Restart Again: Volume 2 Page 4

  There was a long pause before I felt the words leave her mouth. “I’m...okay.” Her words were heavy with strain. “This is...really...difficult...to keep up. I’m going to use...a little spell, and then...we can stop?”

  “Only if you feel up to it,” I replied, concerned. “We can stop right now if you need to.”

  Lia shook her head weakly in response. She began to breathe in deep, rhythmic breaths, and I felt a portion of her mana within me recede. It coursed back into her body and flashed as she whispered, “Lesser Agility.”

  Everything crystallized for me in an instant. It’s so simple. I felt the muscles in Lia’s body relax all at once as she fell forwards into my arms, exhausted. Her mana withdrew all at once, and for a moment it felt as though my body was only half full. I’ve been so stuck in my ways thinking I had any idea of how the rules of magic worked. I would never have figured this out, no matter how many lifetimes I spent. I leaned back and gently guided Lia down to lay in my lap. I dropped one of her hands and scratched the top of her head; it felt surprisingly good even as it unnerved me to experience it from her perspective.

  I watched her break my rules, plain and simple, and I still subconsciously believed she was following them. She wasn’t channeling mana into her skin and bones, and she wasn’t suffusing her mana channels into physical pathways. I laughed at the beautiful simplicity of the idea. It’s just her mana. Lia wanted to activate her mana, and her body figured out how. Without my false rules holding her back, she solved it so quickly.

  I held my hand up in front of my face and turned it over in observation with a laugh. The soft pulse of mana within me was comforting and familiar, but there was a new depth to it that I could see for the first time. With a smile, I reached inward and replicated the feeling I had experienced within Lia. “Lesser Agility,” I whispered as I pulled on my mana. A green shimmer flicked to life across my body. Inside my hand, I saw the mana grow slightly dimmer as my body consumed it to power the spell.

  “Huh?” Lia’s eyes lazily slid open. “Did I...fall asleep again?” She tried to sit up but abandoned the attempt in short order. “Oof.” A tired laugh escaped her lips as she laced her fingers into mine.

  I ended the spell and pulled my mana back from Lia, and was once again filled with an overwhelming loneliness. The look that came to Lia’s face told me she felt the same, but the feeling quickly passed. “You passed out for a few seconds,” I said with a smile. “Sorry about that.”

  “Did it work? Did you figure it out?” She looked up at me with sleep-filled eyes.

  I nodded. “It worked.”

  Lia let out a loud sigh of relief. “That’s good. I don’t think I want to do that again for a while.” We shared a laugh at the sentiment. “It wasn’t painful or anything, just...strange. And tiring.” She yawned, punctuating her point. “I think I need a real nap now.”

  “Well, you’ve earned it.” I pushed a stray strand of black hair out of her face. “You did just discover the greatest advancement magic has ever seen. I think you deserve a rest.”

  She pouted at me. “No teasing, please Lux. I’m too tired.”

  “I’m serious.” I looked down into the deep amber pools of her eyes. “You’re really amazing, Lia.”

  A smile spread wide across Lia’s face as small tears pooled in the corners of her eyes. She stared up at me for a few moments, then rolled onto her side and snuggled into my lap. “You are too, Lux,” She said softly.

  For a brief moment, nothing else mattered apart from our small world together inside the wagon. I felt a warmth grow in my cheeks, and my heartbeat rose far above its normal rate. When I noticed the changes, a harsh mix of guilt and shame grew in my gut. No. No, I can’t do that. I can’t. I pushed away the feelings with a ragged breath and leaned my head back against the wall. Lia’s breath told me that she had already fallen asleep, and I intended to join her as soon as possible.

  She deserves better.

  ***

  3. THE GOLDEN THRONE

  The next week of our journey back to Yoria was filled with nonstop magic training. I made it my goal to find every limitation and oddity of our new ability in an effort to rebuild my understanding of the fundamentals of magic. How long could I maintain a single enhancement? Did casting without an implement consume a different amount of mana than casting with an implement? Was there a difference in the difficulty of using multiple enhancements at once? A new world of questions had been opened to me, and I hunted the answers voraciously.

