When you walk into a German bakery, you expect a delicious breakfast with every variety of bread and a beautiful view of the autumn mountains. You certainly don't expect to find murderous owners or cookies that come to life out of nowhere and try to become part of the menu.
Guess those were things that only happened in Germany. The gingerbread cookies advanced in a row, their candy eyes shining with malice. Frank the Baker waved his spatula in an arc through the air, and bread knives began to fly everywhere like boomerangs.
It seemed like the baker was determined to catch us at all costs and make us part of the menu, even if it meant destroying his entire shop in the process. Now that' s a man dedicated to his business.
"Ivy!" I called to the blonde girl as I dodged a bread knife by inches. "Think fast!"
She didn't hesitate for a second: she grabbed an open jar of salt on the counter and threw it straight at a group of black cookies. The effect was immediate: the dough crunched and crumbled as if it were made of dust. They seemed unable to handle so much salt in their sugar.
"Even in basic chemistry, you know that salt ruins fermentation, idiots," Ivy snapped with a satisfied smirk.
Meanwhile, Rex didn't wait for elaborate plans. He ran straight toward the baker, dodging molds falling from the ceiling and projectiles flying around the room. I wondered how the townspeople would react if they saw this scene unfold before their eyes. Why were there never police in rural communities?
Rex raised a wooden plank like a shield and, with a roar, charged a batch of cookies, smashing them against the ovens. Poor cookies. "Enough with the sweets," my friend grunted, as the dough pieces slowly melted in the heat of the fire.
June, on the other hand, opted for an unusual method. She noticed an abandoned piping bag full of frosting on one of the shelves and decided to use it instantly. Without thinking, she pressed the stream of frosting against the face of one of the cookies. "Here, free decoration!" June laughed as the creature collided with two others, leaving them stuck together.
As for me, I improvised as usual. I grabbed a spatula from the counter and began slashing at the killer cookies. To my surprise, this proved to be an effective weapon. I charged at one of them and split it cleanly in half, its remaining batter falling and dissolving on the floor. I repeated this a couple more times, and soon my corner of the bakery was clean.
Obviously, I missed a couple of times. Those beasts were very small, and it was difficult to hit them. They jumped from one place to another, like annoying mosquitoes, and whenever I was distracted, they bit my shoe or tried to scrape my knee with their crystallized blades.
The others were having the same success as mine, although Rex was having the same problem. He'd lost his tray, so he opted to use Mr. Garland's sword. Despite being a spectacular weapon and surely lethal to any thief, it was ineffective against such small creatures.
So, as usual, Ivy and I had to help him (because he can't do anything right on his own). Soon, the bakery was clear of those critters. "Now, all together!" Ivy ordered. As a team, we launched an attack with the combined force of an army.
The baker tried to raise a ladle to attack us, but Rex knocked it aside, June threw flour in the baker's face, I punched him hard in the face with a tray, and Ivy opened the valve of a huge oven, releasing a burst of flame that engulfed the last cookies.
Frank fell to his knees, watching his efforts collapse before his eyes. He was breathing heavily, flour and melted icing covering him from head to toe. But despite being pointed at by Rex's sword or having Ivy's dagger at his neck, he had enough determination to glare at us defiantly. "This... doesn't... end here."
"It's over!" Ivy said firmly, a victorious smile on her face. "Give us the map, baker!"
"Never," the man smiled. It wasn't just any kind of smile; it was the kind that made your blood run cold. He slowly drew one last crystallized knife from his apron, and in what seemed like a split second, the blade pierced Rex's shoulder.
When Ivy tried to react, Frank was already on his feet and kicked her in the chest, sending her flying across the bakery.
"Rex! Ivy!" I yelled.
"Do you really think a baker like me wouldn't have his main course?"
Before our eyes, an opening in the ceiling collapsed onto the floor in front of the baker, and a silhouette fell out. Before our terrified eyes, a gingerbread lion emerged, covered entirely in scar-like red icing and with fangs made of crystallized sugar. His candy eyes shone with hunger, and every step he took echoed off the walls of the shop.
"Meet Rex Glacius, the Gingerbread Lion."
You may think fighting a gingerbread lion is funny, but it wasn't at all. The sugar lion roared again, sending a fiery puff of molten sugar splattering against the stone walls. Display cases rattled, trays toppled over with a clatter, and a strong smell of burnt cinnamon, even stronger than in the Underground Library, permeated the air.
"Watch out!" Ivy yelled, shoving me aside just before a swipe of a cookie nearly crushed me to dust.
The monster spun around, its solid frosting-covered back glistening in the light from the still-lit ovens.
I used a tray as a shield, barely managing to cushion another blow. The lion was proving harder to defeat than the cookies, no doubt. "This cookie cat has sharper claws than my math teacher!"
Rex, without hesitation, charged with his sword in hand. "Then we'll split him in two!" He launched a brutal blow at the lion's paw. The plank splintered a piece of hardened dough, but the monster barely flinched and responded with a lash of its tail that knocked him back against a sack of flour.
A white cloud began to fill the air. It was the second blow he'd received in one morning, and he doubted he could last longer before fainting. June, inhaling between coughs, raised the piping bag still dripping with sugared cream. "I hope this still works…" she aimed and shot the cream directly into the lion's eyes. "See how you like being decorated!"
The lion roared angrily, shaking himself free of the sticky icing now covering his face. He seemed to be getting angrier by the minute, so this wasn't a good sign. I looked toward the store's exit, just a few feet away, but we couldn't escape, not now.
I scanned my surroundings, trying to find an object that could pierce the cookie's skin. Meanwhile, Ivy was seizing her opportunity, leaping onto a table and grabbing a jar of still-hot, bubbling caramel.
"If this monster is made of sugar… then the heat should break it." Miles, distract it!
I gulped. "Oh, right, why does it always have to be me!" I started waving my tray, making a metallic noise that attracted unwanted attention. "Hey, giant cookie, come get me!"
The gingerbread lion advanced on me, jaws wide open. It leaped, sending the bakery rumbling. At that instant, taking advantage of my poor distraction, Ivy threw the boiling caramel at its paws. The crystallized sugar sizzled, and we barely had to wait to hear a roar of pain from the beast.
"AAARRGHH!" I would have felt sorry for the beast if it weren't for the fact that it had nearly devoured me. Fortunately for us, the lion seemed to be stuck on the ground, so we decided to take advantage of its inattention.
The Black Sugar Baker's voice came in late. "Noooo, my pet!" What happened next was one of the coolest things I've ever done: The four of us pushed a minimalist wooden shelf packed with high-quality baking pans and molds. As if in slow motion, the shelf floated in the air for a second and then collapsed with a crash onto the lion.
The poor creature was buried in a shower of iron, dough, and flour. The cookie lion let out one last roar that shattered the glass windows, and then lay motionless, crumbling into cookie dust on the wooden floor.
A silence fell over the bakery, and for a moment, all that was heard was the crackling of the lit ovens and the Baker's labored breathing.
I picked up a piece of cookie from the floor. "Now, who wants to eat it?"
The Black Sugar Baker glared at us, his eyes filled with rage, as if we'd hit his cat. He let out a low hiss, and all the pastry knives floated in the air, surrounded by a bluish aura.
"You've ruined my masterpiece," he bellowed, flour coating his caramelized face. "Now you're the ones who'll end up in the oven, and by noon, the people of Miltenburg will have a great feast to feed yourselves!"
The knives began flying toward us. I rolled on the ground to avoid the projectiles. "Everyone down."
Rex raised his sword like a baseball bat and, in an act of bravery, somehow managed to deflect two knives. "How many more daggers does he have?"
June threw a metal tray into the air, catching three knives that were headed straight for Ivy's face.
"Listen!" Ivy turned her frightened gaze to the lit ovens. "If we manage to bury him near the ovens, the heat will weaken him. He's so saturated with sugar that he'll melt like taffy."
The baker raised his arms, and the purple sugar scattered on the floor began to move. Perhaps he was trying to summon more sugary creatures—perhaps a sugar soldier, some chocolate bats, or even a tax collector made of fontaine. We'll never know, because just as his work was bearing fruit, Rex rammed him with his sword, pushing him back into the oven.
It was my turn to help: I grabbed a sack of flour and threw it directly at his head. June used another tray to deflect a knife that was headed for Ivy's neck.
"Do you really think you four can beat me?!" the Baker exclaimed, a grin on his face.
"I think so," Rex said, and swung his saber one last time to pierce Frank's chest. Just as the cake creature was beginning to crumble, Ivy opened one of the oven doors, and the hot air hit us all at once.
"Time to melt!" We all shoved what was left of the baker into the fire. The heat engulfed him, and his black clothes began to shatter like glass. With one last furious roar, he exploded in a shower of sweet ash.
"Well, at least now we can have free cookies," I muttered.
June leaned over the counter. Among the pans and charred recipes, she found a leather-bound book with a gilt emblem on the cover: a golden chalice surrounded by mistletoe branches.
"Guys, I think this is what we were looking for."
Ivy flipped through the book, revealing a detailed map of the labyrinth's paths, with symbols marking stations, portals, and unknown areas. Her eyes lit up. "It's not just a map... It's a guide to the entire labyrinth. With this, we can reach the chalice before anyone else."
Rex smiled, still holding his swords like a sacred weapon. "I can't believe that the chalice is just two kilometers away, in the fortress at the other side of the town."
"It seems that our quest will end on the same day," I murmured, between worried and excited. Just when I was about to crack another of my "defeated hell chef" jokes, a strange creaking sound came from behind. A giant cake golem emerged from the dark corner of the bakery. It roared in a sticky voice, swinging its hardened sponge cake arms.
"Looks like I'm going to end up hating baking," I muttered.
The cake creature lunged at Ivy, who barely managed to cover herself with the map. But before it could strike, a sharp whistling sound cut through the air.
Phew—THUNK!
A silver arrow pierced the golem's fluffy chest, and it let out a grunt before collapsing to the ground. The four of us turned toward the entrance. There, silhouetted against the light of the Bavarian dawn, stood a figure with her bow still raised.
A young woman with an intense gaze, dark brown hair tied back in a braid, and a gray cloak that seemed to play with the shadows.
"Clare Voss…" Ivy murmured, her face dark.
The newcomer lowered his bow slowly and took a step forward, his boots leaving floury footprints. His voice was firm. "I didn't come to save you," he said, staring down at the book Ivy was holding. "I came for the map."
"And if we refuse?" I dared to ask.
Clare didn't smile. She didn't even blink. She took another step forward, her arrow ready for the next shot. "You don't understand what you're holding. That map isn't a prize. It's a weapon. And if you don't hand it over right now… I'll have to take it from you."
The air inside the bakery grew tense.
"I'll tell you one last time," she whispered, her voice as sharp as the tip of her arrow. "Hand over the map… or you won't get out of here."
No one moved. No one breathed.
The silence weighed as much as the crunch of the defeated cake behind them. And right then, in that suspended instant, they understood that their true enemy had just revealed himself.
To be continued…