Revenant's Resolve Chapter 16

The sound of the latch being thrown broke Reznik from his imagination-filled blank stare at the nearby wall.

Turning towards the stairs as the door creaked open, Reznik was bathed in the scent of seared meats, spices, and fire.

Oh dear gods, Luminita, your cooking smells like it is fit for a king - if not the heavens themselves.

Luminita came down the steps with a large tray in hand, packed to the brim with food. She made eye contact with Reznik and watched him carefully as she took the last few steps slowly, before placing the tray of food on the floor just within Reznik’s reach.

Perfect! Alright, friend - dig in! The wonderful woman has brought us dinner, and it’s cooked!

Reznik mentally pointed his body at the offered meal, to which it almost tripped over itself trying to scramble the short distance to the meal.

Luminita let out a small, startled noise as he practically leapt upon the food like a fox pouncing on a gopher before tearing the chicken in half.

With a rather disgusting slurping noise that made Reznik feel suddenly embarrassed for unknown reasons, he tore off the chicken breast with his teeth and swallowed it whole.

Wonderful.

It was practically the only word his mind could process as he continued to devour the carnivorous meal that Luminita had prepared for him.

Wonderful spices, wonderfully cooked, wonderfully warm.

Reznik had eaten a chicken raw, once before. The fact that this was even distantly related to the off-tasting slimy, feathery beast was almost incomprehensible.

“Well, mother always said the way to a man’s heart was through his stomach…” Luminita giggled and trailed off, slowly shaking her head as an auburn lock escaped her tight ponytail. The way she’d ended the sentence felt heavy, like there was more to be said.

As Reznik crunched away the last of the first half of the chicken, he was already reaching his shackled hands to the second half. Luminita looked up as he snatched it from the tray, meeting his eyes.

The orange-hazel of her eyes was illuminated a sparkling gold by the candle burning beside Reznik, almost to the point they felt as if they glowed in the dim basement.

“Well, at least I know my cooking is appreciated. Makes me worry less about what Zarah will have to say when she gets home.” Luminita continued with a deep sigh, crossing her arms under her chest and seeming to fold in on herself on the stairs. “I don’t even know why she recruited me to be her apprentice, handmaiden, squiress, or whatever.

“But here I am, further away from home than I’ve ever been. I… I don’t even think I have a home now.”

Reznik was listening intently over the sounds of his body consuming the last of the second half of the chicken.

Well, at least you actually have a home. Or at least had.

I don’t even remember a time when I wasn’t a mindless freak, let alone when I could have a conversation with someone.

Reznik’s body let out a small, chuffing grunt before shrugging absently, almost in-line with Reznik’s thoughts. As if it were mirroring his monologue.

“I… can you do that again?” Luminita eyes lit up and she dropped down a step with a suddenly excited smile. “Can you shrug again? Even say a word? Your name, maybe?”

I… I don’t think so.

Reznik.

REZNIK!

See?

I don’t even know what I di-

“Hrrmareezh-crunch-arr.” His body wheezed out something between mouthfuls that sounded vaguely, maybe like it was trying to pronounce his name.

“Uhh… hmmm…” Luminita tapped a finger against her bottom lip cutely as she clearly worked at a thought. “Maybe… maybe after you eat? Talking with your mouth full isn’t polite, after all.”

Reznik waited for the moment his body swallowed the last of the chicken and reached for the steak, which to him was the prize of the plate. A meat-based dessert if there ever could be one.

No. Stop.

Say our name.

You don’t get to eat until you say “Reznik” okay?

REZ-NIK

“Rrraeehzzniik” his body begrudgingly wheezed, as if using his vocal cords and tongue at the same time was a wildly uncomfortable act. “Rrreeznnnik.”

“Reznik?” Luminita cocked her head and raised her eyebrows questioningly as the smile on her face grew brighter.

As if his name on someone else’s lips were a trumpet call, Reznik’s head snapped up and away from the steak, watching Luminita fixedly.

Good job, friend.

Okay, go get the steak!

You eat that steak and enjoy it!

His body took a surprising second longer to watch Luminita before it reached for the steak. Calling the massive chunk of meat a steak felt like a misnomer, given that it was close to the size of one of Reznik’s calves.

