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They walk in lines, lifting their feet high. They trample the dry grass. Their shields and metal clothes flash in the sunlight.
...Armor. Blue Dragon thinks it’s called armor.
People who come to the village are bad. They have weapons and they want to hurt the villagers and Ao and Blue Dragon. But it’s okay, because Ao fights the bad people. He kills them or makes them run away, and then they don’t hurt the villagers and Ao and Blue Dragon.
“Ao,” Blue Dragon tries to call. It comes out softer than he wants. “Ao,” he says again. “People.” He searches for the right word. What Ao called one of them, with the metal clothes- no, the armor. “Soldiers.” Blue Dragon pronounces it carefully. “Coming here. Lots.”
Blue Dragon has to tell Ao when people are coming because Ao can’t see. Blue Dragon thinks it used to be different. He looks out the window again. “Lots,” he whispers. He counts ten, but there are still tons and tons of soldiers. He doesn’t know what’s after ten.
Ao doesn’t say anything.
Blue Dragon jumps off his little stool and pads over to Ao, his bell jingling. Maybe Ao is sleeping. But Ao makes noises when he sleeps and he’s quiet now. He’s as quiet as Blue Dragon.
“Ao,” Blue Dragon says. He tilts his head. Not loud enough. “Ao. Ao. Ao! AO!”
Ao is still and silent.
Blue Dragon leans forward-
He falls backwards with a yelp. Ao is cold. His hand feels like snow. Ao has never been this cold before. Why is he cold? Is he sick?
Blue Dragon runs to his bed in the corner and picks up his blanket. He runs back to Ao and drapes it over him.
Blankets are for when you’re cold, so it will help Ao, Blue Dragon thinks. Now Ao can fight the soldiers. “Ao. Soldiers. Lots,” Blue Dragon whines.
Ao still doesn’t say anything. He’s supposed to frown and tell Blue Dragon to come on. Blue Dragon is supposed to watch and learn from Ao while Ao fights the bad people. That’s how it goes.
Ao doesn’t open his eyes.
The soldiers are almost here. They’re bad people. They want to hurt the villagers. They want to hurt Ao. They want to hurt Blue Dragon.
If Ao won’t fight them, then…Blue Dragon has to fight them.
Ao’s sword rattles when Blue Dragon pulls it out of the sheathe. It’s so heavy Blue Dragon almost drops it. He drags it over the floor and over the ground as he runs outside. The soldiers are still marching, armor flashing. They have armor on their heads too, covering their hair. All of them have swords.
Ao’s sword falls out of Blue Dragon’s hands. He gasps, his hand hurting like a wasp stung it. He holds it up; there’s blood. Blue Dragon picks up Ao’s sword again. A raindrop hits him.
The soldiers are almost here. They see him. Blue Dragon knows because they’re smiling. The children in the village smile when they play. They smile like that when they throw rocks at Ao.
Blue Dragon is scared. His eyes feel funny. His hand hurts. There are so many soldiers. Blue Dragon isn’t like Ao. He can’t win when he and Ao fight with sticks. That’s what this is like. But all the sticks are swords and the soldiers aren’t like Ao, they’re bad people and if they win they won’t yell at Blue Dragon to watch more closely, they’ll hurt Ao and the villagers…
Blue Dragon has to use the power of his eyes.
He lifts his mask.
The mud is cold and smelly. Blue Dragon is miserable. It rains and rains and then it stops. Blue Dragon lays there for a long time.
Then Blue Dragon can suddenly move. He still hurts, but he can walk, so he does. His hand isn’t bleeding anymore. There’s mud on it and it stings. Ao will be mad at him for getting so dirty.
What if Ao is mad at him for stealing his sword?
Blue Dragon stops in front of the hut. He pushes the door open, apologies flying from his lips.
Ao is still leaning on the wall. The blanket is still on him. Ao’s eyes are still closed. Blue Dragon creeps toward him. He’s frightened, suddenly, and he doesn’t know why. Ao is not scary.
“Ao.”
It’s night. Blue Dragon was stuck in the mud for a long time. Ao was sleeping before. It’s a long time to sleep. Ao’s never slept this long.
Blue Dragon’s hand inches forward.
Ao is cold. The blanket didn’t help at all.
...Ao looks weird. His skin was a different color before. Blue Dragon is sure of it.
Blue Dragon is still muddy, so he wipes off one hand on the back of his robe, where it’s only wet and not muddy. He takes his other outfit and goes out to the pond to bathe. He washes his dirty clothes in the water as best he can, but they’re still dirty when he’s done.
Blue Dragon trudges back home. Ao will fix it when he’s not sick anymore.
Ao is still asleep and still cold when Blue Dragon gets home. Blue Dragon curls up on his bed. He shivers. He shouldn’t take the blanket. Ao needs it. Ao is sick.
Ao doesn’t wake Blue Dragon up. A fly wakes him up by buzzing in his ear and tickling when it lands on his cheek.
The air smells bad.
Blue Dragon sits up. He winces when he puts his mask on. It’s cold. The bell jingles as he walks over to Ao and sits down.
The air smells really bad.
Blue Dragon touches Ao’s arm. It’s still cold.
Ao needs more blankets. There’s only one. Blue Dragon goes over to Ao’s things. He’s not supposed to touch Ao’s things, but this is important. Ao will understand, right? He finds Ao’s other robe, the one he wears when it’s snowing. It has sleeves, and soft fur on the edge. He carries it over to Ao and covers Ao as best he can. Now Ao will be warm.
Then, because Ao is sleeping and can’t yell at him, Blue Dragon brushes his hand over the fur. He giggles.
The door slams open.
Blue Dragon jumps.
The Elder and some villagers stand in the doorway. They’re angry.
Blue Dragon freezes. He wants to run away.
The Elder marches inside, up to Ao. He grabs Ao’s mask by the horn and rips it off him so hard the strings snap and throws it aside.
Blue Dragon jumps at the crash. They can’t do that. He wants to run up to the Elder and hit him for throwing Ao’s mask and he wants to yell at him like Ao would and make them all go away. Instead, Blue Dragon picks up Ao’s mask, to return it. It’s chipped on a corner now. Ao will be mad.
Ao isn’t sleeping. Ao’s eyes are open.
“Bastard’s dead,” the Elder snarls. He waves at the villagers in the doorway. “Get him out of here. Burn him with the rest. Blue Dragon!”
Blue Dragon flinches. The villagers come inside, avoiding Blue Dragon. Blue Dragon backs away from them. He’s not supposed to get in the way.
“The village must move. Come!”
The villagers throw Ao onto a big, white sheet and roll him up, kicking him and not touching him with their hands.
...they can’t do that. They can’t do that! Blue Dragon runs at the closest villager.
The Elder moves too. He hits Blue Dragon with his cane. “The former Blue Dragon is dead!”
“Ao! AO!” Blue Dragon screams.
Ao is being carried away.
“AO!”
The Elder blocks Blue Dragon. “He-- is--” He hits Blue Dragon with his cane with every shout. “--dead!”
Blue Dragon collapses. Everything hurts. He wants Ao.
Ao is dead. Dead means the birds and animals Ao hunts. Dead means the bad people who are too slow to run away.
...dead means never coming back.
Blue Dragon hugs Ao’s mask and screams.