Djinn Tamer - The Complete Bronze League Trilogy

by Derek Alan Siddoway

  Each of the three tamers explained how they’d done on the course. Somehow, it sounded like some of the obstacles had been changed throughout. Jackson had no idea how the staff had swapped things that fast between contestants but it didn’t surprise him that camp staff had pulled all the stops on the final challenge.

  After listening to the trio for a few more minutes, Jackson excused himself and returned to his quarters. Once the door was shut, he fell down on his back on his bed and let out a groan. The challenge had taken everything out of him, mentally and physically.

  Though Jackson didn’t want to get up, he forced himself to get showered and dressed before grabbing a couple of the recovery drinks supplied by some Bronze League sponsor in his mini fridge. He was just deciding if he wanted to return to the commons and potentially deal with Akamu when his watch vibrated and spoke.

  “All tamers please report to the common area of your barrack as soon as possible.”

  Jackson headed down the stairs, running into Moto Rine and Fiona along the way. Unlike the chattier group he’d been welcomed by earlier, neither Fiona nor Moto asked anything more than a polite “how did it go?” Jackson gave the same noncommittal answer and asked them the same.

  “It was fine,” Moto said. “Just another day in the life, right?”

  Jackson nodded but inside couldn’t believe the ice water flowing in her veins and was envious of her confidence.

  Coach Vanova waited for them downstairs. Miguel and Akamu were the last two to arrive and then she began.

  “Congratulations on your efforts today, tamers. We have completed the obstacles in both fieldhouses and have prepared your final scores and rankings. Unlike previous challenges, these rankings will not be posted. I will meet with each of you and give you a small amount of feedback on your course before I give you your final rankings and position in camp. Hunt, let’s start with you.”

  Jackson felt his stomach flip. Why was he going first? They obviously weren’t going in the same order as the challenge — he’d been the last one in Barrack 4 to compete. Was Vanova getting the cut list out of the way first?

  Jackson followed Vanova into her office, located in an extension of their barrack. Inside, she gestured to a seat on the opposite side of the table. It was the first time Jackson had ever been in the space. Monitors covered the back wall behind him as well as a Barrack 4 roster on the side wall. Various holos displayed random workout modules, training exercises and more. Having only worked with Briggs, Jackson didn’t know if all coaches’s offices were supposed to look like this or if it was just how camp was organized.

  “I must say, Hunt, you’ve been a wild card since the day you showed up at camp. Half the time you look like you’re one of the best tamers in the Granite Region and the other half, well, you look like you hardly have control of your Djinn, if you’ll excuse me saying so.”

  “Yeah…” Jackson said. So much for a good start to the meeting. His prospects seemed to dampen by the second. “I think I’ve improved, though. I’m getting there — it’s just been a tough transition since I caught my Djinn a few weeks before camp started. The extra time I’ve been putting in with Briggs seems to be paying off.”

  He didn’t think he could talk his way out of being cut, but he sure wasn’t going to sit there and not defend himself. Jackson knew he’d given everything he had the past four weeks. If it wasn’t enough, it wasn’t enough. But he’d done all he could and didn’t want Vanova or anyone else thinking otherwise.

  Vanova snorted. “The fact that you made it this far with Cassius Briggs as your coach is probably a testament in and of itself. He’s about as sporadic as you these days. We’ve spent a lot of time together over the last four weeks — the individual coaches actually play a large part in camp as consultants. Half the time he’s still a Gold League Champion, and the rest, well…”

  She trailed off and then gave an awkward cough in the silence that followed. “Anyway, bottom line is, I think you’re a better tamer than what the scores say. And don’t you think I’m just saying that, either. I don’t really give a damn if your feelings are hurt or you go home crying. My job is to prepare the tamers of Barrack 4 the best I can and to find the best talent for the Granite Region to put on its Bronze League Roster — I’m not just filling you full of Bovan Djinn crap.”

  So that was it, then. He believed Vanova when she said she wasn’t just trying to make him feel better, but the fact that she’d led with the hint at how bad his scores were was what sealed the deal for Jackson. He wanted to say something, to let her know he’d be back again and again, but he just didn’t have the heart in him. All he wanted was to get out of the room, go home and go to bed. The prospect of another year of paltry training in Tyle and another training camp was too much to consider at the moment. He gave no reply.

  Vanova flipped open a screen on her holo and a page pulled up in front of Jackson. It showed his total scores leading up to the final obstacle. In addition to the battles, challenges, and drill times, Jackson was surprised to find a number of other comments and grades for things such as inventiveness, perceived Djinn loyalty, and more.

  “Like I said, you’ve been a wild card the whole time you’ve been here,” Vanova explained, scrolling through some of the numbers with her finger. “Just when we thought we had a read on you, you’d go and surprise us. As you can see, your rank leading up to the final challenge placed you well outside the top tamers.”

  Jackson’s heart hammered in his chest as she pulled up another page — his results from the obstacle course. He, Asena, and Scrappy were all given separate scores which then figured into his time.

  “Briggs and I watched your run through the course,” Vanova said. “Eleven minutes and twenty-four seconds was your time, by the way. Kind of middle of the pack. But Briggs wasn’t kidding you when he said you were on pace to be the fastest of the day. Once again though, those two half-tamed Djinn of yours decided to throw a wrench in things.”

  Jackson wrinkled his nose. Sure, Scrappy was a half-tamed troublemaker, but he felt Asena at least deserved a little bit of credit. Jackson pushed that aside and focused on the information in front of him. Vanova pulled up his total score, including the time, but without the other tamers’s scores to put it in context, he had no idea just how bad he’d done, comparatively, which was a tad infuriating.

  “Fortunately, you were able to earn back a few of those lost points by pulling your Djinn back together at the end, and you still had a decent time in spite of it all,” Vanova said. She swiped a hand and the screen disappeared, leaving Jackson and her face to face across the coach’s desk. “As it stands, I can honestly say I’m happy to let you know that you still made the cut. Congratulations, you’re the twentieth tamer on the list for the camp tournament. You’re going to get your chance to make the final roster.”

  Chapter Twenty-Seven

  “I — what?”

  Jackson shook his head. He had to have heard Vanova wrong. “Did you just say I was the twentieth tamer?”

  Coach Vanova’s normally stern face broke out into the first smile Jackson had seen from her throughout the entire camp. “You’re in, Hunt. You’ve got a spot at the camp tournament.”

  Jackson jumped out of his seat and knocked his chair over backward in the process. He didn’t even notice.

  “I — I mean… I just. I don’t…”

  Vanova laughed. “Settle down. You’re not there yet. You’re the twentieth tamer on the tournament roster. It’s going to take some serious underdog work for you to make the Granite Region team. But you’ve got a shot.”

  Jackson couldn’t contain himself any longer. He let out a shout of triumph and pumped his fist in the air, not caring that he was celebrating in the coach’s office. “Yes! Thank you! Yes, yes, yess!!”

  “All right, all right, chill out,” Vanova said waving her hands for him to settle down. “You’re not the Bronze League Champion yet. Go let your family know then get some rest. I’ve got to get through the
remaining Barrack 4 tamers.”

  She excused Jackson out of a side door that connected to a back stairway up to the dorms. As soon as he got to his room, Jackson sent Kay, Jane, Briggs, and his other friends a series of celebratory holo-clips (though they were a slightly calmer version of his celebration from Vanova’s office). His holo-watch lit up all at once with congratulations. Before Jackson replied to any of them, however, he released Asena and Scrappy from their rings.

  “We made it!” Before either Djinn knew what was happening, Jackson yanked them into a tight group hug. He didn’t let go until both Scrappy and Asena forced themselves loose and then he fell back on the bed, laughing.

  Scrappy fluttered into the air, cackling, and Asena spun around in circles and yipped. It took Jackson several seconds to catch his breath and several more to calm his Djinn down. Even then, he grinned at both of them like an idiot.

  “I’m so proud of you two,” Jackson said. “It’s been rough and we’ve still got a lot of work to do, but when it mattered most, we came together as a team. If all three of us work together, there’s nothing that can stop us.”

  Scrappy and Asena eyed each other warily but didn’t try to attack one another. Compared to where they’d been just weeks ago, Jackson didn’t mind. With enough time, they’d grow to trust and love one another just as they did him.

  A buzz from his holo-watch drew Jackson’s attention. It was his grandma.

  “Okay, when were you expecting to give me a call with your big news? I mean, the clips were nice, but is a phone call too much to ask?”

  “Sorry, I’m still taking it all in.”

  “I can’t believe how quickly this has all happened for you! Think about it. It was less than a year ago that you started to train Asena behind my back.”

  “Oh, we’re bringing this up again, huh?”

  Jane chuckled. “Never in my wildest dreams did I actually think you’d be this close to going pro. I thought it would take until at least another few years.”

  “Thanks, Grandma,” Jackson said, not entirely sure if he should be taking that as a compliment, though he was grateful she kept those thoughts to herself when she did. “I still can’t believe it, either.”

  They talked for several more minutes until Jackson’s holo-watch buzzed again, indicating that Kay was trying to call him. After a quick goodbye with the promise of sending her the details for attending the upcoming tournament, Jackson ended the call with his grandma and answered Kay. She had a big, sly grin on her face that filled the projection.

  “You did it! How come I had to call you? I thought we were better friends than that, dude!”

  “Sorry! Grandma asked me the same thing.” Jackson ran a hand through his hair, still trying to grasp everything “It’s still sinking in, you know? I’m kinda losing it over here.”

  He kept telling himself that he hadn’t made it yet — that he still had to perform well in the tournament, but after all the hard work he’d put in over the last month, and the last year, it felt good to have something to celebrate.

  At Kay’s insistence, he recounted the obstacle course and the issues he’d had to overcome with Asena and Scrappy. Both raised their heads when he said their names, but otherwise went back to dozing in their preferred spots. They needed some rest as much as Jackson — it’d been a long day for everyone.

  “Do you have any details about the tournament yet?” Kay asked. “I know all the local and regional stations will be covering it, along with the Bronze League Network.”

  Jackson shook his head. “No clue. Coach Vanova said we’d have the weekend off and they’d give us the rest of the details on Monday morning.”

  The tournament was scheduled for the following Saturday but Jackson had no idea what might be required of him between now and then. He hoped it involved a lot of rest and relaxation but knew he shouldn’t get his hopes up.

  “Well, you better keep me posted — you can’t go into a tournament without your Djinn rehabber on hand, can you?”

  Jackson laughed. “No way. I’ll let you know as soon as I hear, okay?”

  They talked for a few more minutes. Jackson asked how things were back at Sato and as Kay told him about the goings on, he was struck with a terrible wave of homesickness. In the flurry of camp, he hadn’t had time to think about everything he was missing back home and it all came rushing in at once. In spite of the almost daily calls, he found himself wishing he could see his grandma and Kay in person, not just as a blue projection out of his watch.

  Kay must have noticed, because suddenly she stopped giving him updates on the pregnant Lambaa. “You all right? You’ve got this funny look on your face all of a sudden.”

  “Yeah,” Jackson sighed. He didn’t want to make it weird by telling Kay how much he missed her. “I just hadn’t realized until now just how much I missed…Sato and stuff.”

  She nodded. “It’s definitely been different without you around but I’m happy for you, Jack. And we’ll all get to see you soon!”

  After Jackson said goodbye, he responded to the rest of his messages from friends and then flipped on the holo-vision. With training camps across the league just ramping up, there wasn’t much on the Djinn Sports Network, but Jackson listened to the newscast anyway.

  It seemed the Silver and Gold Leagues were starting regional play the following week and the announcer mentioned that the Bronze League tournaments would begin across the country shortly after. The same familiar names popped up in the Gold League as early favorites to win the year’s championship. Jackson imagined what it would be like to be entering the Gold League with a maxed-out team of Djinn, a dream that didn’t seem as far away as it had a few weeks before.

