The first was Quigley, sitting front and center on the Ta-hoe side. What was more important was that he had Tananda with him. She was still asleep, floating horizontally in the air in front of him. Apparently he didn't want to miss the game, and didn't trust us enough to leave her unguarded back at his workshop.
He saw me staring and waved. I didn't wave back. Instead, I was about to call Aahz's attention to my find when I noticed the second thing.
Griffin was at the edge of the field, jumping up and down and frantically waving his arms to get my attention. As soon as he saw I was watching him, he began vigorously beckoning to me. Aahz was engrossed in conversation with the Tahoe spokesman, so I ambled off to see what Griffin wanted.
"Hello, Griffin," I smiled. "How've you been?"
"I just wanted to tell you," he gasped, breathless from his exertions, "I've changed sides. If there's anything I can do to help you, just sing out."
"Really?" I drawled, raising an eyebrow. "And why the sudden change of heart, not to mention allegiances?"
"Call it my innate sense of fair play," he grimaced. "I don't like what they're planning to do to you. Even if my old team is involved, I don't like it."
"What are they planning to do to us?" I demanded, suddenly attentive.
"That's what I wanted to warn you about," he explained. "The two teams had a meeting about this game. They decided that however much they hated each other, neither side wanted to see the Trophy go to a bunch of outsiders."
"That's only natural," I nodded, "but what..."
"You don't understand!" the youth interrupted hastily. "They're going to double-team you! They've declared a truce with each other until they've knocked you off the field. When the game starts you'll be up against two teams working together against your one!"
"Kid! Get back here!"
Aahz's bellow reminded me there was another conference going on.
"I've got to go. Griffin," I declared. "Thanks for the warning."
"Good luck!" he called. "You're going to need it."
I trotted back onto the field, to find the assemblage waiting for me with expectant expressions.
"They want to see the Trophy," Aahz informed me with a wink.
"As per our original agreement," the Ta-hoe spokesman added stiffly. "It should be here to be awarded to the victorious team."
"It is here," I announced firmly.
"I beg your pardon?" Graybeard blinked, looking around.
"Show him, kid," my mentor grinned.
"All right," I nodded, "everybody stand back."
In many ways it was harder to produce the statue using magik than it would have been to do it with physical labor. I had to agree with Aahz, though, that this way was far more dramatic.
Stretching my levitation capacities to their utmost, I went to work. A large hunk of turf was lifted from the center of the field and set aside. Then the exposed dirt was shoved aside, and finally the Trophy rose into view. I let it hover in midair while I rearranged the dirt and replaced the turf, then let it settle majestically to rest in all its magnificent, ugly splendor.
The crowd roared its approval, though whether for my magik or the Trophy itself I wasn't sure.
"Pretty good," Aahz exclaimed, slapping me gently on the back.
"Gleep," my pet exclaimed, adding his slimy tongue to the offered congratulations.
"Very clever," Graybeard admitted. "We never thought to look there. A little rough on the field, though, isn't it?"
"It'll get torn up this afternoon anyway," my mentor shrugged. "Incidentally, when's game time?"
As if in answer to his question, the stands exploded in bedlam. I hadn't thought the stadium could get any noisier, but this was like a solid wall of sound pressing in on us from all sides.
The reason for the jubilation was immediately obvious. Two columns of figures had emerged from a tunnel at the far end of the stadium and were jogging onto the field.
The blue and yellow tunics of one column contrasted with the scarlet and white tunics of the other, but served nicely to identify them as our opponents. This, however, was not their most noteworthy feature.
The Ta-hoe team was wearing helmets with long, sharp spikes on the top, while their counterparts from Veygus had long, curved horns emerging from either side of their helmets giving them an animalistic appearance. Even more noticeable, all the players were big. Bigger than any Jahk I had encountered to date. Easily as big as Chumly, but brawnier with necks so short their heads seemed to emerge directly from their shoulders.
As I said earlier, I count real good up to five, and there were considerably more than five players on each team.
Chapter Twenty-Three:
"Life is full of little surprises."
-PANDORA
AS I was prone to do in times of crises, I turned to my mentor for guidance. Aahz, in turn, reacted with the calm level headedness I've grown to expect.
Seizing the Ta-hoe spokesman by the front of his tunic, Aahz hoisted him up until his feet were dangling free from the ground. "What is this!!"
he demanded. Glaah ... sakle..." the fellow responded.
"Urn... Aahz?" I intervened. "He might be a little more coherent if he could breathe."
"Oh! Right," my mentor acknowledged, lowering the spokesman until he was standing once more. "All right. Explain!"
"Ex... explain what?" Graybeard stammered, genuinely puzzled. "Those are the teams from our respective cities. You can tell them apart by their helmets and..."
"Don't give me that!" Aahz thundered. "Those aren't Jahks. Jahks are skinny or overweight!"
"Oh! I see." the spokesman said with dawning realization. "I'm afraid you've been misled. Not all Jahks are alike. Some are fans, and some are players-athletes. The fans are ... a little out of shape, but that's to be expected. They're the workers who keep the cities and farms running. The players are a different story. All they do is train and so on. Over the generations, they've gotten noticeably larger than the general population of fans."
"Noticeably larger?" Aahz scowled, glaring down the field. "It's like they're another species!"
"I've seen it happen in other dimensions," Gus observed, "but never to this extent."
"Well, Big Julie warned us about over-confidence," Chumly sighed.
"What was that?" Graybeard blinked.
"Want fight," Chumly declared, dropping back into character. "Crunch likes fight."
"Oh," the spokesman frowned. "Very well. If there's nothing else, I'll just..."
"Not so fast," I interrupted. "I want to know why there are so many players. The game is played by five-man teams, isn't it?"
"That's right." Graybeard nodded. "The extra players are replacements... you know, for the ones who are injured or killed during the game."
"Killed?" I swallowed.
"As I said," the spokesman called, starting off, "I admire your confidence in only bringing five players."
"Killed?" I repeated, turning desperately to Aahz.
"Don't panic, kid," my mentor growled, scanning the opposition. "It's a minor setback, but we can adapt our strategies."
"How about the old ‘divide and conquer' gambit?" Badaxe suggested, joining Aahz.
"That's right," Gus nodded. "They're not used to playing a three-way game. Maybe we can play them off against each other."
"It won't work," I declared flatly.
"Don't be so negative, kid," Aahz snapped. "Sometimes old tricks are the best."
"It won't work because they won't be playing against each other... just us."