“Mr. Sato…I…I can’t take that internship with you after all,” Jackson said. The words started pouring out “I’m really, really sorry. I know how much you’ve done for me and my grandma, and I appreciate it, but —”
“Jackson, take it easy,” Mr. Sato cut in. “It’s okay. I can’t say that I’m not disappointed, but I understand — don’t forget I’ve got three tamers for children, after all.”
“Are you sure?” Jackson asked. “I hope I can still keep working as a ranch hand.”
Ken Sato laughed. “Of course! This doesn’t change anything. But I wouldn’t be much of a businessman if I didn’t tell you to let me know if you change your mind. Sound good?”
“Yes!” Jackson almost sighed, feeling the pressure melt away. “That sounds great. If I change my mind, you’ll be the first to know.” He didn’t want to add that he doubted he’d ever change his mind.
After Jackson thanked Mr. Sato again and said goodbye, he started home, Asena at his side. Unlike their walk a few days previous, Jackson felt at ease with his decision. Asena, sensing the change in her tamer, bounded out ahead of Jackson, sniffing at the ground and wagging her tail at every new discovery.
When Jackson reached his apartment, he found his grandmother cooking in the kitchen. She greeted Jackson with a smile and pointed to the table. “I think there’s something there you may want to take a look at.”
Confused, Jackson rifled through the pile of papers on the table. All of his communication came through holo-mail or in email text — hardly anyone sent archaic paper post anymore. The pile featured a number of ads and fliers for local businesses as well as the local paper. Jackson started to ask his grandma what the joke was when he found it: a thick, cream-colored envelope on the bottom of the stack. A gold foil sticker in the shape of a shield grabbed his attention immediately. It was the official DBL logo.
“Well?” Jane asked, watching Jackson hold the paper in shaking hands. “Are you going to open it or not?”
Jackson managed to get a finger on the seal despite his nerves. He hesitated and then set the envelope back on the table.
“I’m going to call Kay first.”
Kay showed up on Jackson’s doorstep ten minutes later, face flushed as she dropped her bike at the front of the complex and barged in like it was her own apartment.
“Are you an idiot?” she said. “Open it already!”
Jackson swallowed and picked up the envelope. He stared at it for a moment, and then looked at Jane and Kay. “What if —”
“Shut up and open it!”
“Okay, okay,” he grumbled. “Just don’t get your hopes up.”
“Seriously, Jackson, if you don’t open it right now…”
“I said okay,” Jackson said. “Just give me a second…”
Jackson’s voice trailed off as he broke the seal and pulled out the paper. He scanned through the letter. The first paragraph had a bunch of filler text touting the history and prestige of the league. Jackson’s eyes roved over the words, looking for something along the lines of “thanks for trying, come again next year,” but he couldn’t find anything until —
A squeak escaped Jackson’s throat. The letter fell from his hand onto the floor. Jane and Kay hung on his every move, trying to gauge Jackson’s reaction.
“It says I’ve been invited to the Training Camp.”
Chapter Five
Before Jackson could process what he’d just read both Kay and Jane blanketed him in a jumping, screaming hug. Asena nipped and barked at their heels, sensing the excitement even if she didn’t know what it was about. Jackson bounced around in their combined embrace, dumbstruck. When they finally settled down and pulled away, Jackson picked up the letter from the floor and glanced it over again, as if making sure.
“Well, are you going to keep reading it to yourself or tell us what is says?” Jane said, breathless.
Jackson cleared his throat and tried to steady his shaking hand enough to make out the words again. He skipped over the introduction again and went right to the meat of it:
“The Djinn Battle League is pleased to extend to you an invitation to the Granite Region Bronze League Training Camp as the representative from the town of Tyle. Should you accept this invitation, you and dozens of other trainers from throughout the region will undergo intense training and daily practice over the course of four weeks to prepare you for a spot in the main season this coming spring where eight tamers will be selected to compete along with veteran tamers of the Bronze League.”
