Welcome to The Heart Pyre. This is episode 31, Back As One.
As a content warning, there will be fighting in this episode which includes agressive dog noises and some violence against dogs but don’t worry, the dog will be fine.
[SFX calm nightly nature sounds, very faint voices in background]
Rena stared at the fox, both of them unmoving. She wanted to argue, to tell it she didn’t want to follow until she knew what it wanted, but she felt that strange pull again. She stepped forward, unvoluntarily, then tensed her body so she wouldn’t walk any further.
Logan came to stand next to her, his body swaying lightly.
LOGAN (confused, distressed): Rena, I don’t think I like your fox very much. Something feels wrong.
RENA (murmur) I know.
LOGAN (distracted murmur): Almost like when Silac did his trick.
Rena grabbed his arm to make sure he wouldn’t run ahead and leave her behind but her grasp soon loosened. The fox’s pull felt warm, safe, as if nothing bad would happen if they followed it.
Last time, the fox had brought her exactly where she’d needed to go, even if it had been through strange means. Who knows when they would have found Kalani if it hadn’t been for the fox? Captain Silac had been right there when Kalani had walked onto the street, if Rena hadn’t called her over, would he have noticed her? Would he have captured her a second time? How could she mistrust it, if it had helped her so often.
Rena stepped forward, her gaze always fixed on the fox’s glowing eyes.
RENA (whisper): Please bring me to Kalani again.
The fox slowly stood up and turned around. For once it didn’t dash away, but simply jumped off its stone and walked away at a pace Rena could easily follow.
LOGAN (whisper): You think it knows where to go?
RENA (breathy): Yeah.
The fox lead them through the dark, past one of the crumbling walls of the monastery, until they’d reached a crack in it. The wall had split right in the middle of Tavuu’Moda’s symbol, the same one they’d seen in Miller’s Knee and Oceansthrow. The symbol had clearly been carved into the wall a long time ago as moss had formed in the grooves of the triangle. Back in the day, it must have been almost Rena’s size, but now the lower triangle was missing and the dot in the middle was barely more than a speck. Fresher symbols had been carved all around it, much smaller and with much less precision, as if someone had carved it over and over by hand.
The fox slipped through the crack and Logan right after, letting go of Rena as if he barely remembered she was there. Rena approached the crack but then her body lurched back, the memories of the shrinking passage in Hrevim flooding back to her. She stared at the crack, at the darkness beyond it where the moon couldn’t reach, and she could feel the walls closing in on her again, could feel her lungs struggle to breathe.
RENA (call out anxiously) “Logan? Logan?”
[Pause]
The fox’s warmth was still pulling at her, telling her to follow it through the crack, that nothing bad would happen to her, that Logan was safe on the other side and she should join him, so she closed her eyes and squeezed herself through the crack.
[Pause]
RENA: [deep breath in]
[SFX very far away fire and chanting]
[SFX clothes rustling]
Her eyes needed a moment to adjust but she wasn’t in complete darkness. She appeared to be in a small empty room and a faint trickle of light came in from an open door in front of her.
[SFX far away hum a bit louder and clearer]
She slowly advanced, holding her hands out to not trip over anything in the dark. She reached the entrance and instantly recoiled. A motionless figure stood in the dark corridor but she soon realised that it was just Logan.
RENA (whisper): Where did the fox go?
LOGAN (confused, as if just woken up): I… I don’t know.
The strange pull was gone and Rena could feel the cold of the night settle on her skin.
LOGAN (confused, distressed whisper): I really don’t like this fox. It shouldn’t be able to do that.
Logan had a strange look of fear on his face, one Rena hadn’t even seen on him after their encounter with Silac.
Rena wrapped her arms tight around her chest, her eyes still wandering from side to side as if she hoped the fox would come back for them. They were in a sparsely decorated hallway that looked down upon an inner court. Rena carefully stepped forward and finally saw where the faint light had come from. At the other end of the monastery, where the building had been carved into the rock, was a giant bonfire. A shudder ran down her back, her muscles tensing up and her body automatically turned away from it.
[SFX chanting and fire gets louder]
Logan stepped closer and slowly Rena turned back to the inner court, glancing at the fire from the corner of her eye.
LOGAN (whisper): So there’s definitely someone here. Can’t really tell what they’re doing though. [Small pause] (baffled) Are they chanting?
[Pause]
RENA (whisper, incredulous): The ritual.
