Caitlin Goddess of Peace

by Debbie Behan

  She put a hand up to touch his face and traced his frown while she spoke ever so quietly. ‘He’s not the only one,’ she said and dropped her arm.

  He took the hand she touched him with and kissed it. ‘Don’t go giving me cheek young lady, you are meant to be getting growled at, not making me smile.’

  He was lovely with her and Axon could see why she was so attached. Thank goodness theirs was only friendship and even though he had another twinge of jealousy and wished it were he who could have woken her, he was thankful she was at least awake. This was the second time Axon had seen Jett use his powers to bring her around. His magic was incredibly capable, and right now, Axon was thankful he was at least using it for good.

  Jett laid her carefully back in bed and told her to sleep, promising he would return to visit her a bit later.

  She looked at him for a minute and closed her eyes. There was no smile, but she was on the mend.

  * * * *

  When they entered the computer tower, Woody and Rory sat scanning the sky for trouble. Kayden was standing impatiently. His barn and one of his prize horses were gone. There had to be a massive rebuild, and until then, they had to live away from home. He was furious behind the mask of politeness when he shook the hand offered by the god who had just entered.

  ‘Hades,’ was all he said.

  ‘Kayden.’ Hades response was in the same tone.

  Not a good start. Axon noticed the tension already. It was unusual for Kayden to show how rattled he was by the situation. He gestured to Rory. ‘This is the commander of my team, Rory.’

  ‘Mmm... Glow Girl’s saviour.’ Hades eyed him up and down but kept his arms folded.

  Axon continued quickly, seeing there was no friendly handshake offered by the god. ‘And this is Woody, Kayden’s right arm. The wizard of the sky.’

  ‘Boys.’ Hades nodded, not extending a hand to either of them.

  Axon wasn’t surprised and gave Rory his look of, don’t take offence. Unless it was of their choosing, those the gods looked upon as lesser in status were barely acknowledged; a trait Hades needed to change if he ever wanted Rory to allow him time with Caitlin while he was in charge of her.

  Rory shrugged and offered around bottles of Moonjuice.

  Axon noticed that if not looking directly at Hades, Rory’s eyes flickered with annoyance. Axon guessed the juice was more to settle him down rather than those he offered it to. Using the team, Rory had attempted earlier to send Caitlin healing, and when blocked, suggested it had something to do with Hades. For this reason, he was holding his temper in check, only, by the look of his body language as he leant up against the wall, he was ready to take Hades on there and then.

  Woody had stood to welcome the god, his attitude so different to Rory’s. Condescendingly he sat, locked his hands behind his head and leaning back eyeing the god. ‘Is it Hades or Jett?’

  ‘Hades to you, lad!’ His voice boomed, and his eyes flashed dark and marbled. Black smoke curled up and around him. To these men in this room, he was a god and Ruler of the Underworld, and this was showing them they were not friends. The change surprised Axon. Hades had only ever appeared to Axon and Caitlin as Jett. It was only now Axon got the extent of Caitlin’s powers. She had done a remarkable job, and suddenly Axon felt so proud of her he wished she was here so he could hug her with thanks. Jett was so much easier to handle. It was the first time any of the men had met Hades, and the tension was suddenly thick as Axon invited them all to sit down at the NAVlit table and talk.

  Straightforward in his questions, Kayden was relentless as usual.

  Hades put his hand up and refrained from answering, firstly requesting negotiation terms. ‘And furthermore, I insist that none of this leaves the room and that the situation is to be discreetly handled and without bloodshed.’

  To reassure him but not to sugar coat it, Axon intervened. ‘As peacekeepers, the men here are bound by codes to handle this situation strictly by the law and for your sake, discreetly. However, if all negotiations fail during follow-up of what is said here today and the culprits persist in future attacks, this will be out of our hands. They will suffer the consequences, and can expect to feel the full force of our Celestial Laws.’

  Hades gave him a nod in agreement, and Axon leant back in the chair. ‘Kayden, continue.’ Axon gestured to him. His own anger for what happened to Cait still had him seething so to keep emotions out of it, he allowed Kayden to uncover the reasons for the attack. Rory gave Axon a death stare, showing he wasn’t happy; he wanted to be the one firing off the questions, but Axon ignored the directed anger. He understood one of his team members was hurt, almost killed, but still, he was young and not ready this day to handle a god like Hades.

