Aurelion moved south, deeper into the swamp. The air was filled with the drone of insects and the smell of decay.
As he moved between the gnarled trunks of trees, a flash of vibrant green on a branch caught his eye.
A snake, its scales the color of new leaves, was coiled there, its head raised slightly as it tasted the air.
He paused, his single golden eye tracking the creature as he passed.
He then start speak aloud, a habit he'd adopted to keep the silence in his mind from being filled by his unwanted guest.
"The true danger of this place isn't that its creatures are venomous," he said to the empty air, "but their adaptation to the environment." He glanced back at the snake. "This one's venom wouldn't kill me, but it would certainly make my head ache more than it already does."
