Boelik (15 page)

“
Thank you for the sincere
congratulations,” Ryan replied with a roll of his strange eyes, a
smile creeping onto his face as he pushed his hat back up onto his
head.

“
I never tire of watching
you two,” Colette said from where she sat, the sun sparkling in her
green eyes. “But I do get hungry. Lunch?”

“
Absolutely,” the boys
replied, getting up, Ryan giving a hand to Bo.

The three ate and chatted about the nice
weather, the forest, and Ryan’s training. “You’ve gotten much
better, you realize,” Colette told him.

Ryan looked away, his face becoming red as he
pulled his hat over his face.

“
Now, don’t give him a big
head about it,” Bo chastised.

“
He has, though,” Colette
protested.

“
I am aware. I just don’t
want him to get arrogant. Freezing is the worst thing you can do,
but…”

“
Arrogance is the next. I
know, Bo,” Ryan said, taking another bite out of his bread. Bo
looked at him, unable to hide the bit of pride in his eyes. Ryan
certainly had grown. He glanced over at Colette as well, thinking
the same. The two were so close in age and close to him that Bo
could almost pretend they were his own children, just without
Olea.

Almost.

“
So,” Bo said as he ate, “I
hear that there’s a demon running amok in a forest not too far from
here, wreaking all sorts of havoc. Care to test out your skills on
it?”

Ryan paused in mid-bite, Colette pausing as
well as she saw his hesitation. He finished the bite before saying
anything, his fantastically different eyes downcast in thought as
he chewed. “Where did you hear of this, Bo?” he asked then.

“
Oh, a little bird told me
upon request.” Well, Dayo’s wings
were
feathered.

“
Well…sure. I have to get
used to it, don’t I?”

Bo nodded. “No choice,” he agreed.

Colette looked between them. “I’m sorry,
what? Did you say a demon in the woods? Are you talking about those
woods a little northwest of here?”

“
The same,” Bo said with a
nod.

“
I heard a passing hunter
was torn to pieces in there! Is it safe?”

Bo gave her a withering look.

“
Sorry, right. ‘Nothing is
safe,’ correct?”

“
Exactly. And we know no
normal human around here can take care of this, so our elimination
of this demon will help keep your little village safe,
too.”

Colette shot Ryan a worried look.

He gave her a soft smile, taking off his hat
and placing it on top of her fluffy hair. “I’ll be fine,
Colette.”

Her worry didn’t disappear, and she peered at
Bo. “I’m worried for you, too, Bo. You know that, don’t you?”

“
Of course. But I’m an old
man. Ryan’s closer to you. Don’t give me that look. It’s clear that
you’re still more worried about him. But let me ask you something:
do you trust his word?”

“
Yes?”

Bo looked at Ryan, tilting his head toward
Colette as he said, “Promise you’ll come back to her.”

Ryan turned his gaze to Colette, his strange
eyes locking onto her green ones. “I promise I will come back.”

She searched his eyes for a moment. “Promise
for Bo, too,” she finally said.

“
What, you don’t trust my
own word for that?” Bo asked

Colette peered at Bo and shook her head.

“
I promise,” Ryan said,
bringing her focus back to him. Satisfied, Colette stood and
returned his hat.

“
Well, farewell for today.
Keep the basket,” she added as Ryan grabbed it from the ground and
offered it to her. She walked out of sight and toward
home.

Ryan turned to Bo. “She’s still worried.”

“
Extremely,” Bo agreed,
taking another bite of his cheese.

“
What do we do about it?”
Ryan asked.

“
We come back.”

***

The next morning Bo and Ryan readied
themselves for a small excursion to the demon’s forest, packing
food and water for the next two days before leaving. The woods were
quiet as they trekked, and even the river only burbled as they
passed it. The wind roared the loudest as they ran through the
morning and afternoon, the demon the only thing on their minds.

Once they arrived, they could sense something
was wrong about the forest. It was dark, as if the light never
reached it, and silent as death. “Great spot for a picnic,” Ryan
remarked, staring into the ominous place. Bo huffed through his
nose. If Ryan could joke, his nerves were fine.