Jackson’s smile slowly faded as a realization dawned on him. “This doesn’t make any sense,” he said. “Fiona was already selected as Tyle’s rep for training camp.”
Kay punched Jackson in the arm. “You’re crazy, you know that? Your name’s at the top of the letter.”
Jackson nodded and rubbed his shoulder absentmindedly.
“Then why do you care what happened? You’re in! This is what you’ve always wanted!”
“Yeah, but —”
“Jackson,” Kay said. “When are you just going to accept that someone else thinks you’re good enough to compete in this thing? You’re in. Stop questioning it.”
After a few more seconds, the reality of the situation started to sink in. An involuntary grin spread across Jackson’s face.
“I’m in,” he repeated. “I’m in! I made it!” Jackson knelt down and wrapped his arms around Asena’s fluffy orange neck. “We did it, girl!”
Asena let out a happy bark and squirmed free of Jackson hug. She didn’t stop showering him in slobbery kisses until he stood up.
“That’s more like it,” Jane said. “How does it feel?”
Jackson took a moment to take in the situation; the rollercoaster ride that’d been the past few days. “It feels…good?”
The evening passed in a blur. Jane insisted that Kay stay over for dinner, and the three of them chatted nonstop about the news. Although Kay had no desire to be a tamer, she had a Djinn companion of her own: a Fenkit named Sunshine. Jackson sat across the table from Kay and his grandma, listening to them talk while Asena and Sunshine wrestled and chased one another on the complex’s small front lawn. He re-read the letter several times but still struggled to believe it could actually be real.
After dinner, and several portions of brownies for dessert, Jane finally excused herself for bed and Kay went home. Jackson went to his room, enjoying the peace and quiet. Just like every other night, Asena hopped onto his bed and took her usual place.
Jackson idly placed a hand on her head then rubbed her neck while he tried to convince himself the last couple of hours had all been real.
He’d done it — he’d been invited to the Bronze League Training Camp. Sure, it was a far cry from the lofty tiers of the Gold or even Silver League, but it was a start — a start he would have given anything for just half a day past.
One thing still bothered him though: how had Fiona received an invitation if he was the Tyle representative? Jackson didn’t think she would have lied — Fiona was the only person he knew as competitive as himself, and making up something like that just wasn’t in her. That left only one possibility. Someone or some organization chose Fiona to sponsor for training camp.
Jackson couldn’t wait. Against his better judgment, he tapped his holo-watch screen a couple of times and the line to Fiona’s started ringing. He’d started to think she wasn’t going to pick up, when her sleepy face appeared as a blue outline in his room.
“Jackson? I was almost asleep…”
“Sorry,” Jackson said in a way that probably made it obvious to Fiona he wasn’t sorry at all. “I gotta know something — who’s your sponsor?”
Fiona rolled her eyes. “Oh, boy. Don’t tell me you got an invite to training camp.”
Jackson couldn’t help it, a wide grin split his face. “You know it!” he said, almost giddy. “Why didn’t you tell me there was a chance I could make it?”
Fiona eyes widened instantly. “Are you kidd
ing me right now, Jackson? I only tried to tell you like seventeen times I was sponsored, but you kept cutting me off,” Fiona’s lips tightened again, as if recalling their previous conversations. “And I figured if you didn’t want to listen to me, then screw you, you know?”
Jackson gave a sheepish grin. “Sorry. I was…not cool.” he said. He had been a bit of an ass to her, and if he’d only listened to her he would have saved himself a lot of heartache. “Now come on,” Jackson said. “I know you’re not the Tyle representative because that’s me. Who’s sponsoring you?”
Fiona’s face revealed a rare moment of hesitation from a girl who seemed so confident and sure all the time. “I can’t say.”
“Aww, c’mon, Fiona! It’s McAllister, right?”
“I really can’t say!” Fiona said, all trace of indecision and hesitation gone. “You’ll just have to wait and find out.”
“It’s totally McAllister,” Jackson said. “I mean, you told me he wouldn’t let you train with me, so it has to be him, right?”
