“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,” Coach Vanova continued, “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 and 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 set
ting. 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!”
They exited the barrack and started across the dew-covered fields. In spite of his hoodie, Jackson shivered in the brisk early morning. Instructions in the training camp app had told them all to put on exercise clothes and shoes which weren’t exactly the warmest things to wear. Jackson bit back a yawn and resisted the urge to stretch. He felt completely worn out and the day had barely started.
It soon became apparent that they weren’t the only barrack out and about in the field. Coaches led lines of tamers from each of the barrack houses onto the lawns and battlefields between the training camp buildings. When they’d reached the edge of the grass, Coach Vanova halted them and pulled a whistle out from underneath her jacket.
“Your first workout is going to be real simple. On my signal, you will release your Djinn and begin running counterclockwise around the training facilities. One lap is half a mile. You will not slow down to a walk until I say so. Any tamer whose Djinn attacks another Djinn will be given extra laps. You are not allowed to engage in combat with any other tamers. Is this clear?”
“Uh…coach?” Jackson was surprised to see Appleby raise his hand. “I get the whole being in shape thing but, uh, some of us really aren’t built for running. How does this help you know who the best tamers are?”
A smile that couldn’t be described as anything but wicked curled across Vanova’s face. “Sounds like you want to do an extra mile, Barranco. Leave the assessment to the coaching staff. Any other questions?”
Unsurprisingly, nobody had any questions, overcome as they were by a burning desire to get away from Coach Vanova as fast as possible. The whistle blew once. And off they went.
Chapter Seventeen
Jackson knew it was going to be a long run from the start. Although he considered himself in pretty good shape — and he held his Djinn to the same standards, thanks to Briggs’s training — the drama blew up between Scrappy and Asena as soon as they were summoned from their rings.
It seemed that every time Jackson got them focused and sorted out, one or the other would start the fight up again. A couple of times, he had to completely stop running and pull them apart. This drew the ire of the camp coaches who were stationed all along the perimeter of the grass to make sure that none of the tamers stopped running. Frustrated, Jackson ended up giving constant telepathic commands to Asena and Scrappy in order to keep them in line. If he kept Scrappy flying above his right shoulder and Asena running next to his left leg, they managed to run and not attack one another. At least for a few hundred yards at a time.
Fortunately, the other tamers weren’t faring much better. Their Djinn didn’t attack their own partners, but with so many Djinn out in the open and passing one another, fights broke out between the different tamers’s Djinn. In one instance, Jackson was nearly blown off his feet by a powerful burst of wind only to stumble again when a tremor ran through the ground.
Ironically enough, the one person who seemed like he was having no trouble whatsoever was Tak and his Lutrotter and Gruffoat, both of whom padded alongside him at a solid pace. Jackson remembered when he first visited Tak’s trailer several months earlier, the Lutrotter lay lounging in the kiddie pool. Jackson guessed that he was probably the most sane of Tak’s visitors, so his Djinn were probably used to being around odd people and abnormal circumstances.
Throughout it all, the coaches and their Djinn worked constantly to break up the brawls and heavily berated tamers who couldn’t control their monsters. Jackson fared no better than the rest, but the staff seemed less concerned that his Djinn were attacking each other and not their opponents. Either that or they had bigger problems on their hands.
This was for the best because Jackson wasn’t sure he’d be able to handle his Djinn if the coaches were yelling at him constantly. Scrappy was a particular deviant and enjoyed landing on Jackson or Asena while they were running — though whether or not it was to cause trouble or just hitch a ride, Jackson couldn’t tell. It was easy enough for him to brush the Magglecaw off with a stern command and a wave of his hand, but things weren’t so pretty when Scrappy landed on Asena. As one would expect, the very instant his talons landed on the Lyote, she twisted around and tried to bite his head off. One time, in the middle of a full-on run, she tried to snatch him off her shoulder. Scrappy leaped away at the last possible minute and circled above her, cackling and cawing with delight.
And so it went. When he wasn’t keeping his Djinn from attacking one another or injuring him in the process, Jackson chased after Akamu — because while the coaches hadn’t said anything about this being a race, it seemed clear to Jackson that everyone had assumed their place at the head of the pack would be noted and tallied up as a part of their ranking.
