Today was the day to conquer the tower. Aurin could think of nothing else as the train pulled up to the platform. He rose to his feet, grabbing his backpack from the empty seat to his right. He beckoned his short friend forward and the pair waited by the door for it to open; what was mere seconds felt like an hour. Aurin was excited to venture into Harmony Tower here in the quiet countryside town of Hazelton.
The doors opened and he burst out. He could wait no longer, and his companion followed him enthusiastically. The small green creature had spikes protruding from the back of his head along with a wooden mask featuring green markings.
The creature, Shamtile, chased after the young man who had run down the platform and leapt down the stone staircase. The reptilian Shamtile had no trouble keeping up, even though he was less than half of Aurin’s height. He was a speedy little Minakai.
Minakai. Monsters from parts unknown that made their way to Aurin’s world through ancient, magical towers. Some kept Minakai as pets, others battled them for fun, and some used their Minakai to ascend the towers in search of adventure. The last of those was Aurin’s goal.
“No time to rest, Shamtile,” said Aurin brightly as the pair quickly dashed through the streets of Hazelton.
Harmony Tower was a magnificent structure and loomed in the distance, higher than any building in the small town. Fifty floors tall was what they said, but nobody seemed to know what lay at the top. Aurin wanted to find out. He was going straight to the top this very day. He would be the first person to reach the top of a monster tower on their first try.
Less than half an hour later, Aurin stood in a small forest clearing at the base of the tower with his masked lizard standing beside him. The grey stone tower was covered in vines and moss all along the outside. At the top of the mysterious structure, was a shadowy aura that was almost reminiscent of storm clouds as they swirled and flashed, fading from sight for a short while only to reappear seconds later.
The only windows were to black voids and the only entrance was the large wooden doors. It was not a doorway that you could merely walk through, and you certainly couldn’t break the doors down. The magic of the tower would not allow you to.
Aurin walked towards the entrance while reaching inside his shirt, pulling out an ornate key tied to a string. The bronze key glistened in the midday sun, without a hint of stain or tarnish. It had been a gift from Aurin’s father for his fifteenth birthday a few months ago. In fact, his father had given Aurin both a key to Harmony Tower and a Shamtile egg on the very same birthday. It took many months after that to convince his mother to let him embark on this journey.
Shamtile waved his arms frantically, letting out a warbling noise as he did so.
“It’s fine, Shamtile,” grinned Aurin. “Just follow my instructions and we’ll be at the top by this time tomorrow. I’ve been studying for this for years, remember? A combat-type tower like this one should be easy for us.”
Shamtile clapped his hands and started jumping. Aurin was never quite sure what his Minakai was trying to convey, but he took it to mean that Shamtile was reassured by his tamer’s confidence.
The young man ran his hand through his dark blonde hair and sighed, a lot had led up to this big moment. He raised the key and inserted it into the lock. It turned with little force and the doors began to open by themselves. Aurin pulled his key out and took in the sight before him. The tower doors didn’t open into a room. No. The doors opened into a swirling vortex of blue and green. Aurin could feel the portal pulling him inside and he gave in, allowing it to do so. For a few seconds, everything went dark.
Light then flooded Aurin’s vision and he found himself standing in a corridor. It was lit by mysterious lanterns that did not contain fire, but something much closer to glowing orbs of pure light. The walls were a dull grey stone, and the floor was covered in cream and black marble tiles, similar to a chessboard.
“We’re stuck now, Shamtile,” said Aurin as he turned to where you would expect to find a door. “Now that we’re in the tower, we don’t get to leave until you’ve been defeated, I find a magical orb to use or...well, I die. That doesn’t happen too often these days, certainly not on the lower floors.”
Aurin and Shamtile walked down the corridor, Aurin on the lookout for treasure with each stride. Silver, gold and magical items would all be very nice, but Minakai eggs are what Aurin sought most. You could buy them on the outside, but the best ones were pricey.
“Caaaaaw,” came a sizzling screech from around a corner. A tiny fireball with bird-like legs and a beak emerged from the centre of the flickering flame and was charging at Aurin.
“A Flowl!” yelled Aurin at Shamtile. “You’ve got this, buddy. Go get him!”
