Aurin and Skrow aimed straight for the brown grass at the top of the cliff overlooking the deep valley. Standing at the cliff edge, staring up to the skies was a bald man with a thick ash-brown beard. The man was wearing a pair of tracksuit bottoms and a white tank top with a travelling cloak draped over his shoulders that flowed in the breeze.

As Aurin and Skrow descended—Shamtile and Quetzel having returned to the ranch via their summoning stones the previous night—Vai held out a hand in greeting. Upon reaching the cliff edge, Aurin climbed from Skrow’s back and shook hands with Kyle’s old friend, pleased to have finally had the chance to meet him.

“Welcome to Gwent Valley, Aurin,” said Vai in his gruff voice. “I bet you’ve never seen this side of western Bretonia, lad, have you?”

“It’s my first time flying out this far,” admitted Aurin, looking over the edge of the cliff and into the grassland and forest where a twisting river ran through. “It’s beautiful.”

“And chilly,” added Vai with a laugh, “but Kyle tells me you’ve trained in Briarwood so this should feel warm in comparison, especially in the summer sun.”

“I don’t care what the conditions are, I’m ready to train.”

“Good, because we start right away.”

“No lunch?” asked a shocked Aurin.

“Lunch? It’s half ten in the morning. You don’t need lunch, lad.”

Aurin could feel his stomach devouring itself but he decided it best not to argue back. Perhaps he could cook up Zeera’s egg if he wasn’t able to find a way to hatch it. Suddenly, it occurred to him that half the reason he brought it here was because Kyle suggested that Vai could help him with it.

“Ah,” said Vai with a satisfied smile upon Aurin taking the former tower guardian’s egg from his bag. “This is the one, is it?”

“Yes,” said Aurin, holding it out carefully and examining the pattern resembling Zeera’s body that covered the shell. “How much has Kyle told you about it?”

“Everything that he knows, I know. The beast inside was once the scourge of Hazelton before you triggered its reincarnation.”

“Reincarnation?” asked Aurin, furrowing his brow. “Yes, I suppose that’s an apt way to describe it. The only problem is that I don’t know how to give him the chance to be born again.”

“Patience. I want to see how you handle the Minakai you’ve already had time to train. Let that Skrow of yours rest and summon a Minakai.”

“What one?”

“Any.”

“Alright,” shrugged Aurin, telling Skrow to find somewhere to perch before raising his tamer glove. He already had Shamtile’s stone at the ready so he summoned his favourite Minakai to his side. “Ready, mate?”

Shamtile screeched in agreement and danced excitedly, waiting for an opponent to appear. When the masked lizard noticed Vai standing with his arms folded, he cocked his head to the side and slapped the more experienced tamer on the knee.

“You are not battling,” said Vai, chuckling at Shamtile. “Show me something good. Anything.”

Shamtile looked to Aurin who signalled with his eyes to the far side of the valley. Even with the mask concealing his face, Shamtile looked nervous but Aurin knew that his companion could pull off what he had in mind. Vai, meanwhile, let out a small side smile.

The masked lizard raised his arms and shook them from side to side, picking up speed with each sway. He let out a high-pitched, warbling screech and, from the cliff, shot a large outcropping of stone. It extended from Shamtile’s side of the valley for over two hundred yards, joining with the far cliff and forming a bridge over the valley.

“Very nice,” said Vai, nodding as he admired the bridge. “Not an easy task to perform and not an easy bridge to maintain, especially without any support pillars.”

Vai walked across the bridge, catching Aurin and Shamtile off guard. Aurin’s Minakai had intended on retracting the bridge, but now he had to fight to keep it in place with his elemental magic. If he slipped and the bridge collapsed, Vai—who stopped in the centre—would no doubt fall to his death.

“This adds to the view,” called Vai, looking to the river below. “I know this moment is fleeting, but I would like to see just how long it can last.”

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Shamtile was starting to struggle and held his arms out, focusing all of his power on keeping the bridge stable. He was starting to wish Aurin hadn’t asked him to do something so strenuous.

“Keep it together, mate,” said Aurin, watching his Minakai’s arms shake. “I’ve seen you do amazing things when we’re in a pinch. This is nothing to you, alright?”

Shamtile wished he believed Aurin but nonetheless he tried with all of his might to hold steady. Vai turned to face the lizard from a hundred yards away and watched intently as Shamtile put everything he had into protecting his life.

The bridge started to rumble as Shamtile was nearing his limit. Yet Vai remained standing in the centre, unwilling to take as much as a single step forward. Aurin was starting to sweat, praying that his friend could hold strong. This was what Vai wanted; high stakes. It was high stakes that would force Shamtile to go beyond what he thought possible and it was working.

Slowly, the shaking of the bridge grew more vigorous yet it remained in place without a single rock falling. A flicker of weakness would send one into the beautiful abyss below and would cascade as the rest collapsed, but Shamtile was not going to let that happen.