Though Akamu had gotten off to a smoother start, Jackson was determined to at least catch up with him, and for once, the powerful Tandile worked against Akamu. The Djinn was built for plowing through water with ease, not running long distances on land. Jackson could see Akamu’s frustration boiling as he constantly slowed down and waited for the Djinn, his Flogadra screeching with impatience overhead. When Jackson passed them with the fleet Asena and flying Scrappy, Jackson gave a small grin. But he was no fool. As he did so, he made sure to keep a wide berth. He wouldn’t have put it past Akamu to throw in a cheap shot while the coaches weren’t looking. He passed the younger Kaleo without incident, though, and never saw him the rest of the run.
By the time it ended— five miles later, according to Jackson’s holo-watch — both Asena and Scrappy sported several minor injuries and a solid quarter of each of their hit points were gone. Jackson’s sides ached and his lungs burned from the exertion, but he’d finished within the top twenty tamers in the entire camp. A surprising variety of tamers were among the top finishers, including Tak Rito, who gave Jackson a thumbs-up as he crossed the finish line. As Jackson noted, a lot of them weren’t the same folks who had come in at the top of their respective barracks. Clearly, a lot of this was owed to the fact that some Djinn were horrible running on land, and in many cases — like Akamu — some of the more skilled tamers found themselves constantly having to wait as their weakest link caught up.
Fiona wasn’t too far behind Jackson (he couldn’t help but wonder what had held her back), and the rest of his barrack trickled in with Appleby coming in near dead-last.
When everyone finished, the tamers broke back up into their groups and were led by their barrack coach to a variety of different training courses set up both on the campus field and in some of the training building. Coach Vanova and Barrack 4 ended up at an agility course. Remote-controlled dummy-Djinn — large, padded shapes about as tall as a person — and drones swarmed at each Djinn in randomized patterns. Given the number of drones and training dummies, the real Djinn had no way of seeing everything coming at them at once. The exercise tested not only the dodging ability of Djinn but the speed in which they reacted to their tamer’s commands.
Jackson breathed a sigh of relief when Coach Vanova announced that each tamer would go twice — one time for each Djinn. He could only imagine the total nightmare of directing Scrappy and Asena from the practice attacks while they sought to fight each other.
The first two tamers went and Jackson paid special attention to the drones and dummies. Unfortunately, there didn’t seem to be any type of pattern to their attacks. The training aides worked in conjunction with one another to bring down flying, digging and above-ground Djinn alike. Tamers had to react in the blink of an eye to a rush of one, two or sometimes three drones or dummies beelining their Djinn at once. Most Djinn took a couple of hits and a couple were even knocked out from the exercise al
together.
When it was Jackson’s turn, he sent out Scrappy first. In spite of his troublemaking tendencies, the Magglecaw performed well — he was only struck once by a drone and managed to evade all the practice dummies. For the purpose of the exercise, flying Djinn had to remain only five feet off the ground so that they could remain vulnerable to the ground-based attacks as well.
Jackson knew from examining Scrappy’s charts that the Magglecaw had high Speed — he’d allocated a sizable chunk of his DJP into Speed himself — but seeing them on display gave Jackson a renewed sense of confidence in his new Djinn. For the most part, Scrappy responded to his telepathic commands with little to no hesitation — at least as well as could be expected from a recently-tamed Djinn. When Coach Vanova blew the whistle to end the drill, Jackson allowed himself a small smile.
Asena made the drill look even easier. Honed in underground fights, where the rules and Djinn fights were fast and loose, she’d developed a keen sense for incoming attacks and unconventional tactics. While she wasn’t as fast as Scrappy, she made up for it in overall battle experience. When the last drone buzzed away and the practice dummy retreated at the sound of Coach Vanova’s whistle, Asena hadn’t been touched once.
A handful of the other Barrack 4 students clapped. Fiona wasn’t one of them and Akamu only rolled his eyes. But Appleby was cheering, Tak nodded, and even Moto Rine gave him a small polite head tilt.
“Well done, Hunt,” Coach Vanova said. “But how do you think you’d do if we put both of your Djinn together?”
The smile faded from Jackson’s face. He knew he’d have to cross that bridge sooner or later.
Djinn Tamer - The Complete Bronze League Trilogy Page 38