“I can’t do this, I can’t do this,” panted Luna, looking nervously out onto the battlefield. She was less than a minute away from being called to walk in front of the huge crowd filling Hazelton Stadium and fight her opponent, Harley.
Feeling bad about teasing her about her lack of nervousness, Aurin stood by and comforted her. “You’ll be alright,” he said. “Don’t even think about the crowd. You focus on the battle, the battle and nothing but the battle, alright?”
Innogon yapped in agreement, patting his tamer on the back of her thigh, which was the highest part of her he could reach without jumping. It didn’t help Luna’s nerves that he hit rather forcefully and she took an accidental step outside of the tunnel before scurrying back out of sight.
“That was so embarrassing!” she squealed as the tournament official standing by tried to hide his laughter.
“Look at that, you went in front of the crowd and it wasn’t the end of the world,” said Aurin. “Now you just need to do it for longer than half a second.”
“You aren’t helping!”
“I know.”
“Then what are you doing?”
“Distracting you until time’s up.”
The official gave Luna a nod and then the announcer’s voice boomed across the stadium. “Returning after sitting out the last tournament, we have Luna!”
“Go,” said Aurin, giving Luna a gentle push in the back.
Luna walked out, holding her breath the entire time. She held up a hand to the crowd, but kept her focus on the far side of the battlefield where Harley was walking towards her from.
“Facing her today,” said the announcer, “is Harley! Fun fact for you, folks, it was her twin sister Marley who fought only a few battles ago. Spitting image, aren’t they?”
Harley looked notably more comfortable than Luna and was holding her hands up to the crowd, getting them to cheer even louder. As well-liked as Luna was around Hazelton, she was doing herself no favours with the rest of the spectators.
“You look like you’re going to wet yourself,” giggled Harley as she shook Luna’s hand.
“Why do people keep saying that?” barked Luna.
“Maybe because it’s true.”
The two tamers walked back to their opposing posts at the edge of the battlefield and awaited the start of the match. Luna was breathing heavily and staring at her tamer glove where a green, yellow and red were fixed. She still hadn’t decided which of the three Minakai she was going to call first.
“And begin!” roared the announcer, making Luna panic further.
The two tamers summoned their first Minakai to the battlefield. Luna’s Angree appeared in a flash of green light, while Harley’s Thundarun appeared in purple. Angree, not one for waiting around, immediately charged towards the dark unicorn, beating his chest as he ran.
Thundarun reared up and unleashed a lightning bolt from its horn, but Angree dove forward and rolled back onto his feet, continuing his sprint. As Thundarun reared up once more, Angree summoned a vine from his hand and cast it out, wrapping it around Thundarun’s horn and pulling the unicorn face-first into the grass. He grabbed hold of the vine with his other hand and flung Thundarun up into the air before discarding the vine.
The lightning elemental landed awkwardly on the ground with a heavy thud. As it looked up to get its bearings, it saw Angree flying through the air towards it, his elbows held up. As he dropped, he thrust his elbows downwards, ramming them into Thundarun’s neck. He then drew back his fists, coated them in sharp thorns and delivered a flurry of blows to the already disoriented beast until he had knocked it out. After a few extra punches for good measure, he backed away and let out a victorious yell.
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“Luna is not pulling punches today, folks, let me tell you that!” called the announcer. “That Angree is one mean competitor, I have to say. What’s Harley going to do?”
Harley looked irked and summoned her next Minakai, the large one-eyed icicle that was Pillaberg. He slammed its two small arms on the ground and slid itself towards Angree with its eye glowing a menacing blue. Luna’s Minakai was not intimidated in the least and rushed to meet his opponent.
Pillaberg raised a hand as Angree raised a fist and the two collided with both Minakai being forced backwards. As Angree closed the gap, Pillaberg tipped itself forward and lunged, jabbing Angree in the chest. It was a shockingly forceful hit for such a legless Minakai, cracking Angree’s chest plate.
Enraged, the nature elemental backed away and summoned two vines. He threw them over the top of Pillaberg and tugged, but this time, it did not go as planned. A split second before Angree attacked, Pillaberg had subtly coated the grass in ice and Angree slipped upon pulling his vines.
