““You know,” said Osonia, “Once in a while Kondor does a decent job. Before he took over as coach, I doubt we could have booked a match against a team with a record like Cubic. They have about 900 wins and 400 losses. It doesn’t get much better than that.”

Nienna sniped back. “Sure. But it only makes this game one of thirteen hundred for them. It will be forgotten before they replace the gutter runner Throthradir crushed.”

“Too true.” Kydeth interjected. “Worse. If the game ever comes up Kondor will point out that this was just one of two hundred draws played by the rats. We needed a win for the Archer of Avelon star to rise.”

The door to the locker room opened and Revwe rolled herself to the front of the room in a wheelchair to address the team.

“That was an awful match.” She began. “It is one we should have won. The first half went our way with rats tripping all over themselves. Throthradir managed to avoid that star’s stabbing all game long and even injured a gutter runner. Kydeth played well and put two points on the board. However, our defense was porous. It was imperative that we put their legend on the bench early. Instead he scored twice. Also, we need to watch each other better. I had no warning that their blitzer was going to hit me. Now I will have to sit out while my leg mends. Does anyone have any comments or suggestions?”

The room was silent.

“Alright then. Two-a-day practices for the next month. Go home and rest. Be ready for tomorrow. There will be a memorial service at the stadium for the scrub we hired at noon.”
”