Chase did not have a lot of time to breathe, before Skytide's onslaught continued. With injuries on injuries, he jogged backwards.
Part of him hoped that he wouldn't see the captain of Skytide anymore within the next half hour of the game.
But another part kind of wished that he did...
It was quite like pride in a sense, but not nearly that simple.
No, he wanted to prove himself. He had already done so, earlier that day when he battled on fair ground against The Ivory Princess.
That wasn't enough.
This match felt like a full on clash of blades, as if two armies had met head on within The Dark Forest.
As Chase slowly forgot about the pain in his body, he felt a strange sense of euphoria take over. It was like he was meant for this, like he was meant to be here, like he was destined to dawn the jersey of the Phoenix.
Just then a strange buzzing sensation was felt, and the hairs on his arms stood up.
'No!'
It was going to happen again...
Chase just about flopped onto the ground. Narrowly avoiding the princess of Skytide who went flying over his head.
As his chest slammed against the mud, he threw an arm up. Grabbing Herra by her ankle, he was able to bring her to the ground just in time.
His eyes lit up as he spotted the dark leather object, tucked underneath her right arm.
He had a chance to take back possession of the ball, and tie the game at that.
Without a second thought, he jumped on top of the immobilized captain.
But right before he landed, he felt another paid radiate throughout his right side.
Before he knew it, he was rolling even farther away from the girl. His limbs felt like molten metal, and his vision was starting to darken in the corners.
"No!"
Chase groaned, as he tried to push himself up. Not only did he not have the possession of the ball, but the hit was a blindsided one.
A boy dawned in silver stood above the staggering captain of Skytide. This one looked extremely unique compared to the other Skytide male players. He had broad shoulders, wore zero padding, and looked like a man who had faked his age just to get into the games.
He had a scruffy beard riding above his sharp jawline, and dark brown hair that rolled over his eyes.
Now according to the rule book, which Chase had surprisingly read. No player could hit another with full force, if neither of said players had possession of the ball.
It all felt like it happened in the span of seconds, but right after he was able to even process this information, the boy went flying into the forest as if he had been hit by a force of nature.
A loud grunt escaped the lips of the ragged looking Leo, Who had delivered one of the most obvious illegal hits in Chase's week or two of even knowing the sport existed.
The Heir of House Lion wore a smug expression on his tired face, that could barely be seen behind the black glass sitting in-between the open mask of his helmet.
Herra stumbled back, knowing that if the Overseer didn't call a penalty then she was sure to lose possession of the ball, and possibly even lose any momentum that Skytide could have rebuilt upon.
Just as Leo was lowering his shoulder once again, with his bronze padding being illuminated by the lights of the stadium: The Overseer yelled something almost un-hearable, mainly because of the intense ringing in Chase's ears.
Leo's expression dimmed, and Chase could have sworn the boy mumbled something that ended with his name.
Finding a new sense of courage, he pushed himself off of the ground. Full sprinting toward the unbalanced captain of Skytide, who had nearly gotten into the forest without anyone paying her any mind.
Trying to gather any energy that he had left, Chase pressed forward. He hit his foot on broken tree branch, and even tripped multiple times; however, he was right behind Herra, who seemed to have injured one of her legs.
She was still faster then him, but slowed just enough to where he could keep up.
With all of his will, he let out a shaky scream.
"Michael!"
And then it happened, Chase's body gave out.
His vision went black, and his bones groaned with a painful crack.
Michael of House Everfrost.
He heard the scream.
Him and Gideon of House Voidborn had already went into a full sprint toward the yell, both of them running parallel from each other, swerving left and right to avoid the dense forest's trees.
In front of them was a terrible sight, not only was an injured Herra in a panicked sprint.
But behind her, two other Skytide players followed.
Normally, Michael didn't like the fact he was about to enter a two versus three situation. Especially with one of the three being Herra, The Princess of the Valkerians.
However, Gideon was the child of the great house of Voidborn. The house that had started the great conquest into The Dark Forest, and the very reason that Everfrost's nights had found the Heir of Phoenix that fateful night.
While the boy was clumsy, there was no doubt that he could hold his own in a fight of raw strength.
And knowing that Leo had been ejected from the match, they were going to need someone with Gideon's stature.
Michael shot forward, delivering a fatal blow to the boy had just been giving possession of the aetherball.
With a sigh, he turned and readied himself for a fight...