“Goodnight, Jackson!” She motioned to end the call, but stopped. “And congratulations. Next time let me talk when you’re dragging yourself through the mud.”
Fiona disappeared in a bleep, leaving Jackson alone with his thoughts and Asena.
Jackson plopped backwards onto his bed and let out a long sigh. The day’s excitement finally caught up with him. He felt drained. Drained but content. As if to make sure it wasn’t a dream, he reached over for the acceptance letter on his nightstand and held it out above him while he lay in bed.
This time, his eyes took in every word. Jackson’s heart beat faster upon reading the congratulatory paragraph. He could feel his desire to compete growing with every sentence. But then he reached the end of the letter — a bunch of details about camp itself — vaccinations for Asena and himself, important dates and…minimum Djinn requirements?
Jackson read the passage a handful of times, his heart sinking every time. Sure enough, just as real as the invitation was the following mandate: per Bronze League regulations, each tamer is required to have two Djinn in order to compete in training camp and the tournament selection process.
Two Djinn? It’d taken Jackson more than seventeen years just to get his hands on one! He glanced at the foot of his bed, where Asena was already sleeping. They might have had a rough start but he couldn’t image having any other Djinn in the world as his partner other than Asena. He always knew if he really wanted to be competitive in the DBL that more Djinn would be required, but Jackson never imagined it would be so soon. Figuring out how to tame with Asena was hard enough as it was, let alone adding another monster to the mix.
Aside from doubling the work and training, it came to Jackson that he’d essentially be doubling most of his tamer expenses as well. Another Djinn would have to be fed and cared for, and he could barely make ends meet providing for Asena after he helped out with rent and other living expenses with his grandma.
That didn’t even take into account where Jackson might acquire another Djinn. Asena had been a long-lost birthday gift from Jackson’s mother right before she left on the expedition that claimed her life. Lyotes were rare Djinn, even in the pros — Jackson knew how lucky and fortunate he was to have one as his starter.
Aside from the expensive, way-out-of-his-league Djinn at Sato Breeders, Jackson figured his only other option was to tame one of the local wild Djinn. But none of them were anything special: a scattering of Magglecaws, Felinxes, and Bobbities — not exactly monsters anyone would attempt to build a championship team around.
Jackson twisted the Djinn ring on his finger anxiously. It seemed like he took one step backward for every two steps forward when it came to taming.
Although he was exhausted, these thoughts led into a night of restless sleep. In his dreams he chased around some amorphous blob of a Djinn, but every time he seemed close enough to catch it, it slipped away. To make matters worse, the cries from a crowd chided him with each and every failure, with the taunts of his former trainer Cassius Briggs rising above everyone else. So troubled were Jackson’s dreams that he woke with a start, halfway through his mumbled sleep talking. Asena jerked awake at the sudden movement and shot Jackson an annoyed look before laying her head back down on the bed. Jackson sucked in a long breath as his conscious mind took over. Where in the world could he find another affordable Djinn? A Djinn that would hold its own against the other up-and-coming talent at training camp?
The question tumbled around Jackson’s head as he pulled on some ruffled clothes and dragged himself downstairs. It was Saturday and Jane looked to have been up for a couple hours already, judging by the smell of Bovan bacon drifting from the kitchen. Jackson slumped into his customary seat at the table feeling like he’d been hit by one of the electric monorails that ran from town to town.
“Too excited to sleep last night?” Jane said, casually reaching for a plate of cold bacon she had wrapped in foil. Before Jackson could protest, she flipped one of the strips to Asena, who snapped it up in her mouth before it hit the floor.
“I told you not to feed her that,” Jackson groaned, too tired to give his customary diatribe about Asena’s diet and the correlation to her performance and growth.
“A little treat now and then doesn’t hurt her,” Jane said. Had Jackson been more alert, he would have pointed out that not so long ago, the thought of feeding a Djinn bacon in her kitchen would have sent his grandma into a tizzy. The lack of response caused Jane to turn around and give Jackson a more thorough inspection.
