Boelik (13 page)

“
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.

***

In the morning, the sun shone happily through
the cracks under the door. The birds seemed to sing in the hundreds
in the trees. Bo woke to find Ryan tending the hearth. He sat up in
bed and remarked, “And the pupil rises before the master.”

Ryan started, turning to Bo. “What?” he
asked. “I’m sorry, I wasn’t really paying attention.”