Merchant Crab

“Let me see! Let me see!”

“Ow! Watch the monocle!”

Madeleine propped herself over Balthazar’s shell, attempting to get a better view of the egg, and nearly falling over him.

“There’s something inside!” she said in an increasingly excited voice. “Get it out of the fire, quick!”

“I’m trying to, if you get off my shell!”

The crab grabbed hold of the scalding egg with his iron pincer, and with the help of his silver one underneath, quickly moved it out of the fire and onto the floor.

“Oh! Ah! Hot, hot!” Balthazar yelped.

“Look! It's cracking open!” the enthusiastic baker said, pointing a finger at the fissures spreading across the stony surface.

Balthazar watched the egg’s shell begin to crumble, while a fascinated Madeleine held on to the edges of his own shell, almost lying horizontally over him in her eagerness to see the hatching up close.

With one final crack, the darkened husk split in two and the creature inside emerged with small steam stacks dispersing around it. After two slow blinks at the surrounding brightness, it stood wobbly on its two legs.

It was barely larger than a squirrel, covered in scales that resembled those of a lizard, but instead of green they were of a vivid azure blue, except for a couple of small patches on its neck, where the scales were a golden yellow, same as its eyes.

The creature straightened its two hind legs and stretched its upper torso wide, revealing a pair of fragile wings for arms, ending in tiny talons. The undersides of the wings were a lighter shade of yellow too, and so thin the light from the fire behind could be seen through them.

It looked at Madeleine and the crab under her before opening its mouth as if preparing to roar, but all that came out was a high-pitched screech.

“Oh, my gods! It’s so tiny!” the baker said, in a high-pitched tone of her own.

“What is that?!” a slightly panicked Rye asked off from the side, keeping a safe distance.

“Is that a bird?! That better not be a bird!” Balthazar yelled, trying to get Madeleine’s braid off his field of view.

“Of course it’s not a bird, it has no feathers!” she said, her gaze still firmly held by the creature.

“But it has wings!” he retorted, stepping back and letting the girl fall on her hands and knees in front of the newly hatched creature.

“Maybe it’s a baby dragon!” she said, sounding far too giddy at the possibility.

“I’ve never heard of blue dragons in these lands,” said Rye.

Balthazar looked at it through his monocle.

[Level ? Unknown]

“Well, that never happened before,” he muttered to himself.

The crab thought for a moment. He was sure he had seen something that resembled the creature recently.

“Keep an eye on it,” Balthazar said, while grabbing a book from a shelf and rapidly paging through it.

“Aw, I think it likes me!” the baker said with a squeal as the blue creature rubbed the top of its scaly head against the back of her index finger.

“Madeleine! Don’t touch it! You don’t even know what it is!” the apprehensive archer pleaded, still standing behind a chair for safety.

“It’s adorable, that’s what it is!” she said, smiling from ear to ear, her bright green eyes sparkling with child-like joy.

“It’s a drake,” Balthazar announced, eyes down on the pages of a bestiary.

“A drake? Does it say if it’s dangerous?” asked Rye.

“Drakes are a subspecies of the dragon race,” the crab read, “much smaller in size, and possessing a more limited intellect, they were mostly kept as trained pets by powerful people, until they nearly went extinct due to being unable to reproduce in captivity.” He skipped to the bottom of the page. “Their eggs are said to be nearly indestructible, and able to remain viable for decades or more, only hatching when heated to a high enough temperature by the flames of their parents.”

“Sounds kind of dangerous to me!” the boy said.

“Don’t be silly, Rye,” the kneeling down girl said, while petting the drake, who happily received the pets with eyes closed. “Look at him, completely friendly.”

“Her,” Balthazar corrected. “It says here that only the females have those gold-colored scales on their neck and wings.”

“Oooooh,” Madeleine said, sounding like an ecstatic little girl. “Of course you are! You’re a pretty girl, yes you are! Look at those gorgeous eyes!”

The delighted young woman continued petting and scratching the tiny drake under her chin as the creature tapped on the floor with its tail in clear enjoyment.

The other two exchanged concerned looks at each other.

“So…” Rye started. “What are we going to do with it?”

“What do you mean?” Madeleine asked, her brow furrowing. “We’re keeping her, of course!”

“We are?” the crab said.

“Yes! I would take her up with me if I could, but that wouldn’t go well with the town’s guards, so you will have to look after her, Balthazar. Besides, you’re the one who provided the fire for her to hatch, so she’s yours to look after!”

“Uh-oh,” Rye quietly said.

“Me? I was just hoping to get a tasty treat! I don’t want to adopt any stupid thing with wings!”

“Balthazar! Don’t say that in front of her!” the upset baker admonished.

“It’s a damn drake, and it was just born. It can’t understand me!” the exasperated crab pleaded, both pincers outstretched towards the creature.

“And you’re a rude crab, but that doesn’t keep you from understanding mean words!” the girl responded, her lips slightly puckered as she vigorously petted the drake’s head. “Don’t worry, little one. He didn’t mean that, he’s just a grumpy pants.”

“What are you talking about? I don’t even wear pants!”

“Guys, guys, come on,” Rye said, finally stepping out from behind the chair. “Maybe Madeleine is right. We can’t just get rid of it now. It is technically a baby. That would be kind of messed up, to just abandon it like that. Don’t you think, Balthazar?”

“I mean…” the crab said, bouncing his shell side to side and looking up.

“Balthazar!” Madeleine yelled, picking up the creature and holding it against her chest while caressing its wings.

“Oh, fine!” the defeated merchant said. “She can stay. For now. At least until we figure out what to do with her.”

“Yay,” the girl cheered in a hushed voice, while looking at the drake with glee.

“She really seems to like you,” Balthazar said, while cautiously approaching them.