  While I tested the limits of my abilities, Lia worked towards a greater mastery of what I considered the fundamentals of magic. With nothing to do every day but practice and think about practice, she advanced quickly. The most basic spells that I taught her on our adventure to Atsal came easily to her now, and she was able to successfully use the Combat Acceleration enhancement which had eluded her on the road. Although she couldn’t sustain it for very long before she grew tired, I was thrilled with her progress, and her mana reserves came back stronger every day.

  Lia’s curiosity and hunger for improvement also grew day to day. We continued our friendly tradition of sharing facts and stories about our lives in our downtime, but she often filled her free moments with more practical inquiries. She asked countless questions on a wide variety of topics, from combat maneuvers to magic and weapon types. I usually had the answers she was looking for, but we had a rapidly growing list of things to test and learn together. Her constant questioning eventually led us to another new discovery on the magic front.

  We had just broken for lunch when Lia voiced the innocent thought. “Do you know all of the combat enhancements, Lux?” She leaned back with a relieved puff and took a small bite of bread. “Are there any more that you haven’t taught me?”

  “I know every technique I encountered in Alderea, but I’m sure there are plenty more I don’t know,” I said as I rubbed some dirt from a bruised apple. “In terms of combat enhancements, I’ve shown you all the ones I know.”

  “Hmmm.” She seemed dissatisfied by the answer. “Do you think we could make up some new ones? Maybe we could try saying a bunch of words and see which ones do something.”

  I stopped just short of my first bite of lunch as I pursed my lips. “I wouldn’t recommend that, Lia. While magic is certainly an amazing tool, it can also be dangerous if you don’t know what you’re doing.” My hand twitched reflexively as the memory of my tests in the dungeon came back to me. “When I first tried to make fire with magic, it spread down my sword and immediately burned my hand. If I had done that without using an implement, who knows what could’ve happened. It might have burned me from the inside out.”

  Lia looked at me with a mixture of alarm and disappointment, and I felt guilty for rejecting her idea out of hand. “Maybe,” I added more cheerfully, “We could come up with a list of ideas that would be safe to test today. No combat magic, of course, but some simple enhancements couldn’t hurt, right?” Her face lit up with excitement as she nodded. We worked for the next hour on a carefully curated group of potential abilities, and when the testing was complete, we had two new enhancements in our roster: Strength and Pain Reduction.

  Although the idea of the abilities was relatively straightforward, our circumstances limited us to proof of concept experiments only. Strength enhancements required a feat of strength to test, so I resorted to picking Lia up with various levels of mana usage. Before the enhancement it was a simple, though slightly awkward task to pick her up in a classic bridal carry. After using Lesser Strength, I could raise her up with a bicep curl with what felt like an equal amount of effort.

  Testing Pain Reduction was a less appealing task, but much simpler. I summoned my sword and cut my thumb on the edge of the blade, healed the injury, and then repeated the process while using the new enhancement. I was surprised with how effective it was with the tiny amount of mana it used, but I wasn’t confident enough to test the effects any further. Lia was adamant that I shouldn’t be the only one to
test the new ability, and after a long discussion, I begrudgingly lent her my sword so she could test it herself.

  Between our hard work and constant conversations, it was easy to forget what waited for us at our destination. Our days were full of laughter and self-improvement, and sleep was easy after our intensive training. Commander Savitz continued to keep us out of the heavy shackles from our initial arrest, much to the obvious chagrin of the rest of his unit. He hardly spoke when he brought us our rations or let us out to relieve ourselves, but the mix of scorn and fear on his men’s faces spoke volumes. Still, for our roles as captured criminals on the way to face judgement, we enjoyed a comfortable existence.

