Aurin, Gardner and Hunter sat in the stands as the opening ceremony was about to begin. Luna was sitting far higher, unable to enjoy the luxury of the competitor box that was right beside the action; something that she was very vocally disappointed about.

Aurin turned to her and waved, not intending it to be sarcastic, but she stuck her tongue out at him while Innogon bounced up and down by her feet.

“Are you sure about not letting Snippet battle?” Gardner asked Aurin.

“I’m sure,” said Aurin. “He’s completely untested so I’m going to stick with a team of eight.”

“Even though the matches in the top sixty-four switch to five versus five? You’re not worried your Minakai will get burned out if you’re fighting every day?”

“That’s only a risk towards the end of the tournament,” said Hunter. “It’s a much bigger tournament so there’ll be plenty more opportunities to rest between matches before that and you’re only using three for now anyway. Besides, you can always ask Luna for her expertise regarding healing herbs, berries and whatever other marvellous concoctions she knows about.”

Gardner sighed. “You’re right. I’m stressing over nothing, aren’t I?”

Hunter simply laughed and the three tamers watched as the lights dimmed and the audience suddenly fell silent. There was a slight static from the speakers around the stadium and the announcer began.

“Welcome, ladies and gentlemen, to the national championships here in the beautiful Ludonia!” he called to an eruption of thunderous applause. “It’s once more that time of the year that we look forward to endlessly, and this year will prove to be one of the best yet as our competitors strive to conquer their opponents to challenge Tobias for the national champion title.

“Five hundred and twelve spectacular competitors have qualified at the many regional tournaments throughout the country for their shot at the title as well as the grand prizes. Here to reveal our mysterious prizes for the first place winner is the spectacular Tobias himself. Everyone give him a hand!”

Tobias walked onto the field to earth-shaking cheers. He was a man who was truly loved by the people; someone who could proudly represent them internationally as a stalwart beacon of the Bretonian people. He walked up to a podium that rose from the ground where a red cloth was covering something very lumpy.

As soon as Tobias grabbed the cloth, a horrifying screech echoed out across the stadium. Everyone looked to the skies and a giant moth, one of the largest Minakai Aurin had ever seen, was descending upon the stadium. It was yellow with a red hairy tuft around its neck with large red wings that emitted spores as they flapped. Its piercing blue eyes were focused on Tobias and its spear-like limbs were pointing directly at him. Whatever this mysterious Minakai was, it was looking for blood.

Tobias raised his hand to the sky and summoned his Grakadon. The large earthen dragon stood at half the size of the moth, but he faced it fearlessly. He flapped his heavy wings and flew upwards, encasing his fists in stone before laying into the moth, who parried and stabbed with its sharp limbs.

Aurin turned to Gardner. “Is this for real?” he asked, only receiving a shrug from the fixated Gardner.

“Quiet,” said Hunter, who was equally enamoured by the aerial battle. Aurin looked at the crowd, most of whom were wondering the same as him, but they were nonetheless captivated.

The moth knocked Grakadon aside and spat a wave of acid at the dragon, who blocked it with a large boulder. He proceeded to toss it at the insect who caught it and crushed it effortlessly. It charged at Grakadon, delivering a mighty strike and knocking the dragon to the ground.

The crowd gasped as Tobias summoned another Minakai, a Guilgon. The blue dragon took to the skies immediately, replacing its fallen comrade. It shot jet after jet of water, which was broken apart by the mighty gusts from the beating wings of the giant moth Minakai. Aurin had never seen a creature like this, so large and so powerful, but he knew better than to ask Hunter right now. Aurin had never seen him so mesmerised.

The moth burst forward as fast as Dolissile could and sent the Guilgon crashing to the ground too, but the blue dragon pulled up at the last second and returned to face its opponent. He breathed in deeply and shot a pressure cannon, more powerful than even Aurin’s Steambot could pull off, and the moth took the attack head on.

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It faltered a little but regained itself as Guilgon charged at it. A swift stab to the neck and Guilgon was done for. There wasn’t much left that Tobias could do, surely?

Tobias raised his hand once more and summoned three orange-red lights that gathered together on the battlefield. As the lights faded, a Flaround, Fyrvern and Flambot stood together. The moth flew down to them, as all three braced themselves and breathed deep. They unleashed a blazing blast of fire that encapsulated the insect, who tried to fend it off, but the fire was all-consuming. It writhed and struggled as it fought to remain in control, but it wasn’t long before it fell from the sky and slammed into the ground with a thud that shook Aurin’s chair.

