Revenant's Resolve Chapter 30

Reznik turned after Botezatu onto the long walkway that led to his home. As he walked, Reznik noted the birds in the trees - more specifically, the nests in nearly every branch. He still needed to ask Luminita how exactly her connection with them worked. 

Regardless, Reznik thought it was nice. 

The air here was never silent, not like the wastes. It was always full of song and life, and the amount of nests sent an odd, fleeting pang of something into his chest when he thought about them.

He didn’t really understand it, so he simply ignored it. 

There were far more pressing matters to think about, such as the duel coming tomorrow, and the wax paper-wrapped bundle of spiced meat that Botezatu kept close at hand. Kept close at hand and wouldn’t allow Reznik to munch on before they got home. 

Criminal was what it was, dragging Reznik along for almost an hour’s walk, forced to smell the succulent meat-on-a-stick from the city without an opportunity to taste it. 

Reznik’s stomach growled loudly, noticably enough for Botezatu to turn over his shoulder with an entertained smirk. 

“Not gonna go completely feral on me, are ya?” Botezatu chuckled, turning back to the path. 

“M-may-be.” Reznik grumbled under his breath, causing Botezatu to laugh boisterously. 

“Mmm, is that so?” Botezatu stopped in his tracks and turned to stare at Reznik. Reznik also halted, eying the older man with concern as Botezatu seemed to decide whether or not Reznik was joking.. “Tell you what, son. I’ll give you a lesson and a choice.”

Botezatu’s humor had fled almost in an instant, replaced by a stern frown. 

“Zarah believes you’re a man. Luminita believes that you’re a man. But sometimes, you seem act like little more than a tamed beast, a slave to your urges. 

“Hunger, violence, even curiosity.” 

Botezatu took a step towards Reznik and held out the package of meat with a raised eyebrow and an expression that made Reznik wonder if accepting the offered item was a good idea.

“Men make choices, sacrifices for delayed benefit. They aren’t paper boats being carted down a stream. So I’ll let you choose.” Botezatu jiggled the package demonstratively, causing small rivulets of meat juice to drip out the side enticingly. “I can give you all of this now, and you can stay out here with the other beasts of the wild, or, you can make a decision to go hungry for another hour, ten minutes, maybe even three hours until whenever lunch is ready. If you do that, you can come inside. You can take off that armor, eat supper with me and my family.

“So make your choice - man, or beast?” 

Reznik stared at the food for a long moment, and almost reached out to snatch it. After all, he’d spent thousands of nights out under the stars. It wasn’t anything to him to spend another night out here. 

But something deeper in himself caught, latched into place, and refused to let him reach any further for the food. 

Looking down to his hand with a bit of frustration, Reznik saw it was clutched around the silver pendant of the necklace he wished to give Luminita. 

No. 

I must be patient. I’ve spent a million nights under the stars, but just as many going hungry. 

Luminita is more important than food, giving her this necklace is more important than food. 

Reznik breathed in deeply, lowering his hand back to his side as he met Botezatu’s pointed glare. 

“I am a man.” Reznik answered with an air of firm finality to his tone that surprised even him. He barely even stuttered, instead, only a slight quaver was in his words. 

Botezatu’s chin lifted fractionally, dipping down in a nod after a moment. 

“Good.” He waved the hand holding the meat over his shoulder, beckoning Reznik to follow. “Now. Let’s go see what the women are up to. I’m sure they’ll be surprised to see us back so early!”

Reznik held the necklace a little tighter in his hand, following Botezatu to the front door, which he threw open with a flourish. 

From within came harmonizing voices, and Botezatu quickly grabbed the door before it could slam into the wall. Whatever he was about to yell into the home died on his lips as he turned to Reznik with a grin, putting his finger to his lips. 

Botezatu crept deeper inside, followed by a mesmerized Reznik. 

The song was a call and response between Luminita and her mother, with shared choruses that the tunes blended together in. As he grew closer, Reznik made out the words clearly. 

The song was between two women, complaining about their idiot husbands, and how much they loved them - no matter how much they complained in the verses, the chorus always ended with them being happy that their men were home and safe. 

Reznik and Botezatu successfully snuck into the main central room that branched off to many of the others. Oona’s voice came from the kitchen, and Luminita’s came from the washroom. 

