Page 38 of Steel & Thunder
Of course, that’s right when he gets tackled, and it’s Ironstorm who manages to steal the ball back. I see him a few yards ahead of me, starting to move it back up the field toward their own goal. None of my teammates are close to him, but the confident orc from a minute ago is only a few feet away from me.
“Can you tackle him? I have an idea,” I ask and she nods quickly. I give her a small head start before running straight at the captain. He sees me coming of course, another smirk on his face as he gets ready to side-step me.
And that’s when the other orc slams into him.
It doesn’t send him to the ground, but it does knock him off balance, the two of them evenly matched. It’s more than enough for me. Distracted by the orc at his side, he barely has time to register me rapidly closing the distance between us. I drop into a slide at the last minute, aiming for the ball and shooting it straight between both their legs. The ball goes flying and with no one in the way to stop it, soars right between the goal posts, ricocheting off a tree behind it.
The whole field breaks out into shouting, and the second I pick myself up from the ground, I’m being pulled in for a hug by the friendly female orc, followed by the rest of my team. The orcs who earlier didn’t want to take me seriously seem to enjoy taunting the other team with my presence. Even Sir looks impressed. I have no idea what any one is saying, but they’re all happy, so I can’t help but feel happy too.
“Good game,” the orc who helped me with the final play tells me over water. “I am Glasha. You are a good player—for a human.”
“Thanks, I think.” I reach out to take her hand. “I’m David. It’s nice to meet you.”
“Nice to meet you as well, David.” Then she turns to Ironstorm. “You managed to find a rather scrappy one, sir.”
“Thank you, Glasha.” I guess these two already know each other. “Everything going well in my absence?”
“Yessir,” she nods. “Business as usual.”
“Then I will see you and the rest of the station in four days.” Sir returns her nod. “Thank you for letting us join.”
“It was fun. You should play with us more often, Captain.” She gives a small salute before she makes her exit. “See you in four days, sir.”
“Sir? You got another slave or something, Captain?” I find myself teasing, still feeling the rush of my recent victory.
“She is one of my rangers,” he answers with a smile.
“Why haven’t you been at work, anyway?” It is a little weird how he’s basically been home for the last three days.
“I was given the week off after winning our match to ensure you settled into things alright,” he explains. “That was very impressive at the end there, pup. Did you play something like this at home?”
“A little. No hands or tackling but the same general idea.” I flash a cocky smile. “Don’t feel too bad. I was pretty great over there too.”
“Is that so? Care for another challenge?” He hands me my shirt.
“What are you thinking?” I admit I am intrigued after my victory.
“A race back to the house.” I turn to look in the general direction we came from. “Do you think you can remember how to get there?”
“I think so.” I’m pretty good with directions, but hold on a minute... “Wait, like, no leash? You trust me enough now?”
“Between the running and the game, if you did decide to make another escape attempt, I think you would be too tired to get very far.” He considers me for a moment. “Can I trust you?”
“Yes.” I nod quickly. “Yes, Sir.”
“Alright then.” He turns to face the side of the park closer to the house. “First person to touch the front door wins.”
“What does the winner get?” The question is out of my mouth before I even think about it.
“Oh, is this a wager now?” He smiles. “Winner gets to take the first shower.”
“Sounds fair.” That’s a lot tamer than I was expecting. Not that I’m disappointed or anything.
“Okay.” He crouches into a runner’s stance. “Ready?”
“Ready.” I copy him.
“GO!”
