Welcome to the Heart Pyre. This is episode 22 Beyond Beliefs. As this episode deals with subjects that might be difficult for some listeners, a list of content warnings has been added to the episode description.
[SFX forest ambience, dog growling and barking throughout most of episode]
Something wasn’t right. Rodrick advanced towards her, slowly, as if his body was trying to resist its own motions. Rena stepped back, unsure of what to do, unsure of whether she should run away from her friend or not.
RENA (beginning of panic in her voice): Rodrick? What’s happening?
He didn’t respond or react. He simply continued advancing, his hand reaching out towards her, his face blank.
SILAC (booming voice with an otherworldly echo): Faster!
Rodrick’s body jerked forward, his legs advancing first, his upper body having to catch up to the new speed. It overshot and before he could reach Rena he lost his balance and fell to the ground, his body never making an effort to catch itself as he fell, his right hand still reaching towards Rena.
RENA (surprised): Oh stars! A-are you alright?
[SFX dragging sounds]
She instinctively stepped forward, wanting to help him up, but quickly jumped back. His legs wriggled over the ground until they found a grip, pushing Rodrick’s body over the dirt towards Rena. His face lifted towards her, covered in mud.
RENA (yelling): What are you doing to him?!
Rena turned to Silac. The yellow-green veins had completely covered his eyes , his pupils barely visible anymore. They were creeping out onto his skin, slowly spreading over his face, pulsing like a heartbeat.
Asha was the first of their group to move. Without hesitation she leapt forward, swinging her sword at Silac.
SILAC (booming echo-y voice): Stop!
As he spoke, the veins erupted over his skin, spreading further in one big surge.
Asha stopped mid-movement, her sword hanging in the air, as if time had stopped.
LOGAN (distressed): What are you?!
KALANI (simultaneously, somewhat keeping her calm): What do you want?
RENA (simultaneously, distressed, scared): Please, let them go!
SILAC (normal voice, angry and arrogant): I don’t know why any of you are bothering to help this insolent child. You are meddling in affairs that have nothing to do with you. You don’t even realize how good your lives are in this province. Be grateful that you don’t live in Red Hill or Jodan. Do you know what people have there? Nothing!
LOGAN: What does that have to do with anything?
SILAC (with contempt): No one recognizes the true strengths of our homeland. This kingdom is destined for greatness! I am destined for greatness! But of course, our dear Royal Council doesn’t understand this. They’re all just chasing the newest gadgets. Inventing ridiculous machines that defy the Gods. The Gods that they have scorned. They’re worshipping steam now. Steam! Can you imagine that? A bit of water that lost all its form. They have turned their backs on our great and powerful Gods for that? Of course, our people are suffering if steam and coal and gas are their new masters. But you wouldn’t know that, would you? Because they keep you ignorant and docile.
Rena’s cheeks ran red hot, but not because of Silac’s aggression or the strangeness of the situation. She felt embarrassed. She’d always been proud of their little school in Oceansthrow. Her parents had never had the opportunity to get an education in their own town, and her grandparents never had the opportunity to get one at all. Theirs was the first generation to profit from regular schooling that taught them how to read and calculate and about the kingdom’s history. But Silac was talking about suffering and Rena had no idea what he meant. She had barely heard about what happened in the Grey Isles even though Vellashta was right next to them, but if she truly looked at the anger lingering in Asha’s heart, there had to be a lot she didn’t know about. And even Finn had mentioned earlier that there was a lot their schools didn’t teach them. She had put so much faith into their little school and Miss Kaari, their teacher, and it had all turned out to be a lie.
FINN: You speak of the greatness of the kingdom and yet you ally yourself with an organization that burns down villages and kills hundreds of people? How is that not treason to the kingdom?
SILAC: [derisive chuckle] Who are you to talk, Liberic? Is this not treason? The grandnephew of a High Lord running away from his duties to join a troupe of low lives. But who would have expected anything else from you? No matter how high you hold your head, you’ll never be able to hide the fact that your family simply didn’t want you.
