Mythlands: THE HEIST

Part Two: An Old Friend

Goldie casually slugged back her beer and threw it over her shoulder. 'Ginge, what's up darl?'

The Gingerbread Man had come to a halt in front of them and was bent over, hands on his knees panting. He looked up. 'I think those Mythical guys just found the way in.'

'Explain.'

'Got bored so me an Fierce Bad Rabbit went up to the forward outpost to do a little ... uh chill out.' He self consciously wiped his nose.

Goldie frowned. 'Jeez louise Ginge, didn't I say no more of the sherbert until we get home. We need to keep sharp.'

'Oh I'm sharp, believe me! I was the one that spotted it. Couldn't miss the damn thing.'

'What thing?'

'It was a tree Golds, a great big freakin, walkin tree ... with a face ... and a beard!'

Cottontail leaned on Goldie and Jessica's shoulders. 'The Ent!'

'The what now?' Jessica wanted to know.

'The Ent ... whole bunch of em fled their realm when the Mordor Wraiths over-run it. A bunch ended up in the Magic Forrest but this one, he came further south and hooked up with the Mythicals.'

'So ... if they were running from the monsters, does that mean they're ...'

Cottontail laughed. 'Girlfriend, you've got a lot to learn! There's three kinds of bad folk, you want to avoid. There's the 'We will destroy all life' types, except you won't hear them say it because they're usually forces of nature. Those boys don't even play nice with Loki; ya see the big bad Trickster thought he could control all the hell he unleashed, but some things are beyond reason. The best he could do was form a pact with their leaders ... the ones who could think a bit. Loki stays the hell out of their realms and they don't kill his guys or cross the border.'

'I see,' Jessica mused, 'So I guess Loki's evil but not into mindless devastation hordes are the second lot.'

'You got it sister. Those types just want to reign and oppress, maybe cause some pain here and there, but they'd quite like to maintain infrastructure and some order instead of destroying the world.'

'And the third type?'

'Blow with the wind. Not naturally with any inclination to do good, back in the old days they just kept themselves to themselves. The Ent tribes for instance - most of the ones that fled Middle Earth did a deal with Loki so they get the Magic Forrest and the Trickster gets control of the area through his proxies, but I guess that upgrades them to category two as throwing in with the forces of darkness to make a whole area a spookshow, sort of makes you part of Loki's dominion, but the Ent outside and The Mythicals, they're different.'

'How so?'

'Category Three for sure - collaborators. Loki leaves them and areas like the desert alone and he allows those guys to live out here virtually unmolested, but in return they hunt disruptive elements, bands that group together and raid places which cooperate with the regime in return for again, being mostly left alone, here on the fringes.'

'Like Myth Vegas and those ... Judges?'

'Nah, that's a separate deal. Vega City is an independent but way out here, Loki could give a damn as long as they stay away from his loyalists. So the Mythicals cut their deal, hunt down scavs and Hellz Rabbitz are the strongest, most organized group in the radlands.'

Jessica instantly became alarmed. 'Wait a minute! We had to go through a decontamination process back near the city. Are you telling me that the desert is irradiated?'