Something strange twisted in her belly, pulling at her heart and lungs, as her mind imagined the million things that could be happening near that bonfire, the million things the Crow could be doing to her sister.
She wanted to run to it, to make sure they weren’t hurting Maya, to make sure she could save her sister before it was too late. The fox had warned them, maybe this was truly it?
She stepped to the side but before she could walk away Logan grabbed her arm.
LOGAN (whisper): Let’s be careful, okay?
[Small pause]
RENA (whisper): Yeah. [small pause the deep breath]
He was right. Rushing forward wouldn’t help them at all. It might only put Maya in more danger.
They walked down the corridor, careful that their steps didn’t reverberate too much, but no one seemed to inhabi these parts of the monastery. Rena wasn’t sure why that was. She’d expected more people to be there after all they’d gone through and after all they’d learned about the Crow. She remembered the tracks she’d seen near Oceansthrow before stumbling upon the fire, how she’d thought an army had ridden through their region. All this time, she’d assumed the Crow to be massive, that even if only parts of them were staying in this monastery, they would at least be a hundred people, but she couldn’t feel the presence of any of them.
She briefly considered that the people might simply be asleep, seeing as it was the middle of the night, but she quickly dismissed the thought. Most rooms they passed were empty, with no door in the doorframes, dust and lichen having taken over the stone floors.
At least she couldn’t fault the fox for having led them towards danger but she was also starting to fear they’d reached the wrong hideout. She didn’t want to entertain those thoughts, didn’t want to consider that her sister had never been there. She had to cling onto the hope that they hadn’t just wasted yet more time chasing after the wrong thing.
They rounded a corner, following the corridor along the inner court. They were getting closer to the bonfire and slowly Rena could feel its heat. She tried to understand what the people were chanting but she wasn’t sure that it was in any language she knew. In all likelihood it was something in Mohrishim, the language of the bird figurine’s inscription.
On the other side of the monastery, in the dark shadows beyond the inner court, stood three figures. Rena froze, afraid they’d been spotted, but then a burst of relief flooded through her at the recognition. Kalani looked at her and, even though there were several meters between them, Rena could still see how Kalani’s eyes grew wide in shock which quickly turned to anger.
Rena tried to smile at her but it was a pitiful one.
LOGAN (whisper): She’s gonna rip our heads off when she gets to us.
RENA (with false confidence): She will understand.
To either side of Kalani stood Asha and Finn, both with looks of confusion, although Asha looked angrier.
Kalani gestured to the side, her movements quick and harsh, and Rena understood that she wanted them to meet up somewhere safer. If she understood the monastery’s layout correctly, the corridor wrapped around the inner court so that it would be easy for the two groups to meet in the middle.
LOGAN: At least we know they’re safe and sound, right?
Logan winked at her and put a hand on her shoulder to guide her back the way they’d come from.
He was right, they looked unhurt and that was the most important at that moment. She sighed, something deep inside her unwinding. Even if she still didn’t understand what the Crow was doing or what the fox wanted from her, at least she didn’t have to worry about her companions anymore.
They found their way back, crouching and sneaking until they found themselves in front of the empty room the fox had led them through with an angry Kalani hurrying towards them from the other side.
KALANI (hissing, angry): What are you doing here?
Logan stepped back and pointed towards Rena and she couldn’t believe he would rat her out that quickly.
RENA (pleading) I was worried! I felt like I was suffocating just waiting in that room!
Asha came up to Kalani’s left.
ASHA: You didn’t try to stop her, Logan?
LOGAN: I couldn’t have even if I’d tried to! She’d have left with or without me!
KALANI (angry, bewildered): I really don’t understand what got into you, Rena!
RENA: Kalani, it was never fair of you to demand I stay behind! You don’t know what it felt like, I was about to burst out of my skin!
KALANI: You couldn’t have waited just a few hours for us to get back?!
RENA (getting angry and frustrated): No! [small pause] (continuing on quiter) I can’t stand the thought of not knowing if everyone’s safe or not! And being so close to Maya and not going to look for her?! That’s torture, Kalani.
Kalani stared at her, her jaw clenching as if she wanted to reply, but then she whirled around and ran a hand over her face.
KALANI (under breath, muffled): For fuck’s sake. (louder) This was such a stupid and dangerous decision. [small pause](less angry) But I get why you did it.
Finn stood to Kalani’s other side, the only one of the three where concern had replaced his confusion.
