“Jackson,” said Luna in disgust. “Of course, he’s wrapped up in all this. I can’t believe we ruled him out so early just because he wasn’t suspect number one.”

  “I wasn’t wrong,” said Aurin, sitting down on the edge of Kyle’s porch. “He wasn’t Club and we still have no idea who those other three are.”

  Kyle sighed. “I checked with Knot two days ago,” he said. “The Collector’s other cretinous minions are out on bail, but none of them have missed their check-ins. Knot gave me assurance that they’ve been keeping a low profile and are nowhere near Hazelton. That leaves the identities of the other Blackjacks up in the air.”

  “And he has no leads?”

  “No leads. The Blackjacks haven’t hassled anybody except for you. It’s a personal attack on you.”

  Aurin nodded. “If Jackson’s involved and he isn’t leading the pack, that means it’s someone else who was close to The Collector. But that could be a friend, a family member, or a business associate.”

  “He said you would get your comeuppance, didn’t he?” asked Luna.

  “Yes. Meaning attacking me is vengeance, but why haven’t most of them been going all out? They haven’t cared all that much about losing to me.”

  “I have a theory about that,” said Kyle. “What if the domes aren’t only being used to limit your Minakai summoning and to keep you isolated from outside interference?”

  “Elaborate,” said Aurin, biting his lip.

  “What if the domes are siphoning little bits of excess magic from your Minakai and using that to fuel something? I don’t know what it could be, perhaps some sort of magical crystal they want to use to blow you to smithereens or trap you in another dimension too.”

  “Too? It was Logan who brought the Orb of Dimensions to the Ruins of Transference. And he took that from the Castle Dojo. I feel like I’m being unjustly blamed here.”

  “Yes, we know that, but he took of to who knows where? That leaves you as the only other witness to Sir Ashmore’s disappearance. You’re the only viable target and one of the last two to see our obsessive friend before he was whisked away.”

  “Getting back to Kyle’s theory,” said Luna, tapping a finger on her chin. “If they’re siphoning magic, why are they clad in those strange combat suits?”

  “I have no idea,” shrugged the rancher.

  “What if they’re recording the battles?” gasped Luna. She pondered for a minute and then began nodding vigorously. “They’re recording the battles and studying your Minakai for any potential weaknesses they can exploit. Jackson’s the only one who get really angry about losing because he’s got an ego, plus a bone to pick with you. He wanted to fight you before, but Kyle and I got in the way, remember?”

  “That’s true,” said Aurin, his head starting to hurt. “Frankly, I haven’t a clue what their goal is, but your guess is as good as any. That means, if we see them again, we’re aiming for the combat suits.”

  “Not to destroy them,” said Kyle pointedly.

  “Right,” said Aurin. “I’ll see if I can get my hands on one of their masks. We’ll see if there’s some sort of camera hidden within the visors. If not, back to the drawing, but if there is…”

  “Then we can maybe find out where the video feeds are being sent to,” said Luna hopefully. “That’ll give us a lead.”

  “We need someone delicate to be able to get close enough to take the mask. Considering how quickly The Blackjacks escape after the battle, I’m sure they’ll do whatever they can to keep a distance.”

  “Work that out in the morning,” said Kyle, yawning. “I’ve got an early start, so I’m going to hit the hay.”

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  “Can I borrow your incubator?” asked Aurin with a grin. “I picked up an egg in the tower.”

  “Knock yourself out, but put it back after.”

  “Sleep well,” said Luna with a smile, as Kyle gave her a small salute of farewell.

  Aurin ran ahead of Kyle and grabbed the incubator from the rancher’s living room cabinet. As he bounced off the porch and onto the grass, Kyle ascended the stairs and made his way inside. Excitedly, Aurin rushed back over to Luna with the incubator in his hands. He set it on the grass and retrieved the egg from his backpack.

  “Betting time,” said Aurin, rubbing his hands together. “Winner treats the other to a steak dinner for our next date night.”

  Luna mulled over Aurin’s current team and their various elements. She knew that it had little bearing on what was contained within the mystery egg, but she decided to play with averages.

  “You have no cosmics, but the odds of you finding a cosmic egg is slim,” said Luna, her brow furrowed. “You have a trio of neutral elementals, which is already good coverage. Of the order elementals, you have two each. Of the chaos elementals, you have three metals, two natures, and a single lightning and ice elemental. That means I think it’ll be either lightning or ice. Hmm, I think I’ll go with an ice elemental.”

