There was a stunned silence from the crowd as Mindadam shakily climbed onto his feet, while Dolissile lay motionless by the wall, surrounded by the chunks of concrete he had torn from it. Suddenly, the stadium erupted with cheers for Tobias, who remained the Bretonian Champion.

  “My goodness, folks!” gasped the announcer, audibly inhaling after a long-held breath. “Talk about close calls. Aurin narrowly misses out on the national champion title, but what a competitor he has been. He can walk away with his head held high, no doubt having made the nation’s much-loved Tobias sweat.”

  Luna, Kyle, Gardner, Jimmy, Emily, and Hunter sat in the crowd, their mouths all hanging open. For a moment, they had thought Aurin was going to win—the entire stadium did—but Tobias was as renowned as he was for a reason. Even in a desperate situation, his Minakai managed to focus just long enough for what he needed to do.

  “He almost had him,” sighed Gardner, wiping the sweat from his brow with his t-shirt. “I nearly wet myself when Dolissile broke through Mindadam’s hold.”

  “That was quite a feat,” said Hunter, nodding. “He’s getting stronger at a truly alarming rate, I must say. It’s impossible for me to keep up. He chose the right Minakai for the job, it just wasn’t enough.”

  “When you see him every day, you don’t really appreciate his growth,” said Kyle, “but two and a half years ago he was completely incompetent. His progression has been nothing short of astounding.”

  “We love you, Aurin!” cheered Luna, jumping to her feet.

  “Woo!” shouted Emily, joining Luna on her feet.

  “You made us proud, mate!” called Jimmy, also standing up and clapping heavily.

  As the applause for Tobias started to die down, it roared back up again for Aurin, who couldn’t help but smile as his eyes were drawn to his friends in the crowd, leading the cheer for him from the tamer box. He even spied Frederick clapping for him not too far from where Hunter was standing. Tobias himself was at the far side of the battlefield, clapping while slowly walking towards the centre.

  Aurin’s eyes teared a little, but upon remembering he was on camera and being broadcast to the entire country, he pulled himself together. He walked forward, waving to the crowd as he headed towards Tobias and the two tamers met each other.

  “Thought you got me, didn’t you?” chuckled Tobias.

  “Yep,” said Aurin, “but you are the champion. You’ve always got another trick up your sleeve, don’t you?”

  “Eventually, I’ll run out,” Tobias shrugged. “I’ll tell you truthfully that this is the closest I’ve ever come to losing my title. If we were to battle a couple of years from now, I don’t know if I would win.”

  “Why a couple of years and not next year?”

  “You want to know a secret?” asked Tobias with a sly grin. “I didn’t use one of my best Minakai today. A little something I picked up at the top of a tower. If we fight again next year, I’ll be bringing out that little trump card of mine.”

  “Why not now?”

  “Eh?”

  “I’m serious. The crowd’s already here, aren’t they? Give the people a little more excitement before the day is done. I’m not talking about titles or prestige, just a fun battle that’ll keep everyone talking until the next tournament. I’ve got something left in the tank too.”

  “Oh, you do, do you?” asked Tobias with a raised eyebrow. “Have you gone a little crazy today, Aurin?”

  “A little bit,” said Aurin, “but it’s got you wondering, doesn’t it? What could I have up my sleeve that might surprise you?”

  “Alright, let’s see what you’ve got, my friend. I’m sure the journalists can wait another ten minutes before interviewing us.”

  Aurin and Tobias turned away from each other and walked back towards the edge of the stadium, but rather than go into the tunnel as everyone had expected, they stopped and turned back, locking eyes. They both reached into their pockets and pulled out a blue summoning stone, each keeping theirs held firmly in their hands.

  “What are they doing?” muttered Kyle.

  “I’m not sure,” said Hunter before pointing to the large screen that was split between the two tamers down below, “but looks at their hands.”

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  Luna was confused. “Aurin already summoned his Steambot and he doesn’t have any other water elementals.”

  Tobias signalled to the tournament official standing in the tunnel close by and then shouted something over to him, making the man jump to alertness. The official put his hand to his earpiece and had a very brief conversation with the announcer before giving Tobias a nod.

  “Folks, we have something truly unprecedented for you,” called the announcer. “I’ve been told to count in a new battle, so I suppose I’ll get right to it. Three. Two. One. Fight!”

  Aurin and Tobias both threw their hands forward and summoned their Minakai to the field. Two golden Breminia hovered just above the ground at opposite ends of the battlefield, their golden wings fixed rigidly in place and their three sapphire eyes sparking while the rings around their bodies spun out of sync with each other.

  “What is that?” called Gardner, jumping to his feet in surprise.

  Kyle was stunned. “That little…how did he? When did he?”

  “What?” asked Luna. “What is it?”

  “Breminia,” said Hunter, the only one present to have seen her before. “Aurin reached the top of a monster tower.”

  Aurin and Tobias grinned at each other and gave a nod. Their Minakai tilted forward and soared towards each other, their rings now spinning much more rapidly. They covered themselves in bubble shields and collided, rebounding off each other and unleashing mighty water jets, trying to knock the other back.

