A large log mansion sat overlooking a sizable den of pirates. Those sea lovers harboring in the cove below had an interesting business relationship going with the harbormaster. The lawless had grouped together to fend off threats to the sick society they had formed underground.

He polished off his dinner into the running sink. He scrubbed the plate with soap and then dumped out the strainer. He strolled to wipe his hands dry before opening his icebox to retrieve a portable cooler. He whistled on his elevator heading to the basement. Once upon a time he had started humble, once only known by a few as Prospector Hood. This is while his brother was out making himself a thing of legend, before eventually being executed by the crown. Things were about to change for good. His mind had a lot of grand plans crystalizing.

Large caves burrowed deep into the mountainside underneath the log mansion. At the heart of his success pulsed a massive ore of 12 large crystal arteries all fused together. So naturally mining operations to extract it all was a good idea. Further below his stop was the place both factions contributed their prisoners of war to work as miners. The unfortunate captured sailors and forest folks found themselves slowly becoming what they mined, while being forever trapped away from the suns.

The elevator came to a stop. The crystal heart far below cast rays of sharp light through holes in the floor to light the cavern. This was his man cave. There was a massive row of archery, and hunting trophies, both medals and stuffed on display. Near the opposite wall, and over the midnight tablecloth a flickering crystal ball sat. It was connected to every game camera on his massive property. One massive grizzly stood out stuffed. Killin Hood sidestepped the outstretched claws dangling from the motionless beast.

"You're mamma done good work hunting tonight son.. Ah ha" said Killin Hood to his trophy.

The other grizzly trophy was the zombie mamma bear trapped after killing the Queen on its hunt. It had been installed with a convenient zipper along its stomach. This came in handy every time the bear swallowed treasures. In this case the contents had been packed into the cooler with ice crystals he held in his hand.

"What's up Witch?" he said.

The Witch was so old she was only known as Witch by most. She had been the one to visit the King as an adviser. She was a life coach to Edward.

"Hurry with the brains before they melt" she croaked out.

"I see that the body of hopefully my future wife if she consents has been delivered here alright," said Killin Hood.

"Yes, the delivery men did good work so I didn't break my back" she said.

They both looked over the Queen's lifeless body. Witch slapped on herself two autopsy gloves.

"We must get on with the procedure now before the core steals too much of her essence forever," said Witch.

“Yes I have the last piece stored here that I long ago collected from a fool of a wizard” said Killin Hood, as he turned a key in a nearby lock box.

The door popped open, and inside was a mask with a massive circuit slapped onto the outside. He took out a bag of twelve small different crystal chunks, and loaded them into the device so they would stab into a skull. It sparked shocks before he switched it off, retracting the crystal control.

“Ooops I shouldn’t have left that turned on.. Ah ha that could have ended badly for me” said Killin Hood.

“Yes yes anyway hurry and put the mask on our victim ” scolded the Witch.

Killin Hood drew open the strings of Queen's new hood.

"If the dead queen can be successfully raised the crystal cult will grow even faster in our expansion" cackled Witch.

"Yes we will create massive dig sites of worship" He finished.

Meanwhile Jed and Mule had been descending the mountain's peak for over an hour.

“Going by the map we only got a few more days of travel before returning to civilization, and earning ourselves a hefty reward for this cargo of jungle juice,” said Mule.

“Yes but we can't underestimate any more threats from here to there on our quest,” said Jed.

He removed his air mask and tested out the air. Having sniffed, and affirmed it was good he placed his dark shades back on. Mule eyed him over through the rearview, Jed was looking rough. His hair was thinning, and his face slender, and malnourished. He clamped his trucker hat back on, and gave Mule a yellow, and black toothed grin.

“Buddy this plan is all we got, all or nothing really huh” said Jed.

“What do you mean?” asked Mule.

“I mean that if this doesn’t work out, or if we don’t get paid what was promised that our lives are not going to be very pleasant going forward” said Jed.

“We will figure something out Jed, the only option we have to win is to keep fighting forward” said Mule.

Jed adjusted his seat. His body was beginning to fall asleep.

“My wounds have healed enough for me to drive when we see a place to pull over, you know it Jed” said Mule.

The seat clicked into a new position. It had ended in a spot very close to the dashboard.

“Yeah I'm sure there will be a spot just around the next bend,” said Jed.

They had slowed to a crawl, but could not stop moving due to ice underneath.

“I can’t stop us Mule!” yelled Jed.

“That’s alright Jed just guide her down the mountain it will all be alright k” said Mule calmly.

“Thanks bud" said Jed.

He gave a thumbs up with one arm while now gently adjusting the wheel with the other. They were ice road trucking. It had begun to slide sideways but Jed had corrected course. The cab began to shake on account of rough terrain. A steep bend was ahead with a long drive off to the dealership of death.

"You're on the break too much let off or we will spin over the cliff" warned Mule.

"I'm not sure whether I'd wish you were driving this machine right now expert or not. you're a better driver but there's something less scary about having your demise semi within your control" said Jed.

"And do you imagine I feel any different about the situation?" said Mule.

The pair held on tight for dear life. Jed concentrated, and Mule used his hoof to steady the wheel. They slowly went around the corner. The cab briefly hung out over the edge.

“We cleared it” said Jed.

Mule looked behind them in horror at the trailer in grave danger of being sucked over the side. He made the on the fly decision to lightly smack Jed’s hands to correct the course.

“Ow” said Jed.

“Focus on the road” scolded Mule.

The truck evened out on a steady course. The ground was rock, with patches of snow, and snow berry bushes splashed around. A small tree here or there, or a still statue of stone standing there. The suns had set in the sky. It was dark.

The next morning the truck sat parked overlooking a vast forest of mushrooms swaying. Spores smacked against the windshield hard like hail.

“Those are big shrooms,” observed Jed in the passenger seat.

“You can say that bud” said Mule, wearing his own “Super Duper Legendary” branded trucker hat, and crystal suns glasses.

They were driving down the last rocky of the mountain's rocky roads. Jed was playing with his banjo, plucking them along.

“It feels like we got a long time to go till our destination, but that ain’t true, time goes pretty quick as long as you stay alive” sang Jed out of tune.

“That’s great man, how about you get a little sleep for tomorrow, and then you can play again?” said Mule.

The big rig banged, throwing the pair in the air. They both wore seat belts. The truck smacked back down. Mule focused intensely on correcting the wheel. Jed felt his gut get squeezed hard by the tightened snake like belt before smacking back into the seat with a thud.

“Tomorrow’s the time for that Jed.. ok” said Mule, sternly.

Behind them in the snowy hills Killin Hood’s men sat watching in luxury crystalacc cars. The henchmen wore matching balaclavas, and snow suits suited for winter woodland. The cars were also painted in camouflage winter colors. The men inside smoked cigars, except for the driver who shifted into first, and started pursuing. The second car pulled right out behind them from a rock formation.

“Jed we got company to grab my double barrel shotgun from the glove compartment” said Mule.

“Sounds like a plan,” said Jed.

Jed grabbed the shotgun, and put on his armored helmet that doubled as eye protector when welding.

The first crystalacc car was overtaking them. One of the men aimed his gun, while another one jumped. He latched onto the jungle juice container. A third car in woodland camouflage joined the battle. Jed blasted the grill from a medium distance, but the car kept on running. Mule concentrated, he whipped the trailer around the sharp bend of the mountain path. The big rig pushed the pursuing car over the edge of the cliff. It exploded into flames below. The second snowed car had pulled directly behind the truck. The goons inside the car jumped onto the ladder climbing the jungle juice container. The car fell behind them a distance, its crew having jumped aboard.

Jed opened the passenger door. He climbed up the ladder on the side of the cab. He saw the first henchmen who had jumped barely holding on by a thread. He made quick work shooting off the attached thorn.

“Jed there’s a ledge coming up close that's threatening to sweep you off! It’s time to change course” instructed Mule.

Jed reloaded one of two shot gun shells the gun held. He looked over to see a narrow fit up ahead, and in the rear view enemies on top of the truck. He climbed into a sneaky angle and blasted the two men on the roof. They fell off. One smacked a car knocking out the driver who plowed into the ledge.

The truck steamed into the mushroom forest. The remaining speeding luxury car gained the distance. Jed shot at it twice, missing both times. He was reloading when the last man to climb the ladder on back jumped above. The henchman in a military snow uniform used close quarters combat shakedown smacking fist. Jed fell backwards tumbling down the truck barrelling down a hill. He grabbed onto one of the arrows lodged into the cab's roof.

“Bang, Bang!” The other dude was blasted off the big rig by Jed.

The last car slowed, falling away from them. Its gray woodland camouflage painting enabled it to fade away. The towering mushrooms overhead blocked away all the moonlight. All that shown now was the big rigs headlights.