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Ugwyll was the largest orc on the team and possibly the largest being currently employed by any professional sports organization. He had broad shoulders, thick arms, and a tendency to regard our games as if his and his family’s honor depended upon the outcome.

The enemy with the puck saw Ugwyll barreling his way and flinched, no doubt remembering what had happened to the human I’d fallen into and assuming compounded physical damage given Ugwyll’s height and weight compared to mine. The orc kept coming full-speed, making me immediately think of a human game I’d read about called “chicken”.

The human abandoned the puck, focusing instead on getting out of Ugwyll’s way before he was flattened by the orc. With truly awe-inspiring agility, Ugwyll managed to scoop up the puck with his stick as he flew by the human. The enemy team raced after him. I held my breath as Ugwyll didn’t slow down, skating straight toward the enemy goal. Their goalie bravely held his ground instead of fleeing his position in front of the net. The human defender was not so brave.

Ugwyll snapped the puck toward the goal, swerving to the side and barely missing the support of the nets before slamming into the boards. The orc bounced off and landed on his back, sliding a solid fifteen feet away.

The human goalie’s bravery saved the enemy team by stopping the puck with the pads on his shins before it entered the net. A loud “Ohhhh” filled the arena.

Ugwyll managed to get to his feet and down the field, but not before the enemy had scooped up the puck and arrived to take their own shot. The puck bounced off Morag’s chest and hit the ground in front of him. He looked at the round turd-like object for a few seconds, then whacked it with his stick. Unfortunately he hit more ice than anything else, and the puck remained too close to our goal.

Their left wing took the puck and circled around toward our goal. Grung stepped forward, stomping his blades into the ice to maintain his balance.

The human attempted to skate around him. Grung lowered one shoulder and stomped to the side, hitting the enemy cleanly. The impact echoed through the arena with the human bouncing off Grung, spinning, and sliding into the boards. Grung remained upright thanks to his skates firmly dug into the ice. He looked mildly disappointed that the experience had ended without a whistle or jail-time.

With the puck loose, Ozar swept it away, nearly taking out the referee. The crowd roared louder. I glanced at the scoreboard noting that we were still tied at zero. We would most likely lose this game as we had all of our other games, but it would be so satisfying for our team to score the first goal.

The enemy flanked Ozar, battling him for possession of the puck. “Eng!” he shouted.

At the opposite side, Eng leaned against the boards, as he had since the opening face-off. One shoulder rested against the glass, his arms folded as he scowled at the players before him.

“Eng!” Ozar shouted again, struggling to keep the puck away from the enemy.

“Eng! Take the puck!”

Ozar flicked the puck past the two enemy and toward Eng. The other orc watched it approach, watched it bounce off the wall next to him, watched as one of the enemy scooped it up with his stick and headed toward our net. I blew out a breath, frustrated that Ozar would even bother passing to Eng. The only time the orc had hit the puck was when it was coming straight for his head. That lucky swat had landed it in the enemy’s net. It irritated me that the least productive member of the team had been one of the few of us to score a goal.

My penalty ended. I climbed over the boards and returned to the ice with renewed determination. I would contribute to my team, even if it meant more jail time. I would demonstrate my value to them and to Abby. I would prove that extensive research could compensate for lack of talent and limited experience.

I took three strides on the ice and nearly lost my balance. Ugwyll had once more intimidated the enemy into giving up the puck, but this time he was unable to shoot it toward their net in time. Instead he bounced off the boards, once more sliding on his back as the puck rolled behind the enemy’s net.

A human collected the puck behind his net and started what I believed was called “a breakout”. Another human curled low, accepted the pass, and accelerated through middle portion that the video had called “the neutral zone”.

I knew what I should do. It was the only thing I seemed to be good at, even though it pained me a bit to admit it. According to the book, I should angle him toward the boards, keep my stick in the passing lane, whatever that was, maintain an inside position and avoid overcommitting.

I had a vague idea of what the book was saying–aside for the overcommitting thing. Ozar would nod his head in agreement at this strategy, and I knew I should attempt it. But I wasn’t good enough to succeed at this kind of maneuver, so I did what I knew would stop the human.

I skated directly at him.

His eyes widened and he changed direction. I attempted to change direction as well, which was a horrible mistake on my part. My skates lost traction, my arms flew out to keep myself from falling. Instead of colliding with the human player as I’d intended, the enemy ducked beneath one of my arms. My elbow impacted hard on the part of his body where his neck met his shoulder and he went down like a tree felled by an axe. As I was falling, I heard the whistle blow.

The crowd cheered even louder than before.

I lay on my back beside the human player and stared up at the arena lights. “I believe this one may also be a penalty,” I told him.

He groaned and sat up, pulling off a glove to rub at the point of elbow-impact. “You think?”

“I am very sorry about that,” I said as I also sat up. “I expected to collide with you, not hit you with my elbow. Are you badly injured?”

That was when the stripe-shirted human arrived. He looked at me. I looked at him.

“Two minutes,” he told me.

I sighed, struggling to my feet. “Which infraction?”

He hesitated, as though deciding among several options. “Interference.”

I nodded. “Will it reduce my penalty if I tell you it was an accident?”