“Can you believe that?” Luna muttered to her team as Lord Kensington finished his announcement. “Kyle took out two tamers at once. I bet he didn’t even lose a single Minakai in that battle.”

Innogon yapped in agreement and Tadpool let out a low croak as Splashard clapped her gelatinous hands in celebration of Kyle’s announced wins.

Luna and her team were roaming the forest in search of items that may give them an edge. It had been quiet so far, both in terms of items and opponents. In truth, she had no idea where to look or how concealed the boons were, but she and her Minakai kept as close of an eye out as they could without staying in one place for too long. The last thing she wanted was to get sniped from a distance when standing still.

Suddenly, Splashard tapped her on the shoulder and let out an echoed call. Luna turned to look at her Minakai who put her fingerless hand to her ear and then pointed it further ahead. Luna listened carefully and could hear a faint gushing up ahead. It sounded like a river.

“Perfect,” she said to her team with a bright smile and giving Splashard a high five. “Let’s try and follow the river and see if it leads to anything.”

Luna led her team further into the woods, each of them keeping watch in a different direction. The foliage was thick, but it was clearly well cared for. There were numerous small paths carved out and the fallen Autumnal leaves had been swept aside, making it easy to walk along. The barefooted Luna was particularly grateful for this and was mildly irked that Lord Kensington had asked them to come in formalwear knowing that the girls wouldn’t be able to traipse around to easily in heels.

“At least you can all walk…or float,” Luna said to her Minakai, who were confused as to why she had said this out of the blue. “Sorry, I’m just thinking out loud. I wonder how Aurin’s doing? He hasn’t been knocked out and the last I heard he defeated tamer sixty-three.”

Innogon yapped in response, saying nothing in particular. He was, however, excited by Luna’s promise of a milkshake every day for a week if they made it into the final eight of the tournament.

Luna and her Minakai continued through the forest and it wasn’t long before the rushing river was before them. There was no one in sight and the river flowed to the north, so they decided to follow in that same direction. They were far from the ocean, so perhaps it led to a lake?

“In you go,” said Luna to Splashard, pointing into the river.

The slick Minakai dove into the river. She was the only Minakai Luna had that did not need to breath and the perfect candidate for searching for underwater treasure. They continued walking and a few minutes later, the forest started to open up and the river spread wider and flowed into a lake, exactly as Luna had expected.

“No items,” Luna grumbled, frustrated that she had achieved zero this entire tournament while most her friends had already achieved victories. “All the same, this is a beautiful spot.”

The lake was crystal clear and surrounded by thick grass that reached towards the surrounding forest. The river itself continued out the other side and back into the trees, but it was too distant to see clearly. Luna suddenly spotted something that made her jump. There was a tamer lying on the grass by a large stone and he had two Minakai with him, an Anacondice that was curled around the base of the stone and a Cryoth who was sitting atop it. He did not have any others in sight, so he must have lost one team member already.

“Alright, team,” said Luna, pumping her fist. “Now it’s our time to leave our first mark on this tournament.”

Luna strolled forward confidently towards the man, who sat up when he noticed her approaching. “A challenger approaches!” he called excitedly, but his face dropped a little when he noticed she had three Minakai. “I remember you, you’re Luna, right?”

“That’s right,” said Luna, also recognising the young man with the tufty brown hair and a freckled face. “And you’re Albert. I’ve seen you leaving Minakai at Kyle’s ranch before.”

“That’s where I recognise you from,” he said, snapping his fingers. “I’m surprised you’re travelling alone when Kyle himself is in the tournament.”

“I can get by just fine by myself,” said Luna, mildly annoyed.

“I wasn’t trying to insinuate that you can’t,” said Albert quickly, holding up his hands. “I only meant that it’s a good strategy to stick with friends to survive. I’ve seen others do the same already.”

“Is that how you lost one of your Minakai?”

Albert nodded. “Yes, we had to make a run for it because three tamers jumped us at the same time. My Sanguice made a good show of it, taking out two of them before he was knocked out.”

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“Are you ready for another battle then?”

“I don’t suppose I have much of a choice,” shrugged Albert, climbing to his feet and patting his Anacondice’s icy helmet. The large snake slithered upright, posing tall and looking at Innogon hungrily with its tongue flicking fast.

Innogon hopped forward, ready for the fight. “No, Inno,” said Luna. “Splashard’s taking this one. I’m saving you for later.”

Splashard flew up front as Innogon slumped sadly backwards, itching for a good fight. Anacondice moved in front of its tamer as Albert’s other Minakai, the small blue moth that was Cryoth, flew from the rock and sat upon its tamer’s shoulder.

“Do you want to count us in?” asked Albert.

“Three, two, one…fight!” called Luna.

Splashard soared forwards, twirling through the air and dodging the icicles spat by Anacondice. Splashard delivered a mighty punch to the snake’s face, only to be slice in two by its sharp tail. For a moment, Albert looked confident, but Splashard’s two halves melded back together.

