“Get back here!” Jackson shouted. He started running after the pair of Djinn. but both the Bobbity and the Lyote were much faster than him.

It was all he could do to keep track of them, oftentimes going only by the sound of branches breaking and leaves rustling as the predator and prey sped through the forest. Jackson continued chasing the pair long after he couldn't see them anymore, panic welling in his chest. He berated himself for not returning the Lyote to her ring fast enough, though even he knew there was only a split second to react after scaring off the Bobbity.

He found himself wishing that his tamer ring had the ability to keep his Djinn within a certain radius — he didn’t want to think about the possibility of him being back to square one after only just acquiring his first Djinn.

After several minutes of intense running, Jackson's legs burned and his throat felt scraped and bloody. He stumbled to a jog, then a walk, and soon a complete standstill, with his body bent over and his hands resting on his knees. His chest heaved and he gasped for air.

Looking around, Jackson realized he was in a part of the forest he'd never been — far off-trail, and into the deep vegetation overgrowth. From the looks of it, not very many people had made their way through this brush either. He could use his watch GPS to get back without a problem but didn't think it would be any help locating his Lyote. Desperate, he pulled up the stat screen on his phone and went to the setting that synced it with the ring. The only thing it showed was the Lyote’s statistics and the fact that it wasn't in the ring. Nothing indicated any type of tracker.

Resolved to a day of hopelessly searching the dense forest, Jackson started lightly jogging again. To his immense relief, a few minutes later he heard a playful bark ahead. He soon found the Lyote in a clearing, the Bobbity limp between her jaws, her tail wagging.

Too relieved to be angry, Jackson congratulated the Lyote.

“Did you catch that all by yourself?” Jackson reached down to pet the Djinn but she shied away, though her tail continued to wag.

The Lyote made quick work of the unfortunate Bobbity. When she finished, only a few tufts of fur remained. Seemingly satisfied, she sat down again, tongue lolling as the late spring day grew warmer. Jackson opened the display and saw that her status had changed from “Starving” to “Neutral.”

“Hey, we need to get some work done before you have a nap,” Jackson said as the Djinn laid her head between her paws. “Let’s start with the basics.”

He whistled and tapped his leg with his hands, beckoning the Djinn to come to him. This time, the Lyote reluctantly stood but didn’t come any closer. Jackson whistled again — nothing.

Exasperated, he took a couple steps backward. The Lyote padded closer but maintained some distance between them. Hiding a smile, Jackson backed up a few more steps. Once more, the Lyote followed.

“I guess I’ll take what I can get.”

Resolved to return to the meadow and at least get the Lyote to sit, or stay, or fetch, or something — anything, really — Jackson started down the narrow trail. He glanced over his shoulder periodically to ensure she was still following. The Djinn moved in complete silence through the forest, maintaining a distance of a few yards from her tamer.

Halfway back, Jackson’s GPS led him back onto an established hiking trail that wound down an open hill above the meadow. As they walked, Jackson scanned around for any signs of more wild Djinn. He kicked himself for not bringing anything to make a collar and a leash out of and hoped his luck would hold out. Chasing the Lyote through the forest again was about the last thing he wanted to do.

They’d just about made it back down into the trees when the undergrowth rustled off to Jackson’s left. The Lyote froze in her tracks and lowered her body to the ground in a defensive stance.

“Easy, Girl,” Jackson said in a soft voice as he raised he fist in preparation to recall the Djinn. “Probably just another Bobbity. You can let this one go…”

In response, the Lyote’s ears went back and issued a low growl deep from her chest as if to tell Jackson the Djinn hiding in the brush definitely wasn’t a Bobbity. The growl rose into a snarl and she let out a loud bark, but gave no indication that she wanted to give chase to whatever was in the bushes.

That worried Jackson. If the Lyote knew she could take whatever was on the other side of the bushes, he doubted she would have hesitated to go after it. But something had changed her mind — probably a smell or sound he couldn’t register?

Jackson backed away to the other side of the trail and reached down to nudge the Lyote with his knee. She ignored him and continued staring at the bushes as if Jackson didn’t exist. Jackson reached down and tried to push the Djinn back with his hand but she stood firm.

“Easy, Girl. Ea —”

The bushes exploded and a feline Djinn burst onto the trail a few yards in front of them, hissing and spitting. Arm shaking, Jackson somehow found the clarity of mind to raise his watch and scan their new opponent. This one, he noticed resembled the Smilaguar he encountered at Sato Breeders, but wasn’t quite the same…

Djinn: Felinx

Element: Earth

Felinx is a Basic-Form, Earth-Elemental Djinn. It is the un-evolved form of the larger, more robust Smilaguar. Like it is in every form, Felinx 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. As such, it is recommended to avoid bringing other Djinn along with you as you venture through Felinx-infested territories, as it will increase the likelihood of your Djinn — and by extension, you — being attacked.

“You gotta be kidding me,” Jackson said. “Two in two days? I’m really getting tired of these guys.”

Although about half the size of the Smilaguar he’d faced off against at Sato Breeders, the Felinx still wasn’t much smaller than his Lyote. The wild Djinn hissed and let out a hair-raising screech. Jackson felt adrenaline coursing through his body and took another step back. He hoped they could just retreat slowly and not have to engage the wild Djinn.

One look at his Lyote and the Felinx told him he’d have no such luck. The two Djinn eyed one another, snarling and hissing. Like it or not, Jackson realized he was about to be in his first Djinn fight.

In spite of the impending fear, a thrill of excitement ran through Jackson. “All right,” he told the Lyote. “Just do what I say, and we'll get out of this just fine. I've seen quite a few of —”

Before Jackson could finish, let alone give a command, the Lyote leaped at the Felinx. They collided in a clash of orange and dark brown fur and hit the ground, writhing and snarling.

“Wild Bite! Use your Wild Bite move!” Jackson commanded in a shrill voice.

The Lyote ignored him but did manage a couple of nips and tried to twist her head around to get a better angle at the Felinx. After another few seconds of tussling, it became clear the Felinx was the stronger of the two Djinn, and it quickly overpowered the Lyote. Blood streaked her orange fur and she fought with all her might to keep the Felinx from sinking its fangs into her neck.

“Disengage!” Jackson yelled, then realized the Lyote probably had no idea what he meant.

Frustrated and afraid his new Djinn would be seriously hurt or even permanently injured in its first fight, Jackson picked up a rock and chucked it at the Felinx. It struck the wild Djinn in the ribs, causing the Felinx to disentangle from the Lyote with a yowling hiss.

The Lyote lay on her side on the path, whimpering. Shouting and waving his hands to keep the Felinx at bay, Jackson ran to the Lyote’s side and knelt next beside her. When he placed a hand on his Djinn’s soft orange fur, he felt the Lyote trembling from exhaustion.

“Get out of here!” Jackson screamed at the Felinx.

He reached around and chucked a nearby stick at the wild Djinn but in his anger, the throw went wide. The Felinx hissed again and crouched, pinning its ears against its head.

Standing between the Lyote and the Felinx, Jackson prepared himself to be torn to shreds by the angry wild Djinn. The Felinx lowered itself to the ground preparing to spring. Jackson gritted his teeth and raised his hands to cover his face. He’d read somewhere if you were ever attacked by a Felinx the best practice was to fight back. He didn’t relish the idea of fighting hand to hand with a wild Djinn but playing dead didn’t sound so good either.

“Go away!” he shouted again.

A fearsome scream tore from the Felinx’s chest. In the moment, Jackson’s only thought was to protect his Djinn. As the Felinx lowered itself to spring, he planted his feet into the ground, held his fists out in front of him, closed his eyes (that part was involuntary), and prepared for the worst.