“Yes, we finally found one!” cheered Luna as she grabbed the Lunar Shard from the ruined watchtower. “I guess that Healing Herb we took from Rhys is going to be wasted.”

Tadpool hopped forward excitedly as Luna held the shard up to the sky. The sun was starting to set and there couldn’t be much more than an hour or two of daylight left and she couldn’t risk being caught out in the open at dark without a strong team around her.

“Alright, are you ready?” Luna asked Tadpool while Innogon bounced around in anticipation.

Tadpool let out a happy croak and Luna held the shard to his body. He glowed an icy blue and his form started to shift. He started to swell up considerably larger and a pair of front legs grew from his torso as the icicles protruding from his back retracted only to be replaced by three that spread horizontally across his neck. His tail lengthened and now ended in a sharp blade of ice. Large frozen boils grew across his body and shoulders just before the glow started to fade. Where Tadpool once stood, there was now a Frocean. The grumpy looking pale blue frog let out loud croak and his black eyes looked down at his master who was now much shorter than he was.

Innogon looked a bit intimidated by his now enormous friend who had grown to be as big as Aurin’s Gorunze, but Frocean stretched out one of his webbed arms and prodded the little drake playfully who roared happily.

“You look so powerful!” squealed Luna with glee. “I can’t wait to see what you can do. I bet you can flatten most Minakai just by jumping on them.”

Luna ran around the wall with her two team members following her. Innogon pitter patted across the grass while Frocean hopped with each bounce ending with a thunderous landing. There would be no subtlety anymore, but Luna was confident that Frocean was now a true force to be reckoned with so that wouldn’t matter.

“Having a good time?” asked Eclare who was leaning against the opposite side of the wall.

Luna stopped running and turned around to face her. “What do you want, Eclare?” asked Luna, seeing that she was down to only a Shamasaur remaining, but he looked to be in good condition.

“I think it’s time that we had a battle away from the crowds, don’t you?”

“Why?” asked Luna nervously. She was confident she could beat Eclare but was suddenly very much aware that Frocean wasn’t battle tested at all and may lose one of her Minakai.

“You thought it would be a good idea to attack me unprovoked at Tamer Day, so I want to show you that you aren’t better than me.”

“Unprovoked?”

“Yes. Aurin had already turned me down months ago and I thought it would be fun to mess with you. You took it too far and got really petty about it all.”

“Well…I’m sorry,” said Luna.

“That won’t get you out of this fight,” said Eclare with a look of contempt. “I don’t take humiliation lightly. Shamasaur!”

The huge, masked lizard encased its fist in stone and charged towards Luna and her Minakai. Frocean leapt to the forefront and erected an ice wall. Shamasaur punched through the wall with a heavy swing, but it killed its momentum. Frocean inhaled, swelling his already large stomach up and breathed out a cone of frosty air that forced Shamasaur to retreat lest he become an icicle. Once the frost had dissipated, Shamasaur maintained his distance. He waved his arms in the air and stomped around, shaking the earth with each footstep.

“Get back!” Luna warned Frocean.

The large frog looked up as a rocky stalactite appeared above him and plummeted down. He narrowly avoided the attack, but then another appeared at his new location and fell, striking him hard in the back. He croaked loudly and recoiled, but yet another stalactite appeared as Shamasaur continued his dance.

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“Keep moving!” Luna warned as Frocean was hit by the falling stone spear.

Frocean bounded around the grass, being followed by a continued assault of falling stalactite. Eclare looked satisfied as her Shamasaur continued the relentless assault. It was clear that Frocean was tiring, not used to his new and heavier form, but Luna could see that Shamasaur couldn’t keep up the sustained magical attack for much longer. It would need a moment to rest any second now.

“Go on the offensive now!” Luna ordered.

Another stalactite fell, but this one was notably smaller and weaker than those from the start of the fight. It bounced off Frocean’s back and fell to the grass as the large frog leapt into the air towards Shamasaur. He flipped over and the three large icicles on the back of his neck slammed straight into Eclare’s Minakai. It roared as it was both pierced and crushed by Frocean at the same time.