FINN (whisper): How’s your injury, Logan? I thought we’d agreed you should rest.
A look of surprise washed over Logan, quickly replaced with a bold grin.
LOGAN (surprised, cocky): Didn’t expect you to worry about me. But I’m fine, there’s really nothing to worry about.
RENA (under breath): You were complaining the whole way here.
KALANI (reproachful): Then maybe you shouldn’t have dragged an injured man along with you.
RENA (small voice): I’m sorry, Kalani.
LOGAN (dismissive): I’m doing fine. There’s really nothing to worry about.
ASHA: You better be. I’m not dragging your unconscious ass back to safety a second time. Getting you back to Halvint was enough of a pain in my ass.
LOGAN (dismissive): Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Kalani looked around, a look of concern on her face.
KALANI: Where’s Rodrick?
RENA: Still in Paemehri.
KALANI: At least one of you morons with some sense.
LOGAN (apologetic): He was out with Vincent when we left. But we wrote him a note.
Logan grimaced apologetically and Kalani ran a hand over her exhausted face.
KALANI (mutter, exhausted): Of course you did.
RENA (anxious): Have you found my sister?
KALANI (annoyed): No, but that’s not what we came here for. I told you we can’t save her tonight. We need to know what awaits us first.
RENA (small voice, then growing anxious): I know… I just thought you might have seen her. A-and there really doesn’t seem to be that much going on here, anyway.
Kalani sighed and looked away, her gaze fixed on the bonfire at the other end of the inner court.
KALANI (pensive): There really isn’t.
RENA: Isn’t that strange? … I always thought there would be more of them.
[small pause]
KALANI (pensive): Michael did mention there was more than one base.
LOGAN: Did you find anything out?
KALANI: Not yet. It took us a while to find the place.
LOGAN: Yeah, us too.
KALANI: I have to be honest. I also expected there to be more people here.
LOGAN: But that’s good though, right? If we’re here to save Maya.
[pause]
KALANI (pensive, quiet): If she is here.
RENA (scared): You don’t think she is?
KALANI: I don’t know. [pause] But I hope she is.
LOGAN: So… we should probably go look for her then, right? Just so we don’t waste our time by coming back a second time.
RENA (pleading): Please.
[pause]
KALANI (reluctantly): We should.
RENA (relieved): Thank you.
Finn looked at them with deep concern, his hand resting on the pommel of his rapier at his hip.
FINN (careful): It might not be easy to find her though. Without drawing any attention to us, I mean. Even if it feels like there’s barely anyone here, as long as we don’t know what’s going on, we should be really careful. It’s not going to help anyone if they notice we’re here.
Asha nodded towards the bonfire and all their gazes wandered over to it.
ASHA: There’s no one back here in these decrepit parts, that’s for sure. The party’s happening over there.
[SFX bonfire and chanting fade out]
When Rodrick came back from Vincent’s much needed walk, the room they’d rented was dark and empty. He didn’t think much of it at first, imagining that Rena and Logan had also needed to move their aching bodies.
[SFX rumaging, making fire with flint, paper rustle]
He dug his tinder box out of the depths of their burlap sack and lit the crooked candle on their nightstand. He grumbled at the low light the candle provided but it was enough to spread his notebook and the documents he had borrowed from the library out on the bed. As a good measure, he also unfurled the scrolls Logan and Rena had found at the Crow’s hideout, the ones with the depiction of the creation of the world by Hama’Voshi. He regarded the documents for a while, squinting at them in the dim light, and tried to tie the world creation myth to all the other information they’d gathered. He supposed it all came back to this idea that world was made of an ever-lasting energy. According to these legends, Hama’Voshi had simply gathered it all and given it form and now the Crow was convinced this was proof of reincarnation and that they could therefore bring Tavuu’Moda back.
Rodrick didn’t know much about Hama’Voshi, he simply knew she’d been a real person a long time ago – before the kingdom had united into its current form – and that she and her two companions had quickly amassed an ever growing mass of followers before the religion had started to die down again about a hundred or so years ago. But that was about the extent of his knowledge. He had never been that interested in ancient history, especially when it came to religion. He’d spent most of his years in Mak-Hemma focusing his energy on new inventions and innovations. Only once he had left the capital had he found time for anything else, and by that point he’d found the lived experience of their kingdom’s population much more intriguing.