Vai placed his fingers into his mouth and let out a piercing whistle that echoed throughout the land. From out of nowhere, flew a golden Quetzalia. It soared towards Vai, who grabbed onto its tail. The second his feet left the bridge, Shamtile pulled his hands up and over his head, sending the stone from the bridge speeding straight back into the cliff from whence it came.

The masked lizard fell onto the wispy, dry grass, panting heavily as Vai landed back on the edge of the cliff and his Quetzalia flew back into the skies. “Very interesting,” he said to Aurin as he watched Shamtile’s chest heaving up and down rapidly.

“Yes, he’s very strong,” said Aurin.

“No,” said Vai with a smile. “It’s what he chose to retract the bridge rather than let it fall. That took further strength. He pushed himself to his limit, went beyond and then beyond even that. He’s really quite something. He has innate potential, I have no doubt, but it takes a lot of training to be manifest that as capability. And not just any training, might I add. It takes good training.”

Aurin reached out to Shamtile and pulled the little Minakai back to his feet. “Good job, mate,” he said before turning back to Vai. “I got him more than two and a half years ago and ever since we arrived in Hazelton a little over two years ago, we’ve been training almost every day. With Kyle, with Tobias, by ourselves…we’ve worked tirelessly to get where we are now.”

“And now I am certain that you will be able to handle the challenge that is an epic-level Minakai. It won’t be easy, but you will be able to harness Zeera’s power rather than let such a beast overwhelm you. Now, I’m curious about more of your Minakai. Summon two more.”

Aurin took out two more summoning stones—one steely grey and another emerald green—and focused his will into them. In two distinct flashes of light, appeared Dolissile and Desparee. Both Minakai had expected to be summoned before long and were looking energised for whatever lay in store.

“Make them fight and let me see what they can do,” said Vai. “There is no need to go all-out, perhaps seventy-five percent will suffice.”

“You heard the man,” Aurin told his Minakai, unsure how they would measure seventy-five percent. “Fight hard but don’t break each other. Show him a range of what you can do.”

The overly-emotional Desparee wept at the prospect of battling his stoic friend, but Dolissile had no such qualms and charged into the nature elemental’s chest, knocking him onto the ground and making him roll over a few times towards the edge of the cliff.

“Careful!” called Aurin as Desparee stood up with sap tears running down his face.

Desparee retaliated with a nature beam as Dolissile rolled aside in mid-air and sent out a pulse, knocking Desparee further back. As he wobbled inches from the cliff edge, Desparee conjured vines from the ground and pulled himself forward and got well out of the way of the danger zone.

Dolissile charged in for another quick attack, but Desparee hurled sharp leaves that cut into the dolphin’s metallic exoskeleton and forcing him off course. Recovering quickly, Dolissile spun around and torpedoed towards Desparee while his fin glowed bright blue.

Desparee leapt aside but his arm was cut deeply by the attack, rendering him unable to even flex his fingers. With a single arm, he let out a wail of anguish and used his wild despair to bring a relentless assault of vines, roots and leaves from the ground that beat Dolissile mercilessly.

Mustering up strength, the dolphin hardened himself like titanium and took the brunt of the attack until Desparee’s strength waned. Once the vines and roots retracted into the soil, Dolissile sped towards Desparee who charged a weak nature beam in one hand, ready to deliver a final strike to his charging teammate.

“Stop the battle,” Vai said to Aurin.

“Stop!” the tamer ordered and his Minakai immediately ceased their attacks. Dolissile stuttered to a halt in mid-air as Desparee’s nature beam dissipated within his hand.

“They’re good Minakai, Aurin,” said Vai, clapping at Dolissile and Desparee. “They’re very skilled but there are a few refinements that can be made to their form and techniques. I even have a couple of unorthodox ideas that may give you an edge when you’re in a tight spot.”

“What do you have in mind?”

“Well,” said Vai, walking up to Desparee and grabbing the nature elemental’s wrists. He pulled Desparee’s hands up and turned them slowly. “I’m going to start with Desparee here. You see these hands? They’re good and strong hands that are occupied when he’s using a nature beam technique. How about we work on the ability to use that attack from another part of his body so his hands can be used for something else?”

Vai released Desparee and walked over to Dolissile who stared emotionlessly at the experienced tamer. “As for this Dolissile. There is great speed and power in him, that much is clear, but I’ve heard from Kyle that you’ve yet to perfect a kamikaze attack that doesn’t completely cripple him. Is that so?”

“Yes,” admitted Aurin. “We’ve been working on it, but can’t get it right.”

“Well, you’re going to get it right under my tutelage. It’s a dangerous technique, which you obviously know, but it’s worth getting right. It’s immensely powerful and always manages to catch an opponent off-guard. Are you ready to start right away?”

“Lunch can wait,” said Aurin, making Shamtile yelp in discontent. “I’m ready!”