“And Bentley is finished!” called the announcer as Bentley’s Gorunze fell to a well-placed laser blast from Aurin’s own Gorunze.

“Agh!” grunted Bentley, dropping to his knees. He reached out with his tamer glove and banished his unconscious Gorunze.

“With that, Aurin has reached the quarterfinals. The top eight, folks. One more win and he has earned himself a place in Ludonia two years in a row.”

Aurin and Bentley walked to the centre of the battlefield while Gorunze stood on his hind legs and stretched his metallic joints like an aerobics instructor to much laughter from the crowd. He paused and looked around in confusion and then continued his stretching, prompting more laughter.

“I almost had you,” said Bentley, shaking Aurin’s hand.

“I still had Lycavine ready and waiting,” chuckled Aurin.

Bentley thought back over the battle and then realised he had misremembered how many of Aurin’s Minakai he had defeat. It was only Leonite that had fallen. “Well, that takes the wind out of my sails a little more…”

“At least it was a fun match.”

“Easy for the winner to say! In any case, best of luck for the rest of the tournament. I hope you win so that way it helps me ego a little. To be honest, you deserve the win after everything that’s happened in town over the last few months.”

“Thank, Bentley.”

“That said, I’m coming for you next yeah. Watch out for me.”

The two parted ways and returned to their tunnels, waving to the crowd as they walked. The tournament official that Aurin was friendly with gave him a subtle fist bump as he passed. He was meant to be impartial, but he liked seeing Aurin do well. Upon arriving in the waiting room, he spotted Gardner sitting back on the sofa.

“Winner! Winner! Winner!” he chanted, pumping his fist in the air. “Well done, mate.”

“Thanks, Gardner,” said Aurin. “You ready for your battle then?”

“Oh yes, my friend. Now that I know you’re through to the next round, nothing is going to stop me. We need to have our rematch.”

“In that case,” said Aurin, heading for the door. “I’ll see you bright and early tomorrow for our battle.”

“Yes, you will,” said Gardner, giving Aurin five as he walked past. “Get a good night’s sleep, alright? I want you at full strength.”

*

Aurin and Luna sat in the tamer box, watching as Kyle and Bruce finished greeting each other and walked across the grass to take their starting positions. The gruff Kyle and the bald-headed Bruce were both well-built enough that they could have fought instead of their Minakai and it would have been equally as exciting.

“Kyle’s going to win, right?” Luna asked Aurin.

“Of course!” Aurin replied.

“That Bruce guy doesn’t look like a pushover.”

“It doesn’t matter if he’s a bodybuilder or if he doesn’t have limbs, it’s the Minakai and how well he’s trained them that matters.”

The static of the speaker crackled for a split second. “It’s time to begin, folks,” called the announcer. “Three. Two. One. Battle!”

Kyle summoned Wingbloom to the battlefield while Bruce summoned an Anacondice. Bruce looked very confident with his chances, his face bearing a smug grin, but it was quickly wiped away when a gust from Wingbloom threw his Anacondice past him. Kyle returned the grin, ready to show his competitor just what he was capable of.

This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.

“Wingbloom!” he called. “We go all out today.”

Wingbloom charged towards Anacondice at a remarkable speed and picked up the icy snake in his talons. Anacondice brace itself to be carried up high, but that was not Wingbloom’s plan. He spun around and around, whipping Anacondice’s head repeatedly against the stadium wall before somersaulting and throwing the snake into the ground.

A dazed Anacondice tried to slither away, but wound up moving in an uneven circle. Wingbloom picked up the snake in his mouth and tossed it upwards, shooting it across the battlefield with another gust where it fell in front of Kyle, unconscious.

“And it’s a quick lead for Kyle!” called the announcer. “What’s Bruce going to do?”

Bruce’s confidence was shaken as he watched Kyle. His hand was shaking as he raised his tamer glove and summoned his next Minakai to the field; his Fyrvern. The red wyvern immediately took to the skies and Wingbloom chased after him, dodging fireball after fireball with ease.

