Cloud Riders (Lord of the Planets)

by Debbie Behan

  ‘What did Aldebaran do? Did he try at all to mend the rift?’ Woody leaned against the bench, crossing his arms.

  Kayden chewed his lip. ‘I’m hearing you, man. Those two have been mates since even before our time. Apparently, Aldebaran couldn’t believe his once loyal companion Mulu and his children could turn their backs on him so easily when it had nothing to do with him. So he has wiped them off his Christmas list so to speak and washed his hands of the lot of them.’

  ‘So, don’t tell me, the sons have linked up with his enemy Orion. And Orion is offering them hunting privileges on his land in return for loyalty,’ Woody cut in.

  ‘You’ve got it in one. Orion heard of the squabble and befriended the brothers immediately as a tactical advantage. He gave them his sympathy with an offer that was obviously too good to refuse. Now, as you can guess, the boys accepted, blinded by whatever was on the table as an offer. Now to rub salt into the wound they have deliberately become allies, prepared to take up arms against Aldebaran to protect their new friend Orion.’ Kayden switched on another screen, showing them the location where they would be going. ‘Anyway, the sons have put Aldebaran’s back to the wall. He and Conom have reacted unfavourably and have now put in place a plan to wipe the Cross family from existence.’

  ‘Can’t you threaten to put out their stars if they refuse to stop?’ Cassie asked.

  Kayden shook his head. ‘The wizard is pulling his power from the dark side and our efforts to get even near his home world have been useless. He has a protection up that is impenetrable by good. All we can do until Zoren finds a way around it is to stop his assault.’

  Woody let out a huff. ‘Why they thought they could go up against Aldebaran has me beat. Orion needs a kick in the pants for involving them.’

  Kayden agreed, turning back to the laptop and punching in new coordinates.

  Woody played with his jaw in thought. ‘Yes, and I for one would definitely be willing to hand out such a punishment.’

  There were a few snickers and whispered comments from Conor, Jase and Ethan who were already laying bets down in Woody’s favour.

  Kayden put up his hand for quiet. ‘Okay, settle down, men. The last thing I need is a price on any of your heads after Orion regains consciousness.’

  Woody still had a gleam of amusement but kept quiet as Kayden moved everyone’s attention onto the screen on the opposite wall. The rolling images focused on the far side of the galaxy. Kayden pointed out the rogue star that was on its way to the Southern Cross.

  ‘This is the star that Aldebaran and Conom have now deployed to seek out and destroy the whole of the Southern Cross constellation. They aim to wipe out the entire Cross family. The star is at the end of its existence and its ruler is on a suicide mission, wanting to go down with his ship so to speak.’ Being Cassie’s first real mission riding solo, Kayden wanted her to understand the dangers. ‘This particular star will not be easy to control or even destroy. It’s an eruptive binary explosive star. Abbreviated name is RSCVN. When ready to expire it sends out flares and shrapnel at massive speeds until it blows up. Due to the problems in the past, Zoren has requested you personally be on guard for anything we might miss.’

  Cassie got how unpredictable the situation could become yet with her and Starburst’s magic combined she felt confident they would handle their part in the mission. Kayden ended the session by closing down the computers.

  Back inside the house, they all lay around resting although it wasn’t easy. There was a lot of anticipation and speculation because they were coming to grips with a new rider. Cassie would have her own horse so it was becoming a drawn-out topic of concern. When Kayden felt the topic was done to death, Cassie could feel him calming them and knew it wouldn’t be long before they would all be put into a restful sleep so they could recharge, giving them all an extra boost in power for the mission ahead.

  When he woke them, the sun was setting in the sky. Refreshed and feeling like she could take on whatever was thrown at her, Cassie walked outside with the guys to drink her coffee and watch Zoltan lead out the horses. They trotted in formation and then stood in a perfectly spaced row before them. They almost kneeled on one knee as they bowed their heads to show their loyalty. Even Starburst did it and she thought he looked particularly cute doing so.

