***
Bo awakened from a fitful sleep, his heart beating hard from the recurring nightmare that had been haunting him for a while now. He dreamt of Ryan dying like Olea, except instead of being absent, Bo was all too there. A sea of demons would be between him and Ryan; and no matter how many he ripped into, ducked under, or leapt over, Ryan’s screams wouldn’t stop.
And then they would.
So when dawn’s light crept through a crack in the door and Bo looked over to see Ryan still intact, sleeping like a lamb, he breathed a silent sigh of relief. He let Ryan doze while he went outside to sit in the cool, crisp morning air and tend to the fire.
The sun shone between the trees, casting strange patterns of light on the ground. Birds sang in the branches, and soon Bo’s uneasiness faded into a memory just like his nightmare. Thunder rolled far in the distance, not yet a threat.
Bo began cooking breakfast and thinking about the conversation he’d had with Dayo the other night while he waited for Ryan wake up. “Two hundred and fifty years,” he mused, “is not a long time. I can see why the demons are getting ready now.” Thinking aloud as he cooked, he asked, “But where are they coming from?”
His attention was grabbed by movement from the house, and he turned to see Ryan coming out the door, rubbing his eyes, gray hat on his head.
“Sorry I’m up late,” he yawned. “It’s strange sleeping under a closed roof again.”
Bo watched as Ryan plunked down near the fire. “It’s fine; I’d rather you sleep well before training. It’s no good to be tired and worked to the bone.”
“So you were serious about that, huh?” Ryan groaned, taking his meal of rabbit meat from Bo, who sat next to him. Ryan sat in his signature pose with his feet stretched toward the meager fire, his strange legs prohibiting him from mimicking Bo.
“Of course I was. If another demon comes along, we don’t really have an extra rod for you to stab it with. And I’d rather not get stuck in a situation like before again.”
“I’d rather not, either.”
“Yes, and I have to make sure you aren’t turned to stone by fear next time, either. Stupidity and arrogance are bad, but freezing is just about a thousand times worse.”
“Sorry.” Ryan glanced away from Bo, his face becoming a little red.
“It wasn’t your fault,” Bo said. “You had never been exposed to that before. I was surprised you helped at all, to tell the truth. It’s impressive that you had the guts to do that.”
“I didn’t think I did,” Ryan admitted. “But I couldn’t just leave you there.”
“And I’m glad you didn’t—that was a pretty messy situation.”
“I’m glad I didn’t either,” Ryan said, looking back at Bo. Ryan’s mismatched eyes shone. “It’s nice to have someone else.”
“I agree. It’s also very nice to be alive.” Changing the topic, Bo said, “Eat fast. I want to get to work as soon as possible.”
“What exactly is this ‘training’ going to be?”
“We’ll see. I need to try you a little bit first.”
“Try me?” Ryan asked, giving Bo a strange look.
“Test out what you can do. Preferably by way of a friendly little brawl.”
“Can…we not do that?”
Bo shook his head. “Come on, you’re done with that rabbit.”
“No I’m not.”
“Yes, you are, unless you plan on sucking the marrow from its bones.”
Ryan glanced at the few bones in his lap and sighed, possibly cursing his famished self. Then he followed Bo as he got up and walked a little way away from the cabin.
Finding a less dense part of the woods, Bo stopped and directed Ryan a short distance from him. “I’ll let you attack first,” he said. Ryan shuffled his feet, looking down at his shoes. “Take off your shoes and hat if you want.” Ryan did just that, putting them in a small bundle at the base of a nearby tree. A breeze blew through the forest, making the leaves whisper as Ryan faced Bo again.
“Come on,” Bo said as Ryan did nothing. “We don’t have all day. If you don’t come at me soon, I’ll be coming after you.”
“I don’t like this,” Ryan admitted.
Bo sighed, closing his eyes for a moment to gather his thoughts. “Ryan,” he said, opening his eyes. “Do you think I like having to fight you? It’s simply the best way to do this. You won’t hurt me. Do you think I’d hurt you?”
