As Aurin wandered through the woods, he saw a shadow flying overhead. He could have sworn it was a large green bird of some kind and immediately suspected it to be Kyle’s Wingbloom.

“Did you see that?” he asked Shamtile, Gorunze and Snippet.

Shamtile shrugged while Snippet shook his head and Gorunze gave a loud groan.

“Shamtile, raise yourself above the trees and check,” said his tamer.

The masked lizard hopped onto the ground and raised a narrow pillar of earth from beneath him. He slowly ascended past Aurin and his teammates then over the tops of the trees. Shamtile could indeed see Wingbloom and he was carrying Kyle and Hogannon on his back while Snowlem clung to his feet.

Shamtile hopped to the ground and nodded at Aurin, giving a warbled yell of confirmation to reinforce his point.

“I wonder how he’s doing?” asked Aurin.

*

Snowlem released his grip on Wingbloom’s legs and dropped onto the top of the tower. Wingbloom landed carefully and bent down to let Kyle and Hogannon slide off.

“Thanks, Wing,” said Kyle, patting his Minakai’s smooth green beak. “If we’re lucky there’ll be another item in this tower too.”

Kyle looked around the roof of the tower, but there was nothing to be found. He even checked between the battlements and over the edge for anything perhaps tied up. Even if he didn’t want whatever was to be found, he certainly didn’t want his opponents to get it first.

“I think we’re clear, gents,” he said to his Minakai. “Let’s head down and look around on foot.”

Kyle led his team down the winding staircase. Wingbloom found this particularly difficult with his spindlier legs and the low ceiling, so he resorted to taking small hops down each of the stairs. Along the way, Kyle continued his search only to find nothing. He walked outside right as two identical female tamers with long brown hair tied in braids approached the doorway, each still armed with three Minakai of their own.

“It’s empty,” said Kyle nodding towards the tower, “but be my guest to search it.”

The two girls looked at each other and smiled deviously before turning back to Kyle. He knew exactly what they wanted and they had him outnumbered six to three. He would have to play this carefully.

“My name is Harley,” said one of the twins.

“And my name is Marley,” said the other.

“You’re not going to start finishing each other’s sentences are you?” joked Kyle.

“No, Kyle, but we’re going to take you out good and early,” said Harley.

“That’s right,” said Marley. “You’re ranked much lower than you ought to be, but we’re wondering if maybe your skills have slipped over the years of working on that ranch of yours?”

“Alright,” said Kyle, tapping his Hogannon on the shoulder. “Let’s put that theory to the test, shall we? How do you want to do this? Two of yours against one of mine each time or an all-out brawl?”

“Brawl,” said the twins in unison and their Minakai moved in front of them.

The twins had identical teams, each consisting of a Thundarun, a Pillaberg and a Tuskade. Kyle didn’t see Tuskade around Hazelton all that often, the purplish-grey elephant’s long ears were tipped with hard brown stone that ended in a point, while its tusks were made of similar stone and its heavy tale was more like a wrecking ball than anything else. It was a bulky creature and the one he expected to give him the most trouble.

If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation.

“Team, you know what to do!” called Kyle as his Minakai lined up in front of him to face their opponents.

The Thundarun charged for Wingbloom, who soared up and out of reach only to be targeted by twin lightning strikes. The flying plant flicked its wings and twirled around to avoid the attacks, then burst towards one of the Thundarun. Wingbloom’s beak flashed with its electrically charged horn. Distracting it with the clash, Wingbloom whipped its wing and cut into the Thundarun’s side. The second Thundarun rammed into Wingbloom with its own horn, forcing Kyle’s Minakai to back away.

One Pillaberg shot icicles at Snowlem, while the other raised icy walls to block the hefty snowballs that Snowlem flung at the two Minakai.

“Relentless, Snowlem!” ordered Kyle.

Snowlem summoned a large snowball into his hands. In a glow of soft blue light, it suddenly was encased in ice. Snowlem drew his hands over his head and then tossed the huge icy ball at his opponents. The icy wall shattered and one of the Pillaberg was knocked over like a skittle in a bowling alley. Snowlem ran forwards, dodging the rapidly spawning icicles and grabbed the toppled Pillaberg and swung it round, smashing it into its teammate.

