In the meantime, the Djinn stared at the remaining jerky stick still wrapped up in Jackson's hand.
“If you want this one, you're going to have to work for it,” Jackson told the Djinn. “Let's see what you know already.”
Opening up his Djinncyclopedia again, referring to the last line of the General Stats menu:
Move Set: Swipe Left to See More >>>
“Yes, please,” he said, swiping the screen left, which pulled a disappointingly sparse set of moves from the nothingness to the right.
MOVE SET
Fire Elemental: Fire Growl (5 EP)
Plain Elemental: Attack, Headbutt, Wild Bite
They were all pretty basic, although he was happy to see that the Lyote already knew Fire Growl, and that it consumed 5 of her Elemental Power. Most low-level Djinn started out with only physical attacks, so to have an Elemental move already would be a huge advantage for them in the coming battles.
“Fire Growl!” Jackson yelled out with a good deal of self-importance. He waited five seconds before he realized the Lyote wasn’t even paying attention to him.
Wait a second, he thought. He knew at the Roktar Rumble he saw the tamers selecting things their holo-watches.
Jackson tried pressing on the Fire Growl command, but wasn’t met with so much as a beep that even acknowledged he’d pressed it. Maybe that wasn’t how moves were done.
“Fire Growl!” he said again, except this time, he didn’t really expect it to work. “Hmm…”
He pulled up the General Stats menu again, and his eyes gravitated to Bond, which sat at a paltry 5%. Perhaps he needed to increase his Bond with her before he could actually give commands?
“Let's start off with something simple,” Jackson said after thinking. He reached down and picked up a stick laying on the ground. Waving it over his head, he watched the Djinn's eyes follow it.
“You want the stick?” he asked the Lyote in an excited voice. “Do you want it? Then go get it!”
Jackson heaved the stick across the meadow. The Lyote didn't even bother to look and see where it went. She just continued staring at Jackson and the Bovan stick in his hand. Jackson let out a long sigh.
“You're going to have to do better than that if you want a reward.”
Then, another tactic hit him. Jackson unwrapped the Bovan stick and then knelt down on the ground again. He held it out in his hand and pointed it toward the Lyote. This would either work or lose him a hand.
“If you want it you're going to have to come get it from me,” he said, motioning to the Djinn with his free hand.
The Lyote’s nose twitched like crazy as she sniffed the air. She took one hesitant step forward and then another, scooting on her belly. Jackson felt a tiny bit of guilt — he knew the smell must be driving the starving creature mad, but he didn't want to spoil his Djinn right off the bat.
The Lyote stretched out her muzzle as far as she could but was still well over a foot short of reaching the jerky stick. She inched forward on her belly a bit more. As she did, Jackson pulled back his arm a little bit to close the gap between them. Now completely focused on the jerky, the Djinn didn't seem to notice how close she was to her tamer. Jackson pulled in the Bovan stick a little more until she was within reach of his other hand.
“That's a good girl,” Jackson said. He held up the jerky for the Lyote and reached out with his right hand to pet the Djinn.
But the Lyote was smarter than he gave her credit for. With lightning-fast reflexes, she snapped up the jerky in her mouth and darted away, this time running several yards before sitting down and licking her lips. She looked at Jackson again as if expecting him to produce another Bovan stick.
A lot of work to do, indeed.
When the Lyote decided Jackson had no more jerky to produce, she darted away, as if begging him to give chase.
With a sigh, he trudged across the meadow toward the Djinn, careful not to go too fast, otherwise she would think he was playing and run off.
As he walked, the overgrown, dead grass rustled in front of him. He paused.
Please don’t let her notice, he thought. The last thing he needed was for her to start on a chase. So long as it remained hidden —
A long-eared Bobbity popped up and took off through the tall grass. The Djinn had big feet and brown mottled fur and was pretty much begging to be chased.
Dammit, Jackson thought, clenching his toes in his shoes, hoping his Lyote hadn’t noticed.
His hopes were in vain.
At the sound of its hops, the Lyote’s head swiveled around, and before Jackson could make a move, she took off.