“Honestly, I thought we were done with the grumpy teenager stage,” Jane said. “What in the world are you moping about now? For a boy whose been given the chance of a lifetime, you don’t seem very happy.”
Jackson explained the fine print of the letter and the problems he faced to tame another Djinn. Jane listened throughout as she always did and waited for Jackson to finish before offering her advice.
“If there’s one thing I know about you, Jackson, it’s that you’re not the kind of young man who lets things get in the way of what he wants,” she said. “And if you could win me over to let you become a tamer, finding another Djinn should be a breeze.” Jane took an extra moment, as if steeling herself for what she was about to say next. “And speaking of all this, do you happen to know if this Training Camp is something we need to…”
“It’s all paid for by the DBL,” Jackson said. It was a question he’d been anticipating.
“Oh, thank goodness,” his grandma said. It had clearly been weighing on her.
“But it’s still not that easy,” Jackson said. “I checked my bank account. If I don’t want to derail Asena, I’ve basically got enough funds in the bank to get another low-grade tamer ring, which I have to have to tame another Djinn. After that, there’s no way I can afford even some of the entry-level Djinn that Sato sells.”
For some reason, his mind flashed back to his dream the night before and another memory came back. One of the people taunting him had been Cassius Briggs.
Briggs!
He frantically dialed Kay on his watch. She answered and Jackson could tell at once that he’d woken her up.
“Why, Jackson?” she asked, blinking and rubbing the back of her head.
“Kay! Get up! We’ve got to go see Briggs!”
Chapter Six
“I get that you’re desperate, but I still don’t think this is a very good idea.”
Riding ahead of Kay on his bike, Jackson rolled his eyes. Cassius Briggs lived on the outskirts of town, and Jackson was keen to visit his old mentor bright and early — there wasn’t any time to waste. After waiting on Kay to get out of bed, he didn’t have any time to spare arguing with her.
Even if he knew she was probably right. He hadn’t exactly ended his relationship with Briggs on the best terms.
Asena loped along with ease next to Jackson. In her current condition, Jackson thought she probably could have done it for days. The Lyote moved in a graceful, flowin
g motion of golden-orange fur and powerful muscles. Seemingly overnight, she’d grown from the feisty pup with an oversized head and paws into a nimble, robust Djinn. Although Jackson knew it would likely still be a while until she reached a level at which she evolved into her next form, he couldn’t help but admire her in the early morning sun.
Cassius Briggs lived in a rundown tamer gym on the outskirts of town. The building looked to have been a farm warehouse even before it was a gym, and since Briggs had taken over, it seemed he had done little to improve the property. Dull red bricks made up the structure, many of which were weathered to an almost tan color so that the building looked like it had some kind of speckled disease. Most of the remaining windows were cracked and the ones that’d already been shattered featured plywood covers. Briggs liked his privacy and nothing said “stay out” like a big, ominous building gone to seed just like its owner. Just for good measure, there were plenty of actual “stay out” signs spray painted across the edge of the property as well. Jackson didn’t remember those being there before. They must’ve been new.
After a depressing end to his professional taming career, Briggs had moved to Tyle to get a little peace and quiet. Since he didn’t compete anymore, Jackson had no idea why he’d converted the old farm warehouse into a gym, and Briggs had never given an explanation. Briggs didn’t talk much at all, and when he did, it was usually short, to the point, and salty.
Still, Jackson owed a large part of his early success as a tamer to Cassius Briggs. As crusty as the old man was on the outside, Jackson could still recognize the spirit of a competitor within and had finally been able to convince Briggs to train him in preparation for his first ever tournament not long after he’d found Asena. But in an effort to try and save his and his grandma’s house, Jackson made some decisions against Briggs’s wishes, which resulted in a less-than-happy ending to their relationship as teacher and student. As they braked in front of the closed gym doors, Jackson hoped enough time had passed that Briggs could put it behind him.
Djinn Tamer - The Complete Bronze League Trilogy Page 28