The Witch and the Dragon - Beta

Chapter One

Translation into 中文 is now available! 

AnQiya has very kindly translated The Witch and the Dragon and posted the translation to the following sites:

https://www.gongzicp.com/novel-149305.html

https://www.popo.tw/books/696939

A HUGE thank you to AnQiya for translating this story :) And thank you everyone for your comments and votes :)) Alpha version of the English story can be downloaded via this link: https://mailchi.mp/6d58dbd7e3cb/freefantasynovella

Enjoy :)

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This is an original story, please do not redistribute, translate or otherwise reproduce without permission of the author.

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"You've got an infestation."

"I can see that," Alannah replied, scowling at the man. The shop was covered in glittering gold dust; did he think it was there for the aesthetic? "How do I get rid of them?"

"Well, there's traps. Not likely to get all of 'em, though. Little buggers breed like rabbits." Another swathe of pixie dust floated to the ground. The man scratched his nose and it turned blue. "I could try fumigation."

"Sounds expensive." She flicked a pixie off her ledger. It slammed into the wall opposite and thudded to the ground. "How much?"

"Three hundred," he said, promptly. "Minimum."

Her scowl deepened. He wasn't an exterminator, he was a crook. "One fifty."

"Two hundred."

"One seventy-five," she says, "and I'll throw in a batch of mermaid scales."

"Done." The man held his hand out and she shook it. "Course, it'll take a few days to get my kit together."

She rolled her eyes. "Of course it will. When you can get rid of them?"

"Two weeks."

"Two weeks? How am I supposed to stay in business for two weeks?"

A shrug. "I don't stock pixie traps. I'll have to ship 'em from the city."

She growled and the pixies danced circles over her head. "All right, fine. Just be here in two weeks."

"Sure thing, miss." He touched a finger to what she hoped was a non-existent hat, rather than an invisible one, and slipped out the front door.

Alannah flopped into her chair and dislodged a cloud of golden dust. Just perfect.

Grandmother's ash and quartz stave hung in its place on the far wall, untouched by dust. She would never have let this happen. One twitch of that staff and the pixies would have fled, screeching. For a second, Alannah imagined what it would be like to give up the shop, let another witch take up her grandmother's legacy.

Leaving her to do what, exactly? She'd never make it on her own. That was the one thing she and Grandmother agreed on.

A pixie landed on the wooden counter and twirled in a way that managed to come off both graceful and patronising. "Oh, shut up," she muttered. "And don't get comfortable. In two weeks, you'll all be pinned to the wall by your wings." Tiny cries of anger echoed through her shop. One of her vases toppled off the counter and crashed to the floor. "For goodness' sake," she muttered.

The door opened and the tiny golden bell beside her let out a high clear ring. "We're closed," Alannah called, without looking. She swept dust off her ledger and slammed it shut.