The most dangerous place in the whole world is between mother and child.
A: She's not even a human!
B: You can take this child from my cold, dead hands. Don't worry, little one, I will not let them near you. -- Anon Guest
There are indisputable, largely unwritten, laws of the universe. Some of them are common sense like, Do not drink water that smells bad. Some are a little more specific like, Never eat the food at a place called Mom's, or Don't play cards with someone who smiles all the time. But the number one rule, known even by creatures that can't articulate the thought, is this: Never mess with a mother and her child.
Marvin was, possibly, seventeen years old. If he had a family before, he certainly couldn't remember anything about them. He had spent his entire life being the scapegoat for The Razorz, and was generally the one person who took in the firewood, took out the trash, and took the blame for everything. It was quite a surprise, then, to learn that he had gained a mother.
She was, perhaps, four feet tall. She was also draconic, and a sort of muddy green that could blend in with a surprising amount of backgrounds. She had come out of nowhere to prevent Big Yan from landing another meaty fist on Marvin's head, which was still ringing. She made herself look as menacing as a singular Kobold could look, and screeched, "YOU KEEP YOUR HANDS OFF MY BOY!"
Nobody. Nobody at all. Nobody in his memory, ever had tried to defend him. He thought this tiny little creature had been a baby, and let her out out of mercy. He was a horrible person, he said, but he drew the line at hurting smaller and weaker creatures. And somehow, when he went off to the privy, and accidentally fell asleep on the kludgie bench, the Elf Wizard also made their getaway.
He remembered the Kobold saying things like, You're not bad, and you're not stupid. You've only heard people tell you that so often that you believe it to be true. She had also said, I'd take you home in a heartbeat, I'd feed you good food and see to your ills... She had even guided him in applying a salve and bandage that made that awful rash stop burning and itching. She was... she was good to him and... Now she was his mother.
"Or what," said Big Yan -who hadn't heard the words 'universal wisdom'- and swung.
There was a blur of green-grey and the sound of dagger after dagger hitting their mark. When she landed, again between Big Yan and Marvin, Big Yan was bleeding from too many places.
Even though Big Yan was going to hurt him, even though he might even kill Marvin... he felt tears spring up in his eyes and fear burst his heart. He screamed out Yan's name and a cloud of jumbled apologies, and Yan fell to the floor with a huge thud.
He was going to be so mad...
Then his new mother was there, talking softly and sweetly and soothing the tears from his eyes and advising deep, deeeep breaths, now. The bad man is having a big sleep, all right? We're just going to get the things we need, and then we're just going to creep away so that nobody wakes up, and then we're just going to get somewhere safe. You're a brave boy. You're my brave boy. Nobody's going to hurt you like that any more.
Some part of him knew that Big Yan was never going to wake up. That half the gang -currently lying in heaps of devastation- would never rise again. Nevertheless, it was easier to believe for the moment that they were just sleeping, and to take his mother's hand, and do what he was told.
He was almost good at doing what he was told. His new mother said he was better.
For so long, it was easy to follow orders and not do anything else. The Razorz hit him less when he did what he was told. Lady Anthe didn't hit him at all. She taught him things gently and carefully. She rarely yelled. She called him good, and actually apologised when she'd done something wrong.
Marvin liked having a mother.
[Image (c) BoredPanda ]
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