The crowd cheered as Tobias and his Minakai all took a bow, having defeated the great monster. Tobias walked over to it the heavily burned insect and placed something inside its mouth. As if by magic—which it may very well have been—the moth started to stir and pushed itself off the ground, flapping into the air once more. Tobias grabbed its leg and flew a lap around the stadium, waving to the crowd as he did so. The moth dropped him in front of the table and Tobias dismissed it with his glove, answering most of Aurin’s questions.

“What was that Minakai?” he asked.

“It’s called Arusom,” said Hunter. “It’s among the rarest Minakai in Bretonia and Tobias is the only man I know of that owns one. He doesn’t like to use it in battle as he thinks it’s far too powerful to use against his opponents, but he’ll show it off on very rare occasions.”

“Amazing,” muttered Gardner, whose eyes still looked like they would burst from his skull.

“Sorry about that disruption,” called the announcer. “Tobias, if you please.”

Tobias ripped the red cloth from the podium and revealed a pile of silver and gold coins. It was a prize large enough that you wouldn’t have to worry about earning anything in the tower for a decade or two. Atop the pile sat a Minakai egg. Whatever lay inside may have been the real prize, but the precious coins were certainly enticing.

After the rest of the ceremony concluded, the large screen scrolled through the tournament bracket. Aurin was slightly disappointed to see his first match would be two days from now, while Gardner’s was in the morning and Hunter’s was at the end of the week. Aurin stuck around for the first match and then headed off to find Luna in the stands above.

*

“To the tournament!” said Luna, clinking her glass with Aurin’s.

“To my victory!” said Aurin.

Shamtile and Innogon had been warned about not clinking their glasses as the two Minakai often didn’t know their own strength when it came to simple tasks. What was most curious, however, was that they could be impeccably precise when it came to controlling themselves in battle.

Aurin and Luna were sitting by the riverside at a fancy restaurant called Ludonian Finesse that was well outside their regular budget, but they had decided to treat themselves after such an exciting tournament opening.

“I’m itching to train,” said Aurin, “but I don’t want to overdo it tomorrow in case my Minakai are too tired.”

“I think you’re being paranoid,” said Luna. “Why don’t we have a battle in the park tomorrow? It’ll keep you and your Minakai on their toes.”

“Alright,” said Aurin. “I probably am being paranoid. I know Kyle will make sure my monsters aren’t just lazing around in the sun all day. Well, maybe Desparee is enjoying the photosynthesis, but the others will surely be training.”

Shamtile looked up at Aurin.

“You have been keeping up with your training at the ranch, right?” his tamer asked him.

Shamtile waved his arms and screeched in agreement, spilling his cola all over the table.

“Careful!” Aurin scolded while Luna laughed and started to dab it up with napkins. A few of the other customers gave them funny looks, but Aurin and Luna paid them no heed.

“Any other last minute preparations you need to make?” asked Luna.

“Nothing,” said Aurin.

“Are you sure?”

“Positive?”

“Yes.”

“What about—”

“Oh no,” lamented Aurin, “what did I forget?”

Luna giggled. “Nothing, I’m just playing with you.”

Aurin breathed a sigh of relief. “Can you tell I’m on edge?” he asked.

“Just a little bit,” said Luna, holding her index finger and thumb up by Aurin’s face and pressing them close together.

“At least I don’t have to face off against Tobias’s Arusom,” said Aurin.

“Not yet anyway.”

“Hunter says that Tobias doesn’t use her in battle much. It must be true because I’ve never even heard of such a Minakai. Have you?”

“No,” admitted Luna, “and Hunter is typically a reliable source on these things. You’re probably in the clear once you fight Tobias. We’ve seen up close for ourselves what his Grakadon can do, but granted, it’s another story when it’s a one on one battle and he’s going all out.”

“I can’t wait!” shouted Aurin, prompting more funny looks from fellow customers.

“I thought you were nervous?”

“And excited. I’m both. It’s hard to put how I feel into words, but it’s like if you took how I felt about the Hazelton tournament and doubled it, then tripled it and add another fifteen percent.”

“Why fifteen percent?”

“I don’t know, I’m just babbling at this stage.”

Just then, the waiter brought over the bill for their lavish meal of some of the finest cuts of steak they had ever eaten—from regular cows, not Minakai. Aurin was horrified at seeing the amount of silver they owed.

“What?” asked Luna, her voice quivering. Aurin held up the bill. “Oh dear…”

Shamtile grabbed Aurin’s bag and started rifling through to find his coins, but Aurin grabbed the little lizard by the back of the neck and lifted him up.

“Oh no you don’t,” he said to his Minakai. “I know exactly how much I’ll end up paying if I let you try and take care of things.”

Innogon spat water playfully at Shamtile, who wrestled free from Aurin’s grip and tackled the little drake. The two tamers laughed as the waiter told them to pay up and leave for causing such a ruckus.