  Even though Hades knew of Kayden, the no-nonsense god was direct and at times quite arrogant as he answered the question fired at him. It was moments later, when Hades revealed the plot was to kill the Cloud Riders and why, that he saw how unprepared Kayden was to find out the truth; that the hit on them was from one of his own star Rulers.

  Hades stared directly at Kayden. ‘You should know who hates you, lad. Do you want me to spell it out?’

  Kayden leant forward. ‘Who? Don’t tell me it came from Orion’s Belt! – are you serious?’ He scratched his head thinking. ‘But Orion is the son of Poseidon.’

  ‘Yes.’

  ‘What has our star Home Worlds got to do with the war going on between the planets? That’s blatzing bullshit!’ Kayden stood up, knocking his chair backwards, and it smashed loudly into the wall.

  Axon stood up calmly and picked up the chair. ‘Kayden, sit man; let him finish.’

  ‘I will not sit here and put up with my Home Worlds taking the blame because you lot can’t sort out your own backyards. Hell, Cait’s nearly dead, was dead and my boys and I are practically homeless.’

  Hades stood and bellowed so loudly they froze. ‘Sit, fool!’

  He flicked a finger, and the chair slipped under Kayden which forced him to sit. It then pulled in close to the table.

  ‘Axon!’ Hades gestured for him to sit too.

  Axon put his hand up defensively and sat as ordered. It left the men at the table speechless.

  Hades continued once he had their attention. ‘Now,’ he sighed, and his voice was less boisterous. ‘Orion, the son of Poseidon, has been well aware of the war going on between our planets. He has personally attended many of our meetings, willing to lend a hand.’

  ‘But why us?’ Kayden may have been made to sit but was still vocal.

  ‘He’s still stewing as it was your Cloud Riders that stopped him and his dogs hunting for cattle on Taurus. He feels he was robbed in the treaty.’

  ‘You’re kidding!’ Woody spoke up, receiving a stern look from Hades.

  ‘I will address leaders, Kayden and Axon. If you have to be here, please refrain from comment.’

  Woody was about to open his mouth when Hades flicked a finger towards him, and his mouth closed shut. He blinked and eyed Kayden and shrugged. Woody was a man with much patience. His love for magic would find this fascinating and most likely he would be trying to figure out how to harness it, to use it on others that annoyed him.

  It was about then that Axon wondered if he should go and get Caitlin to keep the god calm. He had never seen him in action before, and his magic seemed equivalent to Zoren’s. Axon could hold his own against the archangel, but with Hades, in this mood, he wasn’t sure. The god struggled with a need to stay in touch with a friend that he had to have in his life. This made him a dangerous man.

  Hades sat forward and eyed Kayden with contempt. Axon could see he had become annoyed with Kayden interrupting with petty grievances. Gods don’t concern themselves with possessions and material items. Kayden’s concerns of rebuilding were tiresome and an unimportant statement. Hades spoke with authority. ‘What can I say? The man enjoyed a good
steak and I agree with him, there’s none better than the taste of that breed of cattle. Anyway—’ He shifted in his seat. ‘Orion stayed reasonably calm until Axon here went down to Earth and sourced what Orion refers to as “the planet posse”. That’s when things heated up. He vowed revenge because there were going to be two sets of law-abiding do-gooders, and he felt that was two too many.’

  Axon couldn’t help but grin at what he called his Riders. Hades noticed and in his expression was a glint of amusement in recognition of his reaction. It confirmed to Axon that Jett would always be in Hades somewhere for him. They had become mates, and it felt good. Seeing Hades’ response to the others and then to him made what they had special. Now he understood why Caitlin worked so hard to make it happen. Being enemies with Hades and his family would never have solved anything. Gods don’t give in.

