Aurin and Sunny landed on the forty-ninth floor, leaving Luna and Angree behind. He had the sneaking suspicion that they had already been ejected from the tower by the Shamasaur that was beating Angree into submission.
“We can do this, we can do this,” said Aurin as he pulled out his Orb of Monsters.
He activated it and saw that there were at least seventeen Minakai on this floor, but there was a group of three clustered closely together not too far ahead. He was certain form their spectral outlines that those were the cosmic Minakai of Taurus, Leo and Sagittarius. They had to be.
“Let’s go,” Aurin said to Sunny and the two moved along.
No sooner had Aurin said that than did he spy the form of a Minakai stampeding through the corridors towards him. It was closing in far quicker than he could have imagined, so he ran for it. It was long, serpentine and winged. It was either a huge Windjinn or a small Quetzalia, but he didn’t fancy his chances against either species right now.
Sunny floated alongside Aurin, a look of panic on her round, yellow face. No longer able to heal, she felt vulnerable. At most, she could tackle an opponent, but she doubted it would do much good considering her size. She knew that her sole purpose right now had to be keeping herself and her tamer protected.
As Aurin neared a junction, he could see that there were enemy Minakai roaming in each direction. He would have to run through a nearby room to avoid them, but this meant risking traps. As he had done the floor below, he took long leaps across the room while Sunny avoided the ground entirely. Much to their relief, there wasn’t a single trap triggered, but shortly after he passed through he heard an explosion coming from behind him. Whatever had followed him had certainly triggered something.
“No!” Aurin yelled upon seeing the clustered cosmic Minakai vanish.
He was too late; the Zodiac members had ascended to the top floor. He couldn’t let it end like this. Aurin ran as fast as his legs carried him through the floor. He knew he was running straight towards enemies to reach the elevator, but he had no choice.
A wild Wingbloom spied him and soared towards him, so Aurin dove underneath it, hastily climbed back to his feet and continued running as the Wingbloom pivoted and chased him. He held his Water Crystal over his shoulder and unleashed a water jet. He heard a squawk and knew his attack had taken the Minakai by surprise.
He rounded a corner and saw the elevator sitting in the room dead ahead, but there was a Titanitoise standing in his way. Aurin had no choice but to run towards it and Sunny cast a barrier on both herself and her tamer. She focused all of her effort on this as a sharp, metal spike flew towards them courtesy of the Titanitoise.
It collided with Aurin, who expected to be impaled by it, but Sunny’s barrier held strong and the spike careened off and collided with the wall. Aurin shot another water jet from his crystal, landing a hit in the Titanitoise’s eyes, causing it to flinch. The crystal shattered and crumbled into dust as Aurin ran around the huge tortoise and placed his hands on the elevator right as the Titanitoise thrust its head into Sunny, aiming to knock her out with a single, heavy headbutt.
All went dark for a moment and Aurin felt himself being pulled away, but he wasn’t sure if he was going up to the room or down to the grass at the base of the tower.
Had he made it? Aurin looked up at the night sky above. The wintery stars sparkled overhead, surrounding the moon that shone upon Hazelton. Aurin had only a second to gaze upwards before his eyes darted downwards to look at the fiftieth floor that lay before him; the rooftop of Harmony Tower, where he now stood with his last remaining Minakai, Sunny.
The battlements surrounding the roof were low enough that simply tripping would send you falling to your death, or at least it would have done if not for the barrier. Covering the roof like a dome was a faint misty barrier that Aurin wasn’t sure whether was truly there or not. From the outside, it had looked like a storm, but from here, it was incredibly faint. Sometimes it appeared to be, other times it did not, but there was a lingering ethereal presence to it.
Sitting at the centre of the roof was an empty podium. It looked as though there was a slot for a Minakai egg atop the podium where it may have rested, cradled by golden stone, but it was empty. Surrounding it, was three men who stood with Minakai by their sides.
A man who must have been the new Sagittarius stood beside a bronze horse with a teal mane, which Aurin immediately recognised as Mindadam. Next to them was Leo, who stood beside a burly, bipedal lion. Its fur was crimson and its mane the colour of a deep, almost purple wine. Its sharp claws and fangs were of a pale gold and it bore shell-like armour upon its stomach, forehead and knees, while the tip of its red tail was covered in the same shell-like material, but pointed like a spear; it was Abysarex. Lastly, was Taurus, who was accompanied by the turquoise bull with the purple mane and golden stomach. His Ethruki.
“Well, well,” said Leo, looking towards Aurin. “Sagittarius here said it would not be possible to catch us, but I said that you would find a way. Did I not say that?”
“You said that,” said the new Sagittarius, his voice soft and cold.
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“Forever running interference,” sighed Taurus, before chuckling. “It’s too late Aurin. If that is your last Minakai, then there is absolutely nothing you can do to stop us now.”
“You’re wrong,” said Aurin, walking forward with Sunny floating along beside him. He did not believe his own words, but he knew there was no way he could back down now.
“You would be wise to not take a step further,” said Leo sharply. “We do not like each other, but I would prefer that you not get killed.”
“I thought you weren’t killers,” said Aurin.
“We are not,” said Taurus, reaching for the podium, “but what we are about to summon is.”
“Whatever you’re about to do, I beg you to stop,” said Aurin.
Taurus hesitated. “You beg me?” he asked while Leo laughed. “Never did I think those words would come from your mouth. An ask, perhaps, a demand, no doubt, but you’re begging me? You must truly be desperate, Aurin.”
