The Steel Oath

Chapter 4 | The Situation

"Freedom of speech and thought matters, especially when it is speech and thought with which we disagree. The moment the majority decides to destroy people for engaging in thought it dislikes, thought crime becomes a reality." 

-Benjamin Aaron Shapiro

Ben had woken up early in the morning. He made it a habit to wake up at 6 a.m. at the latest. He knew that his body wouldn't lie to him, and yet when he had walked into the main room of the cottage, the mysterious man from last night was already awake. The man was making a humble breakfast of oats. He placed a bowl of oats onto the rickety wooden table in front of Ben. As Ben sat, he couldn't help but think about how little he knew of his situation. He had been caught up in the insanity of the previous night, and hadn't been able to really give himself a moment to think.

Let's run through things, he thought as he ate. The last thing I remember before waking up in that coffin is walking to work. I don't remember ever making it to work, so whatever happened to me can reasonably be assumed to have happened before then. He tried to remember the series of events that must have led him to the shallow grave in which he awoke, but couldn't. I'll have to worry about that particular series of events later. Once I awoke in the grave, I found myself in an open field, and LA's climate certainly wouldn't be conducive to the plants and trees all around. On top of that, I currently reside in a house with living conditions similar to that of the lower class in the 10th and 11th centuries. And I am sitting at a table across from a man who I saw destroy a monster last night.

I must be losing my mind.

"So now that we've had our fill, let's get down to business." The man was staring directly at Ben with his predator's eyes. Ben couldn't match his gaze.

"My name is Dreyr."

Ben cleared his throat. "My name is Benjamin. Benjamin Aaron Shapiro. Nice to make your acquaintance."

"Well, Shapiro, I'm sure you have a good few questions, so fire away." At this, Ben thought for a moment.

"Well, for starters, I'd like to know what exactly that monster was last night." Dreyr looked at him curiously. "What?"

"Well, I'm just surprised you don't know what a Gnawed is."

"Well, I'm not exactly from around here. Please explain."

"Well, it's exactly what it looks like. It's a horribly nasty creature that steals people's bodies in order to lure in prey. It can only use a body for so long before it starts to rot, and any time it reveals its true form the skin gets too taut and tears off. The one from last night was fixing to hollow you out and use you as bait for the next unlucky traveler." 

Ben shuddered.

"That leads me to my next question, how did you manage to kill it? I didn't see a weapon on you."

Dreyr looked at him, surprised. "You really aren't from around here, are ya?"

"That's what I've been saying."

"It's because I'm an Oathmaster." He left it at this, as if he expected Ben to have known what he meant.

"A what?"