Gorunze fired a series of rapid laser beams at the snowballs being lobbed his way by Steambot. He zapped each and every one of them out of the sky and Aurin congratulated him on his improved accuracy.

“If you can’t close a gap and use your strength,” said Aurin, “then you need to have precision.”

Gorunze groaned mechanically in approval as Steambot started juggling snowballs off to the side. The large robot playfully tossed a few at Aurin, knocking his tamer to the ground with the amount of force he put into them. Steambot hurried over to his master and picked him up, dusting the snow from him apologetically.

“Please…don’t,” said Aurin in huge discomfort. Steambot’s idea of dusting off was more akin to a beating.

Steambot backed away and flopped down on the snow, puffing hot steam out from his pipes and melting it away. Shamtile hopped over to him and patted him on the shoulder, knowing that he had no ill-intent.

“Having a snowball fight?” asked Tobias, walking out from his house.

“Something like that,” said Aurin, massaging the spots where Steambot had dusted him off. “What’s in store for us today, Tobias?”

“A field trip,” said the champion.

“Are we going to the tower again?”

“Not this time, no.”

“I didn’t realise there were that many places to go around here.”

“Briarwood is beautiful in its own right and the wilderness around here is nothing short of spectacular. The tower is the icing on top, but where we’re going today is a second dessert.”

“A second dessert?”

“You heard me,” said Tobias slyly.

“Who should I bring with me?”

“Whatever summoning stones you want, but I would recommend Shamtile coming along for the trek, seeing as you don’t have any ice elementals to help deal with the snow. At the very least, he can move the earth and we’ll need that later.”

“Alright, I’m sold,” said Aurin before turning to Shamtile. “You ready to go?”

Shamtile stopped patting Steambot and clambered over his teammate without a second thought, while Steambot groaned in despair.

“You’ll be fine,” chuckled Aurin. “Just work on controlling your strength, Steambot.”

Tobias led Aurin and Shamtile through the town and along the same mountain path they’ve used many times over as a running route. Halfway along the path, they took a right turn and began hiking through thick snow and further up the mountain. After an hour of climbing, Tobias brought them to a ridge and they hopped down, with the snow coming up their waists—Aurin had to fish Shamtile out from underneath.

“Conjure some pillars for yourself to walk on,” his tamer told him.

Shamtile did as told and summoned columns of earth from within the snow and hopped alongside the two humans. With each hop, he sent the previous pillar back down again. As they walked, more snow started to fall and, before long, it turned into a blizzard.

“Should we turn back?” Aurin called out amongst the whirling winds and flurry of snow.

“No,” Tobias shouted over his shoulder, “we’re nearly there.”

Shamtile was shivering and encased himself in rock armour to try and protect himself, but it didn’t do much good. Even as he hopped from pillar to pillar, he started to lose his footing as they became covered with snow before he even landed.

“See that?” called Tobias, pointing to a cave entrance up ahead.

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“Barely,” said Aurin, struggling to see through the snow.

The three pushed ahead, scrambling through the snow that was desperately trying to keep them away from whatever lay inside the cave but, eventually, they made it. Aurin and Tobias brushed the snow off themselves, soaked through, and Shamtile shook cast off his stone armour and rolled around on the ground, pleased to be on solid earth again.

“Spikruption,” called Aurin, summoning the red dinosaur. “A little heat would be good, if you don’t mind.”

Spikruption was irked to have been summoned for such a trivial reason, but he obliged and warmed everyone up before being sent back to the ranch. He puffed smoke from his nostrils in protest as Aurin banished him.

“Did Shamtile have to come?” asked Aurin.

“No, but if we died along the way then he could have fished us out.”

“That’s a cheerful thought.”

“It was a very real possibility,” said Tobias. “I consider that a tame trek to this cave.”

“Tame?”

“Tame,” repeated the champion. “In any case, what I wanted Shamtile here for lies further ahead. Shall we?”

Tobias pulled out a torch and pointed it deeper into the shadows of the cave. He continued walking, with Aurin and Shamtile following along close behind. After a short while, Shamtile started looking around anxiously.

