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

the sky. “We will be victorious!” he called out in a deep, resonating voice. He returned the sword to its sheath and stepped back to his original place while the men in the plaza stomped their feet and thundered their support.

The Strategist stepped to the front edge of the stage and looked out over the crowd. “Unbound men! You have liberated your home from the clutches of weaker men, who would have continued to exploit your families for generations. Will you join me in liberating others like you?” The Unbound standing around the outside edge of the plaza shouted back with enthusiastic pledges of loyalty. “My faithful Elta’sahn men,” he continued, “will you follow me into history as the greatest Company to ever be assembled?” A unanimous cry of “For the Company!” came from the inner circle of men. I tasted bile rising in the back of my throat as I watched the jingoistic display; it was eerily similar to the rally I had seen when the Dominion first came to Hedaat.

The sound of shattering glass rang out from the street beyond our hiding place, and I lurched forward to a ready stance with my hand on the hilt of my sword. My breath sat frozen in my chest as I waited for someone to appear in the doorway to our building, despite my Detection telling me the street was clear with no signs of broken glass. I felt Lia’s hand touch mine, and I looked back to find her and Val watching me with concern.

Sitting back against the wall carefully, I shook my head. “Sorry. Thought I heard someone coming,” I whispered, scratching at the tingling feeling of adrenaline at the base of my neck. When my attention returned to the scene outside, the Strategist was on the ground, standing before the small collection of Dominion men assembled directly in front of the stage.

“Take note, men!” he shouted, spinning in a tight circle to address the entire crowd. “These brave soldiers before me have gone above and beyond in answering the call of duty! These are the men that will lead us to the glorious future we all dream of!” He walked down the line of men, patting each on the shoulder with a respectful nod. “Are any of you strong enough to join them? Will you help them free this land of injustice?” A multitude of cries rose up from the group, and the Strategist smiled.

A deafening crack resounded out of the ceiling above us, followed by the sound of broken glass raining to the floor. Lia and Val didn’t react to the noise, and although my ears were ringing, I hardly took notice; my attention was entirely drawn to the image of the Strategist in my head. He’s the one who brought them here. The one who caused all of this. My blood chilled to ice beneath my skin as the world around me shrank to a pinpoint, with the Strategist at the center. He’s the one who ruined my life.

I think it’s time for you to remember.A voice that was not my own echoed inside my head. I recognized the source immediately, but the tone was wrong; Amaya’s voice had never sounded so cruel.

Fuck you. How DARE you pretend to be her. I gritted my teeth and did my best to block out the voice. Whatever you are, leave me alone.

The voice returned again, twice as loud as before. It’s the only way you’ll survive the night,Amaya’s voice boomed. It’s the only way Lia will survive, too.

I felt a quick, sharp pain at the center of my chest that faded to a dull burning which began to spread throughout my body. My heart started to race, and my limbs trembled as my body recognized the sensation before my mind did. Death. Pain. The darkness between lives. I looked at Lia, who sat in intense focus as she watched the scene outside through Detection. “Please, no...I’m not ready,” I whispered to nobody.

Don’t be afraid, Amaya’s voice replied sweetly. You’ll understand everything once you remember.I swallowed hard against the lump in my throat as the world went black before my eyes. As the last bit of light faded, I reached out and found Lia’s hand beside me. My lips moved, but I couldn’t hear if the words escaped before I fell unconscious.

---

“Open the damn door, Lux!” The muffled shout was accompanied by a consistent banging on the metal door, still audible two rooms away in the laboratory. I pushed away from the bench in frustration and slammed my hands down on the worktop in frustration.

“Alda, go tell the councilor that I won’t be meeting with him again today. Or any time this week, for that matter.” My patience for the blustering lump of a man had long since run out, yet Gorat continued his daily trips to the lab to pester me about joining his new organization. “I don’t care what they call themselves; this new Dominion can fuck off just like the last Council did.”

“Of course, sir,” Alda said with a deep bow. She turned and scurried out of the lab into the entryway, leaving the door open behind her as she rushed to answer the insistent pounding. I turned back to the lab bench and retrieved the needle I had been working on, sighing with annoyance as I held it back underneath the magnifying lens to inspect the incredibly small inscriptions along its length. “Good evening, Councilor,” Alda recited dutifully as she cracked open the outside door. “I’m afraid that Master Lux is—”

A loud shriek cut off her prepared speech. My stomach dropped as I abandoned my work and sprinted to the entryway door to find the cause of her alarm. Councilor Gorat stood at the lab entrance, but he wasn’t alone as I had come to expect from his recent visits; eight armed guards stood around him with their weapons drawn, one of whom had Alda pinned tightly against his chest with a dagger at