  The men bridled their horses and jumped up. Kayden gave Cassie a magical golden bridle for her ride and waited to help her.

  Once she put the bridle on Starburst he transformed into the most glorious of all. As with the other horses, the pearl-beaded armour covered him entirely. His white wings, although massive, looked so much softer, maybe due to his young age. The outstanding feature was the saddle. She would be sitting on a golden saddle while the others sat on black ones. Also while the other horses had coloured beads identifying them as individuals, Starburst had blended-gold beading that swirled around his body. His normally dark tail and mane changed to pure white and he had golden beads marking a crown across his head. He looked magnificent.

  ‘My prince,’ Cassie curtsied, and it made him snort and nod his head at her as if he agreed.

  Kayden lifted her on to Starburst and Cassie transformed differently this time. She wore white leather pants tucked into knee-high boots with gold markings and a very high heel. The soft golden top to the outfit looked more like a seductively cut corset the way it laced at the front, showing a little more cleavage than she was used to. Golden bracelets wrapped around her upper arm and the clip that held her hair up felt to her like the shape of a horse. It had star shapes that dropped from delicate chains and Kayden could barely contain his amusement at her show of discomfort as she eyed herself.

  ‘You have nothing to be shy about, my love. It is how the women dress up there. Although now I’ve seen it on you I believe it was designed with you in mind.’ He grinned. ‘You’re both going to give the stars quite a surprise when you turn up today. If you don’t stop that renegade star in his tracks, I’ll be amazed.’

  As they reached the portal in the paddock, Cassie felt totally at ease as she leaned down to give her horse some encouragement. ‘You are going to so love this,’ she whispered to Starburst as they entered the clouds. Her mind felt at peace as she let the flow of colourful patterns mesmerise her and as soon as she calmed, she felt Starburst settle down too. Woody was right—he was so in tune with her she would have to take control and keep him unruffled on his first trip.

  While inside the cloud, the green, yellow and blue lights that formed the shape of a star blended together until the portal appeared, gradually increasing in size. This time however, the colours seemed to melt into each other, getting brighter as if they were iridescent paints swirling together until the portal was big enough for them to glide through.

  Kayden’s thoughts entered her tranquil state. We’ll come out in a minute and the horses will fly us up to another cloud called a noctilucent cloud which is around thirty-five miles long and fifty-six kilometres high. The cloud acts as a slingshot and will give us the height and speed we need to reach the Southern Cross.

  As they came out of the fourth dimension, they flew along until they reached a very thin, almost transparent cloud that shimmered gold, pink and purple. The coloured lighting jutted across their path in fine bursts, lengthways this time. They veered upwards so high that Cassie closed her eyes, only peeking as they neared the top. Once there, she opened her eyes to a blue lightning bolt. It shot across ahead of them, opening in the middle like a stretched rubber band that became another portal that slung-shot them straight through. The boosted speed that the cloud gave them was so intense everything was almost a blur. Then presto, they were up in the stars where the atmosphere was clean and clear and the view as always, spectacular.

  Cassie patted Starburst as he stretched his wings out for the first time and flew on Zoltan’s command. ‘That was fun, hey, boy?’

  He made a little snorting sound and shot her a little magic burst, showing her how much he had loved it. Like her, this
was where he belonged, in the heavens with his dad.

  From up here, the stars closest to her looked like glowing bubbles in all shapes and sizes. It amazed Cassie how silent it was. There were no sounds except the gentle flapping of the horses’ wings and the slight disturbance they made that moved so gently around her that it felt like soft silk against her skin.

  The Crux constellation Cassie knew as the Southern Cross was now remarkably right in front of her. As they came closer preparing to land, you could see the surface of the largest star, Alpha-Crucis. The superior design of their home was unusual to say the least. The huge estate below spread across kilometres of ground and the massive home was built in the shape of a cross, the extraordinary creation symbolising the constellation. They slid off their horses and chatted while Kayden went to speak with the Cross brothers.

