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

“You...don’t deserve...death.” It spoke with hundreds of distinct voices, each echoing like thunder inside my mind. The smoking black pain had reached my eyes and my vision immediately darkened, leaving me in a perpetual void of agony. One by one, my senses receded, leaving me alone to scream in silence. In time, my thoughts faded away too, and whatever I was dissolved into black smoke, leaving nothing behind.

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I awoke in a panic, bolting upright as I clutched my chest. My breath came in ragged gasps as I scanned the room, slowly taking in the information of my surroundings. It was just a dream. I’m still here. A small hand touched the back of my shoulder, soft and warm against my bare skin. “Lux? What’s the matter? Are you okay?” Lia asked softly, her voice thick with concern.

“Yeah, I’m fine. I just had a nightmare. Sorry for waking you.” I took a few deep breaths, trying to center myself. What was that? It certainly wasn’t a memory. I slowly laid back down in bed, still absentmindedly rubbing my chest.

“It’s okay, you didn’t wake me. I haven’t been able to get back to sleep for a while now.” Lia rubbed my arm, rolling over to watch me closely. “What was the dream?”

“I...don’t know. Usually, my dreams are memories from my past lives, but this was...different, somehow. It felt familiar, but it wasn’t anything I can remember. Just the pain.” I rolled to face her and let out a long sigh. She was barely visible in the darkness, only the faintest light sneaking through the crack of the door. “We’ve still got some time before the sun is up. Maybe we should get some more sleep.”

“That’s not gonna happen,” Lia sighed, sounding resigned. “I’m too excited for today.”

I smiled. “Well, if that’s the case, I guess we can get a jump start on our preparations.” Going through the list I had been making in my head I made a quick plan of action for the morning. “Put together a collection of anything you want to bring with you. Extra clothes, personal trinkets, whatever you want. Just remember: We have to carry it every day, everywhere we go.”

“Aye aye!” Lia sprung out of bed excitedly and began searching through the drawers of her bureau. By the time I was up and dressed she had assembled a small pile of clothes on the bed and had changed into a dark belted tunic. Aside from a few extra dresses, the only other possession in the pile was a small, loosely bound leather book with a corked vial of black ink and a few writing quills.

I walked to the bedside and picked up the book. “Your journal?” I asked, turning it over in my hands. Lia turned from her place at the mirror and blushed upon seeing me holding it. She strode across the room and quickly took it from me before I had a chance to open it. “I’ll take that as a yes,” I chuckled, holding my hands up in defeat. She narrowed her eyes at me and stuck out her tongue.

“If you’re all finished in here, we should try to find some traveling supplies around the house. A good length of rope, a lantern and tinderbox, a hatchet, and a bit of food would be a great start.” I counted the items off on my hand as I spoke, making sure not to miss any of the things I considered essential adventuring gear. “Do you think we can find all of that?”

Lia nodded. “If we look through the basement, I’m sure we could find anything we need.” We exited the bedroom into the dim pre-dawn light of the dining room. The house was suffused with a light purple glow as the sun considered breaking through the clouds on the horizon, setting a very mellow mood. Walking quietly over the wooden floorboards to avoid waking her parents, we made our way down to the basement.

It didn’t take long for us to find the items we were looking for: Marten kept a small workshop in a room nestled under the staircase which held all the tools on my initial list. I made a mental note to repay him for the items, although I knew the response to the idea would be a derisive snort and a stark refusal. Lia took the items back upstairs to find a rucksack while I moved to the back room to retrieve my belongings.

I was still unsure of my decision to wear my full complement of gear on our travels. On one hand, I would certainly feel safer if I had my armor on in case of a confrontation. However, the distinctive patterns and superior craftsmanship would certainly stick out, making it more likely that a guard with my description would notice me. Safety had won out over discretion in the end, but it still worried me that I might be putting Lia in more danger by wearing it. If I’m already wanted for murder, I suppose I shouldn’t be worried about adding resisting arrest to my rap sheet.

The thought of my crimes made me momentarily uncomfortable; I was doing my best to avoid the unpleasant memories from the night of our escape from the dungeon. Most of the events were obscured in my mind by a thick fog, most likely due to a combination of exhaustion, pain, and bloodlust. There wasn’t a trace of regret within me for killing the men; the world was better off without them to be sure, and they weren’t the first men I had killed by a long shot. It was the method of their execution that troubled me. That bloodlust enhancement, and the black energy...I have no idea what that was, but it came so easily to me. I shuddered and shook my head in an effort to get back to the task at hand.

Pulling the lid from the crate against the back wall of the basement, I