“Graw!” called Shamtile, leaping to his feet and erecting a diamond wall that blocked Steambot from the others.

  The pressure cannon beat against the dense stone. So powerful was the attack that the diamond began to crack. Thinking quickly, Shamtile burrowed underground and scurried through the earth towards his berserk friend.

  “S-sunny,” said Aurin, spitting out a mouthful of water as Glacibot helped the young man to his feet. “Follow Shamtile and cure Steambot before he gets hurt. I’d bet any money there’s a Vambra controlling him from somewhere up ahead.”

  Sunny sped through Shamtile’s tunnel before it closed behind him and, second later, the diamond wall dissipated. Standing in the tunnel with a few new dents courtesy of his reptilian teammate was Steambot with Sunny smiling happily beside him.

  “Where’s Shamtile?” asked Aurin.

  His question was answered as the two-armed flying eye that was Vambra was hurled down the corridor. Steambot caught it in his hands and averted his gaze before repeatedly bashing it against the wall, knocking it out cold and banishing it from the rift. The robot then fell to his knees and clasped his hands as though begging Aurin for forgiveness.

  “It’s not your fault,” said his tamer, wringing out his t-shirt. “But I’m starting to see now why this place could be more dangerous than a monster tower. It’s more winding, it’s tighter, and it’s much darker. I’m just glad there aren’t any traps here.”

  A squealing Shamtile came running down the corridor with something in his hands that Aurin first mistook for another Vambra.

  “An egg?” he said in amazement, upon realising what Shamtile had found. “My friend, you are a king among men and monsters. Give it here and I’ll keep it safe until we return to the surface.”

  Shamtile passed the egg over and cocked his head to the side. He gave a shrug to Aurin.

  “No, we aren’t leaving yet. We’ve not been down here ten minutes, so there’s plenty to be accomplished.”

  The team pressed on cautiously and the sound of falling water reached their ears. What was it? They eventually emerged into the next cavern and spotted a waterfall falling into a pool, but the pool wasn’t overflowing. Aurin walked up to the edge and Steambot pulled him back as a Doripper leapt from the water, aiming for the young tamer.

  A flurry of swift slashes from Chopchop sent a wave of blood across the cavern floor and the Doripper was banished in a flash of blue light.

  “Thanks,” said Aurin, relieved that his two Minakai had been quick enough off the mark to save him.

  Steambot gave a salute and then leapt into the water to check for any other lurkers. It was dark underneath and Sunny’s glow could not penetrate deep enough into the water to reveal what lay in the depths, but Steambot returned shortly and confirmed that there was nothing else to worry about—for now.

  Shamtile started hopping up and down on the spot while pointing to the far side of the pool. Aurin followed the Minakai’s finger and spotted something very curious indeed. There were a dozen red and white chessboard-patterned tiles where there should have been stone. The team rushed around to get a closer look.

  “Tiles?” asked Aurin, bending down and running his hand across them. “These…these are from a tower. What in the world is this place?” He stood up and looked around. “The rift doesn’t connect directly to a Minakai world, does it? It draws its power from the monster towers. These must be bleeding through from one of the floors of Maple Tower.”

  Shamtile shrugged.

  “I know you don’t know the answer, I’m hypothesising aloud.”

  Shamtile shrugged again.

  “It doesn’t matter what hypothesising means.”

  This novel's true home is a different platform. Support the author by finding it there.

  There came three flashes of steely-grey light and a trio of towering Titamet’s materialised. Their purple vaporous forms crackled and fizzled as they punched their metallic fists together and stared at the group from behind their masks.

  “Take them out!” ordered Aurin and his Minakai leapt to action.

  The Titamet trio conjured up a spectral force and sent the immense blast of energy towards Chopchop. It clanged against his armour and the metallic plates reverberated so intensely that they paralysed the soldier ant. A follow-up punch from one of the Titamet sent Aurin’s Minakai flying into the water where he splashed away out of sight. Fearing Chopchop would drown, the tamer banished his Minakai back to Hazelton.

  Shamtile had conjured up his stone fists and was going toe to toe with one of his much larger opponents, unable to match its strength, but out speeding his foe with ease. Aided by the frosty shower from Glacibot that slowed the Titamet to a near-halt, Shamtile toppled the undead metal elemental.

