Aurin strolled into the bustling streets of Hazelton with Luna clinging to his arm and a horde of Minakai in tow. Shamtile was bouncing around merrily, chasing a butterfly, Skrow was flapping around above Aurin, and Tuptup was nipping at his tamer’s heels with his teeth. Luna’s own Minakai were flying a hundred feet overhead with Innogon hitching a ride on Windjinn’s back, spitting water into the air and making it rain over the town, much to the people’s annoyance.

  “There’s the slow squad,” chuckled Gardner, shouting to Aurin and Luna through cupped hands. Jimmy snickered and Emily rolled her eyes with a smirk on her face. “Do you think because you won the last Tamer Day that you can waltz in late, Aurin?”

  “I bet you any money that Luna’s the reason,” murmured Jimmy.

  “Nobody will take that bet,” whispered Emily.

  “Sorry!” called Aurin, glancing at Luna. “We were… waylaid.”

  “Fashion emergency,” said Luna, pointing to her orange scarf. “There was a hole in my blue scarf. I have to wear orange today! Can you believe it? An olive-green coat and an orange scarf.”

  “What is the world coming to?” shrugged Gardner.

  “Where’s old man rancher?” asked Aurin, looking over the crowd to see where Kyle was.

  “Checking out the stalls. He said that he gets precious few days off and he isn’t going to waste one waiting for you two to hurry up.”

  “Let’s go find him,” said Luna eagerly. She was not too concerned with finding Kyle, but the prospect of the exotics good sold at the stalls were enticing her.

  The five tamers and most of their Minakai pushed their way through the streets. The previous year had been busy, but this year was another story entirely. More events, more prizes, more vendors, and more of pretty much everything imaginable had drawn the crowds from not only Hazelton, but from the towns and villages nearby.

  It wasn’t long before they located Kyle, who was looking at an oddly-shaped rock that dark-haired man with a moustache was holding. He insisted that it was the fossilised remains of an ancient Minakai from a Sinotian tower, which was not too dissimilar from Gorun, but without crystals. Kyle did not buy the man’s story, and he refused to be drawn into a haggling match.

  After a few jabs about Aurin and Luna’s lateness, Kyle led the way through the pop-up market, and everyone took the time to peruse the goods. Most of the wares were artisan works, from carved replicas of Shamtile masks to gold pendants in the shape of a coiled Quetzalia. Luna’s pleading eyes were enough to convince Aurin to buy her some jewellery, at which she squealed and kissed him much more publicly than she normally would have.

  “Ah!” called a voice through the crowd. “There you are, Aurin.”

  “Eh?” remarked Aurin, struggling to see who had called him.

  After a few seconds, a short man with neat blonde hair and a tightly-trimmed beard emerged. He bore a friendly smile that Aurin understood immediately; he was about to be asked for a favour.

  “Mayor Chadkirk, how can I help?” he asked knowingly.

  The new mayor straightened his tie and cleared his throat. “Well, I wasn’t going to cut right to the chase, young man, but I suppose it couldn’t hurt. I would like to humbly request that you make a speech before the town today.”

  “When?” asked Aurin, his brow furrowing.

  “In about two minutes.”

  Aurin was taken aback. “I haven’t had time to prepare anything.”

  “Hogwash!” scoffed the mayor, waving his hands frantically through the air. “You are a brilliant young man of many talents. I trust that if you speak form the heart, your excellence will shine through the same way it does when you battle.”

  “I would really rather not.”

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  Mayor Chadkirk sighed. “Ah well,” he said glumly. “After the strings I pulled to get you that patch of land the same day you strolled into the town hall, you would think…”

  “Fine,” grumbled Aurin.

  Mayor Chadkirk brightened up and clapped his hands together loudly. “Fantastic! You won’t regret this, Aurin. And now we can call it even, eh?”

  “Good luck,” Luna called after Aurin as he was dragged away by Chadkirk.

  Shamtile leapt onto Luna’s shoulders and quickstepped across heads, backs, and shoulders to keep up with his tamer. With an impressive pounce, Shamtile grabbed onto Aurin’s back and clung to him like a backpack, unwilling to be left behind. Mayor Chadkirk guided Aurin onto a stage where a familiar face awaited him.

  “Aurin, my boy!” boomed Lord Kensington. He arose, snatched Aurin’s hand and shook it vigorously. “How have you been? How have you been? I watched you in the National Championships, you know. I could not have been prouder of you, my friend. To think that the same young man who won my Palace Royale went toe-to-toe with Tobias and almost knocked him off his throne, well, I must say, it was truly something.”

