“They think we can’t handle twin dragons?” Aurin asked Luna, who grinned in response.

  Evan and Elodie’s Guilgon and Grakadon soared toward Desparee and Rabbafat with their claws raised, but Aurin and Luna knew this was a feint.

  “Watch for the pullback!” called Luna.

  Desparee hid within a thick sprung a thick tree trunk from the ground while Rabbafat curled into a large ball. Sure enough, the dragons pulled up and hurled a barrage of water and stone at the two, but Desparee’s trunk weathered the water and the stones bounced off Rabbafat’s thick fat.

  “I told you he was good,” Evan said to his sister. “And she’s no slouch either.”

  “Considering the tournament, that was obvious,” said Elodie. “We’ll just power through!”

  Her Grakadon roared as it threw its arms upwards, sending intense tremors across the field. The ground shook so vigorously that it upended all four tamers and broke apart the roots of Desparee’s tree. As it toppled, it revealed the weeping Minakai hidden within and he too was on the ground, using his arms to keep himself steady. He raised his legs and unleashed a nature cannon from it, striking Grakadon in one of it wings and sending him careening to the ground. Desparee was then met by a water jet from Guilgon, sending him tumbling over as the ground continued to shake.

  Rabbafat kicked and sent herself rolling and bouncing across the grass toward the downed Grakadon who ceased the tremors upon landing and trying to recover from his wing injury. The rotund critter unfurled herself and leapt at the dragon, drawing back her fist. With a comical squeak, she smashed him across the jaw, knocking him flat onto his back.

  Guilgon meanwhile sped toward Desparee as he rolled and swiped across his back, tearing deep cuts into his bark skin. He looked at the smirking dragon and spat a relentless flurry of seeds as solid as cannonballs that battered the blue dragon, forcing him to retreat.

  “Sync attack!” called the blonde twins, and the two dragons leapt up and flew into the air.

  They flapped side by side and drew in deep breaths. Guilgon unleashed a pressure cannon from his mouth and it was immediately encircled by swirling rocks. The combined attack spiralled towards Desparee who countered with a hastily-fired nature beam. Even though the water was blocked, the rocks continued to swirl past Desparee’s beam and pelted him. It threw off his focus and the water pushed through his attack and flung him across the field.

  As the two dragons roared to gloat about their successful technique, a hefty rabbit bounced up to greet them. Her round body suddenly shifted from fat to slim as her fat was redistributed to her overhead arms. She threw a hammer fist at each of the dragons, walloping them on their heads and sending them plummeting back down to Earth.

  Desparee, injured as he was, struck with his entangling vines, holding the two down. Rabbafat, who had resumed her normal shape, aimed herself at Guilgon as she dove. As she landed on his stomach, the dragon’s eyes nearly burst from his head as he let out a gasping wheeze. His eyes then rolled back and he fainted, leaving his fellow dragon to fight alone.

  “All you,” said Evan to his sister, banishing his Guilgon with his summoning stone.

  “Not for long,” said Aurin.

  Desparee’s vines relaxed and Grakadon tried to slip away, but they suddenly started whipping him wildly. As sturdy as his scales were, the vines lashed out so vigorously that they broke through the dragon’s hide and cut into him. He yelped and roared with each successive strike. He tried to open up the ground and sink underneath, but the vines sprung from his pit and whipped him from there too.

  As the assault wound down, Grakadon passed out, but so too did Desparee, having pushed himself to breaking point to achieve his victory. This left only Rabbafat standing with Aurin and Luna as the winners of the match.

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  “We did it!” squealed Luna, jumping up and down excitedly.

  “You almost had us there for a moment,” said Aurin, thinking about the impressive synchronised attack the dragons executed.

  “Almost didn’t quite cut it,” shrugged Evan as Elodie shook her head and laughed quietly.

  “Well, back to work for me,” she said. “Thanks for a fun morning. Evan, I think you can show them it if you want to.”

  “It?” asked Aurin as the rancher hopped the fence and headed off to tend to the monsters.

  “You two are trustworthy, right?” asked Evan slyly.

  “Of course,” said Luna as Aurin nodded in agreement.

