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

from her bolstered my flagging resolve, and my chest swelled with pride at the sight of her strength. I gave her a small nod, and we turned as one to face the General. To my surprise, he halted his advance about ten feet away, standing statue-still as he waited for any of us to move.

“Now, perhaps, you’ll be more apt to listen when I speak to you.” I jumped as the Strategist’s voice rang loud and clear in my ears. “I was hoping we would have a chance to talk, but it is clear that you can’t be trusted with that privilege.” He paced out from behind the table to the edge of the small staircase, leading Solette along close behind him. “It’s a shame that the two of you will die a mystery to me.”

His eyes tracked past us to Val. “Commander, I have to say, given our past encounters and your glorious reputation, I had expected you to be more...formidable.” His tone grew significantly more vicious as he continued. “This has been a truly pathetic display; I expect Virram will be disappointed when I recount these events at our next meeting. If I’m feeling kind, perhaps I’ll return your shield to him as a gift. I would return your body as well, but I don’t imagine there will be much left when Solette is finished with you.”

A white-hot rage burned behind my eyes as I stood voiceless, forced to listen to his berating. “As you die, I would like you to reflect on your failings. The King to whom you’ve pledged your life to has lied to you and sent you to die, but it was your arrogance that led you to your death at my hands. Moreover, it has led your friends here to die as well.” He paused and scanned his eyes over Lia and me with a malicious smile. “I wonder...are you truly as strong as they say? When you watch your friends burn before you, will you make your final stand, or will you throw down your shield and beg for mercy?” The silence that filled the room as he watched us felt as though it lasted an eternity. “I suppose we’ll see.”

He turned his back to us and prepared to round the table to retake his seat, but he paused next to Solette. “Kill those two first. Make it something painful; I’d like to hear them scream before it’s over, if you could.”

“Yes, sir,” Solette answered obediently. She held the diamond orb up above her head with both hands as a faint orange light shimmered at the center of the gem, which began to rise into the air as her new chant started. “Primeval of Fire, I beseech thee-”

I felt the familiar sensation of time slowing around me as my adrenaline kicked into overdrive. With a deep, measured breath, I looked down to Lia one final time and placed a hand gently on her shoulder. Despite our imminent demise, I found myself smiling at her as my mind focused to a singular purpose. As my remaining energy reserves began to activate, I reached out to her mana and flooded her with my intention. I’ll protect you, but I need you to protect me, too.

“-grant unto me the power of your glorious radiance so that I might set ablaze-” A swirling ball of fire grew in the air above Solette’s head, casting dancing shadows across the council chambers as it crackled and swelled with every word. From nearly twenty feet away, I could already feel the heat washing over me, and the ball of flames became difficult to look at without shading my eyes.

Greater Strength. Greater Agility. Greater Combat Acceleration. Greater Sharpening. Greater Windstep. My sword flashed with rainbow light as the enhancements all took effect at once. The solid stone flooring cracked beneath my feet as I raced out towards the General far faster than I had ever moved before. As I passed him, I watched his face begin to react to my movement, his reflexes far too slow to aid him in any meaningful way. I charged to the raised section of flooring and leapt up the stairs towards Solette, pulling my sword arm back as I flew.

My free hand reached out and clamped on to one of her raised arms. I pulled her in towards my chest as I stabbed my sword forward with every ounce of strength I had, driving the blade through her heart and embedding the weapon up to the hilt in her chest. The intense orange light above us shimmered away as her arms fell to her sides, and a second pop in my ears brought back the sound of my heavy breathing. Solette’s eyes, now only inches from my own, stared through me to some faraway point with a mixture of shock and confusion.

Her dark hair brushed my face as I leaned in to whisper in her ear. “The Dominion has failed.” The blood pooling in her punctured lung sprayed out over my shoulder as she let out a gurgling cough in response. With a hard yank I removed the sword from her chest and shifted forward, moving towards the Strategist as her body collapsed to the floor behind me. Before he could even turn to see the fate of his priestess, I had my sword across his throat and his arm pinned against his back. “If you move, you die.”

The world wobbled as my enhancements drained the last dregs of mana from my core, and the enhanced abilities all faded away at once. I felt an immense weight press down across my body as the exhaustion I had been holding back took over, and I pulled down harder on the Strategist’s arm to keep myself upright. My part’s over. All I have to do is stay conscious now. Pressing the sword further into his neck, I rotated him so we could look out over the council room.

The General had turned towards us and readied a