Chase pushed himself off of the captain of Skytide with an exhausted groan.
He was covered in a unique mix of blood, sweat, and lots of mud.
"Sorry about that."
He muttered, resting on his back and looking up at the night sky scattered with fireworks that made up an entire Phoenix amongst the stars.
Letting out a deep exhale Herra muttered something that was probably meant to be hostile; however, Chase didn't much care for her antics.
The runic marking under his tattered should was humming with a euphoric essence, and still felt strangely warm.
Sparky was alive, and he couldn't ignore it anymore.
Not only did he miss having his own source of healing, but he missed the hellhound that had carried him through the darkest times of his life.
"You fought valiantly, but be warned... I will tear your team apart next time we face."
Herra said, sounding as if she was biting back anger.
She was standing to his right side now, and had taken off her silver helmet.
The girl was about a year or two older then he was, and she was truly one of the most beautiful beings that he had ever met.
The only thing that he could think of that had topped her beauty was from the fragments he had recalled from his dream in Willowmere.
There had been a girl, next to the rotting corpse of a red dragon. That girl seemed strangely familiar now, but he couldn't quite place his finger on why.
His thoughts were quite scattered, and he had only just now noticed that he was laying on the ground alone near the crater that he had somehow made.
Be it a stroke of luck or a newfound ability, Chase should not have been able to travel over half of the arena that fast.
He let out a half-impressed sigh, and finally took his helmet off. Setting it on the ground next to him.
Feeling strangely at peace, he closed his eyes.
'I'm gonna get you out of there myself, be it one way or another.'
He spoke internally to his canine companion, and could have sworn that he heard a light growl in response.
Then he felt a strange presence standing above him.
Slowly opening his eyes, he noticed that both Equan and Jack were standing around him.
Both wearing the biggest grins he had ever seen.
"I think I owe you my life."
Jack said, stretching his arms as if what he had just spoken was the most casual thing ever.
His other friend did not need to say anything, he just held out a hand. Chase took it, and let Equan help him stand.
Even though he had been through shit today, he honestly felt pretty good. Only a little bit of exhaustion remained, and Chase had the strange urge to go and read about summoning rituals.
"What now?"
He asked the two, as he took another glace around him.
That's when everything finally kicked in.
The crowd was roaring like a thousand Hollows, and the stands of the arena looked like waves clashing, that had turned out to be the insane amount of people who had just witnessed the game.
They had witnessed Phoenix make a comeback, and win out of pure unity.
Although that was an overstatement to say that it was true unity, there was no doubt that they had unintentionally bonded together in the final moments of the game.
Unspoken teamwork was the reason that they had done the impossible.
The Phoenix team that had lost the first two games of the season for the first time in three decades, had beaten the undefeated Skytide.
"Did you just ask what's next?"
Equan let out a burst of laughter, as if that was the last thing he had expected Chase to say.
He just shrugged in response, then glanced over at Jack who seemed to still be taking in the surroundings.
"You good?"
Chase asked Jack for some unknown reason, not that he cared about the bratty noble with bright red hair.
He turned and gave Chase a strange look, as if he had not expected him to say that either.
"Are you good?"
Jack asked, raising an eyebrow.
"No probably not."
Chase said flatly.
And with that, the three of them made their way to the entrance to Phoenix's locker room.
The crowd chanted like wild animals, but it all seemed kind of distant to Chase, as if he didn't really care all that much about the win.
More so that he just wanted to continue on and search for a way to summon Sparky.
Oh, and there was of course that deep internal rage, that made him want to hunt down the leader's of Frostfang and murder them one by one, as they had done to the people of his home.
But that was also the same reason why had to get better at this damned sport.