"They've got to slow down sometime, right?" Stella said. "Friction is a thing here. I'm running out of mana!"

"Don't burn yourself out trying to save us now. You're not the only one with card powers," Bob said. "And five minutes, by the way. I hope that this works."

"Five minutes? What a girl wouldn't give for a molotov cocktail right about now," Sophie said."What? I'm just saying what we're all thinking."

The looks that she was getting made Sophie melt, more like a cheese than a zombie lunge.

"No, no, you're right. She has a point," Bob said. "Hey uh, what about like the opposite of a molotov cocktail?"

Stella gave the cute balding ranger a pat on the shoulder. She lingered because she liked a strong muscled man.

"Opposite as in, not fire? Like it sucks the air out of the area? Or like water or.... Oh!" Stella said. "Where's that barrel of water?"

The barrel in question had been strapped down exactly in the middle of the wagon. It was the place deemed most likely to be the least problematic. They weren't playing Fast and the Furious, but the wagon did pick up a lot of speed. The ropes that held the barrel in place were all but glued in, and it would be hard to undo all of the hard work. Also, as it was their entire water supply, it would be bad for the long term. None of the motley crew had any idea where they would be able to find water next. Stella realized that she was stalling. A guttural squeal from a zombie brought her back to the present.

"What are you thinking about, Stella?" Bob said.

"Well those guys are still chasing us. If I have like a bottle of water I could-now hear me out and don't laugh-I feel like I could make it detonate on a short timer. Like an ice grenade. That barrel would be perfect for it, but we would be shooting ourselves in the foot."

Of the dozens, if not hundreds, that had been chasing them, most had fallen to the wayside. The wagons kept moving, the horses kept moving, and the zombies couldn't keep up. Except for the ones that had slid just right. All counted, it was just under a dozen of those. They weren't close, as Bob kept telling them. He was tracking how fast they were relatively by landmarks on the side of the road. A rock they passed would be passed by the zombies about ten seconds later.

This was an improvement from the five seconds it had been when Stella stopped making a zombie slide.

"We probably should have made the ice vary. Like rumble strips. But why don't you use a water skin for this?" Bob said holding up his Mork branded water skin. "I can think of no better way to honor Mork, than to use his implements as a fragmentary grenade against his hated foes."

"You want to charge my water skin, toss it into the crowd behind us and try to do some damage with it?"

"Exactly."

"You know what? Go right ahead. Here it is. Ice it up, girl."

Bob handed her his water skin. With the time the had used to recover, Stella could feel a pool of mana just below the surface. She concentrated on what she was trying to do, feeling the skill working. It wanted to obey her commands, but this particular working seemed to be more than the norm.

She could feel it would just need a little push. She thought about the satisfaction she would get from this working, but that felt wrong. The skill wanted her to think about how water worked, there was some word she remembered from chemistry class about a solid turning into a gas rapidly.

*Sublimation."

She chanted it and the spell clicked in her mind. It was the opposite of freezing something. She tied it off with a four second count down, something that felt natural and she got. She placed the trigger as a trickle of mana.

A quick check of her card showed that her ice magic has already reached level three.

"Two levels? What the heck," she said, "Bob, do you want to do the honors?"

"No, this is all you. Make us proud."

Stella aimed. The one semester of college where she played softball ran through her mind as she underhand lobbed the sublime grenade. As it left, she triggered the internal countdown.

There are certain times in a woman's life where everything peels away and the raw emotion takes the front stage. Times like the day she gets married, the first time she has to file her taxes or bury a loved one. Such days stick in the memory and loom large in the consciousness.

The moment that Stella froze a dozen zombies solid was one such moment.

All movements from the lead zombies ceased as the night finally fell.

"You did it! Great work babe!" Bob said.

"Babe?" Stella said, leaning on him, "How about something more suitable like ice queen?"

Stolen novel; please report.

"My liege," Sophie said. "Us peasants are unworthy of your grace. You bless us with your actions."

"You're both too kind. Now I'm going to go curl up for a bit. Wake me if they catch up."

Stella yawned and leaned into Bob, the warmth of his body a creature comfort that she needed.

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The god of death could have been mean to Bob, his chosen ranger. He could have done something like making all of the quest rewards be stuck inside the chests of the zombies that were frozen solid. Or he could have let the quest rewards be unattainable. But over the few short days that Bob had been on Noveria, he had found the quests for be fair.

So when several shiny objects found their way into a Mork themed tote bag by his feet, he was more than a little surprised. Inside the bag were two Mork branded water skins, if nothing else the god has his messaging on point, and the entirety of the quest rewards he had been promised.

"Will require head pats? Oh Holy shit!"

Bob forcibly shoved the rare card into his chest and then activated it. A black cat appeared and then after a brief glance sauntered off.

"Bob, mind explaining about this secret cat power?"

"It's a quest reward."

A yowl behind them made them turn. Bob saw the tiny black cat moving incredibly fast to the ice cold zombies, then he watched as the cat sliced through reality to grab a shiny card in it's teeth. The card pieces all disappeared from the first zombie.

