Michael was standing nearby with the other defenders. His body was aching terribly, but he certainly wasn't done yet.
He had taken his long sleeves off, revealing only his bare arms and light padding.
Skylar stood twenty or so meters in front, leaning against one of the oak trees on the outside perimeter of the clearing.
Gideon stood to Michael's right, well more so was in a crouching position.
He seemed to be looking at some sort of injury he had gotten on his leg.
Michael paid it no mind, and decided that it was best not to speak to his teammates. They all had the same goal anyway, so there really was no need.
All they had heard about since the season started, was that they were the worst Phoenix team in decades.
The quiet rumors and annoying judgement from classmates had truly gotten to the team, and it wasn't just the defenders.
Leo was tired of it as well, he must have thought that Chase joining the team was the last nail in the coffin. An act of desperation from Headmaster Leander.
However, it was clear after what had happened only moments ago, that Leo had seen some sort of hope when he chose to deliver an unnecessary hit that had taken one of Skytide's players out of the game for good.
And if Leo did something like that, then clearly the entire team would see that hope as well... And they did.
The determined look in Skylar's eyes said it all, the way Gideon had willingly taken on most of the attackers during the last drive.
They wanted to win, and bad.
A single yell echoed through the trees.
It was time.
Michael took a deep breath, and tensed his pained body.
Then with a silent promise to himself, he tightened the strap of his helmet.
Just then, the trees began to shake violently. The ground rumbled like the earth itself had began to quake.
Then the entire offensive formation of Skytide shot through the trees; however, they were met with a surprising sight.
Skylar had taken the attacking force head on.
Until they reached further into Phoenix territory, it was going to be a six on one.
Michael narrowed his eyes, and spotted the mighty Valkerian Princess at the center of the driving force.
His breath grew shaky, but he caught a motion in the corner of his eye.
Gideon was holding a signal up.
It was five fingers, that ever so slowly counted down.
'Wait Mikey...'
He told himself internally.
Four...
Three...
Two...
He clenched his fist, and drew one last breath.
One...
He began to push the bottom of his feet into the dirt.
"Now!"
Gideon yelled, as the two of them launched out of hiding and directly at the opposing team.
Skylar had just brought down two of the Skytide players on his own, and now the children of Everfrost and Voidborn had joined the fray.
Michael felt the air press against the small opening in his helmet, he felt his blood began to freeze over like The Frozen Forest that surrounded The Frostfang kingdom, and most importantly, he remembered the promise he had made to himself.
Then as the two had descended upon the battle, the ball had been already been broken loose by Skylar, and began to soar straight into the air.
This time Michael knew better, and tried to come to a stop.
Players were frantically holding each other down around him.
It was truly hell uncaged.
However, as Michael dug his feet into the dirt leaving a trail of skid marks: He used what left of his Axis he had, in order to empower his legs.
He began taking powerful strides into the direction of one of the large dirt mounds in the distance.
Taking a quick glance behind him, he spotted two Skytide players who had broken free of the chaos caused by the other two defenders.
Michael let out an inaudible curse.
Then, he pressed forward even harder.
His very soul began to ache, from the sheer amount of energy he was producing.
Then his heart skipped a beat, as the ball had soared around one of the distant trees, and then bounced off the ground: Sending large piles of dirt into the sky like an ancient blanket that had violently lifted for the first time in eons.
The ball had lost some of its speed, meaning Michael only had one job.
He dug his feet deeper with each stride, and finally closed in on the ball that had began to speed up.
He turned his body mid leap, staring down the Skytide players on his tail.
Then a grin slid onto his face, as the ball flew straight into his arms.
He had been able to guess the direction the ball would fly, and sure enough it had flew straight at him.
Using all of his strength, he reached back. Still descending to the ground from his great leap, He fired the ball into the direction of where Equan was hopefully positioned.
Then... he once again landed with a harsh thud.
Jack of House Ember.
Jack wasn't in a great mood at the current moment.
He was standing next to one of the Skytide defenders. He had shaggy blonde hair that was leaking out of the back of his helmet, and a snarky expression on his face.
"You piss me off..."
Jack said, still glaring at the Skytide defender.
He really did want to burn the boy to a crisp.
Granted, that was heavily against the rules and he really didn't feel like getting a six game suspension.
Although, that's not to say he wasn't considering it.
Then before he knew it, all hell broke loose.
Equan had come out of the dense tree-filled area followed by several familiar players.
'Uh...'
Jack bolted into a sprint, running past the still surprised blonde haired brat.
He totally didn't shove the boy to the ground as he passed, and threw him a quick insult.
Then of course the ball went flying over his head, and Jack realized that maybe he should have been paying more attention.
Equan yelled something that he didn't hear, and frankly he didn't need to hear.
Jack felt his body begin to heat up, as he started to run faster then he ever had before.
The ball deflected off one of the trees, leaving a very large crater in its trunk.
But he was already ahead of it.
Reaching back, he grabbed the ball out of the air and continued onward.
He was of course being followed by every player on that gods damned team.
"Stupid sky people!"
He yelped, as a hand nearly grabbed him by the ankle.
His helmet suddenly began to feel a lot heavier then it already was, and he nearly tripped on a small branch that had fallen from its tree.
But ahead of him, he finally spotted it.
A small flame began to spark within his soul, and he felt his ego begin to swarm his thoughts.
"Jack!"
Equan yelled from somewhere above him, blinding his ego.
Ignoring the temptation to tie the game on his own, he fired the ball straight into the air.
He could have sworn he seen an arc of lightning fly over him, and then before he could even process the thought...
The crowd erupted into roars.
The Overseer yelled something, and Jack couldn't help to let out a crazed laugh.
"We did it! We tied the game!"
He said, putting his hands above his head, while feeling a strange sense of awe.