By the day of the match, Nedric was in a foul mood. The previous week had seen Rialto spending more time with Strawn, discussing strategy and practicing passing manoeuvres. Nedric had felt more and more isolated. Strawn had put the five of the front line against the other six and it was clear that the team was very quick and mobile. The four lads looked like they would be fairly good defensively and it was rare if more than one person got past them. Nedric and Callendra could easily squash one player and so there had been no challenge for them.
On the day before, Strawn had played the team against a team made up of the better players in the keep and Nedric hadn’t had a touch of the ball all game. Strawn had shown just how athletic he was and when the front line had been stopped, the middle line had help to push the ball and score. Callendra had found a dry spot on one of the banks and sat there for the entire game, whilst Nedric had prowled up and down and silently cursed Strawn.
It seemed like everyone had turned out to watch the match. From where he was standing Nedric could see that most of the cooks and maids were finding spaces for themselves on one side of the bank whilst flirting with the guards. Even old Spodger the keep librarian was there and he rarely managed to leave the library these days. On the other side of the bank were the villagers and again it seemed that most of them were taking time off from their duties to come and watch and support their side. The team from the keep had been fitted with some of the guards’ old tabards, which were a rich green and the villagers from somewhere had obtained some blue garments although not all of these were the same shade. Nedric suspected that all had come from Janit’s shop. The people on either side of the bank were showing their support by holding poles from which draped ribbons of the appropriate colour.
Captain Tolbeck signalled and one of the guards played a fanfare, there was an immediate hush from all sides. His loud roar could be heard clearly by all present.
“Good people of Asgril, we are met today to see the young people of keep and village compete. I have, in honour of this the first match, and in the hope that this will become an annual event, had commissioned this elaborate tankard. It will be held by the winning team for the next year and will be the prize in each following match.”
There was a cheer for that announcement but it was nowhere near as loud as the cheer that followed his next remark.
“After this game I have arranged with the keep cooks that everyone gathered will be fed and watered at the keep and at the Duke’s expense!”
“Furthermore I have spoken to the captains of both teams and a set of rules have been agreed. There will not be any pushing opposing players out of bounds unless they have the ball. There will be no trying to injure your opponents unless you wish to be taken out of the game. Finally, for this match, the length of the game is fixed at one hour. The team with the highest score at that time will be deemed the winner, if the scores are level then the next team to score wins!”
There was quite a bit of discussion over this announcement, there had never really been much in the way of rules before, only three goals to win and the boundaries of the game. Although the rules as stated were simple people were considering the implications of a time limit and also the removal of a player from the game. Both rules would lead to new tactics and that would inevitably make the game more interesting. Already it was going through some people’s minds that determining how dangerous a player was being to an opponent would require a referee and that that person would have to be impartial. Clearly the Captain had had the same thought.
“Without further ado let me now introduce the two teams, from the keep, Strawn, Rialto, ….”
From behind the keep gate the team ran out with Nedric bringing up the rear. They arranged themselves to one side of the captain so that everyone could see them. As the Captain read out the names of the village team Strawn started applauding and the rest of the team joined in so that the village team were warmly greeted as they ran past and to the other side of the Captain.
“Last, but not least, may I introduce to you an old colleague of mine, who will act as an impartial adjudicator, Captain Ulfick from Tomin!”
There was another large cheer and then again as the Captain called for the game to begin. The two team captains went over to Ulfick and a large coin was thrown into the air. The captains looked to where the coin had landed and then led their teams to the respective ends of the stream area. This had been marked out by someone who had used white sand to show both the ends of the area and extent of the playing area on each side. The teams lined up behind the lines and Captain Tolbeck signalled for a fanfare to start the game.
Until this point Nedric had not had a chance to really look at the opposition, in the keep the two teams had been kept apart and although he had watched them come out to line up, he hadn’t really taken much in as there were so many people watching them. Now, as most of the players rushed towards the ball, he was able to focus more on what they were up against. That there were no girls playing in the opposition team was not really a surprise. Most of the village girls worked in the keep as maids or in the kitchen so would have divided loyalties anyway, even if they were to have sufficient time in which to practice. Also if the number of students had not been so small it was quite likely that the students would have fielded an all boy team, Murderball was traditionally a game of strength rather than skill.
Stolen story; please report.
The villagers were all apprentices. Two of the three lads who had been made to play the maid were included but they obviously were not the real threats to Strawn’s team as they were obviously as slow of body as they were of thought. The real threat was going to come from the apprentice blacksmith Calped. Not only was he a naturally fast lad but he was also by far the strongest player of either side. Years of beating iron had put muscles on him so that he was now stronger than most men. He got to the ball at the same time as Strawn and tossed the fair-haired lad aside. Rialto and Carenda were treated with similar contempt and it was only when Calped met the second line that he was slowed and stopped.
The practice that the keep team had put in began to show as they managed to get the ball from Calped before the rest of his side could catch up with him. As they started to press forward, Strawn was there to collect the ball from them and as the villagers rushed towards him to throw the ball on to Rialto. The smaller lad raced up the stream and past the slower villagers passing the ball on to Carenda when it looked like he would be stopped and collecting it again when she was blocked. Seconds later and he had crossed the line and scored.
