Cloud Riders (Lord of the Planets) (21 page)

The morning was crisp with the fragrance of fresh redwood in the air. It felt so peaceful just listening to the crackle of the flames as they bit into the dry wood. Cassie plonked down next to Woody, who put a friendly arm around her. ‘Feel like working with me for half an hour while it’s quiet?’

She didn’t refuse. She felt like he had lifted a great weight off her in the last session and looked forward to learning more about her own abilities. What he had her doing already had amazed and excited her

He smiled at her enthusiasm. ‘Just want to check your concentration after yesterday, see if you held it.’

‘No probs, I am all yours.’

‘Okay, cutie. I need you to be serious for me. Imagine we’re on the other side of the lake and take us there—no dunking me in that water.’

Cassie looked over to the other side and then closed her eyes and concentrated. The temptation to drop him in that water was just too strong and she stopped and shook her head. ‘You really shouldn’t have put that thought in my head. I can’t get past it.’

‘Cassie.’ He sounded firm, no nonsense.

‘Boy, no guessing who woke up on the wrong side of the bed this morning,’ she mumbled and closed her eyes again. She felt him with her as she visualised the other side of the lake. It was only after she felt them moving did her eyes open, allowing the magic of the moment to flow through them as they gently floated towards the opposite embankment. The sensation although strange left her empowered, determined and focused as she concentrated on Woody’s arm around her so she could keep them moving. The spot she had chosen to set them down was coming closer as the thought popped back in her head about dunking him. It was just too strong and she started to let go of her new found gift when she heard him whisper in a grumpy voice, ‘Cassandra.’

Something frightened her. It was what he called her. She shook violently as she fought to regain control. Once they sat back on solid ground, tears stung her eyes. Her breathing was uncontrollable and she was beginning to panic. She struggled to get up but Woody kept a firm grip on her. ‘Woody, let me go or I’m warning you, I will make you!’ she fumed at him.

‘Shh … work with me, talk to me,’ he said sweetly and kissed her head. ‘Tell me what you’re feeling.’

‘Angry!’ she snapped.

‘What memories did it just bring back?’

Frustration and uncertainty weakened her mood. ‘My mother was the only one who ever called me Cassandra. I never once saw fear in her eyes and yet she never once stuck up for me. I was her child, her daughter. Woody, why?’

‘Maybe she knew where you inherited your powers from, Cassie. Maybe she was special also and kept it a secret so she could live a normal life. She would have been exposed herself if she pandered to you. You must have got it from one of your parents.’

Cassie breathed out a big sigh of relief. Could that have been it? she thought. ‘I never thought about it like that. She may have struggled and suffered for years. I know how hard it was for me to hide away my natural abilities. She must have gone through hell trying to hide as well. I always thought I was just a freak. Hereditary never came to mind.’

‘It still doesn’t excuse her behaviour toward you, Cassie. You should forgive her. It will help you heal but never feel sorry for her. She made her choice and it made her a terribly selfish and dangerous guardian to you. You deserved so much better.’

Cassie felt calmer. She was blown away by how smart and caring Woody was. ‘You always make me feel like I’m so worthy.’

He squeezed her gently. ‘You, my dear Cassandra, are the most precious gift that anyone could ever dream of.’

She searched his face and almost smiled. ‘It didn’t cut me when you said it that time.’

‘Because your name is beautiful and when you hear it I want you to remember it the way it was meant to sound.’ He stood up, pulling her to her feet with him. ‘No more today. Kayden’s just returned and is looking for us.’

They walked back around the other side of the lake. Kayden did seem anxious. ‘We’ve been summoned,’ he revealed to them while searching Cassie’s face. Without thinking, he tucked her hair behind her ears as if he was looking for something, maybe trying to read her mind through her facial expressions. ‘How is she, Woody? Will she be okay to ride on her own? It’s a renegade star this time. I’ll need to be hands-free to help you. Zoren wants it extinguished.’

Cassie spun around and eyed Woody, remembering Kayden had told her it was Woody she must convince. ‘Woody, please. I won’t muck around, I promise. You’re teaching me. I get it now.’