“So, Reznik,” Luminita put extra stress on his name, enough to cause his body to freeze midway to putting the steak in his mouth. After a split second of waiting, he continued eating. “It was you, that night in the woods, wasn’t it?”

Yes! Me!

All me!

Well, and this lug, but my body is almost more of a very dangerous horse that I cruise around on at this point.

Reznik’s body took a bite of the steak and chewed at the phenomenal-tasting meat at the same time as making a wheezing grumble.

It all ended up in a rather disgusting-sounding chewing/growling sound, but he hoped he got his point across.

“I knew it.” There was a smile evident in Luminita’s whisper as she stood and brushed off her tunic and backside. “Well, Reznik, I’m glad you like my cooking. I look forward to cooking more for you - especially if you like potatoes.”

With that, Luminita shut the door at the top of the stairs and threw the latch, leaving Reznik with his dwindling supply of steak and a healthy supply of silence.

* * *

Reznik had heard Zarah arrive sometime late in the night, but she hadn’t come to talk to him. Nor had Luminita, though Reznik assumed that was because she was asleep.

In fact, he couldn’t really hear anything from upstairs, other than the rattling boom that came from a door being shut forcefully. It took a significant amount of willpower to not fall into the trap of retreating into his mental bunker, and entertain himself there.

The boredom of this basement was excruciating.

But, easily counteracted by anything happening, such as the lock being thrown and the door being opened.

Zarah’s thick, leather-soled boots snapped commandingly down the steps as she descended with a plate in her hands.

“Luminita tells me you have a name. One you gave yourself.” Zarah’s smile was faint and slightly playful as she stepped onto the floor of the basement and held out the tray. “She also said that you spoke it - with some effort, admittedly.”

Reznik waited patiently for Zarah to place the plate of food on the floor like Luminita had the night before, but instead she simply continued to hold it out, like she was expecting him to take it.

Breakfast looks wonderful, but I really doubt my ability to eat eggs, sausage, and steak without spilling it everywhere. Not without it already on the ground.

“A dog eats off of the floor.” Zarah’s face lost its smirk, instead replaced by a stern frown. “A man takes his plate and sits down to eat.

“Are you a dog, or are you a man?”

Zarah’s eyebrows raised skyward as she finished the question, holding the plate out for Reznik to take.

He also felt Zarah’s presence in his mind, far more omnipresent and oppressive than it had been on the trip in. It felt like she was currently trying to shine the sun into the darkest corners of his mind, but for what purpose, he couldn’t fathom.

She could at least partially understand his thoughts with far less effort on her part, as evidenced by the last day of their journey.

I don’t know how to do that! I can barely control the direction he walks, let alone picking up a plate and eating from it!

Do you want me to use a fork and knife too? Maybe give me a quiz on what utensils I should eat with at a fancy dinner?

Zarah’s eyebrow twitched, but otherwise remained flat as Reznik’s body slowly began to shamble towards her.

Then the question she’d asked hit him.

Am I a man?

I am.

I…

I can be.

Reznik focused himself and tried to send his body a clear message of exactly what he wanted it to do. To gently take the plate from Zarah’s hands, sit down on the floor, and scoop up a handful of food.

I… oh to hell with it.

We’ve got this.

We killed two mages, and a good chunk of an army!

We can pick up a plate.

Go, friend! Get the food!

He pushed the plan as forcefully as he could to his body. To walk up to Zarah, reach out with -both- hands, and pick up the plate.

His body completed the first step just fine, sauntering up to the waiting Zarah. The second step was where it became an issue, as instead of gingerly accepting the meal, his body attempted to snatch the plate away from the Elf.

Zarah deftly dodged away, merely lifting the plate with the food up and back over her shoulder, out of Reznik’s Reach.

“Ah-ah-ah,” Zarah shook her head slowly but kept her eyes on Reznik the entire time. “Do it right, Reznik.”

She lowered the plate back into position as she spoke, and Reznik felt a solid thrum of magic course through his psyche when she said his name, as if she were pinning something in place with a hammer.

