Caitlin Goddess of Peace

by Debbie Behan

  ‘Well, impatient girlfriend dumper, if you hadn’t discarded me for that sexy woman next to you, who is really still my girlfriend, not yours, I wouldn’t have been looking elsewhere and missed that bit.’

  ‘She’s my girlfriend now, so stop trying to steal her back.’ He smiled at Bree.

  ‘You only like her more than me today because she looks hot in that outfit.’

  ‘Hot! I’m telling you now, when we get our own horses she isn’t ever going to be allowed to take that bridle off her ride.’

  Bree slapped him. ‘Go stuff yourself. I look good in anything.’

  ‘You’ll do what I say, you both will, because I’m the boss!’ Rory stuck his nose in the air and trotted off. The attempt at arrogance made both girls laugh.

  ‘All chatter and jokes aside now guys, Kayden has to concentrate,’ Woody called back at team-two, who were ribbing each other for looking like fairies with their glowing skin.

  Woody and Kayden made an attempt to stifle laughter as they moved through the cloud mist. It was all fun and they held back orders to quieten down. They remembered how much enjoyment they had with the guys in the earlier years when they transformed.

  ‘Newbies!’ Woody remarked.

  Kayden rolled his eyes at Caitlin, his guess correct that it would be her having the last word.

  ‘If it gets dark in the clouds, Rory, you have our permission to moon us girls so we can see where we are going.’

  Kayden relayed what she had said to both teams for those who may have missed her comment. With the group in fits of laughter, Kayden moved them into the first portal. Usually, he would discipline his team for mucking about, but Caitlin had him drawn into her every word. He wondered if it was a power that she didn’t yet know about.

  * * * *

  As if sound had no place here, all banter ceased as the weirdness of the experience took over the new group. The silence was deafening as they flew quietly into the cloud cover and through the first portal. They had no clue what to expect and all opinions of how funny their appearance was vanished, as did the world they left behind. The awareness and oddity of coming out of a portal and into another dimension were all that was on their minds. Caitlin watched as the clouds began to spin beams of coloured light around them. Bright blue, green, red and purple gathered in front of them, forming the shape of a star. The sharp lights twisted, turned and sped up until the colours blended and a hole appeared in the middle of the star. The sound of a whip cracking snapped at the portal opening, now large enough for their horses to fly through. Caitlin pondered if they would break apart as many movies had portrayed it.

  Kayden’s orders took her mind off her uncertainties, his tone strange now he used telepathy to communicate. The next is a cumulonimbus cloud so hold on tight. This one will ascend hundreds of metres. Get ready for the whip upwards, it can give you quite a jolt if you’re not prepared.

  Caitlin’s first impression was that she would enjoy this. The blend of colours puffed around them like cotton candy, soft and calming. Not for long though as the ascent became sharp, the horses moving so fast the prettiness blurred. Her hands grabbed and tightened the reins as she leant forward to hold on, her fingers twisting around the horse’s mane, for fear she would fly off the back of the mare. She was thankful when the fissure appeared, as the crack of the portal opened to allow them an exit from the crazy ride. What the …? She looked back, once clear of the cloud. She didn’t like that one at all. Rory had better not use that sucker, cumulonimbus cloud my foot, shyte myself cloud more like it. She quietly giggled. When there were no other sounds of laughter, and she was glad Kayden had finally switched off. The mission was keeping him busy. At last, I can be me again.

  With a gasp of awe, all she had been thinking faded as she glanced around. The stars, although slightly out of shape, radiated luminous points where she now knew the Cloud Riders used to position themselves when controlling a star. The planets were different in every way. They were perfectly rounded, the cloud of dust and gases surrounding them defining the colour of the glow. They looked like painted perfection. Her pride that the group she belonged to would soon be visiting them sent a thrilling shiver down her spine. She was here because of Rory and felt sorry that she had believed he had neglected her. He had fought for them to all stay together. He had found her, given her a home and, now showed her where she belonged, where they all belonged, with him!