  Beneath Cassie’s feet, she noticed the surface was flat and smooth—actually, she was sure it was metres and metres of slate flooring. Now, looking up at the home from this angle, it towered high above her. Large, smooth slate blocks shaped the walls which were covered by a black roof with what looked like pure-gold guttering that matched the window frames, balconies and doors. Beautiful lighting surrounding the luxurious-looking home and in one area in particular, it gave you the impression there was a well-designed waterfall and river surrounding the castle—this finished it off perfectly. Without the gold and special lighting effects surrounding the home, it may have been all doom and gloom. The critters on this planet looked like dark green, soft mops that cleaned and added a shine to the surface as they moved, seeing the path ahead with eyes that stuck out on long feelers.

  Centaurs—half man, half horse—guarded the outer perimeter of the castle and as the team dismounted, more Centaurs came from a bunker underground, surrounding them but keeping a reasonable distance. The Crux constellation was at the foot of the centaurs’ constellation so even though the centaurs were wild and unpredictable in nature, they did protect their own and this included their close neighbours, the Cross family.

  Kayden came back with two of the Cross brothers. As they shook hand with Jason and Woody, she could tell the four of them were old friends by the way they joked with each other. Both men had very dark complexions with jet-black hair that was cut short. They were both big boys but still looked small against the team. Their only freakish attribute was the colour of their eyes. They were a bright purple, hidden behind long purple lashes. The taller one stood with his arms crossed most of the time and Cassie felt his eyes on her. He seemed to absorb her as if he could read her every thought.

  Before they left they insisted that Kayden bring his team back for drinks later on, saying their father and other brother would be very disappointed to have missed them. Kayden accepted the offer graciously. Apparently the father and son were off somewhere taking the sisters to safety. Kayden never said where; he covered it by telling Cassie that the least she knew the better, in case the enemy captured her. Cassie knew the rest of the team would already have understood that, so appreciated knowing why he was being so secretive.

  Waiting for the renegade star gave Cassie too much time to think. She was getting a little nervous. They had all been moved into position. Starburst and Cassie were a distance away ready to obliterate any outer crust that might fly off the star. Waiting, Cassie looked around her. ‘Jeez, this is one big-arse sky up here,’ she said quietly to Starburst.

  As the ball of light came into view, Kayden had his team of men moved around it, getting into position. However, from where she sat there seemed to be something wrong. Kayden spun quickly to clear out the way of a lightening bolt and then Woody only just ducked in time to miss a burst of flame that darted out at him.

  It’s unstable men; the star’s ready to blow. How like Aldebaran, the sneaky bastard to target us again for standing in his way. If it blows here it’ll do a lot of damage to nearby constellations. Cassie, you’re on. I need you to give the star a good shove. Thirty degrees north from where it is now and however far you can push it.

  Cassie glanced up at the location he just gave her and could see it was clear of anything that shone. It was just black space. She calmed herself the way Woody had taught her and imagined the star and the empty space far above them. She popped her eyes open and with her mind, not even using hands, she shoved the star with all her might. She watched as it moved but she also felt heat and panicked that it was about to blow. Needing more power, she threw up both of her hands, putting a driving force behind it. The strike was so hard the star shot out of the atmosphere they were in, the boys hot on its trail. Even with her superior eyesight up here, they were soon out of her sight. She patted Starburst and told him he was a clever boy for helping her with that extra bit of power she needed. Cassie was told to stay put so that’s exactly what she was going to do. And yet sitting so quietly, nerves got the better of her and she worried if they were alright as she couldn’t even hear Kayden anymore.