“No!” Ryan protested, shaking his head vigorously. “I just…”
“Don’t worry. It’s a practice round. You don’t need to be good, and you don’t need to want to hurt anything. In battle, you just need to want to survive,” Bo said, removing his cloak and setting it on Ryan’s things. “Understand?”
“All right,” Ryan said as Bo went back to his place.
“What now?” Bo asked as Ryan still hesitated, shifting on his feet.
Ryan’s gaze swam with confusion and concern as he met eyes with Bo. “What do I do?”
“Oh…” Bo grumbled, rubbing his eyes with his right hand. He tried to keep the frustration that was bubbling up in his belly down. It wasn’t the boy’s fault, after all. “Just charge me.”
“What?”
“Come running at me,” Bo said, transferring a gaze like steel back to Ryan. “Try and hit me. Do whatever you can to hit me, as a matter of fact; and don’t try to hold yourself back.”
“I…” Ryan began.
“Go!” Bo yelled, making him jump.
Ryan sped toward him and seemed to aim a punch at his gut. Bo sidestepped and swung a kick out to knock Ryan’s feet out from under him. The air whooshed out from him in an oof as he hit the ground. He turned onto his back and stared, dazed, up at Bo as he walked over to stand above him, shaking his head. “Too slow. You aren’t trying. It’s only when you don’t try that this is going to happen, I’ll have you know.”
Ryan coughed and stared up at Bo: his demon eye seemed to take in every detail, while his human eye seemed to plead for pause. “But I can’t try.”
“You can and you will. This needs to happen whether you like it or not, and my feelings don’t matter in this either. If I had it my way, I’d kill every demon that might come for us and change every human’s mind about us, but I don’t have that sort of power. So take it like a man, get up, and try again,” he ordered, offering his hand to Ryan and pulling him up.
“You’re a very hard teacher,” Ryan grumbled.
“Well the demons aren’t going to sit you down to have tea with them. Now try again—and for goodness’ sake, try and hit me this time, not just…whatever it was that you began to think about doing.”
The day wore on and Bo continued to assess Ryan’s abilities. He had Ryan climb trees and jump down, had him try to leap into the branches. He even hid in the treetops and had Ryan find him just by searching for abnormalities in the leaves. The whole time, Ryan was reluctant to hit Bo. Not once did he manage to even touch him.
Now Ryan sat low in a tree, exhausted, leaning against the trunk. Bo turned to look over at the sunset through the trees as he felt the air getting colder and deemed it time to go home. “All right, Ryan. We’re done for today.”
“Yes,” Ryan panted, sinking down from the branch he perched in.
Bo sniffed and promptly snorted. “Oh, we stink. Very badly.”
“Really?” Ryan asked, sniffing himself. He snorted as well, shaking his head. “Oh, that’s bad. That’s very bad.”
“Time for a wash. In fact, probably long overdue,” Bo sighed. He glanced over at Ryan as he picked up his cloak. “To the river, as long as you can stand in it.”
Ryan scowled as he gathered up his own things. “Maybe, if it isn’t as strong as it was.”
“There hasn’t been a strong rain in some time. You should be fine.”
The two made their way to the river, the rosy sky easily lighting their way. They placed their clothes by the bridge and stepped into the gently-flowing creek water right next to
it. Well, Bo did. Ryan stood at the shore, reluctant and staring into the water. “It’ll be fine,” Bo coaxed. “Trust me. You can stand in this.”
“I don’t think it’s a good idea.”
“Ryan, it’s not as though I’m making you cross a river here. You can step into the shallows and sit to wash, even.” Bo gestured with an open hand to a shallow bed near the shore.
“Maybe I can just scoop it?” Ryan suggested.
Bo shook his head. “This is an irrational fear, and you know it. At least bathe in the shallows.”
Ryan sighed, and was about to walk in when the two heard voices.
“Right now of all moments,” Bo hissed, glaring into the woods. Flicking his gaze back to Ryan, he growled, “Ryan! Grab our things and come in here at once. Keep them dry—we’ll need them later.”
There was no more trepidation on Ryan’s part: he did exactly as he was told, only wincing some as he entered the cold water. Bo took the clothes from him, careful to keep them over his head as he ushered the boy under the bridge, hiding them both.
The voices grew and Bo could tell now that it was two young girls. In honesty, that made him more anxious than it would have if it were a horde of men out for blood; he peered at Ryan and hoped he wasn’t curious. Not only did he not have time to train Ryan in the fine art of making friends, they had no time for a boy’s first love. So Bo had no choice but to look up and hope the two would pass by without Ryan seeing.
Footsteps thundered overhead, making Bo wince with every echo. Ryan gave him a curious glance and Bo covered the boy’s mouth with his left hand as he looked like he was about to ask something. Ryan stared down at the hand, eyes wide, then up at Bo’s face. Bo removed his hand and put a finger to his mouth in a ‘sh’ position.
It seemed like forever before the voices and footsteps were a distant murmur. Ryan and Bo crept out from under the bridge, the sounds of the creek overpowering the voices of the girls. “I think we’ve bathed enough,” Bo said, casting his eyes up at the sky, turning violet now.
“I wonder why they were out so late,” Ryan mumbled, gazing in the direction the girls left in as he stepped out of the water.
Bo wondered if he was trying to spot them. “Well, whatever the reason, I’m sure they don’t need us to keep an eye on them.”
Ryan looked back at him, his face red and sporting a lopsided, sheepish smile. The two grabbed their clothes and headed back to their home.
Bo and Ryan sat in the cabin, now dry and comfortably clothed, listening to the sounds of raindrops falling. Night was under way at last, and the clouds took their chance to relieve themselves after the warm day. Bo tended to the new hearth, the fire keeping the house warm and bright.
“I hope they’re back inside,” Ryan said in a soft voice, staring at the wall next to his chair. He sat at the small table Bo had made, sitting parallel to the wall, the other chair empty for the moment as Bo tended the flames.
“I’m sure they’re fine, Ryan. If they had been smart, though, they wouldn’t have gone out so late in the first place.” Bo shoved another stick into the fire, causing a swirl of glowing ashes.
At that moment, there was a rap on the door and both boys stiffened. The rapping came again, desperate. “Ryan, keep your legs tight under the table. I’ll get the door,” Bo ordered, adjusting his cloak over his arm. He opened the door, and his heart skipped a beat before sinking.
Two girls, about Ryan’s age, stood drenched outside the door. One had auburn hair and the other had nut-brown, but they seemed to be sisters. “Excuse us, sir,” the brown-haired girl said with chattering teeth, “But may we come in until the rain stops?”
Bo peeked at Ryan, who had done as he was told and now sat with his legs barely visible and his hat covering the right half of his face. Bo looked at the girls and had a powerful urge to say ‘no’ and slam the door in their faces. Instead he said, “Come in, girls,” and stepped aside. The girls rushed in with a profusion of thanks. “I apologize for the lack of seats,” Bo said as he went and sat cross-legged on the bed, “but we have not had visitors before.”
“No, no,” the girl with auburn hair said. “We apologize for intruding so late.”
“Why are you out so late?”
“We wanted to walk in the moonlight,” the girl with the brown hair explained. “When the rain started we tried to get back, but we lost the path. We continued on and found your cabin here.”
“I see. Well, my name is Bo. My friend here is Ryan,” Bo said, gesturing to the boy who was squishing himself into the wall and trying to avoid eye contact.
“My name is Colette,” the brown-haired girl said. “This is Shannon.” She gestured to her companion.
“Are you two sisters?” Bo asked.
“Oh, yes,” Shannon said.
“You can sit down if you would like,” Bo offered, gesturing to the chair on the other side of the table, which Colette took after her sister politely declined. Shannon instead sat next to Bo after a brief moment to ask permission.
