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

tendrils racing across his face. His screams of agony were blood curdling as he desperately tried to find relief.

After another second of torture I released the energy from my sword. His wound stopped smoking, and the corruption slowly began to recede down his neck back towards the source. It left dark tracks in its wake that spiderwebbed across the entirety of his face and neck, most likely a permanent disfigurement on his skin. Jack curled into a ball on the floor, still screaming in pain. My vision began to uncloud as my senses slowly returned to my control, and I found myself viewing the man with a surprising amount of pity.

“Lia.” I turned, calling her over from the doorway. She had pressed herself up against the wall, but judging by her expression, she had watched the entire encounter unfold. “Come here, Lia.” Cautiously, she picked her way around the carnage before her and came to my side. The entire time, her eyes were locked on Jack’s sniveling form. “He’s yours.”

She looked up at me, confused. “M-mine?”

“Yours.” I nodded. “Forgive him. Kill him. Condemn him.” I pushed the tip of my sword into the floor and leaned the grip towards her. “Whatever closure you need from this, it’s yours to take.”

Setting the keyring and purses down on the floor, Lia placed her hand on the pommel of my sword, tilting the weapon towards her. As I stepped back to give her space, I noticed my hands had started to tremble again. It wasn’t surprising; it was the most mana I had expended at once in years, and I had lost a fair amount of blood from the bolt currently sticking out of my shoulder. I did my best to calm them, hiding any signs of weakness from both Lia and Jack.

Lia took a cautious step forward, dragging the sword along the floor as she moved. After a pause, she took another, more confidently this time. Reaching the point where Jack was curled on the ground, she heaved the weight of the sword out in front of her, lifting it with both hands to point at Jack. “I will never forgive you for what you’ve done.” The pathetic form before her whimpered, weakly attempting to scoot away.

“But I won’t kill you, either.” The words surprised me. If it had been me in that situation, I would have killed Jack without a second thought. I had imagined that Lia would leave him whining pathetically in the corner, preferring to get out of this wretched place as soon as possible. There was a harshness to her tone as she continued that I hadn’t heard from her before. “You’ll live with this for the rest of your miserable life. As a lesson to what happens to people who take advantage of others.”

With that, Lia turned and walked back to me, handing the sword back. She looked up at me with tears in her eyes and nodded. I placed a comforting hand on her shoulder and nodded back. “Wait here.”

I passed her and walked to Jack, crouching down to his level. “Where are my things?”

Jack recoiled, hiding his face. “Just...kill me...please.”

“You heard her. You have to live with this now.” I dragged the sword out in front of me and pressed the tip into the back of his hand. “Now, unless you’d like the pain to come back, you’ll tell me where they’ve stashed my things, and how to get out of here.”

When the point of the sword contacted his flesh he screamed, most likely imagining the pain to be returning. In truth, I had no idea what I had done to the man, and certainly had no way of recreating the effect now. But Jack didn’t know that. He shook violently for a while, then calmed enough to speak. “Door marked ‘lock-up’. That’s where it should be.” A brutal cough interrupted him, and I waited in silence until he could speak again. “Then, the ‘West Tower’ door, to the right.” He looked up at me with empty eyes. Those are the eyes of a broken man. He won’t last a week.

Without another word, I turned and left him there. “Let’s go,” I said softly to Lia. As we left, I noticed a small dish on the center table where the men had been playing cards before we arrived. It was filled with coins, mostly crowns, with some silver peeking out here and there. I put away my sword and grabbed it with my right hand, leaving my left arm dangling limply at my side. Blood continued to flow down my arm, leaving it more red than white at this point.

I cautiously opened the door to the hallway and took a careful peek around the corner. The hall was still empty in both directions. I let out a sigh of relief. I don’t think I’d be able to handle much more in this state. Looking around at the doors nearby, I quickly remembered that the language here was not my own. “Lia, can you read these signs for me?”

Lia popped out into the hallway behind me, keeping close as we checked the doors. “Barracks...Files...Oh, Lux, here.” She crossed in front of me to a door, pointing to the placard. “Lock-up.” I nodded and moved to the entrance. Before opening the door, I took a deep breath and summoned what remained of my strength to put on an imposing look.

I swung the door open and was immensely relieved to find the room empty. It was dark aside from a single candle sputtering on a table against the far wall, so I pulled the torch from the wall sconce in the hallway. Bringing it into the room, the light revealed a row of chests against the side wall with a large symbol engraved into the top of each one. Of course. I didn’t check for symbols on our cells.

“This one should have your things, Lux.” Lia walked to the third chest in the line. She flipped the lid