Garrison Slice

Today's Manifest opened on the Elemental Plane of Earth, and the day's watch, a Day of Trade, looked to be an easy one. The Pit was filled with rolling dunes and a city of tents. Merchants had come to trade with the Concordance. I could smell foreign spices and the strange tang of silicon life.

Still, I kept my eyes sharp. Days of Trade had become Days of War with the dao more than once. I watched for traffickers or living boulders trying to masquerade as cargo.

I heard her full-throated laugh before I saw her. I couldn't help but smile as her silver antennae bobbed above the crowd. Despite myself, I cracked a smile. "Welcome back from the desert moth-girl!"

"Nando! There you are!" She fluttered silver-blue wings in answer, a cloud of hypnotic dust trailing behind her. "I found a source for flaky black salt. I'm bringing samples back for your Uncle and Lola Carly!"

I stepped close, brushing the sand from her dark shoulders, "You always bring the flavor, Daa'ima."

She smiled, meeting my eyes. "Meet me at the Kitchen tonight if you want a taste!"

Red Lancer Guard by Chris L

I was loading my small smoker, big enough to smoke a hippopotamus, with the wood of a bloodfire mango tree I had slain last year. The wood had reached the perfect levels of dryness and sap, ready to yield rich, smoky mango wood flavors. My project today was an enormous rumble ram brisket from the Ironspike Mountains. I coated it with cracked ice pepper and...

"Sgt. Sunder, did I make it?"

My angel-blooded aide landed beside me, silver-blue wings reflecting the wood fire.

"Yes Daa'ima, just in time." I held out my hand, and she placed a round ball of black salt in my palm. I took a sniff, coconut and ash, the scent of the Dao Desert. "Yes. Exactly what I needed."

I scraped the orb with my knife, letting beautiful flakes of black salt mix with the white pepper. I massaged the rub into the marbled brisket. The smell of smoke, coconut, and ice intesified as it went into the smoker.

Daa'ima closed her satchel, humming a little song. "Do you think Lola Carly will like the salt?"

"I think she'll love it... if you serve it with the right dish. What do you have in mind?"

"I've a friend from Olympian Mons. She taught me a recipe: eggs with tomatoes and cheese."

"Ah, strapatsada! I know it well. You'll need feta. Follow me."

We crossed to my cold storage, full of enormous sides of kaiju meat and lockers of dry-aging multiversal game. In the coldest section, next to a tamed frost salamander, we found the dairy aisle. I pulled out a huge square of firm white cheese.

"Here." I said, placing it in her arms. "Treat it gently, like you'd treat my nephews heart!"

She laughed. I could tell why Nando was smitten. "What do I owe you, Sunder?"

"We're bartering, moth-woman! A pot of black ash salt for a slab of rumble sheep cheese sounds fair."

Sgt Sunder vs Goliath Squid

My time in the Garrison was coming to an end and I wanted to make my last few weeks memorable. I had traveled to the Red Plains myself to pick up my last shipment in person. I lingered with every supplier. I had my final meals with old friends. I came back with a fine assortment of raptor ham and dinosaur eggs.

Now my loyal customers were coming by to make their final purchase. I'd return to Bluestar Lake with a fine egg dowry. I smiled to see one of my favorites finally arriving. "Daa'ima! You've come for the eggs?"

"Xilo! I heard you have the finest batch in the city."

"Only the best for you, my dear." I patted a basket of filled with pearlescent green eggs the size of my palm. "The last clutch before my grande morte."

Her wings drooped slightly. "So you're returning to the waters?"

"I do, and I'm looking forward to it. On the next full moon, Zuma and I will return to the Blue Star."

She accepted the basket with a sad smile. "I'll make something worthy and I will always remember you."

I replied, "For us Dula-dulas, the mating swim is not the end. I believe that we live again as tadpoles. Maybe I will walk this world again."

"If you do, I hope we meet again."

A dula-dula axolotl-folk. by Chris L

I finally arrived at Lola's Kitchen a few hours before dinner service, My satchel heavy with the ingredients I'd gathered all day. I caught a flying carpet from the Garrison to Gold Arrow Station. No sense burning up energy I'd need for an evening of cooking in the Kitchen.

As I climbed the bamboo stairs of the thatched-roof restaurant I heard Lola's loud, thickly-accented boom, "Daa'ima! You brought me presents! Chidi! Help her bring those to the back!"

Lola Carly's sharply dressed grandson primly stepped up to grab a few of my bags. "That's okay, Mr. Pamplona. You don't have to." The middle-aged gnome's head barely reached my waist.

"No problem at all, Lady Aasimar. I'd never hear the end of it from Lola if I didn't!" He winked and whispered, "Even if I am the owner of this place!"

In the kitchen, folded my silver wings under a light cape, and tied a scarf over my dreadlocks. I held my hand over the steel pans until the heat was just right.

"I'm excited to try these eggs!" Lola exclaimed, rolling up her sleeves. "Where did you learn the recipe again?"

"The last time Olympus Mons came for Heaven, I met a red-haired siren who was married to a cyclopes. They forged worlds in their foundry, and she was an excellent cook too!"

I gestured to my spread of ingredients. "It's simple: tomatoes, eggs, olive oil, some herbs, and feta. Served on warm crusty bread. The secret is in the preparation and the ingredients."

I whisked the dinosaur eggs in a copper bowl as the oil shimmered in the pan.

"And you'll use Sunder's cheese at the end?" Lola asked.

I nodded. "He's a good man and the best hunter I know."

She grinned, "Terrible singer, though!"

I laughed, "Try the salt!"

She tasted a pinch and her eyes widened, "Ay, talaga! This will wake the dead! Or Kuya Buwaya!"

The great alligator rumbled in the space beneath the nipa hut. The whole Kitchen shook.

Once the tomatoes softened and caramelized in the oil, I whisked in the eggs, stirring until soft curds formed. I salted as I went. Once the eggs and tomatoes almost set, I added in the rumble sheep cheese.

As I was cooking, Lola sliced into a loaf of crusty bread. "This nephew of Sunder's, he's not the first soldier you brought to my kitchen!"

I sighed, smiling, "Yeah, but I actually like this one! Stupid boy. I was supposed to be passing through the Zone, not catching feelings!"

"Be careful with this one, anak! Talino boys will break your heart!"

I smiled, "Maybe. We'll see how it goes after I make him this for breakfast!"

Lola Carly, Copper Nourishment by Chris L