Luna’s Cryoth released a sprinkling of crystalline dust from her wings as she whizzed down the ninth floor corridor of Harmony Tower. The green wolf that was Budescent skidded to a stop as the dust touched its fur. He trembled as he felt a rushing chill come over him. With a firm zap from Luna’s Beetabolt, the wolf fell unconscious and vanished from the tower.

  “Good teamwork, you two,” said Luna.

  Cryoth flew towards her tamer, and Luna stroked her chin with a single finger, making the delicate ice moth squeal with delight. Beetabolt wandered over, the bigger and considerably less cute insect hoping for the same treatment. Instead, he settled for a pat on the head.

  “You two will be titans of your elements in no time,” said Aurin, nodding approvingly. Gittup and Flowl bounced up and down beside Aurin, also hoping for his approval. “Yes, yes. Of course, you both will be too.”

  Gittup grinned at Flowl, who let out a loud bucking noise as he hopped from foot to foot, his flaming body flickering wildly. The two had come a long way in their training, especially Flowl, who Aurin had considered the weakest link in his team. While that was still the case, Flowl was improving at a steady pace in terms of both power and control. He still had his gung-ho attitude, but he knew when to temper himself in the face of a bigger and better enemy.

  As the two wandered along, Aurin was careful to loot every coin he came across. After spending so much of his accumulated wealth on his travels across Bretonia, building his house, and feeding both himself and his Minakai, he needed to start penny pinching. As much as he joked about leeching off Kyle’s supplies at the ranch, he knew he had to be able to fend for himself. The rancher had done enough for him.

  By the time the tamers had reached the twelfth floor, their Minakai were beginning to tire. Aurin had gotten so used to ascending the tower with his battle-hardened team members that he had forgotten just how much of a strain it was for more recently hatched monsters to hit the double-digit floors. Had all four Minakai not been present and covering for each other, at least one of them would surely have fallen by now.

  “Alright, time to call the run,” he said. “I think we’ll spend the rest—”

  He stopped talking and a look of glee spread across his face as he saw what sat within one of the rooms. He approached the doorway carefully and inspected each of the floor tiles for hidden traps, and was relieved to find none. He scooped up the grey egg sitting on the tiles and twirled it around in his hands.

  “It’s my lucky day,” he said.

  “And this time, we’re not going to lose it by being booted out of the tower,” said Luna, nodding along.

  “I’ve told you before, Luna. We don’t talk about lost eggs.”

  “Oh, come on. We’ve lost more than a dozen each at this point—”

  “Alright,” said Aurin, pulling out his Orb of Return. “We’re leaving before you jinx me.”

  Luna stuck out her tongue playfully as Aurin harnessed the magic of the orb. The spell was released and the two were whisked from the tower, landing safely on the grass outside with their four Minakai spawning beside them.

  It was a chilly late Autumn afternoon and many of the golden leaves had fallen from their trees, littering the grass and patchy soil nearby. From a stacked pile of leaves, burst a masked lizard. Shamtile leapt through the air and landed before his tamer, giving Aurin a proud salute.

  “All quiet in the western woods?” asked Aurin.

  “Grugh!” grunted Shamtile.

  “Good,” said Aurin, turning to the tired Gittup and Flowl. “We’ll head home, get you fed, and let you rest.

  In a flash of blue light, Innogon appeared before Luna. “Inno, you’re on bodyguard duty until we get home.”

  Unauthorized use: this story is on Amazon without permission from the author. Report any sightings.

  Aurin and Luna said their farewells, and the Minakai looked away in revulsion as they pecked each other on the lips. They found that particular human mating ritual to be disgusting. Innogon, of course, did not see the irony of his stance. He had a tendency to spit water at people and monsters for his own amusement.

  As Aurin as his three Minakai made their way through the forest, Aurin had a sense of unease. He felt that everywhere he went, he was being watched. The ambushes by the Blackjacks always came out of nowhere, and that meant that eyes were frequently upon him. Having Skrow watch the skies was far from a foolproof strategy, with the undead bird only being able to see so much when trees, buildings, and crowds were involved. Similarly, Shamtile’s tremorsense only reached so far, and wouldn’t work when his enemies approached from above as Heart had done, or if they chose to remain still.

