“No sir!” all the gryphons called out at once.
“That’s right! They came here to see us win this semi-final. Sure, we are in the second league and the media only cares about the first league, but that doesn’t mean we should care less. Last year, we were close to getting into the first league, but, this year,” Victor paused and looked to the new gryphons on his team. “This year, it’s different. We are going to go all the way!”
The gryphons screeched out with him in agreement. Many feathers began to ruffle as the nervousness turned into energy, an energy Victor was shaping and bestowing upon every one of his players.
“We are going to win this game just as we have won every game this season, and then we are going to win the final. We can beat anybody! I wouldn’t care if we were up against the damn Ospreys, because I know this team could kick their tailfeathers. So, what do you all say? Are we going to go out there and show them who the true tiercel’s are? Or are we going to be hens?”
“Let’s kick their asses!” Nathanial shouted and stepped forward. His uniform was ship-shape, and his feathers perfectly preened. He had even painted his yellow cere with black paint. Everyone shouted in agreement and stamped their foretalons on the ground.
“That’s what I want to hear! Get your featherbutts out there!” Victor shouted and pointed to the exit. Everyone chattered excitedly to one another as they made their way out the door and down the long hallway.
Thyra felt a nudge and looked over to Aadhya, who had dusted herself in the traditional rich red coloration of the bearded vultures. “You ready?” Aadhya asked calmly. Despite her smooth voice, she had a ferocious look in her yellow and red eyes, as if she was about to leave on a hunt. She looked positively devilish, and not like herself at all.
Thyra felt the energy in the hallway build up inside of her, silencing those annoying butterflies. “Yeah! Let’s do this!”
“I, personally, look forward to taking on this bateleur eagle, Phera,” Antonio said. “I’ve been studying him ever since we went home the other night. I believe I have all his moves memorized.”
They came to a stop near the entrance and listened to the announcer as he began. “Ladies, gentleman and everything in between, it’s gryphball time here in this great state of Georgia! Welcome to the Semi-Finals of the Second League gryphball season where we have our very own Redtails here to once again, try for that trophy! Last year, they came so close, but this year, Victor Sousa says that he is determined to take that trophy home and make it to the First League.”
Nathanial made his way towards the front of the group with Jason in tow. Thyra saw the earpieces on the sides of their heads as they talked in a low tone, checking the connection.
The announcer continued as the sounds of a live marching band started to fill the stadium. “Introducing, your Athens Redtails!”
The crowd erupted as Nathanial led the group out onto the field. Thyra took a deep breath and followed the other gryphons out into the bright light. She had to squint for a moment to get used to the bright sunny day but as she looked around, she saw that the stadium was full with fans shouting and clapping.
Thyra had never felt energy like this before. Through the season, each game had grown bigger in terms of attendants. The energy was always there, but with the stadium completely packed, it was intoxicating.
The team gathered in the center of the field as the announcer called off players’ names with quick backgrounds. “…Aadhyea, number three, Bearded Vulture and rear air guard. You know her as the ‘Red Brick Wall in the Sky,’ the fiercest defender in the southeast. Antonio, number eleven, Harris Hawk and air center. Also known as the ‘Hurricane of the Gulf.’ Rachel, number eight, American Kestrel and air forward, the ‘Speeding Bullet of the Gryphball World.’ And last but not least, Thyra, number thirteen, Redtail hawk and ground forward, the ‘Promising Rookie.’”
“That’s the nickname they gave me?” Thyra laughed to herself as the team sat together, standing before the crowd as they shouted and cheered for their team. It was another reminder that she was the least experienced player on the team, but she didn’t let that bother her. Not today.
“Now to announce the visitors today: the Asheville Jays! They had a strong run last year, but fell flat before the final eight. That just gives them all the more reason to strive for better this year!”
The Redtails looked to their right to watch as the opposing group of gryphons poured out onto the field. As the announcer began to introduce each player, Thyra’s eyes focused on the Bateluer Eagle running out front and center from the team. He was powerful and imposing. Even from afar, his eyes spoke of destruction.