  The real excitement was only just beginning as Kayden pointed to the Teapot and headed for the star, Nunki, Home World of the constellation’s ruler.

  Close to landing, Caitlin put her hand over her mouth to stifle laughter. On the surface, she had spotted a huge big teapot with windows and a door. You have to be kidding me! She shook her head with amusement as they landed.

  A large woman appeared in the doorway and waved with excitement, her grey hair pulled into a tight bun.

  In the woods by the edge of a brook, eccentrically-dressed animals sat at a table. A teapot, cups and saucers complete with a tall cake-stand laden with cupcakes covered the top of a red and white chequered tablecloth that blew in the light breeze. Implausible as it all looked, Caitlin squinted and cracking up laughing when one of the animals with a waistcoat pulled a watch out of his pocket and checked the time.

  ‘You’re kidding me! A high-tea party!’ She nudged Bree as they trotted together past them and up to the teapot house. Both girls held back a loud shriek of incredulous disbelief. Not even Cassie had warned them of what to expect. They turned at the sound of Cassie having a chuckle at their astonished expressions. Trotting past them, she held her head high, at home with this weirdness.

  Their horses came to a halt causing Bree to almost fall off. Both muffled most of their cries of amusement as Caitlin steadied her. Axon saw it as fooling about and gave them a sour look as he and Rory dismounted. Both men were stern, which made the girls refrain from any more skylarking. They got the hint loud and clear, it wasn’t polite to poke fun at the locals or carry on so unprofessionally.

  While Axon, Kayden and Rory went to speak to the ruler of the constellation, Woody gave the order for them to have a stretch but not to go too far from the horses. Both girls dismounted, and Caitlin’s delight in this world skyrocketed as weird dog-like critters appeared and nuzzled up to her and Bree for a pat. Woody pulled out his sword, scaring them.

  ‘They are star critters, called dogitters, but you have to be wary of them as they change shape and the other head that appears will give you a nasty sting if it bites.’

  They felt sorry for the little brown fluff-balls that tripped on long floppy ears. They didn’t believe Woody until they barked at him. As he said, they grew a distorted second head with a set of vicious, snapping teeth. The yapping critters attempted without success to nip at Woody before they ran off. Strangely enough, Caitlin felt comfortable here amongst it all. The dogitters did not worry her at all, but she refrained from encouraging them further, resolving to listen to Woody’s teachings regarding life on these planets. The session was interrupted by the return of the three negotiators

  No one mentioned to Kayden that Bree’s horse had a limp and yet he knew and bent to check the mare’s hoof. He pulled out the offending splinter and brushed off his pants as he stood to address them. ‘Mrs Lekett, the Ruler here, is pleased to see so many of us to protect her Home World. The Leketts and their community are peace-loving and keep no weapons for any line of defence. The Centureans, who usually protect the Lekett family, have put up shields to safeguard their own world. Unfortunately, they didn’t have the resources to help their neighbouring Teapot Home World. In other words, we have a lot to do so let’s get a move on.’ With that, Kayden lifted Cassie onto her horse. He glanced around, seeing Rory, and his team had all mounted their horses and sat ready. He stared back at Cassie, frustrated none of his own men had begun to get on their horses. She knew that look and leant over to him, smiling. ‘They are
waiting for the rest of it, sweetie. You know they love her so-called tea.’

  ‘Blatz you guys. Okay, the Lekett family are having a victory tea party, and yes, we are all invited back here if we manage to save their Home Worlds. Not alone though. She has a couple of the neighbouring Rulers attending, so best behaviours, please.’

  ‘Yahoo!’ Woody and his men let out hollers and took only seconds to mount, slapping hands and looking pleased.

  Never had Caitlin seen grown men so excited over tea. She must make one satisfying drop of brew.

  Kayden turned to Axon. ‘I’ll leave it up to you, Axon. You may have other plans for your team later.’

  Axon had a slight grin. ‘Haven’t been to one of Mrs Lekett’s parties in a very long time.’ His features hardened, and he added, ‘and as you do, I also believe that to mingle and socialise with the Rulers is a vital essence of camaraderie when engaging in peace talks with them at a later date.’ He eyed Rory, his mouth twisted in another grin. ‘What do you think, Commander?’

