Rivals

by Derek Alan Siddoway

  Any hope of that disappeared instantly. The Magglecaw went straight for the Tandile, no doubt intent on revenge. Asena, who Jackson had commanded to engage with the Tandile, saw Scrappy head past her and changed course. Rather than attacking the Tandile, Asena snapped at Scrappy, intent on being the first to tangle with the Tandile.

  Jackson’s two Djinn collided and fell into a scuffle.

  “Killer, Tail Slam! Phoenix, Fire Tornado!”

  Jackson almost smiled. It looked like Akamu wasn’t able to command his Djinn telepathically. Though the mild elation didn’t last long, as that extra second of timing didn’t break up the scuffle between Asena and Scrappy. The Tandile struck a powerful tail blow and the Flogadra hit them both with a whirling Fire Tornado. Jackson wanted to scream and he did, if only mentally.

  Akamu let out a huge laugh.

  Come ON you two. Focus!

  Both Asena and Scrappy’s health had taken a pretty serious hit from the two strikes, but Jackson wasn’t done yet. Instead of trying to sort out his Djinns’s discipline problem, Jackson switched tactics and sent Scrappy after the Tandile while Asena focused her attention on the Flogadra. It was probably for the best though, as Scrappy’s Wind attacks would work well against the Tandile — at least in theory.

  Jackson ordered Scrappy to use Mocking Wind, and while that hit the Tandile square-on, its Defense seemed so ridiculously high that it seemed near ineffective, in spite of the Elemental advantage. That scaly hide was some serious stuff. The battle raged back and forth — neither land-bound Djinn, Asena or the Tandile, could strike their airborne opponents, bringing the fight to a boring stand-still.

  Jackson’s mind raced. He needed to come up with something to break the stalemate, but any idea he had involved Scrappy and Asena working together. The odds of making that happen on the fly were slim to none. Sweat beaded beneath the hat on his forehead and the pressure mounted. He then nodded his head when he realized the only true path to victory: using Scrappy’s Mocking Wind over and over again until they were able to whittle down the Tandile’s HP. It’d take a while, but it would be worth it.

  But that plan immediately flew out the window when Scrappy found himself in the gaping mouth of the Tandile after a failed Dive Bomb attack which forced Jackson to redirect Asena’s attacks on the reptilian opponent. Her Fire Bark struck the Tandile in the side but it refused to relinquish its hold on Scrappy. Jackson chided himself. Of course it wouldn’t do much. It was a Fire-Elemental attack against a Wind-Elemental. The best solution would be to utilize a Plain or Earth-Elemental attack. Jackson commanded her to use Wild Bite.

  The Tandile growled in frustration as Asena dug her teeth into its neck. Asena shook around vigorously, but the Tandile was so robust, it seemed almost as ineffective as her Fire-Elemental attacks. But Jackson knew better. He would have to command Asena to hold out with these attacks.

  “Killer, Armor Skin!” Akamu called out. In an instant, the Tandile’s body seemed to stiffen, and Asena let out a yelp as the scales hardened around her teeth. She recoiled back, and rather than wait for a follow-up command from Jackson, let loose another Fire Bark, this time directed at the Tandile’s head. It hit its intended target, which also meant it struck Scrappy full-force and the Magglecaw went out like a light.

  Asena!

  Jackson couldn’t be sure, but he felt his Lyote had attacked her teammate on purpose. Now facing two-to-one odds, Jackson knew he was in trouble.

  The Tandile surged forward on its short legs. Above, the Flogadra screeched and blasted Asena with a gust of wind that toppled her on her side. The valiant Lyote recovered quickly, but by then, the Tandile had closed in. A torrent of water blasted from its mouth and caught Asena with a direct hit. She went down in a sodden mess. It was only a matter of time.

  “Enough!”

  Akamu shot Coach Vanova a sullen look and his Tandile took one last parting swipe at Asena. The Water-Elemental Djinn’s tail struck Jackson’s Lyote, throwing her several feet to the side before she slammed into the ground.

  “What the hell was that?”

