“Come on, come on,” said Aurin impatiently as he waited for the two contenders to take to the battlefield.

“Would you relax?” said Luna, putting both of her hands on Aurin’s legs to stop him shaking them. “You’ve been acting oddly since you won your battle. I get you thought it wouldn’t be as close as it was, but why are you so anxious about Hunter’s match too?”

“I don’t know,” said Aurin. “I think maybe I need to see him battle so I can take everything in. Suddenly I feel like I have a hundred lessons I need to learn before I fight again. I don’t know how to describe it properly.”

“Ladies and gentlemen,” began the announcer. “Today we’re welcoming back a contender who has been here many times before. He should need no introduction, but just in case he dies…would you give it up for Hunter!”

Hunter walked forward in his crimson suit and waved to the crowd on all sides before taking his place and waiting patiently for his opponent to come and face him.

The announcer spoke up again. “Facing the winner of the Hazelton qualified is the winner of the Cloverlily tournament, it’s Paul!”

The shaggy-haired and rather lanky Paul slouched onto the field, not who you would think of as a champion, but Hunter had given Aurin the rundown. He had qualified for the national championships twice before and was certainly no pushover.

“Hunter’s got this,” said Gardner, nodding confidently with his eyes closed. “I don’t even need to watch the match.”

“Oh, look at that!” exclaimed Luna.

Gardner leaned forward and looked down at the battlefield. “What?” he asked, worried he missed something important. He turned red as Luna laughed at him.

Shamtile nudged both of them with his elbow, trying to get them to be quiet. On Aurin’s orders, the lizard was to watch the match closely, for he had a lot to learn too. Today was not for entertainment, it was a study day.

The familiar static of the speakers crackled for a split second before the announcer’s voice boomed out. “Let the fight begin!”

Hunter threw an orb of light onto the field and his faithful Flambot emerged. It clenched hard and the flames from its head and tail roared. It was clear to all how seriously Hunter would be taking this match right off the bat.

Paul’s Minakai appeared in a burst of brown light. An unusually large Totempo appeared and stomped the ground, familiarising itself with the terrain. Aurin suspected the armless dinosaur was getting a feel for the best spot to use its earth magic. He poked Shamtile in the shoulder, who screeched and brushed Aurin’s hand aside.

“Shh!” said Gardner, eager to see what was going to happen.

The two Minakai ran straight for each other. With each stomp, a rock flew towards Flambot, who blasted it out of the sky with a burst of fire that send flaming rocks through the sky like miniature shooting stars across the battlefield.

As they came close, Totempo lowered its head to skewer the fiery furnace Minakai with its stone horn, but Flambot stopped dead in its tracks. At the last second, it opened the grill on its stomach and Totempo’s head got caught inside.

“My goodness!” exclaimed the announcer as Flambot grappled his opponent, holding its inside its stomach. “Look at that, he’s turning up the heat!”

Flambot’s flames grew larger and burning embers escaped from its furnace as Totempo flailed. Paul, however, looked determined.

“Sink him!” he ordered.

Totempo jumped up and down, causing a large crack to appear in the battlefield. With each jump, it grew wider. Hunter’s eyes were narrow as he was assessing his next move.

“Release and back off,” he ordered Flambot.

This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it.

The robot let Totempo escape and hurried to the side as the crack became a pit.

“He was going to force Flambot in the whole and bury him,” said Aurin, leaning down to speak to Shamtile. “Did you realise what he was doing?”

Shamtile turned around and yelled a warbled yell.

“Fine,” said Aurin, sitting back up. “You focus and I’ll just sit here quietly, but if you can’t work out what’s going on in the minds of the humans then don’t bother asking me.”

“I’m trying to watch,” said Luna, glowering at Aurin. “You two can compare notes after the match is over.”

“What just happened?” asked Gardner, looking shocked.

“What?” exclaimed Aurin, looking at the battlefield below.

Totempo was lying, cracked and broken on the ground as flames faded into nothingness. Flambot stood victorious, beeping and booping as he closed his grill. Shamtile slapped Aurin on the leg, furious that his tamer had given him orders to focus on the match and subsequently caused him to miss a winning move.

“Hunter claims the first victory of the battle, but it’s far from over,” said the announcer. “What’s Paul got up his sleeve?”

