The morning was cold, and Aurin, Luna, and Kyle were standing around the incubator resting on the snow. Sitting neatly within the incubator was a turquoise egg, bearing several purple streaks running down the back and golden rectangular segments that ran down its front.

  “Are you going to press it?” asked Kyle, looking pointedly at Aurin.

  “I want to, but it’s a big moment,” said Aurin.

  “Alright, I’ll press it.”

  “Don’t rush me!”

  “Hatching your Zeera and Breminia were two bigger moments than this. Both of them are far rarer monsters.”

  Luna squeezed Aurin’s hand. “I know we’ve had trouble with Ethruki back when the Zodiac Squad were around, but this one is your one. It’ll be raised right. And don’t forget that a wild one saved our lives once, didn’t it?”

  “You’re right,” sighed Aurin. “Let’s do it.”

  He kneeled before the incubator and pressed the button on the side. A forcefield of energy surrounded the egg, protecting it from outside forces as it hatched. It glowed bright turquoise, rippling and warbling as it morphed into the shape of a bull, expanding and forcing the forcefield to enlarge itself. As the bull-like creature’s shape became completed, the glow ebbed away, leaving an Ethruki standing before the trio.

  Much like its egg, it was mostly turquoise and the purple streaks had become the mane that flowed from its head and down its back. Its golden underbelly was segmented like armour and ran from just below its neck to its lower stomach, barely visible beneath the monster’s thick frame. Its flickering tail wafted around, slapping away patches of snow, and its beady amber eyes were focused on the young man, who was now its master.

  “Hello,” said Aurin, reaching out to stroke the newest addition to his team.

  The second he touched the cosmic beast’s fur, he was thrown into the air, clearing the fence with ease, and came thudding down into a pile of snow in a Minakai enclosure.

  “Aurin!” cried Luna, rushing over to him, as Kyle backed away from the monster standing before him.

  “Pfft,” spat Aurin, clearing the snow from his mouth. “I’m alright,” he said, rolling out of the pile and climbing back to his feet.

  “Are you sure?” asked Luna, hopping the small gate and startling an Eyegloo, who had been resting a foot from where she landed.

  “I’m good,” said Aurin, inspecting his tamer glove. “I think we need a display of force to break this one in.”

  He marched from the pen to where his haughty Ethruki was still standing. Kyle was now several metres away, sitting on his porch and watching with great interest. He said nothing, wanting to draw no attention to himself.

  “Zeera,” said Aurin, harnessing the power of an orange summoning stone within his glove.

  His ten-feet-tall grey dinosaur spawned in front of Ethruki and snarled at the cosmic beast, who was unfazed by the sudden appearance of a creature that would make most other monsters buckle at the knees. Zeera was not amused by this, and his face twisted into a dark frown.

  “Ethruki,” said Aurin. “I am your master, and you’re going to obey me one way or another. I know we’ve got to build trust, but I’m no stranger to taming difficult monsters. Isn’t that right, Zeera?”

  Zeera snorted, the air from his nostrils creating thick puffs of steam in the cold.

  Ethruki remained completely stoic, the only motion aside from its breathing being its eyes travelling between Aurin and Zeera several times before settling on Zeera.

  The dinosaur suddenly slid back three feet, but maintained his footing. With a roar, he lunged for Ethruki and knocked it several yards across the ground. Aurin noticed that its eyes were exceptionally wide a moment before Zeera’s claw connected with it; it thought Aurin’s display of mastery was a bluff.

  Aurin tepidly approached the cosmic elemental as it rolled onto its front and pushed itself back to its feet. There was a large gash in its side.

  “Sunny, sort that out,” said Aurin, focusing on a cream summoning stone.

  Squealing merrily, the Minakai who looked like a fried egg appeared. She drifted over to Ethruki, who eyed her suspiciously, but the second her glowing spell met his wound, it relaxed. It let out a bleating sigh of contentment as Sunny healed his injury in mere seconds.

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  “Let’s try again, shall we?” asked Aurin, extending a hand towards Ethruki.

  The beast watched its tamer for a long moment before subtly lowering its head. Aurin approached, trying not to show even an ounce of trepidation. He gently stroked Ethruki’s coarse mane, and the monster relaxed further, pushing itself into its tamer’s hand.

  “There we go,” said Aurin, smiling as he continued to pet the powerful hatchling.

  “That was quicker than I had expected,” called Kyle. “I thought for sure you’d be sent spinning again.”

  “I didn’t spin,” said Aurin. “I flipped. Big difference, Kyle.”

  The rancher scoffed. “Congrats, either way. I’ve heard of cases where tamers end up stuck on rooftops for half a day after hatching these guys.”

  “Thanks for the warning,” chuckled Aurin.

  “I didn’t want to scare you with rumours,” shrugged Kyle. “I thought it was best to let you try your own approach and seeing how that played out. I stand by that decision.”

  “So, what’s next?” asked Luna. “Shall we head back to your house and introduce Ethruki to the rest of the team?”