“Oh, she is such a cutie pie. Look, see that crab? That’s Balthazar. He hatched you! He’s like your big momma now!”

“Please never say that again,” Balthazar said, glaring at the baker.

Extending her arms towards the crab, she brought the small drake closer to him. The winged creature stretched her neck forward and sniffed the air between them.

“Go on, give her a pet,” Madeleine encouraged.

Reluctantly, Balthazar brought his iron pincer over the tiny head, and gave it a couple of taps that pushed her down slightly under his claw’s weight.

As he pulled away, her nostrils flared with a puff of steam, she bared her tiny sharp teeth at him, before letting out a tiny growl and opening her mouth to produce a short jet of blue flames that barely reached past her nose before fading out.

“Wow!” the startled crab exclaimed, taking a quick step back. “She just tried to attack me! You all saw it!”

“It can breathe fire already?” an alarmed Rye said, discreetly retreating back to safety behind his wooden chair.

“Oh my, you’re a fiery girl, aren’t you?” Madeleine said with both eyebrows raised high, pulling the small creature back to face her. “And don’t be ridiculous, Balthazar. She clearly doesn’t know how to control her fire breathing yet. Besides, you need to be more careful with those big paws of yours. She’s delicate.”

“Paws?!” the mildly outraged crab repeated. “And delicate?! That thing came out of an unbreakable egg, and five minutes later is already spitting fire. It’s anything but fragile!”

Hearing slow foot stomps from behind, they all turned to the approaching golem and the goblin trotting in front of him.

“Boss, boss,” Druma said to Balthazar. “Druma hear yell.”

“Oh, yes. Don’t worry, it’s all fine. Nothing bad happened.”

“Boss! What is blue thing?!” the other asked, frowning heavily and stretching his neck forward to look at the small creature Madeleine was carefully placing on the floor.

“That’s a drake, apparently,” the crab answered. “It will be staying here for the time being, but let’s not get too attached. It’s only temporary.”

“It bite?” the concerned goblin asked.

“I don’t know, probably? We already know it can breathe fire. Just to be safe, I wouldn’t put any fingers near her mouth if I were you.”

In proper goblin fashion, Druma approached the creature and immediately disregarded the warning, waggling a finger in front of her snout in a playful manner.

The drake tilted her head, golden eyes following the finger’s movements, and with a quick snap, bit into it.

“Ow!” Druma said, pulling his finger back. There was a set of tiny teeth impressions marked around his green knuckle, but they had not broken any skin. “She bitey!” The goblin chuckled with apparent amusement.

“Friend?”

Balthazar looked up to Bouldy, who was attentively watching the tiny blue creature playing with the goblin’s finger by trying to bite it again.

“Err…” The crab remembered the golem’s knack for misinterpreting commands. “Yes, let’s say for now that she is a friend, sure. Don’t smash her, please.”

The stone giant smiled and gave a nod before crouching down to observe the creature closer.

“Oh, no!” Madeleine suddenly exclaimed. “What will it eat?”

“According to the book,” said Balthazar, “they can eat raw meat from prey right from the moment they are born.”

“Prey?” asked Rye. “How are you going to get any prey to feed her?”

“Hmm.” The crab pondered briefly. “I guess I could have Druma set some basic snare and box traps around the edge of the forest. There are always plenty of rabbits, squirrels, and rats scurrying around there. She can eat those.”

“You know, Balthazar,” the archer started, “you should probably give her a name.”

“Hey!” Madeleine protested. “Why can’t I name her? He didn’t even want to keep her to begin with!”

“Well, you know...” Rye awkwardly said. “It was his egg. He technically hatched it, and he is the one who will be looking after her, so...”

The girl crossed her arms and pouted, but didn’t protest any further.

“A name?” Balthazar said, scratching the side of his face with a pincer. “What do you even name a drake?”

“I don’t know,” said the young adventurer with a shrug. “What comes to mind when you look at her?”

The crab stared thoughtfully at the creature for a few moments, as it continued to snap its teeth at the goblin’s fingers, sometimes catching them, making him let out a yelp, followed by him laughing and doing it again.

“She, uh… is pretty… blue, I guess?” he reluctantly said.

“Oh! Blue. That’s kinda pretty!” Madeleine said, perking up from her seat. “Simple, but nice.”

“Sure, why not,” Balthazar said. “I name you Blue. There, that’s settled.”

The small drake turned her head to the crab and tilted it, as if examining him through her vivid golden eyes, before opening her mouth into a long yawn.

“Aw, she’s sleepy now,” the baker girl said, cupping her hands together against her chest. “Here girl, we should let you get some rest now. You already had to process a lot since you came out of that shell.”

Picking Blue up onto her arms, she gently moved her over to Balthazar’s purple cushion, where he had sat while discussing his plan with them earlier.

“Hey! Why are you putting her to sleep on my pillow?!” the crab protested.

“Hush now! Don’t be greedy.”

Once laid upon the soft cushion, the small drake immediately circled over her own tail and settled down into a tight curl, resting her chin down, eyes heavy, looking around at everyone as they slowly closed.

“This reminds me,” Balthazar said, “didn’t you guys have a list of tasks to do? It’s nearly nighttime. Get going!”

After some friendly banter and protests, the adventurer and the baker went on their way back to town, while the golem and the goblin returned to their usual spots across the bridge, and the crab was left alone at the center of his trading post.

Looking down at the tiny creature, who was now peacefully asleep on his cushion, folded wings moving up and down softly with each breath, Balthazar let out a small chuckle.

Sliding both pincers under the purple pillow slowly to not wake her up, the crab gently picked them up and began carrying the azure blue drake to the other side of the pond.

“You’re kinda cute, you little monster.”