SNEAK PEEK: What the Rain Dragged in at The Cat's Claw 🌧🐈🍻💕
A sneak peek at a new original short story + the usual updates
Happy Saturday—or should I say Caturday? 🐈
(I’m cringing, too, don’t worry 😂)
In light of reaching a 1-year milestone of querying and getting my first short story published and in my hands last week—but not being able to share it with anyone else on the internet yet—I have decided to celebrate by publishing my first public short story for free! 🥳
What the Rain Dragged in at The Cat’s Claw is a ~8K-word cozy high fantasy romantic comedy that I wrote several months ago—but it’s been difficult to find anywhere to submit a story this long and of this subject matter to any lit mags willing to pay their writers 😔 And since I have barely any published writing to show prospective agents/editors, it would be nice to finally have something to share besides my book or WIP snippets! So my plan is to start posting my short stories on itch.io when I can’t seem to find a home for them—and if you are the generous kind of person who’s been waiting for a chance to support me monetarily, now is your chance! 💕
Itch.io allows creators to post books/short stories for whatever price they want to set the purchase/download of the story from $0+, but even if you pay the minimum price you can add a ‘donation’ or a tip to the author to complete your purchase. Once again, since the vendor is itch.io, any transactions will go through the site as an intermediary so I never have to see your personal info and you never see mine! (that is not the case on substack, patreon, paypal, etc.). Even better than a long-term monthly paid subscription service like substack/patreon… if you want to support my work by throwing dollars at me, all you have to do is buy one of my stories one time! (And I would absolutely appreciate it and maybe I could doodle thank you cards to those who donate 🥺💕)
I am in the process of figuring out how to get everything posted on itch.io and working flawlessly, so in the meantime…
I want to give you, my dear newsletter subscribers, a ~2K word sneak peek at What the Rain Dragged in at the Cat’s Claw—a cozy high fantasy romantic comedy set in a post-war world where magic, adventure, and regular small town life all converge.
🌧🐈🍻💕
Please keep in mind that the full story is rated Teen & Up for scenes featuring: profanity, alcohol consumption, descriptions of injuries/medical treatment, mild depictions of violence, and suggestive romantic content.
Enjoy reading!
“Really coming down tonight, eh?”
It was the twentieth time Sonia heard someone make that remark in the bar that night, but she glanced outside anyway. The rain-filled sky was black at this late hour, but the lamps outside the Cat’s Claw illuminated the stained glass windows in a quaint, pretty way so that they glistened and shimmered under the sliding cascades of water. The sturdy wooden double doors of the bar kept the rain from entering, but the incessant pats, plinks, and plops of raindrops falling onto the ground outside were a pleasant harmony to Sonia’s ears.
But as pleasant as it was…a rainy night was terrible for business.
Sonia was the sole owner and bartender of the Cat’s Claw, the only bar within fifteen miles of the nearest town and located at a tiny rest stop along the main road that cityfolk and adventurers used to travel between northern and southern Isalia. But as popular as the bar was on an average sunny day, rainy days killed business. After all, few people dared to travel at night in a storm, and even fewer thought to stop at a bar for a drink.
A glass sharply clinked onto the bar. “Another pint, dear!”
“Bernard, I stop you at three pints, remember?” Sonia replied, arching an eyebrow as she turned to the white-haired, wrinkly, and rosy-cheeked elderly man.
“You act like we’re still doing war-time rationing, Sonia. ‘Sides, I’m not getting any younger! I’d like to die happy!”
“Well, you’re not dying in my bar,” Sonia sighed, putting her hands on her hips. “How about I make you some hot spiced cider? It’ll be good for a rainy night like this.”
Bernard kept his lips pursed, but he nodded. “All right, Sonia… Only because I love your cider. Your recipe’s even better than your ol’ pa’s!”
Sonia smiled. “Sit tight, then, Bernard.”
Apart from Bernard, the only patrons inside the Cat’s Claw were a young elf and dwarf duo, both dressed like adventurers with their bows, arrows, and swords carelessly set aside on their table; a shrewd-looking noble lady accompanied by three orc guards, sitting in a corner table and whispering the entire evening; and two halfling coach drivers stopping in for a meal before they continued their journies.
Sonia, an ordinary human woman, tied her long dark hair into a ponytail and pushed up the sleeves of her gray button-down shirt before she began to gather ingredients for the hot cider. As worried as she was about finances, at least a slow, quiet night like this meant she could get done cleaning up the bar earlier, which would allow her to finally have a restful night of—
THWOOM!
Three figures clumsily pushed their way into the Cat’s Claw, thumping their armored elbows against the heavy doors. Every patron stopped talking and shot their eyes towards the newcomers: a strapping duo of a man and woman—both of them clad in in black and red leather—shouldering a similarly dressed man who clung to both of their shoulders. They each wore silver badges engraved with a lion’s profile, and Sonia realized that these three travelers were mercenaries from the southern city of Cienna.
“Oi, is there a medic here?!” the tallest one shouted, a man with dark brown skin and short, black curly hair.
Sonia moved out from behind the bar. “What happened?”
“Bit of an accident,” replied the woman, who had light brown skin and long, violet hair twisted in a braid.
“Broke my leg…heroically, if anyone asks,” the injured mercenary groaned. He was a tan-faced man who wasn’t as sinewy as his comrades, and his pompadour-like gold and black hair was long in the front, covering half his face.
“If you’re looking for a doctor, there’s one fifteen miles down the road in Arbreville,” Sonia advised.
“I don’t need a doctor… I need a drink,” the injured man petulantly replied.
“We’ve been riding for miles in the rain,” the curly-haired mercenary interjected, “‘Til we could get to a dry place to sort it out.”
“I really think you should just keep going to Arbreville,” Sonia sighed. “He’ll be in better hands with a doctor.”
But the mercenaries didn’t listen to her, and the injured man’s colleagues promptly carried him to the nearest wooden table and laid him down. The injured man loudly groaned as he grasped onto the edge of the table, and Sonia groaned in annoyance, “For gods’ sake… Does anyone in this bar have medical experience?”
All the bar’s patrons remained silent, and the noblewoman turned up her nose and motioned for her guards to stand up and leave with her.
Sonia huffed out a sigh as she put her hands on her hips. “Perfect.”
“We’ll handle it, Miss,” the curly-haired mercenary told her. “Just get us a round of pints. Snake Bites.”
“Snake Bites?”
“Forgot—you don’t do that in the north, do ya? Best cider on tap, then?”
“Cider?” the injured mercenary scoffed. “I need something stronger!”
The curly-haired mercenary offered a sack of coins to Sonia. “My name’s Dalton. Get the idiot a shot of what’ll get him drunk the quickest—and a couple ciders.”
Sonia narrowed her eyes in exasperation, but she took the bag of coins and walked back to the bar.
Whatever those mercenaries think they’re going to do, that man could probably use a drink…and I’m not going to say no to a bag of silver, Sonia mused, as she gathered two glasses and headed to the apple cider barrel.
“Ahh! What are you doing?!” the injured man shouted. “You’re not supposed to put splints on before you know where the break is!”
“Then you do it yourself, Nix,” the female mercenary interjected.
“What a good friend you are, Chiara!”
Sonia hadn’t finished filling the second glass of cider before she took it back and slammed it onto the bar. Then she grabbed a bottle of whiskey, a shot glass, and marched towards the three mercenaries.
“Do any of you idiots know how to treat a broken leg?” Sonia barked.
Dalton gawked at her, and the woman, Chiara, gave her a judgmental raise of an eyebrow. The injured man, whose name was apparently Nix, glanced up at her with apprehension.
“Do you?” Chiara countered.
“Yes.” Sonia shoved her aside and pushed past Dalton to set the bottle of whiskey onto the table before she poured a bit into the shot glass. “I’m not a doctor, but I won’t have you permanently injuring this man, either!”
Nix made no protest as Sonia used her hands to feel his leg from his ankle to his knee. However, when she gently squeezed his kneecap, Nix let out a sharp yelp and growled in pain as he gritted his teeth together. It wasn’t a broken leg.
“You know what you’re doing, lady?” Dalton asked.
“Well, it’s not a broken leg, that’s for sure—just a dislocated kneecap,” Sonia explained. “I’d be able to tell for sure if he didn’t still have his trousers on. If anyone has a knife on them, I’d like to borrow it.”
“Hold on!” Nix protested, his face growing red. “I mean, not that I wouldn’t want a smoking-hot lady like you to take my trousers off—but only in a completely different situation—and what are you going to do with a knife?”
Sonia glowered at Nix and replied, “It’s so I can cut your trousers above the knee and then I can set the dislocated bone back in place with my own hands, moron!”
Nix shrank back as Sonia took the dagger that Chiara silently offered. Sonia then picked up the full shot glass and shoved it into Dalton’s hand.
“Make him drink this and then keep his mouth shut,” she ordered.
During the war, the Cat’s Claw was used to house injured soldiers on their way to and from the battlefield in the Rocheux Valley. They had to march through small side roads and towns after the previous main highway was destroyed, and medics needed a place to do their work, so Sonia’s father offered up the bar. In those days, Sonia learned how to patch up soldiers to be ready to go back into the fray, and two years later, she still knew a thing or two.
Sonia carefully cut Nix’s left trouser leg above his knee and revealed that his patella had popped out of place. The skin on his knee was also scraped and stained in blood, dotted by a slew of wooden splinters.
“So… Can you fix it?” Nix asked.
“This is going to hurt.” Sonia turned to Dalton. “Give him something to bite on.”
“Wha–mmph!” Dalton shoved a leather dagger sheath between Nix’s teeth.
