Kyle walked across the grass with Wingbloom gliding along behind him. He was now among the final five in the Palace Royale with only Aurin, Hunter, Frederick and another unknown tamer remaining. Each of them was fighting for the top spot and the unknown prize.

“Tamer sixty, Master Bertram, eliminated by tamer two, Master Frederick,” announced Lord Kensington over a speaker.

“The final four,” muttered Kyle, looking towards the darkening night sky. “Tamer sixty you sly dog, you must have been hiding somewhere in the forest until Kensington’s announcement. A good plan, but you had to have known it wouldn’t cut it towards the end.”

Wingbloom squawked at something approaching and Kyle looked over. There was a red glow moving across the grass while a blue glow crackled beside it. It was Hunter with his Flambot and Shockbot. He hailed Kyle, who gave him a nod.

“Semi-finalists, Kyle,” called Frederick as he drew closer. “How about that?”

“I suppose that’s what you could call it,” replied Kyle. “There’s nothing stopping us from all meeting in one place and brawling, is there.”

“I don’t suspect Frederick would allow that. He knows we’ll all attack him.”

“Would we?”

“I’m certain of it.”

Kyle laughed. “Yes, I think you’re right about that. Although, all is fair in a competition like this. There’s nothing stopping us from going for each other. It’s just a game at the end of the day.”

“It is, yes,” said Hunter.

“How’s your wife and son?” Kyle asked.

“You’re making small talk?”

Kyle looked around. “We’re not going to be jumped by the looks of things. We might as well be civil before we turn into bitter enemies for the duration of our battle.”

“Ah, so we’re going to battle then?”

“Is that not why you approached me?”

Hunter nodded slowly. “The thought didn’t cross my mind, but I suppose subconsciously that must have been my intent. It is late after all and I would very much like to sit down and have dinner before midnight.”

“With four of us left, I doubt it will take,” Kyle glanced at his watch which was hard to read in the darkness, “another six hours.”

“Who knows? Aurin is a stubborn battler.”

“Stubborn is the best word to describe him when it comes to his desire to win. Most of the time he’s pretty agreeable.”

“That determination he has when it comes to Minakai is why I’ve taken such an interest in him. After being defeated so thoroughly the first time we met in Hazelton, he’s pushed himself harder and harder to be a better tamer. Many others would have taken that public defeat badly and seen it as humiliating rather than encouraging. I have no doubt that he will one day surpass my abilities, but I will enjoy the battles no matter what the outcome.”

“Maybe he’ll find all of the Microbot evolutions before you do?”

Hunter laughed. “That’s one goal I’m confident he won’t achieve before I do.”

Kyle and Hunter stood without speaking for a while with only the sound of Wingbloom’s beating wings and the two robots’ fiery and electrical cracklings filling the night. They knew it was time to battle and Kyle couldn’t help but notice he was in the unfortunate position Luna was in earlier with his one Minakai against his opponent’s two.

Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit.

“Two monsters at once?” Hunter asked Kyle as though offering to fight with one at a time.

“Make it a challenge,” said Kyle, confirming his intent to take on both Flambot and Shockbot simultaneously.

He and Hunter gave each other a nod and their Minakai began. Flambot wasted no time in shooting jets of flame at Wingbloom who took to the skies to evade, but he was chased further by lightning bolts that burst from Shockbot. The two robots chased Wingbloom across the sky with their elemental powers.

“We can’t play defensive the entire battle,” Kyle told his Minakai. “You know which one we want rid of first, make it happen.”

Wingbloom flipped over in the air and charged towards the ground. He pulled up out of his dive and barrelled into Shockbot, knocking the robot down while taking a nasty jolt from the contact and a singed tail courtesy of Flambot. Wingbloom flew up again and then swiftly darted downwards but was forced to roll out of his assault on Shockbot by the Minakai who erupted in an explosion of lightning that Wingbloom only narrowly avoided.