Reznik closed his eyes and simply let himself be wrapped in sound that seemed to fill the room like a warm summer breeze. He didn’t even know she could sing before this, and yet it felt like a salve for his soul. 

In one of Luminita’s verses, the volume of her song changed, growing louder for several moments before it fell away. 

Reznik opened his eyes and found her halfway to exiting the laundry room door, staring at himself and Botezatu with rapidly pinking cheeks. 

“Oh… I-erm didn’t expect you two to be home yet!” Luminita chirped nervously, glancing towards the entrance to the kitchen. 

“Please, don’t stop on our account.” Botezatu chuckled happily, waving his hand towards where Oona’s voice had come from. “It’s been years since I’ve heard your mother sing.” 

Botezatu looked to Reznik with a raised eyebrow, as if to ask - don’t you agree?

Reznik nodded deeply, missing the feeling the sound gave him. 

“S-s-son-g pre-tty.” He quickly added with a bob of his head, not having time to think of a longer compliment. 

Luminita blushed even deeper, briefly glancing to the floor before her eyes widened and she looked back to Botezatu. 

“The duel!” she both informed and asked in a panic. 

“Is finished. Reznik’s opponent forfeited before the fight started.” Botezatu soothed with a small chuckle. “We stopped on the way back and grabbed some ingredients for lunch, along with… other things.” 

Botezatu’s mustache tweaked up at the corner as he finished, his twinkling eyes settling on Reznik. 

“I’ll go give these to your mother, Luminita. While I do - I think Reznik here actually picked up something for you, believe it or not.” 

Botezatu delivered a small salute with his unoccupied hand before making a speedy exit into the kitchen. 

Luminita watched him go with a briefly bewildered expression before she turned it on Reznik. 

“Something for me?” she asked, a curious grin spreading across her face. “What is it?” 

Reznik gulped, his feet suddenly feeling far more unsteady than they had any right to. Slowly, he raised his hand, still curled around the pendant. 

“F-fou-nd at t-the m-mar-ket.” He opened his fist, revealing the glittering silver and sapphire. “It w-was p-pret-ty.” 

Luminita’s breath caught when she saw the necklace, her eyes briefly going wide as her pupils also dilated before they shot down to pinpricks. 

“L-like y-you.” Reznik added as she began to reach for the gift. 

Luminita’s cheeks went scarlet, her hand frozen just above Reznik’s as she seemed to consider something that was a mystery to him. 

She breathed in and let it out in a shuddering exhale as she took the necklace and began to inspect it. 

“I… didn’t know you felt that way. Didn’t know you -could- feel that way.” Luminita noted with a small nod, smiling happily down at the shiny hunk of metal in her hand. “Here, help me get it on?” 

She spun, turning her back to him and pulling her hair to the side. Then, she lifted both sides of the unclasped, delicate chain around to him. 

Okay. I can do this. 

I can.

Reznik gave himself a small pep talk as he mentally prepared to use the finest of movements to open the delicate clip and fix it around her neck. 

It was a task that for some reason felt far more daunting than any fight he’d experienced. With shaking fingers, he tried in vain to actuate the toggle several times before he finally managed to catch it. Gingerly, he brought the open hook to the metal loop on the other end, missed, and tried again. 

This time it caught, and with deliberate focus, he shot both of his hands open as wide as possible, letting the toggle snap into place as the necklace fell to her back. 

“D-done.” Reznik said, letting out a rush of air as he smiled at his work. 

Luminita turned around, a blisteringly bright smile on her face as she clutched at the gift protectively. 

“It’s beautiful.” She beamed up at him. “Thank you.” 

Luminita let the pendant hang before she stood to her tiptoes and planted a small kiss on Reznik’s cheek. 

When she fled the room a moment later, it left Reznik in a stunned silence, his thoughts sloshing back and forth in his head like a wild sea blown by a tempest. 

The small gesture also left him wanting… more. 

  *

“Master Reznik - if you’d follow me?” the servant asked, rousing Reznik from his contemplative stare at the floor. 

This was it - the final fight in the tournament, and the servant was about to lead him to the coliseum entrance as he had every other time. 

The difference was that this time, Botezatu wasn’t there. He was in the stands with Luminita and Oona, who’d decided to come inexplicably for this fight. 

Reznik wondered why the two women had been reluctant to attend his other two fights, but today had decided that this one, specifically. 