The supporters on the keep side erupted with a loud cheer whilst the villagers booed and shouted encouragement to their team. Ulfick replaced the ball; the fanfare blew and play restarted. Calped reached the ball first, passed it back towards one of his teammates and this time the villagers worked as a team. Being generally larger and stronger they had decided to use that strength. The ball went into the middle of the mass and slowly they forced there way down stream. With the whole of the keep team trying their best to trip over the villagers, push them the other way and occasionally trying to sneak the ball away it was a slow process but gradually and inevitably the line got closer and eventually it was crossed. The score was tied and the game progressed.
The game began to develop a kind of rhythm after that. One of the keep team would get the ball and run with it, pass it to a teammate only to have that person stopped the ball taken away and gradually brought down stream again. The keep team would then find a way through to snatch the ball and the whole process would begin again. As each cycle finished the ball inched slowly in the villager’s favour.
Some time during this phase of play Carenda had the ball and was about to be tackled. She quickly threw it across the stream, aiming for Strawn who had a clearer path. As she threw it, there was a flash of movement and Calped, who had anticipated the throw intercepted the ball. His speed took him past the middle line of the keep and he rushed down the bank towards Callendra. Nedric, who was on the other side of the stream, hurried to join her. Callendra took one look at the large and extremely muddy lad rushing towards her and decided to get out of the way. Calped easily avoided Nedric’s despairing dive and moved through the gap Callendra had created to score.
The villagers went wild at this. As the game restarted and quickly returned to the mobile pile of bodies it had been before, the villagers chanted that the game was all over. Certainly there was little time left for the keep team to make a comeback.
Suddenly there was a scream from the pile of bodies, followed by a rush of movement from Ulfick. He pushed his way through the writhing mass and emerged holding one of the villagers in one hand and a small knife in the other. As the teams separated one figure could be seen clutching at his side and that person was Strawn.
Although it looked like quite a bit of blood had been spilt, when his shirt was removed Strawn could see that it was only a shallow cut and after washing the wound in wine, and applying a dressing he elected to continue. Sindruk, the offending villager, was escorted from the field of play by one of Tolbeck’s guards and the game restarted.
Now the keep team had a player advantage but there was very little time left. Strawn called for some rapid passing and was rewarded for his own fast running by receiving the ball from Rialto with only a short distance between him and the villager’s line. There was only one obstacle and that was Calped. Strawn knew that he wasn’t quick enough to dodge around the other lad nor strong enough to wrestle past him so he tried the unexpected. He ran straight at Calped and as the villager braced himself to stop the charge, leapt over the apprentice. As he came down he rolled and his outstretched arm carried the ball across the line just before the fanfare called the end of the match.
Of course the match wasn’t finished. With a score of two each it became sudden death. The villagers were at a distinct disadvantage but this seemed to bring them together as a team. Their play seemed assured, their passes were accurate and they leapt to the task with a purpose. When Calped was passed the ball, the rest of the team did the unexpected. Each of the villagers grabbed the nearest keep player and held them. This left Calped on his own to face Callendra and Nedric and once again he ran towards the girl. Perhaps he expected her to move quickly out of the way or perhaps Callendra showed more nerve than before, anyway the two collided and the ball went flying out of Calped’s hands and into the stream. This was Nedric’s chance; he reached for the ball at the same time as the despairing Calped. The wet ball, covered in mud, was not the easiest thing to grip but Nedric got it and managed to stand up. He was about to run when he felt a hand grab his leg. Knowing that Calped would drag him back down he looked to see if there was anyone free to receive the ball.
There was, Strawn had broken free from the villager who had grabbed him and was racing and calling for the ball. Nedric saw no choice and threw the ball to Strawn. The keep team were now the ones holding on to the villagers and it was easy for Strawn to move past everyone and score. The keep dwellers roared their approval whilst the villagers hung their heads. Tolbeck reached for the tankard and pressed it into an elated Strawn’s hands.
At the party afterwards everyone was in a good mood except for Nedric. Strawn had been treated like a hero ever since the game, as had most of the rest of the team but Nedric was the forgotten player. It hadn’t helped that he had had only one touch of the ball in the entire game so could hardly be said to have contributed to the success. He found himself an out of the way spot on the battlements and was gloomily sitting there drinking. The sounds of merriment were somewhat muted where he perched and he gazed out towards the woodland feeling sorry for himself. Rhianna seemed to have forgiven Strawn for whatever had caused their split at least enough to give him a kiss in congratulations.
As he sat alone with his thoughts, he thought he saw a glimpse of movement from the woods. He peered out and thought he saw a person emerging from amongst the trees. They were wearing a dark cloak, which made it hard to distinguish anything about them and they soon disappeared from sight. As Nedric started to wonder who was slinking around, his thoughts were disturbed by a voice calling his name. Rialto had noticed his absence and gone looking, as his smaller friend burst upon the scene laden with food and drink and bursting with energy Nedric was distracted enough to forget about the figure. Rialto was talking about their forthcoming journey and that was an enjoyable enough event that Nedric brightened almost immediately.