The train pulled up to the platform and Aurin and Luna rose to their feet, grabbing their bags from the wooden bench they had been waiting on. The pair bid a hasty farewell to Luna’s parents, while Shamtile and Innogon hopped onto the platform; they eagerly bounced around as the doors to their carriage opened.

The group of four stepped inside and looked for room number five; it was their reserved room where they could enjoy the journey in peace. Aurin pulled the wooden door open and the two flopped down on the wide-cushioned chairs and stared out the window at Hazelton Station.

“That’s the last of them,” said Aurin, watching a young man giving his weepy mother a hug. The train started to rumble and it began chugging along the rails, taking the pair away from Hazelton. For Aurin, it was his first time truly leaving the town since he arrived over a year ago. It was a strange sensation.

“Bye!” called Luna, waving to her mother and father. The pair waved back, clearly nervous that their little girl was going on a trip without them.

“You’re going to call them the second you arrive, right?” asked Aurin.

“Of course. Wouldn’t you?”

“When I came here, I headed straight for the tower.”

Luna laughed. “Typical.”

“Yeah,” said Aurin, looking back in embarrassment. “I remember how confident I was that Shamtile and I would clear the tower on our first run. We were going to be the first in the world to do that and become a household name amongst Minakai tamers.”

“Oh!” exclaimed Luna. “I remember you telling me all about that. That was…that was very naïve of you.”

“Let’s be honest; it was stupid of me to think that,” chortled Aurin, appreciating just how much of a challenge ascending the tower was. They still hadn’t even had to pull an all-nighter in the tower yet, while many others had on their climb through the labyrinthine floors. If the pair were truly going to reach the top, it may even take them days.

Aurin and Luna looked out the window and took in the beautiful Bretonia countryside. There were rivers and lakes filling the seas of green with sparking blue. The picturesque villages and towns they passed by were quiet and calm; ideal places to live, much like Hazelton most of the time. The mountains and hills in the distance filled in the gap between the fields and the sky, serving as a towering constant across the landscape.

“Look over there,” said Aurin, standing up excitedly.

Luna’s eyes followed the direction of his finger and she also stood up in surprise. “Which tower is that?” she asked, marvelling at the wondrous monument.

“We just passed Ludcester, so I think it must be Epiphany Tower.”

“If it’s Epiphany Tower, then that one’s been closed for decades,” said Luna, sitting down again. “I wonder if it will open again in our lifetimes?”

The two tamers watched the world, commenting on everything they laid their eyes upon. All the while, Shamtile and Innogon were wrestling on the floor; they were psyched to fight in the city and weren’t as interested in the view as their tamers…until the food trolley rolled up, and they began helping themselves at their tamers’ expense.

Aurin and Luna had quite the feast, courtesy of the expensive first class tickets they had bought. Kyle may have scoffed, but they enjoyed themselves and they didn’t have to worry about Shamtile taking Aurin’s wallet and overpaying when it was already paid for. Well, they wouldn’t have had to worry about that had Shamtile understood. Aurin had to fight him off to keep his silver safe from the masked lizard.

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After a surprisingly fast three hours passed, the train pulled into Ludonia Central Station and the two tamers departed with their Minakai. Innogon was rather grumpy as Luna refused to let him ride on her back while she was carrying her heavy bag. Aurin took pity on the little drake and let him ride on his back instead, eliciting a bemused screech from Shamtile.

The streets were surrounded by magnificent, old buildings that loomed over the paved roads and walkways. The city was packed with tourists from all across the country, some had even travelled internationally. The city had plenty to see, even without the National Championships, but it was undeniable how massive the draw was. Unlike Hazelton, or even Aurin’s hometown of Buckstone, where you’d see only a few dozen Minakai in town each day; in Ludonia, every tenth person was travelling with a Minakai. Most of them, Aurin recognised, but there were a few that he did not. He got particularly excited about a couple of undead water elementals that he spotted with their tamer.

