With 60 percent of the votes, our story continues on the second path.

We have finally reached the end of season two. Rena and her companions have reached their goal and now they just need to find a way out of the monastery safely, but how? Everything seems to be devolving into chaos.

CW: fighting, aggressive dog barking and growling, dog attack, a lot of fire, abusive sibling relationship, mind control

Find A Searing Faith, the novelisation of season 1, on your favourite platform:
https://books2read.com/A-Searing-Faith

Intro music: Lonely Dusty Trail by Jon Presstone

Logo Design: Mars Lauderbaugh

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.

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.

With 95 percent of the votes, our story continues on the first path.

In the penultimate episode of season 2, Rena and her companions have finally found the Crow’s hideout but what will they find inside and will Maya be there?

CW: fighting, aggressive dog barking and growling, dog attack, violence against dog (the dog will not be seriously hurt)

If you want to skip the dog fight, it is between 23:30 and 26:10.

By the end of the episode, three choices will be presented to you. Voting is open until April 22nd. 

Find A Searing Faith, the novelisation of season 1, on your favourite platform:
https://books2read.com/A-Searing-Faith

Intro music: Lonely Dusty Trail by Jon Presstone

Logo Design: Mars Lauderbaugh

Welcome to The Heart Pyre. This is episode 30, What Changes Us.

[SFX nature sounds, distant running water, horse walking as it drags cart]

The group sat in silence on the floor of the wooden cart as it exited the city. Not a single word was exchanged as they crossed the river to Hrevim’s north, nor when they passed the fields of barley and rows of olive trees that surrounded the city. Rena observed her companions, only occasionally meeting Rodrick or Finn’s gaze, the other three too busy looking out at the surrounding landscape. She waited for any of them to break the silence, wanted to allow them to address the run-in with Deacon themselves, but time kept passing and no one dared say anything.

Rena wasn’t sure how long it would take them to reach Paemehri but she guessed at least a couple of hours. The thought of passing all this time in silence, with no one addressing anything that had happened or that would happen, twisted something strange in her stomach. She couldn’t stop her mind from spiralling as it imagined a million terrible things the Crow could do to her sister or all the ways Deacon could be taking his frustrations out on Jesper. She was certain the others had to be thinking about it too, that the silence came from everyone’s fear of what could happen, but how could they break this fear if they didn’t address it out loud?

RENA (hesitant): W-what’s our plan once we arrive at the old monastery?

[pause]

KALANI: We won’t know until we’ve seen what we’re dealing with.

Kalani looked out at the olive groves with one arm resting on the cart’s side and her head resting on her fist. Rena wished she’d turn around and smile at her, reassure her like she usually did, but Kalani’s body stayed as still as a statue.

RENA (hesitant): We … do need to know what to do when we arrive in Paemehri though, right?

[pause]

KALANI: I’m still figuring that out.

RENA (defeated voice): Right. [pause] It’ll be late when we arrive.

KALANI (distracted): It will.

RENA (nervous): We’ll have to find a place to sleep.

KALANI: Mhm.

RENA: And something to eat.

KALANI: Hmm.

RENA (nervous rambling): We have a bit of money left from when we bought Logan’s medicine this morning, but not much. I’m not sure it’ll be enough to pay for all of our lodging. Maybe we can find another merchant who’d be willing to buy some of our trinkets. Or we can exchange something for a cheap room we can share. We still have some of the food Maniala gave us, maybe that’ll be enough for today. [pause] Do we… go look for the Crow tonight or do we wait until tomorrow?

[pause]

KALANI: I think tonight.

RENA: Makes sense… I don’t think I’d be able to sleep anyway. Not with knowing Maya might be so close by.

[small pause]

KALANI: We’ll need to scout the region first. The cover of night will be our friend. Will make it easier to see their monastery from further away. We’re getting close to a full moon, that should be enough light to travel by.

[small pause]

RENA (hesitant): What do we do when we find the monastery?

[pause]

KALANI: For now, just investigate the place from afar and come back in broad daylight when we’ve had time to figure out what the next best move is.

RENA (hesitant): Okay … I… don’t know if I can just leave Maya behind if I see her.

KALANI: You’re staying in Paemehri, Rena.

RENA (shocked): What?!

KALANI: [sigh] It’s too dangerous. We don’t have anything to defend ourselves with besides Asha’s sword and I’m not sure we can find any other weapons on such short notice. Finn doesn’t even have his rapier anymore. We’ll need to play this on the defensive and make absolutely sure no one notices us as we get close.

RENA: But I can be quiet! I won’t draw any attention to me, I promise! You can’t just decide on your own who has to stay behind!

LOGAN: It is kind of unfair that you don’t want her to join in her sister’s rescue.

KALANI (annoyed): Logan… we’re not rescuing anyone tonight, not yet. Not until we know what we’re dealing with. And you’re also staying behind.

LOGAN: No?? Why would I stay behind?

KALANI (annoyed): You’re injured. And you’ve worsened our situation enough already.

[small pause]

LOGAN (annoyed): So now Deacon’s shitty life decisions are my fault.

KALANI (angry): Yes they are! They definitely are if you are the reason why he’s acting like this.

LOGAN (angry): I told him his plan wasn’t going to work out! It’s not my fault if he doesn’t listen. Just cause I hire him for something and then he’s too stupid to come up with a decent plan that isn’t going to get him thrown into jail and too stubborn to recognise that others might be right, doesn’t mean it’s my fault when he obsesses over my family lineage and tries to extort money from me.

KALANI (calm but angry): If you hadn’t let this idiotic argument go on for this long we wouldn’t have yet another problem to deal with on top of this shit show we’re already dealing with.

[small pause]

LOGAN: I didn’t think he’d escalate it like this.

KALANI: Yes, exactly. You didn’t think.

[pause]

RENA (hesitant): What was Deacon talking about anyway? About… your father and the train’s construction?

Logan looked over at Rena for a moment, lips parted, a pained expression drawing his eyebrows together. His jaw clenched and unclenched, mouth opening and closing, but no words came out. His eyes drifted away, one shoulder pulling up into a non-commital shrug, head shaking from side to side.

[pause]

FINN: From what I’ve seen from documents in the archive, the rail network’s construction isn’t advancing as smoothly as the North likes to pretend.

Since their departure, Finn’s sharp eyes had been observing them all very carefully, but most of all Logan. On any other day, Logan would surely have been elated by the attention and wouldn’t have let it pass without a comment, but at that moment he refused to even meet Finn’s gaze.

FINN: I don’t know much, either. The documents aren’t always easy to decipher. And there’s all of these other rumours floating around. Not all of them are true, of course, but there’s always a morsel of truth somewhere. The train line will run from Mak-Hemma’s citadel in the east through Jodash and Menakala to Mashod in the west. Some of it has already been built, leaving Mak-Hemma. I haven’t seen how far they’ve come, though. And there’s talk of connecting it to the Daishegian Empire but they’d have to find a way to get it over or through the mountain range north of Mashod. I don’t think anything concrete has been decided yet. That would be… a tremendous undertaking. I’m not sure it would be worth it. Our relations with the Daishegian Empire aren’t that great.

RENA (confused): Okay…

FINN: I’ve also heard that they’re planning on building a bridge to the Kano-Raeki Federation in Jodash. There are places where the sea’s quite narrow there, shouldn’t be too much of an issue to build a bridge that could carry a train. They’ll need to figure out how to run the train over bridges anyway if they want to get it to Mashod. It’s pretty clear that their main objective with this project is to connect our kingdom to its neighbours and forgo maritime travel, for whatever reason. I don’t think this train could ever be as interesting as the centuries of shipbuilding this kingdom has produced.

RODRICK: As spectacular as maritime travel is, it also takes quite a lot of time and depends a lot on weather conditions. This train would be able to complete the same journeys much faster and through any type of weather. And it would certainly benefit our kingdom’s trade relations with our neighbours. It is no wonder we do not have a strong relationship with the Daeshegian Empire if their representatives either have to travel the entire width of our kingdom by carriage or traverse the Federation to get to our capital. There is simply no easy way to get to Mak-Hemma by sea from the west. Granted, most of our relations have been with the East throughout our history, but we should not disregard any nation to the west of us. And I’m certain this train is not just being constructed to transport goods. It could also aid people in simply visiting our wonderful home. I’ve heard that they’re ramping up their cultural exchange efforts in the north to entice more people to visit us. Especially Jodash has been quite revolutionary in their approach to presenting our kingdom’s gifts to our neighbours.

RENA (confused): Thank you both for all this … information but what does that have to do with what Deacon talked about?

FINN: It’s quite an ambitious project. Needs a lot of resources. Those resources have to come from somewhere and the north doesn’t have a lot of mineral deposits.

RENA: Okay…

FINN: So from what I know, most of the ore is being mined in Red Hill in the west. Some people claim it’s unfair Red Hill is being mined bare for a train line that will never reach the province, others counter-argue that what benefits one part of the kingdom, benefits us all. There are also rumours about unsafe working conditions and people being underpaid. I can’t talk much about that, though. I haven’t been to Red Hill in a very long time and any of the documents I’ve seen about these working conditions haven’t stood out to me as particularly dissimilar to any other work contracts for such a big project. But I must admit, I never looked into it in any detail. I’m not sure how Logan’s family plays into this issue, though.