  Before he knew what was happening, Jackson sprinted toward Akamu and stopped just inches from his face. “That was a cheap shot — the fight was over!”

  “Sorry,” Akamu said, smirking. “My Tandile is a little hard to control sometimes.”

  “If you can’t get your Djinn under control, you shouldn’t be able to use it!” Jackson said.

  “That’s rich, coming from a guy who can’t even get his Lyote and Magglecaw to work together.”

  Jackson growled and shoved Akamu, who got back up in Jackson’s face. “Touch me again. Go ahead. Touch me again.”

  “Enough!”

  Coach Vanova forced her way between the pair. “Kaleo, pull that kind of trick again and you’ll be cleaning toilets instead of training — I don’t give a damn who your father is. And Hunt, you ever lay hands on another tamer at camp and you’ll be out the door faster than I can say Falcador. Got it?”

  Jackson muttered his understanding and recalled both of his Djinn to their rings. When he rejoined the rest of the students on the side of the field, it was Hayden who spoke first.

  “You command your Djinn telepathically?”

  Jackson shrugged, in no mood to talk, especially to the guy who’d been playing the stoic lone wolf all afternoon. “Yeah?”

  Hayden looked impressed. “That’s a pretty advanced talent.”

  Jackson didn’t know what to say, and Hayden seemed to be finished talking.

  “All right, gather round, everyone,” Coach Vanova said. For several long moments, she continued tapping data into her tablet. Jackson realized she’d been doing it throughout the entire scrimmage. When finished, she laid the tablet on the ground. A thin line of blue light blossomed from the screen and grew into the holographic image of a man. Unlike the coaches, he wore a sharp-fitting tan suit and had white hair combed back. Although he was in a hologram, the man paced back and forth within the confines of his video stream. It gave the impression of a caged Djinn. Jackson recognized the face but couldn’t put a name with it until the man introduced himself.

  “Welcome, tamers. My name is Walton Belmont, the Commissioner of the Bronze League Division of the Djinn Battle League. You’ve all just finished your first battle. For some of you, it will be your last for the season in the DBL.”

  Belmont paused to let that sink in. Jackson felt like he’d been stabbed in the gut. He hadn’t thought he’d done that bad — how could they send people home after just one fight? Was the scrimmage meant to cut their numbers in half before camp even began?

  “Each of your coaches assessed the battles that took place today and scored all of you based on a number of factors. We have now compiled a rank of all two hundred tamers here at camp. Open the official training camp application on your holo-watches to see where you rank.

  There was a shuffle as everyone reached for their wrists and pulled up the app. Sure enough, a leaderboard tab had appeared ranking everyone from one down to two hundred. Jackson got some small satisfaction that neither Akamu or Fiona were in the top place, although they’d both made the top twenty. He kept scrolling and felt his stomach sink as he did so. Each number he passed without seeing his name felt excruciating. Finally, he came upon Jackson Hunt all the way down below the top one hundred.

  “Have you all found your positions?” Belmont asked. “Good. As you progress through camp, you and your Djinn will have opportunities to increase or decrease your ranking. Keep in mind that the forty-one lowest ranking tamers will be removed from camp at the end of each week, so make sure you work hard in all aspects of training camp. Tonight, however, we will be cutting one person from each barrack. To those of you who will be going home, we wish you the best of luck in your taming journey. And remember, there’s always next year. To those of you who remain, remember to work hard and believe in your Djinn. Goodnight, everyone!”

  For such dire news, Jackson thought Belmont ended his speech on
an awfully cruel high note. Worse still, Jackson wondered if he’d be the one going home. True, he hadn’t lost in the worst fashion, but while other tamers had also struggled to control what were obviously their new secondary Djinn, they hadn’t seemed to struggle nearly as much as he had. Most just acted like typical new Djinn — slow to react, confused, and halfhearted — but Jackson was the only one whose Djinn actually fought each other.

  “Hunt!”

  The moment had arrived. Jackson stepped forward and prepared for the worst. He forced himself to meet Coach Vanova’s eyes, all the while keenly aware of Akamu snickering behind his back. At least the humiliation would be over soon.