Shamtile got down on all fours and sped towards the charging Flowl, tackling it and knocking it backwards. The angered Flowl spat a fireball at Shamtile, but the reptile slickly dodged with a well-timed leap.
“You’ve got the elemental advantage, Sham,” called Aurin, “use an earth attack.”
Shamtile nodded and waved his hands in the air, conjuring a large rock. Shamtile hurled the rock at the flaming bird-like Minakai; it was not fast enough to get out of the way. The rock collided with the Flowl and pinned the little monster against the wall. The Minakai passed out and disappeared in a burst of red light.
Aurin jumped and cheered while Shamtile started to wave his hands in the air once again, this time in celebration.
“Good job, my friend,” congratulated Aurin. “Our first battle in the tower and it was a great success. Feeling better now?”
Shamtile rubbed his hands on his wooden mask and then began to clap. Aurin was confident that that was a yes.
The pair walked further down the corridor. Before long, it forked in two directions and Aurin chose to go along the left path, which led into a small room containing…
Unauthorized reproduction: this story has been taken without approval. Report sightings.
“Yes!” exclaimed Aurin, rushing to the centre of the room. “A few pieces of silver. Now we might be able to afford a place to stay for the night, Shamtile.”
Aurin continued to wander the first floor of the tower, slowly taking in the different rooms and corridors as he moved. He began forming a map in his head, making every effort to remember it. He didn’t run into any more Minakai, nor any fellow tamers. He considered this to be somewhat odd, having read up on how the towers worked many times over.
“It’s strange,” said Aurin to Shamtile. “Why is it so empty here? Is somebody here on the floor with us clearing the way? It must have been recently or new Minakai would have spawned. We haven’t found the elevator to the second floor either, so there must be more ahead somewhere.”
Aurin backtracked to try and find a corridor he missed and, find it, he did. He walked down the corridor and came to another room. The young man’s eyes lit up even more than when he had found the silver coins.
“An egg!” he yelled and ran towards it. “It’s my lucky day.”
“Indeed, it is,” came a gruff voice from the shadows as Aurin picked up the egg.
Aurin turned towards the voice. Before him stood a man dressed in a black shirt and boots, with a white jacket and trousers. His hair was hidden by a white hat, and he wore a star-patterned mask that covered the top half of his face; it was made of wood and painted black, save for the white dots that were the stars.
“Who are you?” asked Aurin, backing off. Shamtile started waving his arms once again—he spent most of his day doing this for various reasons.
“Ah, you must be new,” said the man as he walked closer. “I’m a member of the Zodiac Squad. You’ll soon find out that Harmony Tower is our territory. Anything in here belongs to us. Got it? Now, hand over that egg you’ve got there.”
“No,” said Aurin, swiftly moving the egg behind his back.
The Zodiac member laughed and raised a gloved fist with three diamond-shaped gems slotted into the back of it. One of the gems glowed a bright blue and he cast his hand out in front of him. A blue, water-like Minakai in the vague shape of an upright fish appeared before Aurin. It had two handless arms instead of fins and it floated eerily above the ground, not any less creepy for the large grey eyes on the side of its head. The Minakai stared lifelessly at Aurin, sending a shiver up the young man’s spine.
“If that’s the way you’re going to be, then let’s fight for it. My Spritzard versus your Shamtile. What do you say?” asked the Zodiac member.
“I don’t think we have a choice, Shamtile,” said Aurin. “Let’s get them!”
Shamtile darted forward on all fours towards the Spritzard, but it was a slippery creature and dodged with ease. It spat a jet of water from its mouth at the lizard, knocking him to the floor and out cold. Aurin ran to his friend, but the Spritzard fired a jet of water into Aurin’s back pushing him into the wall and knocking him out as easily as it had Shamtile.
*
Aurin came to. His head was aching, but he was surprisingly comfortable. It felt as though he was lying in a bed. Yes, he was sure it was a bed. He slowly opened his eyes and light filled them. It was blurry, but he could see a ceiling above him. He blinked a couple of times and his vision started to adjust.
“You’re awake,” came a sweet-sounding voice from next to him. “I was worried it was more serious than I first thought.”
“Shamtile?” asked Aurin, remembering what had happened and bolting upright.
