Chapter Four

"I no longer fear death; I fear going back over the top."

- Unknown Soldier

Coren

The cold of the morning brushed against Corens cheeks as he pressed through the doors into the stadium. It was early, before almost anybody but the staff would be in, but that was for the best. He needed the time alone, needed the space to process the world and the changes. 

It took only a few minutes to make his way through the stadium and into the locker room, his locker untouched and with no signs of damage. That was a surprise, he'd have assumed someone would have done something to it after hearing the news. Clicking it open, he found his jersey and shorts, similarly untouched. With an ease of practice he slipped into his uniform and closed the locker, putting his regular clothes up in a bundle inside the space. 

The lights of the gym flickered into existence as Coren flipped the switch on the wall, illuminating the weights, benches, and stations that the facility offered. Most involved magic of a sort, spare the weights which were literally just condensed metals. Stalking across the room, Coren stepped up to the individual hand weights, picked up a pair at the mid range, and began to pump. 

Up. Down. Breathe. Up. Down. Breathe. Up. Down. Br-

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"Breathe Coren," 

Corens eyes slipped from the letter in his hands, if it could even be called that, to the elderly man before him. They were both dressed in fine shirts and pressed jackets, metal accenting pieces of the outfit at points to signify rank. Coren found it disgusting, but apparently that didn't matter. The man, aged well into his later years with a graying beard and hair covered by a metal cap, rested a hand on Corens shoulder and shook him lightly. 

"Breathe man." He said

Coren stared at the paper. "Is this correct?" He asked after a moment and the concept of speaking caught back up with him. 

" 'Fraid so son. Orders came down last night, you, yours, and the others of the 4th are pushing the line tomorrow."

Death, that's what this is, a death sentence. "Why? That land has been empty for weeks, why push it now?" Coren asked, mind racing between ideas and fears.

"Who can say, all I know is what I've heard." 

Coren stuck the paper into a pocket and extended a hand. "Good knowing you Winston."

Winston, eyes filled with the smallest amount of confusion, but he accepted and shook the hand twice. 

"I'll see you in a week Coren. All of you." 

Their hands raised and fell, raised and fell, raised and-

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Coren dropped the weight onto the padded floor and let it jostle on the landing until it came to rest. His arms shook with the effort and strain. Sighing, he left the weights to their resting place on the floor and went to the suspension machine used for running. It was slow going at first as he raised himself into the gravity field and had to adjust to the weightless, untethered feeling of floating. Using his arms, he positioned himself in the center and started to move. Step by step, moment by moment, he picked up pace. Faster. Faster. He had to be faster. He had to-

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Be faster, he had to be faster. Not now, he couldn't die now. 

A blast of magical energy, formed into the shape of a massive ball of fire, slammed into the ground near Coren, lifting him off his feet and flinging him haphazardly against a wall where he crashed with a thud. The wind seemed to leave his lungs as his back smacked harshly against the dirt. He wheezed, dirt being sucked into his mouth in the process as debris fell from the explosion. 

"MOVE COREN!"

He couldn't see where the shout was coming from, but he heard it clearly over the sounds of the explosions and death. Bullets snapped and hissed overheard as Coren pulled himself from the wall and rushed along the ground. Stumbling on all fours, he slipped and tumbled through the mud as another blast went off behind him. More rubble, more debris, more limbs. An arm landed on the ground before Coren but he forced himself to look away. Fighting back the desire to vomit from the image of the limbs missing fingers and gnarled uniform, Coren pressed on. His foot pressed the arm further down into the mud as he trudged on. 

Screams were all he could hear for some time as he cleared the first trench, then second, then third... By the fourth the screaming had subsided down to a dull roar over the guns and explosions. It was the begging for help that kept his feet pumping though. Step-by-step, moment by moment, he picked up pace. Faster. Faster. He had to be faster. He had to be-

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Coren pulled himself up short as the speed he was reaching outpaced what he could do consistently. Easing out of the pace, he slowed down until he'd lost the momentum enough to manipulate himself in the field again, then gripped the sides and pulled his way out. He dropped-

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-onto the firm earth of trench, mud sticking to the walls as he landed. Another explosion rippled the world around him and spread a new layer of dirt and grime across the waiting soldiers. Dozens stood in crouched formation along the walls and inside the makeshift defenses made for bombardments. 

"Get ready." He said over the noise, but whether his words carried didn't matter. Each soldier in that group had been watching and waiting for Corens return since before first light. They knew what he was delivering, knew what was waiting for them 'over the top'. Death. Few would survive, fewer still would make it out uninjured.

"What are our orders, sir?" Joahnnes, Corens second in command and the youngest man to ever climb to the position, crouch-walked his way over to where Coren was collapsed and breathing heavy. 

"We go over and secure the 86th Region, take what we can, kill who we can, and get back alive." Coren said between pants. 

"The 86th's been empty for nearly a month, why push it now?" Joahnnes asked

"I wish I had an answer for you," Coren said. 

Joahnnes extended a hand in offer to help him up and Coren accepted, though he contemplated staying in the mud for a while longer. At least there he felt content, like he was already dead and nothing more could happen. Lifted up though, he could see the faces of the young recruits and tired old dogs of war that made up his platoon. These men were not the dregs of the military, these men were the unfortunate souls that were sent to the front because they asked for it. 

How foolish he'd been to be like them at one point. 

"Coren?"

His mind flooded with the sounds of the screams of those that he'd passed, the sights of their hands outstrtched, begging for aid or mercy. The bullets he'd put in those heads to save them from the torture of the enemy...

"Coren? You okay? Co-

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"-ren. You okay?"

