Cloud Riders(62)
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.