  He’d just started dozing off to replays from the previous year’s playoffs when a buzz from his watch woke him up. It was a camp notification: Final Camp Rankings Posted.

  Jackson jerked up in bed and eagerly tapped the notification. A projection blossomed up from his wrist with a list of tamers:

  1. Moto Rine - Barrack 4

  2. Akamu Kaleo - Barrack 4

  3. Adrian Gallo - Barrack 8

  4. Charles Hickam - Barrack 1

  5. Rando Vallez - Barrack 8

  6. Fiona Sato - Barrack 4

  7. Imelda Malcolm - Barrack 3

  8. Trey Anderson - Barrack 3

  9. Kayleigh Sefton - Barrack 7

  10. Primrose Felicity - Barrack 5

  11. Miguel Sansez - Barrack 4

  12. Genesis Brown - Barrack 3

  13. Danai Azikiwei - Barrack 2

  14. Gail Parr - Barrack 1

  15. Antony Barranco - Barrack 4

  16. Gavin Thatcher - Barrack 7

  17. Brady Wilmer - Barrack 5

  18. Sabina Schmidt - Barrack 2

  19. Madeline Noir - Barrack 1

  20. Jackson Hunt - Barrack 4

  A quick count confirmed only two of the remaining Barrack 4 tamers, Hayden and Lucia, hadn’t made the cut. Jackson felt a stab of sadness for both — they’d been decent tamers and had always had his back when Akamu was being a tool. He doubted either of them would want to chat, but he sent them both a quick text message anyway. Neither responded but he wasn’t surprised.

  In the next instant, he received a text from Appleby, followed by Miguel. Both congratulated him on making the cut and asked if he wanted to join them at a small party the remaining tamers were holding in Barrack 2. Jackson declined. He’d never been a big partygoer in the first place, and all he wanted to do after the past four weeks was spend a quiet night alone.

  After a brief hesitance, he shot off a congrats message to Fiona. Her response was short and sweet a few minutes later: Thanks, you too.

  Jackson grinned at Fiona being Fiona and fired back. Maybe we’ll get that rematch ;)

  Hopefully not…for your sake :P

  Jackson tried to think of a quick comeback for a long minute when he got another message.

  What’s this? No retort?

  Jackson smiled.<
br />
  I save my talking for the field.

  Satisfied with his response, he closed out his messaging app.

  The thrill of making it to the finals was starting to wear off and Jackson felt his eyes growing heavy. Fighting a sudden rush of fatigue, he managed to brush his teeth before falling into bed. In his dreams, he imagined himself winning the camp finals tournament in front a packed stadium.

  “All right, boys and girls, it’s come down to this — you’re the last of the bunch, but you’re not on the Granite Region roster yet.” Coach Vanova addressed the remaining Barrack 4 tamers in their common area, pacing back and forth like a drill sergeant in front of her troops.

  Everyone looked straight ahead at her, even Akamu. This clearly wasn’t the time for any sarcastic quips or daydreaming.

  It was Monday morning. After two days of relaxing and recovering, the tamers faced the final obstacle between them and the title of Bronze League tamer. They were informed they’d take the train into Green Town a day before the tournament — Vanova had already threatened them with immediate expulsion if anyone left the hotel for any reason. It went without saying that they’d better be the picture of professional tamers during their short stay.

  “You want to make the roster and I want as many tamers from my barrack to make the final cut,” Vanova continued. “So pull out all the stops and make me proud. I think there’s a very good chance that someone in here will take home that first place prize. As I’ve told each of you, there’s no reason you won’t make it if you perform to your highest potential. You’ve got a couple more days to work out any final kinks and injuries with your Djinn. We leave Friday morning and start battling bright and early Saturday. I suggest you make the most of your time.”

  With that, she left them to their own devices for the next three days. Jackson spent as much time as possible with Briggs. Although his coach insisted that they’d gone over their game plan so much he was dreaming of it, Jackson always wanted one more. The tournament bracket wasn’t going to be released until Friday morning, but based on their rankings, Jackson had a pretty good idea of which tamers and Djinn he would face.