Finn’s jaw clenched tight, his whole body rigid.
Kalani stepped forward until she stood before Finn, commandeering Silac’s attention to her.
KALANI: What do you want, Silac? Or are you simply here to insult our families?
From the corner of her eyes, Rena noticed that Logan had stepped back and was sneaking towards the left, keeping Asha’s unmoving body between Silac and him. He moved slowly, keeping his eyes fixed on Silac, stopping any time the captain turned in his direction.
SILAC (with contempt): Isn’t it obvious? I knew your lot was stupid, but I didn’t know it was to such a degree. I want you to stop your quest and crawl back into the rotten holes you came from.
KALANI: You want us to stop going after those who burnt down an entire village? Do you know how many people died because of your friends? Do you even care?
RENA (surprised yell): Aah!
Rena felt something brush against her ankle. She jerked back and looked down, realizing that Rodrick had caught up to her. He was still crawling on the ground – mud and dirt covering his face and once-white beard. His hand was swiping at her but he was just not close enough to reach her.
[SFX dog growling]
Vincent snapped at the hand but never close enough to actually hurt Rodrick. He seemed conflicted, as if he recognized that his master wasn’t in full control of his actions.
RENA (panicked): Stop it! Please, captain Silac! We’re willing to listen to you, just give our friends back their bodies!
She stepped away from Rodrick, stumbling in the opposite direction that Logan was heading. Vincent stood in front of her, his focus on his master, growling at him and snapping at the air.
RENA (hesitant): I-I don’t know about the suffering you’re talking about. You’re right, they don’t teach us about these things. But maybe if you tell us about it, if you tell us the truth that they’re hiding from us, maybe it’ll all make more sense.
SILAC: Why would I waste my time on you?
RENA: You mentioned that the kingdom was destined for greatness.
SILAC: Of course. It’s our fate!
RENA: I think we can all agree that that’s what we all want. Of course, that is what we want! But, I think, we simply don’t see yet how the Crow’s methods will achieve that? If you want to reduce suffering in the kingdom, why commit such atrocities?
Rena tried not to glance at Logan. She slowly circled around Kalani and Finn, making Silac’s focus turn with her, pretending like she was simply backing away from Rodrick.
SILAC: Sometimes sacrifices have to be made for the greater good.
KALANI (anger seeping into her voice): Easy for you to say if you aren’t the one burning.
RENA (hesitant but pushing through it): It isn’t always easy to achieve a better future. We’re all aware of that. But, I don’t really see how the fires are guiding us towards this path. How will all these deaths help our kingdom? I know there has to be a reason for them, you just have to explain it to us.
SILAC: You really think I’m so stupid? That I’ll just tell you our entire plan?
RENA: No! I’m just… trying to understand. That’s all.
SILAC: Silly girl. Even if I told you all about the ritual, you wouldn’t understand it anyway. There are greater forces at play than you could ever imagine. Forces that will bring our kingdom back to how it should be. To how it used to be. None of these frivolous inv-Aah!
[SFX impact]
Logan had crouched down and thrown a handful of dirt at Silac before jumping forward and tackling him to the ground. Finn didn’t miss a beat and leapt forward, leading the attack with his rapier. In the fumble, the blade pierced through Silac’s thigh.
ASHA: [breathing heavily as if after having held her breath for a long time]
Asha finally finished her motion, her sword swinging to the ground. She crumpled in on herself as if her legs couldn’t hold her anymore.
Rena turned towards Rodrick, who seemed to have snapped out of his state, blinking wildly as he pushed himself up from the ground.
RENA (concerned): Rodrick!
She ran to him and helped him up, not letting go of his elbow even as he stood. Vincent was still apprehensive, barely letting Rena get to Rodrick, but he soon seemed to realize that his master had regained control and carefully started sniffing him.
