For the young girl, it was just another day at the beach. She skipped alone, trying to entertain herself. The breeze turned into a gust as it caught her sun hat, catching the lip and ripping it off her head.

"Oh no! My hat!" she cried, beginning a short lived sprint to catch it.

Erica, running as fast as her small legs could carry suddenly stopped. Her minder, a tall guard clad in iron leaned forward, her hat in hand.

"Here you are miss. Be careful now."

Erica sniffed, tears welling at the thought of losing her prized hat. It was a gift from her uncle, given just the day before. She took it gingerly from the guard, brushing the light sand off the rim. Ensuring it wasn't damaged, she plopped it back on her head; this time tying the drawstring under her chin to prevent its escape.

"When will the meeting be done?" she whined. "I'm tired of waiting around!"

Turning her back to the guard, she looked further up the coast. About 200 meters away was her fathers pavilion. It was constructed last minute, the sea folk having decided to change the meeting location. Wooden poles pierced into the sand below, the structure draped in fabric. The coastal breeze rippled the sides, causing light reflections of the afternoon sun.

"His Majesty is meeting with the sea folk now, so it should be another couple of hours."

A critical tone entered the guards voice,

"You know they renew the agreements every decade right? If you're bored we can go back. After all, treaties and trade agreements are something you'll need to do one day."

Erica sighed and turned her eyes away. Waves pounded the shoreline, cresting high to crash upon the rocky coast. She crossed her arms, pouting as only a young child could do.

"Yeah, but it's boooring. Just a bunch of old men looking at papers and smiling without meaning it."

Erica idly kicked her foot back and forth, digging holes into the white sand. Looking down, she decided to plop down on the ground and build a sand castle.

"If you're going to be playing with dirt, you could practice your earth manipulation."

"Or... I could just do it by hand. It's funner this way anyhow," Erica rebutted.

Her minder, eyes constantly scanning for danger, looked down at the petulant girl. A harsh rebuke was quickly cut off. After all, she was only six years old, there'd be plenty of time to train in the future.

"As you say miss."

"I do say. Also, I was wondering... WHAT IS THAT!"

Erica yelled; scrambling back as fast as she could. Her guard snapped to attention, head scanning for the source of danger. Adrenaline surged as she stepped forward, attempting to put herself between the princess and the assailant. She had her sword halfway from it's sheath and her hand raised, [Fireball] already forming, when she stopped.

Love this story? Find the genuine version on the author's preferred platform and support their work!

The guard relaxed and chuckled, dismissing her fireball and returning her blade. Amusement was evident in her tone as the little girl scurried away from her half finished castle.

"That's a ghost crab miss. Mundane creatures, utterly harmless."

The crab stood motionless, it's light yellow carapace serving as camoflauge. It's black eyes stood on stalks, fixated on the princess and guard. The young miss had accidently dug it up when she had been scrounging for sand. It was tiny, a mere two inches wide and was no threat to anyone.

"A... a g..ghost crab? Is it undead? I don't want to be a zombie!" The girls voice quavered, tears beginning to well up in her eyes.

The guard tried to hold in her laughter, bending down to comfort the six year old.

"No, no silly. It's called a ghost crab because it blends into the sand. It's not a magical creature at all. Look at how tiny he is. He couldn't hurt anyone."

The girl shook, trying to stop the tears from falling.

"O.. okay," getting hold of herself, she straightened from her sprawled position. Her little eyes furrowed in concentration as a wisp of light blue mana congealed in her hand.

"[Friends]", she intoned, casting the spell. The blue light streaked from her hand, hitting the tiny crab. To the guards mage sight, a link was formed between the girl and the crab.

"Good job Erica. See? [Friends] wouldn't work if either wanted to harm the other. Here, let me give him some help so he can understand you, and you two can play together."

Hand twisting into esoteric shapes, the guard quietly whispered [Wisdom's Prudence]. A gentle glow covered the crab before fading away. The guard cocked her head, then nodded. She could see a spark of intelligence in it's beady black eyes, enough for it to listen to the young princess.

"Okay! We'll play monsters and castles. You're the monster, and have to attack the castle. I'll make some guys for you to fight."

The Princess concentrated again, her hand forming a simple sign before casting [Create Golem]. Tiny figures arose from the sand; crude, and without detail. Erica slumped, clearly exhausted from the minor casting.

"Great job miss! I didn't know you had that one down. Alright, since you're good here, I'll be a little bit further out on patrol. If you need anything just call, I'll hear."

"Okay!" Erica replied, clearly excited with her new playmate. She leaned forward to whisper to him,

"Alright Mr. Crab, here's what you're going to do..."

The guard gently smiled before [Blink]ing away. She had a patrol to finish.

***

Day turned to afternoon, and the summit between the Lenorian Empire and the Sea Folk reached it's end. The guard approached the girl, ready to take her back to the Emperor.

"Miss, everything is signed and done. Your father is waiting for you."

Erica frowned, clearly upset at having her fun curtailed. She was almost completely covered in sand, and her hat lay off to the side; weighed down by rocks. The guard quirked an eye in amusement at the tiny crab in the center of the sand castle, each pincer grasping a golem in hand. It scuttled back and forth, arms waving in apparent victory.

"Okaayy," the Princess groused, wiping her hands off. The little girl stood slowly, glancing at the guard who was still some distance away. Her pout slowly turned to a sly grin.

"What are you...," the guard started, recognizing trouble when she saw it.

The girl quickly rattled off the memorized words, not wanting the guard to spoil her fun.

"By the Authority vested in me as First Princess of the Lenorian Empire, and due to your faithful service, I name thee Sir Crabby McCrabbington the first, Lord of the Coast and High Crab of the Realm."

A wave of magic rushed from all directions, engulfing the crab in a sea of blue. For a split second the crab shone brighter than the sun. A terse blink restored the guards vision as the light faded away. The guard tensed, looked to the princess, then the crab, then the princess again. The crab was utterly motionless, appearing to be just as shocked as everyone else. Suddenly, its pincers opened, dropping the minature golems.

"Well I guess that didn't do any..."

"ATTACK!" her squadmate yelled. The guard whirled, drawing her sword one handed. The rush of magic had revealed a creature, it's stealth broken. A giant snake rose from the sand, it's hood flaring in anger. It appeared to be rotting, flesh sloughing off the bone as it slithered forward.

"CORRUPTED! RETREAT!" her teammate called, sprinting to delay the enemy.

The wind caught the creatures stench and blew it in her face; nearly bowling her over as her stomach clenched in protest. Gagging, she reached for her belt, grabbing the teleport artifact. Rushing beside her, Erica clung to her side, well trained on what to do.

"Miss, hold on. Teleport in 3... 2... 1...," her hand clenched down, breaking the fragile scroll.

The one time use scroll erupted in a maze of light. Yellow cords of arcing magic enveloped the passengers as they disappeared. Reality disjointed and senses frayed; space collapsed on the coast of Lenoria. The other guard, seeing their safe departure, disengaged; rushing to gather reinforcements. He was only a second tier, he wasn't going to tackle a corrupted alone. He never noticed that as the Princess vanished a tiny crab was pulled into their wake. The teleport artifact was designed for two sentient beings... two sentient humans. The ghost crab struggled in vain, yearning for the safety of the beach. Tearing forces grasped it's carapace as the crab lost consciousness. Neither here nor there, it was shoved in-between; shuttled off into the void. Only the gods knew it's destination, a tiny crab flung into the passing maelstrom.