by Zy Rykoa
Their cheers were silenced in the next round as Ardim made a valiant and unexpected effort at jumping almost the entire distance of the stream. He passed the defence and scored what was looked upon as one of the easiest points ever made. Bo called out to his team to stay focused, assuring them it was still early, but they had to be a little more cautious than to leave such a wide opening.
The next rounds saw the Dynasty gain a lead of four points, the Pioneers unable to break their defence or halt their offence. Ardim cursed at his team, shouting at them to get into their positions as practised. It was almost a walkover, nothing as Bo had anticipated from what he had heard of the new coaching.
It all changed, however, halfway through the match.
Suddenly the Pioneers had grasped a bit of order, as if their leader’s shouts had finally sunk in, and the Dynasty were now the ones missing tackles and falling short of scoring. Bo tried to group his team, to calm them and maintain a bit of focus. With a few well-played rounds, they came up with some extra points, but their lead had diminished, and the teams became neck and neck.
By the end of the match, it was tied at thirty-seven apiece.
Bo called for the team to group. By stopping the Pioneers in the previous round, they had won the right to elect whether they would attack or defend in the deciding bout, and chose to go with their strength and attack. If their runner made it across the line, they would win the match, but if they failed, they would lose a point, handing the victory and the land rights over to the Pioneers.
‘They’re tough,’ Bo started. ‘We need to play this one safe.’
‘I say we need something fresh, surprise them,’ said Konnor.
‘Like the fifteenth and sixteenth rounds?’ asked Bo. ‘We didn’t even get close to scoring. It’s not going to happen. We have to play solid.’
‘That was new to us as well,’ reminded Dion.
‘We didn’t know how to make it work,’ agreed Corey.
Bo shook his head. ‘We can’t take the risk.’
‘Not so,’ said Corey. ‘That is precisely what we need to do; something new, but well-practised. I suggest the play we rehearsed last week.’
‘What? That was just a joke. This isn’t the time for mucking around,’ said Bo in disbelief.
‘But it worked,’ said Jaden. ‘They won’t expect it.’
Bo looked around at the others and saw everyone nodding. ‘Have you all gone mad? They’ll expect Jaden to be the runner.’
‘But they won’t expect the way he makes the run,’ said Corey.
Realising he could say nothing to dissuade them, Bo reluctantly gave in. ‘Fine, whatever you say, but it’s on your heads if we lose this.’
‘Sounds fair,’ said Dion. ‘Let’s do it.’
‘You all remember the positions?’ asked Bo, receiving more nods. ‘I guess that’s it. Jaden, you have the band still, we’re ready when you are. Go.’
The team broke away and found their positions for the final time in the match, all except Jaden who had remained where he was. He was still near the sidelines, looking ahead toward centre, as if he had forgotten the match.
Bo walked back to him. ‘What’s wrong?’
Jaden gave no reply at first, but then pointed with a nod. There, where he had been looking, was Alyssa, standing next to her father.
Bo had to use all of his strength not to roll his eyes. He couldn’t believe Jaden would stop at this point of the match just to look at her. ‘What’s she doing here?’
‘I don’t know.’
‘That girl is trouble, Jay, I don’t know why you bother.’
‘No other girl will have me.’
Bo laughed, ‘Whatever you say, heartbreaker, but you’re wasting your time.’
‘No … something’s wrong. I don’t understand yet, but this isn’t about finding my chosen. I need to talk to her ... our lives rely on it.’
Bo looked at Jaden with an awkward expression, as he often did when Jaden said something out of the ordinary. ‘Jay, I respect you, you know that, so I won’t say exactly what I have in mind … but you’re dreaming, guy, the world isn’t as complex as you’d like it to be. Wake up. Understand?’
‘Maybe … or maybe it is more than we both think.’
Bo shook his head. ‘Well, I’ll leave that to you, but not right now. Keep it steady down the line this run until they least expect it. If we make this, this sport will be rewritten from this day on.’
Almost absently, Jaden replied, ‘I’m on it.’
Bo showed concern. ‘I know. Just don’t disappoint me, sprinter, this one is for my father.’
‘And mine,’ whispered Jaden, taking his eyes off Alyssa and scanning the rest of the crowd.
A whistle was blown. Sixty seconds before the final round was to begin.
Jaden stalked the baseline at the eastern end of the field, gauging his opponent’s strategy as he plotted his own course. Dusk had arrived, making their bronzed skins only just visible as the game made it into overtime. Earth’s rings had come alive with the sun disappearing beyond the mountains, the cerulean blue lines lighting up the sky from east to west, horizon to horizon. Jaden looked up to see them, appreciating their phenomenal presence as he often did to calm himself. No matter how much chaos there was on the ground, he could always take solace in them. No matter how ugly the times were there was always some beauty left around him.
He focused.
On the opposite side of the field, behind the stream that meandered through the centre, he could see his enemy. One, two … he counted the defenders on the right, behind the first bridge. Three, four … they were protecting the second bridge on the left. It was the standard defensive formation, blocking the runner at the two most obvious waypoints. They were being cautious. They knew how much was at stake.
Five…
Where was the fifth defender?
A second whistle blew. Thirty seconds remained. Jaden had to find him quickly. He should have been protecting the centre, in case the runner attempted to jump the stream where it was thinnest. Where could he have been positioned?
A flicker. Jaden had caught sight of movement at the other end, the white leg garments barely seen almost the full two hundred yards away. The fifth defender had chosen to guard the baseline.
But that can’t have been. It was foolish to take such a risk. Once a runner had made it past three-quarter field, the round was as good as won. There had been few occasions when a defender was skilled enough to take down a runner so close to scoring. It was thought of as boasting more than stylish tactical play. There had to be a reason Jaden hadn’t seen, something he didn’t realise yet, but what?
The third whistle sounded. Ten seconds.
Ardim. That stupid bull of a man was not one of the four defenders within vision. The fifth defender must have been him. Ardim, as if he hadn’t done enough to spite in the past, now appeared to be looking for the ultimate humiliation, attempting to prevent Jaden from scoring in the hardest way possible. And he was taking a very large risk in the process.
That was why the fifth defender had been hidden.
Jaden lowered his gaze to the ground, readying to run. Ardim had gone too far this time. It was not enough simply to claim victory, Ardim wanted to punish Jaden in front of someone they now both undoubtedly knew was in the audience.
Alyssa.
Now it made sense.
The final whistle sounded.
He would not let Ardim succeed.
Jaden quickly hopped into step and moved left and right, wanting to mislead the defenders as to which way he would go. Nearing centre field, he gradually drifted to the left, the two defenders that would guard that bridge becoming animated with anticipation.
Twenty yards from the bridge, he feigned a step to the left then ran to the right. The two defenders jumped into full run, chasing him to the middle. Jaden knew Ardim had put them in a precarious position, they must have been nervous. Leaving the centre so open made it almost too easy for
the runner to score.
The Dynasty would be watching on in disbelief. Jaden was not following the game plan. He thought he heard Bo shout at him, but he had to take advantage of the opening. And most of all, he had to make Ardim think he had made the biggest mistake of his life.
At the bridge on the right, defence and offence had clashed and had tagged out, leaving the zone dead. No players were allowed within fifteen yards of where they lay. Jaden expected this, a loss of an option early. They had prepared for it. It was never his intention to make use of that bridge. His route was much more devious.
Nearing the stream, he readied to jump as far across the water as he could as Ardim had done earlier, needing then only to swim two or three more yards. One mistake in the water and he would lose whatever advantage he may have had, the defenders easily able to catch him as he climbed out. He had to be careful when he made the leap. But at the last moment, before he could jump, the unthinkable happened. Jaden lost his balance and slid across the ground.
Onlookers gasped, their cheers falling silent as time suddenly stood still. They began to speak to each other in hushed voices. Jaden did not get up, resting on one knee and clutching his ankle. A smile crossed the defenders’ lips as they threw up their hands in victory. If the runner was injured, the round was over. They would win by default. Those of the defenders’ camp were also celebrating, crying out as loud as they could. They had won. Finally, they had won.