He crossed his arms, looking up at the sky, the muscle in the side of his neck twitching as he thought about his answer.

‘Please. I promise I won’t even smile unless you tell me to.’

He bit his lip and she knew he was trying not to grin at the pleading look she was giving him. ‘Don’t let me regret it, Cassie. You have to do everything you’re told without even thinking about it. If you have any crazy thoughts at all, Starburst will feel it and you could endanger both your lives. Do I make myself perfectly clear? Not a twitch unless you’re instructed to.’

‘Perfectly clear, not a twitch. Thanks, Woodsta. Starburst is going to be so excited when I tell him.’ She let out a yahoo and hugged Kayden, excited.

Before following the men down to the satellite room beneath the barn, Cassie stopped quickly to tell Starburst. He seemed to understand and then gave her crazy look.

‘You’re excited, hey boy.’ She felt just as keyed up as he was. Giving him one last pat, she went below to join the others to be briefed.

They were standing overlooking an oval table in the centre of the room when she joined them. The middle of it was lit up with the portion of the sky they were going to. Kayden was just finishing off the measurements and even the floor was lit up under their feet with a red line, mainly through the zodiacs.

‘How do you come up with the exact coordinates?’ Cassie asked, curious.

Kayden glanced up, glad Cassie was interested in that side of it. ‘In astronomy, constellations are measured from a line called the ecliptic celestial equator, which is the path that the sun crosses the sky over the course of a year. The moon and the planets also lie within that ecliptic.’ She followed his hand along what she was sure was the ring he spoke of. He pointed it out for her. ‘This ecliptic ring is what is used to work out the exact location of the constellation or in this case where the rogue star has been detected. By using longitude and latitude measurements it gives us the exact point we need to intercept the target.’

Kayden lifted his head from the table that was his map system to the stars. As he spoke, his voice was articulate. He looked comfortable and confident as he began briefing them while projecting the info from his laptop onto the huge wall-to-floor screen. Cassie imagined he would have made an excellent speaker, maybe even a president, if this job hadn’t come about.

He ran his long, strong fingers though his silky strands of hair and she watched as he unconsciously pushed it back off his face: a trait of his that was so endearing.

‘Aldebaran, as you all know is renowned for his wild nights and joyful events,’ Kayden continued with a smirk, putting it as delicately as he could for Cassie’s benefit.

The men nodded in agreement.

He glanced over and spoke to Cassie, catching her up on what the others would already know. ‘Mulu, ruler of the Crux, better known as the Southern Cross constellation
,
has three sons and four daughters. The Cross family and Aldebaran’s new pal Conom are among the selected friends who have enjoyed many a social evening partying with Aldebaran on his home world.’ He turned back to the group, addressing them all again. ‘One of Mulu’s daughters fell in love with the womaniser Conom. He knew how she felt and even though he felt nothing, he bedded the virgin. Then before the night was through, he went back to the party and that very same night bedded sister number two.’

‘Do you lot know this Conom?’ Cassie asked, thinking about her first time and how devastated the poor woman must have felt. ‘I’d like the chance to zap the womaniser on behalf of that poor girl.’

Woody cut in, chuckling. ‘None of us have ever met Conom so his character is only on hearsay. We have intel that he’s a gambler and spends a lot of time on earth when not on his home world playing war games and causing trouble. Even sends his people to our meetings to do his dirty work, never showing up to anything he’s invited to. He’s very choosy whom he takes up with and we’re not on his pal list. Zoren’s the only one who knows his true identity.’

Kayden nodded. ‘Yes, Zoren believes Conom is guilty as charged. He has a terrible attitude towards females. Apparently, he laughed at both women when they confronted him flipping them off as being ridiculously childish and jealous. Zoren said when his team questioned Conom he denied it was his fault and said that neither was very satisfying. He joked, saying he gave them what they wanted and lived up to his side of the bargain. The three brothers are furious he treated their sisters so poorly and forced Mulu into a corner, insisting he make a choice. Mulu has since severed the friendship with Aldebaran, now standing by his sons. They are refusing to have anything further to do with Aldebaran until he sends his new friend Conom packing. Which will never happen.’

‘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.