RENA: Are you hurt? How are you feeling? What happened?
SILAC (strained, booming, echoing voice): Stop!
Rena felt something grip her tight as if her body had frozen like ice. It enveloped her mind, jumbling her thoughts, only single words piercing through the veil. Her chest barely wanted to move anymore, forcing her lungs to expand into her stomach as they had nowhere else to go.
SILAC (strained, booming, echoing voice): Fight each other!
[SFX dog barking]
Rodrick slowly lifted his arm out of her grip as if he wasn’t too sure of the motion. His trembling hands reached out towards her. Rena felt panic surge through her in waves, ebbing and flowing as if the emotion wasn’t too sure about itself either. Rodrick’s hands approached her, wrapping gently around her face. She was aware that she was staring him in the eyes but she couldn’t fully concentrate on it, as if her vision refused to stay focused.
Rena felt an energy tug at her limbs but it was barely strong enough to lift her arms. With all her might she pushed against it, forcing her hands to lay on top of Rodrick’s instead of hurting him like the energy wanted her to do.
The rest of their companions stumbled around like drunken puppets. Asha swung her sword towards Finn but only managed to hit his rapier out of his hand, the force of the motion making her stumble to the ground.
[SFX swords clanking]
Logan leapt on top of her and both rolled around in the dirt, grabbing each other tight, a multitude of limbs flailing around with no real purpose. Silac stumbled back, blood dripping down his leg onto the road, and disappeared into the forest.
Rena felt the energy vanish and her lungs expanded fully again. She let herself fall forward into Rodrick’s embrace and wrapped her arms around him tightly. Relief and panic flooded her body simultaneously, the emotions bursting through her body.
[SFX Dog stops barking]
RODRICK (mumble): Oh, my child. I am so sorry.
KALANI (strained voice, from further away): Stop fighting! You look like toddlers quarrelling over the last almond ball.
Rena stepped away from Rodrick again and walked up to the rest of her group, although her legs still felt wobbly. Her heart was hammering in her chest, her fingers prickly and ice-cold.
Kalani helped Asha up but Logan stayed on the ground, arms and legs splayed out widely, mouth open as he stared at the sky. His right hand came to lay on his stomach where his wound was. Finn was crouched over his rapier, his hands wrapped tightly around his head again.
RENA (scared): What was that?
KALANI (steadfast but with some lingering fear): I have absolutely no idea. I’ve never experience something like this before.
ASHA (angry): That fucker took over our bodies! How is that even possible? I almost choked to death because of him!
RENA (unsure): Rodrick, have you heard of something like this before?
RODRICK (shaken): I-in legends and fables, abilities associated with the Gods, but I never took them to be literal. Old stories always embellish reality. I never understood them to be an accurate representation of life. I-I don’t know why he was able to control us like this. That doesn’t… comply with any known laws of the world.
LOGAN (spaced out): His face got all weird.
RENA: I-is that also something mentioned in the legends?
RODRICK (pensive): Not that I’m aware of. I’m not sure if what he just did is even mentioned in these stories either, just events that could be seen as similar. Beings with abilities beyond what any of us could do. But again, we are talking about legends and myths about the Gods people prayed to several centuries ago. And I think we can all agree that these Gods were never real beings. These stories are allegories of human struggles to explain phenomena they did not understand yet. Natural catastrophes, inequalities, human behaviour that is out of the norm. Anything like this. It makes life easier to bear when you imagine there is a higher power responsible for such events.
ASHA: Honestly, most of those stories sound like some guy just started a rumour about themselves and it snowballed into some absurd fable.
Asha picked up her sword and sat down on the ground, crossing her legs and placing the blade across her lap.
ASHA: And then we ended up with a million different Gods because everyone was chasing that same fame. Gods of house pets, and broken toenails, and green olives.
KALANI (careful): I don’t know if I would fully agree with this.