Chapter Nine
“Get back here!” Jackson shouted. He started running after the pair of Djinn. but both the Bobbity and the Lyote were much faster than him.
It was all he could do to keep track of them, oftentimes going only by the sound of branches breaking and leaves rustling as the predator and prey sped through the forest. Jackson continued chasing the pair long after he couldn't see them anymore, panic welling in his chest. He berated himself for not returning the Lyote to her ring fast enough, though even he knew there was only a split second to react after scaring off the Bobbity.
He found himself wishing that his tamer ring had the ability to keep his Djinn within a certain radius — he didn’t want to think about the possibility of him being back to square one after only just acquiring his first Djinn.
After several minutes of intense running, Jackson's legs burned and his throat felt scraped and bloody. He stumbled to a jog, then a walk, and soon a complete standstill, with his body bent over and his hands resting on his knees. His chest heaved and he gasped for air.
Looking around, Jackson realized he was in a part of the forest he'd never been — far off-trail, and into the deep vegetation overgrowth. From the looks of it, not very many people had made their way through this brush either. He could use his watch GPS to get back without a problem but didn't think it would be any help locating his Lyote. Desperate, he pulled up the stat screen on his phone and went to the setting that synced it with the ring. The only thing it showed was the Lyote’s statistics and the fact that it wasn't in the ring. Nothing indicated any type of tracker.
Resolved to a day of hopelessly searching the dense forest, Jackson started lightly jogging again. To his immense relief, a few minutes later he heard a playful bark ahead. He soon found the Lyote in a clearing, the Bobbity limp between her jaws, her tail wagging.
Too relieved to be angry, Jackson congratulated the Lyote.
“Did you catch that all by yourself?” Jackson reached down to pet the Djinn but she shied away, though her tail continued to wag.
The Lyote made quick work of the unfortunate Bobbity. When she finished, only a few tufts of fur remained. Seemingly satisfied, she sat down again, tongue lolling as the late spring day grew warmer. Jackson opened the display and saw that her status had changed from “Starving” to “Neutral.”
“Hey, we need to get some work done before you have a nap,” Jackson said as the Djinn laid her head between her paws. “Let’s start with the basics.”
He whistled and tapped his leg with his hands, beckoning the Djinn to come to him. This time, the Lyote reluctantly stood but didn’t come any closer. Jackson whistled again — nothing.
Exasperated, he took a couple steps backward. The Lyote padded closer but maintained some distance between them. Hiding a smile, Jackson backed up a few more steps. Once more, the Lyote followed.
“I guess I’ll take what I can get.”
Resolved to return to the meadow and at least get the Lyote to sit, or stay, or fetch, or something — anything, really — Jackson started down the narrow trail. He glanced over his shoulder periodically to ensure she was still following. The Djinn moved in complete silence through the forest, maintaining a distance of a few yards from her tamer.
Halfway back, Jackson’s GPS led him back onto an established hiking trail that wound down an open hill above the meadow. As
they walked, Jackson scanned around for any signs of more wild Djinn. He kicked himself for not bringing anything to make a collar and a leash out of and hoped his luck would hold out. Chasing the Lyote through the forest again was about the last thing he wanted to do.
They’d just about made it back down into the trees when the undergrowth rustled off to Jackson’s left. The Lyote froze in her tracks and lowered her body to the ground in a defensive stance.
“Easy, Girl,” Jackson said in a soft voice as he raised he fist in preparation to recall the Djinn. “Probably just another Bobbity. You can let this one go…”
In response, the Lyote’s ears went back and issued a low growl deep from her chest as if to tell Jackson the Djinn hiding in the brush definitely wasn’t a Bobbity. The growl rose into a snarl and she let out a loud bark, but gave no indication that she wanted to give chase to whatever was in the bushes.
That worried Jackson. If the Lyote knew she could take whatever was on the other side of the bushes, he doubted she would have hesitated to go after it. But something had changed her mind — probably a smell or sound he couldn’t register?
Jackson backed away to the other side of the trail and reached down to nudge the Lyote with his knee. She ignored him and continued staring at the bushes as if Jackson didn’t exist. Jackson reached down and tried to push the Djinn back with his hand but she stood firm.
