Restart Again: Volume 2 by Adam Scott (best adventure books to read .TXT) 📗

the stairs where the General had died. I set down the chest of Warp and jogged across the room, leaving my companions without explanation.

“Lux, we need to leave,” Val called out after me uncertainly.

“Head to the lobby. I’ll catch up with you,” I responded as I knelt down beside the General’s body. From the corner of my eye I saw Val give an affirmative nod and shove the Strategist towards the exit, and the two of them began their trip. Lia lingered in place, watching me anxiously. “You should go with Val, in case there are any soldiers lingering in the hallways. I promise I won’t be long.” After one last moment of hesitation, she picked up the lockbox at her feet and jogged out of the room.

Since the last time I had seen him before my blackout, the General’s skin had paled to a shade nearly matching the silvery white color of his closely cropped hair and beard. I gave his body a quick inspection, searching for any trinket or possession that could be unmistakably identified as his. The greatest general the world has ever seen would never give up his swords, even in defeat. They’d have to be pried from his cold…

I shook my head and left the thought incomplete as I looked down at my impending task. With as careful and reverent of a shove as I could muster, I spun his corpse onto its side and unclasped his sword belt, letting it slide off as I let the body fall back onto the stairs. The Company sigil that decorated the front clasp of the belt was beautiful, made from inset gemstones and golden filigree that only a master craftsman could have created; it was no doubt worth more money than any Unbound or Company soldier had ever seen in their lifetime.

Setting the belt across my knee, I turned my attention to the missing swords. One sat on the floor by my feet, stained red by the pool of blood that had escaped the General’s punctured heart. The other blade rested against his leg, the handle still firmly grasped in his hand. I grimaced as I reached down and pulled his fingers open, fighting against both the rigor mortis in his muscles and the brazen sacrilege of my actions. Once the sword was free, I returned both weapons to their respective sheathes and stood to leave.

“You...fought well,” I murmured, closing my eyes for a moment of quiet respect. The gesture felt odd, yet necessary; while the idea of a benevolent God had died for me lifetimes ago, I had a sense of obligation to honor the man who had been so clearly devoted to the same craft that I pursued. “Rest now,” I intoned, finishing the prayer. Looking up to the council table, I nodded to Solette’s remains. “Rest now.”

My footsteps echoed loudly through the empty chamber as I hurried out of the room. As I retraced my steps through the dark hallways of the statehouse, my mind and stomach churned anxiously over the task ahead. I felt little concern for how the Unbound men would react: the initial demands of their revolution would be met in full through Valandra’s promises, all without the massive loss of life that their war with Kaldan would have brought. It was a better outcome than they could have hoped for, despite being coaxed into the revolution under false pretenses in the first place.

The Company men were a different issue entirely. Seeing their brilliant, fearless leader in chains might be enough to cause them to attack us in an effort to save him, regardless of what the Strategist said to dissuade them. Much to my dismay, the plan hinged on him both keeping his word and being as unquestionably effective as an orator and leader as claimed to be. If his speech succeeded, it would be a simple matter of transporting him back to Marin’s shop, retrieving our wagon, and driving him back to Yoria.

While I was feeling much better physically than I had any right to be after my endeavors, the idea of fighting off the entirety of the Company men present at the assembly seemed nearly impossible. I gripped the sword belt tighter in my hands as I considered the alternative scenario. If they won’t see reason, and we can’t use force...we’ll use intimidation. I knew it was a risky strategy, as it could easily provoke the men to further action, but seeing proof that the General had been killed also had the potential to put to rest any vainglorious thoughts of rescuing the Strategist from his captors.

The hair on the back of my neck stood up as I unknowingly stepped into the radius of Lia’s Detection magic. I felt a brief ping of alarm in her aura, followed immediately by a strong rush of relief, and I doubled my pace to catch up with the group before they reached the lobby. After another minute of travel through the dim corridors, I found Lia leaning against the wall, patiently waiting for my arrival.

“Are those the General’s swords?” she asked as soon as I appeared, clearly having considered the question over the course of my trip to her.

“Indeed they are,” I answered, giving the belt an emphatic shake. “They’re beautiful blades, especially when they aren’t trying to kill you.”

She pushed off from the wall and matched my speed as we followed behind the sound of Val’s armored footsteps stomping somewhere ahead of us. “Why did you stay behind for those?”

“It’s just a bit of insurance,” I answered. “Ideally, things will go exactly as they’re supposed to, and the swords will just end up as a lovely keepsake from our Attetsian vacation.”

Lia chuckled under her breath. “I think I’m going to need another vacation after this one. A better one.”

“Anywhere you want to go. For real, this time.” As we made our way down the hall, I couldn’t stop myself from staring at her out of the corner of my eye.