Damon grunted as a formidable player rushed at him and sent the two of them off of their feet. A second later, he felt what little air left in his lungs leave on impact with the frozen turf underneath him. 'Well that's not good,' he thought to himself.

A roar of outrage bellowed from the bleachers on his right while cheers issued from the stands to his left. He felt the body on top of his immediately get off and a hand reached back down to help pull Damon up. "Good play," he puffed, thanking the opposing player.

"I gotta keep you on your toes, right?" the other guy winked before jogging back to the rest of his team.

"Brett! Riley! What's going on? Where was the defense on Damon? Get it together you two and guard him!" he could hear Coach West's voice cutting through the clamor even as Damon motioned in what he hoped was a reassuring way that he was okay. He met his teammates in another huddle, but before he could call out the next play, Riley questioned, "You okay Damon?"

"Fine. Don't worry about me."

"We're your defense, D. That's our job," another teammate cracked.

He looked over at Brett and the rest of his team. "Then you better get to it before Coach has a heart attack, all right?" he smirked. "Okay. Four minutes left of the first quarter of our big championship game and we're still on our side of the field. Let's see if we can up the tempo to this game a bit. Vin, are you good for the 'First Play'?"

"Ready when you are."

Damon nodded. "All right. Let's see if we can't put up the first points. 'Big Play One.' Go Dragons," he yelled, sticking a fist into the center of the huddle.

"Dragons!" the rest of the team cried as they added their hands to Damon's before breaking the huddle and reforming the offensive line.

Damon stole a glance over toward the stands on his right and easily found Sharon sitting with her parents and his family from within the crowd. Seeing that she had caught his eye, she quickly gave him a gloved two thumbs up and yelled some support that he couldn't hear, but he grinned back nonetheless, his heart racing for a moment from more than the adrenaline of the game.

He turned back to the scene in front of him on the field, took a breath, and without warning to the other side, called the next play. The ball sailed smoothly into his hands and he set off running to his left. The opposing team pursued him, falling for the ruse, and for this, he was thankful. Just as it looked like he'd be rushing the ball forward himself, he suddenly threw the ball hard to the right side of the field and watched it spiral perfectly right into the arms of an unguarded Vin.

His friend didn't really need to hear the encouragement Damon was yelling, but he yelled it all the same. He was so intent on watching the play progress, he didn't see the flash of brown and gold rushing towards him until just the moment before impact. He gave another grunt as his feet lost contact with the ground before finding himself back on his back for the second time in less than five minutes, the whistle blowing shrilly a few seconds later and flag being thrown.

The field was awash in noise as Damon picked himself up off the ground, not missing the menacing look his latest tackler had in his eyes. He glanced over at Coach West and saw him practically jumping up and down screaming at one of the other referees about the blatant tackle. "Don't you have eyes ref? That was a clear attack on one of my players!"

A glance over at the other side of the field showed the Diamondbacks' coach smiling smugly, seemingly unconcerned by his player's actions. The two caught glances and Damon couldn't help but frown a little from inside his helmet. 'Well that certainly changes things,' he thought to himself as he made his way over toward the rest of the team.

"D, you okay?" Vin asked, panting a little as he rejoined his teammates.

"Fine," he answered, thankful for the bulky padding he was wearing. "How far did you get?"

"I think just shy of their 30-yard line, but I'm not quite sure."

"That's good enough for a first down. Listen, I think the other team's gonna pick it up from here on in though."

"Why do you think that?" a player asked from his right.

"Their coach," he said simply, the grim tone in his voice indicating his certainty on the matter.

"So what are we playing next then?"

"'All Out.' We're running plays 17, 21, and 6."

"Serious? We have three quarters still to go!"

Damon nodded. "And I want to get us up on that board with as much of a cushion as possible before they get their hands on the ball."