The large icicle spun around, swinging Angree across the grass until he released the vines, sending him sliding away. As the incapacitated Angree tried to climb up, Pillaberg shot a burst of icicles towards him, piercing his wooden body and each of his limbs. Angree let out an uncharacteristic whimper and passed out.
Luna was now so lost in the battle that she no longer felt nervous. All she could feel was anger that her Minakai had been hurt. She was going to get revenge and she knew exactly which of her Minakai was right for the job.
Upon her command, her Windjinn appeared; she had recently evolved it from her Feathrus in preparation for the tournament. The cloudy serpent flew quickly through the air with its feathery wings, aiming for Pillaberg. As Harley’s Minakai geared up to attack, Windjinn swerved out of the way and Pillaberg’s icicle spear missed its target. Windjinn circles around from behind and dove at Pillaberg, whipping it with his tail and knocking it to the ground.
“It’s an aerial monster,” called Harley. “Hailstorm!”
Luna wasn’t going to let that happen. “Finish this quickly!”
As Pillaberg began to weave its magic, Windjinn grabbed the icicle with its tail and flung it high into the air, much to Harley’s shock. It soared high into the sky and then slowed before beginning its descent. It flailed its arms, unable to do anything to stop the inevitable crash. It smashed into the ground and the top foot of its body snapped off, leaving it dazed and useless.
“And the ice has melted!” cried the announcer. “Last Minakai Harley. Can you turn this around? Show the people of Hazelton what you’ve got.”
“Tuskade!” screeched Harley, feeling frazzled by Luna’s onslaught.
The large, purplish-grey elephant appeared on the field, its stone tusks and wrecking ball tail ready to devastate Windjinn and whatever Luna’s final Minakai was. It bore a look of ferocity that was meant to scare its opponents, but Luna was not phased. After the Minakai she had fought, this was nothing to her.
“Bring it home,” Luna told Windjinn.
As Tuskade stampeded towards Windjinn, the air elemental flew up high and whipped around, beat its wings, sending two discs of razor-sharp air towards Tuskade. The earth elemental erected a stone wall to block the attack, which cut straight through it. Tuskade, however, was sturdy enough to withstand the weakened air razors, but it did not see Windjinn speeding down from above.
“Move!” cried Harley, but it was too late.
Windjinn propelled himself faster and rammed into Tuskade’s thick back so hard that the elephant buckled. It trumpeted in agony, but Windjinn was unhurt. It curled itself around Tuskade’s tail and strained itself, pulling the elephant into the air with it.
“I don’t believe it!” roared the announcer. “Look at that strength. Can anyone tell me how much that elephant weighs?”
At thirty feet in the air, Windjinn dropped the pained Tuskade, letting it fall and hit the ground. It did not move as it lay sprawled across the grass and the battle was over. Luna was through to the next round.
“And there it is, everyone,” said the announcer. “Unfortunately for Harley, she will not be advancing, unlike her sister. Give her a hand folks…and let’s hear it for our winner too. Luna!”
Aurin clapped wildly from the sidelines as Innogon jumped for joy beside him. He picked up the tiny drake and hugged him tightly, making Innogon gasp and spit a tiny jet of water in his face, but Aurin didn’t care. He was too thrilled about Luna’s victory and continued squeezing Innogon.
After Harley congratulated her, Luna walked back across the battlefield and into the tunnel with Windjinn. She had a look of glee upon her face and Windjinn had a calm satisfaction on his. It was his first real battle in this form and he had proven himself to both his tamer and himself.
“Great job!” said Aurin, hugging Luna tightly.
“It was nothing,” said Luna, hugging him back. “I wasn’t nervous at all. That was just for show so that you would be more impressed when I won.”
“Is that so?” laughed Aurin, releasing her.
“I’m coming for you next, my love,” she said, poking him in the chest and smiling. “You think you’re going to win this whole tournament, do you? Well, not if I have anything to say about it. Both you and Kyle will be going down, mark my words.”
“Bring it on,” he said, holding his arm out to her.
She took it and the two walked through the tunnel with Innogon and Windjinn following, excited for how the tournament was going to unfold. Once the first round was over at the end of the day, half of the competitors would be eliminated, leaving the strongest tamers to fight their way to the top.