He set those thoughts aside for the time being as he stood to his feet and waved his hand, indicating for the man to lead him to the entrance. 

When Reznik stepped out into the blistering sunlight of midday, squinting for a moment as his eyes adjusted. Then, a wave of sound crashed down upon him - the cheering and boos of hundreds of people. 

He panned his head this way and that, seeing that a great many in the audience were cheering not for his opponent, but for him. 

His opponent hadn’t even shown up yet. Who else could they be cheering for?

As Reznik scanned the crowd, he couldn’t see Luminita, Botezatu, or Oona. Instead his eyes fell on an opulently-decorated box of seats, sequestered from the other citizens. 

The Queen herself rested on a futon, dressed in immaculate golden robes and jewelry. He made eye contact with her for a long second before she smirked, and turned to talk to the man on her left. 

Tarron whispered something in the Queen’s ear that made her laugh. 

On the Queen’s other side was a hooded figure. Reznik couldn’t see their face, but he felt something as he squinted to the mystery person. Something familiar. 

“Hello, Thinker.” Reznik heard Zarah’s voice in his mind, using the nickname she’d had for him before she knew his name. “My, how far you’ve come in such a short time. You’re doing well, well enough to impress the Queen. 

“She even let me out of that box for this.”

“-And for the houses of Tarron and Ketracz, we have master Ferrin!” an announcer boomed, just barely audible on the edge of Reznik’s mind. 

Looking across the field briefly, Reznik saw a Centaur trot out from the gate, absolutely brimming with armor and weapons. 

“I should go now. It’s taxing to hold the connection for this long, this far.” Zarah sighed in Reznik’s mind, before adding; “And Reznik - don’t lose. I know you can do this.” 

Zarah’s comforting presence left his thoughts then, but her words didn’t. 

The confidence she placed in him left Reznik with his own sense of confidence, looking back to the mountain of a Centaur with a set jaw. 

Reznik’s opponent glared down at him from several paces away now, clearly just waiting for the call to start. The Centaur was easily ten feet tall, with a powerful muscles rippling coiled up and down his horse side.

His human side wasn’t anything to ignore either, and would have easily dwarfed Reznik if he just had normal legs. 

Ferrin’s hoof stomped the ground. 

“You don’t look like half as intimidating as he said you would.” Ferrin snorted at Reznik with a heavy accent. “Just another puny man.”

Reznik simply stared back at the Centaur, not having any reply that he cared to make. 

“Fighters ready!” the announcer shouted, and Ferrin took a new stance, holding his massive sword aloft. “BEGIN!” 

With blinding speed, the centaur ripped free a sword that would have been comically large for anyone else, and swung out at Reznik. 

Reznik was suddenly flying. 

He hit the ground with a clatter of metal, skidding along the dirt until he rolled to a stop in a heap, shaking his head. 

Reznik pushed to his knees, distantly aware of his body feeling pain in his left arm. 

Looking over to it, he found the armor over his bicep was bent inward, with a deep crease where the Centaur’s blade had impacted. 

He frowned, mildly irked that Ferrin had actually managed to damage the plate. 

Okay. This one isn’t like Velyonis. No showboating, nothing fancy. 

We kill him, and kill him as dead as possible. 

His frustration trickled into a building wrath as Reznik stood to his feet, his head lolling back as a wild, piercing howl escaped his lips. 

Ferrin slowed his run to a gentle gallop, then a trot a few feet away as he circled Reznik with a curious expression on his face. 

Almost experimentally, Ferrin poked out with the giant sword, and Reznik instinctively grabbed it by the blade, jerking with all the force he could muster. It came free of Ferrin’s hand, who sprang back instead of trying to hold onto it. 

Instead of curiosity, Ferrin’s expression was now one of disdain, like Reznik was a bug in need of squashing. 

Reznik whirled around and flung the blade back to Ferrin with a whistle of steel cutting air. 

Ferrin only barely dodged the majority of the sword by ducking, but the tip still caught his cheek, leaving a small upwelling of blood. 

The Centaur let out a small chuff of air, touching his cheek with a gloved hand and inspecting the blood there. 

“Fine then.” Ferrin growled, hefting a large axe over his shoulder. “Perhaps I underestimated you, besjmeryiny. I will fight you as you have decided. 

“You will lose with your honor intact.” 

The centaur spun the axe in his hand, now having the pointed end facing out. 