His team agreed and broke up the huddle. With less than two minutes left in the quarter, Damon led the offense in a couple of quick succession plays to get them successfully into the end zone, much to the delight of his team and fans while leaving the Diamondback supporters to boo and hiss. A glance towards his coach let him know that he was sending in their kicker to finish off the job rather than risk an extra play. He nodded to let Coach West know he understood and started jogging back towards the bleachers, slapping his teammate on the back as the two passed each other. "Good luck out there Louis," he called.

"I'll be back in a few," his teammate called back as he moved forward to attempt the extra point.

Seconds later, a roar came from behind Damon as another point was added to their score. Damon glanced over at the other side and saw that, rather than screaming up a storm, however, the Diamondback coach seemed to be contemplating something, his face almost unreadable. "Coach West," he said, gaining his attention.

Mr. West followed Damon's gaze. "I know. He's trying to come up with a way to get back into the game, so he's going to play that team different come next quarter. Just watch your back, okay? I wouldn't put it past them to try something a little bit more than an uncalled for tackle next time."

Damon nodded in understanding and moved off to get a drink. He gave Ana a wink as she led her group through another cheer before settling down on a seat and forcing himself to relax for a few moments while the defensive line got started on the field at the turn of the quarter. A minute later, he felt a small pair of arms hug him from behind. "Hi Damon!"

"Ros, hey!" he smiled, turning around and puling his sister up onto the bench next to him. "What are you doing down here?"

"I wanted to get some candy with Sharon. See?" she showed him the box of chocolates that she was holding in one hand. "Do you want some?"

"No thanks, but thank you. And you don't go eating it all at once either, okay?"

"Okay. I love you."

"I love you too," he smiled. "Go on now, okay?"

The little girl nodded, giving her big brother one last hug before sliding off the bench and running over to grab Sharon's hand. "Good luck Damon, and be careful out there," he heard Sharon say.

"Thanks," he grinned and watched as Sharon and Ros carefully walked back up the bleachers hand in hand. His gaze lingered on them for a little bit longer before a chuckle next to him made him turn around. "What?"

Riley grinned innocently. "You're hopeless, you know that right?"

"Oh shut up."

Riley laughed. "Seriously man, I can't believe you're waiting this long to break the question to her."

"I've waited this long, it can wait until the end of the game."

"All right. The guys and I will try to make sure you don't get too roughed up then," he chuckled as the two stood up. "We gotta make sure you look presentable to your lady love after the game."

Damon punched his friend lightly on the arm as they walked back onto the field. "Be careful out there!" they heard Coach West yell out to them. The defensive line leaving the field gave similar sentiments, and Damon mentally prepared himself for the coming battle.

"All right. We're still up by seven points. Let's see if we can't keep these Diamondbacks at bay. Let's run the Fire Sequence, all right?"

"Dragons!" erupted from the group as once more, the team got into position for another play.

Both teams scored in the next forty-five minutes, and despite the game winding down into the last ten minutes of the third quarter, neither side seemed to be willing to let up. A look at Sharon's face and the faces of his family in the crowds visibly showed their worry, and Damon couldn't blame them. Both teams were now playing with such ferocity, it boggled even his mind when he tried to think about it. He and Coach West had been right – the Diamondbacks were playing more roughly as the game continued and it took everything he had just to even stay on his own feet sometimes. Still, if he knew one thing for certain, he wasn't going to be the one to back down in this fight.

Damon was back on the field with a few minutes left of the third quarter. The cold had settled in but neither he nor the other players could feel it as their blood pumped through their veins. He could see the clouds of air as everyone caught their breath before he called the next play. The ground crunched a little under his feet as he shuffled his weight in preparation for the snap.

Moments later, the latest play was under way and Damon was scanning the field for an open man. He found his man all right, but unfortunately, so did the other team. He turned away from the scene of the player in brown and gold tackling his teammate to try and find another fellow Dragon who'd be free to make the catch. No one else was available though, and left with no other opening, Damon found himself rushing forward in between Vin and Riley, hoping that they'd be able to hold off the other guys to allow him to gain a few precious yards. As he passed, he noticed a slight scuffle going on on his right, but pushed it out of his mind as he continued to move forward. 'Just keep going, D. Keep going,' he kept thinking over and over to himself until he felt himself get tackled once more, protecting the ball in his arms as he came crashing down to the ground.

