Restart Again: Volume 1 by Adam Scott (pocket ebook reader TXT) 📕

tell you anything you want to know.” I stood and walked to my cot to retrieve my sword. Now to pick a rune to get through this lock.

“You’ll have a lot of talking to do when we get out of here, if you keep promising me that,” Lia teased. “Anything else you want to add to that list?”

Break? That seems sort of vague. Destroy? No, that’s the same thing as Break. Unlock? I’d probably have to know all of the right positions for the tumblers for that to work. “Hey, I told you I’d tell you anything you wanted to know, right? That’s already the biggest list I can think of. You should start making a list of things you want to ask me.” Shatter...yeah, that could work.

Out of the corner of my eye, I noticed Lia blush and look away. Distracted by my train of thought I didn’t follow up, but instead took the opportunity to cut my finger on my sword again while she wasn’t looking. With my hand behind the locking mechanism of the door I sketched out the rune for shatter on the metal. There. Done, finally.

Sucking on my bleeding fingertip I returned my sword to its scabbard, wherever it was currently being kept. A gurgle from my stomach, clearly audible in the silence of the dungeon, alerted me that it was most likely time for dinner. “I suppose that means food should be on its way. Are you hungry, Lia?”

“Yeah, really hungry.” She frowned. “I used to eat three times a day. You said they only give you two meals here?”

“That is sadly the case. Or at least my best guess.” I chuckled. “It sort of felt like two meals until I got tired for the day.” Although, I usually don’t feel this hungry by the time my next meal is arriving. Has it been longer than normal? I didn’t vocalize the thought.

Lia pouted again in a half-joking but still a bit upset sort of way. “Well, I hope he comes soon. I don’t like going to bed hungry, but I’m feeling a bit worn out.” She shot an accusatory glance my way. “Maybe it’s from all the working out.”

I put my hands up to accept the blame. “Maybe it is! But I think in the long run, you’ll thank me for it.” My gut had started to turn, but now from anxiety instead of hunger. I couldn’t pin down exactly why the lingering dread was getting stronger, but it was reaching uncomfortable levels.

Unfortunately for Lia, dinner didn’t arrive anytime soon. We both sat in an increasingly uneasy quiet, neither wanting to point out the fact that we might not be eating tonight. Finally, I broke the silence with a less-than-convincing yawn. “Well, I think I’ll just go to sleep for now. Maybe I’ll wake up to a lukewarm tray of food delivered straight to my cell!” I stretched for a moment and then laid down on my cot, resting back on my elbows. I didn’t feel tired at all; in fact, I was as wired as I had been since being locked up. Don’t let her see you nervous. She doesn’t need that.

Lia eyed me for a moment, then shrugged in agreement. “I guess you’re right. If the food comes and I’m still asleep, you’ll wake me up right?”

“It’s a promise.” I gave her a thumbs up.

She smiled back at me. “Goodnight, Lux.”

“Goodnight, Lia.” I laid back onto the pillow, now slightly less comfortable than it had been the night before. Angrily, I flipped it over so the scorch marks faced downwards and gave it a few punches to try and fluff it up to no avail. My entire body was tense now, and I stared at the damp stone ceiling in silence. Get it together, Elden. Just because you thought something could happen doesn’t mean it will happen.

My mental disciplining did little to calm my frayed nerves and I rolled from one side to the other restlessly for a long while. I took a small comfort in the fact that Lia was most likely sleeping now, her breathing slow and even, but it wasn’t enough. I promised. My hands started to clench reflexively into fists at the thought. I promised I wouldn’t let it happen again, but here we are. I’m not going to make myself a liar.

I could feel my heart pounding in my chest, beating in arrhythmic spasms. My breathing was ragged and strained, and sweat was beading up on my brow. Is this a panic attack? Swinging my legs out of bed, I stood shakily. Staring down at my hands I could see them clearly trembling. No...this is something else. I wouldn’t be thinking so clearly otherwise. Every muscle in my body wanted to move, needing to relieve the extreme stress coursing through me. This is pre-battle adrenaline.

The state I was in suddenly made sense within the new context, although I couldn’t figure out why it was happening to begin with. Nothing was immediately a threat, but I was reaching for the grip of my sword out of habit. Danger. The klaxons were ringing in my head, screaming a red alert to every inch of my form. Danger! I wanted to shout, “THERE IS NO DANGER!”, but my body wouldn’t allow it. DANGER!

A familiar squealing of metal from down the hall cleared my head. The door. This is it. It opened and shut, and footsteps echoed towards me. My blood turned electric as the adrenaline fully took hold of my panicked mind and body. Two sets. Not the normal guard. Quickly, I moved back to my cot as stealthily as possible, sitting down at the far end to face the hall. As the footsteps approached, I heard some murmured speech. “...our rewards for this...not going last…” They shared a laugh.

Two unfamiliar men entered my field of vision. They were both dressed in city guard attire complete with iron caps, shields on their backs, and weapons on their hips. One of them