“
In we go. Leave the bags
in the trees here,” Bo said, tossing his supply sack to Ryan, who
caught in and leapt into the branches. He was back down in an
instant.

“
Ready,” he
said.

Bo gestured for him to follow, and then they
crept into the woods. They started to slosh in the swampy ground,
and Bo had them take off their shoes, giving his shoes and cloak to
Ryan. Ryan put them in the tree with the other supplies and was
back with Bo in a moment.

“
Ryan,” Bo said, his voice
hushed, motioning for him to come closer.

“
Yeah, Bo?”

“
I want you to scout from
the trees. If you see something, come and get me. If something sees
you, you shout for me. Understand?”

“
Got it,” Ryan replied with
a nod. He leapt into the trees and away to the heart of the forest.
Bo leapt up into a tree as well, crouching and waiting for
Ryan.

“
I don’t like the way that
water smells,” he muttered, staring down at the boggy ground. A
sour, suffocating scent had been assailing his nostrils. He glanced
around at the trees. “These aren’t swamp trees,” he noted. A
shudder ran down his spine and he looked to where Ryan went. “Why
haven’t I taught him how to swim yet?”

When Ryan finally reappeared in front of him,
he released an anxious breath. “I saw a pretty big demon,” he
reported, perching on a branch next to Bo’s. “It’s definitely big
enough to tear someone apart.”

“
Good work, Ryan; now show
me.” Ryan led the way deeper into the woods. The stagnant, dark
water had no clear depth, and Bo wrinkled his nose at the odor it
produced. Near a bit of high ground sat a large salamander-looking
creature that made a strange growling noise below the men in their
tree perches. Ryan made a motion of leaping down onto it. Bo shook
his head and held up a finger.

Bo peered down at the creature to see what it
had for weapons. From what he could tell, it had sharp claws but no
discernable eyes, which meant that the reason it was staying close
was either because it was listening to them or smelling them. As a
test, Bo broke off a branch and dropped it on the ground by the
creature. It didn’t move, but it twitched its tail. Bo looked at
Ryan and tapped his nose. Ryan nodded.

“
It will probably feel for
vibrations as well,” he said in a low voice. It didn’t seem to care
much about noise, but as a precaution, Bo wanted to stay quiet. The
creature had begun making a loud clicking noise, closing and
opening its mouth. Bo assumed it was trying to lure them in some
way. That, or it was thinking of how tasty half-demons might
be.

“
So what do we do?” Ryan
whispered, peering down at the demon. Bo followed his
gaze.

“
From my experience,
water-dwelling demons are nearly always venomous. The venoms can
vary in effect, but they’re almost guaranteed to be fatal. Well,
for us, most would just be incredibly painful. So, first, we stay
away from its mouth and claws.”

“
Okay, then where do we
hit?” Ryan asked, clenching and unclenching his fists.

“
Hm.” Bo stared down at the
demon, wrinkling his nose, both in thought and at the stench that
rose from the water. The shiny black body of the demon was only a
silhouette in the dying light, further darkened by the dense trees.
Much time had passed while Bo wasn’t paying attention. “Its head is
the widest spot, and the weakest. We go for the base there. You
have that knife I gave you, don’t you?”

“
Right here,” Ryan said,
pulling a modified carving knife from its wooden sheath—Bo’s, until
Ryan’s eighteenth birthday had come.

“
Good,” Bo said with a nod.
“Leap down and shove that into the base of its skull. Right here,”
he said, turning his head and pointing to the area he spoke of.
“But be careful.”

“
No joke,” Ryan muttered,
looking down.

“
Try and jump so that you
land on the top of its muzzle. You’ll be able to kill it better
that way, keeping its jaws shut. And try not to get in that
water.”

Ryan looked at Bo, his brow furrowed in
confusion. “What’s wrong with the water?”

“
It smells wrong. I noticed
it earlier. And it’s at its worst here. Just be careful, all
right?”

Ryan nodded. “I didn’t plan on going for a
swim, anyhow,” he said, the corner of his mouth twitching into a
smile for a second. It disappeared as he looked down. He tightened
his grip on the knife, the knuckles of his hand turning white.