“What’s wrong?” Aurin asked him.

“He feels it,” said Tobias without looking back. “What it is that we’re here for.”

Aurin knew better than to ask what that was. If he did, he had no doubt he would have been told to wait and see. Tobias liked to keep an air of mystery around things, even what the training plan was for the next day.

The three kept walking until they reached a large wall of ice that was wedged inside the wall, rendering it impossible to pass. Wherever this wall had come from, it most certainly was not here naturally, and Aurin had endless questions about it, but Tobias spoke before he could ask.

“We can’t go through this ice without an ice elemental Minakai, but we can go under it thanks to Shamtile.”

“Couldn’t you summon one of your ice elementals?”

“Where’s the fun in that?” chuckled Tobias.

Shamtile scurried on all fours towards the wall of ice and started tapping his fist on the ground. He them stretched his arms apart, opening a tunnel in the stone underneath him. He dropped inside, then Aurin and Tobias followed him.

Shamtile kept the tunnel from collapsing in on itself while opening it further up ahead. They were only underground for about thirty seconds, but that was more than enough time for Aurin. Shamtile opened another hole above them and they all climbed out as the tunnel closed behind them.

Tobias turned off the torch and Aurin realised why instantly. It wasn’t needed anymore. Aurin looked around in amazement at the open cavern before him. There were small beams of light creeping in from tiny holes in the cavern walls and roof, while many different types of plants and fungus grew throughout, many of which glowed in various colours to further illuminate the area.

What was most curious to Aurin was that they were not alone here. There was a large pool of water in the centre and there were Minakai both inside it and surrounding it. A small group of Dripper splashed at the edge of the water, while a Spaqua rolled around in its bubble on the surface of the water. There were fish Minakai swimming around underneath and, dozens of Shroomlie playing in amongst the mushrooms as a Tormech playfully hunted them.

“There aren’t…are they wild Minakai?” asked Aurin, awestruck.

“They are,” said Tobias.

“And they’re outside the tower.”

“They are.”

“How is that possible?”

“Remember our talk the other day about the mysteries of Minakai?” asked Tobias.

“I remember it well.”

“I refrained from mentioning one of those mysteries because I knew we’d be coming here very soon. This is a Minakai den. Do you see that pool of water? At the bottom of it is a portal that opens and closes sporadically. Think of it as the same sort of portal that lets you into a monster tower, but it isn’t guarded by locked doors.”

“I don’t understand…how can this be?”

“That’s something I can’t answer for you because I don’t truly know. What I do know, however, is that these Minakai shouldn’t be hostile. They were at one time, but I’ve come here often enough that they know I’m not a threat to them. It helps that I usually bring Grakadon who can crush them if they put a toe out of line.”

“What was Shamtile sensing? The portal?”

“Yes,” said Tobias as Shamtile let out a grunt of agreement. “Unlike the portal to the towers, this one is uncontained so it calls out to Minakai. What it says to them, I don’t know, but even my own Minakai react oddly to it…except for one.”

“Except for one?”

Tobias reached inside his jacket and pulled out a turquoise summoning stone. Aurin had seen a summoning stone of this colour only once before and it was embedded in the glove of Taurus, the leader of the Zodiac Squad.

“A cosmic Minakai?”

“Yes,” said Tobias, willing the summoning stone to activate. “Come forth, Mindadam.”

The stone glowed brightly and a burst of turquoise light appeared before Tobias, within it, the shape of a large horse. The light faded, and the Minakai was revealed. It was indeed a horse, but it was made entirely of an untarnished bronze metal, that was segmented where the major joints. It had a teal mane of hair that ran down its back and teal eyes that glowed in the dim light of the cave. Its tail was a metallic and curled around, ending in a pointed arrow.

“I’ve never seen this Minakai before,” said Aurin, marvelling at it. “Kyle told me about it once, but…seeing it for myself is something else entirely. I can feel its power already.”

Mindadam let out a mechanical whinny, then walked over beside its tamer.

“How would you like to battle against a cosmic Minakai, Aurin?” Tobias asked.