Rena’s head whipped to stare at Kalani, not having expected her of all people to still believe in the old faith. She had crossed her arms and was looking steadfastly ahead, although Rena noticed that she was tightly clenching her fists so her hands wouldn’t shake.
[pause]
KALANI (careful): Not every region has completely disavowed their belief systems. They might not be Gods as you picture them but people still believe in forces beyond our understanding that guide us on our way.
[pause]
RODRICK: Fair enough. I apologize, I did not mean to disregard any faiths or cultures. My statement might have been a bit harsh. What I meant is that these Gods or higher forces aren’t regular human beings and, if they exist, probably do not hold a human form.
LOGAN (tired): Crazy thought, but it still kinda sounds like Silac is trying to become a God.
Logan pushed himself up with a grimace until he was leaning back on one hand, the other still clutching his stomach.
LOGAN: You know, with how much he talked about how great they were and how great he is.
A cold shudder ran down Rena’s back. What had she gotten herself into? If that was truly what Silac was doing, what chances did they have to fight him? A knot formed tightly at the back of her throat, wrapping around her lungs, making it difficult to breathe. Just like when Silac had taken possession of her. She still felt the lingering energy that had tried to make her harm her companions. Was this what the Crow was working on? Turning Silac into a God? It sounded so implausible, and yet, they had just experienced something that they would have never imagined possible.
RENA (scared, unsure): Could he do that? Turn himself into a… God?
RODRICK (dismissive): No, no, no. As I said, if the Gods exist, or ever existed in the past, they certainly didn’t come from humans, and it is therefore impossible for a human to become a God. These anthropomorphized depictions of the old Gods that you can find in art and literature merely exist to be more easily understood and identified with, whether they be symbolic portrayals of concepts or a potentially existing higher force.
[pause]
LOGAN: He still got those weird abilities though.
[pause]
RODRICK: Indeed, and that is a mystery. Silac might think that he’s turning into a God, but that is all just speculation.
RENA: He did talk about a ritual.
ASHA: And about the old ways.
RODRICK (careful, pensive): He did talk quite passionately about the past. But, it is difficult to know what he was truly alluding to, or what his actual plan is. If he is indeed working with the Crow, which I think has been established quite thoroughly by now, the destruction of the villages might indeed correlate to a ritual. Although, we shouldn’t draw any hasty conclusions without knowing more details about the situation.
RENA: But they placed those bird figurines around the old church in Oceansthrow. And they carved that symbol onto its walls. The one for that God you told us about. Ta something.
RODRICK: Yes, Tavuu’Moda. Associated with chance, perseverance and survival.
RENA: Was Tavuu’Moda ever able to… control people’s bodies? Or had those strange green veins?
RODRICK (pensive): Not that I’m aware of, but I’m not an expert in the old faith anyway. There is certainly a lot of scripture I haven’t read yet. My interests as a scribe of the lands have always lain somewhere else. But each region might have a different interpretation of the Gods that might not always fully conform to the wider understanding of that God.
RENA (starting to panic): The symbol they use is a regional one too, right? Maybe their version of Tavuu’Moda has green veins around the eyes and can control people? Maybe they really are trying to make Silac into a God? To make him into Tavuu’Moda. And they’re burning the villages down because the ritual needs sacrifices somehow? He talked about sacrifice. That it’s needed for the greater good. And they kidnapped Maya for the same reason. Maybe they’ll try to turn her into a God next and she’ll have those ugly veins all over her face too. What if the ritual goes wrong? What if it kills Maya?
Kalani stepped up to her and held her face in her hands.
KALANI (calmly): Rena, look at me. Deep breaths. We’ll get your sister back before they can hurt her, I promise.
RENA (small voice): [ragged breathing] But how do we fight someone like Silac?
ASHA: The second time around was much weaker. I don’t think he can hold a lot of people at once.