“Careful!” exclaimed Luna, pulling Aurin out of the way of a passing cyclist.

“This is much busier than the last time I was here,” said Aurin, still struggling to focus on the footpath ahead.

Luna directed them to their hotel, which wasn’t made easy by Aurin’s constantly wandering eyes. They checked into their rooms, left their stuff inside, and headed back outside to explore. There was so much to see, and they only had a few weeks to see it; it didn’t help that a lot of that time would be taken up by Aurin competing in the tournament.

“If you lose in the first round, at least we have more time to look around,” joked Luna.

Aurin was aghast. “Shh! Don’t say that.”

“I didn’t think you were superstitious,” giggled Luna.

“I’m not, but I don’t want to take any chances.

“That is being superstitious.”

“Fine, but don’t say it anyway. I can’t afford any hypothetical jinxes, curses or mysterious illnesses befalling me. It’s too important.”

“Then we’ll definitely want to avoid a few of the restaurants I looked up.

Shamtile kept close to Aurin’s feet as he walked while Innogon was finally allowed to cling to Luna’s back. It was a miracle that the young woman didn’t have a hunch considering how heavy Innogon was. The two left the tighter streets and made their way to the more open plazas that made up part of the city centre.

Aurin darted from crowd to crowd, trying to see what it was they were all staring at. There were street performers aplenty, doing tricks with their Minakai. One unfortunate fellow was jumping through flaming hoops that his Heatpup lit up for him and managed to catch his shorts on fire. Luna earned a round of applause when Innogon put the flames out, with everyone thinking that she was part of the act.

“Look!” said Aurin, gesturing towards a huge sign above a cinema that was playing a film trailer.

“What about it?” asked Luna, watching a giant brown dragon roar and stomp its feet. Its stomps opened up large chasms across the ground, sucking in the cars and buildings unfortunate enough to get in its way.

“The Giant Grakadon Rises,” said Aurin, expecting her to know what that meant. When she shrugged her shoulders, he explained. “It’s a long-running series about…well, a giant Grakadon. He’s a classic anti-hero Minakai that fights interdimensional monsters that invade Earth from other worlds.”

“Aren’t all Minakai interdimensional monsters that invade from other worlds?”

“In real life, sure, but not in the film. They’re native to the setting there.”

“How does that work?”

“Regular animals like cats and dogs don’t exist in Giant Grakadon. Minakai take their places.”

Luna stopped paying attention, far more interested at one of the theatres that people were queuing up outside. She ran over, leaving Aurin talking to Shamtile, who had no idea what his tamer was saying. When Aurin realised, he followed her.

“A play?” he asked, looking at the poster on the wall.

“Not just any play,” said Luna, her eyes lighting up. “It’s The Woman from the Moon. It’s a classic tale of romance that’s been adapted a hundred different times, but I’ve always wanted to see it performed in person.”

“Does it have Minakai?” asked Aurin.

“No. It’s a love story about two humans.”

“Boring,” said Aurin, turning back to look at the trailer where the Giant Grakadon was body slamming an alien into the top of a skyscraper.

Luna looked at her watch. “We don’t have much time,” she muttered to herself.

“Not much time until what?” asked Aurin.

“You’ll see,” she replied with a sly grin.

“What are you up to?”

“Do you really want to know?”

“Yes,”

“Okay, but I won’t tell you; I’ll show you instead,” said Luna, grabbing Aurin’s wrist and pulling him along. She looked at the various buildings, trying to get her bearings and dragged Aurin to the entrance of an underground train station.

“Are we taking a train somewhere?” asked Aurin.

“Nope,” said Luna, leading him down the tiled stairs. “We’re going to fight other tamers.”

“Fight in a train station? I don’t get it.”

“It’s not just a train station,” said Luna, turning to look at him with her glossy lips curled into a sneaky smile. “This is the Battle Underground.”