  The young tamer from Buckstone could see Tobias laughing to himself. Even the Bretonian champion couldn’t believe the boldness of his young friend, challenging him again immediately after losing. He calmed himself, took a deep breath, and then ordered his Breminia to go all out, while Aurin did the same.

  *

  “You reached the top of the tower alone?” cried Gardner, grabbing Aurin by the shoulders and shaking him. “And you didn’t tell me? Mate, how could you do that?”

  The tamers had gathered in a private room at the stadium for an afterparty arranged by Tobias where they could escape the furore outside. There were thousands of excited fans hoping to catch a glimpse of the champion and his challenger, keen to hear first-hand how they felt during the battle and maybe be lucky enough to get an autograph or a photo with one of the two tamers of the hour.

  “He didn’t tell any of us,” said Kyle, shaking his head. “And he lives in my house.”

  “I wanted to keep it a surprise,” shrugged Aurin.

  “Well, it worked,” said Luna, cocking her head to the side.

  “I think you’ve made the history books tonight, Aurin,” said Hunter. “A public post-battle fight with a legendary Minakai against a legendary Minakai. I don’t think we’ll see something like that again for some time.”

  “Keeps ‘em talking, right Aurin?” said Tobias walking over with a handful of different hors d’oeuvres. He threw a couple into his mouth and swallowed them whole. “These are good, you should all try some before I finish the lot.”

  Gardner and Jimmy fell notably silent, humbled to be in the presence of a tamer they both looked up to so much.

  “I-I-I-thank…you?” stammered Gardner, not normally so flustered before marching over to grab some food.

  “He alright?” asked Tobias.

  “Y-y-yes,” said a wide-eyed Jimmy.

  “I’m just a regular fella like you,” chuckled Tobias, slapping Jimmy on the back. “Tell ‘em, Aurin.”

  “Not in the slightest,” said Aurin, making Tobias nod in reluctant agreement.

  “Nice to see you again, Luna,” said Tobias, shaking Luna’s hand. “Your team performed as well as I thought they would.”

  “Thank you, Tobias,” said Luna. “All of your advice and training tips helped a lot, I have to say.”

  “Heh?” asked Aurin, looking confused.

  “You didn’t tell him?”

  “Nope,” said Luna, winking at her Aurin. “I may have kept a small secret too.”

  “Your training…” said Kyle, realising where Luna had been when she was training away from Hazelton.

  “Briarwood?” asked Aurin.

  “Got me,” said Luna, holding her hands up. “I thought I would see if I could train up in the mountains just like you did.”

  “Coincidentally, I was training there when she showed up,” said Tobias. “Now that I think about it, it probably wasn’t a coincidence, was it? You figured I would be there, didn’t you?”

  “Guilty,” said Luna, smiling innocently.

  “You two are as sly as each other,” laughed Kyle. “I’m not sure if Aurin rubbed off on you or if you were always this way.”

  “In any case, I’m glad to help the next generation of tamers,” said Tobias. “Even if it cost me a Life Ring.”

  “You?” asked Aurin, his jaw dropping.

  “What?” asked everyone else in unison.

  “Me what?” asked Tobias, shrugging in pretend ignorance. “I kid, of course. As soon as ol’ Socrates mentioned you were the one trying to hatch a particular golden egg, I knew the ring was being put to good use.”

  “That explains why you kept sneaking off and dodging our questions,” said Luna, piecing everything together.

  “Thank you,” Aurin said to Tobias, who waved his hand dismissively.

  “You’ll repay me one day,” said the champion. “I’m sure you’re not planning on stepping down from exploring the secrets of Minakai any time soon.”

  “It’s just a shame my Breminia lost in thirty seconds,” said Aurin.

  “Twenty-six seconds,” said Gardner. “Got to start training that one, mate. She’s not up to scratch with the rest of your team yet, but she no doubt has great poten—”

  There was a sudden crash as one of the waiters tripped, spilling a plateful of food on the floor. Shamtile crawled out from underneath the waiter’s feet and ate the hors d’oeuvres even faster than Tobias had done.

  “Shamtile!” called Aurin, who looked up and then slipped another mouthful underneath his mask. “Sorry about him,” Aurin said to Tobias.

  “Nah, it’s fine,” replied the champion. “After the performance he gave, I would say he’s more than earned a treat.”

  Gardner came back over, avoiding eye contact with Tobias.

  “No showing from you this year?” asked Tobias.

  “Um…I…I was knocked out in the qualifier,” he said.

  “That’s unfortunate. You had a good performance last year. Who knocked you out? Want me to sort ‘em out?”

  “He did,” said Gardner, pointing at Aurin.

  Everyone started laughing, Gardner included. The tamers all enjoyed their evening, talking about the tournament and swapping stories of their best battles. None of them wanted it to end; they were having the time of their lives, but as they all grew tied, they headed back to their hotels and their homes. Tomorrow, they would return to their normal lives now that the National Championships were over.

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