  Hades sat back, speaking again. The pauses gave them too much time to reflect, or was that his strategy? ‘Orion coordinated the first strike on both farms, and yes, our family sanctioned the first hit but not this one. The first was more of a test of the waters to see how well the Riders could deflect and destroy. We didn’t expect the leading female to be so gifted. Therefore, we knew the one we would get must have to be a lot stronger as she would be dealing with us. This was a big problem, so whoever was the lead female could possibly put a stop to our future plans. That was when we decided to kidnap her, take her out of the equation. We thought, at first, we could turn her to our side but in the end, the vote was to take her life. As you are aware, I could not do that!’

  Axon nodded. ‘Yes, it must have been quite a shock when you realised who you had kidnapped.’

  Hades saw Kayden’s look and explained. ‘You see, there was a twist of fate that none of us expected. I was away with my family, and we met what we thought were tourists, Wolf and Glow Girl, on one of your holiday resorts, Dolphin Island on Delphinus. In fact, we all lied and introduced ourselves with an alias, for want of a better word. Glow Girl sprinkled my family and me with joy and who would have known the smallest package of us all would turn out to be the most powerful weapon in our planet system.’ His eyes softened as he spoke of her and Kayden saw the change and gave a slight grin. His Cassie has done the same to tyrants in his star system. Hades ran his hand through his hair as if clearing Cait from his mind. ‘Anyway, it has changed a bit for us now. My family, after today, now know Glow is a part of the Cosmic Riders. They’re not happy with the revelation.’ He turned to Axon. ‘To be truthful, for my part in keeping you both a secret, I’ve been put on the outer for now. Not confided in or trusted.’ His face became emotionless as he continued. ‘Axon, you must understand my position, that even though they are cross with me, I still back them with this move. They have been insulted by not being involved in the decision making of Dwarf status, and it has become a pride issue. They will continue in their quest to have me back in the planets with them, so our plans haven’t changed. However, what has changed is that they have no interest in eliminating your team.’

  Axon inhaled, and stress had him on his feet. ‘Phew! I’ll drink to that. Anyone want one?’

  ‘Ambrosia,’ Hades said.

  Woody put his thumb up, and Hades removed the magic held over him. Woody grinned, showing no disrespect towards Hades. Axon was a fan of Woody and more so now. He was made of good humoured genes.

  ‘Yes, thanks,’ Woody said.

  Axon poured the gods’ elixir in a goblet and passed it to Hades. He flipped the lid off two bottles of Moonjuice and handed one to Woody. The other, Axon sipped while contemplating his next move. He wanted to go in guns blazing and wipe Orion from the universe but had promised to handle this discreetly so he needed to settle down.

  Once Hades felt Axon was back in control he continued. ‘To cut a long story short, Orion attended our last summit where I persuaded the affiliates to stand down for a few days. Unbeknown to them, it was to give the newly engaged couple some time off.’ He glanced at Axon. ‘It wasn’t opposed by immediate family as they had talked about spending a couple of days at an Island Resort in sector 7. Only there was a cowboy in our midst. None of us expected my nephew to go it alone. We were stunned when we found that Orion would take this opportunity to avenge his loss of privileges on Taurus. His plan was to put the Cloud Riders out of action first. He hoped to tie up the watchdog of Taurus, meaning the wizard Aldebaran and his other rival, the warlord Conom. He felt sure they would head to Earth to assist Aldebaran’s daughter, Cassie. ‘With no interference, he could go to war with the ruler of Taurus. His army has never been stronger, and the intention was not to kill the ruler Aurus but to bring him to his knees and win back his right to hunt there. It was pure luck his father called in to see him, and Orion confided in him.’

  He shifted in his seat, his body language revealing how stupid he thought it to be. ‘Orion had no idea the Cosmics had gone down to stay with the Cloud Riders when he had put the hit on them. Or that Glow would see it coming and try to save the horses. Poseidon told Zeus.’

  Axon butted in, ‘who Cait calls Calyx.’

