The attack never came.

Jackson opened his eyes just as a small, bushy-tailed, four-legged, vulpine Djinn known as a Fenkit barreled into the Felinx. The pint-sized Djinn darted in and out of the angry Felinx’s reach, nipping at the larger Djinn while dodging the swipes from its paws and frustrated bites.

When Jackson saw the blaze of white of the Fenkit’s chest, he knew exactly whose it was — looking away from the fight, he saw Kay standing off to the side behind him, her attention focused on her Djinn and the Felinx.

“Good boy, Sunshine!” she yelled in an encouraging tone. “You teach that mean old Felinx a lesson!”

Emboldened by his tamer’s praise, the Fenkit pressed the attack. The Felinx began to fall back and after one last furious swipe turned tail and disappeared into the forest. Kay whistled and the Fenkit trotted back to her side, clearly pleased at his own performance.

“That’s a good job,” Kay said, ruffling Sunshine’s soft, fluffy fur. The Fenkit nuzzled her hand and Jackson felt a pang of envy at the connection between Kay and her Djinn.

Instead of asking the dozens of questions Jackson would have had if their roles had been reversed, Kay knelt down next to his Lyote and pushed him away. She reached into her backpack and pulled out a metal spray canister with a Djinn-Aid emblem on the side. After a few quick squirts on the Lyote’s bites and claw scratches and cuts, the skin started to heal itself. The Lyote jumped up right away, growling at Kay’s Fenkit. Before he could cause any more trouble, Kay picked him up, placed him on her shoulder, and walked a few feet away so that the Lyote no longer felt threatened.

Kay folded her arms and looked at Jackson with a steely glare. He wasn’t sure what he was in bigger trouble for — ditching her or getting a Djinn hurt.

“Well?” she asked.

“Thank you,” Jackson said, wiping the dust off his hoodie.

“Not that.” The normally laid back and docile Kay punched him hard in the arm. “What the hell is going on? I show up at your house and your grandma says you’d already left to go on our hike. Then I finally find you —” she paused and waved her watch “luckily because your location track was still being shared — and you’re up here fighting wild Djinn! With a Djinn you stole from somewhere!”

“Hey!” Jackson said, trying to summon a defense. “I didn’t steal her, okay? And I didn’t start the fight — the Felinx did! I swear those stupid things hate me.”

Kay continued to glare at him. “Start at the beginning — and you better not lie to me, Jackson Hunt!”

Jackson recounted the previous night's adventure in his mom’s study but omitted the part where he’d been about to run away from home. When he finished the part about the meadow, the Bobbity, and the Felinx, he let out a long sigh.

“The last twenty-four hours have been pretty insane, okay? I’m sorry I didn’t tell you.”

“You’re lucky I always carry around some extra Djinn-Aid spray for Sunshine when we go out on hikes,” Kay said. “Your Lyote could’ve been hurt really bad!”

“I know, okay?” Jackson said in a loud voice. “I didn’t mean for any of this to happen! Things just got a little bit out of control.”

Kay didn’t seem to hear him, though. “So what are you going to do now?” she asked. “When are you going to tell your grandma?”

Jackson let out a dry laugh. “I can’t tell her. Can you imagine what she’d do? I’d probably have to put her up for adoption — the Djinn, not my grandma,” he added, as if it wasn’t obvious.

“So you’re just going to keep it from her?” Kay asked.

“Yeah, and you're not going to tell anyone, got it?” Jackson said.

Kay’s eyes narrowed. She did not like the tone Jackson was using, and he knew right away that he’d used the wrong approach.

“Please, Kay, this is my only chance,” he said, softening his voice.

Kay’s eyebrows rose. “Only chance at what? Jackson, you’ve got your whole life ahead of you to be a Djinn Tamer. Once you turn eighteen, your grandma really can’t do anything about it.”

“I don’t have that long,” Jackson said. He felt his voice getting husky and looked away from Kay, down at his feet. “We found out yesterday we’re losing the house.”

Before he could even look up, he felt Kay collide with him and wrap her arms around him in a hug. “Oh, Jackson,” she said, “I’m so sorry!”

He patted her on the back a couple of times until she broke off. “It’s okay,” he said. “I mean it wasn’t okay last night, but now I have a plan! Now that I have a Djinn I can make enough money to pay off our debt!”

Kay’s irritated expression returned. “By being a Djinn Tamer?” she asked, not bothering to hide her skepticism. “Jackson, this was a bad idea before your house was in jeopardy, and it’s still a bad idea now. That Felinx was probably like, Level 2. And wild Djinn are always weaker than their tamed counterparts, especially around cities. If your Djinn can’t beat that, then how are you going to win any fights against other tamers?”

“Well, I’m going to train her before I just go into a fight!” Jackson said in a loud voice, not bothering to conceal his irritation. “Give me a break! It’s literally my first day, all right? The first couple hours of my first day, actually.”

“Fine, fine. But, Jackson, you have to tell your grandma.”

“Why?” Jackson said, voice rising again.

“Dude, you can’t hide this from her forever.”

“Not forever. But at least until I make some money. That way, she can’t just put her up for adoption. This is my one chance. Please, just let me have a shot. Promise you won’t tell her?”

Kay didn’t say anything for a solid minute. She just continued pacing back and forth and chewing on her lip. Every few seconds she looked back up at him as if she was about to talk, only to retreat back into that strange head of hers and continue pacing. Jackson knew how much it was bothering her — Kay was about as goodie-goodie as they came.

She then went up to Jackson and gave him a solid smack on the face.

“I hate you,” she said.

“Ow! What was that for?” Jackson said, cradling his left cheek.

“That was for ditching me.”

“I thought you’d already punched me for that.”

“Oh, right. Then consider it down payment for whatever stupid thing you plan on doing next.”

“Look, just give me four months,” he said. “That’s how long we have before we lose the house. If I can’t do it by then… I’ll tell her.”

Jackson tried to ignore the skeptical look on his friend’s face. Instead, he turned his attention back to the Lyote. Although her wounds were healed, the Djinn was obviously exhausted from the exchange — a quick look at her chart revealed as much.

GENERAL STATS AND INFO

Djinn: Lyote

Level: 1

Name: N/A

Element: Fire/Earth

Species Rarity: Rare

Tamer: Jackson Hunt

HP (Hit Points): 20/55

EP (Elemental Power): 30/30

XP (Experience): 15 to Next Level

DJP (Djinn Points): 0 Unallocated

Attack: 12

Defense: 8

Speed: 15

Accessories: None

Items: None

Status: Neutral

Bond: 3%

Move Set: Swipe Left to See More >>>

He’d also lost his only two Bond percentage points — probably when Kay applied the healing spray instead of him. This was going to be harder than anticipated — but he wasn’t about to say that out loud, especially with Kay giving him that trademarked cold stare. He looked at the Lyote’s XP — apparently between the killing of the Bobbity and her tussle with the Felinx she managed to scrounge up some experience, which was a comforting thought. He then looked at her HP. It was currently at 20, and it sat there for several seconds before going up to 21. Jackson thought the Djinn-Aid would work much faster than that.

“She needs to go back inside the ring,” Kay said, clearly reading his expression. “It will help her heal up faster. And that's another thing — how are you going to afford to be a Djinn Tamer? That spray cost almost ten suns.”

Jackson looked down at the Lyote, who looked back up at him. Although she’d temporarily lost her spunk, he knew this whole thing would become a regular problem if he wasn’t more careful. He pointed his fist at the Djinn and she disappeared in a flash of orange light. The ring pulsed with a faint light, dimming and brightening every few seconds, as if breathing.

“You let me worry about the money,” Jackson said with a grin. “Just promise you won’t say anything?”

Kay folded her arms and sighed, but the stubborn expression melted from her face. “Fine. What’s your master plan, oh great Djinn Tamer?”

A broad grin stretched across Jackson’s face. “I’m glad you asked.”