Aurin and Shamtile emerged at the top of Harmony Tower with Taurus, Leo, Sagittarius and their three cosmic Minakai, but they were not alone here. Standing on the tower with them was a dozen wild Minakai who had not made their way to the ground below.
“Leave this to us,” said Aurin, walking past Taurus and Leo as Mindadam’s portal that brought them to the top of the tower vanished. Shamtile hopped onto the bricks and waved his arms excitedly, itching to wipe the floor with the plague of Minakai who were eager to fight.
“Be my guest,” said Taurus. “Cosmics, harness your strength for when the rooftop is clear and we will begin the restoration ritual.”
The wild Minakai charged forward, but Shamtile was ready. He encased his fists in stone and conjured a pillar that thrust him towards his foes fist-first. He smashed his mace-like hand into the face of a furious Angree as it prepared to strike. Before it had the chance to swing, the wooden Minakai vanished.
Shamtile rolled across the ground and into the centre of the crowd. He leapt out of the way of a swooping Volcarrow, which spun around the spat fireballs from its beak. Shamtile punched them and they fizzled out before ducking low to avoid a pouncing Leonite. He cast off his stone fists and hurled the remnant rocks at the lion, knocking it on the back of the head.
The little lizard scurried between the legs of a Hornferno and delivered a series of kicks, before biting the dinosaur’s stomach. It roared in pain and Shamtile conjured a boulder in mid-air, then dropped it on the Hornferno’s head, knocking it out cold.
A large Titanitoise barrelled through and grabbed Shamtile in its mouth, but Shamtile summoned his stone armour around himself. As the Titanitoise took a bite, its teeth cracked on the stone and it recoiled. It spit out the little lizard who waved his arms and materialised two stone spears. The Volcarrow from before came back for another round and Shamtile hurled the spear, which pierced the flaming bird’s body, causing it to be banished back to its own dimension.
As Shamtile cheered for himself, a crackling Thunding threw its own spear of lightning at the little lizard who dropped to the ground to avoid being skewered by the golden-armoured warrior’s attack. Shamtile leapt back onto his feet and unleashed his second spear, which collided in mid-air with the Thunding’s own second spear. The resulting explosion sent waves of electricity and stone across the rooftop and Aurin dove behind the golden podium while the cosmic Minakai protected the Zodiac elites.
The Thunding was too dazed to notice the vengeful Titanitoise stampeding towards Shamtile and was trampled by the raging metal elemental. Shamtile yelped and conjured a pillar from the bricks to raise himself out of the way of the enraged tortoise. The Titanitoise smashed the pillar to pieces and Shamtile jumped to safety, landing on its back between the spikes. He conjured a stone club into his hand and slammed it onto the Titanitoise’s head, knocking it out cold.
As the tortoise vanished the Leonite pounced on Shamtile, tackling him across the ground. As it tried to take a bite out of the magical lizard, he scurried free and coated his fist in stone once again. He thumped the Leonite in the eye and then followed up with an uppercut to the jaw.
Shamtile waged war with the wild monsters, parrying blows, dodging attacks and retaliating with earthen fury. As the many Minakai fell, Shamtile was left as the last one standing while his tamer, the Zodiac Squad members and their Minakai watched on. The little lizard was panting, exhausted by his victory, but very proud of himself. He waved his arms in the air, spinning around in a celebration dance before running back over to Aurin excitedly.
“You did great, bud,” said Aurin, giving his Minakai a fist bump.
“Most impressive,” said Taurus, “but now it is our turn to show our power. Back away from the podium and let us work.”
Aurin did as Taurus said and moved away with Shamtile while the Taurus, Leo and Sagittarius surrounded the podium with their Minakai.
“Ready when you are, Master Taurus,” said Leo.
“As am I,” said Sagittarius.
“Then we begin,” said Taurus. “Ethruki, Abysarex and Mindadam, it is up to you.”
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The three tamers took a step back as their cosmic Minakai began glowing bright turquoise as they harnessed their powerful magic. There was a faint hum in the air as the sky around the tower began to darken and red streaks of electricity flashed around the tower as though being kept out by an invisible dome.
“Are you sure this will work?” Aurin asked Taurus.
“I am reasonably confident,” said Taurus.
“That’s the least confident you’ve ever sounded.”
“That is because I am only reasonably confident that this will work. It took a lot out of our Minakai to be able to break down the barrier, but it will take even more to rebuild it.”
A lightning strike made it through and left a Slithice in its wake. Shamtile sprung back into action and crushed the icy snake with one of his heavy boulders. The Minakai was banished and the cosmics continued their ritual.