Flambot’s flames roared, and the construct threw his arms into the air. From the sky, dozens of hot embers rained down. Wingbloom swooped out of the way, but he was tiring from the constant dodging. He knew it was risky, yet he had to brave the attack. He smacked the embers from the sky, burning his wing, but redirecting them to Shockbot who had just sprung to hit feet and was swiftly knocked back down.

Wingbloom kicked up a tailwind and aimed for Shockbot once more, pushing himself along with the force of the wind. He soared past Flambot, who was shooting more jets of fire at his opponent, and straight at Shockbot. The lightning robot threw a bolt of energy at the plan, but Wingbloom changed course. The bolt rushed past Wingbloom and straight towards Flambot, who dove out of the way.

In the distraction, Wingbloom spun around and slammed into Flambot and sent him rolling across the grass. He chased the fiery robot and grabbed him in his talons and launched him into the sky, taking a couple of burns in the process.

“Air cutter!” called Kyle.

Wingbloom beat his wings and swept a razor wind towards Flambot, cutting into his metallic body as he fell to the ground. Flambot crashed in a heap and the blue light on his screen faded as he powered down, defeated.

Hunter was nodding slowly, realising that Kyle had never intended to eliminate Shockbot first. In any case, it was evident that Wingbloom was low on energy now. “Finish him,” ordered Hunter.

Wingbloom sped into the sky, but Shockbot shot lightning bolt and lightning bolt at him. He could not duck or roll as quickly as he could a minute ago, and his wings were clipped by a couple of strikes and he could no longer support himself in the air. Wingbloom crashed down and landed right beside where Flambot lay. He tried to push himself off the ground, but he had run out of energy and slumped over.

“Not a bad effort,” shrugged Kyle.

“A very good effort, I would say,” said Hunter. “Wingbloom hasn’t lost any of his talent. In a one on one fight with either of my Minakai, he would have won without question.”

“Tamer thirty-two, Master Kyle, eliminated by tamer one, Master Hunter,” announced Lord Kensington.

“And now it’s the final three,” said Kyle, smiling. “All the same, it’s been fun. I’m glad I decided to participate.”

“I’m glad too,” said Hunter. “You ought to make a true comeback one of these days. Your talent is there just as much as your Wingbloom’s is.”

“I’m not so sure I’ve got it in me anymore.”

“It wouldn’t feel right without my other Wingbloom there. I don’t know how Wing would feel fighting in the big leagues again without his sister around.”

“Perhaps it would be the best way to honour her after the last few years,” said Hunter.

“I’ll think about—"

“Kyle!” called Aurin, running across the grass with his Shamtile, Chopchop and Petalcub following him. “I can’t believe I missed the battle.”

“I thought you were looking for Hunter and Leo?” asked Kyle.

“I was,” said Aurin, nodding towards Hunter. “I heard the commotion and saw the flashing lights in the sky and knew that Flambot was close by along with some species of lightning elemental. I didn’t expect to see…this one.”

“Shockbot,” said Hunter, smiling at the awestruck Aurin.

“A new evolution for your team?” asked Aurin, unable to contain the excitement in his voice.

“The lightning elemental, yes,” said Hunter.

“I suppose I had better get a move on then,” said Kyle, looking to the palace. “A shame we won’t get to fight here, Aurin, but we’ll be back at the ranch in a few hours I’m sure.”

“Maybe we’ll give ourselves a day to rest our team first,” said Aurin.

“I think so,” said Kyle with a smile. “We’ve got plenty of chores to catch up on too. My Frogre have probably overfed the Minakai again. They’re not so great with estimations.”

Aurin and Hunter bid Kyle farewell and the rancher departed towards the castle. He looked pleased with himself as he walked away, having been out of the competitive game again. Aurin could see that the spark in him had been reignited and thought perhaps he could prod him subtly into competing in next year’s Hazelton tournament.

“And then there were three,” said Hunter. “How about it, Aurin?”

Aurin locked eyes with Hunter. “I’m all for it. The winner faces off against Frederick for the grand prize.”

The two men stood facing each other. There was no doubt that Aurin had the numbers advantage, but Hunter was never to be underestimated. He always found a way to come out on top.