  “Your Djinn team is the biggest cluster I’ve seen in years,” Vanova said. “You and your Magglecaw and Lyote have talent, but you’re all on three different pages with three different goals. Still, I’m impressed with the telepathic connection you displayed. You’re lucky — it’s the only thing keeping me from booting your rear right now.”

  “Y-yes, Coach,” Jackson said. His heart hammered in his chest. His palms were slick with sweat but at least he wasn’t going home!

  “Avril!”

  Jackson’s momentary relief didn’t last long when he realized what was coming.

  “I’m sorry, but you didn’t make the cut,” Coach Vanova told the older woman. Her tone softened a bit. “Please pack your items. Better luck next year.”

  Avril nodded. Jackson could see she was doing all she could to hold back her tears. A few of them gave soft goodbyes and small waves as she passed by on her way to the barracks, but mostly, they were stunned. The message from camp staff was loud and clear: they were playing with the big boys and girls now.

  “The rest of you, get some sleep,” Coach Vanova said. “I want everyone dressed, fed, and ready to roll by seven tomorrow morning — and that means your Djinn too! Those of you who have Djinn with injuries from tonight, please go to the medical building immediately. You are dismissed.”

  Later that night, Jackson lay staring at the ceiling of his expensive new bedroom, completely overcome by the night’s events. Asena was asleep at the foot of the bed and, as bad as it made Jackson feel, Scrappy remained in his ring. He wondered what he could have done to get the two Djinn working better together before camp. Even prior to camp, Jackson had begged Briggs to help him out on that front, but with Scrappy still recovering from his injury at the time, they weren’t exactly able to put him through drills immediately. Now, with a full slate every day, he had no idea when he’d be able to make up for their disastrous showing.

  He’d never heard back from Briggs. Jackson wondered if he would even bother to show and, if he did, if his antics were more likely to get Jackson booted out of camp than be of any help.

  Frustrated, Jackson sat up in bed and wakened his watch from sleep mode. His movement also woke up Asena, who raised her head and shot him an annoyed look. Jackson scowled back. He wasn’t in the mood after her performance earlier. He’d expected some early struggles with Scrappy, but there was no call for Asena to be acting the way she was. He figured they’d already made it through that stage of their relationship, but it turns out he was wrong. Was this something he’d have to deal with with every new Djinn he got?

  Jackson turned his attention from the Lyote and gave a command to voice call Briggs. To Jackson’s surprise, it only rang a couple of times before the former champ picked up.

  “Yeah?” Briggs sounded like he was still at the bar, based on the music and general crowd noise in the background. “What’s up, kid? You ought to be asleep — big first day tomorrow.”

  “I’m having a hard time,” Jackson replied. “Did you hear what they did this afternoon?”

  “I heard they culled a few from the herd but what’s it to you?” Briggs said. “You made it, didn’t you? We’ll be fine — you’re still hanging around. Focus on tomorrow not the past.”

  “I just….Scrappy and Asena started fighting in the middle of my match.” Briggs probably already knew that, though — Coach Vanova informed them that each of their mentors would be receiving the tape of their bout. “And Akamu. Did you know he caught that Tandile? The Tandile I passed up on?”

  Briggs snorted. “I’m sure he had plenty of help from his daddy and their professional guide,” Briggs said. His coach’s vitriol made Jackson feel a little better. “But don’t worry about your Djinn. We’ll work on them. Like I said, you made it to face another day, which is the only thing that matters at camp. Take it from someone who’s been through it.”

  Yeah, a million years ago, Jackson thought, but he dare not say it aloud. “I guess so…it’s just that —”

  “Hey, I gotta run,” Briggs said. Jackson wondered if he’d even really been paying attention. “See you soon, kid!”

  “Briggs, I —”

  But Briggs had already hung up, leaving Jackson alone with his thoughts. Asena had already fallen back asleep. In spite of her presence, Jackson didn’t think he’d ever felt more alone. He lay back down and closed his eyes. It was hours before his mind finally cleared and drifted off to sleep.

  The alarm at six came way too early for Jackson’s liking. Even though they hadn’t actually done that much the day before, he felt more drained than if he’d put in a full day of training. He chalked it up to the stress of the new place and tried to get his head right — yesterday was over. Today marked the beginning of his career as a professional tamer.

  Jackson got ready faster than he’d planned and ended up in the commons downstairs about half an hour early. To his surprise, a small group had already formed up and were chatting together in one corner. When they saw Jackson, they invited him over. Jackson plopped down on the couch next to Appleby, glad for the friendly face. Although he didn’t feel much like eating, he forced down a couple of protein bars sitting on the coffee table around the sofas. If he’d learned anything in his first half-day at camp it was to be ready for anything at any time.

  Almost everyone was there — Fiona and Moto Rine stood off from the group chatting quietly amongst themselves, Akamu hadn’t made an appearance yet, and Avril…

  Jackson didn’t want to think about Avril just yet.

  Looking at the other tamers, Jackson wondered if he too had bags under his eyes and a strained, stressed expression on his face. He could feel the nervous energy in the group, which did nothing to help his empty stomach.

  “Hell of a first night, huh?” Miguel said.

  Jackson nodded. “Definitely surprising.”

  “I just — I didn’t know things were going to be so intense so fast,” Lucia chimed in, talking a hundred miles an hour. She looked even more frazzled than Jackson felt, and he guessed she hadn’t gotten much sleep either. “This is all I’ve got going for me — if I don’t make it through camp, I don’t know what I’m going to fall back on. I dropped out of school for this, you know? My parents said I was stupid and would regret it. Do you think they were right? I can’t let them be right!”

  “Take it easy,” Miguel said. “There’s an entire week of camp ahead of us before the first cut — one match won’t make or break things like last night.”

  “Whatever helps you sleep at night, bro.” Akamu appeared at the end of the stairs looking like he needed a punch in the face just as much as ever. He strode over to them and looked around the small gathering. “What’s this? A support group?”

  “It’s actually an intervention,” Tak said. He put on a serious face. “Akamu, we’ve gathered here today because you’re a total asshat, and the people around you don’t care about you or anything you have to say.”

  Several people laughed and Jackson managed a smirk. Akamu glared at all of them and then rolled his eyes to play the whole thing off. “You’re hilarious, Rito. That’s good — your Djinn are a joke too.”

  Unlike the day before, Tak shrugged Akamu off. “It’ll be really funny when we wipe the floor with you, then.”

  “Good morning, tamers!”

  Coach Vanova burst
onto the scene with the same vigor and commanding presence as the night before. “We’re just about ready to head out but there are a couple more things you need to know about your first day before we get started.

  “As you learned last night, each of you will be given a score based on the performance of your Djinn in matches. This number is compiled not only from the end results of the match but also from your performance during the match — the level of strategy you employ, the skill you show commanding your Djinn in battle, and the response of the Djinn to your commands.”

  Jackson could feel her staring right at him and suddenly found a fascinating spot on the floor to focus on.

  In addition to battle points, you’ll also receive points based on other drills and activities in camp. All of these numbers factor into your overall camp ranking, a number you want to pay special attention to as this is the main determinant in who stays in who goes. But that’s not all. The point average of all the tamers in your barrack is a factor as well, meaning you all want to make sure your camp-mates are doing well. Trust me on that one.”

  “Wait,” Akamu said. It was the first time Jackson had ever seen him flustered before. “So you’re telling me that my performance at camp is partially dependent on all of these people?”

  The way he said people made it sound like he was talking about something on the bottom of his shoe, not his teammates.

  “That’s right, Kaleo,” Coach Vanova said. “There may only be room on the final roster for twenty of you, but it’s our responsibility as camp staff to ensure we end up with the best of the best before region battles begin. Sometimes, that means finding tamers who work well in a group setting. I suggest you try a little harder to get along with everyone.”

  Akamu wrinkled his nose. Jackson got the impression that teamwork was about the last thing on the younger Kaleo’s list of to-dos at camp. The feeling seemed to be mutual with the remaining members of Barrack 4.

  “All right, folks, back out to the fields!” Coach Vanova said. “And be quick about it!”