The Mike Myers Mountains

Molly Schafer

Carly Strait

Our adventurers, the employees and boss of Griana's Meats and More, hit the road! They take all their personal baggage and their disgusting sleep habits with them. They also learn how to fight! Maybe. A tree gives them a run for their money.

## Summary

The crew is making their way through the forest on the wagon as Griana regales stories from her family hunting trips. In one of them, Griana’s dad apparently used to stop and stand among a grouping of rocks every year and gab with them like they were all friends. They approach the Mitemire Mountains, constantly referred to as the Mike Meyers Mountains, and find a place to camp for the evening. Zil suggests setting up a watch system, and Phibi takes the first shift, followed by Zil, Kai, and then Griana.

Just before falling asleep, Griana glances across the river and spots a doe looking her dead in the eyes. Phibi doesn’t see much on her watch, but has a familiar dream while she sleeps. Through the night, they’re woken up twice by giant goats appearing. They take the beasts down, and in an effort to keep her conflicted vegetarian feelings under wraps, Griana decides to prepare the meat. After the second battle, Kai looks around to retrieve her javelin after their second kill and recognizes where they are. She notes that the trees seem darker. Zil takes the last shift until morning and tries to get everybody moving quickly after breakfast so they can get the flower and get out of the forest as soon as possible.

The group has a difficult time figuring out the way to travel, and Zil rifles through Arthur’s toys while they wait. There’s a strange magic-y buzz to a toy dog in the bag. They try some commands but come up with nothing, and figure they’ll figure it out later. They ultimately decide to head to Griana’s family Home Base where they can leave the cart while they venture further into the forest for hunting. On the way, they notice the roots of the trees seem darker, almost a dark purple color. Zil feels a trace magic on them, like a life-draining sense similar to necromancy. At one point, a black cat jumps in front of their path, and just as quickly scampers off. Tensions rise as the group argues whether they should continue on the hunt or abandon it and leave the forest.

They stop at an enormous, dark purple tree, around the base which is a ring of perfectly fallen leaves. Within the halo of leaves is a rolled-up sleeping bag. Careful not to step into the ring, they wonder if there is a small creature around they can throw into the ring. Kai tosses an incredibly cute and innocent chipmunk they find into the halo. A gust of wind picks up, swirling the leaves around, only for them to just as suddenly fall back down into their perfect circle with the chipmunk gone. Zil spots the tail of the black cat peeking out of the bushes and speaks to it, asking it what’s going on but receiving no reply. Phibi spies a single leaf slowly falling from the tree. A moth floats its way into the ring, and darkness enshrouds it as it disappears, as though it was never there. Stumped, and a little too freaked out, they journey onward and eventually make their way back to bright green forest and Home Base.