Another whistle was blown and Damon found another flag being tossed to the ground. Immediately, he got up and looked around to see what was the matter. It didn't take him long to see that behind him to his right, Riley was on the ground holding his ankle while the referee was trying to break up the crowd from surrounding him.

Fire coursed through his veins as he saw the pain etched on Riley's face and heard the mocking coming from the Diamondback side of the field. With a signal to his teammates, they backed off to allow a couple of the trainers get Riley off the field after getting a quick assessment of his injury.

"Two minutes," he told his team shortly. "Two minutes and then we're done with the third quarter. Let's just get through this and we can go from there," Damon rallied his team. Those two minutes came and went without a score change, and soon, Damon was racing off the field. "How are you feeling?" Damon quickly rushed over to Riley's side as soon as he was in the locker room.

Riley looked up to see his friend's concerned face and tried his best to grin – it came out as a grimace. "I don't know, D. The trainer thinks it's just a couple of bruised ribs and a messed up ankle. I'm fine to stay until after the game, but there's no way I can get back on that field tonight. We're lucky I'm the only casualty there is right now, what with how those guys are playing out there."

Damon nodded grimly. "Did they get you some pain medication?"

"You get yourself busted up and see if you can get by without meds."

Damon smiled a little.

"Tell Ana I'm all right?"

"Of course I'll let her know. What's more, I'll personally take out that D-back that got you on this bench in the first place. From what the guys told me, that kind of play ought to have gotten the guy evicted from the game and not just a five minute time out!"

"Easy, Damon," Riley said, trying to calm his friend down after seeing a dark gleam enter into his eyes. "I just planted my leg wrong is all."

"And the other player just happened to hit you in just the right way so that it would twist, right?" he added sardonically.

"He'll get what's coming to him, with your help or no," Riley said in a quiet tone. He tilted his head towards Coach West and the rest of the team, which had come in to check on their fallen teammate.

"Hey Riley, how are you feeling?"

The smile came a little easier on his face this time. "I'm hanging in there. Someone want to help me back out onto the bench so I can watch?" He saw Damon nod his approval before leading the rest of the team aside to discuss tactics for the last quarter. As much as he hated leaving the game, he knew that the team was in good hands. Riley half-listened as Damon gave his version of a pep talk, feeling the fiery energy coming off of him and his teammates in waves. He knew he wouldn't be let down.

Sharon watched silently for a moment as Ana and the other cheerleaders tried to pep up their side of the bleachers. The worried look on Ana's face betrayed her true emotions, however, and it wasn't until Damon came sprinting over to say something in her ear that Ana actually started smiling again. Whatever he'd told her must have helped because the anxious look in her eyes disappeared and was replaced with a fiery determination that she only knew came from Ana. That fire burned even brighter once Riley slowly came back up out of the locker room to the rousing cheers and standing ovation from his team and fans. Ana held her head high and proud, once again giving her all to her performance.

Still, her fire, as strong as it was, Sharon found herself admitting that it was no match for the dark inferno she saw in Damon's own eyes as he played. Even at this distance, she could see it, feel its tightly controlled but barely restrained energy. It was his energy that helped the Dragons to dominate the game the last twelve minutes' worth of game play that night. If she had thought the first three quarters were intense, it was nothing compared to what she was seeing now.

Damon was playing with a kind of natural grace that only came from months and years of hard work and dedication to his sport. The image of Riley on the ground and in pain was still etched in his mind as he called plays into action, his arm coming through time and time again to find his intended catcher. It didn't even matter that the other team was pulling out all the stops in a desperate attempt to slow the game back down to their tempo and work the ball in their favor. The Dragons were making all the calls those last few minutes and delivering in a way they hadn't yet all season.

And then the whistle blew.

Next Chapter
Back to the Dream Page