Midnight Sparks

The God & The Rogue

Chapter 3

Ezra

During training, Ezra stuck to his side of the field while Cain, Jude and Benno trained and dribbled on the opposite end. Chase was given the job to observe the boys while Ezra trained with a few other players on a different field. Luckily for Ezra he managed to keep his distance from Cain throughout the entire practise.

Although, at one point for a quick drink break Cain walked passed Ezra, giving him a wink on the way. Ezra's expressed disgust and internally groaned, as long as the Cain and his followers kept their distance Ezra had no problem with them playing.

After the long training session the coach called Chase and Ezra over to talk about the results. Ezra started to feel regret for accepting Cain into the training session as the coach went on a rant about how good the three boys were at soccer. Ezra felt even worse when the coach decided to place them into Chase and Ezra's A team.

Chase didn't want to admit it but they were very good. Benno was obviously aggressive but that was needed in the team, Jude was tactical and thoughtful while Cain was overall best at everything. Chase had always thought that Ezra was one of the most skilled players he had seen but he could see Cain rivalling Ezra's abilities. Chase continued talking with the coach while Ezra casually walked over to the bench to pack up. As he placed the footballs into the basket, an overlaying shadow appeared.

"Do you wanna say something?" Ezra dully said.

Cain gave Ezra a smile, it was the type of smile that deep down wanted to make Ezra punch him.

"I was just going to say that I enjoyed the training."

"Okay..."

"I wanted to train with you but I guess you were busy."

"Yep..."

"But I did notice that you don't really go all out when you're playing."

"Did you enjoy watching me play?" Ezra asked sarcastically.

"I thought I would but I didn't actually."

Ezra stopped packing up and glared at Cain. "Was I not entertaining enough for you?"

"I wouldn't say that. It's just...For someone who is considered the best player in town. I didn't see much, you're actually kind of dull."

A few players nearby stopped dead in their tracks from shock at their very own captain being insulted. Ezra's blood boiled, never in his life had he felt so insulted. Sure, he got a few swears and quick witted words thrown at him during matches against other school or from fights against rogues but maybe it was the fact that Cain was just like him that those words actually affected him.

Ezra didn't put much effort into training only because he didn't need to. Everyone knew that he was a natural at the game during real matches, so no one dared to say anything during training, not even the coach.

Benno suddenly appeared and took the opportunity to join in. "I thought so too, you're pretty shit. I guess the only good thing going for you is your pretty face."

Cain glared at Benno but then realised that he clearly gave the wrong impression. "Ah...Sorry. I didn't mean for it to come out as an insult. I meant-"

Ezra who was holding a ball in his hand squeezed it so hard that it deflated. Everyone looked at the two with nervousness. Tyler quickly stood in front of Ezra and tried to calm him down. Chase quickly joined in too and created some space between them.

"Calm down." Tyler freaked out.

The bright glint in Ezra's eyes had now darkened. Tyler could almost see the colour slowly start to change into a burning red. Ezra let out an almost silent growl which made Tyler panic even more. In the heat of the moment, Tyler quickly poked at Ezra's eyes.