The water elemental grabbed the snake by the head and swung it around, releasing it and sending it flying across the lake. The snake breathed an icy beam, freezing the surface of the water and landing on it, sliding a little before coming to a stop. It charged back towards the grass, creating an icy path as it moved.

Splashard threw her fists forward and unleashed twin water jets that knocked the Anacondice backwards.

“Take the fight to it,” ordered Luna.

Splashard flew across the lake and blasted apart the icy path as she went. Anacondice unleashed an icy beam from its mouth that collided with one of Splashard’s arms, freezing it. Not to be deterred, Splashard burst forwards and used its newly formed icy mace to beat the Anacondice across the face, knocking it into the water.

Splashard dove underneath and pulled the snake up, slamming it into the icy platform that floated on the surface of the lake. The slithering reptile lay limp on the ice, unmoving in defeat. Albert was down to his last Minakai.

“Oh no,” he muttered, dragging his palm across his face. “I had to pick a fight with water Minakai at a lake. Stupid, stupid error.”

“Alright,” said Luna. “Let’s make this next one on dry land.”

“You want to play fair rather than tactically?”

“Yes,” said Luna. “My Tadpool against your Cryoth. If you win, the battle ends here and we each leave with at least one Minakai remaining. If I win, then…well, you’re out.”

“Alright,” said Albert with renewed vigour. “Cryoth, let’s win this.”

Splashard returned to the sidelines as Tadpool leapt forward to fight. Albert’s Cryoth flew from his shoulder and into the air. This would be a test for Luna as her Tadpool was not fully evolved while Cryoth was in its final form.

“Go!” called Luna.

Tadpool darted forward and sprung into the air, flipping forward and whipping his tail at Cryoth who nimbly avoided the attack. It spun around as Tadpool landed and breathed out frosty wave. Tadpool rolled backwards clumsily to get out of the way and retaliated by shooting an icicle from its back at the blue moth.

“It won’t be that easy,” warned Albert as his Cryoth fluttered aside. “Avalanche!”

Cryoth’s wings flapped rapidly and emitted a loud buzz. The wings were moving so fast it looked as though they weren’t even there. Cryoth flipped over in midair and a large barrage of snowy boulders fell from thin air and buried Tadpool on the grass.

“Oh no!” called Luna.

“Sorry, Luna,” said Albert. “I’ll see you—”

Albert was cut off as a sudden spear of ice burst from within the pile of snow and smashed into his Cryoth’s chest. The little moth fell to the ground and lay on the grass. From the hole in the ice where the icicle had shot from, Tadpool appeared. He looked battered and weak, but he was still conscious.

“I don’t believe it,” laughed Albert. “I thought I had you there.”

“So did I,” murmured Luna as she rushed over to her Tadpool to make sure that he was okay.

Lord Kensington’s voice rang out. “Tamer twenty-six, Master Albert eliminated by tamer fourteen, Lady Luna.”

“That’s my cue,” said Albert, not looking too dejected. “I’ll see you at the end. I hope you win, Luna.”

He dismissed his Minakai and departed from the lake, leaving Luna alone. Innogon was jumping excitedly as Luna inspected Tadpool’s injuries. He seemed to be alright until he tried to walk, which was more of a limp than anything.

“You did very well,” Luna told him as Splashard picked her teammate up without even being asked. “Inno, dive into the water and see if you can find anything. I want to find something, anything, that can heal up Tadpool. We’re not being one monster down this early.”

Innogon let out a small roar and ran towards the water. He leapt into the air and dove in and out of sight as Luna, Splashard and Tadpool kept a watch on their surroundings.

*

“It looks like Luna won her first match,” Aurin said to Shamtile, who let out a warbled yell. “Fine, fine. She eliminated an opponent, isn’t it just semantics really?”

Aurin and his three Minakai plodded through the forest. They could hear a river flowing nearby and thought that if they followed it, perhaps it would lead to a lake where they might find an item or an opponent they could take out.

Snippet started clicking his pincers excitedly and jumped up and down to get Aurin’s attention.

“What is it, Snip?” his tamer asked the little insect.

Snippet pointed towards a small clearing in the forest where a large fairy ring of mushrooms sat. Resting on the grass in the centre of the fungal ring was an egg. Aurin hurried forward excitedly and lifted it, looking around to make sure nobody else was nearby. It couldn’t be a trap, could it? It didn’t seem to be as nobody jumped from the trees to ambush him.

“Good find!” said Aurin, rubbing Snippet’s head, who twitched in irritation, hating the feeling of Aurin’s hand clumsily knocking his antenna. “Let’s see what’s inside, shall we?” Aurin asked his Minakai, pulling out the Identifying Glass he had found earlier.

Shamtile suddenly growled and stood frozen in place. Somebody must have been approaching and Shamtile had felt the vibrations in the soil.

“Who’s there?” asked Aurin.

A moment later, a shadow surrounded by three Minakai appeared in the clearing as Aurin and his own monsters braced themselves for a battle.