BEEP! BEEP! BEEP!
A red car sat stuck in the middle of rain-soaked traffic on the interstate. Windshield wipers screeched back and forth. Rain pelted the hood. Inside the car, a man in a trench coat gripped the steering wheel, a glowing holy sword resting across his lap.
"This is bad, Roy," Cam muttered, his voice calm despite the chaos outside.
Next to him in the passenger seat sat a young boy, Roy, gripping a smaller, child-sized sword. He pressed his face against the rain-speckled window.
"Cam, look!" Roy said, his voice high with concern. "They're getting close."
Outside, shadow creatures crawled over the tops of cars, shrieking and slamming their limbs onto hoods and windshields. Drivers screamed. Some ran. Here and there, armored boxes the size of small vans clamped shut over vehicles, encasing them and whatever was inside.
Roy checked the hovering map between them. Two glowing dots—blue for them, gold for the King—were still. The King hadn't moved.
"At least the King's not going anywhere," Cam muttered. "But with this traffic… we're three hours out. Minimum."
Roy stared at him. "Cam, they're really close now."
Cam didn't even blink. "Yeah, I see 'em."
Roy turned back to check the windshield—then froze.
Cam was no longer at the wheel.
The window was rolled down.
A thump echoed on the roof.
Roy looked up, startled.
Cam stood on the roof of the car, one hand gripping his sword, the other holding an open umbrella. Rain hissed and splashed everywhere—except on Cam. Not a single drop touched him.
He leapt effortlessly from car to car, graceful as a dancer, closing in on the shadow creatures. Where others might have screamed or hesitated, Cam moved with the cool precision of someone who'd done this before.
A beast lunged at him—he sliced it midair.
Another tried from behind—he spun and drove his blade straight through its mask.
The umbrella never tilted.
One by one, the creatures fell before him, shrieking as they vanished into black mist.
Back in the car, Roy casually scrolled through his phone, not looking up.
A minute later, Cam returned, jumping lightly back onto the hood and slipping inside the car.
"Back already?" Roy said, barely glancing away from his screen.
"Yeah," Cam replied, flicking some rain off the umbrella. "Maybe that'll speed traffic up."
He glanced at the map's corner. 1:00 minute left.
Roy locked his phone and looked over. "We'll have to pick soon. Maybe it'll be the box this time."
Cam smirked. "That's what I've got you for. My little probability genius."