The Sports Captain's Tale

Chapter Four

“You don’t stand a chance,” Darrell called. “Give up now and save time.”

I kept my face impassive. Darrell and I had been lovers, once upon a time, before a particularly nasty breakup. We’d been good together – she had curly brown hair, a toned body and a mischievous sense of humour – but … we’d also been too competitive, even with each other, for our own good. She was now a team captain and I knew she wouldn’t show us any mercy, not when everything hinged on her team scoring enough points to take them to the finals. The only upside was that she was unlikely to collaborate with Blair. He’d been an asshole to her a long time before she’d come into her own.

“We’ll surprise you,” I said, trying to project an air of confidence. We’d spent the last two weeks practicing intensively, working out all the kinks in our plan before we took it onto the field, but I knew something could easily go wrong. Our plan might not survive contact with the other team. They had plans of their own. “Watch your back.”

Blair swaggered over. “I’ll pay money to watch your back,” he said to Darrell. “It looks good in your tunic.”

I had to admire his nerve. Darrell was physically strong as well as magically powerful. Blair might be stronger in body, but all his strength would avail him nothing if Darrell kicked him in the balls or hexed him into a toad before he could react. Of course, she’d have to turn him back from being a toad before she turned him into one … I hid my amusement at that thought as Blair turned to smirk at us. He looked confident. I supposed he had reason to be.

“You don’t stand a chance,” he said, echoing Darrell’s earlier words. “Give up now and we’ll spare you.”

I made a big show of rolling my eyes. If we quit the field now, before we were even in it, we’d be done. There’d be no second chance to win enough points to proceed to the finals. We’d do better by walking onto the field and standing still, waiting to be taken out of the game. It wasn’t going to happen, of course. I smiled instead as Ham – the fourth and final captain – led his team into the bunker. They looked wary. Like us, they’d got the lowest score in their last match. I suspected that meant they’d spent the last few days trying to come up with something new, just like us.

Shame we can’t cooperate, I thought. It would definitely change things if we stood together against the other two.

The thought was tempting. Blair and Darrell hated each other. She’d like nothing more than the chance to pay him back for his remark, proving her supremacy on the playing fields rather than moaning to the staff about sexist remarks. It was the only way she’d come out ahead. I could easily envisage the two teams going at it hammer and tongs, leaving Ham and I to pick up the pieces afterwards. But it wasn’t going to happen. Ham needed to come out ahead, just like us. He’d expect a knife in the back as soon and Blair and Darrell were wiped out and he’d be right. It was exactly what I’d do.

Because winning is everything and looking like a sad pathetic wanker is a positive bonus, I thought, recalling Professor Thande’s snide dismissal of our request for his sponsorship. We can’t afford to come out second, let alone third or fourth, and neither can he.

Blair winked at me. “You want to put a bet on the match? You win, I serve you dinner in fancy dress. I win, you serve me.”

“I always knew you were into the weird stuff,” I said, snidely. The loophole was so wide I could have taken an entire fleet of galleons through it. He’d wear a costume instead of a woman’s dress. I was surprised he wasn’t trying to say it to Darrell. The bastard would love the idea of her playing at being a waitress and waiting on his table … “I think …”

“Attention,” Sergeant Wills said, striding into the bunker. His voice dripped natural authority. My jaw snapped closed. I owed him one. It would have been hard to turn down the bet and harder still to keep my side, if my team lost. “I want a good clean match, so behave yourselves!”

I think you’re in the wrong line of work, I thought, as the rest of the team lined up behind me. If we lose, we’re cheaters; if we win, we’re heroes.

The door snapped open. “May the gods defend the right,” the sergeant said, pointing a finger at the clock. “Go.”

I glanced at my team, then jogged out of the bunker and down the path to the base. There was no point in hurrying. The bell wouldn’t ring for ten minutes, more than long enough to get to the base and set up before time ran out. Sweat prickled on the back of my neck as the sun beat down, a grim reminder of just what would happen if we lost. It would be the end. Even coming in second would fuck up my dream. Sure, I might be happy – in a spiteful kind of way – if Blair came third or fourth, but it wouldn’t suit me. I wanted to be great.

“We’re ready to cast the entanglement spells,” Mildred said. She sounded faint, even though it had been her idea. She’d actually wanted to give me the credit … privately, I suspected she was afraid of the consequences if we staked everything on her spells and lost. The team might hesitate to beat up on me, but her …? I intended to make damn sure she’d get the credit if we won and take the lumps myself if we lost. No self-respecting captain could do otherwise. “Kai?”

