They rode in a line, Lucien at the front, then Zuri, then Zephyrion, their horses picking their way through the undergrowth. They had black linens attached to their noses like a mask. And a brown pouch was saddled to their horses.
The pouch was filled with a paste the herbalist had ground for them back in the village of Thornwell. He had called it Viper's Banefire. It was made from crushed, withered root, the dried venom sacs of a stone viper, and a pinch of ash from a fire that had been struck by lightning. The smell was sharp like burnt garlic and rust.