  On the day we finally arrived in Yoria, the full gravity of our situation set in quickly. A few hours past dawn, the familiar sound of our cart’s wheels shifted to a harsh clatter of wood and metal against stone, and I knew we had passed through the city walls. I could see the recognition in Lia’s eyes and, although she masked her feelings well, I could tell she was afraid. As the wagon continued its noisy journey down the city streets, I calmly crossed the aisle and sat down between Lia and the door. I took her hand and intertwined my fingers with hers, and together, we waited for what was to come.

  When our procession came to a halt, I heard a group of soldiers arrange themselves at the exit to our cart. The door squeaked open to reveal Savitz, who held two sets of manacles, and a retainer of six guards who stood behind him with their weapons drawn. “Lux,” the commander barked out, “approach the door and allow yourself to be restrained. Any failure to follow orders from here on out will be considered an act of aggression against the Golden Throne, and will be punishable by death. Are we clear?”

  “Yes sir,” I replied, my voice cool and even. Gently, I dropped Lia’s hand and moved to the door with my wrists held out before me. I noticed the quality of the manacles was significantly increased compared to my previously destroyed pairs, which I found deeply amusing, but I resisted the urge to laugh. Once my arms and legs were chained, I was hefted down from the wagon by the nearest two guards and led forward a few paces.

  I found myself in a dim stone alcove lit by a single, sputtering torch. Before me was a large iron double door, guarded by two men in different uniforms than the men under Savitz’s command. They wore intricate padded doublets over their chainmail with the Yorian crest proudly emblazoned on their chests. With a quick glance behind me, I realized that the exit to the alcove was perfectly filled by the prison wagon. It looked as though the wagon had been specially designed for that singular purpose; with my new knowledge, several odd features and designs on the back of the wagon’s metal doors now made perfect sense as they locked into small hooks in the stone alcove’s walls. Clever.

  “Now you, girl.” Lia was similarly cuffed and led to stand beside me at the center of the guards’ formation. Savitz moved to the head of the column and nodded to one the gate guards, who banged his fist against the heavy door three times. After a short delay, they swung open, and our small party entered the keep. A long stone hallway stretched out before us. The ceiling was oddly low given the size of the doors that led inside and left me less than a handbreadth of clearance above my head.

  We walked in an oppressive silence, filled only by our echoing footfalls off of the narrow passageway walls. It was clear in the close quarters of the prisoner tunnels that something was amiss within our group; the guards seemed to stay as far away from us as possible and looked away quickly if I turned my head in their direction. The man directly to my right was so white-knuckled in his weapon grip that the blade trembled noticeably as he walked. These men are truly afraid of us. What sort of reputation do we have, exactly?

  In the distance, a junction in the passageway came into view. Our hallway ended where it connected with the next passageway, with two signs on the opposite wall presumably an indicator of what lay to our left and right. Lia shifted closer to me as we turned down the left hallway. “We’re heading to the throne room,” she whispered, nodding towards the signs. “The prison is the other direction.”

  I nodded. It seems our judgement is to be immediate, then. That’s for the best. Soon after the turn, we reached a steep staircase which led up to a heavily barred door. Savitz reached it first and knocked, and a small viewport opened to reveal a pair of squinted eyes. The door was unlocked and pulled open with a screech of metal on stone, and our party filed into an uncomfortably small room on the other side. Aside from a door on the opposite wall, it was an entirely barren chamber.

  Savitz crossed the room and moved to open the door, but paused to turn to us. “You will wait here until the King is prepared to see you.” I heard Lia gasp beside me, and I turned to see a stunned look on her face. The commander then turned and left the room, followed by four of his guards. Our last two escorts took up flanking positions on the door as it closed and stared us down awkwardly, their discomfort plain on their faces.

  With an awkward shuffle, I shifted next to Lia and placed a comforting hand on her shoulder. She gazed up to me with her eyes filled with fear, and her mouth tried to form words to no avail. I shook my head with a gentle smile and leaned down next to her ear to whisper. “Everything is going to be alright, Lia. I promise. I’ll do all the talking, but I need you to look confident and strong. Can you do that for me?”

