Zodiac Academy 2: Ruthless Fae

AS WE DREW closer to the end of the match, Zodiac had managed to claw their way closer to evening the score though they still had a way to go if they wanted to win. 

Geraldine used a sea of vines to throw a ball over the heads of the Starlight Pit Keepers. She skidded through their defences, entering the no-magic zone and caught the ball out of the air to a chorus of cheers. I was off my seat, yelling for her to score the point with adrenaline surging and she threw it into the Pit to a deafening cheer.

The round ended with Starlight with ten points and Zodiac with five. The final round was about to start, but Orion called for a huddle, drawing the soaked, muddy, distressed looking team to the edge of the pitch. I strained my ears as they grouped around him in a crescent. My gut tugged a little as Max rubbed at his sore arms, purple welts beginning to rise there. I didn’t want to feel bad, but I couldn’t help it as he groaned in pain. I’d thought that he’d quit the game to go get help, but he was persevering through his agony and it made me feel like crap.

He deserves this, dammit.

Geraldine had a fire in her eyes but she looked exhausted, her kit smothered in mud and bruises shining on her arms. Sofia had mentioned the players weren’t allowed to replenish their magic during a game aside from half time so every ounce they had had to be saved for tactics on the pitch.

Orion gave them a tense look. “We’re five points down, you know what that means.”

They all nodded.

“Do what you’ve gotta do to win. I believe in you,” Orion spoke mostly to Darius then grouped the ten of them together in a circle, starting up a chant that bled into the Zodiac audience until the entire stadium shook with the ferocity of it.

“Zodiac will not be beat! Zodiac can take the heat!”

It was so catchy that I was soon joining in and a band far up in the stands took up the tune too. Nearly every single student, professor or parent there to support our school clapped in time with the rhythm. It was an ear-splitting cacophony which drowned out the cheers of Starlight and it was the first time I’d ever witnessed Fae being so united in one cause.

My heart pounded in time with the tune as the Zodiac team raised their arms in the air, jogging back onto the pitch. Orion hovered at the edge of the turf, his head tipped low and his hands stuffed in his pockets. His shoulders were like a wall of tension and his jaw was set in stone.

“Come on Zodiac,” I whispered, looking to Tory.

“I hate the Heirs but I kinda want our school to win,” she said, echoing my thoughts.

“Plus Geraldine will be a hero after this if they pull it off,” I said excitedly.

“It’s about to get brutal,” Sofia said seriously as if the entire game hadn’t been one long, violent brawl. “The only way Zodiac can win or draw is if Starlight get minus five points or more. So they have to get the opposition to drop the ball or get six of their team struck Out of the round.”

“Shit on a brick,” Tory breathed, curling her hands into fists on her knees.

I chewed on my lip desperately as I looked across to where the two teams were moving into their Elemental Quarters. Seth’s eyes were set on the Starlight Airsentry, Olef, while his hands curled up, forcing himself not to scratch. Max swung his head side to side but kept his hands away from his burning skin too. Darius looked like he was about to murder someone and the way his eyes were set on Quentin, I suspected he was going to tackle him the second the whistle blew. 

Geraldine dug her heels into the ground like a bull about to charge and I pitied anyone on the Starlight team who was about to face the wrath of Zodiac.

The whistle peeled through the air and a ball burst out of the Fire Hole, blazing through the atmosphere in a burning trail of fire, glowing red hot. Starlight charged toward it, their Waterback shooting a blast of liquid up to cool the ball before it was caught skillfully by the Fireside.

The four Heirs ate up the ground, speeding ahead and plowing into four of the Starlight team, trying to take them to the ground as fast as they could.

The ball was tossed to their Airstriker who blazed a trail toward the Pit.

“No!” I yelled, my heart tumbling in my chest as he cast a powerful gust of air at the Zodiac Keepers.

The Badgerville girl was blown aside but Justin stood his ground, teeth clenched as he sent a fiery blaze back at the air Elemental. Damian Evergile slammed into the Airstriker at the same moment, snatching the ball and running for the opposite end of the pitch.

“What’s he doing?” Tory gasped.

“They can’t Pit the ball!” Sofia cried over the roaring noise. “The round will end and one point isn’t enough to win the match.”

Three of the Starlight team chased after Damian at high speed while the Heirs and Geraldine tried to wrestle five of the opposition to the ground.

“Benson, Tulissa, Quentin, you’re out!” Prestos announced and Zodiac cheered wildly as Max, Darius and Seth stood up to let them go. Only Tulissa walked herself off the pitch while the other two were carried away on stretchers.

“Oh my god,” I breathed, completely stunned by the brutality playing out before me.

The guy Geraldine was trying to force to the ground kept throwing heavy punches at her, forcing her back and I winced every time she took a hit. Darius sprinted forward to help followed closely by Caleb and they dove on top of Geraldine to hold the Starlight player down.

Prestos’s whistle blew shrilly and my eardrums nearly burst with the noise that sounded from the Zodiac crowd. “Avery you’re out!”

Four of Starlight were Out. They only had six members left in play, but they were working their assess off to get the ball from Damian who was circling the pitch as fast as he could. He looked exhausted and as he ran past Caleb, he tossed him the ball. Caleb let out a burst of speed, racing away from the three members of Starlight who were still in hot pursuit.

Darius and Seth charged toward their Keepers, seeking out easier prey while Caleb distracted the remainder of their team. The two of them fled, leaving the goal wide open, but they clearly knew the tactic Zodiac were playing. Our team didn’t want to Pit the ball, they wanted to force two more Starlight players out of the game to secure their win.

The Keepers were fast and I wondered if this was a tactic they were well accustomed to in the final round. Darius and Seth were like predators chasing down gazelle, their eyes set on the slowest of the two players. They collided with her full force and a horrible snapping noise filled the air as they took her to the ground. She lay eerily still and when a few seconds passed, Prestos’s whistle blew. “Ling, you’re out!”

The boys got off of her and two medics raced onto the pitch with a stretcher to peel her off of the ground. Oh shit.

“It’s a draw,” Diego gasped. That was five players out. There was no way Starlight could bring it back so close to the end of the round. The clock was counting down ten seconds and the entire school roared as Caleb raced for the Pit.

“We can still win!” Sofia screamed as Caleb tore toward it, a victorious grin pulling at his mouth.

No one saw the Starlight Airsentry coming. He forced a blast into Caleb’s side that sent him crashing into the mud, his arm twisting awkwardly beneath him. He fell on top of him, snatched the ball and tossed it into the Pit with a yell of exertion.

A collective gasp of absolute horror dragged in around me. 

Starlight Academy went completely crazy as the timer hit zero and the scoreboard flashed with the final scores. Zodiac: 5 Starlight: 6

I shook my head as the Zodiac team fell to their knees on the churned up ground. Orion turned and kicked his seat so hard it snapped in two. Nova dropped her face into her hands as the Starlight Principal did a victory dance next to her.

I stared at the pitch in utter disbelief.

Holy shit, we lost.