Rena and Logan were taking longer than he’d expected but he still did not worry. He felt the exhaustion of the day course through his bones and decided to rest until they came back. He ran a hand through Vincent’s fur before lying down on the bed next to the documents and quickly fell asleep.
He awoke to a still silent room, the candle having surrendered half of its life. That was when he started to worry. He wasn’t sure what to do next, how to find out where Rena and Logan had gone. The room didn’t look disheveled so it couldn’t have been a forced entry, but that didn’t mean someone couldn’t have taken them. But if that was the case, how was he supposed to react? Would he need to find Kalani, Asha and Finn on his own? They would need to be informed, he would certainly not know how to get Rena and Logan back alone.
He first went to the tavern to see if Rena and Logan had simply lost track of time over a drink, but the only people still present looked somber and melancholic in their solitude. He then stepped out into the night and searched the inn’s vicinity but his eyes had seen better days and he barely knew what he was supposed to look for. Defeated, he went back to their room and decided to search it thoroughly, even though it held barely any furniture. He slowly knelt down to look under the bed Vincent had been peacefully sleeping next to and finally found something. In his elation, he stood back up too quickly and a jolt of pain shot through his back. He stood for a moment, motionless, eyes wide open, until the pain had subsided and he could breath again. Only then did he look down at the small, folded up piece of paper, angling it towards the candle so he could read it.
RODRICK: What do you think this is, my dear boy?
[SFX dog huffs, paper unfolding]
He frowned as he saw the handwriting, then squinted and brought the paper closer to his eyes. He angled it towards the flame but still couldn’t read it well. Whoever had written the note had terrible writing and it took him a while to decipher what it said.
LOGAN (distant): Rodrick, do not panic, we’ve gone to find Kalani and the others. Just stay put and we’ll be back in no time.
He looked up, bewildered, as if Logan and Rena were still in the room somewhere.
RODRICK (upset): Why did they leave this under the bed? I should have read this an hour ago!
His eyes fell on the burlap sack he’d riffled through after his return. He realised his mistake with a startle, heat creeping into his cheeks in embarassement. Logan and Rena had probably left the note on the bag and it had fallen under the bed because of him. He thanked the stars that only Vincent had been in the room to hear his earlier question.
RODRICK (pensive): Why would they just leave? Do they think my age makes me so incompetent? But Logan saw no problem with making this journey while injured? I have to say, dear Vincent, that I am quite vexed by this message.
He stood up, Vincent looking up at him, listening closely to every word he said.
RODRICK: But what should we do now?
[SFX dog huffs]
RODRICK: Do we simply wait, my boy? I’m unsure if going out to search for them would be smart. Especially as I have no idea where they went or even when they left. I’m afraid I would just get lost in the dark. But waiting doesn’t feel right either. [pause] This is a complicated situation, isn’t it, my boy?
[SFX dog huffs]
[SFX a handful of horses approaching getting louder until they stop]
RODRICK (murmur): What’s that?
Rodrick walked over to the window. A group of four riders had arrived at the inn and were dismounting from their horses. One of them fell into the mud but instead of rushing to help them, the other three simply ignored the rider’s plight as they led their horses to the small shed next to the inn. The fallen rider pushed themselves up with some difficult and followed the rest of the group before they all came back towards the inn. As the group got closer, the dim light of the latern finally hit their faces and Rodrick recoiled.
RODRICK (murmur, panicked): Oh stars, please no.
How had Silac already found them? The one who had fallen off the horse had to be Michael. There was one guard with them that Rodrick didn’t recognise and a woman in immaculate rider’s garb that he didn’t recognise either but that, even in the dim light, bore a terrible resemblance to Finn.
Rodrick turned in circles, not sure what to do. He had to warn the others, but how? He didn’t even know where they’d gone, how was he supposed to find them? He wondered for a moment if he could fight Silac to keep him from reaching the others, but he’d never been good at fighting and four against one was a difficult matchup for anyone.
But he needed to do something, incapacitate them or distract them to give his companions time to get to safety. But they wouldn’t know they were in danger until he told them so. In all likelihood, they would return to town and walk right into Silac’s arms.
There was no way around it, he’d need to find them somehow, and hopefully before Silac did.
He breathed in deeply, trying to steel himself, then slowly opened the door. He peeked out into the hallway and when he saw no one he slipped out of the room.
RODRICK (whispering): Quietly, boy.