“Do it,” I ordered. It might have been her concept, but I’d been the one who’d decided we’d go with her plan. There’d be enough recriminations to go around if we lost. “And hurry.”

Mildred nodded, casting the spells one by one. I felt the magic flicker and flare around us, pieces of spellware binding us together. The concept was risky, to say the least, but it played to our sole real strength as a team. It might just work …

“Don’t forget to add the illusions,” Karen pointed out. “We don’t want them thinking we’re elsewhere.”

“It should work,” Mildred said. “The tracking spells aren’t that precise.”

“Don’t take anything for granted,” I warned. The arena was covered in tracking spells – it wouldn’t do to have someone turned into an object, then lost forever because the caster couldn’t find them again – but, in theory, none of the players should be able to use the spells. In theory … it really would be cheating, and the sergeant might disqualify the perpetrator’s entire team, yet if they used it to beat us we might not get a rematch. “We have to assume the worst.”

Bill snorted. “If they can turn the arena spells against us, we’re fucked anyway.”

Mildred looked up at me. “I think we’re ready.”

“You think?” Karen gave her a look she wouldn’t dare give any other fifth-year. “Are you sure?”

“Nothing is certain, except death, taxes and Blair being an asshole,” I said, before an argument could break out. “James, Bill, Jerry … you’re with me. You know what to do.”

“Yep,” Jerry said. “I know the plan. I know exactly what I have to do. I really do …”

He paused, dramatically, and pasted a truly gormless expression on his face. “What was the plan again?”

I gave him the finger as the bell rang. We didn’t have time for jokes, not when we had only one chance to pull this off. The other teams were already running to take up positions, if I was any judge, some going on the offensive while others tried to find cover and ambush their enemies as they approached. The doggy trick wouldn’t work twice – everyone would have blanketed themselves in scent-neutralising spells or I was a halfwit – but who knew what else Blair, Darrell and Ham had up their sleeves? Darrell was no fool and she wanted to beat Blair and rub his face in it. If she came up with something of her own …

The air felt cold and clammy as the four of us hurried into the foliage, keeping as low as we could. It was risky leaving three people in the base – if they were caught by surprise, they’d be taken out before they had a chance to react – but most experienced players thought you needed every last teammate on the field. It was what they’d expect me to do, I thought. If nothing else, a useless player could soak up a hex aimed at someone more competent. And yet, would they not expect me to try something desperate?

If you have nothing to lose, I reflected, you might as well stake everything on one throw of the die.

We kept moving, slowing as we made our way towards the clearing. It was a bad place to pick a fight, I knew from experience, which was partly why I’d chosen it. Enemies could come from all directions, while we’d have precious little natural cover. I heard someone shout in the distance, too faint for me to make out any of the details; the sound cut off so abruptly I knew they’d been taken out. The nasty part of my mind hoped it had been one of Blair’s teammates. If I couldn’t go on to the finals myself, I’d be happy if Blair didn’t go on either.

No, I corrected myself. You wouldn’t.

I froze as the bushes up ahead started to rustle. Someone was there … probably. I ducked down as low as I could, until I was lying in the mud. The lads followed me, moving with unaccustomed silence, as we waited. Who was it? Did they know we were here? We’d layered ourselves in stealth spells, but the enemy would be scanning for us and nothing was more conspicuous than a dead zone in the middle of the arena. I wished, suddenly, we’d had more time to practice. Or a handful of people we could trust to serve as the opposition. We just didn’t know how the plan would work against a real opponent.

The bushes parted. Sonya stepped into view, eyes darting from side to side. Her tunic was stained with mud … I tried not to notice how it clung to her body as I peered past her, trying to determine if she was alone. Darrell wouldn’t have sent her out without backup, would she? Sonya was good – she wouldn’t have been on the team if she wasn’t – but anyone could be taken out, if they were alone. I braced myself, taking aim as I listened carefully. There was no sign of anyone else. Masking spells? Silencing spells? Or was she truly alone?

I hexed her. Her arms and legs snapped together, an instant before she tumbled and fell face-first into the mud. I grinned, even as I braced myself for the expected retaliation. If she wasn’t alone … I heard someone crashing through the foliage behind her and tensed, realising Darrell’s team was looking for their missing member. Two more ran into the clearing and got zapped, both frozen in their tracks. A third turned and ran away, too late. A hex struck her back …

And it wasn’t one of ours.

