Bright light swirled out of the Stone Fists card as he called upon the powers of the earth element to activate the card again. With a flash of light and a deep rumble, the Stone Golem appeared, which lifted its powerful arm to block an incoming attack from the mountain lion.
As Blake regained his bearings, he gave the big cat a good look over for the first time. Flames billowed out of the mountain lion’s mouth as it hissed at the Stone Golem.
“Kill that monster!” Blake commanded the Stone Golem, and it immediately went on the attack.
The mountain lion hesitated for a moment, almost as though it sensed the power of the Stone Golem. The golem slammed its stone fists toward the lion, but it was fast.
The golem landed a few glancing hits but nothing lethal. The lion’s massive claws scraped over the golem’s rocky body in retaliation, breaking some of the stones down and sending them spraying toward Blake.
Blake watched in awe as the golem battled the lion, its massive stone form enduring hit after hit. The lion was a powerful foe, but the golem was relentless and had a much higher defense score. Its massive stone fists slammed into the lion whenever it could land an attack.
After the mountain lion danced out of the way of a few more attacks, it opened its mouth wide and revealed fangs that were burning with white hot fire. Blake had assumed the monster to be some fire breathing run-of-the-mill type beast, but the power of the cards had given it fangs made of fire instead.
The mountain lion surged forward and chomped down on the Stone Golem’s wrist. Stone melted around the super-heated fangs as they sunk into stone, but the Stone Golem didn't take the attack lying down. It slammed its other fist down onto the monster’s back and head, trying to make it let go.
Blake’s Stone Golem was looking worse for wear, but as far as Blake could see, there was no hit point or health pool display that showed how healthy his monster was. Likewise, the Mountain Lion didn’t have a health bar, but it was looking pretty tired and beat up. The jagged stones that made up the Golem’s fists tore into the monster’s flesh, sending blood streaming down its variegated golden and brown hide.
“That’s it, it’s almost dead!” Blake called out.
Blake looked around to see where Harry was. The other Challenger shuffled from one dead body to the next, checking over their pockets. He had to be searching for keys that they might be able to use to take one of these vehicles back down the mountain.
The Mountain Lion’s growls and hisses turned into pained mewls and whimpers as it disengaged and tried to run away. The Stone Golem pursued the fleeing Mountain Lion and didn't let it escape and pummeled it to death.
The experience displayed as a small bar underneath the Stone Fists card filled up with more blue light. The bar was almost halfway full!
Blake approached the dead body of the Mountain Lion and tried to see if he could take whatever power that had given the Mountain Lion these abilities. If the system allowed people to inherit cards from Challengers they killed, then surely he would be able to take the powers of monsters that he killed?
Unfortunately, he had no such luck. He did manage to inspect the beast and saw that the monster was called a Firefang Prowler, and it had monster stats very similar to the Stone Golem.
Firefang Prowler
Level: 1
Evolution Stage: Basic
Affinity: Fire
Strength: 15
Toughness: 12
Agility: 25
Magic Power: 21
Special Ability: Fire Fangs – This monster’s fangs can rise to a temperature of 2,500 °F, which is hot enough to melt steel.
Card Chance: Low
Blake’s eyes went wide when he read through the stats of the dead monster. If this monster could melt steel with the heat in its fangs. No wonder his Stone Golem had such a hard time against it.
The other thing Blake noticed was that the monster listed a card chance. Killing more Firefang Prowlers would give him a greater chance of finding a Fire Fangs card, even if that chance was marked as Low.
The monster’s stats also showed that it had an elemental affinity, and an evolution stage, just like his Stone Golem had. Blake immediately put two and two together. The stronger these monsters grew, the more likely it was they would take on advanced evolved forms.
“I found a whole bunch of keys,” Harry said and jingled a handful of keys toward Blake. “You try these three, and I’ll try these.”
Blake took the keys in his hand and felt the weight of them. For a moment, he paused to stare at the key-chain: a small, laminated sticker with two sets of initials and a heart.
Blake shook himself. He wouldn’t make it home either if he didn’t focus on the task at hand. Speaking of hands, the Stone Golem had lost one of its hands in the battle, and it had another 23 minutes left on its timer.
That put him in a bit of a predicament. Once this next summoning period expired, he would only be able to draw on the power of the card once more until the next day, when his anima replenished. He quickly pulled his phone out of his pocket to check what time it was and was surprised to see that it was now midafternoon.
