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

wanted to ‘ave some fun w-with ‘er is all. W-wanted to tell ‘er dad some stories, keep ‘im from doin’ it again.” Suddenly he looked up to me in a panic, eyes watering. “I wasn’t goin’ to touch ‘er! Swear on the Primes I wasn’t!” He sniveled, tears and snot beginning to run down his face. “J-just don’t kill me!”

Greater Sharpening. I pressed the tip of my blade down into his boiled leather jerkin, instantly piercing the material and cutting into the man’s chest. “Where are these men now?”

Crying out in pain he tried to wiggle away, but his broken ribs stopped him. “Just upstairs. Through, uhm, the door at the end of the hallway, up the stairs and, er, to the left. First door. They gave the normal guards a night off, so it’s just, just them.” Finally, he gave up squirming and slumped back against the wall, defeated. “That’s everything I know, I swear! Just let me live, I’m b-begging you!”

I rolled my eyes. “Why do they always say that? If that’s everything you know, you’re not of use to me anymore.” The man’s face changed to one of pure horror. “I don’t want anybody to know what happened down here.” I tapped the side of my temple. “Understand?”

The man nodded vigorously. “Right! I w-won’t tell a soul, I p-promise!”

“Good.” With unnatural ease, I ran the sword through the man’s chest, impacting the wall behind him. He spasmed once, then let out a long low sigh. I withdrew the blade and gave it a quick flourish to remove some of the blood dripping along its edge. With the threat currently dealt with I put away my sword and moved to search the bodies. The man in front of me held little on his person aside from a small coin purse in his vest pocket. I took it, not bothering to look inside, and moved to the other man behind me.

A large puddle of blood had pooled underneath him, coating the bottom of my feet in a warm, sticky residue. I pulled the keyring from his pocket, as well as another coin purse, but found nothing out of the ordinary otherwise. The roughspun pants I was wearing didn’t have pockets, so I moved down the hallway towards Lia.

As she heard me approach Lia recoiled, eyes still closed. “Lia, it’s okay. It’s just me.” I moved in close, blocking her view of the hallway. “You can open your eyes.”

Slowly, her eyes flickered open. She was trembling, and her face was stained with tears. “L-Lux…” She managed to get the word out before choking on a sob. Lunging forward, she hugged me around the waist and cried into my bare chest. Her face was hot with tears, and her arms were locked tight around me.

I put a hand on her head, stroking her hair. “It’s alright. It’s alright.” I gave her a few seconds to cry before I continued. “We have to start moving now. Can you do that?” She nodded wordlessly into my chest. “Good, that’s great. You can just close your eyes again, and I’ll lead you out. Okay?”

She nodded again, but didn’t move to leave. Give her a damn break. This isn’t normal for most people. I patted her head again. “You’re going to be okay, Lia. I promise.” Pulling away, I took her hand and began to walk towards the exit. Lia followed slowly, sniffling. I did my best to avoid the spreading pool of blood as we began our journey upwards. Lia gave a small gasp, confirming to me that she hadn’t closed her eyes as I had asked. Welcome to the real world, Lia. Sorry it had to happen like this.

***

9. REUNIONS

After a moment of searching I found the key to open the heavy iron door sealing the dungeon closed. With a hard push it swung open, revealing a narrow set of dark stairs leading up to a hallway. I paused for a moment and turned to Lia. “Lia, I need you to do something for me. Can you carry these?” I offered her the two pouches of money and the ring of keys.

She nodded meekly and accepted the items. “Thank you, Lia. Now, just follow along close behind me, okay? It won’t be long now, we’re almost out of here.” She nodded again in silence. Poor girl. She didn’t deserve this. Recalling my sword, I turned and started up the stone staircase.

The air was heavy with the smell of damp stone as we ascended from the dungeon. A single torch burned dangerously low at the halfway point, obviously deemed unimportant in the normal prison upkeep. Reaching the top, a hallway ran both left and right, lined with various wooden doors labeled in an unfamiliar language. First door on the left. I took a calming breath, then turned and headed down the hallway. I stopped before reaching the first door.

“Lia.” My voice was a low whisper. “Things might be dangerous in this next room. Do you want to stay outside in the hallway until—”

“No.” Lia cut me off, her voice surprisingly strong. “I’m coming in with you. Those men are in there.” She scowled, in amusing contrast to her red, puffy face. “I’m not closing my eyes any more.”

She ran out of tears. All that’s left is anger now. I nodded to her. “Stay behind me.” Turning to the door, I knocked twice.

A familiar voice yelled back. “About time, you fucken’ half-wits! Bring her in.” There was a chorus of laughter from within, at least three other distinct voices. “How hard is it to grab a girl from a cell? If she gave you trouble, I swear I’ll never let you hear the end of it.”

I opened the door and entered the room, and the laughter stopped. Five men sat around a large table, playing cards and drinking from steins. A fireplace crackled to their left, filling the room with a pleasant aroma and dancing shadows. There were long tables with benches shoved up