  Should I stay or should I go see if they’re okay? The thought ran around in her head. What if they’re hurt or worse? ‘Damn, Starburst, this waiting sucks,’ she bitched. ‘If we go and they’re fine, we’ll be in deep shit. Then they’ll most likely never trust us again.’ She kept patting Starburst, trying to make a decision. ‘We’ll show them we can be trusted, won’t we, boy? Let’s just sit tight a bit longer,’ Cassie said as they sat and waited. And waited. And waited.

  Aldebaran’s Shock Surprise

  ‘Aldebaran, don’t you dare. You’ll hurt her. She’s just a young lass,’ Conom yelled at him angrily through the headset.

  Aldebaran had been watching from his home world via satellite and Conom had only just tuned in. He hadn’t seen what the little witch had done. He hadn’t seen the female of the group use her powers to shove their weapon out into the harmless realm of deep space. Aldebaran was so enraged he couldn’t even get out what she was capable of. He was just about to knock the bitch off her horse for foiling his plan to destroy the Cross family when Conom forced him to stop. The fire in him to hurt something was raw and he had to battle to control it.

  ‘Well, where the bloody hell did they find their new witch? I thought our crack team had executed their entire list of possible people who could have become future Cloud Riders. If we don’t get rid of the damned pests we’ll never get rid of Orion and I’ve had just about as much of him as I can take, Conom.’

  ‘Aldebaran, I don’t mind the slaughter of any man that gets in our way but I’ll have no part of hurting this one. She seems to be a very young immortal, maybe just evolved, and can be controlled. Zoom in and get a look at her. Maybe she’s from up here and we can deal with the family, frighten them into pulling her out of the team.’

  Aldebaran turned the focus on her face. She was sitting quietly now, waiting for the others to return. He zoomed in on her face and felt a flood of emotion flow through him, an emotion he had not felt for years. He had followed this child through her entire life only getting rare glimpses of her from time to time when she went outside in the garden. Why she wasn’t like other children and did not play outside daily was beyond him. It never even gave him time to snatch her up which is what he would have done given the chance. Her powers would have been so much more advanced if he had been able to get his hands on her for even just a short time. She certainly wouldn’t be on the side of Zoren’s sickening bunch of do-gooders.

  He swore loudly and kicked over a stool in his way. ‘I won’t kill her just yet, Conom but whether you like it or not I’m taking her now. And she’ll damned well come to me even if I have to bloody drug her, the traitorous little bitch. I’ll show her which side of the fence she should be playing on and she will damned well listen. Not like her wretch of a mother.’

  Conom was quiet for a minute and Aldebaran thought he must have gone. That was until he heard his very quiet and controlled voice come over the radio. ‘I can sense you know this female well, Aldebaran but I’m warning you, buddy, I’ll not stand by and let you murder one so yo
ung when she has caused no damage other than delay the inevitable. Just send another, Ald. Be very careful how you handle this. I’ll be watching so make sure she’s returned unharmed.’

  ‘Just great. You can screw with their minds and treat them all like whores and yet with this one you suddenly grow a damned conscience. I really don’t get you, Conom. Why is this one different?’

  ‘Look at her. So faithful, waiting patiently, not even a movement. She’s like a little doll. Please tell me if that ain’t a quality worth saving. Play nice, Ald.’

  Aldebaran threw the headset off him and chucked it up against the wall. ‘Get me my potion book, now!’ he yelled angrily at the servant standing by the door. He was furious Conom was going to make him return her. Aldebaran rubbed his hand through his hair in frustration. He was preparing to give them all a nasty bloody shock. ‘She will come to me,’ he growled so loudly that the walls shook with the intensity of his voice. Aldebaran’s hands were shaking and he knew he had to calm down. He would scare the crap out of her, projecting the emotional energy within him.

  Cassandra and Evil Merge

  All Cassie could hear now was the gentle, light swoosh of Starburst’s wings as they gently moved to keep them in position. She finally heard Kayden’s voice as just a whisper. He must have been a long way out still and as he spoke, his words became clearer and she now recognised he was shrieking an order.