RODRICK: Yes, I would have to agree. The first instance was overwhelming. I had no control over my body whatsoever. Once he told Asha to stop, however, I could already feel his control lessening.
KALANI: I’m not gonna lie, he scares me too, but that doesn’t mean he’s invincible. We’ll just need to be a bit more careful from now on.
Kalani stepped back and addressed them as a group.
KALANI: If we ever run into Silac again, make sure you aren’t alone with him. If you ever find yourself near him without a group, just try to get away as fast as possible. We don’t know what his limits are or if he’ll get stronger in the future. He might come after us again. In all likelihood, he will. This journey will probably be much more difficult than we thought it would be. Who knows what awaits us? Maybe Silac is the only one with these abilities, maybe he isn’t. I don’t think we can even truly imagine what might happen. Not anymore. [sigh] So if any of you decide this journey is too dangerous, I don’t think the rest of us can judge you for it. But, you need to decide now if you want to continue or not. It might already be too late now that Silac knows who we are, but you might still have a chance to get yourself to safety if you leave the region. Once we cross into Baedan and find the Crow, there is no going back. So, you have to decide now if you want to go back or whether you want to keep going. [small pause] Rena, if you don’t want to continue, I can arrange for Cas to get you to safety. Please don’t feel pressured to keep going.
Rena wrapped her arms around herself, suddenly feeling very very cold even though the sun was shining brightly. The knot in her throat didn’t want to unravel and her nose started to prickle as if tears were ready to roll down her cheeks at any moment. She was terrified of what lay before them. She had barely ever been in a fight back home. She couldn’t even stand it when her uncle and her parents argued over their bakery. How was she supposed to face something that none of her companions had ever seen before? All she could do was bake and mediate, how was that supposed to help them at all? But letting Cas find her a hiding spot wasn’t an option. Not truly. Not when her companions would be facing unimaginable dangers because of her. Not when the Crow had her sister. Not when she knew the entire kingdom may be in danger.
RENA (shaky voice): I-I’ll continue. It’s my fault we’re in this mess in the first place.
LOGAN: You’re definitely not getting rid of me. Also, Rena, it isn’t your fault some people have decided that burning down villages will somehow bring the kingdom back to its former glory, ignoring the fact that the kingdom isn’t actually doing badly. So there’s genuinely no reason for you to feel bad about our current situation. And I know, I know, you think you dragged us into this, but you’re not the one able to control people’s minds, so we all only have ourselves to blame for where we are. Oh yeah, and I couldn’t have charged Silac without you distracting him, so you’re definitely needed for the rest of this adventure.
ASHA: I’ll keep going because someone has to keep Rena safe from this idiot. Before he convinces her that one of his stupid plans would actually work.
RODRICK: I suppose I will accompany you too. I can’t deny that this new development is extremely interesting. I am still weary of the situation and I don’t think it is a good idea for Rena to continue, but I understand why she feels she has to. We are heading into completely unknown territories. How could we ever go back and simply forget about it? There is so much we can learn about our kingdom and the world if we keep going. And of course, people’s safety depends on us.
[small pause]
KALANI: Good. I wouldn’t have imagined anything else from you. [pause, louder] Finn?
He hadn’t moved since Silac had left, still crouching over his rapier with his hands over his head. They waited a bit but he never lifted his head or replied to Kalani. Logan got up and jogged up to him, crouching next to him, saying something that Rena couldn’t hear. He lifted his hand to put on Finn’s shoulder, but then thought better of it, his hand coming to a halt in the air above Finn’s body. Finn slowly unwrapped his arms and stared straight ahead, eyes wide, his face blank. He picked up his rapier and stood up, his body rigid. Logan stood up with him, his hand still hovering near Finn’s body, talking to him in a low voice. Finn nodded and turn to walk up to the rest of the group, his eyes fixed on the ground, unblinking. He came to stand between Kalani and Asha and nodded once.