[SFX slow footsteps, then fast footsteps coming closer from other side]
RODRICK (whispering, hurried): Back, Vincent, back. They’re coming this way.
Rodrick turned around and tried to open a door to his left, but it didn’t budge.
Rodrick tried a second door, but the people behind it shouted at him when he tried to open it.
He had to go back to their room, there was no other choice. He hissed at Vincent to run back inside and closed the door behind them but then what? He turned around, looking for an exit. His eyes landed on the window but he knew without trying that he wouldn’t fit through. He swung their bags underneath one of the beds and was about to slide underneath too before he thought better of it. If anyone found him there he would have no way of defending himself. He whirled around, trying to find something he could protect himself with, the footsteps coming ever closer. His eyes landed on the candle holder. He took it and dashed behind the door, the candle and wax falling to the ground, but he couldn’t care about that anymore. Vincent dashed around nervously, unsure why his master was so scared.
RODRICK (sharp whisper): Come here.
[SFX dog low whine]
He opened the door as far as it would go, hoping that anyone who’d enter wouldn’t see them behind it. He stood as straight as possible as the footsteps came closer, pressing his back to the wall, the door only a few centimeters from his face.
Three people stepped into the room – Silac, Michael, and the woman Rodrick suspected was Finn’s sister.
NARA (growling): They’re not here.
SILAC: I told you they’d probably already headed up the hills.
Rodrick could only see them from the corner of his eye but that was enough to see that Silac was not doing well. He wiped a trickle of blood from his nose, his breathing laboured.
NARA (angry): Don’t you fucking patronize me. You’re the idiot who lost my brother. You better fucking find him again if you want to keep your head on your shoulders.
SILAC (resentful): Yes, Captain Sanarid.
NARA: And don’t you try your stupid little trick on me again. It might work on morons, but not on me.
SILAC: I wouldn’t dream of it, captain Sanarid.
NARA (mutter): All for that arrogant brat.
Rodrick couldn’t thank the stars enough that the three of them were facing the other direction but he was under no illusion that they wouldn’t notice him soon. He considered sneaking past them but his chances of that suceeded were extremely slim. He had to make the first move, he was sure of it, even if he didn’t like the idea.
He pushed the door away from him, very slowly so it wouldn’t creak, then rushed towards Silac, candle holder held high.
[SFX fast footsteps]
But before he could reach him, Silac whiped around, shock written all over his fatigued face.
SILAC (echoing, supernatural voice): Stop!”
The yellowish-green veins rushing over Silac’s face again but where last time the surge had been clean and even, this time the veins pulsed uncontrollably as if they were loosing focus. That didn’t seem to matter much, however, as Rodrick stopped just the same as the day before. But something was different. The force felt weaker as Rodrick retained his ability to breathe. He thought that someone stronger, someone like Asha or Logan, would probably have been able to fight against Silac’s restraint.
[SFX dog growling and barking]
Vincent leapt up, latching onto Silac’s arm, biting into him so tight that blood dripped to the ground.
SILAC (in bachground): Ah! Get off! Get off me! Fucking mongrel!
[SFX general sounds of alteration]
Silac tried to shake the dog off but Vincent refused to let go. The attack had broken Silac’s concentration enough that Rodrick regained full control of his body, stumbling forward as his movement finished but he quickly regained his composure and swung the candle holder at Silac a second time.
To his right, Finn’s sister slid her rapier out of its scabbard and swung at Rodrick but he stumbled out of its way, falling hard on his ass. Michael stood a few steps away from them, backing away from the chaos until his back hit the wall. From the outside, the fourth in their party rushed in, sword ready, and instantly leapt forward to help Silac.
Rodrick tried to push himself up again, sliding away from Captain Sanarid who was approaching, a look of rage on her face, her blonde hair falling into her face. Silac managed to throw the dog off, Vincent sliding across the room and hitting the wall but getting up right away again.
[SFX dog whining]
SILAC (yell, echo-y voice]: Stop!”
The feeling overtook Rodrick again but only for a very short moment.
Silac buckled in on himself, a knee hitting the ground hard, blood dripping out of his eyes.
NARA (mutter): Fucking useless.
[SFX dog growling and barking]
Vincent leapt up at Silac again, ramming his entire body into Silac’s side, making him tumble to the ground. The guard tried to kick at the dog but Vincent jumped out of the way, trying to bite at the foot.
