Silverbonce, meanwhile, only had one intention... to get the ball. Surging forward, he surprised Dunedin's Rex as he swept past at speed. Currently, Flamer had possession of the ball and seemed to be teasing Bronti with it. The look on his face was priceless as Silverbonce approached. It was practically the last thing he expected. Drawing up short of Flamer, the old mouth guard held out his wings in anticipation of getting the ball. Flamer, momentarily confused as to why Silverbonce was this far up the pitch, hesitated. And that's all it took for Dunedin's Terry to zoom up from beneath him and pinch the ball from right out between his wings. Clumsily, Flamer tumbled off to one side, dazed and confused. Cursing under his breath, Silverbonce took off after the ball.
A groggy Steel managed to feebly roll onto his side, back on the ledge deep within his own half. Through slightly blurred vision, he could just make out Silverbonce hurrying after the ball. Closing his eyes, silently he wished the old mouth guard good luck.
THWACK! Terry slapped the ball down the line with his tail, executing a perfect pass to Rex, who in turn shot up towards the ceiling, all the time twisting and turning. Again, Silverbonce cursed. It was one thing being a mouth guard (normally his experience more than made up for his lack of youth and fitness) but it was something else altogether to go chasing after dragons who were half his age. Once the Warriors got the ball, he was sure he could get it, but as he lagged well behind play, heading back towards his own half, he wasn't nearly so certain. Considering letting the Dinosaurs score, knowing that even then there was no guarantee he'd get the ball from the restart, all he really knew as he pumped his wings in frustration, was that things were not going well.
Wondering just where the rest of the team were, Cheese and Barf hurriedly chased back.
'Silverbonce is supposed to be guarding the mouth,' thought Barf, 'and yet there's a great big gaping chasm there. And come to think of it, where in the name of all that's hot is Steel? I haven't seen him since the start of the game.' Roaring flame spat out of Barf's mouth, flicking back down both sides of his jaw as he pursued the Dinosaurs player with the ball, determined to redouble his efforts and stop them getting a shot off.
Having expended a massive amount of energy in putting himself between the ball and the Warriors' mouth, Cheese hovered to a halt, wondering if the rest of the team would use the valuable seconds he'd bought them... wisely.
Rex had little choice but to pass the ball, with Barf hounding him mercilessly and Cheese blocking him out front. The pass, much to the relief of the Warriors, had to go back, because the rest of the Dinosaurs hadn't managed to keep up with him on the break. Simultaneously, Cheese and Barf both let out sighs of relief, tiny dribbles of orange flame snaking from their nostrils. Meanwhile, Silverbonce would have let out a similar sigh at the sight of the back pass and the slowdown of play, had he had any breath left. Flying at breakneck speed, well... for him anyway, he closed in on Bronti, who currently had hold of the ball. Instinctively, Bronti pummelled the ball with his tail to Tri who'd stormed up to support the rest of his team. Just before it reached his outstretched arms though, up popped Flamer from absolutely nowhere, looking fully recovered from his collision with Terry. Tri lunged forward, trying with all his might to tackle Flamer, but the young dragon was too quick, zipping upwards and executing a perfect one hundred and eighty degree flip, before pouring on as much speed as he dare, heading towards the lava. Silverbonce looked on exasperated. Desperation welled up inside him as the feeling he had got stronger and stronger, more out of control, almost as if on a timer. With every second that passed, the situation seemed more and more urgent.
All three friends had no idea which way to look. First this way, then that way, the game becoming something of a blur and they, like the rest of the spectators, still had absolutely no idea why Silverbonce was hovering in the middle of the arena instead of guarding his mouth.
Shooting across the bubbling lava, whipping up the roiling magma in his wake, Flamer dodged in and out of steaming pockets of erupting flame as Rex tore towards him from above. Quite quickly it became obvious that because the lava had slowed him down, a challenge from Rex was unavoidable. Searching frantically for one of his teammates, Flamer was lucky that Barf had continued his great work ethic and was now flying parallel to him, some twenty or so yards off to his right, about a yard or so above the bubbling magma. With Rex closing fast, Flamer did the only thing he really could. In one silky smooth move, he flipped the ball up in the air, let his momentum carry it down the length of his tail and once there, braked sharply for all he was worth, transferring all the force in the move to power his tail, and BANG! Off sped the ball in the direction of Barf, a fraction of a second before Rex slammed into him. Accompanied by the sound of breaking bones and tearing ligaments, both dragons careered off in different directions, both splashing unceremoniously into the searing orange lake.
Silverbonce, meanwhile, tried to breathe first through his nose, then through his mouth.
'At this point,' he thought, 'I'd try breathing through my bottom if I thought it would help me keep up with the action.' Now that play had been reversed and the Warriors had possession, he wasn't far off the ball, but was still struggling to keep up.
'If only they'd keep still for just a few seconds,' he mused, flapping his burning wings as hard as he could.
Picking up the ball with the end of his tail, Barf casually flicked it up into his hands, feeling a tickle of heat from the lava on his bulging belly as he did so. With the laminium from the ball boosting his senses, he reached out telepathically to his teammates, only to find a muzzy kind of static blocking him. Pulling up sharply, hovering just above the molten magma, so close he could feel the tip of his tail being splattered with tiny droplets, without any opponents nearby, he tried to take in the overall picture of the game. Two dragon medics were currently winging their way towards Rex and Flamer, both of whom were still face down in the scorching lava. Cheese seemed to be catching his breath, right in front of his own mouth. Tri and Terry were zipping across the cavern on an intercept course, while Bronti and Raptor were holding their positions between him and the Dinosaurs' mouth. Strangely, Silverbonce was the closest Warrior to him, something he found odd, but didn't have time to dwell on. Weaving across and then up, hugging the rocks that jutted out of the side of the arena, it suddenly occurred to him that there was no sign of Steel, which in turn made his heart pump furiously.
'Come back,' thought Silverbonce, anxiously trying to project what he was feeling in Barf's direction. It must have worked to some extent as Barf glanced over his shoulder at the old mouth guard, giving him a quizzical look, almost colliding with a particularly vicious section of wall for his trouble. Drawing to a halt and projecting a picture of Barf giving the ball to him, Silverbonce used up every last ounce of his willpower. Surprised by the image inside his mind that had all but overwhelmed him, Barf hovered to a halt halfway up the wall. Turning and looking back in the old dragon's direction, he was more than a little puzzled when Silverbonce motioned for him to come back, but knew better than to question his teammate's cunning and experience. After all, the wily old mouth guard had singlehandedly saved the team on countless occasions. Assuming this was just another one of those highly unusual and highly successful ruses, Barf used his mighty talons to push off from the rocky incline, heading swiftly towards his popular teammate.
Tri and Terry filled their team's telepathic connection with a sense of puzzlement as they cut through the air at speed towards the lone Warrior with the ball, when unexpectedly he headed back towards the centre of the arena, and the crazy mouth guard who'd long since abandoned his position. Adjusting their trajectories, both sped off accordingly.