“
Take a deep breath. It’s
waiting for you: don’t let it have the advantage of your fear. And
don’t freeze.”

Ryan glanced up at him, taking his advice
with a nod. Then he leapt down onto the creature, his feet and
knees lying on the monster’s muzzle. He plunged the knife into the
back of the demon’s skull without hesitation. The beast screeched,
making Bo cover his ears. It rolled, and Ryan yelped as he was
buried in the water and the demon stopped moving.

Bo shouted a curse and dropped down. “Ryan, I
hope you held your breath,” he muttered as he shoved the creature’s
body off the boy.

Ryan emerged, spluttering as he shot up into
the trees. He lay down, gasping, on a branch, clinging to it for
dear life.

Bo removed the knife from the demon’s body
before joining him.

Ryan gave Bo an exhausted glance as he
settled on the branch next to him. “Sorry,” he gasped. “Looks like
I went for a swim after all.”

Bo’s nose twitched at the proximity of the
water’s odor and asked, “Did you drink any of the water?”

Ryan nodded.

Bo set his jaw.
I should
have told him to be careful of it rolling.
“It’s all right.
I’m probably just being paranoid. Let’s get back to the mouth of
the forest,” he said with a jerk of his head toward where they had
come. “We’ll rest a moment before we go back.”

The two returned to the forest’s edge to make
camp, lighting a fire. They ate, and Ryan fell asleep almost the
second he was full. His light, whistling snore had barely assaulted
the air when Bo felt Dayo enter his head.

Good evening, Dayo,
Bo greeted, watching the flames of the fire lick the night sky.

“
Good evening, Bo. How did
it go?”

Fairly well. The demon
seemed to have made a strange swamp for itself, but other than that
it didn’t seem too powerful. Ryan dispatched it within a few
seconds.

“
That sounded like a hint
of pride at the end.”

It was.

“
You also seem a little
hesitant. Is something wrong?”

That demon. Bo thought. It
seemed…too easy. You understand what I mean?

“
I believe I do. But
perhaps you don’t give the boy enough credit.”

Maybe. But, I don’t know.
That demon didn’t seem to be a very smart creature. It certainly
wasn’t very tough. I just feel…I feel that I’ve missed
something.

“
I will fly over there and
see for myself, then. I’m not very far.” Bo heard thunder
approaching and saw the clouds, but judged that it would just miss
the forest for now, though it was heading for the cabin.

Watch out for the
storm.

“
I will watch, but it may
collect me anyway.”

A few minutes later, Bo glanced up to see
Dayo speed overhead.
You really were
close.

“
Yes, I was. I’ll take a
look here. You get some rest.”

Got it. I’ll take Ryan back
to the cabin in the morning. Good night. And thank you.

“
Good night.”

The next morning was gray and dreary. Ryan
and Bo awakened and ate breakfast, gathered their belongings, and
began the trek back. Bo looked at Ryan as they ran. “Are you all
right?” he asked.

“
Hm?” Ryan said, looking at
him with tired eyes. “Oh, yeah. I’m all right. I just didn’t sleep
very well.”

“
Well, we’ll be back home
soon. You can rest there. After you see Colette, of course,” Bo
added. Ryan seemed to put a skip in his step after hearing his
friend’s name. “I’m sure she’s worried. She’ll be quite happy to
see you back.” Ryan began pulling ahead and Bo smiled as he ran
faster to keep pace.

They were back at the house soon enough, the
sky above still dead. Ryan dropped his things off and gestured in
the direction of the village, his face asking permission. Bo waved
him off and he was gone in an instant. “I’ll be hunting for some
dinner if I’m not home when you get back here,” Bo called after
him.

Bo went out to the field where he and Ryan
had come. It felt like so long ago. He could remember the timid,
innocent thing he’d adopted, so scared of him but so quick to
trust. The boy who hadn’t wanted to hurt him now challenged him in
play-fights, and the one who had asked permission for a name now
soundly voiced his thoughts.