Luna emerged from the forest with Innogon and Tadpool following her. She saw the palace waiting for her ahead, but she had no intention of going inside any time soon. She simply wanted to get to grips with her bearings before deciding on her next destination. She heard a sudden crackle of electricity and a yelp of pain as a young man with dark red hair and a scruffy beard who dismissed his Skrow as she watched on, leaving only a large electric blue beetle by his side. His name was Rhys and she recognised from her dinner table.
“You can walk away if you want,” said Hunter, standing beside his Flambot, Treebot and a Minakai that Luna didn’t recognise.
It was white-bodied with black, rubbery arms and legs that ended without fingers or toes. It had a tail that ended in a golden prong that fizzled with electrical energy and there were four more prongs sprouting from its back that glowed equally intensely from the current running through the Minakai. Near the top of its body was a small screen with a long blue diamond that stared directly at Rhys.
“You!” called Rhys, spotting Luna by the trees. “I’ll battle you instead.”
“Do you have any honour at all?” Hunter asked the young tamer, sounding uncharacteristically angry. “I show you mercy and your first instinct is to attack someone else?”
Luna walked over with Innogon as Tadpool limped along behind them.
“It’s fine, Hunter, I’ll battle him,” said Luna, walking barefoot over the grass. “But first, Rhys, what items do you have?”
“Items?” asked the tamer. “I’ve got a Healing Herb and an Earth Crystal, but that’s it.”
“Let’s make the battle more interesting,” said Luna. “If you win, you can have my Astral Shard. If I win, I want that Herb.”
Rhys thought about it for a second. “Done,” he said, “but it’s a one-on-one fight. You can only use one of your two Minakai because I only have my Beetabolt left.”
The blue beetle’s eyes glowed with the same electrical energy as Minakai’s prongs. Its long horn was sharp and an effective melee weapon that Luna would need to watch out for if the battle came to close quarters combat.
“Would you like me to count you in?” Hunter asked.
“If you wouldn’t mind, that would be lovely,” said Luna merrily. She was excited to finally have a chance to heal her Tadpool who had bravely pushed through the journey out of the forest. “I’m ready when you are.”
“Anytime,” said Rhys, walking backwards as his Beetabolt stepped forwards.
“Alright,” said Hunter. “Three. Two. One. Begin!”
Innogon stood and waited patiently for the Beetabolt to strike, but the strike didn’t come. The Beetabolt was waiting for Innogon to make the first move. Its eyes crackled with lightning and its horn was fizzling with an attack waiting. Innogon twitched, eager to attack, but he knew Luna wanted him to wait so he held back the impulse.
“Strike!” called Rhys, losing patience first.
Beetabolt unleashed a lightning strike that zapped the ground where Innogon had less than a second before. The little drake flew into the air, shooting himself upwards with a water jet. He spun around rapidly and his fin struck the Beetabolt as he landed, knocking it onto its back. As the beetle tried to flip himself over, Innogon summoned a wave of water that swept Beetabolt away across the grass, leaving his tamer aghast.
“Get back here, Beetabolt!” demanded Rhys.
Rhys’s Beetabolt burst upwards in an explosion of lightning and beat its wings. He sent strike after strike through the air, aiming straight for Innogon. Luna’s Minakai leapt across the grass, trying to dodge the lightning bolts, but a single slow hop let the Beetabolt land a hit. Innogon rolled over, Luna looked devastated. Rhys cheered and his Beetabolt spun around in the air in celebration.
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Innogon suddenly hopped back to his feet and unleashed a pressure cannon to rival Steambot’s and it collided with Beetabolt. The blue beetle was sent soaring through the air before it crashed to the ground, no longer able to continue the fight. Innogon had won.
“No!” cried Rhys, dropping to his knees and thumping the ground.
“Tamer thirteen, Master Rhys, eliminated by tamer fourteen, Lady Luna,” announced Lord Kensington as Hunter clapped politely.
Luna walked over to him and held out her hand. “The Healing Herb, please, Rhys,” said Luna, smiling.
Rhys stood up and shook his head. “Nah, that’s not happening.”
As Rhys walked away, Hunter stormed up beside him and grabbed him by the back of his jacket. “Hand it over, you spoiled little punk,” Hunter demanded.
“Let go of me!”