Sanarid turned back to Rodrick, fire in her eyes. He scrambled up, using the doorframe to pull himself up, his eyes darting to the candle holder on the ground that he’d lost hold of. That instance, Sanarid leapt forward, her blade piercing the meat of Rodrick’s arm.
RODRICK (cry of pain)
He stumbled backwards, his back hitting the other side of the doorframe but he didn’t have much time to wallow in his pain as Finn’s sister had already readjusted for a new swing. He ducked out just in time but her movements were too quick to evade and he didn’t have much time to think of retaliation. He saw her blade rush towards him, his body frozen in fear, but then the blade veered from its trajectory as Michael threw a blanket over the woman.
NARA (muffled): What the fuck?!
She struggled to free herself, her blade flailing wildly.
MICHAEL: Run!
[SFX quick footsteps]
Michael grabbed Rodrick’s arm and pulled him out of the room.
RODRICK: Vincent!
With three quick jumps Vincent was out of the guard’s reach and was following Rodrick and Micheal down the hallway.
MICHAEL: We need to get to the horses! Please tell me you know how to ride.
RODRICK: Yes, yes, of course.
Michael led them through the tavern where a catatonic inn keeper stood behind the bar, eyes unfocused, barely aware that Michael and Rodrick were rushing past them. Michael didn’t waste any time and brought them right to the still-saddled horses.
[SFX horses neighing nervously]
They made quick work of the knots holding all four horses to the bar, then Michael shood two of them away, keeping the other two for themselves.
MICHAEL: Follow me!
Micheal mounted his horse and steered it out of the shed, Rodrick following close behind.
As they rode out, Finn’s sister rushed out the tavern, just in time to see them gallop away.
[SFX horse gallop]
She screamed in frustration, then rushed after the other two horses, calling for them to come back to her.
As Rodrick rode away from the inn – Vincent running besides the horses – he saw how Silac and the guard stumbled out of the building, the guard having to hold Silac up so he wouldn’t collapse.
[SFX bonfire and chanting slowly getting louder but still distant]
Rena and the others carefully walked down the corridor towards the fire, stopping every once in a while to listen if tghey were truly alone. Rena couldn’t hear much besides her companions quiet footsteps and the distant chanting but as Finn had mentioned, that didn’t have to mean much.
As they approached the bonfire, Rena could finally see the handful of people kneeling before it. Kalani stopped, and so did the others. The corridor they were in was at least two storeys higher than the inner court, which gave them the perfect view of the fire with minimal risk of being spotted. Rena counted about six people, but she was sure the fire was conceiling at least three more from her view. They were hunched over something, a repetitive motion accompanying the words they were chanting.
She carefully stepped forward until she was at the balustrade. The people seemed to be carving something and she had the suspicion that it was the same bird figurines she’d seen in Oceansthrow, the same ones that hung in droves outside the monastery and around the inner court. She squinted and noticed that they weren’t just carving the birds themselves, they were also carving the words into the birds, over and over and over again while murmuring. She vaguely remembered Rodrick mentioning something about carving as an act of prayer, as if the act of doing it repeatedly would reinforce whatever they were praying for.
One of the people finished their carving, holding the bird up high for a moment, before throwing it into the bonfire. Only then did Rena notice that the base of the fire was filled with these birds. Ash spilled out below it, as if the fire had been going for a very long time, and Rena wondered how many of these figurines had been carved and thrown into the fire for it to roar so high.
She suddenly caught a whiff of the fire and she gagged, instantly having to whirl around or she might have puked. She could feel the taste of it at the back of her throat, like the day of the fire, when she’d had to approach Oceansthrow and the air had been a torture to breathe.
ASHA: Rena, are you alright?
Asha stepped closer, her hand resting lightly on Rena’s elbow.
Rena nodded. She squeezed her eyes shut and forced herself to take deep breaths before she turned back around.
Logan’s gaze wandered over the scene below, his eyebrows slightly knit together in concern.
LOGAN (whisper): What does your sister look like?
RENA (trembling voice): She’s fifteen, a bit shorter than me, with hair that looks like mine, but it’s cut below her chin. Our faces look quite similar.
LOGAN: I don’t think I see her down there.
RENA: I didn’t see her either.
Rena carefully stepped closer again, her eyes fixed on the people so she didn’t have to look at the fire.
Kalani came to stand to her left.