  “You’re giving it much more thought than me,” chuckled Aurin. “It’s been a while since I hatched a neutral elemental, so I’ll guess one of those.”

  Aurin pressed the button on the incubator and the forcefield manifested. As the energy coated the egg, it glowed purple and Luna threw up her hands in anguish. Lightning. She was tempted to pick lightning, but had settled on ice. The light shaped itself into a small horse, standing no more than four feet tall.

  Once the purple glow faded, a mauve unicorn with a grey mane and tail stood before Aurin. It looked at the creature, its eyes glowing blue with crackling lightning. It bowed its head before him, and its eyes turned to black. It raised its head and he strokes his new Litehorn’s mane. It let out a soft whinny, and nudged itself into its tamer’s hand.

  “I was close, so do I still get the steak dinner?” asked Luna.

  “I’ll pay for the meal if you pay for dessert after,” said Aurin, feeling the static from Litehorn’s mane making his arm hair stand on end.

  “Deal,” said Luna, gleefully.

  “Welcome to the team, Litehorn,” said Aurin. He moved his head to the side and glanced at the underside of the equine beast. “Male.”

  Luna snorted. “Better you checking than me,” she said. She yawned, as Kyle had done before. “Alright, sleepy time.”

  She pecked Aurin on the cheeks before summoning Windjinn to her side. “Don’t get attacked before morning, alright?”

  “I’ll do my best,” said Aurin, laughing. “I hope your theory is correct.”

  “We’ll find out soon, I’m sure,” said Luna. “Sleep well.”

  With that, she hopped on Windjinn’s back and took off. Luna preferred to walk home, even at night, but on the off-chance that she would be targeted by The Blackjacks, she thought it would be sensible to have a means of escape before they could activate their magical dome. It was hard to find a better place to escape to than the sky.

  “Come on,” said Aurin, guiding Litehorn along. “I’ll show you to our home. I have a Gittup, and I’m sure he’ll make the perfect training partner for you. Nothing like some elemental comradery to help spur you in in training, right?”

  Litehorn snorted. Unfamiliar with horses, Aurin wasn’t sure if it was a snort of happiness, acceptance, or disgust. No doubt, he would discover that soon enough. At the very least, Litehorn seemed amiable. When he was trained up enough to evolve into a Thundarun, he would become a speedy powerhouse.

  The night was quiet as he walked through the forest, taking a roundabout route to reach his house. He hated feeling so paranoid in somewhere that had been so safe for the last several months. Even during the Zeera Crisis, the wild Minakai had never made it this far owing to the efforts of the tamers of Hazelton.

  As Aurin guided the foal along, he spotted Skrow flying overhead. It was not the first time the undead bird had flown over his master that night, but Skrow was now content that Aurin was unharmed and returned to his favourite perch on the roof.

  Running down the hill, Shamtile rushed to greet his newest teammate. As he skidded to a halt, he summoned a small rock wall to rebound off of. It succeeded in keeping him upright and Aurin couldn’t help but chuckle at the lizard. Litehorn looked at Shamtile curiously and then swiftly turned his nose up at Shamtile’s extended hand.

  “Graw!” screeched Shamtile, taken aback by the rudeness of his newest teammate.

  “He’s a friend,” said Aurin, slapping Litehorn’s side gently. “You don’t need to be afraid of him.”

  Shamtile growled and then burrowed himself underground. He did not want to be seen retreating, so irritated was he by having a hatchling turn its nose up at him. The nerve of that Litehorn. He would get his own back during training, and then the unicorn would respect him.

  Aurin led Litehorn to Gittup, who was sleeping on the porch. The hairy beast opened one eye, stretched his legs, and then arose. With a snort, he prodded Litehorn with his tail. The unicorn immediately sank its head into a respectful bow, understanding implicitly that this lightning elemental was superior in strength to him.

  “Huh,” said Aurin, scrunching up his nose. “I’m glad I have another lightning elemental, otherwise you’d have nothing but enemies here, Litehorn. No matter, once you and the others get to know each other, I’m sure you’ll start getting along.”

  Litehorn let out another snort. This time, Aurin was certain of its meaning; the unicorn was not interested in making friends.

  right here.

  Aurin's Team:

  Luna's Team: