Restart Again: Volume 2 by Adam Scott (hardest books to read txt) 📕

His eyes flicked back to mine angrily. “Perhaps you don’t understand. I’ll give you one more chance to—”

“I fully understand the situation,” I growled, cutting him off again.

“Such a waste. My councilors warned me that you wouldn’t agree to my terms, but to think you would become so violent…” A terrible, devilish smile curled his lips. “I suppose nobody will be surprised to hear that you drew your sword and threatened my life when you found my offer lacking; you were a wanted criminal, after all. I’m lucky my Guard was here to protect me.” For a brief moment, Val’s emotion finally broke through the impassive mask she wore; her eyebrows raised and pulled together as her mouth opened to let out a small gasp.

I felt an insistent pulse of alarm from Lia at the back of my mind, and I realized too late that I had let my guard down. I reached out with Detection, following her guiding mana to the barracks room behind the throne. Two dazzling figures illuminated my vision; while the men themselves appeared only slightly above average in terms of their mana capacity, the weapons they held radiated a multicolored light show of magic energy I had only seen once before. The Trinity Guard.

Seemingly triggered by my discovery, the men opened the door and filed into the room, ascending the stairs behind the throne to take their places at Virram’s side. The juxtaposition of the two men was a strange sight; the man to Virram’s right was clad head to toe in exquisite gilded plate armor and wielded a massive, pitch black sword, while the man to the King’s left wore nothing apart from a leather skirt belted with jingling iron medallions and a pair of enormous metal gauntlets that extended up to his elbows.

“Thank the Primes you arrived in time!” Virram shouted with feigned relief. “These two criminals have made an attempt on my life! I continue to breathe only by the protection of my Shield.” He stood from the throne and pointed at us. “Commander, your reinforcements have arrived. It is time to put an end to these villains, once and for all.”

His words echoed through the hall, fading to silence while the room remained completely still. My eyes were trained on Val’s, hoping against hope to find some sign of empathy. She stood perfectly still, her body so tense that it threatened to shatter like an overdrawn bow. After a moment of waiting, Virram cleared his throat. “Commander Sesaude, give the order. Now.”

As if in slow motion, her arm reached back to retrieve her shield and hold it out at the ready. “Val, don’t do this,” I pleaded, my voice breaking from the strain. “You don’t have to do this.”

Val’s eyes closed as the world waited for her decision. I heard the whisper of a sword leaving its sheath beside me, and looked down in surprise to find Lia taking a battle stance. Where I would have expected to see fear or despair on her face, I found only fury. The emotion radiated through her aura, washing over me in waves, and I could hear her voice in my head. I trusted her.

When Val’s eyes finally opened, they were filled with tears. Her voice rang out over the silent throne room, and my blood chilled to ice at the words.

“Kill them.”

***

Author’s Note

Another volume down, another author’s note to write! I hope you all enjoyed Volume 2 of Restart Again. I apologize for the eight month wait between the books; my overall goal is to release a book every six months until the series is finished, but there are plenty of pieces that have to fall into place for that timeline to be met. Hopefully all of the things I’ve learned throughout this process will speed up my schedule and allow me to meet this self-imposed deadline going forward!

Speaking of deadlines, you may have noticed that this volume of the series lacked any additional art apart from the cover. While I was hoping to include two additional pieces in the interior, I ran out of time on the commissions. If the book was to see the light of day in 2020, it would have to be without additional art, and after going back and forth on the idea a couple of times, I decided that an entire novel’s worth of content outweighed the added artwork. However, the pieces are still going to be completed! Every bit of artwork for the project (Volume 1’s art, Volume 2’s art, and every character portrait I’ve had commissioned) is hosted on my website in full color and resolution for everyone to see!

Since the release of Volume 1, I got my act together and created a real online presence for myself as an author. You can find me on Twitter @RA_Adam_Ladner, or on my website at www.adamladner.com. If you ever have any questions about the series, you can send me a tweet or a message at those places! It’s also the best way to find out about the latest news on the project, apart from following my author page on Amazon. If you’ve liked the series so far, come say hi!

Now, if you’ll indulge me, a few thank yous are in order. As before, thank you to Sam for giving me the initial spark of inspiration to write the series; it certainly wouldn’t exist without you! Thank you to Jodi for supporting me both in my writing and in the rest of my life (that’s important too!). Thank you to Maria for editing for me again; you’ve done a great job once again in arranging