Ethruki focused hard, holding the cybernetic dolphin before him in place. This hybrid of organic life and machine was an opponent was beneath a cosmic elemental like himself. Dolissile showed no emotion as remained perfectly still in the arena. A split second later, he rocketed forward and rammed himself into Ethruki’s golden underbelly, sending the unsuspecting bull flying through the air.

  “Agh,” grunted Aurin, shaking his head and dragging his palm across his face. “Too much force, Dolissile. We’re training him, not battering him.”

  “Did I just see Ethruki flying over the trees?” called Luna, sticking her head out of the kitchen window.

  “Yep,” replied Aurin.

  “You know you’re meant to be training him, not beating him up?”

  “Yep.”

  Luna sighed. “Well, lunch is ready,” she said. “Come in and eat.”

  Aurin summoned Ethruki to his side. The cosmic beast looked stunned, disturbed to find that so many of his master’s monsters were capable of dealing him a humiliating defeat. Aurin lightly slapped Ethruki on the side a couple of times.

  “I think I’ll train you without the others for a while,” the tamer told his monster. “You’re having a rough time of it so far.”

  Ethruki grunted in agreement, his eyes still wide with shock.

  Aurin skipped down the stairs, crossed his yard, and then headed inside. He could smell the fragrant aroma of the pork rub soup Luna had prepared. He sniffed a few times, his eyes scanning the countertops.

  “Is that your famous chili?” Aurin asked, salivating as a sharp, warm sweetness struck him.

  “I would hardly call it famous,” said Luna, putting two bowls on the table. She grabbed a couple of smaller bowls filled with a thin brown liquid and peppered with red, yellow, and green cubes. “But it is delicious, right?”

  “The best,” said Aurin, plopping himself down at the table.

  “No way, mister,” said Luna, taking off her apron. “You were training outside. Go and wash your hands.”

  Aurin grumbled as Luna bemusedly watched him scrub his hands at the sink for no more than five seconds. Once he was back in his seat, the two tucked into their meal. It was only after the ravenous pair had devoured half their bowls that they spoke again.

  “Training isn’t going well, huh?” asked Luna.

  “I started with a bad approach,” said Aurin. “I was too concerned with integrating him that I didn’t account for what he needs most. His tamer teaching him how to control his powers effectively. He’s been humbled over the last couple of days, sure, but he looks… I don’t know. Off?”

  “Dejected?”

  “Exactly! I worry that if I keep pushing too hard, I’m going to break his confidence entirely.”

  “You know what you need to do, right?”

  “Find a blisteringly cold cave up the mountain where we can train together in solitude for the rest of the day?”

  Luna grinned. “I was going to say a nice spot in the woods, but the mountain is always nice for a change of scenery.”

  “Food first,” said Aurin, pulling a chunk of meat away from the bone.

  *

  Aurin and Ethruki ascended the mountain, taking each step along the frozen path carefully. This had been the whitest winter in years, and that made anywhere along the mountain hazardous. Even the gritted cobblestone streets of Hazelton were struggling to hold back the mighty of the ice and snow. As much as Aurin was looking forward to having snowfall on Christmas Day, he longed to see green grass and leafy trees once again.

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  “Up there,” said Aurin, turning to Ethruki. He pointed to a cave in the cliffside. “That’s our home until morning. We’re not enlisting the others, it’s just the two of us focusing on what’s most important right now; you and your powers.”

  Ethruki grunted in agreement, following his master, who led the way. The cosmic elemental appreciated being away from the others, who he found tiresome. Even the ones he respected the power of, he did not find that he enjoyed being in their company. The dancing lizard, the weeping tree, and the arrogant unicorn were especially irritating. The metal golem with the topaz eyes was the only one he found tolerable for extended periods of time, and that’s because Gorunze was content to sit silently in Ethruki’s company rather than trying to engage with him.

  Aurin almost lost his footing on a slope, and grabbed onto a protruding stone from the cliff face to keep upright. He gave Ethruki a thumbs up, and then beckoned him to continue following. A minute later, the two stared into the darkness of the cave.

  “I’ve got just the thing,” said Aurin, retrieving a lantern from his bag, pulling out a red crystal from his pocket. “The trick is not to overdo it.”