LOGAN (annoyed): Deacon’s connecting dots that shouldn’t be connected. I just wanted to know what was up with this train stuff so I collected all kinds of information about it and I asked him to get some documents for me. People say someone’s giving Red Hill’s governor a shit ton of money to keep the iron flowing as fast as possible and I wanted to know who exactly that might be and now Deacon’s somehow convinced that’s my father.

RENA: And it isn’t?

LOGAN (annoyed): No of course it isn’t! You think it’d be sleeping in a tent if my father had enough money to build a whole train network?

FINN: It would have to be someone from the nobility if those rumours are true. This is the Royal Council’s project, they wouldn’t let anyone they don’t trust touch it, no matter how rich of a merchant they were. There’s probably a lot of lower nobility they wouldn’t let near the project either.

RODRICK: They certainly are also collaborating with the Royal Tinkering Institute in Mak-Hemma but only a very select group of people gets to work there.

LOGAN: Exactly! And do I look like high nobility to you? Or smart enough to join the institute?

ASHA: You’re stupid and arrogant enough to be high nobility.

LOGAN: Oh, shut up, Asha. [sigh] Listen, all I wanted was for Deacon to steal those documents so I could verify the identity of Red Hill’s mysterious benefactor and maybe blackmail him and potentially do a good deed while getting stinking rich.

ASHA: So noble of you. I can see how Deacon made those assumptions about your father.

LOGAN: Asha… [sigh] I don’t know how Deacon came to the conclusion that I somehow have to be family with this guy. I’m not even sure he truly believes it himself. He probably just wants to intimidate me into giving him more money.

Kalani had a look on her face that Rena had never seen before and it made a cold shudder run down her back. All softness and kindness had left Kalani and had been replaced with cold indignation.

KALANI: You should have paid him his fair wage before sending him to do your dirty work.

LOGAN: I did, Kalani. I paid him just as much as I’ve always done. All thefts come with a certain risk of getting caught. He knows that, you know that, we all know that! This one wasn’t any more dangerous than any of the previous ones.

KALANI: Then you should have made sure the issue had been resolved before leaving.

LOGAN: I tried! You brought me to him! We talked with Cass about the whole stupid situation. What more do you want me to do?

ASHA: Was that when Rena and Rodrick went to get the letter from my uncle? Before we left for the archives? When you came back all twitchy and nervous and wanted to leave as quickly as possible? Didn’t seem like you’d made sure the issue had been resolved.

LOGAN (defensive): I- … Why are you all so angry at me now? I’m sorry, okay? I made a mistake. I didn’t know we were going to be gone for this long and I couldn’t predict Deacon was going to obsess over it to the point he’d be chasing me across half the kingdom. It barely even makes sense, not for some money. I think he just… doesn’t like me or something.

RENA (hesitant): Logan’s right. He didn’t know he was departing on such a long journey. He was just meant to help me get into the archives, everything that came after wasn’t exactly planned. And who knows when we’ll be able to get home now.

KALANI (exasperated): It’s not your fault, Rena… It’s nobody’s fault. We’re all just … on edge. [sigh] Who knows what’ll await us? And there’s nothing I hate more than not being able to plan ahead.

RENA (shy): Are you sure I can’t come with you?

KALANI: No. The Crow’s too unpredictable. They don’t adhere to the most basic social rule of not randomly murdering entire towns and they don’t even adhere to their religion’s rules like Rodrick said. If keeping the integrity of their god’s memory or essence isn’t even important to them, then it’s impossible to know what they’ll do next. We can speculate as much as we want about this ritual, we won’t know what their next move is without seeing it with our own eyes.

RENA (shy): So the more eyes, the better, right?

KALANI: [sigh]

RODRICK: Rena, I think Kalani’s right. It might be too dangerous for us. We aren’t used to these types of situations, not like the others are.

RENA (small voice, pouty): If we always stay behind, we’ll never get used to them.

RODRICK: I know, but today is not the day to gain experience. I’ll stay in Paemehri with you, yes? We shouldn’t bring Vincent along anyway, so someone has to stay behind no matter what. And there’s much we have to discuss about these rituals before we can truly face the Crow, even if we don’t know exactly what they’re planning.

[SFX paper rustle]

RENA (confused): What’s that?

RODRICK: I wanted to delve deeper into these documents at the library but there was no time. Truthfully, I could have stayed there until the evening but, alas, our circumstances didn’t allow it. There’s so much more we can discover through texts. Between the documents mentioning reincarnation and those mentioning how to make someone become a god, I’m sure we can find out what the Crow is currently doing. It is truly fascinating all the things people can make themselves believe in.

LOGAN (kinda amused): You stole something from the library? Didn’t know you had it in you, old man.

RODRICK: Oh no, no, I’ll give it back! There was just no time to read it all in great detail before we had to leave the city. If the three of us read it thoroughly while the others find the monastery’s location, I’m sure we can decipher what exactly they’re trying to do, how they’re trying to do it and then eventually reverse what they have already done.

[SFX page rustle]

RODRICK (quieter, fades into background): I’ve already talked with Rena about these different theories. It is difficult to tell what exactly the Crow is planning but I do believe they are working on something similar to what these old documents are mentioning. Whether it is simply creating a new version of Tavuu’Moda or trying to reincarnate him, is impossible to tell at this point. Not until we’ve seen what exactly they’re doing at the monastery. They might be trying to true reincarnation of Tavuu’Moda’s essence, or his spirit, whatever you might want to call it. His memories and thoughts and opinions, anything besides his physical body. They want to transpose those into another body, preferably a living body, which means they need to find a suitable one first. This supposed reincarnation usually happens without human intervention, well, if you want to call it usually. It is just a belief, after all, I don’t think these things actually truthfully happen. We’d all be filled with memories from when the kingdom was first created if that was the case. Wouldn’t we all have constant headaches then? [chuckle] Anyway, all this to say, if this is truly what the Crow is trying to do, which, I think, might be the case, it would explain why they took Rena’s sister if they in fact did take her. They need vessels to transpose Tavuu’Moda’s essence into, to have a controlled reincarnation. I’m sure they have tried this more than once, before. I can even imagine that Captain Silac is one such experiment, but I doubt it worked as well as they wanted it to or he wouldn’t be himself anymore. Maybe the reincarnation was only partial and Silac was lucky he got the side with the strange abilities. Or they tried one of the other rituals of creating a new version of Tavuu’Moda or Kaepi’Pari inside of Captain Silac and it did not go the way they wanted it to. But seeing as the Crow’s arsons have grown in frequency over these last few months, I fear they’re getting nearer to figuring out the actual ritual. Or that at least they think they are.

As Rodrick unfolded all the pages he had stolen from the library, dread crept over Rena. She became restless, listening to Rodrick explain once more what her sister’s body might be used for. She wanted to jump down and run to Paemehri herself, knew she could run faster than the horse could pull their cart, but how far could she really run? She turned her head and looked out at the vast landscape in front of them as the sun was low on the horizon, dousing the tops of the hills to their right in a golden orange. As Rodrick explained his theories to the rest of their group, Rena scanned the countryside for traces of old ruins, for any light or smoke emerging where no town was, but of course, their search couldn’t be so easy.

What would Maya look like if the Crow’s ritual succeeded? Would she still be Maya? Would her hair have grown? Would it reach her shoulders already? Or had the Crow cut it short? Would she still have their mother’s bright hazel eyes or would Tavuu’Moda take that away from her too? Would her soft, copper skin be ruined by those horrible green veins that had spread over Captain Silac’s face? Would she still remember Rena?

Rodrick had said the vessel would need to be empty for the reincarnation to work and the Crow would certainly not be satisfied with a partial reincarnation. So they’d need to take everything that made Maya her sister out of her body. All the memories of their hometown, of their family, of their bakery, all the days they’d spent at school, all the nights they’d spent whispering to each other, it would all be gone. Would Rena be able to survive that? To see her sister’s body and know she wasn’t her sister anymore? To maybe even have to fight her sister’s body to stop the Crow from doing whatever they wanted to do next?

And Kalani wanted her to stay behind tonight. To sit in a cold room in a tiny town and wait for the sun to rise before going to save her sister. To read through all these possibilities of what might be happening to Maya and do nothing about it. To not even make sure her sister was truly still her sister and not just an empty body.