While the other battles raged on, Hogannon fired mighty fireballs at the enraged Tuskade who whipped their wrecking ball-like tails around, batting the fireballs away as they forced their towards Hogannon. Hogannon unleashed a mighty fire blast from his cannon arms, but the Tuskade powered on through and simultaneously slammed into the cannoneer pig, knocking him back and into Snowlem, who accidentally whacked him with the Pillaberg he was swinging wildly.

“Careful!” demanded Kyle as Harley and Marley giggled at Snowlem’s mishap. “Switch opponents.”

Wingbloom moved away from the two Tundarun and stuck his talons in one of the Tuskade’s eyes, blinding it as he beat his wings and unleashed a sharp wind that sliced into its thick hide. The two earthen elephants flung rocks at the bird-like plant—one considerably more accurately than the other—but Wingbloom was too quick for them.

Snowlem, flipped the struggling Pillaberg round and hurled it at one of the Thundarun. Its spiked tip pierced the flesh of the unicorn. It unleashed a burst of electrical energy, zapping the Pillaberg that was half-stuck in its side. It succumbed to its injuries just as Pillaberg fell unconscious from the electric running through it. It was now three against four and the battle was looking much more in favour of Kyle and his team.

Hogannon blasted away an icy wall from the remaining Pillaberg, who shot an icicle that caught inside one of the pig’s cannons. Hogannon tried to shoot the icicle out, but the icicle was wedged in tight. It shot out weakly, but the explosive force injured Hogannon’s own arm and the Minakai squealed in pain. Suddenly, an off-target rock struck the large pig on the forehead. The blinded Tuskade had missed his target but taken out another opponent in the process.

“Wingbloom, spinning razor!” ordered Kyle.

Wingbloom squawked in compliance, then spun head over heels rapidly. His long plume whipped out behind him and as his speed increased became as sharp as a circular saw turned up to the highest speed. The large bird threw itself forward and charged into the blinded Tuskade, tearing its up and knocking it out cold.

In a show of exquisite control, Wingbloom redirected himself and cut the top half of the remaining Pillaberg off. It groaned an echoey groan, unable to battle through the pain. Wingbloom, now incredibly dizzy, ceased spinning to recover.

Snowlem took the lead and ran towards the remaining Thundarun, throwing icicles at its lightning blasts to block them. The ice shattered into many pieces, exactly as the sentient snowman intended. He raised his hands, causing the floating shards to hover in the air. He smiled a smile of coal and threw his hands aside, sending a wave of icy shrapnel at the Thundarun, who was unable to zap all of the projectiles in time. The fragments wedged itself into its skin and it keeled over in defeat.

“No!” cried out Harley, her last Minakai defeated.

“Tamer nineteen, Lady Harley, eliminated by tamer thirty-two, Master Kyle,” came Lord Kensington’s voice.

“I give up!” called Marley as her Tuskade came to a stop.

“I don’t think so,” said Kyle with a sly grin.

Snowlem flung a sharp icicle at Tuskade, and Wingbloom cast a mighty wind behind it, propelling it even fast. Tuskade put its ears together, the rocky ends forming a shield, but the icicle burst on threw and smashed into its head. Stunned, it didn’t have time to react as Wingbloom rammed into it, knocking it to the ground. Kyle had won.

“Tamer twenty, Lady Marley, eliminated by tamer thirty-two, Master Kyle,” came Lord Kensington’s voice.

“I don’t believe this,” cried Marley, stomping her feet in a tantrum as her sister patted her on the back.

“It’s alright, Marls,” said Harley, her own eyes filled with tears.

“I’m surprised you took out even one of my Minakai,” said Kyle. “Congrats on that. I think I’m a bit rusty when it comes to tournaments.”

“Thanks, I suppose,” said Marley, calming down.

“We did outnumber you,” said Harley.

Kyle nodded. “A good strategy considering the nature of this tournament. Maybe I should do the same with my friends.”

“Why didn’t you at the start?” asked Marley.

“I thought it would be more fun to steamroll through my opponents,” admitted Kyle with a laugh. “In hindsight, that may not have been the best move seeing as I’m down to two team members remaining.”

“Best of luck,” said Harley as she and Marley dismissed their Minakai, who vanished in flashes of light. “We hope you win.”

“Thanks,” said Kyle as the two girls headed back to the palace.