Paul cast another brown light onto the field and his Cephelarock appeared. The grey stone octopus wiggled its rocky tentacles as though they were flesh. It beckoned Flambot forward and then slapped its tentacles on the ground, where it held them steadily.

Hunter was watching intently, but he made no moves towards Flambot. Aurin spotted a tiny smile appear on Paul’s face on the giant screen but Hunter did not notice. Paul was up to something and Cephelarock’s bait wasn’t meant to be taken.

Suddenly, the octopus sprung its trap and large stone tentacles erupted from the ground. They grabbed Flambot and held him in place, restraining his arms and legs; one even held his grill closed. Cephelarock scurried forwards at his target using four legs to move and another two more to throw rocks at Flambot. It tried to move its head aside, but it didn’t have the mobility to dodge.

Paul’s Minakai threw itself into the air and grabbed onto Flambot’s head. As Flambot shot jets of flame from its hands to try and break free of the tentacles, Cephelarock began pummelling the screen in his head. It wasn’t long before cracks appeared and Flambot began to whizz and whir, losing control of itself. The tentacles released it and he dropped to the ground.

The crowd cheered at Cephelarock’s victory. After a disappointing start, Paul was proving that he was no amateur. Aurin had to admit that he was impressed. The false bait wasn’t too obvious, and it was clear that Paul’s Minakai was powerful if it was able to restrain such a tough opponent like Hunter’s Flambot.

Hunter nodded slowly and smiled, excited by the prospect of an opponent he couldn’t bulldoze with ease. Aurin knew that look. It was the same look he had when Aurin fought him last time. Hunter raised his hand and summoned forth his Steambot in a flash of blue.

His Steambot wasted no time and dropped to its stomach. Cephelarock only had a moment to gaze into the pipes on its opponents back before an intense water blast erupted and threw it into the wall at the far side of the stadium. It lay motionless, taken out with a single intense hit.

“What a reversal!” boomed the announcer. “Just when Paul thought he was making a comeback, Hunter’s Steambot blew his Cephelarock out of the match.”

Paul looked intense. He reached forward and from his tamer glove, shot a silvery light. The silvery light burst forward and faded to reveal a Dolissile. It was bulkier and less sleek than Aurin’s but it was nonetheless quick off the mark.

Steambot braced itself and held its hands forward. It grabbed hold of the charging Dolissile, who vibrated violently trying to force Steambot back. The metal golem could not afford to lose its grip. At this point blank range and with this much pent up energy, Dolissile could do serious damage.

“Let him carry you!” ordered Hunter.

His obedient Steambot complied and lay back, letting itself be dragged along the ground by the Dolissile. It was not slowing down, if anything, it was accelerating. Aurin wondered what Hunter was thinking, he’s in a terrible position, unless…

“Now!” ordered Hunter.

Steambot used its pressure cannon and the two Minakai were flung into the air. Steambot released Dolissile who continued to soar directly up into the sky, while the metal construct lowered himself gently using his arms like water-emitting thrusters. The level of control it had over its elemental abilities was impressive.

A glint in the sky and Dolissile appeared, torpedoing towards Steambot from above. Aurin was familiar with this one, so he had no doubt that Hunter had a counter for it. Steambot aimed carefully and shot another pressure cannon, blast the Dolissile aside. It smacked the ground awkwardly and rolled over a few dozen times before stopping and remaining motionless.

“And we have our winner, folks! Commiserations to Paul, but the Cloverlily Champion just couldn’t overcome the Hazelton Champion’s might.”

Hunter and Paul shook hands to applause. Hunter looked quietly content while Paul was doing a good job at hiding his understandable disappointment. Both tamers were good sports and didn’t let their previous accomplishments boost their ego as high as Paul’s Dolissile had soared. It was a nice thing to witness.

“That was something, eh Shamtile?” asked Aurin.

Shamtile turned to his tamer, obviously frowning behind his mask. He was still sore about having missed Flambot defeat one of his fellow earth elementals. Not because he felt comraderies, but because he wanted to see if there was a way to counter Hunter’s attack.

“Would a milkshake help you get over it?” asked Aurin.

“I think so,” said Gardner, also still sore. “You’re buying for everyone right?”

Aurin sighed and nodded while Luna giggled beside him.