The snow was starting to fade from Hazelton on the early January morning and the town was filled with people putting in their all to clean up the town after Zeera’s rampage. The mood was far from upbeat, but the people of Hazelton had had their mourning period for those lost and were trying to put things back to as normal as they could.

Aurin wheelbarrowed a pile of broken cobblestones from the town square over to Shamtile, who was being put to work more than most of the other Minakai. The little lizard screeched as Aurin put the wheelbarrow down.

“I know you’re tired,” said Aurin, “but we all are. We’ve been at this for days, I get it. We’re on the home stretch, mate.”

Shamtile sighed and waved his arms, using his magic to take each cobblestone and slot it back into the proper place. He repaired the cracks by merging the broken pieces of stone back together, then slumped to the ground once the wheelbarrow was empty.

“You’re doing good, mate. You’ve earned at least four or five milkshakes after all of this.”

Shamtile sat up and wailed angrily.

“Alright, alright. You’ve earned a dozen, but I’m spacing those out so you don’t let it all go to your gut.”

Innogon yapped loudly at Luna’s feet, then started bouncing up and down.

“I’m not letting you have a dozen milkshakes!” she told him, but he didn’t relent. “I don’t care how many Shamtile drinks, you’re limited to only a couple per week.”

After arguing back and forth for a while, Innogon slumped off and lay beside the empty fountain. He had a sour look on his face, but Luna knew he was exaggerating to try and gain sympathy and refused to let herself be drawn in.

Suddenly, Wingbloom appeared overhead and then descended into the square with Kyle on his back. The rancher climbed off and tossed a couple of wrapped up foil packets to Aurin and Luna.

“Lunch is here, my friends,” he said, pulling out one for himself and unwrapping it to reveal a hotdog.

“Good, I’m starving,” said Aurin, getting a raised eyebrow in response. “I mean, thank you.”

“Yes, thank you,” said Luna, unwrapping hers. She tore a piece of the bread and sausage off and threw it to Innogon who leapt into the air, caught it in his mouth and then swallowed it whole.

“Town is looking good,” said Kyle, looking around the square.

“Did you fly over the forest by the tower?” asked Aurin.

“I did,” said Kyle, looking impressed. “Was that Gardner’s handiwork?”

“Yes,” said Luna. “Aurin lent him Desparee and Budescent. I thought it best to not have Angree help…you know, just in case.”

“He does have a temper,” said Kyle, nodding understandingly.

“Good to see all three of you here at once,” came Knot’s voice from across the square.

The detective marched towards the trio, looking very pleased with himself; he was usually more sullen.

“What brings the great detective into our midst?” joked Aurin.

“He brings good news to the Saviour of Hazelton.”

Aurin frowned. Kyle had joked about that nickname for him, but it had caught on around town. He was never not being thanked by the townsfolk as he tried to go about his business. Most of that business was helping with the cleanup, which didn’t exactly deter people from using that name.

“What’s the news?” asked Luna.

“The members of the Zodiac Squad who turned themselves have had their trials accelerated,” said Knot happily. “Most of them will be seeing justice before too long.”

“And you think they’ll all get sentenced?”

“Not a chance, but most of them will. The ones who confessed to their crimes will probably get more lenient sentences, especially considering they tried to help in the end, but it still keeps them off the streets lest they be tempted by madness again.”

“I would call that bittersweet news,” said Aurin, shaking his head.

“Take a win when you get it,” said Kyle. “I doubt whether the ones who get set free would dare show their faces around town. Look at the original Sagittarius. We haven’t heard as much as a whisper about him since he disappeared.”

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“Speaking of disappearances,” said Luna. “I take it there’s been no word of Mayor Boren?”

“Nothing,” said Knot, “but that’s ex-mayor now. He was stripped of his title, not that it matters much with him being missing. He’s officially been counted among the dead of the Zeera Crisis. That’s what they’re calling it now.”

“It’s apt,” shrugged Kyle.

Knot looked around the square as Kyle had done. “Things are looking much better these days,” he said. “You’ve all put in some great work the last week.”

“It helps when the national champion donates a heap of gold to aid the restoration effort,” said Aurin. “Tobias really put his money where his mouth is.”

“Can’t fault that,” said Knot, “but perhaps he’ll not be the champion for that much longer. I’ve heard whispers that all three of you are entering the tournament in a few months? That’s going to be tough competition for whenever you all make it to Ludonia.”

“You heard those whispers from me,” said Aurin, laughing, “but you’re right. We’ve got the rest of winter and early spring to prepare. That’s enough time for me to figure out how to hatch that Zeera egg.”

“You’re sure you can handle it?”

“Positive.”

Knot held out his hand to Aurin. “That’s good enough for me, lad.”

Aurin shook it. “Thanks, Detective Knot.”

“Chief Knot.”

“Congratulations, Chief Knot,” said Aurin.

