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SUMMARY: A man without a memory takes on the identity of dragonslayer, and begins a journey to discover his past.

Chapter 4

I was lying half-awake, unwilling to open my eyes. I desperately wished to fall asleep once again, just a while longer, a moment... But my senses nagged my sleepy mind mercilessly, flooding it with overwhelming sensations: the neighing of a horse, the chirping of birds, soft brightness penetrating my eyelids... The tickling of the blades of wet grass under my back was unbearable. Ah, An Ode to a Nightingale...

Suddenly the memory of the previous day flashed before my mind and I woke up instantly. Tried to, that is. My limbs were immovable. The nerves and muscles responded, but they did not move. I was bound.

There came a soft tugging at my ankle, and I sat up and saw that my legs were bound by a rope, which was tied to the horse. Which meant...
I cursed myself for sleeping too long, too sound.

"Good, you're awake."

Theo came into view from my side, and I saw that he was sweating lightly. He had gone on a hike for water, I guessed, looking at the flasks hanging from his belt. He caught my glance and laughed.

"Thirsty, are you? Here, have a drink."

He approached me and put an open flask between my hands, which was tied at the wrist by a leather belt. I bent forward slightly and helped myself. I was thirsty.

As I drank, Theo busied himself with packing. I watched his movements intently. He seemed casual, almost indifferent, but his shoulders were tense. The certain timidity I had found in his manner yesterday was all but gone. The kid was much smarter than I'd thought. What was he planning?

"Tell me, Theo. Why am I bound?" I said, after emptying the flask.

Theo turned about and faced me, but only after he finished folding and tying the blankets to the saddle.

"Because you're a liar and possibly a murderer," was the boy's answer.

I didn't know what to say, because he was correct about the first accusation. And I couldn't really argue against the second one either. Who knows what kind of man I'd been the day before yesterday?

"It is true, what I swore yesterday," so I said, hoping to learn what mistakes I'd made in telling the story.

Theo made a smirk so patronizing that I wished I could just slap it off his freckled face.

"Really? Then tell me again what Ser Osric said, in his words."

Shit.

"And if I don't remember?"
"Well, I suppose I shall just ride away."

I looked at the horse. It suddenly seemed much bigger than it had last night, and its coat seemed to have found an ominous sheen. The ground had plenty of rocks and trees, as far as I could see.

"You lie, and badly," said Theo, and I found the criticism rather offensive. Theo made his case, though, as he slowly walked toward me.

"This blade," said Theo, playfully swinging about my bone-white sword. I didn't find it entertaining at all. "It isn't my master's. His is a two-handed greatsword, not a bastard one."

What? This bit of information startled me. I had been certain that the sword belonged to Osric. If it didn't, though... Then who the hell killed the dragon? I was instantly puzzled by the revelation, but I had a more urgent and seemingly life-threatening problem to solve.

Theo tossed the blade on the ground, to my relief.