Rena’s throat closed up, a thick lump keeping her from breathing as a tear ran down her face and obscured her vision.

~~~~

[SFX tavern sounds can be heard from far away]

Rena sat on one of the three beds that had been crammed into the small, barren room, her gaze fixed on the lantern hung outside the inn that could be seen from their one, dirty window. Kalani had won, after all. In truth, Rena never had a chance to join the search for the old monastery. Everyone was too worried about her, everyone thought her too inexperienced. And they were right, in a sense, she had to admit that. She knew nothing about this type of work, but did Finn? He had grown up surrounded by scrolls and regulations, not hills to sneak around on. Did he know so much more about this than she did? He wasn’t that much older than her, certainly no more than 5 years, had he truly learned so much in those short years that she’d never considered? But what was to be done about it? Five adults had decided she’d stay behind in the safety of this rickety inn, so she did.

               [SFX fire crackle getting louder]

The fire flickered faintly behind the lantern’s milky glass, burning its oranges and yellows into her eyes. She wrung her hands until her skin burned, then she proceeded to dig her nails into her palms. She could hear the crackling of the lantern’s fire. She knew that was impossible, that such a faint sound would not be able to travel through walls, not even walls that let in all the cold from outside, but she could still hear it as if she was sitting next to a bonfire.

She squeezed her eyes shut and turned her head.

[SFX fire crackle stops]

Kalani, Asha and Finn had left just a few minutes ago and Rodrick had left not long after to let Vincent run through the town that was barely more than a tavern and two warehouses. Only Logan remained in the room with her. He was lying on the bed next to hers, arms folded beneath his head, eyes shut tight, a single bead of sweat running down the side of his face.

[small pause]

RENA (concerned): Do you think they’re doing okay?

LOGAN (nonchalant): They’re fine.

RENA: You’re not worried.

LOGAN: Worrying isn’t gonna help anyone right now.

RENA: I don’t think I can just switch it off like that.

LOGAN: Just think of something else.

[pause]

RENA: How?

               [SFX bed creaking, covers moving]

LOGAN: [sigh] What’s your favourite thing to do during the summer?

RENA (pensive): My favourite thing to do? … I always liked swimming in the ocean. In the late afternoon, when the stones were still warm and the water was just the right temperature. When my parents wanted some time alone I’d take my siblings to the ocean. My friend Tala would join with her siblings, and sometimes my cousins would come, and we’d all swim together. We don’t really have beaches near Oceansthrow, not like they have here. It’s a lot of cliffs and stones, but we’d know where the water’s calmest and the ground hurts the least to walk on. … [small voice] But that’s all over now.

[pause]

RENA (hasty): What did you like to do as a child?

LOGAN: Oh man, as a child? Tough question… Mischief. Generally a lot of mischief. And once my brother was old enough, I’d teach him the mischief. But he was never as good as me though, so he’d always get caught. He was a cute child, though, so he wouldn’t actually get into trouble, and he was loyal enough not to rat me out. Not a bad kid, all in all.

RENA: What’s his name?

[small pause]

LOGAN: [deep sigh] Vic.

RENA: Do you still see him sometimes?

LOGAN: Nope. Haven’t seen him in… almost a decade, probably.

RENA (hesitant): Why not?

[small pause]

LOGAN: It’s complicated. Family relations don’t mesh well with this type of life if you weren’t born into it.

RENA: You weren’t?

LOGAN: Not really. Not into this specific. Cass and Rancor and all that. Not that my parents are the most upstanding citizens either.

RENA: Do you miss them?

LOGAN: My parents? Not even for a second.

RENA: Your brother?

[pause]

LOGAN: Sometimes… But it’s for the best… And I get why Deacon thinks my father has to be this big, dark secret, but he’s just your garden-variety crook from the north. Nothing special about him. I just don’t like talking about him cause the less I mention him, the less likely he is to find me. That’s really all I want to avoid.

RENA: That bad?

LOGAN: Yeah. Maybe. I don’t know. Like I said, it’s been a decade. Not sure he’s still thinking about me… In the beginning, I was quite scared, didn’t really know what he’d do if he got to me, but… I haven’t really been careful these last few years and I’m still alive so… who knows if he ever actually bothered to look for me.

[small pause]

RENA: I’m sorry.

LOGAN: Nah, don’t worry. I’ve got my own life now. Most days I don’t think of him either.

RENA: And your mother?

[small pause]

LOGAN: I prefer not to think of her. I really can’t tell what she’s thinking. If she misses me or not. She always preferred my brother anyway, so… probably doesn’t need the unruly son back.

RENA (small voice): I’m really sorry.

LOGAN: You don’t have to be. Life’s just like that sometimes.

[pause]

RENA (small voice): I don’t like just sitting here and waiting.

LOGAN: Yeah, not if we dive head-first into sadness with every subject we start. Next, you’ll ask me about all my failed relationships. Maybe we can play a game instead. Wouldn’t that be fun? Maybe… ‘Round and round the council’? You know that one? One of us thinks of the next High Lord or Lady to die, how they met their mysterious end and which one of their siblings or cousins is responsible for it and the other one has to ask questions and figure out the conspiracy.

RENA (small voice, hesitant): I don’t know much about those families.

LOGAN (thinking out loud): Right, right, right. Something else then. ‘The cat’s donkey’? But we’d need to be at least three people for that one. Maybe once Rodrick’s back. Isn’t there a game about the old gods, too? ‘Faith unbound’, something like that. I’m sure Rodrick knows all about it. He probably knows so many games if he’s been travelling around the kingdom talking to people. What did he call himself? Scribe of the lands? Are games part of the lands?

               [SFX bed creak]

RENA (abrupt, then hesitant): What if … we go find the monastery too?

LOGAN: …Rena…

RENA (abrupt): Just to make sure Kalani and the others aren’t in trouble! I feel like I’m going to burst out of my skin waiting here, not knowing what’s happening to them, not knowing where they are and what the Crow’s planning or doing, not knowing if they’re safe or hurting. Don’t you feel awful sitting here, safe and secure, while any number of things could be happening to them?

LOGAN: And what do you want us to do about that?

RENA (panicky): I don’t know! I’m sure there’s something we could be doing. T-there’s safety in numbers, right?

LOGAN: Not in this situation. Not when there’s probably like fifty or a hundred of them and six of us.

RENA: But… A-at least we’d know what’s happening. What if they’re already dead? What if we wait until the morning and they don’t come back and then it’s noon and then evening and they’re still not here? How long do we wait? And then what? We just go back to Cass and tell them Kalani’s dead? We tell them we failed and let their wife die?

LOGAN: Rena, Kalani knows what she’s doing. She isn’t going to storm the monastery without telling us about it. They’re just checking the place out so we know what we’re dealing with. She’d never confront anyone without being one hundred per cent certain she had the upper hand.

RENA: But what if something happens? What if the Crow spots them and they get dragged into a fight?

LOGAN: I reiterate, what do you want us to do about it? You have no fighting experience and my stomach was ripped apart less than a week ago! I know I’m a phenomenal actor, but this shit hurts!

RENA: I don’t know! Something! I’m sure there’s something we can do. Throw rocks or distract them or call for help. Not just sit here and do nothing while all our friends die. And who knows what they’re doing to Maya? What they’ve already done to her! Empty her of who she is so they can put their god into her body. Make her someone she isn’t. She’s the only family I have left. Wouldn’t you want to save your brother?

LOGAN (menacing): Don’t…

[SFX sheets rustling, bed creaking, footsteps walking around on wooden floor0]

RENA (panicky, pleading): Oh my stars, I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have said that. I-I just… I can’t stay here, Logan. I’m so sorry, but I just can’t. A-and either you come with me or I go on my own and I really don’t like forcing this choice on you but I-I can’t stay here and at least if I tell you about it you’ll know where I’ve gone and you don’t panic thinking someone got to me and you can take your own decision whether you want to join which I don’t think you should, considering your injury but also I’m terrified of going alone and I wish I didn’t let Kalani convince me to stay here and I had just gone with them because why does Finn get to go and I don’t and I know Kalani’s smart and she knows what’s best for us but she doesn’t know what this feels like and who would I be if I stayed here, safe, and let everyone else get hurt again so, yeah, … I’m leaving with or without you. I’m sorry.

LOGAN: [very long sigh] This is such a bad idea.

RENA: I’ll be careful, I promise. I just… can’t live with the not-knowing. I’m not going to engage with any of them! I know that I can’t fight. You don’t all have to remind me of it all the time.

LOGAN: I’m not letting you leave on your own.

RENA (concerned): Are you … sure? Can you walk for that long?

LOGAN: I guess we’ll find out but you’re not stepping out of this room unsupervised.

[small pause]

RENA (murmur): Thank you.

LOGAN (dismissive): Yeah, yeah. I was getting bored anyway.

[SFX sheets rustling, bed creaking, a few footsteps]

RENA: We should let Rodrick know where we’re going.

LOGAN: We really shouldn’t. He needs to stay here with the dog anyway. And he’s got his ritual to investigate or whatever.

RENA: He’ll worry about where we’ve gone.

LOGAN: We can leave him a note. I’m sure he’s got something to write in one of the bags.

[SFX footsteps, rummaging in backpack]

RENA: Do you think he’ll be upset we left without him?

LOGAN: Rena, you’re one of us now. You lie and you manipulate and you weasel your way into getting what you want. You don’t have to worry about others’ opinions anymore.

[SFX paper rustle]

RENA (affronted, confused): I am not one of you! Whatever that means. I don’t lie to my friends… if it isn’t strictly necessary. And I don’t manipulate anyone… Do I?

[SFX scribbling on paper]

LOGAN: What do you think you just did?

RENA (affronted): I- …

LOGAN: Rena, it’s fine. I’m proud of you. You’re finally learning something from me.

RENA (affronted): Don’t say that.

LOGAN: You’ll be the perfect thief in no time!

RENA (upset): No I won’t!

LOGAN: Don’t worry, you can become an honest thief. You know, do a good deed while getting stinking rich and all that.

RENA: That’s not how it works! That’s still bad. I don’t want to steal from others!

LOGAN (cheerful): You’ll change your mind soon enough. Now come, I’m sure there’s a sword that’s just waiting to be stolen somewhere in this hovel.

[SFX footsteps, door creaks open, footsteps leading away]

[small pause]

RENA (shocked): Logan!

~~~~

[SFX evening nature sounds, footsteps on pebbles]

They did not, in fact, find a sword that was just waiting to be stolen, but they did find two kitchen knives that almost looked like daggers if you squinted at them from the right angle.

Rena wasn’t sure what to do with the knife Logan gave her. She should have been used to holding it, she’d cooked enough meals in her life, but having taken it out of its usual environment, she’d somehow lost the ability to carry it naturally. She held it in front of her in both hands before remembering that her dress had pockets, but that turned out not to be a great solution either. It weighed her dress down unevenly, threatened to tear a hole in one of the only pieces of clothing she had and banged against her leg as they snuck out of the town that was barely a town. But where else did people keep a weapon? Were they only meant for people who wore trousers? But simply holding it in her hands felt too threatening if anyone ran into them.

Rena’s eyes shifted around nervously as they walked between these strange buildings that seemed more like warehouses than homes. None of them, besides the inn Rena and Logan had come from, had windows and the further they got from the inn, the emptier the streets got. She almost hoped they’d run into Rodrick so they could tell him what they were up to after all – uneasy with leaving town with only a short note explaining where they were – but luck wasn’t on their side. Even when Rena strained her ears, she couldn’t hear anyone else’s presence, not even inside these strange buildings.

She’d never heard of Paemehri before but that hadn’t astonished her when Kalani had mentioned the town that afternoon. Kalani’d recalled it being no more than a tavern and two farms and Rena was sure she didn’t even know all such small towns in Vellashta. But she hadn’t seen any farms yet, just the aforementioned inn and these strange, long buildings that looked like they could fit into Hrevim’s merchant district or perhaps the docks. What was this town? Rena wasn’t even sure anyone lived here. At least she hadn’t noticed any homes yet. Were these long buildings simply for storage? If so, why were they out here and not in Hrevim where they could be kept safe?

LOGAN: Sooo, what now?

RENA (distracted): Hmm?

LOGAN: Where do we go?

RENA: I’m… not sure. North?

LOGAN: North… Reassuring.

RENA: Kalani didn’t have a map either.

LOGAN: Kalani’s also smarter than the both of us. Combined.

RENA (getting annoyed): I don’t know, Logan, I didn’t exactly plan this whole thing out! We’ll just walk around until we find it! Walking already feels much, much better than sitting in a tiny room on a smelly bed!

LOGAN: [sigh] Right. Just walking.

RENA (annoyed): You didn’t have to come!

LOGAN: I did, Rena. I really, really did.

~~~~

               [SFX footsteps on grass]

They walked until they couldn’t see Paemehri anymore and only the moon guided them. Rena tried to scan the ground for any traces or footprints Kalani and the others might have left but she’d never tracked anything down before, and learning a new skill was much more complicated by moonlight. She’d hoped they’d be able to see the monastery from far away, that a light would betray the Crow’s whereabouts, but Rena and Logan had been walking for over an hour and still hadn’t stumbled upon it. They’d seen lights in the distance once and had enthusiastically walked closer until they’d realised that the place the lights emanated from was much too big for an abandoned monastery and was, in all likelihood, simply a regular town.

LOGAN: You know what I just thought of?

RENA (distracted): Hmm?

LOGAN: What if… we don’t find our way back to Paemehri?

RENA (a bit upset): Don’t say that.

LOGAN: We’ve been walking for a while and we haven’t found anything yet.

RENA: We’ll find the monastery.

LOGAN: Sure. What if we don’t?

RENA (getting annoyed): [sigh] Then we go back the way we came from.

LOGAN: Do you remember where we came from?

RENA (annoyed): If we don’t find it we just go back to the other town we saw and get back to Paemehri in the morning. Or we simply sleep out here somewhere.

[SFX rustling leaves, footsteps stop for a short while]

Something moved in the corner of Rena’s eye and she automatically spun around but couldn’t catch what it’d been. There probably were plenty of wild animals around them, maybe even dangerous ones, who knew if sleeping in the wild would be such a good idea? Rena slipped her hand into her dress’ front pocket and wrapped it around the handle of the knife.

LOGAN (cranky): Look, I’m all for just storming out without a plan and letting luck decide where we’re going – life would be horribly boring without spontaneity – but I wish luck would consider the fact that all the medicine’s vanished from my body and walking isn’t exactly the best activity for people with wounds across their bellies and I’m cold and I’m tired and walking really isn’t that exciting.

RENA (annoyed muttering): You’re worse than Valerio when he was an infant.

LOGAN: When, exactly, do we admit that we have no idea what we’re doing and we should simply head back?

RENA (annoyed): I don’t know either, Logan, but we haven’t been out here for that long. Have you never had to walk long distances before?

LOGAN: Sure, but not in the dark while I’m bleeding out.

RENA (annoyed): You’re not bleeding out.

LOGAN: I-

RENA (interrupting): Wait.

               [SFX footsteps stop]

[SFX few, quick footsteps]

RENA: Hoofmarks!

LOGAN: What?

[SFX other footsteps run closer]

LOGAN: Oh shit, hoofmarks!

Rena frantically looked around, trying to find a logical explanation for why there would be a trail of hoofmarks in the wild. The trail was too narrow and well-trodden to have come from wild horses and it was too broad to be from a single traveller. The path had been used more than once but not often enough to’ve become an actual road. They were too far away from any actual towns and no merchant would lead their horses over such rocky terrain for no good reason, so why were these tracks here?

Rena looked out over the distance, trying to determine in which direction they should follow the trail when she saw something else. Orange fur glowing against the dark soil, more than should have been possible in the moonlight.

FOX: Finally.

[small pause]

RENA (getting progressively angry): What?… Why are you here?… What do you want?!

FOX: It is time.

RENA: Time for what?

LOGAN (confused): Rena?

RENA (panicked): You see it, right? Tell me that you see it?!

LOGAN (perplexed): T-the fox? Y-yeah, I see it.

RENA: Do you hear it?! Can you also hear it talk? I-it speaks directly into your mind, I don’t know how it does it.

LOGAN (perplexed): Yeah, yeah, I hear it… What is it?

RENA (angry): I don’t know! It’s everywhere! Everywhere I go, it shows up and just runs away! And now it’s started talking and telling me to hurry up and I don’t know what it wants!

LOGAN (muttering): Maybe my wound’s worse than I thought. I didn’t think I had a fever but …

RENA: You don’t! It’s actually there!

FOX: Your time is running out.

RENA: Why do you always have to be so mysterious?! Why can’t you just tell me what’s going on? Are you helping me? Are you working with the Crow? What is this?! What are you?!

FOX: I can show you the way.

RENA: The way to what?! The monastery? Why can’t you just say that? Why should I follow you when I’m not even sure where we’re going?

FOX: Trust me.

[SFX leaves rustling, fast steps leaving]

[pause]

LOGAN: Are we… going to follow it?

[small pause]

RENA: No. I’m not going to reward this kind of behaviour. We can follow the hoofmarks on our own.

LOGAN: Okay… Left or right?

[small pause]

RENA: Right.

LOGAN: So, where the fox went?

RENA (mutter): Shut up.

[SFX footsteps]

~~~~

They walked for what felt like another hour. The further they got, the more Rena started to lose hope, started to think that maybe following the hoofmarks had been a bad idea, that not following the fox had been the wrong choice, but she couldn’t think about all that for too long. She had to focus on the Crow and Kalani and her sister. Trust in her own decisions. Simply going back to Paemehri wasn’t an option anymore. It would feel too much like abandoning them all over again.

Logan grabbed her arm and stopped.

               [SFX footsteps pausing]

LOGAN (whisper): Wait.

[Pause]

Rena slowly looked around, her entire body stiff, until she saw a faint light in the distance to their right.

RENA (unbelieving, whisper): Is that… it?

LOGAN: (whisper): I really hope so.

[Pause]

RENA (whisper): [quivering breath] Okay. Let’s get closer.

They approached slowly, eyes glancing in every direction to make sure they were truly alone. More lights joined the one they’d seen as they advanced, but not enough to signal they’d simply found another city. Whatever it was they were approaching, it was on top of a hill, partly carved into the rock. Stone walls, covered in lichen, appeared in the dark. They clearly showed their age as parts of them were missing and had fallen to the ground. At first, Rena thought the structure was covered in strange dots, but as they got closer, they revealed themselves to be the same crudely carved bird figurines that Rena had found in Oceansthrow. Her heart skipped a beat at the sight of them, the memories of the fire flooding back in an instant. She had to press on, no matter how scared she suddenly found herself – she was so close to her sister now.

Logan kept a hand on her arm, their backs hunched as they circled the old monastery. Rena hoped with all her might that they’d run into Kalani or Asha or Finn, that they would find someone who could tell them what to do now that they’d reached the Crow’s hideout. She wasn’t sure she could figure it out on her own. All she wanted was to run inside and find her sister but she knew that was a bad idea. They had to be sneaky if they wanted to get back to Paemehri safely.

FOX: Come this way.

Rena’s head spun around to the fox that was sitting on a stone to their right, eyes glowing in the dark as it stared at her.

Only two paths lay in front of us this week:

• On the first path, Rena and Logan follow the fox into the monastery.
• On the second path, Rena and Logan find their own way into the monastery.

You can cast your vote by going to the show’s twitter page, the tumblr page, or on theheartpyre.com. You have until January 26th 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.

---

With 50 percent of the votes, our story continues on the first path.

As season two draws to a close, the companions are on the verge of confronting the Crow but they first have to agree on the best way to do so. 

By the end of the episode, two choices will be presented to you. Voting is open until January 26th. 

Find A Searing Faith, the novelisation of season 1, on your favourite platform:
https://books2read.com/A-Searing-Faith

Intro music: Lonely Dusty Trail by Jon Presstone

Logo Design: Mars Lauderbaugh

With 60 percent of the votes, our story continues on the second path.

The companions get ready to leave the city but first need to find out where exactly the Crow is hiding. 

Content Warnings: mentions of suffocation, mentions of sacrifices and religious rituals, objectification & creepy flirting by an older man, minor misgendering

By the end of the episode, three choices will be presented to you. Voting is open until December 29rd.

Find A Searing Faith, the novelisation of season 1, on your favourite platform:
https://books2read.com/A-Searing-Faith

Intro music: Lonely Dusty Trail by Jon Presstone

Logo Design: Mars Lauderbaugh

CW: mentions of suffocation, mentions of sacrifices and religious rituals, objectification & creepy flirting by an older man, minor misgendering

Welcome, to the Heart Pyre. This is episode 29, The Departure.

---

[SFX gas hissing, dog snoring in background]

LOGAN: If there are so many people after us, shouldn’t we just leave the city?

Logan came to sit besides Rena, leaning back on the bed with one hand, the other draped carefully around his stomach. A sweat bead ran down his temple as a flinch contorted his face. Rena stared at him with curiosity, her eyebrows drawing together in concern.

LOGAN: We’ll find their hideout ourselves. How difficult can it be to locate some weirdos sheltering in old ruins? There aren’t a million of these abandoned monasteries in Baedan’s hills, especially not with those weird symbols we found in Oceansthrow. Let’s just go to the one near Tarkot’s Bridge, what are the chances they’ve found another one nearby? The quicker we get out of here, the quicker we’ll find them.

Kalani stared at the floor, her face clouded in deep contemplation before she shook her head.

KALANI: No, we’d waste too much time. You don’t realise how vast these hills are and how many abandoned ruins there are.

LOGAN: Come on, didn’t Rodrick say their weird triangle thing was unique and special?

RODRICK: Yes, precisely. While the two intertwined triangles with the horizontal line are seen quite frequently in these regions to represent Tavuu’Moda, the version that we saw on the gravestone in Miller’s Knee and that was also present in Oceansthrow had an additional dot in its center that is quite rare.

LOGAN: What he said. And I’m pretty sure I saw that on the ruins near Tarkot’s Bridge before.

KALANI: That doesn’t mean they’re hiding there. And we aren’t committing to one location just because you think you maybe remember seeing this one very specific symbol that’s only slightly different from its local variants on a wall five years ago.

LOGAN (indignant): Whatever.

KALANI: We need to find someone who can guide us. Someone who actually knows where they are. Not just a vague idea of ruins. An actual, precise location. And I think Asha’s right. The docks are the best place to do so.

ASHA (in background): I’ve got some ideas on who could help us. Might just get expensive.

KALANI (in background): Isn’t your cousin well connected at the docks? We should talk to him first.

ASHA (in background, annoyed): Do we have to?

KALANI (in background): He’s our best shot at finding what we need without signing our life away. I don’t want to be indebted to these people. I know how these things end.

ASHA (in background): Doesn’t Cass have some contacts around here? Can’t we pull some strings and ask for some favours?

KALANI (in background): Potentially. I’m not sure who’s currently in the city though. And I want to get this done as quickly as possible. We really don’t have the luxury of staying another day in Hrevim.

RODRICK (in background): Will moving through the city as a group be a good decision? We might be very noticeable if we’re all together.

KALANI (in background): It’s difficult to know. I want to avoid splitting us up but you’re right that we draw more attention if we walk around as a group. We might have to split up, as much as I dislike it.

ASHA (in background): It’ll be easier if we don’t wander the docks as a group. Especially with idiots who don’t look like they belong there.

KALANI (in background, gets louder again for last sentence): You’re right. It’s best if you and I go alone. We can meet back up later once we have the information. These rooms are safe enough, nothing bad should happen to the rest of you if you stay here. And Logan knows where the exits are if anything happens, right Logan?

Logan’s breathing was laboured, his jaw clenched even though he was clearly trying to hide the pain. Rena’s eyes dropped to his hand wrapped around his midriff, the hand that was trembling. She leaned closer.

RENA (quiet): How are you feeling?

Logan glanced back at her and shot her a quick smile.

LOGAN (quiet): I’m fine, don’t worry about me.

RENA (quiet): You don’t look like you’re doing fine.

LOGAN (quiet): The walking around has just exhausted me. I’ll be back to my old self after I’ve rested a bit.

RENA (quiet): We should get you some more medicine.

LOGAN (quiet): I already got some this morning. It just needs to take effect.

RENA (quiet): You should stay here and rest.

LOGAN (quiet): Yeah, sure, but not too long. We should really leave the city.

RENA (quiet): We also shouldn’t be running around with an injured man… I really didn’t want you to get hurt like this. I feel foolish for having dragged you into this mess.

LOGAN (quiet): Rena, it’s fine. I can barely feel it. It’s my own fault I got hurt. I could have just run away during the fight if I’d really wanted to keep myself safe. [Kalani’s voice pierces through] Hmm, what? Oh, yeah, I know how to get out of here. Why?

KALANI: Good. Asha and I are going to the docks. The rest of you stay here. It’s safer this way and people at the docks will be less suspicious of us.

LOGAN: Are you sure you want to split up?

RENA (hastily): No, I think Kalani’s right! If we stay, we’ll be safe. It would be much more complicated to keep us safe out there.

ASHA: It’ll be quicker if it’s just Kalani and me, so be a good, little boy, stay put and rest. You look like someone dug you out of a grave a week ago.

[SFX footsteps, door opens and closes, small dog noises in background]

LOGAN (under his breath, slightly annoyed): [sigh] Fine, I’ll guess we stay here and be bored.

[SFX dog yawning]

[Small pause]

RODRICK (hesitant): I understand that it is safer for us if we stay indoors but I do have to let Vincent out for a bit. The poor creature’s been trapped in this room for too long.

RENA (shocked as if she’d forgotten about it): Oh! Yes, of course! Poor Vincent!

               [SFX footsteps, happy dog noises]

She stood up and walked over to the dog, kneeling besides him to run her fingers through his fur.

RODRICK: I won’t be long but he should get the opportunity to run around a bit. I’m thinking of going back to the library. That should be far enough to get the stiffness out of his legs and there was something I still wanted to look up.

RENA: Something you wanted to look up?

RODRICK: Nothing serious, just a hunch I have that I would like to confirm or deny. I won’t be long. I know exactly where I can find it.

LOGAN: If you go, I go. [groaning in pain]

               [SFX Bed creaking]

With a grimace on his face, Logan tried to stand up. Rena rushed back and placed a hand on his chest to stop him.

               [SFX hurried footsteps]

RENA (firm): No! You stay here!

LOGAN: Oh, come on! If he’s allowed to go, so am I!

RENA: How is this even remotely the same situation? We said you needed to rest and you agreed! How did you already change your mind? You’re not leaving this room until you feel better!

LOGAN: I’m not letting Rodrick go outside on his own unprotected when there’s a bunch of people looking for us.

RENA: He’s not going on his own! I’ll join, alright?

LOGAN: Rena… That’ll only make me worry more.

RENA: We won’t be out for long. We know where the library is and it’ll take us less than an hour to get there and back. We’ll be careful! No arguing! Finn, can you make sure he doesn’t leave the room?

Finn looked at her startled, not having expected to be addressed. He’d barely moved since they’d entered the room, deep in whichever memories his sister’s appearance had dragged up.

[Small pause]

FINN (weak voice): Yes.

Logan glared at Finn, narrowing his eyes in mock anger.

FINN: [clears throat] She’s right, you need bed rest. You look awful.

LOGAN (under his breath): Way to sugarcoat it. (louder, annoyed) Fine! I’ll stay. But Finn has to take care of my poor, ailing body.

FINN (deadpan): I can tie you to the bed so you don’t get up and injure yourself further.

LOGAN (flirty): Oh, now we’re talking.

Rena rolled her eyes and turned back around to a chuckling Rodrick.

RENA: I’ll leave you two to it. While we’re already out we can try to find some more medicine for Logan. I think there were some shops on the way to the library that bought trinkets. We could sell some of the things we salvaged from the crash. Hopefully, it’ll be enough to find something that’ll actually help Logan.

[SFX footsteps, door creaks open]

LOGAN: Wait! Put on the new clothing I got this morning. You’ll be less recognisable if you don’t wear your regular clothes.

RODRICK: Oh, did you get something for all of us?

[SFX door creaks shut again]

LOGAN: I tried. I just hope it fits.

RENA: [sigh] We’ll really need to buy more clothing at some point. At least enough so that we can regularly wash them. We’re starting to smell.

LOGAN: Oh? You don’t like the musk of adventure? I didn’t know you were such a pristine lady.

RENA: Not everyone was raised in a tent. Some of us grew up with the luxury of regular bathing.

LOGAN: Prejudices over prejudices.

[SFX clothes rustling]

RENA: If you’ll excuse me, this lady is going to change into her new garments in the other room.

[SFX a few footsteps]

LOGAN: Rena! I’m serious though. Be careful when you’re out there. We don’t know where Silac or Inkra or whoever else is looking for us will be.

[small pause]

RENA (calm voice): Yeah, I know. We’ll be careful.

~~~~~~

[SFX ocean sounds, seagulls, dock works, footsteps]

It had been a long time since Asha’s shoulders had felt this tense. She should have been used to feeling danger approach but ever since that captain had used his sorcery on her, the world hadn’t felt right anymore. At night, all her brain could think about was the feeling of suffocation. Any time she breathed out, just before taking another breath, she was plunged back into the terror of that day. The certainty of breathing had been ripped from her and it terrified her that something like this could ever be possible. That someone like Silac could exist.

When she was little, her mother had told her endless stories about the spirits of the sea and the havoc they wreaked on land, but Asha had quickly stopped believing these tales. She simply couldn’t believe in these beings beyond her perception, not when all the horrible things that had ever happened to her had been at the hands of other humans. Humans, who thought they could decide others’ fate because of some paper that had been signed long before any of them had been alive.

At least those actions she could understand – the cruelty of humanity for greed’s sake and the uncaringness of the universe – but this? The total control of a person’s body with just one look and a few words? Not even a touch? It didn’t fit into anything she understood.

KALANI: I know you don’t like your cousin, but it would be the quickest and easiest method to find someone who knows where the Crow’s hiding.

ASHA (between gritted teeth, annoyed): I know, Kalani. [Sigh] I can swallow my pride for one afternoon.

KALANI: Thank you.

Kalani shot her a kind smile and then quickened her pace. It was apparent that even she was spooked by the situation they’d found themselves in. Kalani had seen much more than her in life, much more than Asha could even imagine, so noticing the cracks in her confidence only helped hasten Asha’s concerns.

But Asha knew exactly what was running through Kalani’s mind at that moment. The both of them had to project a strong and calculated front for the others, especially Rena. Asha tried her best to comply with the unspoken orders but every memory of Silac made her steps falter. She’d become an expert in shoving everything she didn’t fully understand into a box and cramming it below the floorboards of her mind, but the bastard refused to stay in his box.

The rest of the Crow was easy to explain. Angry, bitter fools turning to religion to pretend that life used to be better for people like them. Asha couldn’t believe in that. A hundred years ago, two hundred years ago, someone like her, someone like Inkra or Michael or any other of these fools, would have gone through the exact same struggles in life. They’d just have been tinged in a different hue.

Maniala was delighted to see them return, even if just briefly and tried to offer them more food, having just found a basket of dried pear slices in the back of a closet. Kalani accepted gladly and soon got Maniala to tell them exactly where Asha’s cousin was. Shabri worked as a carpenter on the restoration of a large vessel. In one of the large, open hangars, the ship hung in the air while a flock of workers scraped barnacles off its hull. Without entering the building, Asha waved for her cousin to meet them outside, away from any curious ears.

SHABRI: Asha? Maniala told me you were in town. Didn’t expect to see you though. Kalani. Haven’t seen you in a while either.

KALANI (warm): It’s been too long. How have you been? How’s your wife?

SHABRI (chuckling): Oh man, sore subject. She left me two years ago.

KALANI (surprised, a bit embarrassed): I’m sorry, I didn’t know. Someone must have forgotten to inform me.

ASHA (under her breath): Didn’t seem relevant to our daily lives.

SHABRI: Don’t worry about it. I’ve been enjoying life. There are too many beautiful women around to be sad, you know? Especially in a place like this!

ASHA: Urgh.

KALANI: Truly. Well, we don’t want to keep you away from your work too long, we’re here for something specific.

SHABRI: Oh yeah?

KALANI: We’re looking for something. Well, someone. A group of someone’s.

SHABRI: Okay?

KALANI: Something was stolen from Cass and it’s quite important that we get it back.

SHABRI: Oh shit, yeah, no definitely. Wouldn’t want the big boss to be angry at me, haha. And you think they’re hiding in the city?

KALANI: Not directly, but probably not far outside.

SHABRI: Alright. And how can I help?

KALANI: You can help us find someone who’ll know where we can find them. Someone you trust.

SHABRI: Uh, sure.

KALANI: Someone who knows exactly what’s going on in this city. Which people enter and leave. Someone who notices anything a bit strange.

SHABRI: Yeah, yeah, yeah, I know a few, I just don’t know who’s the most trustworthy.

ASHA: We’ll also accept whoever can get us the information fastest.

SHABRI: Yeah, okay. Let me think. [small pause] What kind of people are you looking for?

Asha glanced over at Kalani, unsure if they should tell Shabri the truth.

KALANI: They’re a bit of a strange group. Always travelling in packs, all wearing similar clothes. Black, knee-length trousers, red tights underneath, a cape of brown fur. Hiding out somewhere in the hills.

The truth it was then. Asha disagreed with the decision but Kalani knew best. There wasn’t a reason for them to hide the truth, anyway. The Crow already knew they were hot on their heels; Shabri wouldn’t be able to rat them out for a profit even if he tried.

SHABRI (pensive): Oh, yeah. I think I’ve seen them around. Not sure who’d know where they’re staying though. They don’t tend to talk to people a whole lot. They’re not that often in Hrevim either. Hmm, there’s Konrad. I don’t know how trustworthy I’d call him, but he blackmails a lot of people, so … he knows a lot.

ASHA: Oh for fuck’s sake, not Konrad.

KALANI (reluctant): There’s no one else you can think of?

SHABRI: Not that I know of, no. I could find you someone else if you can wait until tomorrow or the day after.

KALANI (annoyed): Not really… He’ll have to do.

ASHA: He’s an arrogant bastard who thinks he’s hot shit and has never worked an honest day in his life.

SHABRI: Yeah, sure, but he also knows a lot.

ASHA: He’ll ask for the most outrageous thing as payment.

KALANI: Do we have any other options?

SHABRI: Not if you want the information fast. Agnessa is out at sea at the moment or I’d take you to her. She probably knows just as much.

KALANI: We’ll have to risk it with Konrad.

[SFX tavern sounds]

Fifteen minutes later, Asha’s cousin had taken them to one of the worst-smelling taverns Asha had ever had the privilege of stepping into. Their informant was a man almost a decade older than Asha, with pale skin that had turned a sickish yellow, and bushy black eyebrows that hung over bloodshot eyes. He wore his black hair in a long, greasy ponytail, although it would have been better for him if he’d shaven his head five years ago.

               [SFX footsteps on wood]

KONRAD: Do my eyes deceive me? A spirit of the sea has appeared in front of me. The most beautiful woman of all the isles has deemed me worthy of her presence!

ASHA (under her breath): Shut up, Konrad.

KALANI (calculated): Konrad, it has been a while.

KONRAD: Seven years since your wench banished me.

KALANI: We told you, you were allowed back after a year. You just had to learn to play by the rules.

KONRAD: I make my own rules here, why would I come back to your rotten village?

KALANI: Well, the offer stands if you ever change your mind.

[SFX chairs being moved]

KALANI: But that’s not why we’re here.

SHABRI (low voice): They’re looking for someone.

KONRAD: Oh yeah, are you now? And that’s why you come to your old buddy Konrad?

ASHA (mumble): We wouldn’t if we didn’t have to.

SHABRI: You know everything that’s going on around here. Who else would we ask, right?

KONRAD (smirking): You flatter me. But it’s true. No one knows more than Konrad.

KALANI: Someone stole something from Cass.

KONRAD: And why should I help your filthy wench?

KALANI: Name your price.

Konrad narrowed his eyes for a bit then a terrible smile split his face, showing his rotten teeth. His bloodshot eyes settled on Asha, before slowly wandering up and down.

KONRAD: I’ve got something in mind.

ASHA (disgusted): I don’t want to hear it.

KONRAD: Promise me Asha’s hand in marriage.

ASHA: Absolutely not!

SHABRI: I don’t think you can just give that away as a payment, Konrad.

KALANI: We do not trade in forced marriages.

KONRAD: [chuckle] Pardon me. I just have to keep trying. Wouldn’t want anyone else to snatch away the fiercest woman of all the isles.

ASHA: I will cut off your balls and shove them so far down your throat you’ll be able to use them as a second pair of lungs.

KONRAD: Mmmm. I love it when she insults me.

KALANI (starting to get annoyed): Name another price.

KONRAD: Find me another wife just as passionate as her.

SHABRI: [uncomfortable chuckle] Come on, Konrad. They can’t do that. That wouldn’t be very fair to the women.

ASHA (low voice): You disgust me.

[SFX chair half move]

KONRAD (laughing): I’m just joking, I’m just joking.

KALANI: Asha, stay. …

[SFX chair moves back in]

KALANI: Konrad, let’s be reasonable here. Shabri told me you deal in information nowadays. I’m sure something can be arranged in that department. Have you heard the news about Rosiana yet?

KONRAD (interested): Do tell.

Kalani leaned forward and told Konrad all she knew about Rosiana, the head of one of the other moving villages who operated in the North of Baedan. Konrad’s grin grew wider with every drop of information Kalani fed him. She then told him about the Crow, just enough to identify them, and explained in the vaguest of terms why they were after them. As predicted, he knew exactly where they were staying, or at least claimed to. He had, of course, tried to blackmail them in the past before realising they owned nothing of value and didn’t much care about their reputation in the city. Konrad explained that they were staying in an old, abandoned monastery between Paemehri and Taehre – half a day by foot and only a few hours by cart. He’d never been there himself but apparently had informants in both towns who’d told him about the strange group staying in the hills.

Asha and Kalani didn’t stay much longer after that, refusing Konrad’s offer for a drink and leaving Asha’s cousin in the tavern with him instead.

[SFX ocean & seagull sounds, dockworking sounds, footsteps]

ASHA: Rosiana won’t be happy to hear you’ve ratted her out like this.

KALANI: Rosiana can deal with a nuisance like Konrad. He’s all bark, no bite. And Rosiana isn’t exactly my friend, anyway. I don’t need to protect her. She’s done much worse in her life.

ASHA: True, but who knows who we’ll need as allies in the coming months?

KALANI (amused): Since when do you care about Rosiana?

ASHA: I don’t. I’m just wary about making more enemies than we already have.

KALANI: [sigh] You’re right but this won’t bite us in the ass right away. We’ll have at least a few weeks before Konrad tries to do anything with this information and Rosiana finds out who gave it to him. That will give us enough time to figure out how to deal with the Crow before it hits us. If it ever does hit us.

[Small pause]

ASHA (under her breath): Konrad’s so vile. Why are humans this obsessed with pairing up with each other?

KALANI: Most people enjoy familiar company. In a… normal way. Not whatever Konrad considers appropriate.

ASHA (annoyed): That’s what friends are for. I don’t need to spend half my life chasing someone to get the council to ratify our union for eternity.

KALANI: You’re not the best at making friends either, my love.

ASHA: I’ve got you and Cass, that’s enough. And I’m bound to my uncle no matter what I do.

KALANI (amused): Your employer and their wife. What a great track record.

ASHA: Cass is more than my employer.

KALANI: I know, dear.

ASHA: They’re also a massive pain in my ass.

KALANI: [amused chuckle]

ASHA: You only drag problems into your life when you shack up with people. Look at how much of a mess Logan’s life is. Or my cousin’s. Nothing good’s ever come from their escapades. And in the end, you bringing more poor souls into this fucked up world. Just a cycle of creating mysery.

KALANI: Asha… It wouldn’t do you any harm to see the world with a smidge more positivity.

ASHA (mutter): [sigh] If only I could. Everything’s falling apart again. And now we have to deal with people who can control bodies with a glance and others who burn down villages because of some forsaken belief in old stories. How am I supposed to stay positive with that?

KALANI: [sigh] These are strange times… But nothing we can’t overcome. Once we’ve safely got Rena’s sister back, we can figure out what to do with the Crow from further away. It doesn’t have to be our problem alone. Cass is already working on it and I’m sure by now they’ve got a whole slew of people working on the problem. We’re not the only ones affected by it, this development threatens everyone living in this region.

ASHA: What if they’ve got more of these mystical fuckers hidden away in that monastery.

KALANI (hesitant) I doubt it.

ASHA: But you don’t know.

[Small pause]

KALANI: We’ll figure it out once we get there. We don’t have the time to observe them from afar. I’m more scared about what they might do to Rena’s sister… And why they took her in the first place.

[small pause]

ASHA: To make more of these body-controlling freaks.

KALANI: I hope not … but probably. Or something similar.

[Pause]

ASHA (mutter with hate): Those motherfuckers.