“Okay, on the count of three…” Sonia leaned most of her body weight onto Nix’s leg as she prepared to push his kneecap back into place. “One…”
Sonia never finished counting to three, knowing an injured man would be more relaxed if she didn’t let him brace for the pain, but Nix still let out a muffled scream when she reset his kneecap. Once Sonia got up off of his leg, she pressed her fingers gently around the knee, feeling how swollen it was.
“Shit… That really hurt!” Nix threw his head back onto the table, and he breathed out heavily now that he wasn’t gagged anymore.
“Stay still for a bit,” Sonia sternly told him. Then she turned to Dalton and Chiara. “It’s back in place, but he shouldn’t walk for weeks. I’ll need to bandage him, and those splinters need to be removed from his leg… But you two really should have just taken him down the road to a real doctor!”
“No, my fair lady bartender…” Nix got up to a seated position and he smiled up at Sonia. “It is an honor to be treated by such a lovely… HRRNGH!”
If Sonia wasn’t used to seeing and cleaning up the vomit of rowdy bar patrons, it would have made her sick to watch this man lean over to the side and puke up the whiskey he had just downed, along with whatever he had for dinner.
“Right, well… I’ll clean that up, too, I guess,” Sonia nonchalantly remarked.
Dalton took her aside and whispered, “Look, I know it’s a bit of a burden, but in this rain, on a horse… I don’t think it’s wise for him to leave. But... we’re on a deadline.”
Sonia raised an eyebrow. “A deadline?”
“Yes, to get our bounty. We have to make it back to Cienna in three days. I don’t think he’ll be able to ride—we’re only on horseback.”
“So…?
“So… Can he stay here?”
Sonia glowered at Dalton. “This isn’t a tavern! I don’t rent rooms. What about the inn—or take him to the next town!”
“Please, we’ll pay you,” Dalton whispered. “We can pay you even more, once we get our earnings from the bounty! But if we show up late, our pay gets docked.”
Sonia crossed her arms. “That’s not my problem.”
Dalton raised an eyebrow. “And yet you went out of your way to heal our friend yourself. That wasn’t your problem, either.”
“Well, you likely would have handicapped him for life if I left it up to you.”
Dalton grinned. “All the more reason we are in your debt, milady.”
Sonia groaned as she glanced around the now empty bar. All the patrons, even Bernard, were gone. “Fine. I’ll take half your bounty.”
Dalton’s eyes widened. “That’s ridiculous!”
“If you don’t like those terms, you can take your friend and arrive late to Cienna, and then you’ll still get only half your bounty—or less, if what you claim is true.”
Dalton sighed. “Fine. You have a deal.”
“What are you all talking about?” Nix asked, sounding weak.
“Just a bit of business. See you in a week or so, bro!” Dalton clapped a hand on his friend’s shoulder.
“Wait… What?”
I hope you enjoyed that first bit of What the Rain Dragged in at the Cat’s Claw! If you’re excited to read the full story, keep an eye on your inbox and my socials so you can be the first to know when I publish the full version! 😊
As for this week’s social media roundup, you may have missed that I posted a book review on Immortal Pleasures by V. Castro. It’s been my favorite read of the year so far, I can’t say enough good things about this book! ❤
I also posted my 2nd Character Spotlight for The Blood of a Divine, and this time I let you learn a little more about Xavier, the main antagonist of the book, as well as the MC Ehren’s brother, as well as the Divine Prince of the Underworld 🩸👑💀
[Character Spotlight has been deleted and is now only available in subscribers’ inboxes if they had been subscribing at the time the post was published]
*side note*
I didn’t post this on Instagram because as much as I like Bury the Light as a theme song for Xavier—which is a character theme song for Vergil from Devil May Cry—it’s not the nicest song for your ears when you’re just scrolling on your phone and I didn’t want to do that to anyone in public 😂 HOWEVER, that song is perfect for Xavier, and honestly I’m both so annoyed and so delighted at discovering how much of a Vergil Xavier is…I honestly couldn’t believe it when I played through the DMC series last year just how much of that game’s story reminds me of my own book and characters (disclaimer: there is no intentional similarity between TBOAD and DMC! 😂) Anyway, if you’re a fan of Vergil as a brutal, complicated, but still sort of sympathetic villain (arguably)…you’ll probably be a fan of Xavier, too 👀
I don’t have any other news to share this week…but gosh, August is almost here! Which is the “dead” month for publishing. But honestly, 2024 has felt like a Dead Year for publishing… and I’ve been both disheartened and disappointed at how quiet it’s been these last 7 months when it felt like in December I was finally making strides in querying and the 5 months before that were eventful enough! Doesn’t make me feel great about TBOAD’s fate and I’m hoping things will finally pick up in September. That’s why I also plan to start querying 🕷💋 WIP by then if I don’t get an offer of rep before…
Anyway, have a great weekend and thank you once again for supporting me!
-Jazmin