  ‘My first thought was, No! as a few of my team have been mucking about, but, I guess I could turn a blind eye if a certain someone, the ringleader, would start behaving.’ He turned to Caitlin, and his look was, quit your nonsense.

  Caitlin had trusted Rory never to split their team up, but that was before Bree. Will he dump me now things have changed? She had already grown to love what she saw so far and that thought scared her. In an attempt to loosen him up a bit she straightened her posture and her left hand came up and saluted. ‘Promise to keep it zipped from now on, boss!’ In all this strangeness, could she keep her trap shut? Agreement to try was all she could promise for now.

  Rory moved his horse close to her so only she heard. ‘Don’t make me regret agreeing to stay and party, Cait.’

  Kayden was the only one who heard and jumped in, leaving Caitlin’s mouth open, not giving her a chance to answer and get into any more trouble. ‘It’s settled then.’ He nodded to Woody and Rory. ‘Men, it’s time to get your teams ready for travel.’ He gave a sharp and direct order.

  * * * *

  Back up in the sky above, Caitlin was happy with where Kayden had positioned her and Cassie. They were out of the line of the Supernova, yet close enough to watch all of the action. She gave Bree a wave after her friend settled into position with her equal, Ethan. Bree had been a good mate from the first day they’d met. They’d hung out after work, shopped for hours at a time, gone out to clubs at night and trained side by side with Rory and the boys, every chance they got. They were fit, happy and inseparable, well, until Rory scored with Bree. Now Caitlin was unsure where their friendship lay. For now, they were teammates, and all of her personal concerns had to take a back seat. She could see how nervous Bree looked and was worried for her.

  Axon, Kayden and Rory were to her left, had earpieces on and chatted among themselves. Her own, given before they’d split up, had no sound so she assumed they were plotting a course of action if plan A didn’t pan out. Cassie had already told her how unpredictable it could get out there. Caitlin watched Rory with a careful eye, knowing he would absolutely love all the power given to run his own team in conjunction with Kayden. She just hoped it didn’t give him too big a head. Going crook at her in front of others was infuriating and had better not make it a habit. If Kayden hadn’t jumped in she would have told him just what she really thought. They may be friends and he may now be her boss, but he needn’t think he was going to start treating her differently. She had forgiven him for leaving her at the club to be with Bree, but this latest attack on her to make him look in control was pushing it. He knew her personality, and if it was so bad, he should have pulled her up about it long before now.

  Disturbed by the message Kayden suddenly sent them through telepathy, Caitlin returned her thoughts to his orders.

  Cassie, hold your position or both of you could end up in the thick of it, and when I do give the order, don’t go without taking Caitlin with you, okay.

  She didn’t move a muscle and yet he put his thumbs up. ‘You can talk back. Can I do that too?’ Caitlin asked her.

  ‘Secret squirrel stuff, Cait. The lads don’t know I can do it. If they did, they would try to tap into it. It’s hard enough for Kayden to concentrate as it is without hearing everyone’s thoughts.’

  ‘But he can hear my thoughts. I don’t get it.’

  ‘He talks to one or all of us at any one time and switches some on and some off. You have linked to me so he can hear you too.’ Cassie noted Caitlin’s look of dismay and smiled. ‘It’s okay. Rory can’t. Kayden hasn’t let him have that power yet. It’s just too dangerous unless you know what you’re doing, so keep it on the low down that you even know about it.’

  ‘Can Kayden hear me all the time? Sheesh, I’ve been running off at the mouth since I got here. Thought he was only listening to my stronger opinions, not everything.’

  ‘He can turn you off and most likely has by now. Don’t worry, he thinks you’re funny.’

  Caitlin sat quietly without thought for a while, listening to Kayden’s orders to everyone. She and Cassie were to hold steady until needed and when they were, their job was to redirect the Supernova to a location rendering it harmless to other Home Worlds, allowing time for the rest of the team to give chase and extinguish it. Kayden kept reassuring the others it was not a dangerous situation unless the Supernova exploded before they could put it out. The trainees were to stick to their equals, but not intervene, just observe the part they would play when they were on their own.

