“That’s right. My father’s a good [Smith]. I shouldn’t tell you his exact level, but it’s over twenty. He’s not a city-smith, but he might go over Level 30, and then he’d be better than Lord Lantal’s smith in the town!”

Violetta was proud of that, and Cara nodded dubiously and watched as Violetta started her chores. She locked the thick wood door banded with iron that her father had helped make behind her, as she took Cara to the chicken coop. They were very particular about that, Cara noticed.

No one just left their doors open. Or even unlocked. They locked and closed every door behind them and double-checked that they did. No open shutters either; Violetta had opened them to allow some fresh air in this morning, closed them after five minutes, and latched them shut.

Similarly, the outhouse, chicken coop, and Violetta’s house all looked like miniature fortresses.

Everything was so sturdy here. Cara blinked at the coop. It was about twice as tall as your regular coop, with another thick door, and she had observed the insanely high fences.

Because of the undead. Cara felt her skin prickle as she recalled the rabbit. No wonder they made sure nothing could get into the coop.

Oh—and it wasn’t chickens that Violetta was collecting eggs for. She warned Cara.

“Be careful. The Gloomwrens are big, and they don’t like anyone who’s not me or…me. You can hold the basket; it’ll take two trips at least.”

“For eggs?”

Violetta had a sack of black wheat kernels. Cara stared at the massive basket in her hands. Violetta smiled.

“Yup. They lay four times a week. Here—”

She opened the coop and it was empty. Cara peered inside. She saw nothing but shadows in the vast, cavernous coop. There were individual ‘nests’ separated by wooden barriers, like a stables. Lots of hay, even large feathers. Large, black feathers. But where were…?

“Violetta—”

“Cara. Shh. There’s one to your left. Betta, shh. Be nice…”

The girl pointed, and Cara turned her head and saw the shadows shift. The Gloomwren materialized, and Cara learned a few things:

Firstly, magic soil meant you got strange things, like black wheat. Also—the animals changed too.

Secondly, some animals could use magic. Like the Gloomwrens, who were invisible in the shade until they moved.

Thirdly, Gloomwrens were gigantic birds who could take your fingers off and kill you if they jumped you.

To describe the bird, Cara would have told someone to think of an ostrich, only without the long legs and more chicken-shaped.

Ostriches killed people. Gloomwrens could kill people. They were massive birds, and your average mean-ass goose would take one look at a Gloomwren and flutter off. Cara stayed by the door as Violetta fearlessly scratched and talked to the giant birds before taking their grey-black eggs and letting them into the fenced area to roam about.