Jaden turned to the two left on his team, Bo and Dion. They were coming towards him, sympathetic as much as disappointed. He stared at them hard, but then nodded slowly, causing them to stop. Without any sign, they began backing away steadily. The whistle for the game’s end had not been blown. Jaden had ten seconds to recover before it was declared. He waited until the cheers were the loudest, biding his time until they would least expect it.
Three…
Two…
One…
He jumped to his feet and ran toward the second bridge at full pace, the defenders looking shocked but only a few steps behind. Bo and Dion were at the other side of the bridge, ready to tackle the oncoming defenders. It was as Jaden planned.
The timing had to be perfect for this new strategy. If the defenders were able to pin them down before he had made it past, the zone would be dead as well as all of those within it. Jaden would be out of the game. The match would be over. It was crucial that they did not let this happen.
As contact between the two sides was about to be made, Jaden called out.
‘Now!’
It happened so quickly that the defenders had no time to react. Bo and Dion turned and faced each other, their hands at knee level, connected to form a platform. Jaden had raced and jumped between both, landing in their hands. The next second, Jaden was being propelled into the air, high over the defenders. Their momentum caused them to clash with Bo and Dion who tackled and pinned them down effortlessly. They looked around in desperation, trying to see where Jaden would land, but to their horror, Jaden wasn’t to be seen. The zone was classed as dead, but Jaden was above it. Only when he made contact with the ground again would he be part of the zone. But his feet would not touch the ground yet.
A deafening cheer came from the audience as Jaden grabbed hold of and swung up into a tree. It had meant he was free of both defenders and the zone itself. It had never been done before, and he had made it on his first try. There was nothing the defenders could do to stop him.
With a strong desire to smile, he climbed through the tree’s limbs to get to another tree, and then another, before reaching the rock ledge where he was able to run across the top. No one had expected this to be possible. The rock ledge was seen as an obstacle rather than a route, but now that he was up there, he knew how perfect a line it was. Even if the defenders tried to chase him, he had options left and right that he could use at any time to get past them to the end of the field.
Shouts of excitement continued to urge him on. The finish line was only fifty yards away, clear to the end.
He was not about to claim victory yet though; he still had to deal with Ardim, who would be lurking near the baseline. But where was he? With so little light, he would be almost impossible to see running at this speed. Jaden slowed a little, trying to search him out, and then jumped down from the rock ledge. Wherever Ardim was, he was too late to stop Jaden now, who was only thirty yards from scoring. He raced as fast as he could, Ardim still nowhere in sight.
Where could he have been?
‘ARGH!’
Jaden screamed out in pain as his right leg gave in and he fell heavily to the ground. The crowd’s cheers weakened until they stopped altogether. They were all trying to peek over one another to see what had happened. Jaden was only fifteen yards from the finish line, but unable to get up, clutching at his upper leg. Ardim emerged from a dense patch of trees in a run before jumping on Jaden with all his weight. He then got to his feet with hands well over his head, raised in victory.
‘Victors!’ shouted Ardim to a silent audience. Even the supporters of the Pioneers were quiet in shock.
‘What kind of cheap trick?’ Jaden cried out from the ground before being helped up by Bo and Dion. ‘What did you throw at me?’
‘Trick?’ asked Ardim. ‘You fell.’
‘Because you hit me with something.’
‘Don’t be a poor loser. You hurt your ankle. You fell. Accept it.’
‘What’s going on here?’ The head referee, who was dressed like the others in bright orange lower garments but had a yellow band on his head, had come over to evaluate the situation.
‘Ardim threw something, Elder,’ Jaden addressed him formally. ‘It hit my leg and caused my fall.’
‘Elder, I didn’t throw anything,’ said Ardim. ‘He must have fallen on his hurt ankle.’
‘My ankle is fine, you fool! I faked that injury to confuse your defence!’
‘Just like you’re faking this injury now,’ Ardim teased.
‘Jaden! Restrain yourself,’ called the referee, as both Bo and Dion had to hold him back from attacking Ardim at that very moment.
Jaden calmed, ‘Look, here’s the mark of where he hit me.’
He showed a large red patch just above his knee, where a bruise was already forming. The referee inspected the injury with interest.
‘He could’ve done that when he fell, Elder,’ said Ardim.
‘You’re lying.’
‘Quiet!’ called the referee. ‘As far as I can see, no rules have been broken, and no objects have been thrown. I myself did not see anything—’
‘Obviously you didn’t, it was too dark to see it!’ protested Jaden.
‘One more outburst and I will ban you from playing from here on,’ scolded the referee, and Jaden was forced to hold his tongue. ‘If no attack was witnessed, it must be concluded it did not happen. That is the rule. Pioneers win, thirty-seven to thirty-six. Match over.’
Jaden was whipped away by Bo and Dion before he could say anything more. They knew there was nothing that could be done once a referee had declared the match over, and would not risk losing Jaden as a player for their next match for something that was obviously futile.
‘Easy,’ said Bo, ‘it’s just land, don’t do anything stupid.’
Jaden was furious, but he too knew there was nothing that could be done. ‘Let me go,’ he said.
‘Swear to us that you won’t go after Ardim,’ said Dion.
‘I swear. Now let me go.’
Both Bo and Dion released their hold at the same time, and Jaden sprinted away without turning. He slowed to a jog when his leg spiked with pain, but he would not stop. He couldn’t accept that he had lost the match. This day would not end in defeat. He would beat Ardim, whether on the field or off.
There.
He saw her walking back to her home.
‘Alyssa!’ he called out.
She turned to where she had heard the voice and then stopped as she saw him running toward her. Her bright oval eyes sta
red softly at him in confusion as he neared.
‘Alyssa,’ he repeated. ‘I wanted to talk to you.’
She said nothing, waiting for him to go on.
He laughed nervously. ‘Every time I try to talk to you, something gets in the way.’
She smiled faintly at this, encouraging him further.
‘I’ve been meaning to ask you if you’re not busy sometime, I’d like to talk with you.’
She still seemed confused. ‘What do you want to talk about?’
‘I’m not sure,’ said Jaden, trying to think of what he had sensed when he saw her on the sidelines. ‘Have you noticed something ... strange ... in the ground lately?’
At first she seemed lost, but then her brows furrowed slightly.
‘Yes,’ she said, as if now that he mentioned it she had noticed. ‘Sharp ... movement?’ she asked, puzzled.
‘Alyssa, come inside!’
Alyssa’s father’s voice was unmistakable coming from the kitchen window, preventing Jaden from saying what he wanted to next.
‘I’m sorry, I have to go,’ she said, her voice as gentle as her eyes and as caring as her smile.
‘Can we meet tomorrow?’ asked Jaden with a sudden urgency.
She looked troubled, pausing a second. ‘Come see me,’ she said, and then quickly hurried indoors just as her father called out again.
‘When?’ Jaden asked, to which Alyssa gave a shrug as she disappeared behind a closed door, without another word.
Jaden relaxed. It wasn’t much, but it was all he had hoped. He had arranged a time he could talk with her. That’s all that mattered. And strangely, she had known of the sharp movements in the ground. Whatever those movements were, Bo could not laugh at or tease Jaden about how he felt about Alyssa now. He had been right. They had something in common, even if neither could be sure what it might be.
Somewhat out of breath, he retreated from the house and walked back toward his home. Despite the loss, he felt relieved. Just talking for a moment and hearing her mention the sharp movements had put him at ease almost instantly. He would have to wait to talk to her the next day to find out more about what she had experienced, but for now, all seemed well. He had lost the game but it wasn’t so bad. Even if the Pioneers did get the land, it was a small price to pay to have finally been able to talk with Alyssa. Besides, it wasn’t that his pride had been hurt, there was foul play involved, and there was always the chance to appeal the decision another day regarding the land's use. There would be another match to settle it, but next time, he would make sure Ardim was being watched by a referee.