I realised, in an instant, what was happening. Darrell’s team had lost. There was no sign of Darrell herself, which meant she’d lost to either Blair or Ham. Her team had come apart, her teammates running for their lives … running straight into our accidental ambush. I wondered, suddenly, if I’d been wrong. Blair and Ham could have agreed to a brief alliance … it wasn’t as if Blair was short of things he could use to bribe people. He could have offered everything from gold to later patronage or … I shook my head. The sergeants wouldn’t be pleased when they found out …

“Get into position,” I hissed. If I was right, the last thing Blair wanted to do was give the remnants of Darrell’s team a chance to either make a stand or break contact. They might circle round and free Darrell and the others, bringing them back into the game, or simply hide somewhere and force Blair to waste time hunting them down. “You know what to do.”

I braced myself, then struck a silly pose. It was all or nothing. If I was hexed now, I’d look stupid as well as a loser. But … Blair would scent a trap, I was sure, and come in carefully rather than charging madly into the clearing. How long would it take for him to work up the nerve to strike …?

A thought crossed my mind. Next time, we can freeze …

The bushes parted. Ham’s team – or what was left of it – burst into view. I cast an immediate set of defensive charms, tightening my wards, then triggered the entanglement spell. Mildred went to work instantly, casting a series of freeze, compulsion and transfiguration spells at the enemy, while I worked on defending myself. I smiled at their shocked faces – to them, it must have seemed as if I was playing both offense and defence simultaneously – and then concentrated on defending myself. I was far too out in the open to allow myself to relax. If they got a clear shot at me, they could still turn everything around.

I felt my smile grow wider as Ham stopped dead, then melted into a rat. He’d be shocked when he found out Mildred had cast the spells, using the entanglement charm to work her magic from a safe distance. She could work without fear or freezing, while we concentrated on defending ourselves. Karen and Mark weren’t so practiced in theory, but they made up for it through sheer bloody-minded determination. Ham’s team were on the verge of losing …

Blair exploded into the clearing, his team casting spells towards us with fearsome skill. I tensed, struggling desperately to counter their spells as Mildred pressed her advantage. Jerry froze, then tumbled; I countered the spell to free him, only to be struck and frozen myself. I hoped Mildred would follow orders – we’d planned for it – as the last of my defences faded away. Blair thought he’d won.

“Yep, you’re still a loser,” Blair said. The asshole dropped his pants and mooned me. I was surprised I wasn’t struck blind on the spot. “And without you the rest of your team is thoroughly fucked.”

He laughed, as if he’d cracked the funniest joke in the world, then swaggered off. I frowned inwardly. He had only three teammates left? What had happened to the others? It wasn’t entirely impossible he’d ordered one or more of them to hide, just to spite the rest of us … I waited, hearing him tramping off into the bushes. The spell held me firmly in place. He thought he’d won …

And normally, he would be right, I told myself. But this time I have an ace up my sleeve.

The entanglement spell flickered. The spell binding me in place snapped. I ducked quickly, turning my head to make sure Blair and his cronies weren’t right behind me. There’d been no way to work out the timings, let alone ensure they didn’t notice me being freed. I hastily freed the rest of my team, then turned and sneaked after Blair. He couldn’t have gotten that far, not if he was searching for Mildred and the others. And he wouldn’t be watching his back.

My lips curved into a smile. Why should he? He knows there’s nothing behind him.

We kept moving, careful to stay quiet even though we had the edge. It was important, vitally important, that we took them out without losing any players ourselves. It was the only way to guarantee a complete victory, one that would take our team to the finals. I inched forward, cursing under my breath. Blair might already be laying siege to our base, then insisting it gave him the right to declare victory. He might be right. Certainly, the rest of my team would be effectively trapped.

His voice boomed through the air. “COME OUT, LITTLE BITCHES, COME OUT!”

Charming, I thought, sarcastically. My father would have practically murdered my arse if I’d spoken to a lady like that, if her father or brother didn’t get me first. Blair was being cowardly, too. Neither Mildred nor Karen was his equal when it came to practical spellcasting, and he had the numbers on Mark. Or are you trying to provoke them into doing something stupid?

It didn’t matter. I inched forward until the base came into view. Blair and his goons were standing in front, laughing and jeering and generally being thoroughly unpleasant. I tried not to cringe. I’d grown up in a town that could be rough, and my early friends had been crude and rude, but there were limits. Blair was magical aristocracy and yet he was being ruder than any of my peers? He really did think he’d won.

I glanced at my team, then took aim. “On three …”

Blair started to turn, too late. I hexed him in the back. He froze, then slowly started to move … I grinned savagely, realising he really was trying to cheat, then hexed him again and again until the spells were firmly locked in place. His teammates went down just as quickly, without even getting a chance to hex us back. I couldn’t help myself. I whooped. We’d won!

I suppose I shouldn’t have mooned him. But I couldn’t resist.