“You made a deal and Luna asked for the herb. You had better honour it or we’ll be having another battle right this second.”
“But…I’m out of Minakai,” said Rhys.
“I know,” said Hunter with a menacing smile, “but I’m not. Do you understand what I’m trying to tell you, Rhys?”
“Yes! Yes, of course,” said Rhys, reaching into his jacket and pulling out the herb. He held it out for Luna to take.
Luna took the herb and Hunter released Rhys, who ran across the grass towards the palace. He continually checked over his shoulder to make sure Hunter hadn’t sent one of his robots after him. Luna and Hunter laughed at the pathetic sight.
“Thank you, Hunter,” said Luna, beckoning over her Tadpool.
“I hate people who don’t keep their word,” said Hunter as Luna fed Tadpool the herb. “There are few things that make me angrier.”
“He was a bit of a brat, wasn’t he?” giggled Luna, looking towards Hunter’s Shockbot. “I’ve never seen this Microbot evolution, is it the latest addition to your team?”
“Yes, a Shockbot,” said Hunter. “A good luck of the draw with my Lunar Shard, I have to say. He only evolved last week so this is a great way to test out his powers.”
“Aurin has another Microbot now too, I wonder what his will evolve into?”
“Another one? Where did he get it?”
“At Tamer Day in Hazelton. I’m surprised that you weren’t in attendance.”
“I was invited, but I had prior plans. Family has to come before Minakai sometimes.”
“That’s understandable,” said Luna.
Hunter looked towards the palace. “I’m going to search around here for any items people may have missed,” he said. “I’ll catch up with you later.”
“Thanks again, Hunter.”
“Anytime,” he said as he gathered his three Minakai and walked the same direction Rhys had run.
*
Aurin and Kyle walked through the dark tunnel of the cave with the only light coming from the afternoon sun shining through the entrance behind them.
“What do we do when we run out of light?” asked Aurin.
“Hogannon would have been handy to have,” said Kyle. “He could have summoned a flame for us.”
Aurin stopped and looked up at the rocky ceiling. “Shamtile, can you create a skylight for us?”
Shamtile did a little dance and held his arms up high, then pulled them apart. A small hole formed in the ceiling and pulled apart all of the stone above it, letting a small beam of light shine down from thirty feet above.
“As good a solution as any,” said Kyle looking up at the newly formed hole. “I wonder if Lord Kensington had this cave made especially for the tournament.”
“Who knows?” shrugged Aurin. “I’m more curious about how big it is. Shamtile?”
Shamtile squatted down on all four and felt the earth. He focused, using his elemental magic to sense the cave and the tunnels throughout. Even with his mask on, he looked uncertain, but he stood up and held his arms out wide.
“It’s big,” said Aurin, “got it.”
The group headed forwards with Shamtile stopping every now and then to open a small skylight for them. It wasn’t long before they reached a fork in the road and had to choose between the left tunnel and the right tunnel. Frankly, they didn’t look much different so Aurin didn’t care which one they should take.
“Any thoughts?” Kyle asked him.
“Nope,” said Aurin, strolling down the right tunnel without hesitation and Shamtile and Chopchop came along with him, trusting that Aurin would bring them where they would want to go.
“Yes, I can see that,” muttered Kyle, following behind with Wingbloom and Snowlem.
The tunnels in the cave grew increasingly more winding, but every time a tunnel crossed back on itself, they knew which way they had been thanks to Shamtile’s skylights. It made things a lot easier, but after a while the group found themselves crossing back on their old paths less often.
“We’ve been here before,” said Aurin.
“There’s no skylight,” said Kyle.
“I know, but I remember this rock. Remember how I said it looked a bit like a crooked nose?”
Kyle looked at the rock Aurin was talking about. “It does look similar, I’ll give you that, but that would mean that somebody has been closing the holes in the ceiling after we already passed through.”
Aurin nodded. “That’s exactly what it would mean.”
“We’re not alone in here, are we Shamtile?” Kyle asked the masked lizard.
Shamtile felt the earth once more and shook his head. He screeched to confirm what Kyle had asked him. They were most certainly not alone in these tunnels.
“Tamer thirteen, Master Rhys, eliminated by tamer fourteen, Lady Luna,” came Lord Kensington’s voice.