“…And Phera, Bateleur Eagle and air forward. He is most well-known for his success in the South African league as the ‘Black Mamba’. He has quite a reputation there, and I for one, can’t wait to see this eagle in action.”
Phera approached the group with his team following behind. Nathanial walked up to the eagle and puffed himself up to make himself look bigger, but still was small in comparison by the large gryphon. Jason stood next to Nathanial and sized the Bateleur gryphon up for himself.
Phera looked around at the group and huffed through his nares. His voice was raspy and low as he spoke. “So, this is what they call a contending team in this league? Pathetic.”
Nathanial’s eartufts folded back as he growled and took a step forward. “Keep talking like that and we will put your beak in the mud.”
“Easy, don’t let him get to you,” Jason said calmly behind Nathanial.
Phera waved them both off with a wing. “When I am done with your team, you will be praying to whatever god you worship here,” came the eagles threatening voice once again.
Nathanial remained steadfast, not breaking his concentration from the opponent. The cheers and music never stopped throughout the exchange.
The referee, a tiny Aplomado falcon, walked up between the two and held his small foretalons up. He spread out his blue-gray wings and spoke as loudly as his little lungs could carry him with the loud ambient noise echoing in the stadium. The falcon’s voice was very stern even when dwarfed by the team captains. “Alright, alright. That’s enough.”
He pulled a coin out of his leather striped black and white vest before holding it up between the two angered gryphons. “I don’t want to see any broken wings, or excessive blood. If I see any uncalled-for violence, I will eject you from this game. Are we clear?”
“Crystal,” Nathanial said without breaking eye contact. Phera simply grinned at his response and nodded.
With that, the falcon ref turned to Phera. “You are the away team. Call heads or tails in the air.” The ref tossed the coin into the air.
“Tails,” Phera called before it hit the ground.
The ref leaned over to look at the coin as it landed. “Tails. Away team has the ball first,” he confirmed as a small portion of the stand cheered for their team.
Phera fluffed up his black chest feathers and turned to flick his spotted feline tail at them. “Begin praying,” the eagle said as the rest of his team chuckled and turned with him, a small group heading towards the dugouts.
Nathanial snorted and turned to his team. “I’m going to kill his ass,” he commented before moving into position. Jason sighed and followed behind Nathanial, calling out for the other gryphons to come along. Aadhya, Rachel and Antonio nodded to Thyra as they walked off, following Nathanial closely while he discussed strategy with them.
Thyra and a few others made their way back to the dugout across the field. She wished she could be starting as well, but she understood Victor’s decision to bring her off the bench. Despite a season’s worth of games, she was still new. Her time would come. Still, it weighed heavy on her heart. She wanted to be out there with her team at this moment.
“Thyra!” She heard a familiar voice shout from the front row of the stands and looked up to see Johnathen standing there waving at her, and immediately smiled to her husband. His friend Keith
was with him, along with Saul and Carl, who were completely shirtless with “Redtails” written across their gargantuan stomachs. Thyra laughed as they raised their beers to her.
She moved to the bench with Braden, Priscilla and Viola. “Looks like it’s going to be a tough game today,” Priscilla said, watching the gryphons get into position.
“Yeah, I doubt we will get to play today,” Thyra responded. With a game this important, that would only happen if someone got hurt or their team got far ahead. She hoped for the latter, but there was always a possibility that one player could be injured. She did not wish it, but she was more than prepared to substitute in if need be.
Braden watched his twin corvid brother take his position at the goal and trilled with excitement. “I don’t mind if we don’t. I know my brother can handle just about any goal attempt anyone can through at him.” It was true, his brother was one of the best goal keepers in the second league. The whistle blew, interrupting their conversation. The game was about to begin.
“I hope everyone is ready because it’s time for Gryphball!” came the announcers voice over the loudspeakers. The sound of a large air cannon firing off signaled the beginning of the game. The white egg-shaped ball flew through the air. “And there’s the launch!”
Three gryphons on the opposing team took to the air with hard wing strokes. One of them, an Egyptian vulture gryphon, caught it in midair and began dashing towards the opposite end of the field. Rachel, Aadhya, and Antonio leapt into the air in defensive positions, ready to guard.
The crowd began screaming even louder, chanting “Defense! Defense!” in favor of the home team. Rachel was up front, and attempted an air tackle but was out maneuvered by the surprisingly agile Egyptian vulture. Phera swooped in low and passed under Rachel to head directly towards the goal. The Egyptian vulture passed the ball over to Phera, but Antonio dove to intercept.
“And it looks like number eleven, Antonio, has intercepted! He’s got good momentum to slide past their air forwards!” The announcer yelled as everyone cheered.
Phera and the Egyptian vulture summersaulted and pumped their wings hard to attempt to catch up. Rachel swooped in beside Antonio and screeched something at him. She rose up high above the other players as the last air guard on the opposition beelined straight towards Antonio. Right before he collided into the guard, Antonio spun and threw the ball high in the air. Antonio hit the gryphon hard and barrel rolled off to the side to regain composure as the other guard did the same.
“Ouch! A hard hit between Redtails’ eleven and Jays’ sixty-six! But it seems the Redtails’ air forward, Rachel, is wide open for a goal!”
Rachel dove with high speed and caught the ball, heading straight towards the goal. The goal defender leaped from the ground to guard the air goal, but it was too late. Rachel faltered right and then banked hard left, causing the goalie to adjust wrong. Rachel tossed the ball through the hoop as a large siren played over the loudspeakers.
The crowd went wild. “Gooooooaaaaaaal! An air goal by the Redtails in the first minute of the game! Wow, what a play! Those Jays are going to have to adjust their defenses against the ‘Speeding Bullet of the Gryphball World!’”
Rachel screeched loudly into the air as Antonio flew up beside her to bump his wing against her own. Jason and Nathanial ran on the ground underneath them heading back towards their side of the field. Thyra yelled from the sidelines and jumped in place, flapping her wings in excitement.
“I’ve never seen those two work together like that!” Thyra exclaimed as the jumbotron played replays on the screen for the crowd to watch.
“Yeah, and they are just getting warmed up,” Brandon yelled over the loud music shaking the stadium.
Victor paced down the sidelines, and Thyra could swear she saw a smile on his beak as well. He waved his foretalons and held the clipboard in front of his beak as he spoke into the headset, giving commands for their next offensive play. Aadhya, Antonio and Rachel glided down to set in with the ground team to take a breather. They bumped wings together and spoke for a moment before getting into their positions once again. A loud whistle blew moments later and the sound of the air cannon echoed in the stadium.
“Here’s the launch!” the announcer said as the air group took to the skies.
Rachel let the ball pass her and fall into the talons of Nathanial on the ground. He tucked the ball under a wing and began sprinting across the field. He crouched down low and galloped in long strides as the ground guards rushed forwards. Rachel swooped in low above Nathanial and Jason went left around the first guard. Nathanial juked right to attempt to get past the guard, but was hit on his rear flank.
“Jays’ number thirty-two with a direct hit on Redtails’ five!”
Nathanial tumbled along the ground, holding the ball firmly under his wing, and rolled back to his feet. By then, both rear guards were running straight towards him. Jason screeched loudly and held his wing out before Nathanial tossed the ball into the air.
“And a pass attempt, will it be good? It looks like Jays’ sixty-six is hot on the tracks!”
Rachel turned to look at the Phera going in for an interception, but Rachel barrel rolled and struck him under the chest with her foot, causing the eagle to falter.
“And a good defensive play from Redtails’ number eight! That fast flying kestrel really does pack a punch for such a small frame.”
Jason caught the ball and turned to face the last rear guard. The gryphon was already in motion towards him. Jason screeched out again, calling for Nathanial to get open, but the other guards surrounded him. Jason jumped at the last second to avoid a tackle and beat his wings once to gain enough distance between them. A loud whistle blew as the falcon ref swooped down and halted the game, earning boos from the fans.