  “Thank you, Lord Kensington,” said Aurin, never one to get used to being praised so highly. “To answer your question, I’ve been well. How about you?”

  “Oh, you don’t know the half of it, Aurin,” said Kensington, releasing Aurin’s now-sore hand. “I decided not to hold a second tournament in my estate this year.”

  “That’s a shame,” remarked Aurin. “It was great fun last year. If you watched the National Championships, you’ll have seen the Petalcub I hatched in your tournament is a Lycavine now.”

  “Yes, quite! And that Zeera? I’m just glad that I gave you the tools you needed to save the town.” Lord Kensington grinned widely. “But no, the tournament is off this year because I’m planning on doing something grander next year. It will be bigger, better, and more costly than anything I’ve ever done before, but it will be one hundred percent worth every ounce of gold. There, of course, will be a big invite with your name on it when the time comes.”

  “I do apologise, Theodore,” said Mayor Chadkirk, bowing his head, “but it is time to address the town.”

  “Don’t fret now, Billy, I know when to pipe down.”

  Mayor Chadkirk cleared his threat and slinked off towards the podium. He tapped on the microphone a couple of times to grab the attention of the town and its many visitors. “Welcome, welcome,” said Chadkirk, his voice shaking at having to address so many people at once. “For those of you who don’t know me, my name is William Chadkirk, and I am the new mayor of Hazelton. Please allow me to say it is a great honour to have all of you at Tamer Day today.”

  The mayor gave the clapping audience a wave and then sat down on his chair, leaving everyone confused. Chadkirk gave Aurin a nod, signalling that he was up already. The young man felt as though he had been truly thrown in at the deep end, but it was now clear that he had been asked to speak because the mayor was too nervous to give a long speech of his own.

  Shamtile looked at his tamer, as bewildered as the rest of the people present, and then shrugged. Aurin bit his lip and approached the podium.

  “Hello, everyone,” he said, leaning into the microphone. “I’m sure most of you know me at this point, but my name is Aurin—”

  The audience burst into applause, with great whooping cheers echoing throughout the town. Aurin felt himself turning red, but he didn’t let it throw him off—at least no more than being pushed into this situation had already thrown him off.

  “Hazelton is a wonderful place, as I’m sure many of you who have spent any length of time here know. But I would like to speak a little bit about hardship. This great town has seen a lot of suffering over the last several years and that is in no small part thanks to the Zodiac Squad. But what makes Hazelton so great is that, even after everything, we pulled together as a people and righted the wrongs inflicted upon us as best as we can.”

  Shamtile, who was lurking beside his tamer, hopped onto the podium and nodded wildly while waving his arms from side to side. Everyone tried not to laugh as Aurin grabbed the masked lizard by the scruff of the neck and dropped him back onto the stage.

  Aurin continued. “I’m an outsider to this town. I come from a small town called Buckstone, a few hours away by train. But you all took me in, first as a guest, and now as someone who wants to spend the rest of my life living among you. I am proud to call Hazelton home and to call the rest of you Hazeltonians my family and friends. You have endured so much, you have pushed past so much, and I know that Hazelton will continue to put its name on the map, but without losing what makes us special. I hope you all have a wonderful Tamer Day and get lost in the celebrations. Thank you.”

  The town cheered wildly. Aurin could see Gardner with his fingers in his mouth, belting out what would have been an ear-piercing whistle, but the applause was too loud for the red-headed tamer to be heard through.

  Lord Kensington took to the podium after Aurin and explained the events that were going to occur throughout the rest of the morning and stretching into the afternoon. Aurin had already decided to enter three of them; the unevolved tournament, the aerial race, and the dexterity challenge.

  The unevolved tournament was, as the name suggested, for those Minakai who had never evolved. Tuptup was going to be Aurin’s representative with Minakai like Shamtile and Dolissile no doubt finding the opponents too weak to pose any true threat, especially without many of Aurin’s friends entering. The unevolved tournament was the first of the events Aurin planned to compete in and, once he was off the stage, he found the hairy blue Minakai who was gnawing on Luna’s trailing scarf.

  “Ready?” Aurin asked him.

  Tuptup released Luna’s drool-stained scarf and yapped enthusiastically.

  right here.

  Aurin's Team:

  Luna's Team: