Welcome to The Heart Pyre. This is episode 32, A Blazing Bond.
As a content warning, there will also be fighting in this episode which includes aggressive dog noises and fire. For a more detailed list of warnings, please read the episode description.
TAVUU’MODA: [rattling breathing throughout the scene]
MAYA: Rena?
Rena whirled around, her heart racing instantly. In a corner behind her sat a small figure, legs pulled close to the body.
[SFX few quick steps forward]
RENA: Oh my stars, Maya! Are you hurt? What did they do to you? Did they treat you right? Did they feed you?
[SFX clothes rustling, quick kissing sounds]
MAYA (mumbling): Stop it! I’m fine. I’m fine, Rena! You can let go of me now.
RENA: I’ll never let go of you ever again!
MAYA (pleading, giggling): Please.
RENA: Oh, I’m so relieved, Maya. I’m so incredibly relieved. I was so scared, Maya. I thought I’d never see you again. I don’t know what I would have done if you hadn’t been here. If they’d hurt you.
MAYA (giggling): Rena, I’m fine. You can stop kissing me.
[SFX kissing sounds & clothes rustling stops]
[small pause]
RENA (hesitant): [shaky breath] What happened? What did they do to you?
MAYA: [sigh] I don’t know. It’s weird. Not much, if I’m being honest. I-I’ll tell you later. [pause] Who are those guys?
RENA: Oh, uhm. They, uhm, helped me find you.
[SFX steps coming closer]
KALANI (warmly): Hello, Maya. My name’s Kalani. This is Asha, Logan and Finn. We are friends of your sister’s and we’re here to get you back to freedom.
[pause]
MAYA: Okay… Then let’s go.
Rena backed off and gave Maya enough room to stand up. The Crow had dressed her in their typical uniform. An unreasonable rage overtook Rena; she wanted to rip them off her sister’s body, to wash away any traces of the Crow, but first they had to get her back to safety. Then Rena could finally give Maya back her dress.
And thankfully, Maya didn’t seem in bad shape. Her hair was messy and her face and hands were dirty but Rena couldn’t see any wounds, at least on the parts the clothes didn’t cover.
MAYA (mistrustful): You’re all here for me?
KALANI (calmly): You were our main focus, yes.
MAYA: But not the only.
KALANI: Well, we’re also trying to figure out what the Crow is planning.
MAYA: Is that what they call themselves? The Crow? That’s stupid.
KALANI: (light chuckle): I don’t think they’re known for their creativity. But did they… take anyone else from Oceansthrow?
MAYA: Yeah, but I haven’t seen them since we got here.
RENA (concerned): Who did they take?
MAYA: Túlio and Luisa.
RENA (shocked mumble): They’re so young.
LOGAN: Can we maybe address the unconscious body lying in bed that’s glowing?
Logan waved his hand vaguely in the direction of the bed and all of them turned to look at the body. A strange shadow fell over Maya’s face as she stared at him, her shoulders growing tense.
The expression made Rena want to tear reality apart so none of this could have ever happened. If the fox could play around with it, why couldn’t she? Why couldn’t she make the pain in her sister’s heart go away?
MAYA (struggling, unsure): He’s… strange. I don’t know how to explain it.
LOGAN: Is he… alive?
MAYA: I think so. Sometimes he’s awake and talking.
[small pause]
LOGAN: Why did they lock you in here with him?
[small pause]
MAYA (small voice): I don’t know… They didn’t tell me anything about what they’re doing. I thought maybe I was meant to be his personal servant or something like that but they didn’t give me any orders and there’s constantly someone coming in to look after him so I don’t think that’s the case. They treat him like the highest royalty but, honestly, he’s just a jerk when he’s awake.
Rena’s eyes met Kalani’s before looking back at the glowing body.
RENA (barely audible): Tavuu’Moda.
LOGAN (confused): They just keep him in a random room like this?
MAYA (confused): You know him?
RENA (hesitant): He’s, uhm, a, uh, God, or something like that.
[pause]
MAYA: What?
RENA: I-It’s complicated. We can talk about it once we’re out of here. I don’t know if I understand it myself. The Crow is trying to bring him back, o-or keep him alive, I guess. We don’t know that much about it.
MAYA: Why?
RENA: That’s kind of what we’re trying to find out.
[pause]
LOGAN: Soooo, what do we do with him? … I mean, there’s six of us and one of him.
KALANI (exhausted): Logan [sigh] … I don’t think we should touch him.
LOGAN: You don’t think it would potentially save us a lot of trouble in the future?
KALANI: We don’t know what will happen if we do touch him. Or if it’s even possible to kill him.
LOGAN: Can’t know without trying.
KALANI: We need to focus on getting back to Paemehri safely and drawing the attention of everyone in the monastery to us is kind of counterintuitive, don’t you think?
LOGAN: Yeah but you don’t know what’ll happen either. Maya, what’s he like when he’s awake?
[small pause]
MAYA (hesitant, uncomfortable): He’s weird. He mostly stays in bed and sleeps but sometimes he wakes up and then he tells me all these stories. Most of them don’t make sense and he talks about people I don’t even know. His family, I think, but he mentions so many different names that I just stop listening halfway through. And then he gets angry when I don’t remember all the stupid names and how they’re related to him. Like I’m in school and I’m supposed to memorize it all. I didn’t even care about these things when I was in actual school… Sometimes he leaves the room though, but I don’t know where he goes. Not that I really care.
KALANI (thinking): Maybe to one of the other kids they took.
RENA: Shouldn’t we… try to-
KALANI (interrupting): Don’t say it, Rena…. This is why I didn’t want to do this tonight. It’s a miracle we got here without injury, it’s going to be another one if we also get out unharmed. We can’t spend another hour trying to find out where they’re keeping these other kids, not knowing if they’re even still here, and we can’t stab a God hoping it has no immediate consequences either, no matter how badly his body seems to be doing.
RENA: But-
KALANI (angry): You can’t save the entire world at once, Rena! You’ll be dead in a second if you try, and then what? You think I like this? You think I like knowing that they’re holding children captive and doing the stars know what to them? Of course not! But I know that we’re unprepared and I know what our odds are and they don’t look good! We got your sister, now it’s time we got out!
[small pause]
ASHA: If they notice we took Maya, they might not stay here for much longer.
KALANI: Don’t start, Asha. [shaky breaths] I’m just trying to get us out of here alive. We don’t know how much power Tavuu’Moda has in this form or even what he could do. What if he’s like Silac just a hundred times worse? A million times worse? Do you really want to bet on those odds? The quicker we get out, the safer we’ll be, and then we can decide how to save the other kids later. We can’t do that if we’re dead.
Horror washed over Rena, the realisation settling in that she’d condemned the others to a much worse fate. Her hand came to hold her sister’s, a deep need for connection overtaking her, as if she would never let go of her ever again. She couldn’t let despair over what she’d done overtake her, not after finally reuniting with Maya. The fox had said they were running out of time, who knew what would have happened to her sister if they’d waited even just one more night? They might have returned to the monastery in a day and found Maya with a burning body lying in front of them.
Rena knew she’d feel differently in a day, or week, or month, but right then, every decision that had led to her holding her sister’s hand once more had been worth it.
TAVUU’MODA: [beathing gets heavier and raspier]
LOGAN (under his breath): What the absolute fuck?
The room was suddenly doused in a bright orange light as the body sat up in bed and turned to look at them. He opened his eyes and Rena’s body froze, transfixed by the red and orange fire dancing around in them, but before her mind could step any closer to the fire, Maya had grabbed her wrist and had darted towards the door.
[SFX running footsteps, chanting & bonfire noises appear in the background]
MAYA: Which way to get out? (panting)
RENA: The stairs! Go up the stairs! (panting)
[SFX people start shouting in background]
They all ran up the stairs, three steps at a time, until they’d reached the second floor. Doors flung open from the corridors around them and Rena thanked the stars that the fox had shown them a way out so far away from where any of the Crow was sleeping. Asha and Kalani ran ahead, much faster than the rest of them.
[SFX footsteps slow down, some stop]
LOGAN (under breath, in pain): (panting in pain) Fuck!
RENA: Logan?
LOGAN: Go! Don’t worry about me, just get your sister out of here.
RENA: But, your shirt! You’re bleeding again.
LOGAN: It’s okay, I’m fine, just keep running.
RENA: I-
MAYA: Let’s go, Rena!
FINN: I’ve got him.
[SFX running footsteps resume]
Finn wrapped one arm around Logan’s waist, pulling Logan’s arm over his shoulder, and hoisted him up. He dragged him ahead, Logan stumbling along, not able to mask the pain on his face anymore.
A red glow appeared behind them, growing ever brighter until the body appeared at the end of the corridor. He was limping but it didn’t seem to slow him down much. Rena looked ahead again but a flock of acolytes had appeared with torches.
[SFX sword being drawn]
Asha and Kalani stopped, bracing for what was ahead, Asha’s sword glinting in the light of the torches as she swung it at the oncoming crowd.
Rena’s hand slipped into her dress pocket where the knife Logan had given her in Paemehri was. She held it so tightly that her fingers hurt, not sure how to correctly use it in a fight, but there was no time to think about that. She would just have to wildly swing it around and hope she didn’t hurt herself.
Maya came to a stop, dashing from side to side to see if she could slip past the fight, but the corridor was simply too small. Five people had come their way and had drawn various weapons – from daggers to wooden poles to shovels. They barely looked ready for a fight but that didn’t matter.
[SFX metal hitting on metal as people fight]
They attacked erratically, Asha barely managing to block their attacks and control the cramped space they were in. Kalani managed to wrestle the wooden pole out of its owners hands and pushed them back but that only freed up space for the next attacker to approach.
Rena spun around, ready to run back from where they’d come from, but more people had caught up to them from behind and Finn had drawn his rapier to fend them off. Logan leaned against the wall, one hand wrapped around his bleeding stomach, the other clutching the knife as if there was any possibility he might join the fight.
Maya tried to drag Rena into one of the empty rooms to get away from the fight but Rena stopped her, realising right away that they’d be stuck with no way out. Instead, she tried to run past Asha and Kalani in hopes of reaching the crack in the wall, swinging her knife frantically at anybody in front of her. Hands tried to grab her, yank the knife out of her hand, but Maya pulled her in the other direction just in time.
They slipped past Finn, desperate to find any way out of the fight but the body was waiting for them, the light coming from inside its core glowing brighter than it had done before. Rena stopped, twisting and turning around, her mind racing to find a solution that simply wasn’t there. She eyed the distance down to the ground, wondering if they could hang from a vine or one of the strings holding the bird figurines and land on their feet unharmed, but she quickly dismissed the idea. She looked back and in that moment Maya slipped out of her grasp and bolted ahead, slamming into the glowing body before he could react.
He stumbled back, dropping to the floor to save himself from falling over the ballustrade.
MAYA: Come! … Rena, move! We have to get out of here!
Rena looked at the body in horror, knowing who he was, knowing what he was. She’d never been religious, never believed in any of the gods, but she felt that all of this was deeply wrong. Not just what Maya had just done, also what the Crow had done to this being that was supposedly above them all. That this is what they had reduce him to; a decaying, burning body that could barely hold itself up on its own.
MAYA: Rena! I’m leaving without you if you don’t move now!
RENA: Y-yes… Yes! I-I’m coming.
Maya ran ahead and Rena struggled to catch up. She wanted to look back at her companions, feeling horrible at leaving them behind, but she was scared that if she took her eyes off Maya she’d lose her again.
Maya stopped abruptly as someone rounded the corner in front of them. It took Rena a moment to recognise the person in the dim light, then she saw Inkra’s wild, brown hair, her furious green eyes, the scar running across her face.
INKRA (angry): You little disrespectful brat. We should have you hanged for what you did to the Vöshirem.
Maya dropped low and tried to dash past Inkra, barely giving her time to finish her sentence, but Inkra was faster and grabbed her shirt, stopping her instantly. A blinding rage overtook Rena and with a roar she’d never emited before she swung the knife at Inkra.
Inkra raised her free arm but the knife slid through her clothing into her flesh. The knife hadn’t cut very deep but it was enough for Inkra to lose her grip on Maya. Rena didn’t give Inkra much time to regain her composure as she swung the knife a second time. She managed to cut Inkra’s hand but Inkra ignored her injuries and simply slapped the knife out of Rena’s grasp, her fist swinging around to hit Rena in the temple before Rena had the time to regain her stance.
[SFX knife falling to the ground, impact of hit]
Rena stumbled back, her vision momentarily going bright and blurry.
TAVUU’MODA (raspy): You think, you can just steal what is rightfully mine.
RENA: (deep breath in)
She turned around, the glowing body approaching her slowly, the one Inkra had called Vöshirem, the one Rena was convinced was Tavuu’Moda. She stared into his eyes, the sight making her body stop instantly. It was as if an inferno danced behind his eyes, as if it held the memories of Oceansthrow’s destruction.
[SFX sounds fade into the background, roaring fire overtaking it]
All sound faded away, all of Rena’s thoughts and worries vanished, as if all that was left was her and the fire. The fire that was overtaking everything, not caring about anything but itself, feeding on anything in its path, growing, growing, growing.
TAVUU’MODA: I will not let you be the end of me.
MAYA: Rena! Don’t look at him!
INKRA (between gritted teeth): Shut up.
MAYA (in background): (cry of pain) No! Stop! Let go of me! Stop it! Please! Let me go!
Rena stopped existing, became one with the fire, feeding herself to it so it could spread further and further and further.
[SFX fire dies down, fighting noises from before return]
Then a hand grabbed her arm and pulled her away, severing her connection to the fire.
RENA: (deep breath in)
Her mind snapped back to her body, a cold shiver running through her. Her eyes snapped to Logan’s eyes, their green and brown looking so dull in comparison.
LOGAN: Where’s your sister?
RENA (confused, then panicked): I-I don’t know. I… She… She was with Inkra. I-I think she took her. But I don’t know where. They were here just a second ago, I don’t know what happened. Oh stars, I-I lost her again.
LOGAN: Calm down, they can’t have gone far. They’re probably downstairs. I would have seen them if they’d gone the other way.
RENA: W-Where’s Tavuu’Moda?
LOGAN: What?
RENA: The body. Where did it go?
LOGAN: Fuck… I-I don’t know. I didn’t see him leave.
RENA (dismayed): How could he have left without us noticing?
LOGAN: I… I don’t… It doesn’t matter, we have to find your sister. Let’s go!
[SFX footsteps running]
Logan pulled her along back to where they’d come from, an arm still wrapped around his stomach as blood dripped to the ground, running down the stairs quicker than was safe.
[SFX bonfire and chanting grow louder, faster; sounds of wood being carved]
They reached the inner court, the light of the bonfire illuminating four acolytes knelt before it, incessantly carving figurines that littered the ground and hung all around them from up high. The intertwined triangles had even been carved into the floor’s stones but the grooves had been filled with the bonfire’s ashes.
[SFX footsteps stop]
LOGAN (desperate): Where are they?
RENA: I don’t know. M-maybe the other side of the bonfire?
RENA: There! Oh stars, no!
Inkra was standing behind Maya, holding her arms tight, as Tavuu’Moda placed a hand on Maya’s face. She was thrashing around, whipping her head from side to side, but the glowing body gripped her face tightly. He stepped backwards into the fire, the ash crackling under his feet, Inkra advancing with him, pushing Maya ahead. Soon the fire engulfed Tavuu’Moda, threatening to do the same to Maya.
RENA: Stop it!
[SFX fast footsteps]
LOGAN: Rena, wait! Oh, fuck, urgh. (pained groaning)
[SFX impact]
Rena tackled Inkra with all her might. It wasn’t enough to make her lose her footing but it gave Maya the opportunity to lean back and drive her feet into Tavuu’Moda’s chest, making him lose his grip on her and fall backwards into the fire.
[SFX fire roars]
INKRA: No! Vöshirem!
Inkra threw Maya to the side and lunged towards the fire, grabbing a hold of Tavuu’Moda’s foot to drag him back to safety. The flames latched onto her hair and clothes but she didn’t seem to care as long while her God was still in danger.
RENA: Maya! Are you alright? Are you hurt?
MAYA: Yes, yes, I ‘m fine! We need to go!
RENA (dismayed): Your face.
MAYA: We need to go, Rena!
TAVUU’MODA: You cannot escape me. This is inevitable. I am and will always be, no matter how time advances.
RENA: Oh stars, we-we need to… we need to leave! Now! We need to leave now! L-Logan, can you-
LOGAN: Go! I’ll get out on my own!
RENA: But-
LOGAN: Go!
MAYA: Now, Rena!
FINN: I’ve got him, Rena.
RENA: Finn.
[SFX swords clashing]
INKRA: I will kill you all! Let the fire eat you alive until you can’t scream anymore! Your pea of a brain can’t even comprehend what we’re doing here! That this is the only way they will ever show us the respect we deserve!
RENA (confused): What… what are you talking about?
INKRA: But what would you know about respect? You arrogant brats have never dealt with a single hardship in your lives. You only ever think of your own comfort.
FINN: Oh, shut up.
[SFX swords clashing]
MAYA (urgent) : Rena, let’s go!
RENA: Yeah, yeah, let’s go, let’s… yeah.
[SFX running footsteps away from the fire]
[SFX horses ride in, the stops, neighs]
[SFX footsteps stop]
RODRICK: Rena!
[SFX dog barking]
RENA: Rodrick? … Michael??
MICHAEL: Oh my stars, what happened? Vöshirem, what did they do to you?
[SFX someone jumps down a horse, then runs away]
MICHAEL (getting quieter as he runs away): Inkra, what happened? Your hair!
INKRA (in background): You fucking traitor!
RENA: W-what’s going on?
RODRICK: Rena, are you alright? Did they hurt you?
RENA: No, no, I’m fine, but we have to help Logan! I think his wound opened up again.
[SFX horses neighing nervously before running away]
RODRICK: No! Wait! Oh…
MAYA: Rena, come on! They’ll be alright. Trust them! We need to leave!
RODRICK: I’ll go help Logan, you run back to Paemehri! We’ll find our way back together later.
RENA: O-okay.
[SFX footsteps running again]
TAVUU’MODA (otherworldly, echo-y): You cannot escape. I will always exist, there is no avoiding it.
Maya faltered, tripping over her own feet and fell to the ground. She looked back, a look of absolute terror on her face, the bonfire reflecting bright orange in her eyes. For a moment it knocked the air out of Rena’s lungs. They almost looked like Tavuu’Moda’s had, but it was only a reflection, nothing more.
RENA: Get up!
[SFX horses run past them]
Two riders rode past them, stopping in the middle of the inner court, one turning around to look at them. Silac was staring at them with a pale face and blood shot eyes, the veins having spread all over his skin, even to his hands. He slid down, holding on tightly to his saddle, but all energy had clearly left his body as he didn’t managed to do so without landing on his ass.
Rena knew she had to get away as quickly as possible before he could regain his footing. She grabbed Maya’s wrist and dragged her up, turning away from Silac and towards the wide open gates at the end of the inner court.
SILAC (echo-y, otherworldly voice): Get back here!
Before her mind had registered what he had said, Rena’s body had already swiweled around and was running back towards the fire.
[SFX aggressive dog barking]
SILAC: Oh for fuck’s sake. (cry of pain)
Vincent jumped up at Silac, biting into an arm that was already bloody. It was enough to sever the control Silac had on Rena and she slid to a stop, dragging Maya down to the ground with her.
The second rider, a woman with chin-length blonde hair, got off her horse and drew her rapier in almost the same motion, darting towards Inkra and Finn.
[SFX swords clashing]
NARA: Don’t you fucking touch him!
Her rapier grazed Inkra’s throat, making her back off Finn who had fallen to the ground.
INKRA: Ugh, what the fuck. Who even are you?
NARA: None of your concern.
FINN: Nara? …. W-why are you here, Nara?
NARA (derisive): I’m here to save your sorry ass… It was an order, Finn. Don’t start believing I’m here out of the goodness of my heart. If it were for me I’d let these savages tear you apart.
An acolyte lunged at her from behind but Nara stepped out of the way and in one swift motion pierced her rapier through their throat. She used the attacker’s momentum to let the body stumble to the ground and slide her blade out of the wound, swinging it once to shake the blood off.
Rena couldn’t take her eyes off the woman. She instinctively knew that she had to be Finn’s sister but she couldn’t believe just how different they were.
NARA: Get up so I can drag your sorry ass back home.
Rena expected Finn to say anything, to defend himself against her, but he just stared at her with wide, panicked eyes, letting his sister drag him up to his feet by his lapel.
NARA: You’re so fucking useless.
His whole body was rigid as he stood up, his hands balled into tight fists.
From the side, Logan swung at her, his fist hitting her square in the jaw. He’d put so much force into the punch that they both stumbled to the ground. Nara cursed at him, fumbling to get back up to get to her rapier that had skittered to the side, but Logan whirled around and tripped her. Nara hit the floor hard, her face smacking against the cold floor. It gave Logan enough time to push himself back up and dash to her rapier, picking it up before she could. Nara tried to get up again but Inkra tackled her from the side, making her tumble to the ground once more.
[SFX fire roars louder]
Tavuu’Moda’s glowing body was standing to the side, observing the fight, motionless. The fire had burst out of his chest, melting his skin, and it was falling to the ground in disgusting dollops. Rena stared at him in horror, bile rising up her throat, but then she noticed that the bonfire was spreading, the flames lapping at the wood of the balustrade, spreading over the lichen that covered the old structure, engulfing the figurines that were hanging around the court.
Rena dragged her eyes away from the fire, its light still branded into her vision. Before she had time to get back on her feet, Logan had already grabbed Finn’s arm and was running past them. The front of his shirt was wet and dark red and the blood had even run down his pants, and still he managed to rush across the inner court at a speed Rena didn’t think was good for his condition.
A tight knot formed itself in the pit of Rena’s stomach as they ran away from the bonfire, away from Tavuu’Moda’s melting form, away from Nara and Inkra fighting, past Silac who was on the ground, weakly trying to get Vincent off him. Once they were out of danger and the energy had left their body, the consequences of the night would come back to haunt Logan. If they’d taken a break and let him rest properly, he might have healed from his wound without complications, but like this? With the amount of blood he had lost and the fighting? They would need to find someone who could properly close the wound, but Rena was painfully aware of how far away they were from anyone who would be able to help.
Dread crept over Rena as the monastery errupted into chaos. People were running every which way, overtaking Rena and her companions to get out of the burning place, only a few of the acolytes still trying to grab at them. Others were running back to the bonfire, to help Inkra or save Tavuu’Moda.
Rena and Maya weaved their way through the chaos until they felt grass underneath their feet once more.
ASHA: Rena, this way!
RENA: Asha?
ASHA: We need to get back to Rancor!
RENA: Logan’s hurt!
ASHA: Yes, I’m aware! That’s why we need to get out!
LOGAN: Rancor’s too far away.
ASHA: You don’t get a say in this, Logan. We need to get you to someone who can keep you from dying.
LOGAN: We don’t even know where the city is right now.
ASHA: Kalani knows!
KALANI: The both of you, stop arguing! Now’s not the time! We’ll go to Paemehri, then Hrevim, then Rancor! We’ll patch Logan up on the way.
ASHA: Kalani, getting back to Hrevim is just a waste of time.
KALANI: Not if it saves his life!
Before Asha had time to snap back, Logan collapsed, his body hitting the ground hard.
ASHA: For fuck’s sake, not again.
Finn didn’t hesitate to pull his own shirt over his head and rip it apart, pushing Logan’s shirt up and wrapping the torn fabric tightly around his waist. They hoisted Logan’s unconscious body up on Asha’s back while Kalani pushed the few acolytes away who still tried to get to Maya.
[SFX fire and chaos fading into the background]
The fire had created such a chaos that they managed to get away without anyone following them. They stumbled their way back to Paemehri, the light of the burning monastery illuminating their path. They walked as quickly as possible, hoping that they’d find the town quicker than they’d found the monastery.
Rena held her sister’s hand tightly, probably so tightly that it hurt, but she didn’t dare let go of her anymore. She blocked all thoughts of Logan’s condition from her mind, only thinking about finally, finally having her sister back. She knew that if she thought of anything else she’d break apart, and there was no time for that.
[SFX chaos fades into the back as they walk away, replaced by a calm night]
Somehow they reached Paemehri but Rena couldn’t tell how long it had taken them, her mind barely aware of her surroundings. They found the window to their previous room and smashed it to get to their belongings, then stole a merchant’s cart and horse from the shed.
They laid Logan flat in the middle of the cart, and sat around him next to the barrels the merchant had been transporting, no one speaking much as they rode into the sunrise.
Rena’s eyes were fixed on Logan’s unmoving body. They didn’t have any water to clean his wound and she didn’t dare patch it up with a dirty needle. They’d bandaged the wound as tightly as they could but no matter what, it would take a lot of time and a lot of luck for him to get back on his feet. She felt like she should be crying for him but her body was numb from all that had happened and what her eyes could perceive barely felt real anymore.
MAYA (anxious): Rena?
RENA (distracted): Hmm?
She looked over at her sister, the rising sun revealing the marks Tavuu’Moda had left on Maya’s face, like his touch had burned her skin. Rena’s eyes traced them one by one, wondering if she was just imagining them or if the others could also see them.
MAYA: Where are we going?
RENA: It’s a place called the city of Rancor. A city that moves around when there’s danger. Kalani, Asha and Logan live there so hopefully we can find someone who can actually help Logan. And us.
[small pause]
MAYA: And then?
RENA (hesitant): … I don’t know. Maybe we can stay there until we know it’s safe.
MAYA (hesitant, scared): What about mom and dad?
[pause]
RENA: It’s just us now, Maya.
[pause]
MAYA (small voice): Okay.
RENA: But I’ll take care of you, don’t worry. I won’t let them get to you, I promise. I won’t ever let you out of my sight ever again. They can try and take you away from me again, but they won’t. Not ever. We’ll stay together from here on out.
Thank you for listening to the second season of The Heart Pyre. I wanted to apologize again for the delay between episodes. I didn’t intend for the season to take so long to fully release but since this is a solo project I’ve been a bit overwhelmed with how much work it has been. I’ll need to change a few things for the third season but I first want to focus on editing this season into a book like I did for the first season. I’ve already seen the first sketches of the second books cover and I’m so excited for its release later this year! I’m also currently working on a german translation for the first book and that should also be out by the end of the year.
As always, you can find transcripts for each episode, character art, and a map of the kingdom on theheartpyre.com and you can get the novelization of the first season as an ebook and paperback from most major retailers.
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 