  “Alright,” said Evan. “Not that I expected another answer. There’s something special here in Maplewood that, as far as I know, is unique to our little town. Not only do we have an active monster tower, we have something else too.”

  “You’re going to need to elaborate on that,” said Aurin.

  “It’s something you should see rather than hear about,” said Evan. “You both have flying Minakai, right?”

  “Yes.”

  “Good, summon them,” said Evan, holding out a cream summoning stone and bringing forth his Peekawe. Aurin and Luna summoned Skrow and Windjinn, respectively. “Hop on their backs and follow me.”

  The three tamers climbed on their winged Minakai and took to the skies. Maple Tower came into view as the trio flew up, having been hidden by thick trees and the hills it rested behind. Close to it sat the train station and the trio flew south of it, following the river that ran through the forest until they reached a lake.

  “Down we go,” called Evan from the front and began his descent.

  Aurin and Luna willed Skrow and Windjinn to follow and they followed Evan to an island sitting in the centre of the lake where a small sat. The three landed in a circle, surrounding the ten-foot-wide hole, but they remained atop their monsters. The opening was curious for there was a faint billowing vapour that escaped from it, not unlike the smoke that clouded the top of a monster tower. It filled Aurin with a sense of apprehension.

  “This,” said Evan, “is what I want to show you. Now, I must warn you that it can be dangerous inside, but you two can obviously handle yourselves. There’s no way to Orb of Return ourselves back outside, so make sure that you’ve got a couple of summoning stones at the ready, alright?”

  Aurin glanced at his tamer glove, which was filled to with everything he needed. His other summoning stones were in his pack so he had a full team, aside from the injured Desparee who was recovering back in Hazelton. Luna, likewise, was armed and ready with her monsters at her beck and call.

  Evan and his Peekawe led the way down. There was not much room to manoeuvre, so his Minakai flapped lightly, descending gently. Skrow and Windjinn used their air elemental powers to slowly drift forty feet downwards until they landed in a small cavern with only the light from the outside to rebuke the shadows.

  A Hornferno burst from a tunnel, lighting it up with its spat fireball. Aurin’s Skrow whipped up a wind that threw the Hornferno and its fire aside, while Windjinn followed up with a spinning razor that cut through the air and the dinosaur, banishing it from the world.

  “What is this place?” asked Aurin, climbing down from Skrow.

  “Welcome to a rift,” said Evan, hopping off his Peekawe. “It’s like a little slice of monster tower hidden away somewhere out of sight.”

  “I’ve seen something like this before in Briarwood. Although the Minakai there weren’t aggressive.”

  “Ah, so it’s truly not unique?” asked Evan. “We’ve never been able to get confirmation, but we also didn’t want to spread word that we’ve got an anomaly like this nearby.”

  “Isn’t it dangerous to not report this?” remarked Luna.

  “That was what we all thought at first,” said Evan, scrunching his face up. “But we were worried that Maplewood would be swarming with agents and our town would be torn apart with the people evacuated. Maybe it’s because we’re underground and under the lake, but the Minakai tend to not leave this pit.”

  “Maybe they can’t,” said Aurin, looking up to the small cloud of distorted purple smoke that sat within the entrance. “If this is the same magic as what’s found on the roof of the towers, then it may be a barrier sealing them here. I would bet that if we cleared the rocks, soil, and water, it would form a dome…or a sphere.”

  “It’s hard to say, but what I can tell you is that this place is a fantastic training area and you don’t need to traipse all the way up the tower. It can really push you to the limits if the Minakai that spawn are higher-floor creatures.”

  “It’s that dangerous, is it?” asked Aurin with a smirk.

  “I don’t like it when you smile like that,” said Luna uneasily. “What are you up to?”

  “There’s one Minakai of mine who is overdue training and a place like this is the perfect place to start for her.”

  Aurin banished Skrow and harnessed a blue stone in his glove. As the black bird faded, a golden humanoid creature appeared. She let out an echoing call of delight as her three halo-like rings spun around her and her three sapphires—three on her face and one on her chest—glowed brightly.

  “Breminia,” said Aurin, patting the legendary Minakai’s head. “It’s time to put you to the test.”

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