~~~~~~

[SFX city sounds, ocean in the far background]

Rena stood outside the library, her arms wrapped tightly around her chest. The red dress Logan had gotten for her looked like one of the special occasion dresses her mother used to buy her for birthdays or festivities, with its little round beads carefully stitched onto the hem, even if it clearly showed its age. She’d found a spot not too far from the library’s entrance that was cast in shadows and would hopefully keep her hidden from any prying eyes. Her gaze darted nervously around as the sun’s trajectory changed the shadow she was hiding in and threatened to completely take it away from her.

Rodrick had said he wouldn’t be long, he simply had to look something up, he’d be right out in just a second! But that hadn’t been the case. At least Vincent didn’t seem to mind the delay. He lay in the sun an arm’s length away from her, enjoying the heat of the day.

She cast her gaze to her feet, observing as the sun crept ever closer. She didn’t want to look out the crowd anymore. Her stomach cramped any time she spotted someone who looked even remotely like Silac or Deacon or Inkra. She even thought she’d spotted Michael a few times but it had never actually been him. She got tired of this constant whiplash of feelings – there wasn’t much she could do if they spotted her anyway – so she let her hair fall in front of her face, obscuring her from the rest of the world, and counted the seconds until Rodrick finally returned.

[SFX footsteps coming closer]

RENA (annoyed hiss): What took you so long?

RODRICK: I told you, there was something I needed to look up.

RENA: But you were inside for so long!

[SFX dog sniffing]

RODRICK: I know, I know. I apologize. It took me longer to find what I needed than I’d anticipated. I’m truly sorry, Rena. Will you forgive me?

RENA: I- … We shouldn’t stay here! Anyone could see us from far away. Let’s hurry back to the others.

RODRICK: Alright, alright.

[SFX footsteps]

RODRICK: Did Vincent behave?

RENA: Yeah, he mostly just slept in the sun. I didn’t really dare step out of the shadows, though. Too many people around.

[pause]

RENA: What even were you looking for in the library?

RODRICK: Just something I’d read about the potential ritual in my previous research. It didn’t want to leave my mind. Did you know that the old faith believed in reincarnation?

RENA: Yes, well, a lot of people still do. I think it depends on where you grew up.

RODRICK: But how many people actually believe it? I think these people consider it a cornerstone of our universe. That a person never truly dies and we are all stuck in a chain of being reborn. That there is something in us that never disappears and simply wanders through existence from host to host.

RENA (hesitant): And in your view, there’s what after death?

RODRICK (astonished): Nothing. Why would there be anything after death?

RENA (hesitant, trails off): I-I don’t know. I guess there could just be nothing. My father always said we come from the earth and we go back to it and then the cycle starts anew. But who knows what you come back as, or if it’s actually even you. Maybe you just turn into a fire mackerel. Or a maikan flower. Wouldn’t even have a care in the world then.

RODRICK: Well, what we believe doesn’t much matter right now. The case is that the Crow do, in all likelihood, strongly believe in reincarnation, whether for humans or their gods, so of course they would try to forcibly reincarnate the god they believe in most into a body near them.

RENA (astonished): Does that work?

RODRICK: Well, they sure believe in it.

RENA: But wouldn’t Tavuu’Moda already have been reincarnated in the last hundred years? Do gods even die? I’m sure the rules must be different for gods and humans.

RODRICK: The rules that they invented. Let’s not forget that this isn’t actually based on any actual truth. They can twist their beliefs into anything that fits them best.

RENA: Alright, fine, then what does this ritual say?

RODRICK: It seeks to pull this energy or spirit that is supposedly in usout of the universe and place it in a new vessel. I’m unsure how they want to find the correct spirit they’re aiming for though.

RENA: And … the vessel?

RODRICK: Well, I don’t think they care much about the vessel. As long as it is strong and healthy. And I think it has to be empty.

RENA: Empty?

RODRICK: Of another spirit.

RENA: How’s that possible?

RODRICK: I’m not sure. They’d probably have to empty it somehow.

[pause]

RENA: Is that what they want to do to Maya?