It wasn’t a powerful attack, or the gentle presence of a friend, it felt like a weighty, precise impact on a part of his mind he didn’t recognize.

Or even remember having.

“Now take the plate.”

Do it. Gently.

Gentle!

Is hold, not grab.

Reznik pushed his command forcefully to his mind, in a way that felt like lifting the sky itself.

Slowly, painfully, with shaking hands, Reznik reached out and took each side of the plate in his hands. A piece of egg fell off from the rattling of his body trying to carry out fine motions, but after a moment, Zarah let go.

As if peeking at a disaster waiting to happen with one squinted eye, Reznik watched as his body simply held the plate in place shakily.

Good.

Uhh. Now.

Uhm, sit.

Sit down on the floor carefully!

Criss-cross applesauce.

When he pushed this idea down the pipe to his body, he felt another thrum, this time on the idea itself - as if Zarah were helping him send the message.

Reznik slowly squatted. Then dropped to a knee. Finally, he rolled back across his thigh into a seated position, only managing to spill a sausage onto the floor.

“See? I knew you could do it, Thinker.” Zarah dropped the stern expression and replaced it with a glowing smile. “I don’t even expect you to use utensils - gods know how many times I’ve had to eat with my hands while out on expeditions.”

Reznik’s body crossed its legs and set the plate between them. Then, losing its momentary dexterity, it took a fistful of the sausages and stuffed them into its face.

Well, shit.

You know, we had a real moment to impress her, there.

And then you-

“Mmm, don’t be disheartened, Thinker.” Zarah stopped him in the middle of his train of thoughts, sitting down cross-legged opposite him, like a mirror. “The point of a test like this isn’t to get unrealistic expectations. It’s to push yourself, and for me to learn more about your capabilities.

“The good news is, now that I’ve had time to focus, I believe I’ve figured out your… inner workings far better. What makes you tick. But for us to have a clearer conversation, I needed you to be able to let off the reins for a bit.” Zarah continued, but her voice came from inside his mind this time. She’d done this a time or two before, but it had always sounded hollow, distant, like someone shouting through a tunnel.

Enough for him to easily make out what she said, but the tone lacked clarity.

Now, she was as clear as his own thoughts.

Well, hello there, Zarah!

You feel a lot more… everywhere than before.

“Not untrue, really.” Zarah replied telepathically with a tone that held a shrug. “Honestly, everything inside your head is tied up completely wrong. Like a suspension bridge, but all the cables go to the wrong place. I have to put in far more effort than I should just to talk to you.

“It’s why I arrived with food. I needed your body to be… docile while I worked on you.”

Reznik could easily see the logic in the statement, and agreed wholeheartedly. Though, what she meant by “work on him” he didn’t quite understand.

I’m sorry - work on me? What exactly are you trying to do?

“Several things, actually. The reason it takes so much effort from me to talk to you is because your consciousness is still incredibly weak.” Zarah informed as Reznik felt like his soul was being prodded by a sharp finger. “My first goal is to change that, either by studying every inch of your mind to find a way to strengthen it, or if I can’t, then see if I can’t establish a psychic link while we wait for it to grow in strength on its own. I’ll also be making and giving you various tinctures over the near future, just to see if any of them have a noticeable effect.

“Honestly, it’s incredible how far you’ve come on your own, and given enough time, I imagine you might regain a semblance of the control you had before you became a Revenant.”

The prospect being dangled before him was exactly what he’d been hoping for.

Yet, in the back of his mind, an instinct screamed at him to dig deeper. That Zarah, no matter the amount of benevolence in her heart, wouldn’t help him like this without an ulterior motive.

She wanted something from him.

“You’re absolutely correct.” Zarah answered the doubt in his head clearly and without prelude. “The Kingdom of Wallach is… at something of a crossroads. The whole continent is, honestly. The court is split between those who are loyal to the old King, and by extension, his son, and those loyal to the Queen Regent.

“Things have gotten rather… heated as of late.”

How do I fit into all of that? I can’t even really control my own limbs, let alone do anything you need to-

A gentle pressure on his psyche cut his train of thoughts off cold. It was as if she put a finger to the lips of his thoughts and shushed him kindly, but forcefully.