KALANI: It’s unlikely she’s with this group. They’re probably not the only people here, even if most of the rooms are empty. It’s only logical that they’ve got a rotation of people doing this prayer work, so some must be sleeping somewhere. If Maya’s with them, she must be in one of the rooms below. Probably somewhere guarded. We can take the stairs down but the closer we get to the fire, the more careful we have to be.
They moved slowly as a group, making sure their steps made as little noise as possible. Some of the rooms on the first floor had closed doors but none of them had someone standing guard in front. They didn’t walk the entire length of the corridor, thinking that if someone was staying in the rooms, they were probably close to the bonfire. They could hear people still awake behind some of the doors. Rena’s body tensed with every step, imagining what they might do if any of them decided to exit their room just as Rena and her companions passed the door. But to their luck, they managed to walk down to the ground floor with no incident and even when they found the room with the guard in front of, the guard didn’t spot them before they could hide behind a corner.
To Rena’s relief, whoever had been tasked with surveillance didn’t look like they were part of the actual guards corps. Instead, they wore the same clothes as Inkra and the other members of the Crow they’d run into in Halvint – black, knee-length trousers with tights underneath and a thick, fur cape that reached their waist. They were leaning against the wall, hands in their pockets, eyes half closed as they stared into nothingness.
Logan set out to round the corner and sneak up on the guard but then Asha grabbed his arm and stopped him.
ASHA (whisper): You stay here.
She yanked him back, then crouched and did what he had intended to.
Her hand wrapped around her sword as she carefully stepped closer and she’d almost managed to get close to the guard but they turned to look at her in the last moment. The acolyte was about to cry out when Asha’s arm whipped up and she hit them square in the face with the pommel of her sword, the alarm the guard was about to raise dying in their throat. Asha didn’t give them any time to recover as she whipped around to their other side and hit them in the back of the head. The acolyte fell forward, their body going limp, but Asha caught them and carefully lowered them to the ground.
LOGAN (mumble): I could have done that so much cleaner.
The group advanced to join Asha but Rena instantly rushed to the door, leaning her ear against it but she couldn’t hear much besides the chanting from the inner court.
RENA (whisper): I really hope Maya’s here.
Rena leaned down to look through the keyhole. The room beyond wasn’t fully dark, as a light glow – probably from a candle – illuminated it, but all Rena could see beyond the keyhole was the stone wall and the edge of a bed. She stood back up and carefully laid a hand on the doorhandle, the other hand on the space between door and frame, and pushed down as slowly as she could. When the handle was fully down she carefully pushed the door but it didn’t budge.
She sighed and turned around to her companions, shaking her head in disappointment. Asha knelt down besides the unconscious guard to rifle through their pockets. It didn’t take her long to locate the key which she then threw to Rena, who caught it between both hands.
If Rena was lucky, her sister was right behind that door. She breathed in deeply and turned around, sliding the key into the lock as quietly as she could. She turned it, whincing at the noisethe bolt made as it unlatched. She pushed the handle down carefully again and this time the door opened.
She’d never opened a door so slowly before but she desperately wanted to avoid it creaking as she opened it. She could feel everyone’s eyes on her, how all of them held their breaths. Rena’s heart was hammering wildly in her chest as the door opened wide enough for her to see inside, but it soon dropped again. She frowned, a deep confusion settling over her. In the bed to her right lay a person that was not Maya, their breaths heavy and laboured.
[SFX rattling breaths]
The light that illuminated the room that Rena thought must have been a candle emanated from the person, which Rena’s mind didn’t want to comprehend. Something glowed underneath the person’s clothes, as if there was fire underneath their skin, but none of that made sense to Rena.
She stepped into the room as if in a daze, transfixed by the person in front of her.
Her companions slowly spilled into the room after her, staring at the glowing person who didn’t seem conscious enough to have noticed their entry.
MAYA (unsure, in background): Rena? Is that you?
Rena whipped around to the small figure cowering in the corner of the room.
Three paths lay in front of us, on which the story could continue.
- On the first path, the companions try to find out more about what the Crow is doing in the monastery
- On the second path, the companions try to figure out what the glowing body is
- On the third path, the companions take Maya and leave as fast as possible
You can cast your vote by going to the show’s twitter page, the tumblr page, or on theheartpyre.com. You have until April 6th to cast your vote.
As always, if you like this podcast, consider leaving a review or supporting it on Ko-Fi or Patreon. You can also get the novelization of the first season as an ebook and paperback from most major retailers.
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 