked him.

“Only you, me, and Mara. And Raena and Laevis are the onlyothers who know that you’re a halfling.”

“Is the prophecy the reason why you didn’t want me to tellyour mother I was half human?”

He paused, then nodded. “Partly. If anyone at the feast wereto overhear what you told her, word would spread, and you would have been setupon by everyone in the city who still believes in that prophecy.”

Eliana paused again, considering this. The prophecyexplained everything that had happened since she’d met Caelum—his suddenkindness to her, his amazement at replaceing out she was a half-blood, hisinsistence on bringing her here. As much as she wanted nothing to do with theprophecy, Iterum was safe, and despite everything, her heart told her shebelonged there.

She sighed and stepped away, pulling her hands out of his.He watched her curiously, and she sought for the words to explain what she wasthinking. An idea occurred to her, and she collected her thoughts, forcing themoutwards towards Caelum as she did to the egg.

She felt his presence in her mind as she met his gaze again.It was a strange sensation. It made her feel vulnerable and exposed as shesensed his consciousness beside hers. She nearly withdrew, but forced herselfto continue touching his mind, pressing her thoughts upon it.

She felt a strange resistance, but then, the resistance gaveway and she thought, “I understand. And Iwill stay.”

Immediately, Caelum smiled, and he let out a loud laugh.“Did you do that on purpose?” he asked.

“So you did hear me then?” she asked, feeling exciteddespite herself.

He nodded. “I did. I thought perhaps you’d done it onaccident, like with the disk.”

“The disk?” she repeated.

“You summoned it on your own. And when I tried to bring itback, to counter your magic, you resisted. You fought my magic with your own.”

Eliana chuckled a little. “I suppose I did. I didn’t eventhink about it, I just… wished for it, and it happened.”

Caelum smiled. “I think you may be ready for your lessons tobegin.”