“I don’t need you for your speech. With things being heated, challenges have been thrown around the nobility. Duels of champions, mostly.” Zarah’s words were accompanied by flashes of memory from her perspective. Men in and out of armor swinging swords, pikes, and even shooting each other with pistols on occasion. “I need a champion to fight on my behalf when the bickering inevitably crosses my path. I’ve chosen a side, and it’s going to lead to conflict at some point.

“I can fight for myself if it comes to it, but direct challenges are rarely called for. Thus, you come in.”

Reznik took a moment to soak in exactly what she was saying.

It sounded like she wanted him to be her champion, should it come down to it. A prospect that he honestly didn’t mind all that much - despite his hopes to somehow, eventually live a peaceful life.

I… I’m listening. What does being your champion entail, exactly? What do I have to do?

“Not much, really, but you’d be ready to fight to the death at my beck-and-call. That’s it. In exchange, I’ll keep working at you in depth and try to bring you back to some semblance of normalcy.” Zarah laid out the terms simply and plainly for Reznik. Honestly, the offer was more than fair in his opinion. All he would have to do is fight some people, which honestly, seemed like all he had done since crossing over the river.

“The other option is that I can sneak you back outside the wall, let you go about your own devices, and see what happens naturally. Likely there will be raiding parties sent after you, a bounty will be placed upon your head…even if it took a while, you’d likely end up dead. Revenants are hard to kill, not impossible. You just have to keep hacking until their regeneration gives way. Not hard for an army to do.”

Reznik initially recoiled at the sudden pressure being applied by Zarah, as if she were attempting to twist his arm into this decision, before realizing that she was right on some level. Feeding him would likely be expensive, not to mention the risk of keeping him in her basement. If he didn’t sign on with her, it’s likely she would have to send him away - and that would result in much the same ending as it had in Carcal.

Fine.

Alright Zarah - if you keep trying to fix me, I’ll fight whoever you want, whenever you want. Just say the word, and I’m there.

“Lovely. Now that that’s settled, I’ll make my first… payment for your services. This will hurt, by the way.” Zarah happily announced inside his mind, before a series of sharp, stabbing pains sent his vision white.

The telepathic Elf seemed to be prodding at every individual synapse of his mind with a wicked scalpel of energy.

She hadn’t been wrong, either.

It hurt.

Hurt like nothing else he’d experienced before.

This wasn’t repeated psychic blows like when she’d put him to sleep. These felt precise, small, and purposeful.

That didn’t make the experience less painful, however. After a minute or two, Reznik found he was able to tune out the pain to some extent. By the time he regained his vision, he found that his body wasn’t even reacting - simply licking the grease off the plate greedily.

With a deep breath, Zarah opened her eyes, and Reznik felt her presence in his mind diminish, along with the pain. It left him with an oddly weightless, blissful feeling, like his whole psyche was wrapped in a soft, velvet blanket.

“Okay.” Zarah exhaled tiredly before pushing to her feet and taking several unsteady steps back towards the stairs. “That’s all that I can do for now. It might not feel like much, but I made progress. I think, -think- that if you focus hard enough, you can control your neck. You can look around wherever you want, now.”

I… what? My neck?

Reznik tested the waters of his mobility. His halfhearted first attempt failed outright, but as he pushed more and more mental energy into the idea that he wanted to look over his shoulder, that he wanted his body to - he was surprised as he slowly turned towards the right, before stopping at a craned position overlooking the stone wall several feet behind him.

Huh.

Neat!

Reznik turned back to Zarah, who brushed a hand over her sweat-drenched forehead and shook her head.

I don’t know what I’m really going to do with this, but thanks!

“Well, I’ll be off then. Hopefully I won’t need your services for some time, as I have to get some kind of armor ready. Hopefully one that disguises your face, and what you are.” Zarah announced as she climbed the steps with an white-knuckled grip on the banister.

Perhaps that took more out of her than she anticipated.

I wish I could thank her, but I think she already left my head…

Zarah, say something if you ca-

The door shut behind her, and the lock was thrown.

Fuck.

Did I do something?