  “Not yet,” said Aurin. “Kyle, have you got a—”

  “Catch,” replied Kyle, lobbing a diamond-shaped crystal towards Aurin.

  “Excellent,” said Aurin, snatching the unattuned summoning stone from the air. “This, my new friend, will keep us connected. Just stay relaxed, alright?”

  Ethruki let out a low grunt as Aurin placed the clear stone against Ethruki’s fur. He focused on the power of the stone, binding it to Ethruki’s essence. The spell took hold and thin wisps of vapour swirled from within Ethruki, flowing from within its skin, and wrapping themselves around the stone. As swift as could be, the stone absorbed the magic and turned a brilliant turquoise; the colour representing the cosmic element.

  “He’s bound to the ranch?” asked Kyle. “You know I have a policy not to take cosmic elementals in, Aurin.”

  “I’ll fix it later,” said Aurin, waving a dismissive hand. “I’ve been hunted for my Minakai so often that I wouldn’t be surprised if someone tried jumping me on the way back home.”

  Zeera roared, throwing back his head and arms as his voice echoed across the entire ranch.

  Aurin guffawed. “Don’t worry, I know you’d sort them out, mate. But I can’t ever be too cautious.”

  “Quite the paranoid young man these days, aren’t you?” asked Kyle.

  “Can you blame me?”

  Kyle cocked his head to the side. “Eh, not really. I think you’ve more than earned it at this point, to be honest.”

  “Alright, Ethruki,” said Aurin. “Time to meet your teammates. Let’s go.”

  Aurin and Luna trudged through the snow with Sunny floating after them, Zeera stomping along before them, and Ethruki remaining in between the duo. Aurin’s house was close to Kyle’s ranch, barely further than a mile through the forest, but the thick snow extended the journey by several minutes, especially when their feet were caught by snow-covered fallen branches.

  As the group marched—and floated—up the hill, many of Aurin’s other monsters rushed to greet their new teammate. The first was Skrow, who descended from his rooftop perch. The black bird looked curiously at Ethruki, who gave nothing in response to Skrow’s polite caw. Gittup was the next to approach, the hairy, blue beast making his way over with his golden tail extended, signalling his wariness. He bowed his head before Ethruki, who, again, gave no response. Gittup snorted and returned to his resting place on Aurin’s porch.

  “Graw!” screeched Shamtile, hopping between pillars of conjured stone to bypass the snow. He landed on the cleared path in front of Ethruki, extending a hand in greeting. He had seen humans do this many times and thought it was a fitting gesture.

  “Rugh,” grunted Ethruki, looking at the masked lizard with a disgusted sneer.

  “Hyack!” screeched Shamtile, coating his fists in stone as though ready to start brawling.

  “What?” asked Aurin. “What’s wrong?”

  Luna raised an eyebrow. “Is your Ethruki… an elitist?”

  “Eh?” asked Aurin, raising an eyebrow in return.

  Luna began giggling while shaking her head. “I think that he perceives himself as better than you and the rest of the team. It’s only when Zeera resisted his attack and retaliated that he calmed down. And, of course, Sunny showed her usefulness by healing his wounds. Maybe he thinks that if others don’t prove themselves to him, then they’re not worth bothering with.”

  “Oh, please, no,” sighed Aurin, dragging his hand across his face. “Ethruki, she’s not correct, is she?”

  “Urf,” grunted Ethruki, turning his nose up at Shamtile.

  Aurin launched himself as the lizard, intercepting him as he pounced at Ethruki. “Don’t take the bait, Shamtile. Save it for training, alright?”

  “Graaaaw!” howled Shamtile, demanding to be released while struggling against his tamer’s restraining grip.

  Luna burst into a fit of laughter at the sight, while Sunny joined in on the giggles, not sure what exactly it was she was supposed to find to amusing. But, she never did pass up a chance to show her joy to the world.

  “Calm yourself down,” said Aurin, grabbing Shamtile by the scruff of the neck. “I know how capable you are, bud. You don’t need to prove yourself right now.”

  Shamtile let out a yacking sound as though he was going to vomit.

  “Cut that nonsense out. When it’s time to start training Ethruki properly, I know you’ll give a good showing. Take this as motivation to hunker down and refine your diamond powers further. They’re strong as is, but I know you can make them even tougher and utilise them for even longer without tiring yourself. This should give you the resolve to do that.”

  Shamtile let out a puff of air from behind his mask, and nodded in acceptance. Aurin tossed him over to the cleared training arena nearby, and Shamtile immediately began erupting wall of diamond.

  “You know he’d probably clobber Ethruki already, right?” Luna muttered to Aurin.

  “Yep,” said Aurin with a grin, “but I’ve been looking for a way to spur him on since we stopped Virtugil. He’s been a little too big for his boots since he dealt the final blow of that battle. This might humble him a little. In turn, he can humble Ethruki.”

  The bull-like monster grumbled at this statement.

  “You’ll be a team player in no time, my friend,” said Aurin, patting Ethruki on the back. “You’re not the first difficult brute I’ve had to deal with.”

  Aurin's Team:

  Luna's Team: