Free Will Power: A Djinn Short by Laura Catherine Page A

compound.”
    Pyke gave Jack a salute. “Sure thing, boss.”
    Jack just shook his head and sighed.
    Pyke and I walked out of the training room and down the palace hallway to the healer’s room. It was good having a new area to train in, since the Queen had had the training room built.
    The old training room for the Guardjinn was the park that we ran around in as dogs. The Queen had been kind to the Guardjinn, despite what a lot of the other Djinn were saying. We all knew she wanted to change things, but I didn’t believe she would succeed.
    Djinn were an evolutionary jump from humans. We looked like humans and acted like them, but we were different — we had abilities, magical powers that caused the skin around our eyes to glow blue.
    Humans didn’t know about us; not anymore that is. There was a time when the Djinn lived among the humans. We were known as genies, wish granters. And how did we grant wishes?  
    Blood.
    In exchange for money or favours, a human could drink Djinn blood and temporarily gain that Djinn’s ability. The deals worked at first, but the humans became greedy, wanting more and more of our abilities. They were jealous of our abilities and started taking drastic action.
    This was how the first Blooders were born — crazed humans who drank so much Djinn blood that their eyes turned red with a hunger they could no longer control. This is why we went into hiding, why humans no longer knew of our existence.
    I stepped into the healer’s room and was met with a middle-aged woman with auburn hair. Mrs Baxter was on the council and also a healer. Though Guardjinn were the only ones who worked for the Djinn, healers were limited and needed by everyone, so sometimes   they had to work here. It was the one job that Djinn and Guardjinn both had to do.
    “What did you do this time?” Mrs Baxter said as we entered. “Look at your fingers. Sit down now.”
    I sat in an armchair while she took my hands in hers, assessing the damage.
    “Does it hurt?” she asked, but then remembered whom she was talking to. “Of course it doesn’t. You’re lucky. Frostbite is extremely painful.”
    Mrs Baxter closed her eyes and let out a deep breath. My fingers became less swollen and the raw red colour faded.
    Pyke was keeping himself amused by tapping on various jars lining the walls. Though our healers can use their abilities for most ailments, sometimes they need help from plants and bugs.
    Pyke picked up a jar with what looked like giant slugs inside. One had its face pressed up against the glass; tiny sharp teeth filled its round mouth.
    “Please don’t touch that,” Mrs Baxter said with her eyes still closed.
    I smirked as Pyke carefully placed the jar back on the shelf and stood beside me.
    Mrs Baxter opened her eyes. “I can’t fix it all. You’ll need to have them bandaged for a day or so. Come back tomorrow and the healer on duty should be able to finish the job,” she said. She looked exhausted from the work. Her eyes were baggy and hollow.
    “Thank you,” I said, as she wrapped white bandages around my hands. Not being able to use my hands until tomorrow was going to be annoying. Plus I wanted to go for a run this afternoon. It had been a long time since I’d been in dog form. Not going to happen now.
    “You look ridiculous,” Pyke said.
    “This is your fault,” I reminded him.
    “I believe Jack said it was your fault for not feeling.” Pyke said the last word with sarcasm. He didn’t like talking about feelings, preferring to punch things.
    “Alright, both of you out,” Mrs Baxter said and ushered us out the door.

    ***

    “Mia didn’t show up for training again,” I said as we walked through the palace toward the exit. I watched the palace Guardjinn walk in pairs down the halls and I nodded at them as we passed. It was a sign of respect, and I did respect them. It was a great honour to serve the royal family. An honour I hoped to have when my training was complete.
    Pyke had never