"Really, Bob."

Bob projected the card in his hand, a little trick that his god had keyed him into. The golden card had a three dimensional image of a black house cat rubbing itself around someones leg.

Rare Summon Card: Ca'at

This card allows the user to summon Ca'at, a greater feline thief. Ca'at has claws that will pierce any defeated foe and draw out all cards in their soul deck. Ca'at can be directed to steal cards from downed foes and will carry and return all such cards to the wielder, but will require head pats.

Ca'at has a range of three leagues and a cool down time of four hours.

"You summoned a cat?" Stella said.

"Ca'at, but yes," Bob said, "I have the other rewards here, but they all look like they're all common skill cards? Huh. Ten skill cards, some rare pieces and an uncommon card that Mork upgraded to a rare? Plus whatever the cat brings."

"That cat is eating the card pieces," Sophie said.

"What?" Bob said.

"Yes, What?" Stella said.

They watched in horror as Ca'at sliced the frozen zombies one by one, each time pulling out their soul cards and then somehow eating all of the glowing card pieces underneath.

"I'm sure it's fine. That had to be a good kitty, right?" Bob said.

It's business concluded, the summoned creature turned to the wagon and began to run. Bobs eyes widened.

"How is it moving so fast?" He said.

Before he finished his sentence, Ca'at had arrived in the wagon. Bob nervously gave it head pats. The cat lowered a dozen copper and iron cards onto the wagon bed.

"Good Girl? Boy?" He said, his voice wavering.

Bob grabbed the cards with one hand, putting them away.

For it's part, the cat began to hack and cough. Sophie and Stella moved away as fast as they could. It raised its hackles and coughed up a shiny hairball.

"Did that thing just cough up card pieces?" Sophie said.

"Yes. Fuck yes," Bob said.

Bob stuffed the pieces into his designer Mork purse. He dearly hoped that the cat wouldn't be doing that every time. That would begin to be problematic. And he didn't want the Mork purse to smell. That would be really terrible.

Satisfied by it's work, Ca'at curled up in the middle of the wagon bed.

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"They've successfully stopped the zombies," Sonya said, "We can outrun the rest."

"You hope we can outrun the rest," Finley said, spurring the horses on, "I don't think that we'll be so lucky."

Sonya sat next to Finley. Her warlock ability was the reason he had asked her to pop up to the front. He'd known warlocks before, and knew that she had real power behind her card skills. The groans of the zombies had long ago ceased behind them.

"Oh wait that means that Bob probably got his quest reward. I wonder what it was?"

"I heard something about a cat? It feels like I'm playing telephone here with the wizard girl in the back of the caravan."

Zan, the wizard was the final person in the caravan and had gotten word from the uncovered wagon crew. She was joined by two of the female warriors, the only male rogue and the one male warrior that had been ise-kaied, as well as the three monks, the entire group had been changing who was riding horses as there was only enough room to stand.

"Telephone?"

"It's some earth thing. I swear that the message might have changed along the way from the back to the front. We can ask a rider to pass a message, though. They're not doing much."

"They need spears."

"Spears would be good. Do you know where we could get any?"

"There should be a shop in the next town. If we make it that far."

"You really think it's that bad?" She said, waving a rider over.

"I got an unusual skill right right before all you chosen started arriving. Unusual as in unique."

"Ah."

The monk on horseback got within speaking range.

"Hey, can you find out what's going on back there?"

"On it. They're all good though? And somehow they acquired a cat?"

"Ask them what happened. Finley and I want to know," She said waving him off, "Honestly if anyone is able to find a cat in this world, then good on them. Crazy cat ladies are a sign of a good social support network."

"Those are all words that I understand," Finley said, "But that order is troubling."

"This is a good thing. Maybe it's a crazy card power?"

"There are often powers that make no sense, especially some of the common or uncommon ones. I once heard of a common card that just changed their hair into a random haircut once per day. Really useful at a party, but not anywhere else."

"I could see how that might be a problem."

Sonya watched as the rider returned.

"All is good. Bob said that he found a way to harvest cards from the zombies chasing us. Something about feline grace and agility. He wonders if we're going to have a chance to stop soon. He got a bunch of card pieces that he wants you to see if you can make something into. Also a set of five class skills that he has questions about," the monk said, "he said something about you told him a trick to combine them?"

"Ah. Tell him to hold off doing anything with them for now. There's a small hill up in a few span where we can set up camp for the night. We'll need to keep a watch though. The last time, the zombies kept coming. It's a special spot for Tinkers- I know it well."

"They're more than a span behind us now."

A slight jolt caused Sonya to make contact with Finleys arm.

"Sorry!"

"If the warlock could ride and you all had ranged attacks you could lead them away, but," Finley said, "She needs to keep the rest of us safe. Her and that wizard will need all of their strength if we're going to stop tonight."

"I'll relay the message sir," the monk said, before trotting a bit outside of the caravans speaking range and then slowing to meet the wagon behind them.

"Now, please tell me what magic your warlock class card lets you know, because it could save our lives."