“Easy, Girl. Ea —”
The bushes exploded and a feline Djinn burst onto the trail a few yards in front of them, hissing and spitting. Arm shaking, Jackson somehow found the clarity of mind to raise his watch and scan their new opponent. This one, he noticed resembled the Smilaguar he encountered at Sato Breeders, but wasn’t quite the same…
Djinn: Felinx
Element: Earth
Felinx is a Basic-Form, Earth-Elemental Djinn. It is the un-evolved form of the larger, more robust Smilaguar. Like it is in every form, Felinx is an aggressive predatory Djinn. In most cases, it’s perfectly content to avoid human contact, but it tends to go out of its way to engage weaker Djinn. As such, it is recommended to avoid bringing other Djinn along with you as you venture through Felinx-infested territories, as it will increase the likelihood of your Djinn — and by extension, you — being attacked.
“You gotta be kidding me,” Jackson said. “Two in two days? I’m really getting tired of these guys.”
Although about half the size of the Smilaguar he’d faced off against at Sato Breeders, the Felinx still wasn’t much smaller than his Lyote. The wild Djinn hissed and let out a hair-raising screech. Jackson felt adrenaline coursing through his body and took another step back. He hoped they could just retreat slowly and not have to engage the wild Djinn.
One look at his Lyote and the Felinx told him he’d have no such luck. The two Djinn eyed one another, snarling and hissing. Like it or not, Jackson realized he was about to be in his first Djinn fight.
In spite of the impending fear, a thrill of excitement ran through Jackson. “All right,” he told the Lyote. “Just do what I say, and we'll get out of this just fine. I've seen quite a few of —”
Before Jackson could finish, let alone give a command, the Lyote leaped at the Felinx. They collided in a clash of orange and dark brown fur and hit the ground, writhing and snarling.
“Wild Bite! Use your Wild Bite move!” Jackson commanded in a shrill voice.
The Lyote ignored him but did manage a couple of nips and tried to twist her head around to get a better angle at the Felinx. After another few seconds of tussling, it became clear the Felinx was the stronger of the two Djinn, and it quickly overpowered the Lyote. Blood streaked her orange fur and she fought with all her might to keep the Felinx from sinking its fangs into her neck.
“Disengage!” Jackson yelled, then realized the Lyote probably had no idea what he meant.
Frustrated and afraid his new Djinn would be seriously hurt or even permanently injured in its first fight, Jackson picked up a rock and chucked it at the Felinx. It struck the wild Djinn in the ribs, causing the Felinx to disentangle from the Lyote with a yowling hiss.
The Lyote lay on her side on the path, whimpering. Shouting and waving his hands to keep the Felinx at bay, Jackson ran to the Lyote’s side and knelt next beside her. When he placed a hand on his Djinn’s soft orange fur, he felt the Lyote trembling from exhaustion.
“Get out of here!” Jackson screamed at the Felinx.
He reached around and chucked a nearby stick at the wild Djinn but in his anger, the throw went wide. The Felinx hissed again and crouched, pinning its ears against its head.
Standing between the Lyote and the Felinx, Jackson prepared himself to be torn to shreds by the angry wild Djinn. The Felinx lowered itself to the ground preparing to spring. Jackson gritted his teeth and raised his hands to cover his face. He’d read somewhere if you were ever attacked by a Felinx the best practice was to fight back. He didn’t relish the idea of fighting hand to hand with a wild Djinn but playing dead didn’t sound so good either.
“Go away!” he shouted again.
A fearsome scream tore from the Felinx’s chest. In the moment, Jackson’s only thought was to protect his Djinn. As the Felinx lowered itself to spring, he planted his feet into the ground, held his fists out in front of him, closed his eyes (that part was involuntary), and prepared for the worst.
Chapter Ten
The attack never came.
Jackson opened his eyes just as a small, bushy-tailed, four-legged, vulpine Djinn known as a Fenkit barreled into the Felinx. The pint-sized Djinn darted in and out of the angry Felinx’s reach, nipping at the larger Djinn while dodging the swipes from its paws and frustrated bites.
