Dexter stared at the construct blocking his way. Eight feet tall and at least seven wide, it resembled nothing so much as a giant blanket made of ash.

As he stared, his interface activated, identifying it.

(Meandering trapper)

Level: Copper

The name gave little hint to what it might be capable of other than possibly trapping its prey somehow, but whatever this creature was, it was at least a level higher than him. Maybe more. He still didn’t know how his level of None compared to Copper.

Dexter activated his forge ability and summoned a long blade.

Though he tried for something larger, he couldn’t make it more than about two feet long.

It would have to do.

The monster didn’t seem aggressive yet, hadn’t yet made a move to attack, but Dexter wasn’t going to assume that it wouldn’t, so he took the initiative, darting in and slashing it.

The construct didn’t try to dodge out of the way as his summoned blade connected. Instead the strange monster folded around the point of impact as Dexter followed through on the strike.

He swore when he saw the attack had done no damage. Either folding around the blade had robbed it of its ability to cut through, or the level disparity was too great for him to be able to harm it.

But that was fine. His attack had given Zoe enough time to make it to the car, where she now watched from the passenger door.

“Get in!” he yelled to her as he skirted around the fluttering monster.

But as though blown by a gust of wind only it was privy to, the construct floated toward him.

Its motion seemed slow, languid, but this appearance proved deceptive as it swept into Dexter’s path and before he had a chance to dodge or react at all, wrapped itself around him.

Though he was still on his feet, it had frozen him in place like a statue and was now suffocating him as it constricted around him, applying pressure to every inch of his body.

Even if there was air to breathe in here, he wasn’t able to expand his chest to draw in a breath.

He struggled, trying to break free from the monster, but it was like fighting against the pressure of the ocean’s depths. No matter how hard you fought, the pressure wouldn’t relent, pressing in on you as it matched your intensity. The only escape was up and out.

But there would be no swimming out of this.

Vision blackening from the struggle and lack of oxygen or perhaps from the constriction of blood flow, Dexter did the only thing he could think of. The thing was Copper level, and Dexter wasn’t. His only chance out of this was to even out the odds, and so he activated his dauntless ability.

Even though his body was wrapped up he was still able to lift his finger to activate dauntless. He felt that twisting sensation as the ability activated, and now when he struggled he felt like he was actually making headway.

But he still couldn’t gain enough leverage to slash this thing with his summoned blade. If only he could activate his aspirate ability. But he knew from previous experience that he wouldn’t be able to handle the combined draw of both dauntless and aspirate.

Or could he? He couldn’t remember at the moment. As his mind began drifting, he realized with a jolt his time was running out. He was about to lose consciousness.

Lacking the ability to roar his defiance, he simply put all his strength into pressing out with his arms. He gained enough space to expand his chest and take in a magnificent breath, but then like a fluid the monster filled the space and began pressing in again. But this time, its level advantage nullified, it didn’t have the strength to expel the air from his lungs.

Refusing to give up, he strained against the thing again. Despite the supposed equalization in their levels, the construct was still stronger than he was and finally his shoulder muscles gave out and he was once more completely enveloped, his arms snapping down to his sides by the constriction.

But this motion did something Dexter hadn’t yet managed to accomplish: injure it.

For as it constricted around his body, so it did around his sword, and now, with his dauntless ability activated, the weapon did real damage to the thing.

It let out a vibrating screech that Dexter wasn’t entirely sure was auditory.

Though it didn’t unravel itself from him, Dexter sensed an opening, and seized on it. He tried to move the arm holding the sword as much as he could, sawing the blade against the construct.

No further scream came, however, and it redoubled its efforts, making Dexter feel like he was being dragged back down to the dark depths of the ocean, where perhaps monsters like this—or worse—made their homes.

Stay focused, he urged his slipping mind. He felt like he was half in a dream and felt his skull being compressed, pressure building all over his body.

Think. How do I get out of this? I can’t move my sword.

Then he realized he didn’t need to.

He wasn’t stuck with just this weapon. He could summon anything he wanted. But could he summon anywhere?

Letting go of the summon, focusing on the spot in front of his chest, he imagined multiple small blades forming there, like spikes growing out from his torso, and then pushed his will into the image.

Abruptly came that vibrating scream that seemed more mental than physical as Dexter’s summoned blades punched ten holes into the construct and it flung itself away from him as though launched from a slingshot.

Dexter collapsed to the ground, barely conscious, taking deep heaving breaths, his head spinning and his stomach roiling with nausea, pain erupting all over his body.

He was pretty sure some bones were broken, maybe many. His hands screamed in agony and each breath—though he couldn’t stop himself from gulping down air—sent sharp slashes of pain radiating out from his chest like all his ribs had been cracked.

Hazily, he saw a shadow engaged with the construct.

A second construct? Had the ones from below the bridge found their way up here and engaged with the trapper? If so, what irony.

It took him a moment to realize that Zoe wasn’t in the car, nor even near it anymore, but was in fact this shadow figure going after the ash monster. She’d used her shell ability. It had turned not just her skin and clothes shadowy, but also the pizza peel, which she now slashed at the fluttering construct as it tried to envelop her.

Like Dexter’s earlier attack before activating dauntless, it did no damage, but at least prevented the thing from trapping her.

Apparently it wasn’t like a videogame, where two players could overwhelm a higher-level monster. Something that was a level above you or however many levels Copper was above None, could not be damaged. Without his ability to ignore level disparity, they were dead.

Which meant they needed to either get out of here now, or Dexter needed to get up and slay the thing before his ability expired.

He wanted to go with the former option, especially with the horde of monsters on the highway below the bridge. If any of those were drawn here, Zoe and he were done for.

He didn’t know what levels they were, but even if all of them were at equivalent levels to the two of them, they had no chance of winning, not against so many.

Dexter was about to activate endure so he could do just that with the immense amount of pain he was in, when his beleaguered mind recalled what had happened last time when both dauntless and endure were activated at the same time.

Or no, that had been endure and aspirate, both abilities which required Intention. But dauntless didn’t. And why endure, when you can drain the very lifeforce from your enemies?

Pushing himself to his feet—which felt like they were being stabbed by a thousand needles—he activated aspirate, tasting burning metal, and launched himself at the construct.

He slammed into it, feeling his own ribs crack further, but now he didn’t care. All that mattered was fulfilling the desire that had risen in him with the activation of the alien construct’s stolen ability, satisfying the hunger that gnawed at him, that pushed him forward, that would drive him until all his bones were shattered and muscles torn, until he could move no more.

The construct, which had been going for Zoe again, now gladly embraced him like a blanket and at once began tightening around him.

But this time, that was exactly what he wanted. He didn’t feel disgust as he sunk his newly sharpened teeth into the ashy skin—or whatever it was this construct was composed of—only hunger and desire, and need.

He sucked something from it that perhaps wasn’t physical, it for certain was not blood, and felt himself growing stronger, the weakness and pain being washed away by whatever power he was drawing in from the thing.

Sensing something was wrong, it unwrapped itself from him and tried to flutter away.

But he kept his jaw locked tight, kept drinking and drinking and drinking until finally he felt like he couldn’t hold any more power and with an abruptness that was disorienting, the ability vanished.

His teeth and jaw no longer enhanced by anything but his dauntless ability, the construct easily wrenched free from his bite, sending a jolt of pain up into his gums as it felt like his teeth were torn loose.

But as he tongued his right canine, then left, he found them only mildly loose but still in place.

That was fine. Though he now felt disgust at the idea of having bit into that monstrosity, he could feel its stolen power coursing through him, could feel the sockets already tightening once more around loosened teeth as stolen energy healed his wounds and eased his pain.

The ash-like monster had only fluttered a few feet away and now drifted to the ground, whatever animating force it once possessed now gone, drunk by Dexter. Now it looked not like a patch of New York City snow, but a pile of ashes.

(Meandering trapper) slain

99 points received

9 credits received

Zoe, panting, holding the pizza peel loosely in one hand, face shiny with perspiration, looked at Dexter, then down at the monster, then back at him. “That ability is kind of scary. You looked like a police dog holding a criminal.”

Dexter hadn’t felt like any kind of dog at all. He’d felt like a monster. Not like man’s best friend, but its mortal enemy.

He moved to loot the corpse, but Zoe stopped him by slamming the flat of the pizza peel against his chest like it was the boom gate of a toll bridge.

“What the hell?” he grunted.

“No way. That is my imprint.”

“We should choose based on who could use the ability best.”

“You got the last one. You can’t tell before anyway. I need something more than heal and sensing and turtling. I need an attack.” She let the pizza peel drop, used it to gesture at the corpse. “And that might give it. You’ve already got your weird vampire thing and the ability to summon any kind of weapon you want.”

“Not any weapon. I couldn’t get it over two feet.”

She glared at him.

Dexter grunted. “Whatever, we don’t have time for this.” She was right about needing the ability more than he did anyway. Though he wasn’t even sure either of them would be able to use another imprint, since they both already had a class and construct imprint. He wondered if the Aaron Murphy imprint he’d looted from the corpse was yet a third type.

He’d have to find out later. He could still hear that rushing-water sound of the constructs below them on the bridge, but didn’t dare go check over the bridge to see if any were trying to get up to them. If so, it would only give them a target to lock on to.

“Hurry up and loot it if you’re going to.”

“What abilities did that thing have that would help you?”

“I said you could loot it.”

“Fine.”

“Fine,” he repeated.

She glared at him.

He laughed.

“It’s not funny.”

“It kind of is.”

She huffed and knelt to loot the corpse as he got in the car.

“Hurry up. We need to get out of here.”

“Calm down Turbo.” She finished looting the corpse and stood up, then her eyes went wide as they fixed on something in the direction they’d come from.

Dexter leaned his head out the window to see what she was looking at.

And discovered they’d become a target after all.

Coming toward them were at least twenty constructs—running, jumping, and flying.

“Get in the car!” Dexter shouted.

Zoe darted away from the corpse, practically leapt into the backseat, not wasting time going around the vehicle to the passenger side, and slammed the door shut just as something crashed into the back of their vehicle.

“Go!” she shouted, unnecessarily as Dexter floored the gas, pointing the car through the narrow corridor of vehicles littering the bridge.

He clipped a black F-150 with a crumpled passenger compartment like some giant had stepped on it and nearly spun out from the impact.

Dexter fought to keep the car under control and was forced to let up on the accelerator and only just managed to avoid colliding head-on with a Prius that seemed to have no damage.

He couldn’t avoid a collision completely however and sideswiped the vehicle, further dropping their speed.

Something landed on their trunk.

Zoe screamed and scrambled into the front seat, slamming herself down and immediately putting on her seatbelt.

Something pounded against the rear window.

He didn’t dare look back, focusing all his attention on navigating them off the bridge. Trap or not, this was like a slaughter chute.

Sweat coated his palms and he gripped the steering wheel tightly. Just a few more yards.

Another slam against the rear window and this time he thought he heard it crack and then they were off the bridge and onto the highway once more, the road far clearer, only an occasional car on the side of the road.

Dexter floored it, pinning him and Zoe to their seats and flinging off the monster on the rear of the car.

“Faster,” Zoe urged, looking out the rear window.

Dexter kept his gaze focused on the road. He didn’t need to see what was pursuing them. He already had all the motivation he needed.