Knead For Speed – Lindsay Buroker

“Even though they are themselves good at hiding, it is not safe for them beyond the borders. Many pixies find refuge in these parks.” “They wouldn’t need refuge if they weren’t always stealing shiny objects.” The elf waved in dismissal. “It is their nature.” Doubting the pixies respected the borders of their enclave, Rylana wondered how the elves dealt with thefts, but its entry arch had come into view toward the end of the park, so she didn’t ask.

That great arch, softly glowing as if lit from within by a silvery moon, rose more than twenty feet and was almost as wide. Two elven warriors stood within it to either side of a path that transitioned from gravel in the park to smooth white river rocks that also glowed faintly with moonlight. The warriors wore tan leathers and green cloaks as well as swords and bows.

With a start, Rylana realized their weapons weren’t secured by tranquility knots. “Your people are allowed to use their weapons within the city limits?” she asked. Despite Sylin’s suggestion that she wouldn’t be physically tortured, Rylana envisioned elves with faces chiseled from ice wielding sadistic serrated tools while she lay strapped helplessly on a bloodstained slab. “Within the borders of the enclave, we may do as we wish,” one elf said.

“Our kind have a diplomatic understanding with the gnomes,” the other said. “Meaning you’re special.” Rylana knew some of the other intelligent species had portions of the city where predominately their kind lived, but none of them had enclaves or guards to keep others out. “Centuries ago, we were specifically invited to come and lend our magic to the establishment and enrichment of Tranquility.

Unlike the other two-legged species that showed up opportunistically. Half of the early inhabitants were criminals fleeing the wrath of law enforcers from their own lands.” The elf curled a derisive lip. “To draw our kind here, dispensations were offered.”

No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review. OceanofPDF.com CONTENTS Chapter 1 Chapter 2 Chapter 3 Chapter 4 Chapter 5 Chapter 6 Chapter 7 Chapter 8 Chapter 9 Chapter 10 Chapter 11 Chapter 12 Chapter 13 Chapter 14 Chapter 15 Chapter 16 Chapter 17 Chapter 18 Chapter 19 Chapter 20 Chapter 21 Chapter 22 Chapter 23 Chapter 24 Chapter 25 Chapter 26 Chapter 27 Chapter 28 Epilogue OceanofPDF.com 1 “Thanks to the increased patronage since you won the Golden Whisk, and the lack of recent fires, graffiti, or other vandalism, the Dragon Diner is now profiting almost fifty gold a week,” former mercenary archer and current bookkeeper, Rylana Avandar, said.

She sat on a stool in the back of the kitchen while the dragon chef Jildarin-grozanarav of Clan Killcrusher—her new business partner—stirred sautéed onions and pieces of bacon into a scintillating soup. It wafted delectable aromas of thyme, elfmoss, and his secret dragon spices into the air, and her mouth watered, making it a challenge to focus on work. “According to my projections,” Rylana added, holding up her column- filled ledger, “and accounting for seasonable variability in visitation, the Dragon Diner could profit more than fifteen hundred gold by the end of the year.”

“You will now inform me that the staff should receive raises?” Jildarin turned his emerald eyes toward her, his expression knowing. For someone who’d spent most of his life in his native form of a silver-scaled dragon, he was catching on to human ways and nuances quickly.

“We’ve already discussed that your employees should receive wages. Since they don’t currently get those, you can’t call it a raise. It would be the establishment of something that doesn’t exist.” Rylana didn’t point out that she didn’t receive wages either. Since Jildarin had made her a partner in the diner, she would be entitled to part of the profits at the end of the month, so she was less concerned about weekly pay these days.

Of course, it would be nice to be able to rent lodgings somewhere so she wouldn’t have to continue to sleep on the floor in a corner of the storeroom… “Due to the increased patronage, as you called it, many more meals are being served, and the employees are receiving greater tips than they did previously.

This is a short excerpt from the opening of “” by Unknown, quoted for review and introduction purposes. All rights belong to the copyright holders.

Book Information

• Unique ID: c7d1e6a56c7da743
• File Extension: .pdf
• File Size: 3,985,977 bytes (3.801 MB)
• Title: –
• Author: Unknown
• Pages: 242
• Language: English (en)

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• Estimated Reading Time: 405.42 minutes
• Total Words: 81,083
• Total Characters: 465,417
• Average Words per Page: 335.05
• Average Characters per Page: 1923.21

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