  He opened the lantern, took out the candle, and stood well back as he focused on the magic of the Fire Crystal between his fingers. A fireball whooshed from it, encircled the candle briefly, and vanished, leaving the wick lit and the wax barely warm. Once the candle was safely within the confines of the lantern, Aurin propped it up on a chest-high, flat stone.

  “Welcome to our new dojo,” he said, holding out his arms. “What do you think, Ethruki?”

  “Urgh,” grunted the beast, giving a half-hearted acceptance. It was far from comfortable, but it was isolated. That was enough.

  “Let’s not waste any time,” said Aurin, setting his backpack against the wall. He scooped up a cold-to-the-touch pebble and lobbed it at Ethruki. “Freeze it.”

  Ethruki’s eyes glowed turquoise and an aura encircled his body as he harnessed his powers. The pebble was frozen in mid-air, as Ethruki focused on it.

  “Good,” said Aurin. “Hold it there. It’s small, but I want to test your endurance.”

  Aurin stood patiently by, watching and waiting for the first tremble. Ethruki remained steadfast for the first few minutes, expending little effort against the small, lightweight target. It was around the six-minute mark when the stone finally wobbled.

  “Release it,” said Aurin, and Ethruki obeyed. “Excellent. I was hoping you’d be able to last at least five minutes. Now, we both know that a stone can’t compare to an opponent who is actively trying to set itself free, but we’re going to build up to that. By this time next year, you’ll have Zeera frozen and be able to read an entire book before he as much as blinks.”

  Ethruki liked the sound of this. The chortling from his master made him realise that it was a joke, but the master did have an air of seriousness to him despite the humour. Ethruki truly believed that if he obeyed what Aurin said, he would become a true force to be reckoned with. One that would outstrip the rest of his teammate, who would soon bow down to him as the leader of the pack.

  After giving his Minakai a minute to rest, Aurin tossed two stones simultaneously. Again, Ethruki froze them without much effort, but they faltered after two minutes. Having multiple targets to focus on, while still having some fatigue from his earlier pebble freezing, he found it difficult to maintain the stasis for too long.

  “And release,” said Aurin, and the two pebble fell to the ground, clattering across the rough cave floor. “Good. We’re going to try it again with three stones in a couple of minutes, but I want you to work on your visualisation. What do you see when you freeze the pebbles? Just the pebbles, right?”

  Ethruki snorted in agreement.

  “Imagine those pebbles aren’t just pebbles from this cave. Imagine that Shamtile threw them at you, looking to hurt you. This is a battle. You want those pebbles frozen for as long as you can possibly maintain the stasis because, if you don’t, those pebbles, no, those boulders are going to smack you right in the face. You don’t want that.”

  Ethruki snorted again, furrowing his brow.

  “You want them stuck. You want them immobile. You want Shamtile to know he can’t break you. Keep. Them. Still.”

  When it came time to tackle three pebbles at once, Ethruki gave it his all. He did as his master had commanded and imagined the foolish dancing lizard before him, laughing as he threw the stones. The stones did not budge an inch for four minutes, easily surpassing what he had done with the two pebbles before.

  As the pebbles dropped, Aurin stood with a smile upon his face. “Look at that, my friend,” he said, folding his arms across his chest. “We’re getting somewhere already. Feeling fired up?”

  Ethruki grunted, bowing his head.

  “I’m sorry, I didn’t here that meek little squeak. I asked you if you were fired up, Ethruki?”

  Ethruki let out a bellowing roar that made the very cave shake. As his echo faded, Ethruki grunted, demanding that Aurin throw more stones at him. He could keep going. He did not need a longer rest than this.

  “That’s more like it!” said Aurin, pumping a fist. “Let’s push, push, push!”

  Aurin scooped up a handful of stones, throwing them at Ethruki quicker than he had done before. When they were inches from his face, Ethruki froze the seven pebbles and stared intently at them. They were not pebbled. They were boulders. If he released them, they would knock him outside of the cave and send him tumbling right back down the mountain. That was unacceptable.

  Aurin's Team:

  Luna's Team: