Djinn Tamer - The Complete Bronze League Trilogy Read online

  Jackson stopped in his tracks and stared at the red-headed girl. “You actually met Ricardo Mayimbe? The Ricardo Mayimbe from the DBL?”

  “Yeah, sure I know what DBL is,” Kay said, her eyes half-open and her tone annoyed.

  “Djinn Battle League!”

  “I know what DBL stands for!”

  “Sometimes I can’t tell! But do you know who he is?”

  “Yeah, I saw him. Haven’t you been listening? He seemed like a pretty cool guy,” Kay shrugged.

  "Why didn’t you tell me?” Jackson said, voice rising to shrill pitch as his inner fanboy burst free. “When was this? What was he like? What was he wearing?”

  Kay snorted. “Okay, I’m going to pretend you didn’t say that last part. Weren’t you just talking about how everyone hated him?”

  “Hate is a strong word,” Jackson said. “I mean, I certainly don’t hate him. I’m just disappointed. I was really gunning for him. Now I’m not so sure he’ll have what it takes to push his Djinn in the coming season. Maybe the casters were right. I mean, it was the Roktar Rumble! If you don’t go big there, can you be expected to go big in the season?”

  “Says the boy who doesn’t even own a Djinn to go big with,” Kay said. Jackson stiffened and she gave him a light shove. “Oh chill out, you know I’m kidding. Man, you’re sensitive this morning.”

  Their conversation brought them to a tall gate buzzing with light blue bars — an electric enclosure to protect the Djinn from outside predators or enterprising thieves. Kay pressed her hand to the access pad and then typed in a pin code. At first, it felt like overkill to Jackson, but Sato raised, bred, and boarded some of the premiere Djinn in the world and didn’t take any chances with who had access. The gate beeped open and the two employees crossed into the grassy enclosure.

  As the gate whisked shut behind them, Kay whistled while Jackson made a similar action with a hand scan and pin code on the feed dispenser next to the gate. Although most of the Djinn were on a timed system, some tamers required their monsters to be hand-fed at certain times of the day.

  A chime sounded and a series of thumb-sized pellets tumbled into a bucket. Jackson picked it up just as the Camelum bounded across the pen toward them. Seeing the familiar faces, it let out a bellow of joy and raced toward them, its long, knobby legs pumping as fast as it could will them.

  “Well hello, Petunia!” Kay said in exaggerated excitement as the Djinn buried its large nose in Jackson’s pail. Jackson struggled to keep the bucket from overturning as the Djinn pushed harder, trying to reach every pellet all at once.

  “I can’t believe somebody is paying to have this thing receive special treatment,” Jackson said. He waved a hand in front of his face. “And it stinks!”

  “He didn’t mean it,” Kay said, patting the Camelum on its single large hump. She looked at Jackson. “You be nice today! And besides, you know what Mr. Sato says — every Djinn is a champion in its owner’s eyes.”

  “Yeah, I know,” Jackson said as the Djinn finished the last of its meal. “I’m just wondering who in the world has enough money to keep a Camelum at the Sato Ranch.”

  “That’s not really —”

  Kay stopped mid-sentence, causing Jackson to turn as he returned the pail to the bin in the feed dispenser. Following Kay’s gaze, he saw a brown figure making its way across the enclosure. The medium-sized Djinn was feline in shape and hefty in stature. It hunkered low to the ground as it made its way across the field.

  “Oh, crap,” Jackson said.

  The Djinn drew close enough for him to recognize it as a Smilaguar. It had its yellow eyes focused on Petunia and was only about fifty yards away now. The wind shifted and the Camelum grunted as the smell of the predator caught her attention. Her long neck stood straight up and her soft brown eyes darted with nervousness.

  “How did it get in here? Is it wild?” Kay asked.

  At the same time, Jackson realized that the soft humming of the enclosure was gone, he glanced over his shoulder and saw the fence wasn’t live anymore. It wouldn’t have been a problem except for the fact that this area that housed the herbivore Djinn butted up against the enclosure of the carnivorous Djinn.

  Jackson shook his head before he realized Kay wasn’t looking at him.

  “No, I don’t think it’s wild.”

  One look across the pasture confirmed the perimeter walls and their repulser field were still active — besides, there was no way even a Smilaguar would have been able to jump that high, the trees outside the ranch property line were cleared back to stop that very thing.

  Petunia moaned in distress again and started backing away as the Smilaguar drew closer. It didn’t seem to notice the humans at all, as its attention was focused completely on the Camelum.

  “It must’ve escaped its habitat when the interior fences went down,” Jackson said. His mind raced. Sato had backup generators to keep the barriers up and prevent this from happening, but it looked like even their system wasn’t perfect. The Smilaguar was obviously not wild — it wouldn’t hurt the humans, unless provoked. At the same time, because neither Kay nor Jackson were its tamer, Jackson didn’t know if they’d be able to call the predator Djinn off of its stalk, either.

  “Do you know whose it is?” Jackson asked as Kay wrapped her arms around Petunia in an effort to calm her down. He placed himself between them and the Smilaguar, holding his arms out and moving slowly. Entry-level employees like he and Kay weren’t allowed to work with the predator Djinn at Sato. Although the breeding ranch had a strict policy about not boarding any once-feral monsters tamed in the wild, the predators were still tricky to manage.

  “It’s okay, Petunia,” Kay said. Jackson could tell she was fighting to keep the panic out of her own voice. If the fully-grown Camelum tried to run, there was no way Kay would be able to stop it — not to mention that the Smilaguar would immediately give chase.

  Trying to fight his pounding heart and nerves, Jackson reached a shaky hand over and quickly brought up the Sato Breeders app on his holo-watch. In the corner, he found the red emergency button and tapped it, all without taking his eyes off the Smilaguar.

  Then, out of curiosity, he slowly pulled up his Djinncyclopedia app and analyzed the Djinn in front of him.

  Djinn: Smilaguar

  Element: Earth

  Smilaguar is an Intermediate-Form, Earth Elemental Djinn. Like it is in every evolutionary form, Smilaguar 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..

  “Oh, great,” Jackson said.

  He didn’t like the sound of that last part. He wracked his brain, trying to remember the various safety instructions he’d learned throughout his time at Sato. Different Djinn reacted in different ways when they were scared, hungry, tired, or angry. Jackson had no idea if he should shout and wave his hands to show the Smilaguar he wasn’t going to back down or if he should avoid making eye contact with the predator Djinn. Protecting Petunia was important, of course, but he also didn’t want to turn into the Smilaguar’s next meal.

  The Djinn growled deep in its chest and hunkered down. Jackson’s mind raced, unable to come to a decisive action.

  “Jackson!” Kay yelled from behind him, panic clear in her voice. “I’m not sure how much longer I can keep Petunia here!”

  “Hey!” Jackson yelled waving his hands at the Smilaguar. “Get back! Get back!”

  The Djinn yowled again and sank even lower, baring its teeth. Jackson continued to wave his arms and shout as the Smilaguar pounced.

  Chapter Four

  Jackson barely had time to raise his hands over his head before the Smilaguar hit him. Kay screamed. The Djinn’s extended paws struck him in the chest and knocked him flat on his back. The Smilaguar stood on top of Jackson, its hot breath blowing in his face. Somewhere — it seemed a lot farther away than it should have been — Jackson heard Kay shouting his name.

  Clenching his te
eth, Jackson braced himself to be torn apart, but the moment never came. He peeked open his eyes, only to see the Smilaguar continuing to growl in his face. With the full weight of the Djinn bearing down on him, Jackson couldn’t have moved even if he’d had the nerve to. He’d never been this close to an angry predator Djinn before and felt a new, fearful appreciation for the saber-like fangs protruding from the monster’s snarling mouth and the mass of muscle packed into its already-thick frame.

  What was it doing? The Smilaguar yowled a high-pitched, infuriated sound that froze Jackson’s heart in his chest. He lay as still as he could. Should he try to fight the beast off? Should he play dead? The Smilaguar’s mood didn’t seem to be improving any, but he wasn’t too keen to start pressing his luck by moving. Somewhere in the back of his mind, Jackson realized the Djinn hadn’t extended his claws — maybe if he played his cards right, he wouldn’t be eaten, just severely mauled.

  More muffled shouts rose behind him, and all at once the Smilaguar’s snarling head disappeared as a rush of (what looked like) arrows flew over Jackson. With the Djinn’s weight removed from his chest, Jackson let out a yell and scrambled backward across the pasture, temporarily overcome with fear. At the same moment, another blur of blue, green and turquoise feathers shot past him just feet off the ground. The new Djinn let out an angry caw and struck the Smilaguar on the side.

  A new voice that definitely wasn’t Kay’s shouted at the multi-colored bird Djinn. “Don’t hurt him, Rebel!”

  Chest still heaving from his encounter, Jackson climbed to his feet on shaky legs and saw the Djinn’s tamer standing a few feet away — one of his school friends (not to mention his boss’s daughter), Fiona Sato.

  Fiona issued a series of commands and her feathered Megala Djinn responded to each at once. The Megala danced just out of the range of the Smilaguar’s angry swipes, darting in to rebuff the predator Djinn with its wings and hit it with another burst of quill feathers from its voluminous tail.

  Jackson watched the display in awe, his previous fear replaced by the thrill of seeing two Djinn battling up-close. Although he watched plenty of battles on the holo-cast, he’d only witnessed a few fights in person before, and he marveled at the speed and precision. Without even thinking, he opened the Djinncyclopedia app and held up his holo-watch.

  Djinn: Megala

  Element: Wind

  Megala is a Basic-Form, Wind-Elemental Djinn. The Megala is a mild-tempered feathered Djinn. Male sexes of the species boast colorful plumage in their tails that serve as a way to attract mates and a means of self-defense. When angered, their most common means of attack is to puff up and shoot some of these feathers at their assailants with speeds up to 10 miles per hour. While usually not deadly, the inflammatory effects of the quill, in conjunction with physical combat is usually enough to scare other predators away.

  A few moments later, the Smilaguar sank down on the ground, a handful of plumed needles sticking out of its face and sides. It hadn’t suffered any serious injury from the fight but it was exhausted and — Jackson hoped — calmed down enough so that it no longer presented a threat to Petunia. The predator looked around with wide, curious eyes, seemingly content to be left alone on the grass, although Rebel — Fiona’s Megala — continued to keep watch a short distance away in case the Smilaguar decided it wanted to go again.

  “Hey, Bryce,” Fiona said, talking into her holo-watch. Jackson couldn’t hear the ranch foreman’s response but picked up the gist of the conversation. “I’ve got Rex — yeah, he got into a pen with a Camelum but it looks like Jackson and Kay kept him from getting into any trouble. No — Jackson’s a little banged up but I think everything is okay. I’ll ring Rex and have them checked out.”

  Fiona lowered her wrist and reached into her pocket, producing a large silver ring with a rectangle on its face. She held the ring between her thumb and forefinger and pointed it at Rex — the errant Smilaguar. The Djinn hissed as a white light enveloped it.

  “Come on, Rex, please don’t fight me here,” Fiona said as the beam of light enveloping the Djinn began to shake. She shook her hand a little bit, and after what looked like the smallest of resistance, the beam of light retreated back into the ring, taking the Smilaguar with it. “There we go.”

  “T-thanks,” Jackson stammered, heart racing from the attack and the ensuing battle. He took a deep breath to calm himself and winced. His chest ached, but a quick pat down of his shirt didn’t reveal any gouge marks. Fortunately, the Smilaguar hadn’t been mad enough — or at least see him as a big enough threat to extend its claws when it pounced on him.

  “Don’t mention it,” Fiona said and then smirked. “I know you think you’re a tough guy, Jackson, but wrestling a full-grown, hungry Smilaguar isn’t very smart.”

  Jackson let out a dry laugh and winced again as a throbbing pain pulsed through his breastbone. Fiona’s grin faded. “The barriers should be back online soon. Let’s get you checked out.”

  Jackson, Kay, and Fiona emerged from a nondescript gray portable building that stood right outside of the main front office. Jackson was a little tender around a few of his ribs, but the on-site doctor told him nothing was broken. Aside from a few other minor cuts and scrapes, he’d survived the encounter with the Smilaguar, no worse for the wear. Even so, his boss, Ken Sato, had told him to take the rest of the day off, and he’d be put on light duty for the next two weeks. Jackson argued he was fine but Ken couldn’t be swayed.

  Jackson counted his blessings. He was lucky they had a doctor at Sato Breeders, and even luckier that Fiona was there to save him.

  “When did you get back in town, Fiona?” He asked as they stood out in the barnyard, where her Megala pecked around at the feed on the ground. The sunlight glittered on the array of blues, greens, golds, and purples woven in its dark feathers.

  “Last night,” Fiona said. “I was coming to say hi to you guys when the barriers went down. I had one of the emergency walkies on me, so I was already close by when you signaled the alarm. Lucky for you, Jackson.”

  She finished with a wink and Jackson frowned, knowing it would be a long time before he lived down the fact that Fiona had rescued him. Well, more than likely Kay wouldn’t let it go. When they were younger, Jackson and Fiona always had a bit of a rivalry, and out of sheer desire for entertainment, Kay would seldom hesitate to fan the flames. But it had been a while since their rivalry had taken form in any meaningful way. Over the past handful of years, Fiona had sort of fallen out of their friend group and, having graduated the year before them, she’d left the previous fall for advanced schooling. Jackson and Kay hadn’t really kept in touch with her.

  “Your Megala is beautiful,” Kay said, admiring the jeweled bird. Sensing it was the topic of the conversation, the Megala stopped pecking around and extended its tail feather in a wide fan for full display. Golden-purple quills were interspersed within the voluminous feathers making the Djinn look like it’d come out of a jewel store.

  “Thanks,” Fiona said. Jackson could tell the pride she was hiding. “I’ve been working with Rebel since just after I left for school — he was a graduation gift from mom and dad. He’s not where I’d like him to be yet but I’m hoping to be ready to enter the Bronze League Training Camp next year.”

  “That’s great news!” Kay said, with honest enthusiasm. Jackson gave a weak smile and a grunt, but Fiona didn’t seem to notice.

  “It’s been a lot of work,” Fiona said. “Mom and dad support me and want to help me get in with their connections, but I really want to make it on my own, meaning the ranch isn’t going to fund me. I eventually want to find sponsors to help ease the burden, but that won’t be for a while.”

  That took Jackson by surprise. Fiona had never been stuck up even though she came from the richest family in town, but to hear her say she wasn't going to use that to her advantage seemed like a waste.

  Unless you were lucky enough to be rich or have a family that bred Djinn (Fiona had both), most people could only
afford to make it past the Bronze League with the help of sponsors. The cost of entry and the rigorous travel schedule of the Djinn Battle League ensured only a small percentage of tamers made it, especially to the vaunted Gold League. Most — Jackson included —would kill to be in Fiona’s shoes, and there she was turning it down. In addition to world-famous Djinn-breeding parents, Fiona's older brothers were both ranked in the top one hundred of the DBL's Silver League.

  Fiona's choice didn't make sense to Jackson, especially given his current situation. He didn't mention aloud that Fiona's parents had still given her Rebel — how would it be to receive a rare Djinn as a gift? Even so, he had to admit it was admirable for her to want to go the rest of the way on her own.

  "That's really impressive," Kay said.

  Jackson forced a smile and nodded in begrudging agreement. "Yeah, really cool." He had to admit it. It was cool.

  “What about you guys?” Fiona asked. “Any plans for the fall?”

  The fall. Jackson would have rather talked about anything else than the prospect of advanced schooling.

  “What kind of sponsorships are we talking about?” he asked Fiona instead. “I would think with the number of tamers trying to get into the Bronze League, there’s not much money to go around.”

  “Okay, I guess I am getting a bit ahead of myself,” Fiona said with a nervous chuckle. “You’re right. There’s not much money in the Bronze League. For now, I need to focus on official tourneys in the area. If I can lock down a solid reputation, then Tyle can send my name into the Bronze League Regionals, and they can let me in. The Bronze League isn’t too much of a strain, at least that’s what my brother Dice said. It’s only when you get into the Silver League that expenses start to add up.”