Read Power Play for Free Online

Cassi to keep an eye on her especially.’
    â€˜Ooh, and what are the rest of us meant to do?’ giggled Zayna.
    Taking it seriously would be nice! thought Twink crossly. But before she could say anything, the school magpie gave his call, signalling that the game was about to begin.
    Twink took a deep breath. ‘Come on, everyone. Let’s show them what we’ve got!’
    She took off with her team in a rush of wings. The two opposing sides gathered on the field, the Sparklelight Guards taking up their positions around the centre pole. Their Flea sat atop it, poised to spring.
    Twink hovered with the other Stealers. To her relief, Vera and Zayna looked ready for action now. They were both good players, she reminded herself. Perhaps she’d been unreasonable to expect them to pay more attention during practice.
    The magpie shrieked again, starting the game. Instantly, the Flea bounded off the centre pole, right over the Guards’ heads. They jetted after him, but he was practically a blur as he leapt about the field.
    Twink motioned quickly to Summer, who whizzed around a pole to block the Flea’s path. The insect promptly bounded off again, straight towards Vera – but Vera hadn’t noticed Summer’s move, and was slow to react. The Flea soared past her.
    Twink grimaced. That should have been easy!
    The same thing kept happening again and again as the game went on. Vera and Zayna were trying their best, but they were both rusty, and not used to playing with the new team members. Soon the crowd was groaning in frustration at a series of near misses.
    Even so, the Sparklelight team was coming off worse – their Flea was like a mad thing! The Guards had to spend their time desperately chasing after him, rather than tagging Stealers. As a result, Glitterwings managed to catch the Flea three times, winning the first match almost despite themselves.
    But when the teams switched sides, Sparklelight suddenly had the advantage. Twink’s cheeks burned as she watched her three Guards – Vera, Zayna and Jacki – lose the Flea time and again. The Sparklelight Stealers moved together like dancers. It took them no time at all to capture the Flea three times and win the second match.
    The final game was like a repeat of the first – except that Sparklelight was getting better at working with their Flea! By the time the Glitterwings team had caught him twice, the Sparklelight Guards had tagged four Glitterwings players, leaving only Twink and Zayna.
    The Flea perched on top of a post, twitching his feelers. Twink started towards him, and then all at once Tasha flew out of nowhere. No! Twink hurriedly dived through the hole in the post.
    â€˜Oof!’ grunted Tasha as she narrowly missed flying into it. The Flea waggled his tongue at her and then bounded off again, heading straight for Zayna as she zoomed away from a Guard.
    Zayna didn’t even see him. Twink winced as she and the Flea crashed into each other. Recovering herself quickly, Zayna just managed to snatch the insect from the air. ‘Got him!’ she cried, holding him up.

    The crowd cheered wildly, waving their banners and clapping their wings. Twink shook her head in a daze. Glitterwings had somehow won their first game of the year . . . but it certainly hadn’t been through playing well!
    After the game, the Glitterwings team hosted a small party for the Sparklelight players in the Glitterwings guest branch. Though Twink put a smile on her face as the two teams mingled and chatted, her heart wasn’t in it. What was she going to do? She had to get her team into shape before their next game, but she had no idea how!
    Tasha came up, sipping fizzy nectar from an acorn cup. ‘Good game, Twink,’ she said cheerfully. ‘But you’ll have to watch out for us next time, once we’re more used to our Flea!’
    Twink grimaced. ‘Yes, I know. In fact, I’m not really sure how we won this