“Team Eclipse is starting to have some trouble folks!” The announcer said excitedly, “I didn’t see it happen, but Bree, Eclipses healer is wounded! It looks like it might be a critical hit!”

“That isn’t trouble, it’s called strategic planning,” Alex grumbled under his breath, making Bree laugh.

“That’s what you get for using me as bait!” Bree’s breathless voice echoed in his ears through his headset.

Alex edged his way into place on the limb of a tree about three stories up, and pulled his bowstring towards the side of his cheek, “It’s not my fault that everyone thinks healers are weak,” he replied.

“Don’t worry, Bree, Momma Trin’s got your back,” The other woman on the team said from her hiding place in the shadows nearby. Trinity was a damn good assassin and could take down a meat shield knight faster than anyone he’d ever met.

“Aren’t you the one who just threw the knife at me in the first place, Trin? I’m not sure that’s the same kind of got your back that you’re thinking of,” Bree laughed again as she stayed in her place in the center of the clearing and touched her chest with another heal that pushed the tiny throwing knife out of her back to clatter against the fallen log she sat upon. “That was a little too close to the lungs, woman, you almost got a critical strike with that. You took a fourth of my health bar!”

“I had to make it look realistic, didn’t I? It had to look like a crit strike, no one would have believed you were actually hurt if I’d stuck the knife in your arm,” Alex could hear the grin in Trinity’s voice.

Something metal reflected the sun before someone covered the offensive telltale, “They’re back. Bree started running towards Trin. Urie, get ready to move on my say. Nick, start your casting... Now!” Alex held himself still, tracking the enemy party with the tip of his arrow as they started to give chase to their healer.

“Team Arachnid has spotted the injured healer from team Eclipse and has started pursuit!” The announcer cried out intensely.

Alex hated the announcers. It would be one thing if they couldn’t hear them, but it never failed, if something happened and the announcer saw it happen, they gleefully called it out to the audience, giving all the information to the opposing team. It was the worst set up they’d ever had the misfortune to come across.

Of course, that’s what always happened in the championship finals, so Alex had planned for this. Bree stumbled artfully, making herself look panicked. The fact that the other team could believe a healer in the championship game was panicked made him want to roll his eyes.

Bree pressed a bloody hand-print to the gray bark of an ash tree and muttered a spell under her breath. The healer had learned this particular spell yesterday, just for this exact moment. It wasn’t a healing spell. Alex grinned wickedly as he continued to watch things unfold.

It was almost time for Nick’s spell to unleash, but the other team was being a little too slow. Shit. “Bree times up, use Angelic pull against them,” Alex called out quickly.

Bree immediately whipped around and held out her staff. She targeted the person farthest from the group and unleashed her spell. A golden lasso surrounded the person and pulled them forward, knocking them into the teammates in front of them and yanking them all closer to the marked ash tree. They had a bit of luck when the spell also caught the Arachnid’s assassin. They hadn’t realized he’d been hiding in the shadow of their warrior.

Nick’s spell circle spun into existence under the opposition while they were all regaining their balance. The spell wasn’t a real offensive spell, but it boosted any other spell cast by their team in the next thirty seconds. Which was all it would take.

The bloody hand-print flared as the spell was triggered by team Arachnid’s vicinity, hitting each of them with the sanguine dot. It was a dark priest spell from the first level in the darkness attribute tree. By itself, it didn’t do all that much damage, but with Nick’s wizard spell, it acted as if each of the opposition had ten damage over time spells on them ticking away life with each second.

Alex began to shower them in projectiles, carefully aiming each one, so he didn’t accidentally hit Urie, who was hiding close by. The arrows he launched also had spells, causing each one to explode like a grenade in the center of the enemy group. “Okay, go Urie!” Alex called out, and Urie jumped from under a pile of leaves near the fallen log and got to work.

Urie’s sword was able to kill their healer quickly, and he dispatched their magic wielder next. Neither class had enough armor to stop such aggressive attacks. Their assassin couldn’t disappear from sight with the sanguine spell leaching his health, but he did stand up and dodge into the trees before Urie could catch him. Unfortunately, he wasn’t close to Trin. But their warrior was running her way.

“I’m down, arrow got me,” called out Bree, and Alex groaned. The damned hunter from the other team had taken her out.

“Took out the assassin,” Nick said, “but the hunter got me after.”

Alex didn’t comment but instead released an armor-piercing arrow at the back of the warrior. The warrior spun around and backed into the tree line, keeping his shield up, and moved directly into Trin’s waiting arms. She quickly dispatched the warrior, then disappeared using her shadow meld ability, “Hey! I’m still alive boss!” She chirped.

“We knew that was going to be a tricky one, but we’re three to his one. Let’s hunt him down and win this game!” Alex said even as he began jumping from tree limb to tree limb, using the forest giants as an upper highway.

“I was shot from behind, Alex,” Bree said.

“Got me in the forehead when he shot me, I was facing Bree’s way,” Nick added.

“He’s probably not exactly North now. Trin stay shadowed and make your way North West. Urie, do you want North or North East?” Alex shouldered his bow then crouched and leaped to a limb that stood at least ten feet away. He grasped it with both hands and brought himself to the top of it like an Olympic gold medalist.

“Give me North since I know you won’t run through the clearing,” Urie said, already heading past Bree’s dead body. He signed a cross over his face as he passed making Bree laugh over their headsets again.

“First one to find the hunter gets dinner paid for,” Alex called out, making Nick and Bree grumble.

“Fine, the person living who doesn’t find him gets to pay for drinks tonight,” Alex amended, making everyone cheer.

“Why do I have a feeling I’m going to be the one buying?” Mumbled Trin.

“It would serve you right after that backstab,” Bree giggled.

“Okay, settle down, we need to be able to hear,” He brought them back to the task at hand, and everything went quiet. It was time to settle this, and win the championship.