  “I thought I was paranoid when we were dealing with the Zodiac Squad regularly,” said Aurin to his team, “but they left us alone unless we went out of our way to provoke them.”

  Shamtile let out a warbling call of agreement, while Gittup and Flowl looked at each other uncertainly. They had both heard from many of the other Minakai about the trials and tribulations they had endured alongside their master, but the newer duo had had an easy ride so far.

  As a crystal flew through the air, an icicle shot towards Flowl. The small bird clucked in pain as he fell, and Aurin was forced to banish him back home. The crystal on the ground shattered, and Aurin braced himself to fight whoever had chosen to attack him this time.

  Shamtile whipped around, sensing the approaching footsteps. They were close, meaning the latest Blackjack had been sitting in wait for then Aurin and his team passed by.

  “Show yourself!” called Aurin, clenching his fists.

  As the whirling purple dome formed, a man emerged from the trees. He wore the familiar combat suit, but the emblem on his mask was yet another new one. This time, it was a navy spade, so dark that it could have been mistaken for black had it not been for the contrast with his combat suit. The man walked upright and with confidence as he stepped onto the forest path, staring straight at Aurin through his visor.

  “I’m not hiding,” said Spade.

  “What else do you call waiting out of sight?” asked Aurin, angered by this latest interruption.

  “I call it just that, Aurin. Waiting.” Unlike the others, his tone was harsh and spiteful, distinguishable through whatever voice modulator intended to disguise him. “I’ve been excited for this moment for some time now, you see. I was just waiting to step up and show that you’re not the powerhouse that you think you are.”

  “If you were so excited at the thought of battling me, why didn’t you?”

  The man let out a dry laugh. “There are rules that we must abide by, Aurin. We may not like them, we may not agree with them, but we have to respect them. This is the way of things. Order protects us from chaos; rules protect us from anarchy. You want a fair fight? Well, this magic grants us just that. We’re allowed three Minakai apiece.”

  “And fairness is sniping one of my monsters from afar before the magic takes hold?” Aurin wanted to rip the man’s helmet off and break his nose in retribution for his attack on poor Flowl.

  Spade shrugged. “You can summon three Minakai,” he said, “but it appears that you don’t have three on you. It’s just the unfortunate way of things. The rules are still in place.”

  Aurin felt a deep loathing for this particular member of The Blackjacks. Not only for his attack on Flowl, but for the way he manipulated the field in his favour. Spade was not the rule-abiding, order-loving man he suggested he was. He was a cunning manipulator, and Aurin wouldn’t fall for it. Little did Spade know, the young tamer was more resourceful than Spade gave him credit for.

  “Gittup,” said Aurin, pulling a Healing Herb from his jacket. “Eat up.”

  He tossed the green plant at Gittup who snatched it out of the air with his mouth. Luna had the bulk of the healing items on her, but this had been a fortunate find early during Aurin’s tower run, and he hadn’t needed to use it. As tired as Gittup was, he was going to have to fight. Aurin had a sense that Spade was stronger than his comrades. Not only that, but Aurin could tell by the way the Blackjack carried himself who he was behind the mask, but he couldn’t prove it. The battle would determine whether Aurin was right or not.

  “The stunted hairball is up first, is he?” asked Spade, folding his arms across his chest. “So be it. Let it be a battle of lightning versus lightning.”

  Spade threw out his hand. The bracelet around his wrist glowed purple, summoning forth the masked man’s Wunder. The golden bird flew up high, spread its wings, and discharged a small burst of electricity. It was charged up and ready to go.

  “I knew it,” muttered Aurin, having seen this Wunder before. And he suspected that Spade did not care if his identity was revealed, otherwise he would have used a Minakai he knew Aurin had never met. “This won’t be easy, Gittup, but give it your all!”

  Gittup flicked his tail up and summoned a lightning bolt as Wunder spat one from its beak. The two strikes collided in mid-air, exploding out in a wave of energy. In the veil of the blinding light, Wunder coated itself in electricity and sped towards Gittup.

  “Dodge!” called Aurin, squinting as the vague shape of the glowing bird grew larger as it approached.

  right here.

  Aurin's Team:

  Luna's Team: