Back in the forest, the atmosphere was thick enough to be cut with a dull spoon.
Kael sat cross-legged on a mossy log, frowning deeply at a pile of vegetation in front of him. Viper, the Snake King's loyal guard, had returned from his foraging mission with a large bundle of "medicinal" herbs.
Kael picked up a purple leaf, sniffed it once, and tossed it over his shoulder.
"Poison," the Tiger King grunted.
He picked up a spiky yellow root.
"Numbs the tongue. Then stops the heart," he muttered, tossing it away.
He picked up a harmless-looking blue flower.
"Makes your insides turn to water and leak out of your bottom until you dry up like an old husk," Kael deadpanned, flicking it into the bushes.
"Did that stupid snake just grab everything that looked pretty?" Kael grumbled, his voice rough.
