Gorunze scooped Aurin into his arms and rolled backwards, smashing against the far wall as a paralysing trap was unleashed. The crackling light fizzled into nothing, dissipating as quickly as it had emerged. Once he was certain the trap was no more, Gorunze righted himself and set Aurin back on his feet.

  “Thanks, bud,” said Aurin, feeling immense gratitude towards his Minakai. “I’d have been a sitting duck if I couldn’t move. I suppose you’d have taken me somewhere safe, wouldn’t you?”

  Gorunze groaned in agreement.

  “At least we know one of the tricks Alfred spoke of. He’s rigged the stadium with traps, just like the tower.”

  Wondering how he had done it, Aurin leaned into the room. Looking to the left, he saw a red light on a small device. It appeared to be some sort of motion sensor. Aurin glanced upward and saw a small hammer connected to the ceiling. Within its bracket, lay an empty slot where something had sat very recently. Below Aurin was a pile of dust; the remains of the smashed crystal.

  “Clever,” he muttered. “He can’t rig them magically like in the tower, so he smashes the crystal to unleash the spell. We’ll need to be extra careful, Gorunze.”

  Aurin proceeded down the corridor, looking around as he did so. He checked his surroundings from the ceiling to the floor, terrified that he would set off a more deadly trap. While he doubted Alfred wanted him dead, that did not mean that he hadn’t set traps that would hurt a lot more than a paralysing trap.

  Sensing movement out of the corner of his eyes, Aurin glanced up at the wall. He breathed a sigh of relief when he saw a security camera looking down at him. That relief was quickly washed away when he realised that he was being watched by Alfred. As tempting as it was to give a rude gesture, he refrained, instead choosing to pretend he didn’t have a lunatic looking over his shoulder.

  When he arrived at a conference room, Aurin spotted another motion sensor sitting at the far end of the room, ready to be triggered when he walked around the table. As he squatted to look for the spell crystal it would unleash upon him setting it off, he saw something else. There was a gift box hidden beneath the table. It was wrapped in aqua blue wrapping paper and covered in blue polka dots. A gold ribbon was tied around it, finished with a neat bow on top.

  “If the trap is the trick, this box must be the treat,” said Aurin as he reached for the box. He pulled it out and took in one hand. Before opening it, he hesitated. “Unless this is also a trap.”

  He looked fervently around and quickly found the red spell crystal in the corner of the room, resting atop a podium. Believing he was being overly cautious, he pulled on the ribbon. As it fell to the ground, he tore off the wrapping paper and opened the box, revealing a Healing Herb within. Grateful for it, he pocketed it for later.

  As he stepped back into the corridor, Aurin heard footsteps approaching. He held up a hand, silently ordering Gorunze to remain still. The footsteps were slow, telling Aurin that it was someone other than Spade. They were also not dainty, indicating that Heart had not caught up to him either. That left two of The Blackjacks, and Aurin suspected he knew which one.

  He stood in wait by the door of the conference room as his opponent drew closer. He listened for the sound of a Minakai, but there was no second set of footsteps, nor was there a beating of wings. The man was alone. It was not long before Diamond appeared, following the curved wall of the oval building. Aurin had guessed correctly who was approaching.

  Upon seeing Aurin, Diamond froze. “You aren’t even trying to hide?” he asked in surprise.

  “With this guy following me?” asked Aurin, raising his hand over his shoulder and prodding Gorunze with his thumb. “He’s not the stealthy kind, Nolan.”

  “Yes, you would be right about that.” Diamond cracked his neck and readied his summoning stone. “It looks like I’ve got the honour of the first point,” he said smugly.

  He summoned his Techwing in a flash of grey light. As Techwing spread its wings, a topaz beam erupted from Gorunze’s eyes, clipping Techwing’s wing. Diamond was shocked by the quick reaction Gorunze displayed, and he quickly realised his Minakai would struggle to take flight. This meant he needed to overpower the brute immediately.

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  Techwing shot a red beam from its eyes as Gorunze followed up with a second beam of his own. The two beams collided in mid-air, locking together in a radial burst of orange. As Gorunze and Techwing fought for dominance, the orange ball of light moved back and forth. Aurin had expected Gorunze to outmatch Techwing with little issue, but Techwing was much better trained than Aurin had first realised.

  “We don’t have time to play around, Gorunze,” said Aurin, concerned that Heart or Spade would find him and join the fray. “Full throttle!”

  With a reverberating mechanical grunt, Gorunze’s beams grew thicker. The orange orb slid towards Techwing, shortening the red laser beams considerably.

  “We’re playing to win,” scolded Diamond. “Take out that scrap metal.”

  As Techwing’s beams also thickened, Gorunze rolled aside, letting his opponent won the duel of the laser beams. Techwing, not realising what was happening was struck by another beam and thrown backwards. Diamond yelled in rage as Gorunze pounced, leaping in the air a surprisingly large distance for a monster of his size and weight. Gorunze slammed his huge mass into Techwing, crushing it beneath his body. As he arose, Techwing did not stir.

