The Admiral and the Assistant

Dass Stonefist shoved through the brush, sweating freely. He huffed and fussed in the heat. He pulled out a handkerchief to dry off the moisture around the patches of scales on his face.

"I wish Mom and Dad would move to a civilized system," he groused. "I don't know why they're so set on living here in Waldyn."

His wife Beatrix laughed behind him, her tinkling merriment filling the lush jungle air.

"They've found a place they like, where they can focus on each other," she said. "I think it's sweet."

"I think Dad's just being stubborn about it all." He scrubbed at the moisture pouring off his forehead and shook himself, scattering sweat drops from his horns. "Especially with them getting older, they ought to move somewhere nice, like Techterra. Somewhere in transport range of a spaceport, at least. And I've offered to buy Mom a shuttle that's not so... antique. Something modern and sleek. Something with more automation." He frowned. "I worry about them flying that old junk bucket around."

"Oh, you. Don't be such a worrier. Let them have their fun."

"Yeah, well the next time Dad complains that no one ever visits, I'll suggest he could move somewhere that we don't have to have a jungle adventure just to go say hi."

"Be nice. Besides, it's perfectly safe, it's just a little bit of walking."

"'Little bit,' sure," he muttered. "Well, we're almost there. Kids! We're almost there!"

Three little dervishes sprang from the brush, laughing and tussling. They had red skin and wide smiles, like their father, but they were lean and lithe and like their mother. Their horns were blunted and short, but their teeth were still sharp, like a Kobold's.

"Come on," Dass said, trying to calm them down and straighten their clothes. "Nyla, how did you get grass stains on your back?"

"Rip pushed me out of a tree!" she said gleefully.

"Pushed you--what were you doing in a tree in the first place?" he asked, pulling strands of greenery off of her stubby horns.

"Rip said I was too scared to climb as high as he could! But I did!"

"No you didn't!" yelled the middle child. "You didn't get to my branch!"

"Because you pushed me!"

"Kids! Kids!" yelled Dass. "That's enough!" He turned to the oldest child. "Elspeth, weren't you supposed to be watching them?"

"I was watching them," she said, rolling her eyes. "Watching them fall out of trees."

"Elspeth," her mother said warningly.

Dass sighed. "Well, you're just going to have to go like that," he said, giving up on scrubbing her jacket. "I can't get the stain out."

His wife laid a hand on his arm.

"It'll be fine," she said.

He smiled at her and nodded.

"All right. Okay, gang, let's go!"

They walked into an open clearing. There was a simple cabin resting near a large pond that was marble-smooth and clear as glass.

On the front porch sat two figures in rocking chairs.

"Memaw! Pepaw!" cried the children, rushing for the cabin.

"My grandbabies!" Kinnit cried. She got out of her rocker and shuffled down the stairs to the oncoming children, her arms wide. They crashed together in a cluster. Kinnit gleefully handed out kisses as the children squirmed in her arms and shrieked with delight.

Kinnit had grown more wan in her old age, and her skin was mottled. Patches of her red scales had faded to nearly pink. Her face was a map of wrinkles that traced around her joyous smile. Her horns were dull now, but her eyes were still bright and sharp.

Find this and other great novels on the author's preferred platform. Support original creators!

Grimthorn Stonefist slowly levered himself out of his rocker. The lines of his face were set deeper in his frown, and his hair was still short, though now it was shock-white. His build had softened, the muscles of his youth having gone to fat.

He stood up straight, still with an authoritative and military air. He stumped down the stairs, using a cane to steady his walk. He approached Dass Stonefist and held out a hand.

"Good to see you, son. How was the trip in?"

Dass shook his father's hand firmly.

"It was fine," he said. "Little warm on the walk."

"It would do you good to toughen up. I walk that road every morning," Grimthorn said. "Twice, sometimes, if your mother's in the mood when she gets up."

Dass sighed a little and grinned.

"I know, Dad."

Grimthorn turned to the young lady. He stepped forward and gave her a brief hug.

"Beatrix. You're lovely as ever. Is my oaf of a son treating you well?"

She laughed.

"Of course he is. He's a wonderful husband and father."

Grimthorn nodded silently, but a small, proud smile forced itself onto his face.

"Well, let's get in out of the heat," he said gruffly.

"Go say hi to Pepaw," Kinnit said. The children swarmed Grimthorn, who paused to hand out headpats and hugs to all the grandchildren.