Reznik considered his next course of action, how he should go about attacking his opponent. 

No. I need to stop thinking, stop trying to plan ahead. 

Reznik inhaled and steadied himself as he sank down almost to his haunches. 

I need to fight like I did when Zarah found me. 

Unhinged and undead. He won’t expect that. 

Instead of attacking head-on like Ferrin likely expected, Reznik sank into his mind and tried to stifle his thoughts, to shove them down in a deep box and act entirely on instinct. 

Ferrin was food. 

Was enemy. 

Then, he sprang up into the air with a wild howl. 

A part of Reznik was delighted at the slack-jaw the man had when he watched Reznik sail over him in an arc. 

Roaring, Reznik finished his dive, preparing to bring his fists down on Ferrin’s head, only to feel the sting of the Axe’s spike driving into his chest before flinging him. 

Reznik hit the ground but rolled into a crouch, sliding across the ground for several more feet before he started to sprint back towards Ferrin. 

Ferrin readied the axe, holding it over the shoulder as he clearly intended to cut Reznik in two. 

Reznik dropped into a slide at the last possible second, the blade whistling over him as he slid under the horse part of Ferrin. He brought his fist around and slammed it into Ferrin’s leg, being rewarded with a loud crunch and a whinnying scream from the man. 

Ferrin stumbled away, but not before delivering a powerful kick to Reznik’s chest in the process that sent him rolling away. 

When Reznik came to a stop, he rose to his knees, then his feet. 

Ferrin’s hind quarters were still up in their, though his forelegs had lowered to their knees as he leaned on the halberd. 

Ferrin breathed heavily, a deep scowl on his face. With a groan of effort, he tried to rise - pushing up on the polearm with enough force to bend the haft, only to stumble back to his knees. 

“Been a long time since I needed to see a healer, moyi brata, and even longer since someone brought me to my knees without a weapon.” Ferrin gave Reznik a slow, respectful nod without taking his eyes off him. “Thank you for exposing my weakness - it will be fixed.”

Ferrin chuckled throatily before shoving himself forcefully back to standing. In his left hand, he gripped the halberd like a cane, keeping his injured leg off the ground. In his other, he drew a short sword and held it up in a guard. 

“Well… -if- I live.” 

Reznik was caught off guard by Ferrin’s bright, feral smile. 

Almost if the man was frozen in between glee and pain. 

Reznik decided he would offer the man a proverbial olive branch, and give him a chance to forfeit now. At least once. 

“G-give uh-up.” 

Ferrin laughed again, his grin growing wilder. 

“Come over here and make me, soldyachti.” Ferrin flicked the tip of his sword up and to the tip of his nose before whipping it back out. “I haven’t surrendered in fifty winters, and I won’t start now.”

Reznik shrugged. 

“Oh-kay.” 

Without further ado, he shot forward in a mad dash before jumping as high as he could. Ferrin watched him, clearly trying to anticipate where Reznik would land so he could strike him. 

As Reznik reached the zenith of his arc, Ferrin covered his eyes suddenly, squinting and grimacing. 

Reznik came down like a shooting star, aiming for the center of Ferrin’s back, much like Zarah rode her horse. Ferrin tried to swing, but missed as it was wild in a way that told Reznik he hadn’t seen where he would land. 

Reznik crashed down on the Ferrin’s horse-part, bringing Ferrin’s haunches to the ground in a crunching thud. Recovering from the fall quickly, Reznik proceeded to grab Ferrin’s neck with one hand, and punch the back of his head repeatedly with the other as the man groaned, stunned by the impact. 

Ferrin tried to reach back and grab Reznik, but his hands fruitlessly just slapped at Reznik’s armor. After more and more blows, Ferrin’s hands stopped struggling and slid down to hang loosely at his sides.

Reznik swung a final powerful blow with a growl, and then sprang off the man, slowly circling around to see Ferrin’s front, wondering if the Centaur was out of fight yet.

Ferrin’s head lolled to the side as he wheezed, then the rest of his torso followed, falling to a heap in a billow of dust. 

Silence reigned for several long seconds before the audience roared in a chorus of cheers. 

“Reznik the Deathless wins!” the announcer boomed as Reznik watched Ferrin for any signs of life.

He didn’t see any, even as he was herded off the field by a small throng of attendants, two healers rushing to the badly wounded or dead centaur.