Aurin ran up the path to the ranch, desperate to speak to Kyle. He couldn’t believe that there was a Zodiac member who made it to the twenty-forth floor with two mighty Minakai and still managed to defeat him. He continued to underestimate these foes and they continued to surprise him. It would not happen again.

He found Kyle carrying a bucket of fish guts to the river with Shamtile following him and sneaking the odd morsel for himself. When Kyle saw how out of breath and tired Aurin was, he looked surprised. “Your Minakai only just arrived back. Did you run the whole way here?”

“Yes,” gasped Aurin. “Zodiac elite in the tower…two big fish…wiped me out.”

“Slow down, there’s nobody following you. Catch your breath and explain things to me properly, this is important.”

Aurin took a minute to breathe and then recounted the events of the tower to Kyle. He was so focused on the battle with Pisces to even draw attention to breaking his record for highest floor reached to date. All the while Aurin talked, Kyle listened without interrupting.

“…And then I ran straight here,” concluded Aurin.

Kyle had a contemplative look on his face. “We know beyond a shadow of a doubt now that they’ve got a cosmic Minakai to their name. Between what Conrad and Klaus have said on top of Leo’s evasiveness to you in Ludonia, we knew that already, but now it’s finally been admitted.”

“So what do we do?” asked Aurin.

“We? Nothing. Do you remember what happened last time you started interfering too much? The ranch was burned down and you almost died. It’s fantastic that we got our revenge for that, but not everyone in Zodiac is a hapless goon or a tamer like Leo who plays somewhat fair. Some of these folks are stone cold psychopaths.”

“We need to wipe them out!” yelled Aurin.

“Wipe them out how?” asked Kyle. “Murder them? Ensure that they’re all locked up? Catch a grip and start thinking rationally. What is it that they’ve done recently to cause trouble other than steal other tamers eggs and be a general nuisance?”

Aurin stood there silently. Kyle was right, of course, he wouldn’t kill another person and there was no way all of them would be locked up. Maybe if the twelve elite members were all imprisoned at the same time it would be effective, but clearly elites can be replaced so it would have to be simultaneous.

“I don’t know what to do,” said Aurin at last.

“The best thing we can do for now is make sure Knot is made aware,” said Kyle, heading inside to use the phone.

While he waited, Aurin called Shamtile over. The lizard had been sleeping and was rather grouchy at having been disturbed. Once Aurin explained everything to him, he was much more alert. He encased his fists in stone and hopped up and down on the spot while shadowboxing.

Aurin couldn’t help but laugh. “That’ll show ‘em,” he said, but he knew that Shamtile was more than formidable enough to handle most of the goons in the Zodiac ranks.

“Knot’s on his way,” said Kyle before he noticed Shamtile was awake. “Have you got your bodyguard sorted?”

“Something like that,” said Aurin.

Kyle whistled loudly and his Wingbloom appeared in the night sky, then spiralled down and landed on the grass beside his tamer. The rancher rubbed his Minakai’s head and fed him a few pellets from his hand.

“Got a task for you, Wing,” said Kyle. “Remember those masked folks who caused trouble here a while ago? Well, they’re back and I’ll need you to keep lookout tonight just in case any of them try anything stupid.”

Wingbloom cawed loudly and then flew back up and started circling the ranch, keeping a watch on the surrounding area. If Skrow hadn’t taken such a beating, Aurin would have asked him to help out too.

This content has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

It was mere minutes until Detective Knot hurried up the path to the ranch with a Flaround walking alongside him. Aurin knew he had Minakai of his own, but he rarely seemed to use them.

“Gentlemen,” said the detective. “It’s been a while, Aurin.”

“Hello, Detective Knot,” said Aurin. “I’m sure Kyle told you that our old friends are back.”

Knot chuckled. “Lad, they never went away. They’ve kept a low profile, but there’s been constant reports of them hassling other tamers. I’ve had your friend Klaus constantly calling me up and asking for updates on the Ethruki situation. You may have been having fun fighting on television, but things here have still been ticking along. Now get explaining about what happened.”

The detective took scratchy notes as Aurin told him everything. He didn’t seem to look all that surprised about anything that was said. Aurin himself was starting to think that he had built up his encounter with Pisces in his head to be more than it was in reality.