Wyvern managed to pull ahead and spun around, taking a deep breath and spitting out a wave of fire. Kyle’s air elemental breathed in deeper still, puffed out his chest and unleashed a gale-force wind that turned the fire around and scorched its caster’s face and shook it off balance.

No sooner had Fyrvern’s vision cleared, than was Wingbloom upon him. Kyle’s mighty Minakai struck the draconic monster with his beak and sent him careening back down to the ground where he tumbled over. Wingbloom, however, did not let up. He charged through the air towards his opponent, ramming it with his beak once again. The Fyrvern let out an immense roar before falling limp.

“Kyle deals Bruce a second blow, taking out his Fyrvern,” said the announcer. “It’s not looking good for Bruce, so he had better have something good waiting in the wings.”

Bruce looked utterly defeated already and raised his hand, half-heartedly summoning his final Minakai. His abnormally depressed looking Tadpool appeared before him and hurled a series of icicles at Wingbloom, who smashed them to pieces with his beating wings and charged towards the two-legged frog.

The battle was over seconds later with Wingbloom standing atop Tadpool proudly, who had lost all will to fight. Bruce put his head in his hands and shook it profusely. It was one thing to lose, but to be so devastatingly trounced by his opponent was the ultimate humiliation.

“I don’t believe it,” he muttered over and over again, turning and walking away without bothering to shake Kyle’s hand.

“That’s not very sportsmanlike, Bruce,” called the announcer as the crowd jeered at the man slinking down the tunnel. “Ah well. Let’s give a big hand for Kyle who moves into the quarterfinals! What a strong comeback from the rancher after so many years away from the scene.”

*

“What a baby,” laughed Luna as she, Aurin and Kyle drank milkshakes outside the café. Shamtile and Innogon, of course, had milkshakes of their own until moments ago and were fighting on the floor to determine who got to lick the glasses.

“Not everyone is going to take a loss well,” shrugged Kyle. “All the same, he was shockingly easy to defeat. Wing barely broke a sweat.”

“Forget about that Bruce guy,” said Aurin, finishing his milkshake. “Let’s talk about how you train Wingbloom when we’re not around.”

Kyle ignored him. “Can you believe we’ve all made it to the quarterfinals? We’ve done well, my friends.”

Luna had her match right after Kyle’s and had won, but Kyle’s match had fascinated her and Aurin more. They knew Kyle was downplaying things, but Wingbloom’s abilities were more impressive than ever and he was one of the strongest Minakai in the entire competition.

“Can Wing and Skrow train together this evening?” Aurin asked.

“Are you using Skrow in tomorrow’s battle with Gardner?” asked Kyle.

“Does my answer determine whether or not you’ll let Skrow and Wingbloom train together?”

“No.”

“Then I’m not answering. It’s confidential.”

“Go on.”

“It’s top secret. You’re a smart guy, you try and work it out and you’ll see if you’re right when the battle gets underway.”

“You’ll tell me later, right?” asked Luna, nudging Aurin in the ribs.

“Strictly confidential. The only ones who know are the ones fighting,” said Aurin. As Luna was about to speak, he cut her off. “And no, you cannot get Innogon to ask because the Minakai themselves know the punishment they receive if they break their imposed silence.”

“What’s the punishment?” asked Kyle.

“They’re banned from the rest of the tournament.”

“Does that include the national championships?”

Aurin raised an eyebrow as he thought his answer. “Yes, it does now.”

“Shamtile,” said Luna, sticking her head under the table.

The little lizard stopped wrestling with Innogon and crawled out to look at Luna. He cocked his head to the side, curious about what the human had to say as he was not listening to any of the conversation.

“You would tell me if Aurin had you lined up for the next battle, wouldn’t you? There’s a milkshake in it for you if you do.”

Shamtile screeched loudly and nipped Luna’s bare calf. She yelped and rubbed the back of her leg, trying to massage the pain away while Kyle chuckled.

“See?” said Aurin. “This is what happens when you try and test my Minakai’s loyalty. It’s like I said, they’re under strict orders and they know the consequences.”

Luna frowned and stuck out her tongue as she continued rubbing her leg while Shamtile snatched the milkshake glasses from Innogon who used the distraction to take both and lick them clean.