MHA Fantasy Quest for the SOL

Part 27: Mountain of Monsters 2/2

After the harpy attack, no one felt like the mountain was threat free after all. Deku was shaken up by how human-like they were. Like the Nomu monster in a way. It wasn't any help that Shoto explained it by saying "The Dark Lord's worst monsters are often hybrids, they say he mixes the blood of humans with that of monsters or animals, but they also may just be their own entities that he recruits, or has common cause with, no one knows." "That is disgusting and creepy," Denki said. "Harpies are not the worst of it," Shoto was further helpful in saying. "They are just pests, really. Some hybrids are more intelligent." "Thank you Mr. Sunshine." Denki said sarcastically. Kyoka shook her head. "It's better to be prepared." "How does him saying that prepare us?" Denki said a little testily. "Please, let's not start getting snippy," Momo spoke. "We're all shaken from what just happened, but we need to stay calm. There may be other creatures about, and we can't afford to lose our heads." That wasn't much better, but they were silent. "That was another good plan, Deku," Ochako changed the subject. "You're definitely the man with a plan on this quest." She smiled encouragingly. Deku blushed "Oh--uh-- no , it wasn't really that good, I just thought it might help. I mean, it wasn't even really a plan." "It's not like it took a genius to come up with that," Bakugo said flatly. "Then why didn't you say it?" Mina said slyly. "Because it was obvious!" Bakugo thundered. No one believed him. "Well, anyway, it worked," Denki said. "Yeah, Ei's the man--uh, dragon." Mina did a fist pump. Ei reddened. "I just growled a little."

They climbed for maybe another hour, the wind was biting cold, and cut through their clothes like a knife. Momo and Kyoka donned their cloaks, Mina hid in one of the saddle bags for warmth. Deku tirelessly consulted his map. They reached a point where they got a clear view of the valley behind them, it looked dark and menacing even from here, and Fay Forest was not even visible, but then, Fay Forest was rarely visible at all until you were in it. It was as if the whole world was dark, bleak, and barren. They were not around the mountain enough to see what lay on the other side, and if it was anymore cheerful. On top of that, the air was beginning to get thinner, and they were feeling the difference. Ochako sighed with weariness. "I'm beginning to think I can't get to the top... are we going to camp here?" Pause as everyone realized that would be a lethal error. "We can't," Shoto stated the obvious, "we should have waited longer to start this climb, but now we have to finish it." "Maybe we could find a cave and catch a few hours..." Deku said. "It's the mountain of monsters, what makes you think the cave would be empty?" Shoto said. "We don't need rest!" Bakugo declared. "We're warriors! Come on weaklings!" He began marching. "I really hate him right now," Denki said. "Mina is lucky, she can ride without any rouble." "So get on your alpaca," Kyoka said grumply. "Then I look like a wimp for riding while the rest of you walk," Denki said. Mina peeked out of the bag. "You calling me a wimp?" "No," Denki said. Tibult bleated and began hopping along again. She seemed to have recovered from the scare before. Sight flew around curves and came back, checking for more threats. But what he couldn't warn them of was an unexpected drop off into a ravine...luckily, there was a bridge. Unluckily, it was guarded. A large troll was sitting in front of it. Trolls were ugly, famously brutish, and usually stupid. But this one seemed a little more clever, as it didn't bother trying to attack such a large party. It just said "Pay the toll." "Right... you all see that too?" Denki said. "That's not just my brain going out after using my lightning?"

"Pay the toll?" Camie looked up. "I thought you had to answer 3 questions to cross." "That's my cousin," the troll said. "I want gold." "How much?" Momo said. The troll looked at her narrowly. "10 pounds." Momo produced this amount after a short time of effort. "Why are we going along with this?" Shoto asked. "Dude, you know trolls can curse you if you don't follow their rules, right?" Denki hissed. "Not all of them, but this one seems powerful, why else would he risk holding us up? It's better to just give him what he wants."