  “You’ve got more than that,” said Aurin, cockily gesturing toward Diamond’s bracelet. “Summon your next.”

  “Perhaps another time,” replied Diamond, his robotic tone rising in pitch. Rather than raise his wrist, he reached an arm behind his back. “To be continued, Aurin. I’ll see you later.”

  The Blackjack flung a smoke bomb at the ground and unleashing the black cloud. Aurin watched as the smoke faded away, revealing an empty space where Diamond had stood. He sneered, knowing his foe was too cowardly to take him on with a full team. No doubt, he’d show his mask again when Aurin had been whittled down by his fellow Blackjacks.

  He found the whole situation rather sad. Nolan had seemed like a nice guy before this whole affair. In fact, he had grown fond of Rick, Nolan, and Holly as a trio of gamers. Aurin wandered if Rick and Holly had any inkling about their friend’s alter ego. No doubt, they would turn their backs on him when the truth came to light, which it soon would. Once Alfred had been dealt with, he would ensure that Jackson left Hazelton and never returned, and that Nolan and Ruby had their secrets revealed.

  Gray, he would show mercy to. His decision to expose himself and reveal his deceit showed remorse. Aurin would not punish someone who did the right thing in the end. But, in the interest of keeping Gray safe from Alfred Ashmore’s wrath, Aurin wanted Gray to continue his role as Club as though he had never met with Aurin in private regarding Alfred’s game and the purpose of The Blackjacks.

  Aurin was still left wondering how the readings of his Minakai would play into the game. So far, it didn’t seem like it had factored into this round, however, that did not mean that it wouldn’t. He had moved barely a hundred metres from the entrance hall and had plenty of the stadium left to explore.

  “Anything?” asked Kyle, descending into the square where Luna and her Splashard waited beside Aurin’s team.

  “Not a peep since Gorunze disappeared,” said Luna, watching as Kyle dismounted Wingbloom. “Can you see the battlefield at all?”

  “I can’t see a thing through the dome,” sighed Kyle. “It’s much larger than I expected.”

  “It’s larger than the one Nolan summoned in the town square, by orders of magnitude.”

  Shamtile tugged on Luna’s sleeve, whimpering. Splashard put a comforting arm on Shamtile’s back and drew comforting circles with her rounded hand.

  Luna smiled at the lizard. “You don’t need to worry. If he needs your help, he’ll summon you.”

  The thudding of padded footsteps founded as Gardner rode his Vinewolf towards the group. “Every entrance is sealed and every window is immovable,” he said. “The magic has coated the entire building and I can’t do a thing about it. I tried Gray inside, but the ports disappeared the second he stepped through it.”

  Kyle kicked the ground in annoyance. “We knew this would likely be the case, but it doesn’t make me feel any less useless.”

  “If Gray has betrayed us and helps this Ashmore clown hurt Aurin, I’ll kill him.”

  Luna wagged her finger. “I don’t like the situation either, but Aurin trusted Gray. We’re going to have to trust his judgement, alright? I don’t want to have to tell you again.”

  Gardner’s face darkened as he looked at the ground. “I trust Aurin and I know that he’s got good intuition, but everything about this situation feels so wrong.” He turned towards the stadium. “Aurin’s good and trusting nature has been preyed on too many times for my liking. Conrad, Leo, Nolan… Sir Ashmore.”

  “Conrad came through in the end, remember?” said Luna.

  “I know he did, but that doesn’t change the fact that he duped Aurin in order to spy on him, does it?”

  “Enough,” said Kyle calmly. “No matter what we think of Gray, the situation is what it is. We’ll keep checking the barrier and we’ll see if anything changes. Once Aurin gets out of the stadium safely, we can all sit down and discuss how trusting he is and how it sometimes bites him in the rear.”

  Gardner shook his head and sighed despairingly. “I’ll do another perimeter check,” he said, taking off on Vinewolf once again.

  Once he had disappeared, Kyle spoke. “I want to have Aurin’s back on this, but Gardner does make a good point.”

  “I don’t like how things are playing out for a second, Kyle,” said Luna. “But consider this. If it wasn’t for Aurin, the Zodiac Squad wouldn’t have been dissolved. If it wasn’t for Aurin, Frederick wouldn’t have turned over a new leaf. Yes, his trust can backfire on occasion, but he’s made peace with sworn enemies rather than do everything he could to ruin them. Maybe he can pull it off once again.”

  “I hope you’re right,” said Kyle, looking towards Hazelton Stadium. “I really do, Luna.”

  “He can do this,” said Luna, smiling at Aurin’s team, who returned her look of confidence.

  right here.

  Aurin's Team:

  Luna's Team: