Bubbling cauldron? Love it. Bubbly people? Not so much. Young apprentice Ambrose Beake knows everything about potions...except for how to talk to other potioneers. So, when the annual potion convention rolls into town, he’s both thrilled and riddled with anxiety. Will the chatty crowds be too much for him? Or will he find his people? In this light-hearted Dungeons & Dragons meets Comic-Con short story, you'll meet the main character of A Rival Most Vial, eight years before his rival sets up shop across the street.

Two potion shops, one heated rivalry…until hate bubbles over into something else. Any adventurer worth their sword knows about Ambrose Beake. The proud, quiet half-elf sells the best, and only, potions in the city—until a handsome new shopkeeper named Eli opens another potion shop across the street, throwing Ambrose’s peace and ledgers far off balance. Within weeks, they’re locked in a war of price tags and products—Ambrose’s expertise against Eli’s effortless charm. Toil leads to trouble, the safety gloves come off, and right as their rivalry reaches a boiling point… The mayor commissions them to brew a potion together. The task is as complex as it is lucrative, pushing both men to the limits of their abilities and patience. Yet as the fires burn and cauldrons bubble…they find a different sort of chemistry brewing.

Why steal a potion when you can steal a potioneer? Grumpy potioneer Ambrose Beake has only one social event marked on his the country’s three-day Potion Convention. Alchemists from all over the world pour in to discuss their life’s work, and Ambrose eagerly dives into the excitement. Greeting old friends, speaking on panels, hopping into heated debates… And getting kidnapped by an underground crime syndicate. The criminals demand that Ambrose brew an impossible illusion potion—but the Guild’s protocol for such kidnappings is clear. He must agree to do the work, then delay the project as much as possible, while above ground, his boyfriend Eli and best friend Dawn plot to save him. They’re not alone in this venture, either—a beautiful journalist arrives to cover the rescue, just as eager as they are to investigate, infiltrate…and ignite a few sparks in Dawn’s heart along the way. But while Dawn struggles to ignore those sparks and Eli struggles to save his beloved, Ambrose delves into the syndicate’s secrets—and finds something far more impossible hidden within its depths.