  The Supernova came in sight, and Caitlin concentrated on Cassie, watching the technique she used of closing her eyes to help build up her power. Caitlin’s immortal gifts were similar to hers, so she was interested to see what her equal did to control the force and use it as a weapon. Kayden had already mentioned about her ability to do exactly as Cassie did after attending a couple of sessions with Woody. However, as with everything new, Caitlin was like a sponge, soaking up what was said, always learning, always observing. She had already got the gist of how Cassie worked without his help. She may have been a slow starter in life, but since her friendship with Rory and his team, she was hell bent on never missing a trick and took pride in her own learning ability.

  A sudden movement by Cassie startled Caitlin as her arms opened out in front of her. With hands barely a few inches apart, she saw the glare of a laser flare that shot from between Cassie’s hands. The force catapulted the lightning source towards the Supernova, the electrical charge spread around the lower half of the sphere, lifting it high into the sky above. The speed and accuracy of the hit floored Caitlin and all her new rider friends looking on. The split second it moved, Kayden’s team sped off after it, Rory’s team in pursuit, keeping close to their equals. Even though it was now only a dot in the sky, Caitlin could still feel and hear a loud rumble from the beast of a weapon that fought to destroy anything in its path.

  Cassie and Caitlin, hold your positions. Kayden’s order came through loud and clear. Conor and Jason, get out of there! It’s too unstable.

  Kayden was having problems extinguishing the globe of burning gas that began to break apart. The lines that appeared on Cassie’s forehead had Caitlin worried. A jolt from Caitlin’s horse had her hold on tightly as Kayden had them race to the rescue.

  ‘What the blatzing hell!’ Caitlin scolded Kayden as the mare turned a tight right and shot straight up, nearly tossing her off. ‘Give me a blatzing bit of notice next time, you shytzer!’ She screamed the last words as she steadied herself at the same time, putting Cassie off and making her slip a bit as she giggled at her.

  ‘Don’t tell me the guys have taught you to swear like a rider already,’ she called to Caitlin.

  Fear had Caitlin yell to her as they sped side by side towards the explosive entity. ‘Conor is a crack up,’ she dobbed him in. Had her in stitches when they woke up. He was giving it to Kayden for p
utting him to sleep on the floor. It had stuck. She liked the new lingo.

  Cassie stopped her thinking. ‘This is major if Kayden’s pulling us up there this fast. If you heat up, it’s just me, helping you control our combined magic until you can do it on your own.’

  Caitlin nodded and at the same time felt Cassie tap into her, controlling her mind. It felt weird having someone else activating not only her own powers but something more kicked in. Heat within her grew, and she did feel as if she had a hot flush but nothing she couldn’t handle. Already she had learnt and was helping to ignite something bigger.

  ‘Cassie, have you got control of Cait too? I need both of you! This damned thing is about to blow. Blatzing hell! Kayden cursed.

  Got it Kayden, step aside and let us girls have a crack at it! Cassie sent to him by telepathy. Caitlin was shocked she could hear everything she said too. Man, this chick has balls. Her thoughts flitted as the danger became apparent. The supernova was on fire and exploding shards of steel. Massive flaming flairs shot out from all angles, the giant star, hot and threatening, scared the life out of her. Never had she felt the raw emotion of such danger as she stared death in the face. How good was her equal; how good was she?

  Cassie eyed her, listening to her every thought. We’re about to find out. This is where we sort out the men from the boys. Hold on girlfriend, I need you to copy me exactly. Can you feel me?

  You bet! But what are you packing me with?

  Steady your mind, trust me and do as I do.

  Caitlin nodded. She would learn all this, but for today, she just wanted to live. She trusted Cassie, who had done this many times over and was ready to follow her every command. Breathing deeply, she allowed Cassie control of her mind to do what her equal did best, to target and eradicate all dangerous matter regardless of size or mass.