  Steambot meanwhile was firing a relentless blast of water at the third Titamet, pinning it against the wall as it desperately tried to fight back. Aid came to the creature when a Treebot barrelled from one of the tunnels and headbutted Steambot in the side, knocking him down.

  Glacibot rammed his sharp head into the Titamet, banishing it from the rift, while a Fyrvern soared into the cavern, spewing waves of fire. Shamtile hurled stone spears at the red wyvern who swooped and twirled to avoid most of them. By the time the dragon-like creature was downed, Shamtile was starting to feel the strain.

  “Alright, it’s time to get out of here,” said Aurin, regretting not leaving earlier. “Everyone let’s—”

  “Greeeeeeh!” groaned Steambot as he lifted the Treebot over his head and slammed it into the wall.

  As he gave a victory cheer, a Gorunze burst into the room and fired an assortment of shrapnel at Steambot, tearing apart his torso and knocking him out. Sunny tried to heal him, but the damage was too great for her to fix under fire.

  “Run!” called Aurin.

  He sprinted for the exit as Steambot vanished in a blue light. Glacibot picked up his tamer and threw him onto his back while Sunny hurriedly floated along behind the duo. Shamtile kept to the rear, summoning rock walls to hamper any wild Minakai that dared follow the group through the tunnels.

  There came smashing after smashing as wild monsters tore down Shamtile’s walls, but the masked lizard was relentless in erecting more. It put a massive strain on him, something he wouldn’t have had to contend with in a tournament match, but he dug deep and pushed through to keep his master and teammates safe.

  Glacibot bolted towards the entrance chamber and upon Aurin looking over his shoulder, he could no longer see Shamtile following behind the ice elemental. Fearing what would happen to his friend, he willed him to return to Hazelton and saw a faint flash of orange light from down the corridor as Shamtile was banished from the rift.

  As the light from the opening to the outside world appeared overhead, Aurin flew from Glacibot and landed on the dirt as the icy Minakai skidded away—he had been struck by a stone spear thrown by rampaging Tuskade that was storming down one of the tunnels and aiming straight for Glacibot. The icy robot tried to rise, but was pinned against the wall and large chucks of his icy body broken off by a swing of the elephant’s boulder-tipped tail.

  Sunny squealed and pleaded with Aurin.

  “Carry me?” he asked, at which she needed wildly.

  Aurin put his arms around the small egg-like Minakai while keeping a firm grip on the egg. Sunny strained to move, but began floating upwards, lifting Aurin slowly off the ground as the Tuskade finished with Glacibot. Aurin banished his monster as the Tuskade hurled a boulder at the upwardly drifting target.

  It flew towards the two but Aurin swung his legs up and kicked the boulder aside, nearly breaking his toes, but saving Sunny from the attack. The force did throw her back somewhat, but she forced herself to float faster and she carried herself and Aurin threw the barrier; the wild Minakai could no longer reach the pair.

  “Almost there, Sunny,” said Aurin, clenching his jaw to deal with the pain in his foot. It was sore but he did not believe it was broken.

  “Yeeee!” squealed Sunny as she lifted herself and her tamer up and into the outside world.

  Aurin swung himself over to the grass and then flopped down on it. Sunny spiralled down to join him and lay panting on the grass, her yolky face now a deep orange rather than its usual pale yellow.

  “You’re a lifesaver,” said Aurin, taking off his boot to inspect his foot.

  Sunny made no noise other than deep inhalations and exhalations. For a Minakai as small as her to dig down and carry a human was impressive to Aurin. It was all the more impressive considering he was taller and heavier than your average human, standing at six feet tall and being quite muscular from his years of training alongside his team.

  “I think we’re done with rifts for a while,” he said, patting her gently and then holding the egg up into the air. “At least we’ve got something to show for our troubles.”

  Sunny let out a low groan before returning to her deep breathing.

  “All of us taking a beating and pushing ourselves hard always pays off in the end, doesn’t it?” said Aurin, letting out a small chuckle. “I have one more favour to ask of you…”

  Sunny looked terrified, knowing what Aurin was going to ask her to do.

  “Yes,” he said, looking to the lake surrounding the small island. “I’m going to need you to carry me to the shore. I’ll carry you the rest of the way back to Evan’s ranch.”

  here.

  Patreon where you can get twenty advance chapters, putting you ten weeks ahead.

  Discord today and start discussing Minakai.

  Aurin's Team:

  Luna's Team: