I ran my eyes over the pale blue jersey shirt that I'd been given; it hadn't taken Falcrest long to scrub out the previous player's name on the back, and now I smiled as I read the polished lettering "GOODWIN." For a second, it even made me forget that the last owner of my Runeball equipment had likely been killed, or worse.
Runic inscriptions had been scrawled across different sections of each piece of armour; for maximum effect, I'd assured them all. Their armour now glistened with shades of white, red, blue, yellow and black, and Halzon kept staring at his chest piece instead of watching where he was going. I took my seat next to Violet on the pitch-side substitute bench, watching with bated breath as our new teammates rushed out onto the field.
We were prepared for anything, with wards of fire, ice, water, lightning, wind, and void magic to protect us throughout the rest of the game.
Almost every fan in the stadium cheered at the sight of the Rimeholde Raiders. Their opponents, the Saltmarsh Silverskins, had won every one of their games up to this point in the season, so it was probably a refreshing change for them.
'Would you look at this Belgrin? The Rimeholde Raiders have done something new to their armour!'
'I don't know what they've done, Gretta, but it sure looks flashy. Look at them go, look at them go!'
'Violet, have you seen this?'
She glanced over at the team newsletter in my hands, watching with interest as I scrolled through page after page of Runeball trivia and gossip. 'So there are sixteen teams,' she gazed up at the sky. 'Just how big is Titan's Reach?'
'I think the clue's in the name,' scanning further down the next page, I stopped at the league table. 'We're only on game nine of forty-two as well.'
She rested her hand on mine. 'We don't know where our friends are. We don't know whether or not Nightmouth is destroying other worlds as we speak, and there's a high probability that we'll die playing this game. How are you not terrified?'
'I didn't say I wasn't scared, but we're not dead yet, and playing is our only ticket out of this place.'
'You're probably right.'
'I know I am, Violet, and there's always a chance that Asher's on another team.'
She sighed. 'What about the others, though? I can't imagine stick-thin Jasper, or even his parents playing a brutal game like this, can you?'
'No, I doubt they'd have let Avrae play either.'
'Well, we know he made it through the portal. Maybe-'
Falcrest chose that moment to slam her fist down on the metal bench; I nearly had a heart attack. She must have been standing there for a while, listening to us chatter away like children in a playground.
'Jake, you're starting. You'd better show me what you've got, or you'll live on this bench for the rest of the year. Lazar, you sit this one out.'
The butterflies in my stomach were fluttering around like crazy; if I did something to embarrass myself now, it would be on show for thousands of rowdy fans to see. I would somehow have to learn to practice the fundamentals of the game as I played.
The entire stadium went silent at the sound of someone tapping a microphone. 'It's a great afternoon for some Runeball, Gretta. The players look happy, the rain has stopped, and the grass-'
'Wait for it... Lightning. There we have it, Belgrin; the Runeball will have this power for the duration of the match.'
'Let's see how both teams have prepared for it, Gretta.'
I watched as Falcrest volleyed a powerful long ball upfield. It looked magnificent, thundering through the sky, with bolts of lightning sparking all around it.
And for what the tiny player, Lockwood lacked in strength, he more than made up for it with pace. He seemed to dive under one player's legs and sidestep another until he was all alone. Not taking his eyes off the incoming ball, Lockwood leapt to hover in mid-air at the final moment. He'd timed it perfectly, flipping backwards with enough finesse to launch the ball towards the Silverskins' goal.
'Did you see him move, Belgrin? I swear that little man has wheels on him!'
'The shot is on target, Gretta, but can Agrero make it back in time to block?'
'GOOOOOOAAAAAAL!'
'Can you believe it? The ball grazed his fingertips, Belgrin, but it was too little, too late. The Silverskins kick-off, with the score now sitting at four to one.'
'This isn't the team we watched during the first half, Gretta. Can they tie-'
'Did you see that, Belgrin?!'
I felt the ground tremor as the Silverskins' two giants, Agrero and Windsinger, charged right at me. As my mind raced with possible spells and reckless ideas that might counter their move, I hadn't even noticed the glistening orbs floating nearby.
First, I saw a mirror-image of myself running next to me on the right-hand side, and then another flashed into existence on the left. Both were waving, laughing at my startled reaction, before veering off in different directions. The Giants stumbled to a halt, staring after the three of us with blank expressions.
I didn't know whether I'd seen Falcrest grinning triumphantly or if I'd imagined it, but another one of her mighty crosses sent the ball flying at me, this time bouncing once off the ground before I fired it towards goal.
The Silverskins' runner, known as Steelstream, had broken away from Lockwood. Expertly losing his mark and pelting back towards goal, he was almost sprinting faster than the inbound ball.
'GOOOOOOAAAAAAL!'
'Four to two, Gretta! I can't believe this is happening!'
The Silverskins' choice to use a water rune warding for their armour had finally backfired in our favour, as the lightning imbued ball struck Steelstream in the chest and sent the player crashing into the inside of one of the goalposts. He wasn't moving, and the scent of sizzling skin began to sift through the air. I wanted to go and help the man to his feet, but Falcrest wouldn't let me.
Then she slapped my shoulder before pointing up at a walled-off box that happened to overlook the entire pitch, holding at least fifty luxurious looking seats. I hadn't noticed them before now; the rich and powerful 'leadership' couldn't have highlighted the divide between classes any more if they had tried.
Men, women and children of all races sat wearing finely tailored suits and seemingly expensive dresses. And directly below them sat the commoners, who appeared to conform to a more casual sense of fashion - Worn-out tunics, jeans and moth-eaten shirts. My kind of people.
Falcrest clicked her fingers in a bid to regain my attention. 'That was well played, Jake, but if you help him without permission from those bastards up there. You'll be dead before you've even picked him up off the ground,' she must have noticed the scepticism on my face. 'Trust me.'
'But-'
'Dammit, just get back out there before we're both hauled away!'
I shook my head while jogging to take my station without even looking back. I still didn't know what my official position was in the game; was I a striker? A midfielder? All I knew was that some players seemed to be better at performing specific tasks than others were.
'There's a little drama down there with the Captain, Gretta. I wonder what that's all about?'
'Unbelievable, Belgrin. But what a play that was by Goodwin! I can see this young man having a promising career.'
Belgrin tried to cover his microphone instead of pressing mute, and the irritating crackle began to echo throughout the stadium. 'He might if he lives that long, Gretta.'