“Well, I’d better get back to work,” said Knot, checking his watch. “Have a good day, all.”

The three tamers bid Knot farewell and finished eating their lunch while Shamtile continued working nearby. He paused every now and then to look longingly at the food. So much so that Kyle took pity on the small Minakai and headed off to grab him a milkshake.

“What do you think about what Knot said?” asked Luna.

“Which part?”

“About all three of us making it to Ludonia.”

“Sounds good to me.”

“But, what if we don’t?” asked Luna, looking uncertain.

“We’re some of the best tamers in town.”

“I know that, but what if we end up fighting each other too early.”

“Ah,” said Aurin, his smile fading. “I hadn’t considered that…maybe…”

“Maybe what?”

Aurin’s smile returned, but was much more devious this time. “We do know someone who’s been involved with rigging the initial lineup for the tournament.”

Luna laughed. “Do you really think Klaus would do that to help you after you refused to give him Zeera’s egg?”

“Nah,” said Aurin, “I’m just trying to lighten the mood.”

As the two had a good laugh about ways they could try and rig the tournament themselves, someone walking towards them caught their eye. Luna’s jaw dropped when she saw it was Hannah, and Aurin whispered to her to not fly off the handle.

“Hello,” said Hannah meekly. As wrapped up as she was, the sling holding up her arm was visible underneath her coat.

“I didn’t think you would dare approach us,” said Luna coldly. “You wouldn’t even let me into the hospital to visit you.”

“I was too ashamed,” said Hannah, looking at her feet. “Now that everything has calmed down, I wanted to tell you that I’m sorry for my involvement with the Zodiac Squad. I’m not going to offer any excuses about my dad. He didn’t force me, he simply asked and I said I would do whatever he asked.”

“You owe more than just me an apology,” said Luna. “What about Aurin? Emily? Those who lost people after what Zeera did?”

Hannah looked up at Aurin. “I’m sorry, Aurin. Please believe me when I say that I had no idea things would go this far.”

“I do believe you,” said Aurin, “but that doesn’t make it right.”

“I know,” said Hannah softly, her eyes filling with tears.

“I can forgive you, but that doesn’t mean you’re off the hook. You need to do whatever it takes to atone for your involvement. It may not be as severe as most of the other members, but if you hadn’t tipped off your dad that we were going to infiltrate the Zodiac headquarters then Taurus wouldn’t have given the order to rush the plan.”

Hannah nodded. “Yes, you’re right. It was inexcusable,” she said before looking at Luna who was staring at her with daggers in her eyes. “Can you ever forgive me, Luna?”

“Maybe one day,” said Luna, her voice trembling, “but not now. I think it’s going to take some time.”

“I understand,” said Hannah, before turning away.

Aurin and Luna watched as she walked sadly through the square. Many of the people nearby didn’t give her a second thought, completely unaware of who she was and her involvement in what happened to their town. Aurin was pleased that she hadn’t fled town, but with Virgo in jail, she was probably stuck here.

It wasn’t long before Kyle returned with two milkshakes—a banana one for Shamtile and a chocolate one for Innogon. The two small Minakai bounced over to him in excitement, grabbed the cups from him and started drinking immediately. Within ten seconds, they had both drained their drinks. Innogon was especially thorough, having used his water affinity to gather up every drop of the shake.

“Ten minutes to pick it up and ten seconds to drink it,” said Kyle as Luna giggled. “Absolutely astounding.”

“Ten second is nothing,” said Aurin. “I’d do it in nine.”

“Yes,” said Kyle, “but you’re more of an animal than they are.”

Innogon leapt at Shamtile trying to wrestle the cup from him, hoping to steal the drops of his milkshake that the little lizard couldn’t catch with his straw. Shamtile wasn’t going to simply let him have it and threw the tiny drake into the fountain.

“Break it up, you two,” said Luna.

“Or…” said Aurin.

“Or what?”

“We could all use a break, couldn’t we?”

“Weren’t we just having a break?”

“Like I said, we could all use a break. How about a battle seeing as those two are fired up?”

“Why not make it more interesting?” asked Kyle, patting Wingbloom’s side. “How about a three-way battle? Winner cleans up the Minakai dung around the ranch at the end of the day.”

“Alright,” said Aurin as Shamtile rushed over to him and handed his master his cup. “I agree to these terms.”

“You can’t both team up on me,” said Luna. “I’ll make you regret it.”

“No need to worry about that,” said Kyle with a hearty chuckle. “I’m going straight for Aurin.”

“Try it and see,” said Aurin with a smirk.

Shamtile, Innogon and Wingbloom launched themselves into battle, as a crowd quickly gathered to see the emerging spectacle. The three tamers were pleased to have the chance to blow off steam after the intensity of the last few weeks, but they all were going to take the battle seriously. The battle would determine who needed the most training ahead of the upcoming tournament.