He'd left the mountain retreat mid-morning, but when he realized that the shit had just hit the fan on a global scale, he’d turned toward Cedar Creek. Blake had sent them text messages. He hoped that there would be a message waiting there for him now, but instead he saw that there was no service.
“Hey Harry, have you got any service on your cell phone?” Blake asked.
“I don't have a cell, man. I told you I'm just kind of drifting from place to place.”
“How the hell do you survive these days without a phone? I mean, you need it for everything.”
Harry just shrugged. “I guess if you live life off the grid, you don't really have to worry about being on the grid, you know? I just do jobs for cash in hand from town to town, so I never have to lodge any taxes. I pay for everything in cash, and I don't really have a fixed address.”
If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation.
“So you're homeless?”
“I prefer the term free spirit. And besides, this whole world is my home, man. Why would you want to settle down in one place and limit yourself to that particular geographical location? Sounds boring as hell.”
“I guess I've never really thought about it that way,” Blake admitted.
His mother always encouraged him to pursue his passions, but his father tempered that by saying that he needed a concrete and reliable job to fall back on. Truth be told, Blake didn't really know what his passions were just yet.
Blake was grateful for his parents, even if his father just wanted a simple life for him. Blake was adopted, and his father ran the Cedar Creek General Store, and Blake was always made to feel like it was his destiny to take it over. But that’s not the future Blake wanted. He didn’t really know what we wanted.
He'd only just turned 21, and now the world was ending. He wondered whether he was ever actually going to have the chance to find out what he wanted out of life. Did becoming a software developer even have any value in a world where he could summon monsters from magical cards?
“I guess all I'm trying to say is that everybody has their own path through this crazy world of ours, and as long as you’re not hurting anyone with your choices then there's no such thing as a bad choice right?” Harry asked.
“You do remember back a few hours ago when you were trying to kill me, right?”
“Again, I wasn’t trying to kill you, man! Anyway, in my defense, I didn't think I had a choice. Do you know what the word anima means?” Harry asked.
“Not really,” Blake admitted.
“It's a really old word that refers to the female aspect of the creative soul. It’s the energy that literally brings things into being. So I guess it is really just talking about that creative power that brings life to these crazy power cards that have appeared everywhere. Anima is kind of an older term that means the same thing as essence or mana or chi and other things like that. Every culture on the planet calls it something different, but the idea is pervasive.”
“Are you going to be making a point here? Because I'm still kind of stuck on the whole you trying to kill me thing.” Blake sighed.
“Because I know what anima means, in my mind I thought that this system thing was going to take my own life force away if I didn’t do what it said. If I didn't capture you, I thought it was going to kill me. I didn't even know that when it said anima it was just talking about the energy we use to activate our card powers. Or in your case, summon monsters. How do you do that anyway? Is it a special kind of card or something? All the cards that I saw just gave people powers. None of them let people summon monsters or anything like that.”
Blake didn't quite know how to respond to that without giving too much away, so he just stayed silent for a few seconds. Harry kept talking anyway.
“Oh wait, don't tell me, it's a rare or an epic quality card, isn't it? That's why you can do those crazy things that other people can't. It all makes sense now.”
There was still zero trust between Blake and this guy, so he let Harry keep on believing whatever he wanted to believe.
“I really wish I had an answer, but I'm just as in the dark as you are. I'm still trying to get my head around these cards as well,” Blake said. “For the most part, all that I need to know is that you're not going to try and kill me, and I'm not going to try and kill you. If we can stick to that bargain then maybe we can help each other out for a while. I need to go find my parents, and I'm sure that you want your freedom to go and do whatever it is that you do, right?”
“But before we can do any of those things, we have to find a car that works.”
“Yeah, but I don't want to get in the car with you if you're going to try and run me off the road or anything like that.”
“You can drive if that makes you feel better. I kind of feel like I need a nap anyway.”
Blake blinked in surprise. If this guy was comfortable enough to fall asleep in the same car as him, then maybe he wasn't as much of a threat as Blake thought. However, now that Blake had three sets of keys to try, he didn't actually need to bring Harry along with him.
Whether or not he brought Harry along with him ultimately came down to whether or not Blake felt like he could trust the guy. But now that he had heard Harry out a little, Blake found that he was actually warming up to him.
Even if there were fights and battles to come between them, his Stone Golem had already defeated Harry and his power card when it mattered. Blake could do that again if he needed to, though he secretly hoped that they could get along.
Blake set out to try and find a working car. The three sets of keys he had in his hand belonged to three different makes of cars. There were about a dozen cars spread across the campground, and five full-sized RVs. He pressed the unlock button on all of the keys in turn to see which of the parked cars reacted.
His pile of keys were for a small sedan which looked mostly still intact, a bigger truck that had the entire rear tray and tires burned to a crisp, and a long, old school RV with a wood panel running down the side that looked to be in pretty decent condition.
Of the three sets of keys Harry had, two of them just didn't work at all. Maybe they belonged to one of those cars that had been utterly destroyed, or maybe it was a spare key that belonged to someone who had managed to escape with their vehicle.
The last set of keys actually did unlock something. Another sedan, similar to the one that Blake’s worked on.
They tried each vehicle to see which one to pick. Harry's sedan’s engine turned over and rumbled to life, but there was a strange whistling noise that accompanied the engine, which made Blake think that it wouldn't last very long driving through the mountains.
Their options were running exceedingly slim, and Blake really hoped that the RV wasn't their only real option. Rust spots were forming on its sides. Despite its rough exterior, the RV had a cozy feel to it, with its tinted windows and comfortable-looking interior.
However, when Blake slid into the driver's seat and tried the ignition, the RV growled to life. It sounded a hell of a lot more healthy then the only other car that they managed to get started.
Blake sighed and waved Harry over to the window. “Well, I guess that’s that. Have you ever driven an RV before?”
“Can’t say I have. You?”
“I drove a tour bus once, driving a bunch of tourists up to Aspen for some cash. The bus handled like a bar of soap, but if I took it easy it wasn’t so bad. You’re sure none of your keys are going to work?”
“Not unless you want to gamble on the sedan that sounds like it’s about to die.”
“No. I guess this RV is our new set of wheels. Unless you want to try any of the other trucks to see if their wheels will fit yours?”
“I thought about that,” Harry said as he scratched his cheek. “But then I tried the engine. My truck’s fried too.”
“So it’s the RV or we walk down this mountain and die of hypothermia.”
“I know what option I’d choose.”
“Me too. Let’s go find whatever supplies we can, then get out of here.”
Blake looked back into the RV, which revealed a cramped but cozy living space. There was a kitchenette with a sink, refrigerator, and stove. A small table and two bench seats were situated near the kitchen, which they would be able to use for meals.
The sleeping area was in the back, with a small bed and a closet. A roll-out mattress was stored in the overhead compartment as well, which would be where Harry was going to sleep. No way would Blake let him claim the comfy mattress. The RV had a bathroom with a shower and a toilet, which was surprisingly clean and well-maintained.
Blake was impressed by the RV's interior, which was in great condition despite its age. If it only lasted on his trip down the mountain, then that was fine. But if he had to live out of it for a while, that would be okay as well.
By the time they had looked through all the remaining campsites and cars, they had found a decent amount of food, and some survival supplies that had been left behind. Blake was particularly happy that they had discovered a piece of flint, taking care of all future fire starting problems if he and Harry parted ways.
They stacked all the supplies they found into the kitchenette cupboards of the RV. Drawers underneath the bed were full of clothes that neither Blake nor Harry would ever wear themselves.
They looked a couple of decades out of fashion, the kind of clothes that Blake's mother and father wore. They pushed all these clothes to the side, condensing them as much as they could, then filled the rest of the drawer up with firewood from nearby campsites.
Blake also checked the fuel gauge, and he groaned when he saw that it was only a quarter of a tank full. They would need to fill the tank up before they left the campground as well. Nothing worse than running out of gas in the mountains.
Luckily, Harry was adept at siphoning gas, and he admitted to Blake that sometimes siphoning gas in the night was the only way that he kept his truck full. Despite Blake's moral objections to this, he was thankful for Harry’s unique set of skills.
He watched Harry's technique so that he could learn how to do this as well, just in case they needed to part ways for any reason. Once the fuel gauge was full, it was time to get going.
Now that this particular route through the mountains was cut off with a landslide, their only option would be to head east and circle around the mountain they were currently on.
Even then, there was no guarantee that the other roads wouldn't be cut just like this one. They might have to abandon the RV anyway.
Once they were all packed up and had scavenged as much as they could from the rest of the campground, Blake told Harry to hop in the RV so they could go find his parents.