[pause]
KALANI: Alright. We’re all on the same page. [sigh] We don’t have the time to fix Rodrick’s caravan. I’m sorry, but we’ll have to abandon it here.
RODRICK: Yes, I knew that would be the case. I’m not sure it would even be salvageable. It has been a good companion on my journey so far, it is time for it to rest now.
KALANI: We should take a quick look inside, get everything that could be useful, and then we’ll take the other wagon to get over the border. Don’t encumber yourselves too much, we won’t be keeping the wagon for too long. Finn’s right, even if we disguise it as best as we can, there simply aren’t enough of these machines around to not draw any attention to us. But we need to get out of here without exhausting ourselves and this is our best option for now.
Rodrick stepped into the caravan first, handing anything he found essential to Asha who distributed it on the ground around them. Most of it, however, would be of no use to them, even if Rodrick insisted that they were all invaluable.
They filled one knapsack with all the food they found, using the opportunity to eat a light lunch. Another knapsack was filled with clothes, smaller items that might be useful on their journey, and Rodrick’s notebooks that he refused to leave behind. The rest would have to be abandoned with the caravan, although Kalani agreed to load some of the fancier trinkets into the caravan after Logan pointed out they could sell them in the next village, to Rodrick’s dismay.
They had also found the dress with the red vest Rena had gotten from Valentina the first time she had stayed in Halvint. She picked it up and clutched it tightly to her face, breathing it in. She stepped away from the caravan, letting the others circle around the carpet of items they had created to debate about the value of each of them.
From the corner of her eye, she saw something move. She turned, panic spiking in her instantly, but it was only a fox. A fox that was sitting at the other end of the road and staring at her.
[pause]
RENA (cry out, somewhat frustrated): Hey!
The fox jumped into action, bouncing over the road and into the forest.
[SFX leaves rustling, footsteps running]
RENA (cry out): Hey! Stop! What do you want? Why are you following me?
Rena ran towards where it had been but it had long disappeared between the trees. She craned her neck to see if she could still catch a glimpse of orange, but even with the sunlight poking through the treetops, she couldn’t see anything move.
LOGAN: Rena?
[SFX footsteps jogging closer]
LOGAN: What’s going on? Did you see someone?
RENA (annoyed, almost frantic): The fox! There’s a fox that’s following me around! It was in the Plains and the archives and the forest near Oceansthrow and it just stood right here!
LOGAN (chuckle): What?
RENA: I told you about it in the archives! When you were talking to those ladies. It just keeps sitting there and staring at me and then it runs away! I don’t know what it wants! It just keeps showing up everywhere!
[SFX footsteps coming closer]
KALANI (doubtful): A fox?
RENA (annoyed): Yes!
LOGAN (jokingly): Do we think that’s another ally of the Crow that can transform into animals and is spying on us?
KALANI: Let’s not go that far. [pause] Next time you see it tell one of us, okay?
RENA (defeated): Okay.
KALANI: I think we’re done with Rodrick’s caravan. We should get out of here. I don’t want Silac to show up again with more people.
Four paths lay in front of us, on which the story could continue.
- On the first path, Rena and her companions try to find out more about Silac’s powers through legends
- On the second path, they try to find out more about Silac as a person
- On the third path, they try to find out where the Crow is
- On the fourth path, they try to find out more about what the Crow is planning
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If you are listening to the show the week it comes out, you can get the novelization of season one, A Searing Faith, as an ebook for 99 cents until the end of the year. I’ll leave a link to it in the episode description.
If you like this podcast, consider leaving a review or supporting it on Ko-Fi or Patreon. One of the tiers on Patreon lets you vote for the alternative timeline, in which you can make Rena take a different path.
You can find transcripts for each episode, character art, and a map of the kingdom on theheartpyre.com.
The intro music is Lonely Dusty Trail by Jon Presstone.
The Heart Pyre is written and produced by me, Audrey Martin.
Thank you for listening.
The Heart Pyre 