Coach Victor threw down his clipboard and screeched. “Bullshit! He beat his wings once! Not twice!”
The small referee ignored him and turned on his mic before unfolding his wings. “Offensive foul for Redtails’ twenty-two, carrying in air, start at center,” the small ref said.
The booing continued as the teams made their way to the center of the field. Phera seemed to say something to Rachel as she passed, and she responded with a middle talon. Victor groaned and picked up his clipboard before speaking into his mic again while all the players took their positions on the field.
“An unfortunate call for the Redtails. That really killed their momentum! It seemed like twenty-two had it there for a moment, but now they have to make all that headway up again.”
The whistle blew again, and Nathanial instantly threw the ball up in the air. Rachel caught it and started beating her wings hard towards the opposite end of the field. When she saw Phera flying straight towards her, she dove and let the ball drop back down to Nathanial. Out of the sides, the Egyptian vulture swooped in and caught the gryphball before it reached Nathanial.
“And an interception by the Jays fifty two!”
Nathanial stopped in his tracks and started sprinting after them with Jason in tow. Rachel spun and beat her wings after the ball carrier, but the gryphon had too much speed already. Aadhya remained steadfast, floating steadily at the end of the field with her eyes locked on to the other vulture. She fell like a stone and spread out her great wings, as the carrier attempted to dodge, but was too late. Aadhya slammed into the carrier with a loud thud, earning cheers from the stands.
“You know that had to hurt! Number three, the ‘Red Brick Wall in the Sky,’ isn’t a force to be reckoned with!”
The ball dropped to the ground and Bradon, the blue-eyed corvid gryphon, quickly picked it up and passed it to Antonio as he swooped low. Suddenly, Phera crashed into Antonio’s backside, causing his wings to buckle. Everyone gasped in the stadium as he hit the ground hard and rolled. A loud whistle blew as the referee flew over to Antonio, who was still laying still on the ground.
“That was completely uncalled for! An offsides strike by the Jays’ sixty-six has sent Redtails’ eleven
crashing to the ground. He does not look good.”
Thyra watched with worry as Antonio attempted to stand but fell back to the ground. Suddenly, Aadhya tackled Phera out of nowhere and pinned him to the ground with her gigantic foretalons, screeching loudly in his face. A flurry of red, black, and white consumed the two. Talons slashed out and wings flared around in an attempt to gain the upper talon.
“It seems like we have a fight! I can’t say I don’t blame Aadhya for lashing out.”
Gryphons rushed over to the fighting as the crowd erupted in boos and cheers. They pulled Aadhya off of Phera and separated them. Thyra had never seen Aadhya in such rage. Her dusted red feathers were ruffled up, eartufts straight back, and a look of murder in her yellow eyes. She was still yelling and screeching at the enemy player as her teammates held her back. Aadhya pointed her curved talons towards Phera and he wiped some blood off his grinning beak.
“Damnit. Thyra, I think you’re up. Antonio doesn’t look good,” Victor said softly, watching a group of humans run up with a stretcher.
They looked over him for a moment as Antonio struggled to stand with the help of the paramedics. The whole crowd began to clap as Antonio stood and limped off the field as the paramedics lifted under his wings. The ref walked up beside Phera and Aadhyea before flashing a yellow card in his claws.
Aadhya turned around and walked towards the end of the field, flicking her tail with agitation. Phera waved off the ref with a wing and begun walking towards the opposite end of the field.
“A yellow card for the Redtails’ eleven and Jays’ sixty-six! I would have thought they would eject sixty-six from the game, but it looks like they are giving him his one and only warning!”
“Get in there, Thyra,” Victor commanded and turned to look at her. She nodded in response and stepped out of the dugout. “Be careful, but destroy that asshole if you can. I don’t let gryphons that hurt my players on purpose get away without repercussion,” Victor added sternly, his large black eyes narrowed.
The Gryphon Generation Book 2: A New Era Page 18