Page 88 of Shade of Ruin

The tart flavors of raspberry and almost sickly sweet, burned sugar mix with the bitterness of the coffee and turn into this perfect blend of a sweet treat. It’s unlike anything I’ve had before, in Draenyth or Blackgrove. It seems decadent, yet normal. Unlike the chocolate that I still can barely describe, this is just a brilliant and very delicious variety of sweet bread.

I love it. “What do you think?” Darian asks.

“Delightful. I understand why she’s still alive.” And everyone laughs some more. I feel like I could get behind late nights like this.

I can’t remember ever sitting around a fire at night with Aunt Prudence or Uncle Trevor. Even Hazel was never so blatantly happy as this while she was just eating.

Cole, Darian, and Lee are unapologetically joyful tonight. It’s just one of those nights that you don’t forget. It’s a side of my friends and Draenyth I hadn’t known about, and maybe one I’dlike to spend more time getting to know. If this place is here, then how many other places with this energy are there?

And how do I convince Cole to smile like this more often?

We laugh and eat and drink until the coffee and dipping sticks are gone. The minutes turn into almost two hours. Finally, Cole sighs and stands up. “It’s about time that we get to sleep.” I’d normally blame him for ruining the fun by being grumpy, but he hasn’t been, and I’m getting tired as well.

“Tomorrow, I have to learn to dance,” I say. It makes Darian and Lee grin. I glance at Cole, who’s grinning even wider than the twins. “Stay here for a few. I want to go thank Mari. I…” I pause, not knowing how to explain my feelings. It’s so strange to have seen a Wyrdling in this world who seems to have a good life.

“Go,” Cole says knowingly. Maybe I don’t need to explain. “We’ll wait. But don’t take too long.”

I nod to him and walk back toward the door to the actual bakery. I’ve seen several people walk through that doorway to get Mari, so I expect her to be inside. When I step inside the stone building, I’m hit by a wave of heat. For one woman, there’s so much happening in here. Dipping sticks in various stages of assembly and cooking are resting nearly everywhere. Other baked goods, like tiny fried cakes and cream cheese stuffed pastries, sit on shelves waiting to be ordered.

Wooden tables and cabinets are everywhere, and nearly every surface is in use. Some are for holding finished goods; others are for unfinished goods, and still others for holding ingredients. Nothing is labeled.

Mari isn’t anywhere to be seen. I do my best not to touch any of the surfaces since I’m sure it’s all covered in flour. On the opposite wall, there’s another door to the back garden that’s slightly open.

I hear a scuffling and a shriek. I don’t know why, but I know something’s wrong. I’ve felt so overwhelmed by the sounds and feelings of the city since I got here, but on a quiet night with so few people around, all my hunter’s senses come back.

There isn’t a doubt in my mind that Mari is in danger. I don’t hesitate, picking up a bread knife on the way to the door. I throw the door open so hard that it bangs against the wall.

I see something from a nightmare. Three harpies that are different from my memories. Rather than sand-colored wings, they’re covered in black feathers and look like they’re related to ravens. The hooked talons on their hands look just as deadly as the ones in Blackgrove did. The smell is just as revolting, and even if I hadn’t seen them when I stepped into the garden, I’d have known simply by the scent.

Three harpies. A rematch. Mari’s bleeding on the ground, and I know I was the intended target. How many times had Cole said that someone would try to assassinate me? How many times did I worry about someone trying to hurt me tonight?

Why would anyone hurt Mari? To get her to spill her secret bread recipe? Doubtful. No, they were looking for a Wyrdling with brown hair and found Mari while I was on the other side of the building.

When the door crashes against the building, all three harpies turn to me, and I know I have two options. One, to keep their attention long enough that they don’t have time to finish the job of killing Mari or two, get Cole and possibly leave them enough time to kill her.

My heartbeat slows, my body getting calmer, and it feels so similar to when I’d hunted. I’m prepared to fight, but I’m not afraid. It’s a drastic difference compared to the first time I saw harpies.

They look at me, and I know they’re recognizing that there’s a second Wyrdling with brown hair. I don’t give them time todecide. I rush them, trying to remember anything I can about wielding a single dagger from my training with Cole.

One raises her arm, a movement I know precedes magic, and I position the steel blade between us. The wind that erupts from her fingers speeds toward me. It dissipates harmlessly as it touches my blade. Just like always, the magic is drawn into the steel, and I smile as I take the last few steps toward them. The harpies rise on black wings, swarming me as they did that night in Blackgrove.

This time, I’m used to things that move faster than me. I watch as they shift and move, and I remember how poorly they reacted when I’d charged them in the Tilted Mug. Wielding only a bread knife, I sprint toward them. The center one I’m racing towards flies upward. The one on the left swoops toward my feet, and the one on the right tries to fly around me.

They all move so slowly, though. I’m used to Cole’s speed. I’m used to lightning, and these are like fighting humans. I jump, clearing the one trying to sweep at my feet. She tries to swing her talons at my legs, but her arms don’t bend that way. The bread knife slices into the leg of the one flying upward in a wild slice, and the creature flies high, screeching as it does.

As soon as my feet touch the ground, I spin and leap backward, putting myself between the harpies and Mari.

The one that was trying to get behind me is almost on me. As she lashes out with her talons, I roll toward her, my bread knife coming up when I’m inches away from her. The knife’s dull tip doesn’t stab into her belly like I’d wanted it to, but the serrated edge does a good job of leaving a deep slice from her belly to her collarbone.

Her shriek is even louder, and her talons dig into my back. I hiss in pain, but it comes out of a smile. I’ve been stabbed and sliced by talons just like these, and they don’t compare to the wounds Cole’s given me during training. No broken bones. Justa few cuts and stabs. Now it can’t fly with its talons stuck in my back.

The tip of the bread knife is dull, but when I use all of my strength to ram it into the harpy’s jaw, it does the trick. I feel the steel blade slide through the soft tissue until it hits bone. Immediately, I yank it out, and the harpy goes limp, its talons slipping out of me.

Black blood sprays everywhere, coating me in the foul-smelling liquid, but I turn to face the one I’d leaped over. Its claws are already in motion, swiping the air where I should be, but I’m already charging it. The harpy is built like a bird, and lighter than it should be. Instead of the hundred and fifty or two hundred pound creature I expect, it’s barely more than a hundred.

When I hit it in the legs, it tumbles to the ground, all of its balance lost. One of its talons cuts me across the shoulder, but it’s nowhere near bad enough to matter. I want to leap at it, to drive the steel bread knife into its spine, but the other living harpy is back from its retreat.

All of this has happened in seconds. It’s nearly as fast as when harpies attacked me in Blackgrove and Cole saved me.

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