They made their way inside and sat in the cool air. The outside of the cabin was purely rustic, but the interior had an ultramodern aesthetic, complete with air conditioning, powered doors, and consoles in every room.

They gathered in the living room, cooling down and chatting.

"Have you heard from your sister Lena lately?" Kinnit asked.

Dass shrugged. "A little. You know how she is. She stays wrapped up in her research at the Academy. Whenever we visit she just wants to go on and on about some new theory of jumphole technology."

Kinnit smiled. "Well, that's important to her," she said. "I'm glad you visit her."

Dass ducked his head and nodded.

"Have you been to Takkar lately?" Grimthorn asked gruffly.

"Just came from there, actually," Dass said. "We stayed about a week in the Imperial Science Center near Lookout Rock. And we visited the caves, of course. We want to make sure the kids have some connection with their roots."

"Good," Grimthorn said, nodding. "That's good."

"I do worry a little about the, uh, you know, hygiene situation out there."

Kinnit giggled.

"It's fine," she said. "I grew up out there and I turned out fine." She sighed in contentment. "Oh, Dass, it's so good to see you and the grandbabies."

"Memaw! Memaw!" cried Rip, the littlest. "We went in a cave on Takkar! They could eat meat that was still on the bone!"

"Oh, yes," she said. "Did you like it?"

"It was neat, but it tasted funny. Oh! And they had fires, right there in the cave!"

Kinnit nodded. "That's how they stay warm in the winter."

"Why don't they just turn on the heater?"

"They don't have heaters there. Just old Flamefoot to warm their home."

"Whoa."

"Memaw," said Nyla, shoving in front of Rip, "we got to hear them singing!"

"Oh?"

"Yeah, they sang like you do! Except it was a bunch of them!"

"Yes. I do love the singing." Kinnit smiled wistfully. "What was your favorite song?"

"Oh, oh! I liked the songs about Hammar of the Trees!" Nyla said.

"My favorite was the songs about Brindletooth and Blacktail!" Rip interjected. "Brindletooth always tricks Blacktail and gets away!"

"Yeah!" Nyla replied. "Oh, Memaw, Memaw! I bet I know your favorite!"

"Oh?" Kinnit replied. "Which one do you think is my favorite?"

"I bet you like the songs about Kinnit Longlegs! How she captured the Great Swarm and how she tricked the World-Eater! That's so cool that you're named after the songs!"

Kinnit laughed, loud and long.

"Well, I do love those songs." She leaned forward, a twinkle in her eye. "What if I told you that I am the Kinnit Longlegs from the songs?"

There was a moment of silence as the two youngest children's eyes grew round.

"Whooooah, really?"

Elspeth snorted.

"No, guys, she's messing with you. It's just old songs."

Kinnit smiled mysteriously and leaned back in her seat.

"Are you so sure?" she asked.

Elspeth rolled her eyes.

"That's all mythology, Memaw. It's just moral lessons wrapped in old stories, not things that actually happened."

"Be respectful to your grandmother," barked Grimthorn.

"Yes, Pepaw," chorused the children. They were quickly distracted as Beatrix pulled some scanners out of her pack for them to play with.

Grimthorn frowned at the children.

"It's not right," he said quietly. "They ought to know better."

"It's fine, Grimthorn," Kinnit said.

"You're the greatest hero of the Imperium. They ought to know about that."

Kinnit laid a gentle hand on his arm.

"To them, I'm Memaw," she said. "And that's far more important to me than any kind of hero worship." She smiled, her wrinkles falling into well-worn smile lines. "Besides, if they need a hero in the family, they've already got you."

He scoffed gruffly.

"Too many people already treat me like a hero. Telling those old stories." He frowned. "It's gotten to the point where I don't believe half of them myself."

Kinnit patted his arm and took his hand. The bustle and noise of their family surrounded them. She leaned her head on his shoulder and sighed with contentment.

"I'm so happy like this," she said. "I love you, Grimthorn."

He smiled.

"I love you, Kinnit." He tilted her chin up and kissed her tenderly.

"Ewwww!" chorused the children. "They're kissing!" Then they broke up in laughter.

Kinnit smiled at them all.

"And you're next!" she cried, snatching up one of the children and covering them in big grandma smooches.

Grimthorn smiled as the children shrieked and ran and laughed and filled their home with joy and light.

Outside, evening fell on the cabin and all its festivities. The pale moon of Waldyn shone brightly down on the little cabin in the woods by the pond, where happiness had gone home to rest.

THE END