“You don’t know what you’re doing,” said Aurin, his voice shaking.
“On the contrary,” said Taurus, “I know exactly what I am doing. I have spent decades planning this down to the last detail. No matter how my plan has gone astray, no matter how much my greed got the better of me, I am here. I am here with three cosmic Minakai, exactly the sort of power I need to unleash the might of the tower upon the world.”
“You’re making a mistake,” said Aurin. “Mark my words, you’re going to regret doing this. The towers of the world stand tall for a reason. The Minakai are summoned within them for a reason. To have Minakai running wild outside the walls will bring about the end of the world as we know it.”
“That’s the idea,” said Frederick smugly.
“Shut up, Frederick!” yelled Aurin, prompting a scowl from Leo. “Taurus…Mayor Boren, please listen to me.”
“So, you know who I am,” said Taurus with a faint smile. “All the more reason there can be no going back now.”
Taurus placed his hand upon the podium. “Witness the birth of utopia,” he said calmly. “Ethruki.”
“Mindadam,” said Sagittarius.
“Abysarex,” said Leo.
A glowing, golden egg-like shape appeared within the podium, resting and shimmering within its slot. The light was so majestic and radiant that it made Aurin feel at ease, but only for a second. The golden glow was dispelled by a turquoise glow as the three cosmic Minakai channelled their powers, all three sets of eyes glowing wildly as the wind started to pick up.
Suddenly, a lightning bolt struck the far side of the tower and a swirling portal opened up. The portal was identical to the portals that sat behind the locked doors of each and every tower, but this one was not pulling something in, no. This one was trying to push something out, yet the three cosmic Minakai were repelling the large, shadowy figure that was trying to force its way through. It was larger than any Minakai Aurin had seen before, standing on two legs with two large, clawed hands. It looked reptilian, but Aurin could not be certain while its shadowy form rippled and distorted as it was being held back from emerging onto the rooftop.
“Hold strong!” ordered Taurus as Ethruki shook vigorously, his elemental might being pushed to its limits as it tried everything it could to manipulate the portal.
The creature within the portal roared furiously, as though in immense pain. It was trapped between two worlds and the portal housing it was starting to spin violently. The ethereal barrier surrounding the tower was no longer faint, it was a billowing purple smoke that made the most dreadful storm clouds look calm.
Aurin had to do something. Anything. He ran towards Taurus and threw his fist out, but he was immediately jumped on by Leo and Sagittarius, who pinned him to the ground.
“Sorry about this,” said Leo.
“We have come much too far, Aurin,” said Taurus. “And now, our plan will be seen through.”
The portal was now expanding massively, but still the shadowy Minakai within was being held back. It strained and pushed, determined to not be cast aside like a lesser monster, but it was no use. The three cosmic Minakai held strong and, suddenly, the portal vanished in a flash of turquoise light.
The swirling smoke froze in place, then cracked as though it was glass. The cracks continued and extended across the whole barrier, then it broke apart into shards and faded away into nothingness. All was calm and the three cosmic Minakai collapsed, their strength spent and barely hanging onto consciousness.
“Did we do it, Master Taurus?” asked Sagittarius, finally releasing Aurin.
“We will see,” said Taurus, walking over to his Ethruki and stroking its back. “You did well, my faithful servant.”
“Something is happening,” said Leo, standing up and reaching out a hand to help Aurin to his feet, but Aurin was too stricken to even notice his rival’s extended hand.
Above the tower, a tiny portal had opened in the sky. It spun slowly, and then expanded wider and wider until it was a perfect mirror in size of the rooftop. The three Zodiac members looked at each other, not sure what was about to happen, but Aurin had an overwhelming sense of fear filling him.
A zap of red lightning erupted from the portal and struck the rooftop, leaving a fierce Grakadon as the lightning vanished. The brown earthy dragon roared angrily, then charged towards Mindadam who lay helpless on the ground as Sagittarius dashed out of the way. The dragon swiped in a wide arc, cutting deep into the horse’s metal, taking the last of its strength and banishing it from the tower. Seconds later, Sagittarius vanished too.
Taurus pulled out an Orb of Return. He looked at it as the Grakadon charged towards his Ethruki. Rather than use it, he cocked back his arm and threw it off the roof, where it passed through without a barrier to block it and fell somewhere in the forest below.
“I did it,” said Taurus, as his Ethruki was defeated by the Grakadon. “It’s over.”
Taurus too was banished by the tower.
“No…” muttered Aurin despondently. “You lunatics. You absolute madmen.”
“The world has been reset,” said Leo as the Grakadon summoned a rock spear to its hand and threw it as Abysarex. “This is the way things are meant to be.”
Abysarex was banished and Leo vanished shortly after, leaving Aurin standing atop the tower with Sunny and the Grakadon. There was nothing he could do any more, he had been defeated. He had caught up to the Zodiac elites, but it was not enough. He had failed.
“Might as well go out strong, Sunny,” said Aurin. Sunny looked terrified, but she nodded.
As the little healer sped forwards, another zap of red lightning struck and a Zenoman spawned atop the tower to join the Grakadon. Sunny slammed herself into the dragon who was distracted by the sudden appearance of backup. Before the dragon had a chance to retaliate, the Zenoman sent its four golden fists towards the little fried egg-like Minakai, pummelling her into submission and banishing her from the tower.
Aurin closed his eyes and sighed as he too disappeared in a flash of light, banished from the fiftieth floor; banished from the rooftop.