When Jackson saw the blaze of white of the Fenkit’s chest, he knew exactly whose it was — looking away from the fight, he saw Kay standing off to the side behind him, her attention focused on her Djinn and the Felinx.
“Good boy, Sunshine!” she yelled in an encouraging tone. “You teach that mean old Felinx a lesson!”
Emboldened by his tamer’s praise, the Fenkit pressed the attack. The Felinx began to fall back and after one last furious swipe turned tail and disappeared into the forest. Kay whistled and the Fenkit trotted back to her side, clearly pleased at his own performance.
“That’s a good job,” Kay said, ruffling Sunshine’s soft, fluffy fur. The Fenkit nuzzled her hand and Jackson felt a pang of envy at the connection between Kay and her Djinn.
Instead of asking the dozens of questions Jackson would have had if their roles had been reversed, Kay knelt down next to his Lyote and pushed him away. She reached into her backpack and pulled out a metal spray canister with a Djinn-Aid emblem on the side. After a few quick squirts on the Lyote’s bites and claw scratches and cuts, the skin started to heal itself. The Lyote jumped up right away, growling at Kay’s Fenkit. Before he could cause any more trouble, Kay picked him up, placed him on her shoulder, and walked a few feet away so that the Lyote no longer felt threatened.
Kay folded her arms and looked at Jackson with a steely glare. He wasn’t sure what he was in bigger trouble for — ditching her or getting a Djinn hurt.
“Well?” she asked.
“Thank you,” Jackson said, wiping the dust off his hoodie.
“Not that.” The normally laid back and docile Kay punched him hard in the arm. “What the hell is going on? I show up at your house and your grandma says you’d already left to go on our hike. Then I finally find you —” she paused and waved her watch “luckily because your location track was still being shared — and you’re up here fighting wild Djinn! With a Djinn you stole from somewhere!”
“Hey!” Jackson said, trying to summon a defense. “I didn’t steal her, okay? And I didn’t start the fight — the Felinx did! I swear those stupid things hate me.”
Kay continued to glare at him. “Start at the beginning — and you better not lie to me, Jackson Hunt!”
Jackson recounted the previous night's adventure in his mom’s study but omitt
ed the part where he’d been about to run away from home. When he finished the part about the meadow, the Bobbity, and the Felinx, he let out a long sigh.
“The last twenty-four hours have been pretty insane, okay? I’m sorry I didn’t tell you.”
“You’re lucky I always carry around some extra Djinn-Aid spray for Sunshine when we go out on hikes,” Kay said. “Your Lyote could’ve been hurt really bad!”
“I know, okay?” Jackson said in a loud voice. “I didn’t mean for any of this to happen! Things just got a little bit out of control.”
Kay didn’t seem to hear him, though. “So what are you going to do now?” she asked. “When are you going to tell your grandma?”
Jackson let out a dry laugh. “I can’t tell her. Can you imagine what she’d do? I’d probably have to put her up for adoption — the Djinn, not my grandma,” he added, as if it wasn’t obvious.
“So you’re just going to keep it from her?” Kay asked.
“Yeah, and you're not going to tell anyone, got it?” Jackson said.
Kay’s eyes narrowed. She did not like the tone Jackson was using, and he knew right away that he’d used the wrong approach.
“Please, Kay, this is my only chance,” he said, softening his voice.
Kay’s eyebrows rose. “Only chance at what? Jackson, you’ve got your whole life ahead of you to be a Djinn Tamer. Once you turn eighteen, your grandma really can’t do anything about it.”
“I don’t have that long,” Jackson said. He felt his voice getting husky and looked away from Kay, down at his feet. “We found out yesterday we’re losing the house.”
Before he could even look up, he felt Kay collide with him and wrap her arms around him in a hug. “Oh, Jackson,” she said, “I’m so sorry!”
He patted her on the back a couple of times until she broke off. “It’s okay,” he said. “I mean it wasn’t okay last night, but now I have a plan! Now that I have a Djinn I can make enough money to pay off our debt!”
Djinn Tamer - The Complete Bronze League Trilogy Page 7
