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Akayoroi stepped beside him. "Then he won’t be alone."
Kai frowned. "You’re the Queen, go help your sister. I can handle it."
"No, And you are my husband," she said calmly. "I will stay with you, and fight beside you. No matter what happens we will face it together."
The others rallied.
Vel tied her dagger straps tighter. Azhara flipped closed her sketch scroll and muttered, "Guess I’ll have to paint my masterpiece with blood this ti."
Naaro held her breath and whispered a soft blessing to her belly, to the egg that was forming inside her.
Sha, tightened her boots and drew her hook blades. They all stood together. The laughter was gone. But sothing deeper pulsed between them now.
Unity. Rage. Loyalty.
The tunnel rumbled once more. Far below, sothing clicked against the stone. It was like sticky paws against hollow bone.
Kai clenched his fists and took one final breath.
"This ti," he said, voice low and steady, "we fight as one." And the fog swallowed the light.
The light vanished like a snuffed torch. In its place, fog crept like a swarm of venomous worms, curling along the walls, rising through the tunnel like it had teeth to bare.
Kai stood tall at the mouth of the corridor, a silhouette wrapped in the blue shimr of his Aura Shell. Behind him, the rest of the group scrambled into a loose formation. Silk wraps covered faces. Makeshift armor plates clinked into place. The tension in the air was so thick even Kai could feel sothing was wrong.
And then it ca—that sound.
Not footsteps. Not tal. Not even magic.
Sothing worse.
Splitch. Splorch. Schlepp.
The tunnel roared.
A wave of green mist peeled apart like curtains before a stage, revealing dark silhouettes. Heavy, stomping steps echoed. The sll of rotting algae slapped everyone in the face like a wet sock dipped in sewer stew.
Then they saw...
Ten hulking figures erged from the fog with broad chest, wart ridden beasts, their skin varying from swamp green to mucky brown. Each stood nearly two ters tall, armored in moss draped bone and thick swamp hide. Their legs were bowed like springs, arms ending in thick webbed claws. Bulging golden eyes blinked lazily in different directions.
And their big sticky tongues...
Oh, gods.
Their tongues flopped out of their mouths constantly. Like overly excited dogs that forgot how to mouth. One licked the floor. Another licked the wall. One sniffed the air... and licked himself in the eye.
Vel gagged. "Okay. What in the amphibian hells is going on?"
Kai muttered, "Trouble. Slimy, tongue waggling trouble."
Azhara covered her nose imdiately. "Good gods. One of them just licked his own eyeball."
Vel gagged. "I think that one just licked his neighbor. And not in a friendly way."
Naaro, still woozy, leaned against the wall and murmured, "That’s not a war party. That’s a disaster from a kissing contest gone wrong."
Sha twitched. "If one of those tongues cos near , I will break it, wrap it around their head, and call it a helt."
The central figure stepped forward. Bigger than the rest. A six star rank monstrosity of a frog man, his bloated body painted with tribal sludge markings, a ugly skulls hanging from one shoulder. His long pink tongue lolled over his chest like a scarf made of flesh.
"I... am Kroak’thul!" he bellowed, spraying poison spittle everywhere. "Wart Crowned General of the Swamp Kings! Bring us the ant Queen! Bring us our Prince!"
Sha dry-heaved into her elbow. "Why does it sll like soone fried a fish in their armpit?"
Azhara leaned over, whispering, "I bet if you punch them, their tongues slap back like a wipt."
"Silence!" Kroak’thul croaked. His tongue slapped his own nose and wobbled. "We co for our prince. Our dear prince is lost. Captured. Maybe even... defiled by your queen! He was supposed to co back two days ago. But we got no news of him. Where is he?"
Azhara raised a brow. "Wait... are they asking about the one that tried to marry Akayoroi by force? The one who called himself the ’Lickening Lord’?"
Kai sighed. "Yes. That guy. Very... passionate. Very moist. They are talking about him."
The leader’s tongue wiggled threateningly. "Prince ca... on a sacred mission... to claim royal concubine."
Sha’s eyebrows shot up. "Excuse ?!"
Akayoroi’s voice turned colder than a blizzard in a freezer. "You an ."
The frog leader burbled. "Yes. Fertility unmatched. Eggs supre. Womb... divine."
Azhara doubled over laughing. "Did he just complint your uterus?!"
Naaro snorted. "I swear if one more frog says ’egg’ near , I’m making them crack like one."
The leader ignored the laughter, puffing out his throat like a balloon. The wobbling sack beneath his chin quivered ominously.
Kai raised a brow. "Is he... inflating himself? Is that intimidation or just indigestion?"
Vel nudged him. "What do we do if he pops?"
Azhara grinned. "We make frog soup. And toast."
The frogkin behind their leader began hissing, croaking, and slapping their weapons against the ground. One of them even licked a spear.
Akayoroi stepped forward, eyes like flint. "Your prince attacked our tunnel three days ago. He attempted to enslave my hive and drag into his filth. That ugly ball killed my forty one sister and he is gone."
The frogs gasped in unison. "What!!! What do you an?"
"Okay," Kai also said, stepping forward. "Let’s get sothing straight. Your prince is dead. He tried to conquer. We kicked his tongue back into his throat. He croaked."
The frog leader’s eyes burned. "You... killed royalty."
"Yes."
"You... dishonor sacred mating ritual."
Kai pointed to the group of won behind him. "They volunteered."
Vel waved. "Hi. Very consensual."
Sha rolled her eyes. "The only thing sacred about your prince was how bad he slled."
The frog general’s face twisted. His tongue slapped the ground. Then he screeched, a hideous sound like a clarinet being stepped on by a hippo.
One licked the wall in shock. "This can’t be true."
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