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

set up and have something to eat. Lia can keep an eye on the Strategist for you.”

“That is amenable,” she agreed. “Thank you, Lux.”

“No, thank you,” I said, giving her one last nod before I turned to head back to Marin’s wagon. My brow furrowed the instant she was behind me as I thought about what could be important enough for her to ask for a private meeting. With our return to Yoria imminent, I knew I had to talk with her about what she would tell the King about me during her debriefing. To my own surprise, I had grown to trust her a great deal over the course of our mission, but that trust was infinitely outweighed by my contempt for Virram; a report given to him in good faith could still be dangerous to Lia and myself if Val told him certain details of what had transpired in Attetsia.

That’s what I wanted to talk about, but what does she want to talk about? The question lingered in the back of my mind as I helped Lia and Marin make camp. When our small fire was strong enough to span against the cold night air, we prepared a meal of roasted apples with asperfruit jam alongside our usual trail rations of hard tack and dried meat. While we worked, Val let the Strategist out of the wagon for his nightly bathroom break, then returned him to his mobile prison with his rations. When she had finished with her guard duties, she leaned against the side of the wagon across from the fire and watched me intently, seemingly uninterested in dinner.

I did my best to enjoy my meal and hold a pleasant conversation with Marin and Lia, but I could feel Val’s eyes boring a focused hole into my forehead the entire time. As soon as I finished my food, I leaned over to whisper in Lia’s ear. “I need to go talk with Val. Can you keep an eye on the Strategist for a bit?”

She nodded as she tapped her temple with two fingers, and I felt a faint rush of energy trace my body as her Detection magic scanned out through the camp. “I’m on it,” she whispered back.

Satisfied, I stood and took the opportunity to warm my hands by the fireside one last time before walking over to meet Val. “Shall we?” I asked quietly, waving my hand out before us. She followed me out to the back of Marin’s wagon, where we were out of both eyeline and earshot of the camp. I could still feel Lia’s mana running along the surface of my skin, but I knew she wouldn’t pry; although I intended to relay anything of importance to her when the secret rendezvous was over, it was important to me that what Val thought was a private meeting was indeed private.

I took a seat on the back edge of the wagon, and Val followed suit. The old wood groaned as it sagged under the weight of her heavy armor, and we both sunk a few inches closer to the ground. My legs swung restlessly over the side as I stared up at the stars and waited for Val to start the conversation. When she failed to do so, I eventually broke the silence myself. “So...you can turn invisible. That’s a neat trick.”

She turned to me with an impressively arched eyebrow. “I am unsure what you are referring to.”

“During the fight with the General. You appeared from nowhere in a flash of light and saved Lia at the last possible second,” I explained. “Thank you for that, by the way.”

“Oh.” She looked up into the night sky with a ponderous expression. “Do not thank me. I should never have let her fight the General alone; I was the only reason she was in danger to begin with.”

“Well, that’s not true at all,” I scoffed. “I’m the reason she was on the mission in the first place. Although, I guess you could blame Virram for that, which I do by the way. If you go back far enough you can really blame—”

Val held up a hand. “No. That was my fight, and I failed to act. Saving Lia was the least I could do, and even then, I would have failed if not for the Primes. If they had not answered my prayers, I am not sure I would have found the strength to fight.” She turned her hand slowly in front of her face, examining it in the dim starlight. “I was...unaware of what transpired, exactly.”

Spontaneous magic. Not surprising, given the circumstances. “What did you pray for?”

She shrugged. “I simply asked for the strength to give my life to save Lia’s.”

“Well...I’m glad that didn’t happen,” I said, unsure of how else to respond to the admission. I felt another uncomfortable silence coming on and cut it off before it could begin. “Sorry for distracting you; what was it you wanted to talk to me about?”

Her head turned towards me slowly, and her eyes fell to my scarred right hand. “When we left you alone in the courtyard, how did you survive?” I felt my stomach drop as the question caught me off guard. “I know you are a skilled fighter, but that was not a matter of skill; you were outnumbered fifty to one by a generous estimate. There were…” she trailed off, turning away as her voice fell to little more than a hoarse whisper. “There were not any bodies. Just blood and ash.”

I closed my eyes and saw the terrified faces of the men I slaughtered staring at me in vivid detail. “I did what I had to do to make sure we succeeded,” I muttered, absentmindedly tracing a jagged black scar across my palm with my thumb. “I can’t explain it further. I couldn’t even if I wanted to.”

There was a long moment of silence as she studied my hand with interest. “Those markings...I have seen them once before.”

The statement took