“I’ll be straight with you, Aurin,” said Knot. “The Zodiac elites are more elusive than the goons. I could tell you the names of three dozen low-ranking members with ease, but the twelve higher-ups have done their best to keep their Zodiac lives separate from their true identities.”

“And the people in Libra’s picture from before?” asked Kyle.

“I haven’t been able to trace a single one of them,” said Knot solemnly. “I was so sure that would be the key to this case, but it was only the key to Sagittarius and Libra.”

“So Sagittarius turned up?”

“He did not, but he hasn’t been seen again since. I’ve got contacts in half the country, and he hasn’t shown up anywhere in their records nor has he ever returned here. I’m pretty confident that somebody in Zodiac made him disappear.”

“And do you know which of them controls the Ethruki.”

“That would be Taurus,” said Kyle.

“How do you know?” asked Aurin.

“It’s simple, isn’t it? Ethruki is a bull, the sign for Taurus is a bull and the word taurus itself translates to bull. Who else would it be? They aren’t exactly subtle with Leo’s preference for lions, Pisces using fish and Sagittarius using a horse.”

“Thundarun is a unicorn,” said Knot, but Kyle shot him an irked look. “Fair enough, not an important hole to pick at.”

“There are cosmic Minakai native to Bretonia that could be linked to other cosmological signs,” said Kyle. “Abysarex is a warrior-type lion-like Minakai and Mindadam is a construct-type metallic horse. They battle very differently from Ethruki, but they’re united in their elemental type and some of the powers they possess.”

“And how would they measure up to epic Minakai like Arusom?” asked Aurin.

“In some ways they’re more powerful and in other ways less.”

“I don’t follow.”

“Compare your Shamtile and Dolissile. They’re both very powerful Minakai but they excel in different areas. If you ask Shamtile to send out a pulse, he couldn’t do it. If you asked Dolissile to encase himself in stone, he couldn’t do that.”

Detective Knot was starting to get impatient. “It’s the middle of the night and I was about to go to bed before an early shift tomorrow. Is there anything else?”

Aurin couldn’t think of anything. “I suppose not. Sorry for bothering you so late.”

“It’s fine, son. If there’s Zodiac news, I want to hear it, but unless it’s something particularly out of the ordinary then wait until morning next time, alright?”

Knot and his Minakai left while Aurin and Kyle continued to talk about the powers of the cosmic and epic Minakai. It was something that fascinated Aurin, but he knew that the likelihood of him ever owning one of these powerful beasts was slim and being able to control one was a slimmer chance still. He had enough trouble with his Arium’s behaviour, although that had at least improved dramatically since the little alien was hatched.

“So that about these supposed legendary Minakai?” asked Aurin.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” said Kyle nonchalantly.

“I’ve heard the rumours,” whispered Aurin, not sure why his voice had become so soft. “Minakai that are so rare that nobody even knows how to find their eggs. They don’t even appear in towers.”

“Can you name one of these monsters?”

“Well…no.”

“Then how can you be so sure they exist?”

“Do they?”

Kyle laughed. “There are some secrets about Minakai that are best left for you discover on your own. You can’t rely on me to be your walking encyclopaedia.”

“They do exist, don’t they?” asked Aurin excitedly. “You know!”

“I am but a humble rancher.”

“Can I at least tell you my theory?” asked Aurin.

“I’m a pretty good bluffer when I want to be, but I’d rather not rest my poker face when it’s nearly the middle of the night and I’m long overdue going to sleep. Knot isn’t the only person you’ve kept up late.”

As Kyle said this, Aurin looked down at Shamtile and noticed that his lizard was sleeping on the grass.

“I meant me,” said Kyle, noticing where Aurin’s eyes had wandered to. “It’s midnight and we’ve got to be up at six in the morning to sort out the breakfasts for the Minakai."

"I'll do it myself," said Aurin. “I owe you that at the very least.”

“I’ll not complain about that,” chuckled Kyle. “Just make sure to—”

“Measure it out properly, I know,” said Aurin exasperatedly.

The two headed inside Kyle’s house and off to their respective rooms. Aurin felt a lot better about his dealing with Pisces already. It had just been a regular old Minakai battle and he had been the one to creep up on her rather than the other way round. She was just another tamer, but he would be ready for her next time. He would be ready for all of them.