He looked around and saw that he was in a girl’s bedroom. A young girl, about Aurin’s age of fifteen, was sitting on a chair staring at him. She had sparkling blue eyes and shoulder-length auburn hair, held back by a blue hairband. She wore a purple jumper with wide cuffs, a white skirt and a pair of boots that matched her jumper.
“He’s fine,” smiled the girl. “Inno, come here and bring your new friend.”
A knee-height, sky-blue drake with a cream-coloured belly and a tall fin-like ridge atop his head ran into the room excitedly. He was followed by Shamtile who, true to form, waved his hands wildly as he ran. Shamtile leapt onto Aurin, almost winding his tamer. The drake stood by, smiling widely and patting his stomach while flicking his short tail back and forth.
“Good to see you, buddy,” laughed Aurin as his Shamtile sat there staring at him from behind his wooden mask.
“I’m Luna,” said the girl, reaching out her hand. “Nice to meet you properly.”
Aurin shook it. “Nice to meet you too. I’m Aurin. How did you find us?”
Luna stood up excitedly. “My little Innogon and I were on a valiant quest to enter the tower and search for magical healing herbs when we happened upon you and your Shamtile unconscious outside the tower.”
“Of course,” said Aurin, realising what had happened. “Shamtile is my only Minakai, so the tower threw me out.”
“I thought as much,” said Luna, nodding her head. “It’s normally only the Minakai who gets knocked out. Your Shamtile came around quite quickly so the three of us carried you back here to my house. You’re rather heavy, you know? I’m not sure I could have done it by myself.”
Aurin gasped. “My egg! My coins!”
Luna nodded once again. “You won’t see those again. When the tower expels you after being defeated, everything you’ve gathered is left behind, but I’m sure you knew that already. Did you get attacked by another Minakai?”
“Not quite,” said Aurin quietly, embarrassed by what had happened. “We were attacked by a strange man with his own Minakai. He said he was part of a group called the Zodiac something.”
“The Zodiac Squad? They’ve been causing a lot of trouble here lately. They’re a large gang that acts like regular people in the town, so you don’t even know they’re part of the group. When they enter the tower, they put on their Zodiac outfits to disguise themselves and sabotage other tamers.”
“Why?” asked Aurin.
“I don’t know,” sighed Luna. “Maybe they want to claim the treasures in the tower for themselves? It’s been happening a lot lately and people are starting to get sick of it.”
Aurin sat on the bed thinking about all of this. He’d met his fair share of unpleasant folks in his hometown of Buckstone, but this Zodiac guy was something else. He didn’t like the thought of many more of these Zodiac Squad members walking around, hidden in plain sight, ready to attack you the second you enter the tower.
“Do you have an Orb of Return?” asked Luna. “It’s a magical orb that lets you escape from the tower with everything you own.”
“I know what it is,” said Aurin, slightly offended. “I had an unfortunate accident in the tower, but I’m not clueless.”
Luna raised an eyebrow.
“Sorry, I shouldn’t have snapped,” Aurin said, feeling ashamed of how he had spoken to her. “And thank you for helping me out, Luna. I haven’t said that yet and I really should have.”
Luna beamed. “It’s okay, Aurin. You can stay in our guest room tonight, my parents won’t mind, and tomorrow morning we can go to the tower together. I have an orb, so we’ll have an escape route when we need it. I’ll help you find an egg and you can help me find herbs.”
Aurin nodded. “Okay, that sounds like a great idea. What do you think, Shamtile?”
Shamtile made an uncomfortable screech that Aurin took as a yes.
*
The following day, Aurin, Luna, Shamtile and Innogon walked up the forest path towards the monster tower that forever stood above the forest. Aurin felt substantially less prepared this time, despite being more prepared than on his first venture.
He knew he had been foolish in thinking that he could conquer the tower on his first try and being defeated so easily on the first floor had brought him back down to Earth. Now it was time to be serious and not underestimate the challenges that would make themselves known to him.
“Ready?” he asked, stopping by the large doors.
“Yes,” nodded Luna with a smile on her face.
The young man placed his key in the hole and turned it once again, feeling the tower trying to pull him inside as the doors opened. Aurin, Luna, Shamtile and Innogon did not resist and entered the swirling vortex, ready to face the gauntlet of Harmony Tower together.