To Face the Rising Sun

Excerpt From To Face The Rising Sun

        When Ariena noticed Euliss' eyes widen with fear, she yelled, "Stop!"
        Cee'on's brows knitted in anger, his jaw and fists clenched tight. He glared at Ariena but said nothing. Ariena started to say something, then stopped herself. The most trouble she'd ever gotten into from her father was when she was very young. She threw a temper tantrum in front of some guests, because he wouldn't let her do something. Her father made it very clear that she could get as mad as she wanted at him or her mom or at Cee'on, but she was never to confront them in front of others.
        "Sire, may I talk to you in private? ... Please." Ariena bowed, her voice was nearly a whisper.
        Cee'on's response was to turn and leave the bathroom. Ariena followed him into her room and shut the door behind them.
        "What do you mean bringing in a human to threat that thing? You have done exactly what I've asked you not to do. Do you have any idea what that creature is?" Cee'on's voice was a deep growl.
        Ariena's own determination built in relation to Cee'on's anger. She stared at him as she searched for what to say. Finally she blurted out. "We found her in the bathroom. She's hurt and needs help. We need your help."
        Ariena hoped to see the drop in shoulders, the sigh, anything to tell her his anger was abating some. When he just glared at her, her resolve deepened. She developed her strategy for his comment that there was nothing more he could do. That his healing powers didn't help aliens' or worse, he would refuse to help. She held her breath and readied herself.
        "Ariena, that creature, you, Wren, and doctor Choy are so lovingly caring for is a demon and an abomination. I gave Lieutenant Vu'Nal orders to shoot it on sight, and I will deal with him later. Now to make sure it gets done, I'll destroy it myself."
        Not expecting him to say that, Ariena felt as if she'd been punched in the stomach. Her head spun. After her first breath of fear and anxiety, anger settled into her chest. How could he think of harming that poor injured creature? She exploded inward so that her rage came out low and controlled. "I ordered Lieutenant Vu'Nal not to harm her. And you will not harm her either." Ariena took a breath, "I don't know what you think she's going to do, but she's been here for a while and she hasn't hurt anyone. She's not the Ill'Knu who took the unicorns. She's a girl just like me. She's lost. If I got stuck in another world, would it be okay for them to kill me just because I'm lost? All she wants to do is go home."
        Tears blurred Ariena's vision. She made an angry swipe with her fingers to wipe them away. She began to shake and her ears burst into flames. "I can't believe you want to kill her without even giving her a chance. You don't even know her name."
        "Ariena"." Cee'on raised a finger.
        On a roll, she wasn't about to stop. "No! Don't you, "Ariena" me. You are a doctor. I don't know how things work on D'Nar'a, but doctors are supposed to help people, not hurt them."
        "That is not a person."
        "How do you know? She has a name. It's Euliss. She talks. She hasn't hurt us, but we're going to kill her? That makes her more humane than all of us. Now, as an Ero'an if you think it's okay to kill her just because you don't like her, then I don't think I want to be an Ero'an. I'm going to throw away all my crystals and go back to school. You can find your own stupid portal!"
        Cee'on took a slow, deep breath. He let it out out in a burst as he shook his finger at her and said, "You. You are just like your father."
        Shocked at the comment, she watched Cee'on turn and walk toward the door. She clenched her fist and felt a fire ball developing in the palm of her hand. She screamed at his back. "What's that supposed to mean?"
        Instead of reaching for the doorknob he grabbed her spray bottle and brought it back. He glanced at her fist. His voice was soft. "Are you planning on throwing that at me?"
        Part of her wanted to throw it at him, but she didn't think she really would have. She absorbed the fireball into her palm, but the anger in her voice came out with the force of a cannon, the top of her head burst into flames. "What do you mean that I'm just like my father?"
        "When I met your father, we didn't get along very well" to put it mildly." Cee'on's gaze was still intense, but his expression had softened. "For a member of an elite military force, I considered him an insubordinate punk. He made it very clear that he had very little use for my royal attitude and called me Oreo's hind end. I had to earn his respect, and in turn he earned mine.
   "He is and has been my best friend, but he has never hesitated to put me in my place when I needed it." He handed her the spray bottle and gave her a slight bow. "Thank you for being just like your father. Here, put yourself out before you burn down the house. If I'm going to be a proper doctor, I need to change and get my medical kit."


Sandra K. Sullivan--her experience and knowledge of what real young people go through
to heal and move on is what brings her characters to life on the page.