Gideon was in the midst of dodging and weaving between countless terrible spikes of ice that shot from the ground without halt.
'No matter what... I have to keep possession of the ball.'
He thought, squeezing the leather aetherball against his chest.
A spike hit him in the back, and launched him forward even further, as several of the opposing vanguards and attackers began to gain on him.
It wasn't going to work, not like this.
Down by two and now at a severe disadvantage.
The only thing keeping him in this frozen game, were the flames keeping warmth around his back like a pair of blazing wings.
As Gideon slid underneath the outstretched arm of a Frostfang defender, a thought intertwined with his adrenaline.
It sure as hell was a strange one though.
As he jumped over a defender, landing with his foot on the helmet of the boy, he pushed himself farther into the air with striking force, as the defender plummeted down instantly into the snow.
The crowd screamed and chanted as fans from all over Vallmora worshiped the game like dogs shackled before a feast.
He wondered what the last Phoenix versus Frostfang championship game was like, and if it had been this legendary...
'The stories they will tell...'
Gideon smirked, as he landed with a skid across the snow, flipping over another defender and now losing balance as he slid across the river of ice.
Dead ahead he finally spotted someone who could push the ball forward, and possibly even make this a one score game.
With one last player in-between him and the child of House Ember, he steeled himself and lowered his shoulder, sending the defender flying into a tree almost hitting Jack on the way.
Once they met up, Jack gave him a raise of the eyebrows.
"Aren't there enough things trying to kill me?"
"Sorry."
Gideon muttered, as he was about out of breath.
"Just give me the ball."
Jack demanded quietly, as unfamiliar flames swirled around the boy.
Gideon handed him the ball quickly realizing that at any moment they could be surrounded, or even impaled by ice.
"I'll back you up."
"Good, but I won't need it."
Jack said with a strange sense of humor tinted in his cocky voice.
Then the two bolted in the direction of the opposing goal, ducking under branches, jumping out of the way of giant pillars of ice, and even blocking projectiles that flew in their direction at the most random of times.
As Gideon grew more exhausted, Jack somehow had the energy of a thousand steeds.
He did not waver, which was strange for the one player on the team who had not truly put his whole heart out on the field.
Jack had always been missing something, and Gideon could always tell, he was his teammate after all.
Then only meters away from the entrance of the goal, a giant sword of ice came crashing down in-between the two of them.
'Kael of House Stormrauk...'
The one true enemy of the Phoenix team had finally shown himself, and with a weapon of all things...
Gideon felt himself being consumed by rage, as he remembered the things that Leo had told him in the past.
'I will kill you before he can...'
With a scream Gideon summoned a mighty strength from within his catalyst.
"Go!"
He yelled toward Jack's direction, as a mighty war hammer formed out of particles dawned in a gilded purple colors.
It was finally his time to make a big impact on this game.
He swung his war hammer with mighty force as the Stray's flames seemed to cover the blade and somehow gave the boy twice the energy that he had before.
The adrenaline surged with the weight of the purple weapon, engraved with golden lining on its pristine edges.
"Face me! Fool!"
Gideon screamed, as his hammer collided with the frozen longsword of Kael.
The boy with rigid icy hair, and cold blood lusted eyes, looked quite shocked when his sword cracked from the power of The Bond of Gold.
The hammer had once been giving to the boy as a gift from his eldest and most powerful brother, and was even named by the man who had went missing in the Void.
Tears welled in Gideon's eyes, as he lifted the hammer above his head, and pulled downward with all of the might and courage that he could muster.
However, before he could do anything Kael's eyes began to glow with a terrible blue tint.
Then around Gideon, the ground began to shake and he lost balance of The Bond of Gold.
"Damnit!"
Before he knew it, Gideon was falling into a deep cavern in the ground, and at its bottom stood thousands of sharp icy spikes.
Then another loud crashed drowned out of the screams of the crowd, and echoed through the arena like an explosion of mighty energy.
A powerful force pulled on Gideon, pushing him into a newly formed crater in the walls of the cavern.
"Fool! He isn't yours to fight!"
A familiar bronze haired, boy with a truly angered expression scowled down at him from the top of the crater.
Leo was here, and he had nothing but rage within his bronze eyes.
So it was true...
The Leo of House Lion would find his revenge today, and he would sure as hell make sure of it.
"Kill that bastard."
Gideon screamed, realizing that he was at his limit.
"Oh trust me... I've been dreaming of this."