  Hades nodded and changed to the alias. ‘But Calyx didn’t worry about it until I told him Glow was on holidays on Earth. Somehow, Calyx put two and two together. That’s when he confronted me, and I had to share that the two he knew as Glow and Wolf, were actually, Caitlin and Axon, both affiliated to part of the team that made up the Cosmic Riders. Calyx, even though angry I’d kept the secret, liked Glow and Wolf enough to do his best to prevent the blast taking place. He wasn’t quick enough, as we know, to stop the attack or the explosion. By the time he got there, it was over, and Glow Girl’s lifeless body was lying on the ground. That’s when he summoned his son, Apollo, to fix his “stupid nephew’s mistake”, as he termed it. He’s furious with me for lying to him and Orion’s banished from further involvement in our war.’

  ‘Your family; what are they going to do about Orion?’ Axon asked.

  ‘I have no idea. All I know is they are up in arms with me at the minute, and I don’t blame them.’ He stopped and got up, looking out of the window. ‘But I can’t stop what has come about between Glow and me or you, Axon. Even if I could, I don’t want to.’

  Hades turned to him. ‘As for the future, I have no control. But for the moment I can and would like to help. Axon, you’ll be busy every day now with Kayden sorting all this out. Glow needs around the clock nursing and must be kept safe. You know there is nowhere safer than with the tyrant who started all this in the first place. You’ve seen first-hand my healing capabilities and are astute enough to know I can care for her far better than anyone. Let me take her and keep her safe until she’s well again. You know where she is if you want to visit her any time of the day or night.’

  Axon stood up and stretched. ‘My men are just as capable as you are and will make sure she’s well looked after while I’m at work.’ He would not even entertain the idea of her going with him.

  ‘And if you call them out on a mission, what then? Are you actually intending to leave her here on her own… unguarded and trust servants to care for one so valuable to us? I beg of you, let me keep her from those who mean her harm, at least until she is well enough to fight her own battles again. As soon as she is better, we both know she’ll be back by your side fighting against me as before.’

  Kayden surprised Axon when he stood suddenly and crossed his arms, with a determined expression. ‘You have a point, Hades. My Cassie is connected somehow to Caitlin, and while she is unwell, Cassie will endure this burden and also need protecting. It seems both our women have become targets until they are in top form again. For her, there is no safer haven than with her father, Aldebaran.’ He turned to Axon. ‘We have two sets of Riders, the best of the best. There’s no reason we need to put the girls in harm’s way unless this can’t be settled peacefully.’

  Axon swore, knowing they were both right. He wanted Caitlin safe and knew only too well that Jett wo
uld protect her with his life, as he would. Axon had pledged his allegiance to Zoren and knew his loyalty to keeping the peace with the solar system must always come first. ‘Blatzing Hell, Kayden, that’s stuffed up my argument. I hate you being right. Of course, our Riders are more than capable, that is unless something more sinister is coming.’ He glared at Hades.

  The god shrugged. ‘As I said, I’m not privy to anything at present so don’t go off half-cocked at me if something heavy does come up. What I have told you is all I know.’ He spoke kindly.

  Axon relaxed his shoulders and turned to Hades. ‘Just give me a moment to speak with Cait. I’d like her to have a say in this, but I’m already sure of the answer. Just keep this in mind, Jett, if any of your family even looks like turning against her, you bring her straight back here to me or else, and it’s a big or else. Am I making myself clear?’

  Hades sat down to wait, relieved. ‘My father and brothers will not harm her, Axon, and while I am on the outer with them, I do not expect a visit. Glow is safe on Pluto, please trust me. But even so, I do promise that at the first sign of danger I’ll be out of there so fast with her, they won’t see it coming.’

  Axon could tell just by looking at him this was true. In his eyes was a kindness he saved for only one, his Glow Girl. Even so, Axon had a twinge of jealousy and felt annoyed that it would be Jett making her well. Still, his hands were tied. He actually needed Jett, and even though it angered him, he was quite grateful that she had such a dedicated friend. His mind flitted to Melita. This relationship between the two of them must also get to her and yet she never showed any animosity towards Cait whatsoever. She radiated the same caring for her as Jett did. He was the only one trying to stop the friendship, and from today, he was going to make an effort to change his mindset. He was proud of Cait for the relationships she was already cementing with these planet Rulers and he had to stop his urge to strangle the lot of them for being the catalysts behind this mess they were all now in.