“How old are you?” Colette asked Ryan, scrutinizing him. Ryan was pressed back against his chair.
“Fifteen,” he said in a tiny voice. Bo sighed to himself, shaking his head.
“So are we,” Shannon said, her eyes on Ryan as well.
“Why are you wearing your hat like that?” Colette asked.
“He’s rather interesting that way—he likes it like that,” Bo said, his voice taking on a light tone as he smiled. Colette nodded.
“I see.”
“What about you, mister?” Shannon began, her attention brought back to Bo.
“Just Bo,” Bo said with a polite smile.
“Well, Bo, why ever do you wear your cloak like that?”
“I feel more comfortable with it this way—I do not possess a left arm, you see.”
“Oh, what happened?” Colette asked, her focus now on him as well.
“Yes, what?” Shannon echoed.
“I was simply born without it. It does not bother me, but it tends to upset others when they see that, so I leave it covered out of habit now.”
“Well that’s rather sad,” Colette said, scowling. “You should be able to show who you are.” Bo noticed Ryan look straight at her then. I hope that if I could see your eyes right now, they wouldn’t be full of stars.
“I see the sense in it, though,” Shannon told her sister.
“It doesn’t change the fact that it’s sad,” she protested.
“I agree,” Ryan said, glancing away as Colette’s green eyes focused on him. Shannon’s identical green eyes were drawn to him as well.
“Do either of you girls mind,” Bo said then, “to keep our precise whereabouts a secret from your parents?”
“Oh, but why?” Shannon asked, her face betraying her reluctance with a scowl and furrowed brow. “You have been good to us—I am sure our parents would like to thank you.”
“The thanks of you two is fine enough for us. I think we would both prefer to keep ourselves a secret, thank you. We like living quietly.”
“But what shall we tell our parents of where we stayed tonight?” Colette asked.
“Say that a pair of men took you into their cabin upon request, but that you’ve no idea in which direction that was,” Bo said. “Ryan and I will soon escort you out of the wood: the rain is letting up.”
Bo was right: after a few minutes, the rain stopped altogether and Bo showed the girls the door. The three of them began a short distance at Bo’s insistence before Ryan hurried out and caught up, letting the darkness cover the sight of his legs. There was scant light in the forest, and even Bo could barely see anything as clouds still blocked the glow from the heavens. “Do you have a lantern?” Colette asked.
“No,” Bo replied. Turning to Ryan he asked, “Can you see all right, Ryan?”
“Yes, Bo.”
“Then take the lead,” Bo said. As Ryan passed Colette, something moved in the darkness and she leapt close to him with a squeak, clinging
to his shoulder. He jumped and cried out himself. Shannon had started but stayed where she was and let out a breath while Bo sighed.
“I’m sorry,” Colette apologized to Ryan, letting go.
“It’s okay,” Ryan squeaked.
“We should hold hands,” Shannon suggested. “That way we won’t get scared and run off.” Despite the fact that her idea was quite logical, Bo wanted to make her disappear just then.
“Yes,” Colette agreed. “A good idea. Ryan?”
“Uh…I don’t, erm…Bo?”
Bo sighed. “Take Colette’s hand, Ryan. Shannon, take your sister’s. I’ll walk behind you all.” He heard the three of them shifting around, their dim forms melting together as they became a small chain.
“Ryan, your hand is very…sweaty,” Colette remarked.
“I’m sorry,” Ryan eked out in apology as they walked.
“It’s all right,” Colette replied in an instant. “Are you nervous?”
“Yes.”
“What, you’ve never held a girl’s hand before?” Shannon asked.
“No.”
The girls giggled.
“What about you, Bo?” Colette asked.
“I have,” he admitted from behind.
Shannon piped up, “More than one?”
“No, just one. But that is in the past.” The girls seemed to sense that Bo did not want to speak any more about the subject and fell quiet.
The four walked through the forest for some time. Most of the sounds in the forest were of their own crunching footsteps and Ryan alerting them to watch their step. The village seemed much further away than Bo remembered.
“We’re almost there,” Ryan remarked at last.
“All right. I’ll escort the girls to the edge of the village, then. Ryan, stay here,” Bo said.
“Right.” Ryan let go of Colette’s hand and backed away to let Bo move in, taking her hand in Ryan’s stead. He led the girls to the edge of the village before letting them go, bidding them a farewell.
Back in the forest, he called for Ryan in a soft voice. “I’m here,” the boy said from the shadows.
“Good. You did well to keep calm. But, next time, don’t press yourself against the chair like they’re a pestilence of some sort,” he advised.
“I’m sorry. Colette was nice, though,” Ryan said mildly.
“No, no. No time for ‘nice’. ‘Nice’ is for half-demons who know how to protect ‘nice’ and have trained to keep themselves alive long enough for ‘nice’,” Bo growled.
“All right,” Ryan relented, sounding hurt. “I was just saying she was nice, though.”
Bo sighed. He was being unfair to Ryan, and he knew it. Even as he said it, he remembered his time with Olea. “Sorry. Let’s just get home. I’m exhausted.”
“All right,” Ryan sighed, leading the way.
Bo was happy that Ryan never got fed up with him. It was easier to be the bad guy when he knew it wouldn’t cause him to be hated.
The two got home and rekindled the fire. They didn’t speak as they flopped into bed. Ryan fell asleep first, and Bo listened to his soft breathing and the crackling of the fire for some time. He thought about Olea as he lay there, and wondered how she would handle Ryan.
“I think you are doing perfectly fine,” Dayo’s voice came, making Bo jump. Ryan stirred next to him.
Dayo! he thought, breaking off his previous train of thought. You startled me.
“I noticed. I am surprised that you didn’t detect my entrance.”
Well, I was a bit preoccupied. What do you want? Bo was swift to add, Not to sound short; I’m just exhausted.
“Do not worry: I understand. I only wanted to know how the boy was doing.”
Ryan’s fine. He met a girl today, and I’m slightly afraid he may have formed feelings for her.
“Met a girl?”
Two wandered into the woods and sought shelter.
“I see. But what is so bad about that?” Dayo asked.
Everything, Bo groaned. Not only can he not protect himself, let alone another, but bringing a human into this world would bring them trouble. And I don’t even know if she’d accept him. I fear for him more than anything, Dayo.
“Boelik. What will happen will happen. Do not try to stop the boy from loving. Just try to keep him safe,” Dayo said sagely. “Now, what about his abilities?”
He can see well in the dark, it appears. His hearing on his right side is dull, but the eye is sharp. His speed is amazing as well, and it seems that he can leap like a flea.
“I see,” Dayo said, trailing off as if in his own thoughts.
He does have a debilitating fear of water, however. I don’t even know if I’ll be able to teach him how to swim.
“Try your best,” the dragon advised. “It’s all that you can do.”
That’s not very reassuring. I’m incredibly afraid of failure.
“Failure is fine as long as you learn from it.”
Not when failure results in someone’s death. I can’t… I just can’t let someone die because of me again.
“Boelik, you will have to trust in yourself, no matter what happens. There will be others who depend on you. This is the responsibility of those with lives that span centuries, like us.”
But what is the point of it if we live only to watch those we love die, especially when they are killed by our own inaction? I don’t know how many more I can watch die before me, Dayo.
“Your life will end, Boelik, rest assured. So will the lives of those you love: the ‘when’ does not matter. It just gives you more reason to try to live as best you can, and spend as much time with each other as possible.”
I think the ‘when’ does matter a bit.
“Nonsense. The ‘when’ will forever be unchanging; what you do with your time until the ‘when’, that is up to you,” Dayo rumbled.
Bo sighed. If that’s what you believe.
“Entirely.”
Fine. Good night, Dayo, Bo sighed, exhausted.
“Good night, Boelik.”
Call me Bo, he managed to think before he sank into darkness.