For a witch, she sure looked nice. Maybe a little too much skin and not enough chitin, but still, not bad. And her eyes, like two precious gems that made a crab want to just pluck them and hide them in a hole.

  Balthazar found himself w if she knew how to bake, too.

  He was experieng many strange and fusing feelings, but for whatever strange reason, that wasn’t b him too much.

  Just like the sharp bde of the sickle the witch was holding wasn’t b him, either.

  He wondered if such a circur bde was any good for cutting pies.

  Even more important than that, he wondered what was Velvet’s favorite pie.

  He would have to ask her as soon as figured out how to stop making bubbles with his mouth and how to speak properly again.

  She raised her right arm high in the air, the bde she held refleg the pale moonlight across its edge, but Balthazar was sure there was no reason for . Su entrang woman could surely be trusted, and would never harm him.

  Some dampened noise came from behind her, like a rustling or shuffling. The crab wasn’t too worried about it, but Velvet pulled her eyes away from his to look behind herself.

  From behind a boulder, a long neck stretched up and a drake’s head peeked over it.

  Blue walked around the rock, the two figures sitting by the water with a frown of suspi.

  The witch, still holding the sickle above her head, widened her eyes and lost her smile as she saw the creature approach.

  “What do you want, you stupid thing?” the witch said, her voice sounding much more bitter and unpleasant than it was mere moments before. “Shoo, go away. ’t you see we’re in the middle of something important? Quit ruining my moment.”

  Blue’s brow furrowed.

  “Wha… what were we talking about?” the dazed crab mumbled. “Blue? What are you doing here?”

  Velvet quickly lowered her bde and turned her attention back to Balthazar, a smile ba her face.

  “Shh, never mind that. We were having a little heart-to-heart, remember? Hey, look at me. Let’s focus ba that, darling, alright?”

  “But I thought… hey, wait a moment. Is that a sickle?!” Balthazar shook his shell vigorously. “What the hell were y to do to me?”

  As if waking up from a bad nap, the groggy crab tried fog his thoughts bato pce.

  Rapid questions ran through his mind as he tried to make sense of everything.

  Was he really sidering taking her offer?

  Why was he even listening to what that woman said?

  Was Velvie really about t that bde down on him?

  Why the hell was he calling the witch “Velvie” in his head?

  “You know how dangerous the world out here is, Balthie,” the witch said. “A woman has to carry something to protect herself. Now stop w about that and focus ba our chat, will you?”

  “Nah, I don’t think I will,” Balthazar said. “You had me under some kind of… something, I don’t know what, but there is no way I would ever sider letting you cut me up unless I was out of my damn mind, witch.”

  Blue let out a low growl as she slowly stalked forward, her yellow eyes firmly pced on the bck-an.

  “Now, there is o get harsh, darling,” she said, gng back at the drake as she stood up from the ground. “We were so close to ing to terms. I was going to let you have the petals you so desperately oo.”

  With her free hand, she revealed the vial taining the frostshade again.

  “On the trary,” the crab said, “I think when someoends to slice me up with a sickle is exactly the time to get harsh.”

  Behind the woman, the drake lifted her arms from the ground and stood on her hind legs before letting out a warning roar.

  “Balthazar,” the witch began, taking a relut step ba order to keep both the crab and the drake in her sight, “it’s not too te to resider things. We still e to an agreement. Just order your drake to stand down a’s talk about this.”

  Balthazar gave Velvet a spiteful smile.

  “I’m sorry, my dear, but that one does not obey a single ive her.”

  Stretg her wings wide, the drake stretched her head forward and opened her mouth. A screech came out, along with a bright blue jet of fire that shot straight at the witch, who barely had time to duder the fmes.

  The witch wailed as her long bck hair caught on fire. Desperately filing her arms around, she dropped both the sickle and the vial on the sand before darting past the other two and throwing herself into the water.

  Between her screams and a sizzling noise, a rge cloud of bck smoke emerged above the water, along with the intense smell of burnt hair.

  “Phew, that’s a horrible stench!” Balthazar said, while waving a pincer up and down in front of his face to disperse the smell.

  As the smoke cleared, both the crab and the drake looked down into the water, looking fns of the witch, but only ripples remained.

  “Did… did she dissolve or something?” the befuddled crab asked. “Nah, ’t be. No way the water would still look this clear with that evil witch mixed in it. Damn magic users and their disappearing acts.”

  Turning his attention to Blue, Balthazar spoke to her.

  “Didn’t expect you to e through for me, but hey, good job! Maybe you’re finally gaining some respect!”

  The drake threw her head away disdainfully and started walking back to where she came.

  “Or not,” the annoyed crab said. “I should have known it was too good to be true. You were probably just doing whatever you felt like, as usual.”

  Looking down at the ground, his eyes caught a glint from gss in the sand.

  “The vial!”

  Quickly pig it up with his silver pincer, Balthazar brought it up against the sparse light from the moon. The petals of frostshade he needed were still i, tiny and dry.

  Running along the shore and through the wooden bridge, he made his way to his tent and dug through his disanized boxes, baskets, and bags.

  “Damn it, damn it, damn it! Where did I put it?!”

  Finally finding it, the crab pulled a bottle of clear liquid from a basket where he kept other equally valuable items, such as leftover pieces of pie and some butter cookies.

  With great caution and care, Balthazar uncorked the only dose of the potion the shaman had left for him.

  “Alright, now I just have to do like the old dy said,” he muttered, while carefully pig oal from the vial with the tip of his left pincer. “Oal in…”

  He dropped the piece of flower iransparent liquid and it hissed softly befaining a light blue hue.

  “Shake it…”

  Putting the cork ba it, Balthazar used his dexterous pio give it a vigorous shake.

  “And then add one more,” he tielling himself, while unc the potion again and pig one more petal.

  The substance gained an even deeper blue color, and he repeated the shaking movements.

  [Item crafted. Experience gained.]

  [[Frostshade Antidote] created.]

  “Nope, I have no i in being the Alchemist Crab, thank you very much. There are already way too many damn alchemists around here for my taste.”

  Hurriedly skittering his way to Druma’s bed, he found the goblin still asleep, skin a pale green and covered in cold sweat.

  “Hang on, little guy, yoing to be alright soon,” Balthazar murmured as he used his iron pio prop the assistant up into a sitting position. “Hopefully.”

  Extending his long stone arm, the golem behind the bed held the goblin ih one of his hands.

  “Thanks, Bouldy,” the crab said to the giant boulder. “Alright, here we go. Bottoms up, Druma.”

  Holding it with his silver pincer, Balthazar dumped the tents of the potion bottle down his assistant’s throat.

  “Let him dowly,” he told the golem.

  As the goblin was id back down on the hay, the impatient mert stared at him ily, looking for aion.

  “e on, e on! Why ’t it be an instant effect like the health potions? So arbitrary!”

  Druma’s eyes remained closed, in what at least noeared to be a retively quiet sleep.

  “Ugh, I hate waiting, but I guess that’s all we do now.”

  The crab walked a few paces away to his tent and pulled his purple cushion out, dragging it closer to the pile of hay. Pg it o the goblin’s bed, he climbed on top of the fluffy pillow before l himself fortably onto it.

  After all the chaos and worry, Balthazar had almost fotten how little rest he’d beeing tely, and just sitting on his cushion instantly made his eye stalks feel heavy.

  With his sights still set on his assistant, he fought the urge to sleep, but that was otle he would not be winning on that day, and before too long, the crab had fallen asleep.

  ***

  Balthazar floated peacefully through the waters of his pond, carelessly admiring the beauty of the nd around him as he dreamed. In the air, he could feel the smell of fresh baked pies. Looking up at the bright night sky full of stars, the crab spotted a winged figure flying in circles above.

  He felt at ease and rexed. For whatever reason, the water around him was not as cool and refreshing as he was used to, but warm and steamy. It made his soft insides feel good within his shell. Shell which, he was realizing, was gray again, all the differeal finishes gone from it.

  It mattered not. He was just a crab, enjoying life. Not a care in the world.

  He felt he was fetting something, however.

  Someone?

  He looked over at the shore. Something was missing.

  Furniture? Where were all the shelves and the crates, all the things crafted with scraps of wood?

  Where was the goblin who built them?

  And why did the nice smell of pie was slowly being repced with the smell of burnt pastries?

  As the crab tried to stand back straight ier, he felt it much hotter, nearly boiling, the pleasant feeling repced with disfort.

  The winged creature up in the sky let out an eg roar, like a warning wail.

  Looking down to the side, Balthazar noticed something uhe surface, a dark figure rising to the surface.

  Before he could try to figure out what it was, the figure breached the waters.

  A witch of pale skin and bck dressing emerged, one arm raised high, a sharp sickle in her hand, ready to strike down at him.

  Balthazar recoiled and covered his face with his cws, expeg the worst.

  Nothing happened. No more sounds, no more smell.

  “Boss?” a distant voice said.

  As the crab slowly moved his cws back down, a blinding sunlight flooded his vision.

  ***

  Twe eyes with bck irises were staring down at Balthazar.

  “Booooss?”

  “AH!” the crab screamed as he jumped up from his pillow.

  It was m, and the sky was bright and blue, its light blurring Balthazar’s vision.

  As he struggled to focus his eyes, he looked at the goblin standio his cushion, wizard hat on his head, vivid green ba his skin.

  “Druma! You’re awake!” the relieved crab excimed.

  “Yes, yes,” said the goblin. “Druma feel better! But is boss alright? Boss was having bad dream and talking about witches.”

  “Oh, never mind that, just a nightmare. It’s not important. What’s important is that you recovered!”

  The crab smiled as he held both pincers out o the goblin. “Look at you, all healthy again!”

  “Eh… is boss sure boss is alright?” Druma said, with a ed expression. “Boss is too… nice. Is boss sick too?”

  Balthazar ughed, the feeling of the weight that had been lifted off his shell filling him with nearly as much joy as a whole pie in his stomach could.

  “I feel great, Druma, don’t worry. I’m just happy you’re alright, and… and I think it’s important that I tell you that, because while you were lying there passed out and feverish, all I kept remembering was how crabby I had been to yht before, while you and Bouldy came to my rescue. I felt… bad. There, I said it.”

  Druma scratched the back of his head and frowned in fusion.

  “But Druma thought boss was crab. Crab is crabby, no?”

  “Well, yes, but I meant…” Balthazar struggled with his words. “Look, all I’m saying is that I’m happy you made it, and that I’ll try to be less grumpy, alright?”

  Druma gave a toothy smile and nodded.

  “Druma no uand what happen to boss, but Druma like it.”

  “Sure, let’s work with that.”

  Balthazar wasn’t yet sure how best to approach a titude, but he was finding himself at least willing to try it.

  So long as the goblin didn’t bring up the subjeoary pensation for injury on the job, of course. Even the crab’s good iions had their limits.

  H0st