  Lia gave me a nod, then leaned her head into my chest. I rested my forehead on the top of her head in my best imitation of a reassuring hug, and began to speak under my breath. “Greater Strength. Greater Agility. Heighten Senses. Pain Reduction.” The sudden flare of energy seemed to surprise Lia, and she jumped back slightly to look at me in alarm. Her quick movement startled one of the guards, who called out in a panicked voice.

  “H-hey! What are you whispering about over there?” He moved to investigate, but hesitated after the first step and stood stiffly in place.

  I quickly whispered the last of my enhancements. “Windstep. Combat Acceleration.” Satisfied, I took a step towards the guard. “Oh, I’m sorry,” I started quietly, increasing the volume of my voice as I continued, “Was I speaking too softly for you? I can speak up!” By the end of the statement, I was yelling.

  Panic flashed on his face. “Keep your voice down!” He said insistently as he glanced over his shoulder at the door.

  “Well, which is it? Am I too loud, or too quiet?” I shouted. As the enhancements took hold, I could feel the steely cold grip of adrenaline on my accelerated mind. Focus. Use everything you have. Control the room. Read your enemy. It was far too easy a feat to frazzle the door guard, but it was a necessary warm up.

  “Too loud!” the guard whined, his voice cracking. His grip tightened on his sword as he pointed it vaguely in my direction. Lia took a step behind me and whispered under her breath, and a veil of green energy covered her as she prepared for a fight.

  I casually glanced down at the weapon with an exaggerated pause, then leaned towards him with as much malice as I could muster. “And what, pray tell,” I asked coldly, “do you intend to do with that?”

  Any color that had remained in the man’s face drained away and left him a sickly pale green. He tried to stammer a response, but was interrupted when the door behind him opened and Savitz entered the room. The commander looked us over and nodded. “Follow me.”

  When we exited the small room, I struggled momentarily to keep my face held in the impassive mask I wore when dealing with tough situations. The massive scale of the chamber we entered took me by surprise, and the opulence of the decoration was stunning. I couldn’t help but marvel at the construction of the hall; enormous stone bricked pillars rose up to a ceiling so high it disappeared in shadow, and the floor was lined with lush carpets and beautiful plants. The floral notes combined with the smell of burning incense and burning torches to create a heavy, cloying bouquet.

  Lia and I followed Savitz forward towards a row of plants and turned past one of the stone pillars. There was an awestruck gasp from Lia, and my breath caught in my throat as
I finally learned what various incarnations of the Yorian crest I had seen were based on. Before us stood a raised dais with a massive, ornate throne. The chair itself stood almost ten feet tall and gleamed with a polished gold shine in the sunlight. An intricately detailed crescent moon was held above the seat with golden rods, and the entire seat was upholstered in a cushioned cerulean fabric.

  Though it was by far the most lavish throne I had ever seen, I hardly noticed it in comparison to the stained-glass window on the wall behind it. An enormous circle at least four stories in diameter, it sparkled in the morning sunlight in a display of craftsmanship so beautiful I could hardly believe my eyes. It depicted a dark blue sky speckled with stars and a golden crescent moon in the center. The window was so large it lit the entire front half of the throne room, glowing with such intensity that it seemed to make the sunlight behind it even brighter.

  Savitz led us to a position roughly ten feet from the edge of the dais, then stepped aside. I took a quick glance around the room and was surprised to find the chamber empty. Where are you hiding? Curious, I scanned outward with a wave of detection magic. The energy rushed up and over the dais and continued to the back wall, where I found two doors blocked from my line of sight by the raised platform.

  One door led to what seemed to be a simple barracks. The walls were lined with armor stands and weapon racks, while the middle of the room was crammed with long benches covered in steins and scraps of food. I counted twenty men milling about within the room, all dressed in finely crafted plate armor and flowing cloaks. Another door at the back of the room led to a tightly curled flight of stairs heading in both directions, spiraling up and down out of range of my vision. While the bulk of the armored men looked to be engaged in casual conversation with one another, one man stood alone with his ear to the door and an intent look of focus on his face.