Poison Jungle

The **Poison Jungle**, also known as **Never-home** by some LeafWings, was a jungle located at the northeastern corner of Pantala. It forms Pantala's "head." In the prologue of *The Dangerous Gift*, the jungle burned down when the othermind manipulated Blue into using his flamesilk on the trees

## Description

The Poison Jungle was the only forest located on the continent after the Tree Wars. The Poison Jungle was unable to be removed, as the plants were too dangerous and thick for any HiveWings to penetrate. It is described to have various deadly and poisonous plants, such as sundews, Venus dragon-traps, cobra lilies, waterwheels, and the quarantined othermind. The banks are described as lined by "thick, oozing mud," which were infested with snakes. The river that marked the jungle's boundary is called the Snarling River. Further inside of the Poison Jungle are the PoisonWing and SapWing Villages, the homes of the PoisonWing faction of the LeafWing tribe, and the SapWing faction of the LeafWing tribe.

The Poison Jungle also has dangerous wildlife, as evidenced by the insects and myriapods that Sundew carries with her (as well as larger creatures). Sundew also points out how only the strongest can survive, and that is why animals like panthers are huge and big enough to scare away even dragons, like Mandrake when he was trying to catch one. Even creatures that are usually small are much larger in the Poison Jungle, such as tsetse flies, as one was described to be three times bigger than Bumblebee.

## Notable Features

### SapWing village

The SapWing village was the home of the SapWing faction of the LeafWing tribe. Its outer perimeter was marked by an absence of carnivorous and poisonous plants, and within the village, treehouses were scattered high in trees. At the center was a large tree house spiraling all the way around an enormous baobab, wound with dark-purple-and-white clematis vines around the columns and with bright red trumpet creepers dangling from the ceiling. The top level of the queen's tree house had a smooth polished wood floor and a mahogany throne.

Hazel also owned a room in the queen's tree house. Sundew describes it as "bright and airy, studded with windows and balconies so the breeze flew through it." It is sheltered by an overhanging roof of large round leaves with bright red trumpet creeper flowers poking through the roof. Three desks take up "half of the room," and are covered in a mess of bookbinding supplies made from jungle ingredients. It contains a hammock and has small paper dragons and clouds hung from every leaf stem. According to Sundew, there was a "little blizzard of them flying overhead." Below her room, there is a kitchen level in the palace.

### PoisonWing village

The PoisonWing village was the home of the PoisonWing faction of the LeafWing tribe. It appeared as a huge, living emerald-and-chocolate-colored dome made of interlocking vines and shrubs that "soared up and between the trees," which was constructed via leafspeak. Past the main gate, it had a detoxification chamber where water was dumped on entering dragons to wash away any seeds to stop the plants from invading the village. Inside the dome, the light was murky green, and had open air up to the roof of the dome. The dome itself was high enough for dragons to fly, and for dragonets to learn how to fly without the dangers of the jungle. The dome contained woven nests where dragons sleep, a weapons storehouse, and food nets.

### Snarling River

The Snarling River marked the jungle's border and is on the "neck" of Pantala. It is described as dark and swift-flowing. Pitcher plants and cobra lilies grow thick along the shores of both sides. According to Sundew, every time she flew nearby the river, more plants have extended their tendrils across the water, more twisted little thorn trees starting to muscle their way up on the wrong side.

### Gullet River

The Gullet River is where the throat would be if Pantala were a dragon. Swimming in it is described as feeling like swimming into a very large, shark-like mouth. The water has a foggy green haze, the bottom is made of silt and oozing mud, and it is lined with tangled trees and sharp, jutting rocks.

### Unnamed Pond

The pond is located in a clearing between the SapWing and PoisonWing villages. A boulder "as smooth as obsidian" sticks up out of the water near the middle of the pond. Some of the far trees leaned down toward it like parent dragons feeding their little ones. Overhead there are Venus dragon-traps. Sundew and Willow met at this pond in secret for four years. According to Sundew, the clearing was probably the most colorful spot in the jungle, as it has clusters of flowers scattered all over it. Sundew had grown them for Willow in the past three years. Sundew would leave a jade frog on the boulder to tell Willow that she was there.

### Eye of the jungle

The Eye of the jungle was where the eye would be if Pantala were a dragon. The Den of Vipers, an area home to the most dragonbite vipers on Pantala, surrounds it. It contained many dangerous plants, including hogweeds and kudzu vines, but is known for holding the breath of evil. Between the den of vipers and the SapWing Village is a lake with numerous bladderworts, sundews, and a manchineel grove. It was incredibly hard to reach and was only accessible through a map drawn by Queen Sequoia.

### Hawthorn's home

Hawthorn's home is a house in the Eye of the jungle belonging to Hawthorn. All the low-hanging vines around it have been cut back, along with sections of the canopy overhead, leaving space for grass to grow. A quarter of the clearing is covered by a small vegetable garden. In the center of the clearing, there is a house shaped like a cell in a hive and is made of wood, with pale red flax curtains for the door and windows. One end of the porch is a small woodworking studio. Inside is breezy, warm, and full of rose-colored light from the sun through the curtains. It is all in one room, but with a high ceiling and lots of space. Shelves are gathered on every wall, and perched atop are some of Hawthorn's carvings; wooded dragons, snakes, trees, and orangutans. Sundew noted that one of his carvings of dragon heads looked a lot like Sequoia.