Total pages in book: 99
Estimated words: 109903 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 550(@200wpm)___ 440(@250wpm)___ 366(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 109903 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 550(@200wpm)___ 440(@250wpm)___ 366(@300wpm)
Matt was the strongest Fox and Aaron could outplay Nicky any day. Their arrival on the court made an immediate difference, and the Foxes finally started to hold their ground. The Ravens weren't expecting that, judging by the aggressive turn the game took. Neil wasn't at all surprised that the fights started with Riko and Matt.
Riko almost made it past Matt for a shot on goal, but Matt twisted in an impossible move and used his body like a battering ram. They collided with such a loud crash Neil cringed in sympathy pain. He forgot about them a second later when he saw what Andrew was doing.
It wasn't against the rules for goalkeepers to leave their goals, but it was extremely ill-advised considering how big their goals were and how fast a ball could move. A goalkeeper only risked it in extreme cases. Apparently tonight was one of those nights, because Andrew was moving before Matt and Riko even hit the ground. Aaron, the other striker, and both dealers were all racing for the ball, but Andrew was closer and faster.
A goalkeeper's racquet was flat, meant to deflect a ball rather than catch it, so Andrew couldn't scoop the ball up. He knew how to redirect it, though, and gave the ball a short, fierce swat. It hit the ground first, the wall second, and rebounded high. Andrew cleared it all the way up the court to his strikers with a hard swing. Neil only needed a second to realize Andrew was sending it to him, and his heart beat with savage triumph.
Jean and Johnson had pushed Kevin and Neil all the way to half-court. With that much open space Neil could outrun anyone. It didn't matter that he started with Johnson right at his back or that Johnson was better than he was. Neil had plenty of room to run and he was the fastest player in the game. He was two steps ahead of Johnson before he passed the far-fourth line and he'd widened the gap to six by the time he caught the ball.
He spared one second to look for Kevin and one more to calculate his throw. On his tenth step he fired the ball at the away goal wall. All those long nights learning Raven drills from Kevin had to pay off here. The perfect rebound wasn't just about getting the ball to the right racquet; it was getting there at the right angle so Kevin wouldn't have to aim. Kevin just had to bring his racquet back on the catch and fire straightaway. It was the same trick the Raven strikers had been pulling all night, but the Ravens weren't ready to see it from Kevin and Neil. Jean and the goalkeeper thought they had more time to react, but Kevin wasn't waiting. The Raven goal lit up red when Kevin slammed the ball against it.
The reaction from the stands was wild enough it almost drowned out Matt's excited yell. Neil saw the Fox subs and Vixens celebrating at the edge of his vision but he couldn't take his eyes off Kevin to look at them. He and Kevin met on their way back to half-court and clacked their sticks together almost hard enough to hurt. Kevin's smile was fleeting but fierce. He didn't say anything, but he didn't have to. It was the first sign of approval Neil had gotten from him since they'd met and Neil felt it like an adrenaline boost.
Finally getting on the scoreboard reenergized the entire team. The next time Riko took a shot on goal Matt tripped him. A couple seconds later they were fighting, and the game ground to a halt as the referees ran to break it up. Matt got yellow-carded for throwing the first punch, but the furious look on his face said Riko started the fight. Neil didn't know what Riko said to set Matt off, but he couldn't believe Matt let his temper get the better of him. A foul gave Riko a penalty shot. The teams lined up to watch it happen, and Andrew missed by half an inch.
The game's sportsmanship died with that shot. Neil lost track of how many times someone hit the ground in the final twenty minutes of the half. By the time Neil got elbowed in the face at the forty-four minute mark, every player on the court had a yellow card and one Raven had been kicked off with a red card.
The referee who carded Johnson called Abby on the court when he saw the blood on Neil's face. Exy helmets had protective shields to cover players' eyes and noses, but Johnson got under it with an upward swing. Neil's gloves were too bulky to do much more than smear the mess around, but Abby brought gauze with her. Her tight expression was at complete odds with how carefully she wiped his face. This was her fifth trip onto the court so far and she wasn't happy with how violent the game was getting.
"He could have broken your nose with a hit like that," Abby said as she dabbed blood off his upper lip.
"But he didn't," Neil said. "Can I play now?"
"The referees won't let you play if you're bleeding out your face," Abby said, unrushed by his obvious impatience. She curled her fingers around his chin and tilted his head this way and that. Neil felt a trickle of blood and sniffed it back. The sour heat of it was a familiar burn on his tongue. Abby didn't look convinced, so Neil sniffed again. Finally she sighed and gave his helmet an encouraging pat.
"I'll check on you again in a minute," she said, and followed the referee off the court.
Everyone else was already set up for Neil's penalty shot, so Neil took his place and caught the ball the Raven dealer tossed him. Neil liked penalties because they were easy points, but because they were easy he usually found less satisfaction in them. Against the Ravens he'd take what he could get. It was just him, the goalkeeper, and an oversized goal. He was only allowed two steps for momentum, but Neil didn't take them. He feinted and fired the ball home against the bottom corner of the goal. Matt thumped his shoulder hard enough to set Neil's nose bleeding again.