The faint hum turned into a rumble and a swirling aura began spinning around the rooftop as though the invisible dome was starting to materialise. Another lightning strike broke through and a Pillaberg appeared. It immediately summoned an icy hailstorm that beat the cosmic Minakai, but Shamtile conjured a wall to shield them.
The little lizard leapt over his own wall and dove at the Pillaberg, coating his fists in more stone as he sped through the air. He smashed into the living icicle’s single, large eye and knocked it across the tower roof. It slid until it hit the battlements, then toppled over the edge.
“It’s working,” said Leo as the barrier rose and curved, forming the full dome.
“Something is wrong,” said Sagittarius, looking past Shamtile’s wall.
As Shamtile’s wall retreated into the ground, Aurin could see what it was that Sagittarius was staring at. There was a swirling vortex, similar to the one that the guardian Zeera had first tried to emerge from, but this time, it was expanding and contracting at an alarming speed as though it was much more unstable. What was worse was that a shadowy figure was starting to emerge.
“Control the portal!” ordered Taurus. “We can’t let it disrupt the ritual.”
“Forcing the portal to close was what caused the Zeera to break through last time,” said Aurin. “Don’t make the same mistake twice!”
“I am not making the same mistake twice,” said Taurus, walking towards the vortex by himself and drawing two turquoise crystals from within his jacket. “The portal will not be closed, but we cannot have a creature like the Zeera from before escaping before the barrier is in place. We must repel it temporarily.”
As the roaring of another Zeera escaped, its shadowy figure appeared within the portal, being distorted by the shifting form of the unstable rift. Taurus raised his Cosmic Crystals and unleashed the magic within, sending out a force that held the portal still for a brief moment before the swirling resumed.
“There is not enough power in these,” said Taurus, lamenting the ineffectiveness of his crystals.
He used their magic again, a third time, a fourth time and then both crystals shattered on the fifth usage, leaving the unstable portal as wild and chaotic as before. The Zodiac Squad leader grunted in frustration and then turned to his Ethruki.
“Have you finished?” he barked at his Minakai, but Ethruki continued to glow and focus on his ritual.
At that moment, the Zeera’s form became more apparent as it reached the edge of the portal.
“Move!” roared Aurin as Shamtile conjured a huge spike of earth and hurled it at the portal.
Taurus leapt out of the way as Shamtile’s attack flew into the portal and collided with the Zeera, pushing it back. Shamtile fired another, but this time it smashed to pieces on impact with the portal.
“Almost there, Master Taurus!” called Leo as the rumbling turned into a crashing of thunder.
A flash of red lightning struck the portal and it expanded, revealing the clear image of Zeera as it raised a leg to step through.
“Ethruki!” called Taurus, calling his cosmic Minakai to his aid while the other two Minakai continued to focus on the barrier.
Ethruki sped to its master’s side, using its magic to push the Zeera back inside before it could attack the other two cosmic Minakai.
“Send it back,” ordered Taurus, pulling out another Cosmic Crystal.
The Zodiac leader and his Ethruki used their cosmic magic on the portal together and, in a flash of the red lighting, the portal was torn to smithereens. Aurin, Leo and Sagittarius shielded their eyes as the blinding light of the destroyed portal filled the area under the dome.
Blinking wildly to try and shake off his momentary blindness, Aurin called out to Shamtile, who responded with a screech. As his vision returned, Aurin could see the faint ethereal dome surrounding the tower, completed, but something was amiss. There was no sign of the Zeera, nor was there any sign of Taurus and his Ethruki.
“Frederick, what happened?” Aurin asked.
“I…I do not know,” muttered Leo.
“Boss!” called Sagittarius, looking around the rooftop, but he could not see a thing. “What could have happened?”
“I’m not sure,” said Aurin, “but the ritual seems to have worked. Shamtile, throw a stone.”
Shamtile conjured a small stone in his hand and threw it across the rooftop, where it then collided with the faint barrier and bounced backwards as though it had hit a wall.
“We did it,” said Leo, his head hanging low. “We fixed it.”
“We can’t leave without Master Taurus,” said Sagittarius.
“I don’t think…we’ll be seeing him again,” said Leo, shaking his head slowly. “Aurin, can you get us out of here?”
Aurin nodded and pulled out the Orb of Return that Gardner had given him. He harnessed its power and he, Shamtile, Leo, Abysarex, Sagittarius, and Mindadam vanished in a flash of light from the tower roof.