The words snapped Corens mind back into reality as he stared around the room. Others were beginning to filter in. The rest of the starters and a few of the reserves were conversing and starting their workouts in the many machines. The clink of weights moving and pins pressing filled the space as he shifted his mind back into the realm of the real. Mart stood a few steps away, eyes filled with an air of concern that made Coren realize he'd been zoning out too much. 

"Yeah," Coren said quickly "just thinking about things is all."

"Well, we're all almost ready for the first game whenever you are Captain."

"Right," Coren nodded and looked around the room. No one stared or shot him dirty looks, instead most seemed to be excited at the prospect of the day to come. He motioned for those standing around, the ones who were ready and waiting, to follow and started walking to the door leading out onto the pitch.

Rion

From his elevated position in the stands, Rion watched as the starters and reserves spread out on the raised field that made up the Skythe pitch. Rion could make out the formations being created, like triangles forming between players. He could see the intricate links of connection between the players and each teams activator, though the special glasses on his face helped with that. He wasn't familiar enough with the sport to own his own pair, so he'd borrow a guest set from the offices. 

"So?" Leopold asked as he floated up through the stands until he hovered just above the seat next to Rion. "What do you think of the stands?"

"Weird question." Rion said, scooting over one seat to the side to allow a space of room between them. "But they're okay I suppose. What does that have to do with anything?"

"Well you've been staying up here to watch lately, instead of the coaches area which is just as comfortable and closer to the pitch. So I figured you were enjoying the stands more."

"No I-" Rion stopped himself, catching the look of a sly smile flitting across Leopolds ghostly face. "You're fucking with me again."

"Not in so many words." Leopold said.

"What do you make of them?" Rion asked, leaning back in the seat and crossing his leg over the other. "Cause I still don't see the connection forming between them."

"You just made Coren Captain. It'll take some time to get them to actually work as a team under the new leader."

Rion scoffed "Please, I've checked the reports, the rumors, all the previous games that I could and I came to the same conclusion. Coren has been running this team for some time, Taberny was just holding them back."

"So you intimated to the board when you were pressed I heard."

"Yeah, that was a fun time." Rion sighed. 

"What are you planning then?" Leopold asked

"I'm planning on letting them get their collective asses handed to them, then I'll step in and present them with a new way of doing things."

"You think that will work?"

Rion shrugged. "Honestly I'm not sure. I might have too much faith in myself for my own good, but all I can do is try." 

Somewhere on the pitch an assistant Coach blew a whistle, kicking off the match. The reserves started with the ball, and so Rion watched as they began to press down the field, ball being kicked between the front two. Coren, stationed at the center of the starters, shouted something to the other players as he rushed forward. The links of energy began to pulse as the two forwards in front of Coren made to press the charging players. 

"He's quite talented." Leopold said. 

"Hmm?" It took Rion a moment to realize that he'd leaned forward to watch as Coren was nearly tackled and nimbly leaped over the slide. Collecting the ball on his back heel, he kicked it backwards towards one of the defensive players, who then passed it along the side. A pulse of enhanced energy rushed from Coren to the player as they sprinted forward. Their talents clearly lying in speed, they seemed to almost leave an afterimage as they picked up the pace, nearly dancing through the defending front three of the reserves.

"Just figured that was what you were thinking."

"No, I... I mean, sure. Yes. But that wasn't all. It was that, well, does Corens tethers look a little weaker today?" 

"Perhaps he has something on his mind?" Leopold offered. "Tends to happen to new captains. They often get caught up in their own heads." 

"Perhaps.... I just assumed that Coren would be-" Rion caught the direction he was going in and frowned. "No, I suppose he's still just a player at the end of the day."

"Oh?"

"So, you fired Taberny and now you've got a captain who's getting caught in his own way. What do you plan to do now?"

Pinching his brow, Rion leaned back again. "You know I'm getting a little tired of hearing that question." 

"It's important each time I ask it." Leopold said. 

"I'll fix it, I don't know how but I'll fix it." Rion said "Maybe I'll talk to him today, see if there's something I can do to ease him into the position." 

"He's already got the position, and like you said he certainly was doing most of the work beforehand anyway, so it shouldn't be that difficult for him to take up the position." 

"Yeah well, people are often complex beings..." Rion said absently, eyes tracking Coren with a level of concentration that Leopold recognized but Rion was absent of. "We have the game in a week."

"Should be about when the next assistant coach should arrive." Leopold said

"And we're sure they're not a ghost too?" 

"Positive. They're as alive as the day is long." Leopold said nodding. 

"Okay. That's good, honestly I don't know that I could handle another being floating through the walls. It's a little disconcerting."

"Yet ever so fun." Leopold said, smile returning to his face. "You should really be down in the Coach's stand." 

Rion shook his head. "Haven't earned that yet, they'd really turn against me if I tried to push myself into their world. I need them to see that I'm learning and that I can provide them something. Even if that something is only a percentage chance more to win a game. If they truly have a desire to win something, then they'll see what I have to offer and take me up on it." 

"You really do have a lot of faith in yourself." Leopold said "Hopefully it isn't misplaced." 

Rion let out a small chuckle, "Yeah, kind of in that same mindset right now. I'll let you know how it turns out." 

Silence seated itself between them as they watched the players rush across the field. Explosions of fire from a reserve player sent Coren flying, only it didn't seem to bother him. While the threads connecting him to the others were thin, they remained stable. And while he was sent flying, he was able to roll on the landing and bounced back up into a sprint. 

"You ever think about what you'd do outside of this?" Rion asked.

Weak smile on his face, Leopold floated a touch higher over the seat and turned. "I love the game too much to leave it, and what better time to be a part of it than when history is about to be made?"