Chase was standing next to the other three attackers at the center of the arena.
He couldn't hear anything outside of the loud chants coming from the stands. Somewhere in the forest behind him was Michael, who was officially named the defensive captain a little before Chase had gotten to the locker room earlier.
The Pyrothar was now slowly growing transparent in the sky, marking the start of dusk.
In the far horizon he could only guess that the real sun was also creeping under the horizon.
Rays of orange sunlight were being casted across the sky, and overtop of the grand coliseum.
Chase looked down at his hands, which were violently shaking. The boy was genuinely terrified, be it the opposing team who stood on the other side of the Phoenix logo engraved in the dirt, who stood silently and with a sense of raw purpose.
Or perhaps it was the loud screams coming from every direction, which caused him to remember things that he didn't want to remember.
It was hard to push those thoughts out. He felt like he could throw up at any given moment, and wasn't against faking an injury either.
Anything to get out off the center stage.
"You good?"
Equan asked, as he was strapping together the helmet that looked four sizes too big on the small boy's head.
He looked up at him, and just decided that a short nod was the only thing he could possibly respond with at the moment.
The boy looked around for a moment, then back at Chase.
"It's a little nerve racking."
A short chuckle escaped Chase's dry lips.
"A little?"
Equan looked at the other Phoenix player who was standing alone a couple of meters away from the two of them.
After wiping one of the dark locks out of his eyes, he motioned the other player over.
Jack looked reluctant at first, but Chase had learned that it was customary for each of the groups on a team to have a private huddle before the match begun.
Walking over, the red headed boy pulled his two black compression sleeves up, that were wrinkled around his wrists.
The three of them stood only a foot or two apart, forming a triangle.
"Did Coach even give us a gameplan for offense?"
Jack asked with a distasteful look in his eyes.
Chase didn't like the redhead and felt that it was a mutual feeling, but it had seemed that the both of them had planned on setting their differences aside for the team, unlike a lot of other people.
Equan nodded.
"He told me that there is no plan, and that we would probably lose no matter what the offense did."
Jack put both of his hands on the front of his helmet and said something that resembled a curse in some foreign language.
"So no plan then, got it."
Chase felt that he had somewhat calmed down, so he said the first that came to mind.
"Just pass and score I guess, Coach is kind of right though: This game relies on our defense."
Equan nodded with a somber expression, which made the boy look far older then he truly was.
"Ja- Jack if things start to go wrong I want to switch offensive roles with you."
He said, behind a slight stutter in his voice.
Jack shook his head.
"As much as I'd love that, I have a feeling that you're gonna have to be the one on lead attack."
He replied, with a hint of anger behind his low pitched voice.
Suddenly, a man in white robes seemed to just appear out of thin air, above the phoenix logo.
"Players, to your positions please!"
He called out to both sides of the arena, with a booming voice.
The crowd grew even louder, and for the first time Chase made direct eye contact with the lead attacker for Skytide Academy.
She radiated pure strength, and had the figure of goddess. Her black hair was tied back in a single braid that ran down her silver and white jersey, with the sigil of a Pegasus stapled across her chest.
Gold accents ran across the Skytide Academy jerseys, but hers was quite different compared to the other female attackers on their team.
She had a silver circlet just above her eyebrows, that ran around her head like a crown of sorts.
Chase knew from the familiar bronze cuffs that Leo wore, that this girl was The Captain of Skytide's entire team.
Her stormy gray eyes met his, and for a short second he felt as if he had been paralyzed from the neck down.
He forced his body not to yield under the pressure of her gaze, and walked over to his spot on the far left on the offensive side.
"Be it through Chaos or Order..."
The Overseer of the match began to speak in a calm, yet stern voice.
"I officially call upon the Aetherball... Let the game begin!"
With that, a strange aura filled the air, as a leather ball began to slowly rise from the ground, becoming more and more tangible as it gained altitude.
Chase began to siphon Axis energy into his legs, and lowered himself into a ready position.
With a quick glance, it looked like Jack was performing some sort of prayer on Equan's far right.
The dark boy with locks had a strange expression in his eyes, one that Chase had never seen the boy wear before.
It was purpose... The same purpose that Skytide's captain bore in her own eyes, the same purpose that had almost caused his knees to buckle the moment her gaze met his.
Only a couple of seconds passed, and the ball shot into the direction of the opposing team's side, and Chase pushed himself forward.
As he sprinted with long strides, he realized the ball was flying back in his direction.
He noticed a strange pressure as he was about to leap into the air to grab the ball, and sure enough he felt himself in danger.
Not that he cared, he jumped for the ball, and was met with powerful contact as the tips of his fingers made contact with the blazing leather.
His entire right side went numb, and before he knew it he found himself flying into a nearby tree.
"Ah."
SLAM!