“Icicle spear from the top!” called Luna.

Frocean watched as his own icicle spear appeared above him much like Shamasaur’s stalactites. He rolled aside as it plummeted and wedged itself into Shamasaur’s gut. He writhed in pain before Frocean dissipated the spear, then curled into a ball unable to battle any longer.

Eclare breathed in and looked up to the sky, her eyes starting to water a little. She brought her gaze back down to meet Luna’s and forced a smile onto her face.

“Good win,” she said.

“Thank you,” said Luna.

“Tamer twenty-nine, Lady Eclare, eliminated by tamer fourteen, Lady Luna,” said Lord Kensington over a speaker attached to the top of the ruined wall.

Eclare raised her tamer glove with a pensive look on her face and sent her Shamasaur away. She walked past Luna and headed for the palace, but Luna grabbed her arm to stop her.

“I’m sorry,” said Luna. “I mean it. I overreacted and it wasn’t fair.”

“I accept your apology,” said Eclare. “Maybe we can battle on better terms next time.”

“With full teams too,” added Luna.

Eclare nodded and smiled, no longer having to force it, and departed leaving Luna, Innogon and Frocean behind.

“What now, you two?” Luna asked her Minakai.

Innogon pointed towards a crumbling tower a little way past the ruined wall. It had no doubt been connected at one point in time, but it was now just a dangerous relic.

“You think so?”

Innogon ran up ahead leaving Luna and Frocean to chase after him. He was clearly excited about something, but Luna couldn’t think what it could possibly be. Much to her surprise, he ran right past the tower and towards an old well that lay behind it. He hopped up and down excitedly, pointing at it.

Luna leaned over and looked inside the well. “How did you know?” she asked Innogon as her eyes widened with excitement.

*

“Luna claims another victim,” joked Kyle as he looked over the cliff.

“Looks that way,” said Aurin, keeping careful watch as Shamtile and Petalcub sparred. Both Minakai were under strict orders to not take things too far and injure each other.

“I bet that was a bitter fight.”

“Why?”

“Your girlfriend and a scorned lover battling it out over you?”

“Scorned lover?” said Aurin in confusion. “It was one date and I didn’t even know it was one at the start.”

“Lighten up,” laughed Kyle. “I’m just pulling your leg.”

Aurin’s face was contorted into a frown as he watched his two Minakai hop around and attack each other. It was clear that Shamtile was putting in minimal effort to avoid the little wolf’s attacks while Petalcub was pushing hard. If he kept this up, he would tire out and not be able to fight afterwards.

“Alright, you two,” said Aurin. “I think we’re done.”

Shamtile stopped and Petalcub seized the opportunity to headbutt him in the stomach. Shamtile shook his fist angrily and encased it in stone, ready to smack the cub on the top of his head but Aurin ordered him to control himself. Chopchop pushed himself between the pair and forced them to keep their distance.

“He’s immature and undisciplined,” said his tamer. “You’ll get your chance to beat each other about properly once we’re back at the ranch.”

“Shall we move along?” asked Kyle, surveying the castle grounds once more.

“Yes, it’s time.”

“I think I’ve found our next destination,” said Kyle, pointing towards a hedge maze to the north. “I flew over it before and gave it a miss because there were a few tamers lurking around, but I’ve not seen anybody go into it since I started watching from up here.”

“You think there are items left?”

“Somebody would have solved the maze or forced their way through by now. I would say it’s more likely there are tamers waiting there to ambush someone.”

“And you still want to go?”

“My thinking is that most of the items will be gone now, but the tamers can be negotiated with. Everyone is hurting a little, whether that’s being down team members, suffering from fatigue or lacking the items they need in order to improve their circumstances.”

“Betting over the battle outcome, got it,” said Aurin nodding his head.

“Exactly. I’ve got a couple of things that are useless to me and you’ve got an incubator you can put on the line. I have no doubt that would be coveted.”

“You don’t need to sell it to my further,” said Aurin, stepping up to the edge of the cliff. “Shamtile, make us an elevator, will you?”