RODRICK: We don’t know for certain that they chose your sister as the new vessel.

RENA: What else would she be? Tavuu’Moda’s current form? Wouldn’t we have noticed if Maya was the reincarnation of a god?

RODRICK: [chuckle] I’m sure you would have.

RENA (getting angry): Then why else did they take her?

RODRICK: Rena …

RENA (calming down): I know, I know. [sigh] We won’t know until we’ve found them.

RODRICK: I wish there were clearer answers for us to find.

RENA (small voice): I really hope Kalani and Asha find out where they’re hiding.

~~~~

               [SFX gas hissing in background, door opening and closing, footsteps stepping into room]

LOGAN (concerned, angry): What took you so long?! I was about to go looking for you.

Logan rushed towards Rena who took a step back in alarm and hit the door with her back.

LOGAN: You said you’d been gone for less than an hour. It’s been like ten.

FINN (deadpan): It’s been an hour and a half.

With panicked eyes, Logan looked over at Rodrick. Finn came to stand next to him with a much calmer demeanour, keeping his distance from Vincent who strolled leisurely past and curled up on the floor in the middle of the room.

FINN: I don’t think I would have been able to keep him from leaving for much longer. He’s right that you were gone for longer than you said.

RODRICK: I know, I know. It’s my fault. I apologize. I got carried away at the library, but it was for a good reason!

LOGAN (still annoyed): Which is?

RODRICK: Finding out more in more detail what the Crow is planning. Potentially.

LOGAN: You were gone this long for a potentially?

RODRICK: There are no complete certainties in science and research.

Rodrick placed a hand on Logan’s shoulder and guided him back to his bed. Rena stepped away from the door again, relieved that Kalani and Asha hadn’t returned yet. She’d been scared they’d be reprimanded if they arrived back later than the two women. She knew what they’d done hadn’t been smart. She should have tried to convince Rodrick not to go back to the library but the thought hadn’t crossed her mind when they’d left. She’d been too preoccupied with trying to get Logan to stay inside.

As Rodrick explained what he’d found at the library, Rena sat down on the floor, her back against the bed, and guided Vincent’s head onto her lap. She wordlessly handed Logan the small tin of salve they’d gotten before reaching the library, which he took without looking. He spun it between his hands, too busy being confused by Rodrick’s story.

Finn brought over the half-filled pitcher of water before rummaging through their bags for something resembling clean bandages.

Ten minutes later, Rodrick had answered all of Logan’s questions somewhat adequately and Logan’s wound had been washed and rebandaged as best as they could before the door swung open once more.

[SFX door opens and closes, footsteps coming in]

ASHA (sarcastically): Oh look Kalani, they’re still alive.

RENA (excited): How did it go?

KALANI: We know where they are.

ASHA: We hope we know where they are and didn’t get lied to.

KALANI (annoyed): Yes, Asha, we hope we didn’t get lied to. But Konrad knows what’ll happen if he lies to us like this.

LOGAN: Konrad? Ugh.

ASHA: See, even Logan dislikes him.

LOGAN: What does he know about the Crow?

KALANI: He trades in blackmail nowadays, apparently.

LOGAN (mutter): Of course he does. He’s too stupid for anything else.

KALANI: They’re hiding in the hills between Taehre and Paemehri. So not near Tarkot’s Bridge, Logan.

LOGAN: Close enough.

KALANI: There’s a full day’s walk between both locations, Logan. [sigh] Anyway, Taehre is the biggest of the two towns but it’s also furthest away. From what I recall, Paemehri can barely be called a town at all. Not sure if it’s grown in the last decade or so, but I remember it being barely more than a tavern and two farms, but it’s closer to Hrevim. Either way, it’s best if we get to either one by wagon and then explore the region from there. I’ve made preparations, we could leave right now if everyone’s ready.

LOGAN: Never felt better.

~~~~

               [SFX ocean in distance, seagulls, footsteps]

It barely took them another ten minutes before they’d vacated their rooms. They combined the clothes Logan had gotten for them with their old ones so as not to raise suspicion by wearing too fancy clothing and made their way to the nearest city exit. Kalani led them through the smallest streets she could find even if it made their journey longer than needed, but Rena was grateful that it kept them away from the bigger masses of people. Her eyes darted around frantically, never stopping, fear creeping through her body the closer they got to the exit. They were so close to leaving Hrevim but Silac could still be waiting for them at every turn.

In the back of her mind, she kept seeing the image of Jesper, broken and hurt, surrounded by the Historical Academy and Deacon. Her memory of Aldara twisted into something grotesque with every step – her smile turning vicious, her hands transforming into claws around Jesper’s arm, her uniform suddenly blood red. What were they going to do to him if Rena didn’t help him? Were they going to turn him against her? Were they going to make him disappear? But what could she do against it anyway? She couldn’t stop now to focus on helping Jesper without completely derailing what they’d been working towards for the past week. She couldn’t abandon Maya. She felt like throwing up, her stomach twisting and turning at the thought that she could not save both of them.

[SFX horses neighing in background]

They emerged onto an open court just in front of a smaller side entrance to the city, mostly used by merchants from what it seemed. To their left and right, people led horse-drawn carriages past them or unloaded their goods. The light behind the gates grew brighter and it was as if a hand was gripping her chest and pulling her back. Jesper needed her. They were the only two who’d survived the fire and she was about to abandon him again. She didn’t actually know if Maya was alive, not truly. Rodrick kept reminding her of it. But she’d seen Jesper. She’d touched him! He was real and he was hurt and he needed someone to tell him the truth.

But at least Aldara had said she’d take care of him, that she’d find him a doctor who could heal him. If Maya was still alive, she had no one looking after her. The Crow could be doing any number of horrendous things to her in the name of their monstrous ritual and no one besides Rena and her companions even knew about it.

She shook her head and quickened her pace, leaving Rodrick and Vincent and striding up to Kalani at the front of the group. The quicker they found the Crow, the quicker they could save Maya, the quicker they could get back to Hrevim and also save Jesper.

Kalani marched towards the stables on their right where several people were hitching horses to carts and wagons. Rena tried to assess which one of them was going to take them closer to the Crow but when her eyes landed on a lanky figure leaning against one of the stable’s poles and smirking at them, she froze.

DEACON: Well, well, well. Who do we have here?

               [SFX footsteps stop]

LOGAN (muttering): Oh for fuck’s sake. (louder) Not now, Deacon!

DEACON: Thought you could just slip out without anyone noticing, did you? But no one just slips past me that easily.

KALANI (tired): Deacon, we don’t have time for this.

DEACON: No, of course not, there’s never time for my concerns but he gets away with everything in your books.

KALANI (annoyed): Whatever your problem with Logan is, take it up with Cass.

Kalani walked past Deacon, aiming towards a young girl hitching a black horse to a small, wooden cart, but Logan stopped beside Rena. Deacon’s beady eyes narrowed at Logan before he pushed himself off the beam.

DEACON (menacing): Oh, I already did but our dear Sovereign Outcast plays favourites, like always. Total neutrality, my ass. And I know exactly why you treat him so differently from the rest of us… (low, menacing voice) I know your dirty, little secret.

LOGAN: [big sigh] Whatever the fuck you think you know, I can guarantee that it’s not true.

DEACON: Oh, really? I know that you weren’t born here in the south, or Hellar’s Dip or wherever else you pretend to be from.

LOGAN (annoyed): Yeah, I wouldn’t consider my birthplace a big, dark secret.

DEACON (conspiratorially): I know that your name isn’t actually Logan.

LOGAN: Yeah, no shit, most people can figure that out.

Rena glanced over at Logan. She hadn’t imagined this conversation to go the way it was. She still didn’t understand what Deacon wanted from Logan but he seemed reluctant to talk about it directly.

RENA (murmur): It’s not?

LOGAN: (murmur): It’s the one I’ve been using for years, so it basically is. Just not the one I was born with.

DEACON: I know who your father is.

LOGAN (annoyed, starting to get angry): What do you want, Deacon? You didn’t come all this way to discuss my lineage with me.

DEACON: Maybe I did, considering all the other stuff I know.

LOGAN: Deacon …

Kalani had stopped near the young girl and had started helping her ready the cart. Asha stood beside her, her eyes fixed on Deacon, the two burlap sacks with their belongings lying at her feet.

DEACON: You think I can’t put two and two together? About the stupid documents you made me steal for you? About how I got thrown into jail because of those totally unimportant, nobody’s even gonna notice them gone documents?

LOGAN (annoyed, apologetic): Listen, I’m sorry for that. I miscalculated, okay?

DEACON: Miscalculated, my ass. Why didn’t you do the job yourself, hmm?

LOGAN (exasperated): I had other stuff to do!

DEACON: Oh, of course. You just didn’t want daddy to know you stole his stuff.

LOGAN (incredulous): You didn’t steal the documents from my father!

DEACON: No, I know, but they still belong to him. Or at least the stuff they talk about. All the ore being mined for the train. All the shit they’re pulling with its construction. All the rumours about how they treat their workers. Daddy wouldn’t like it if it all came to light, would he? Are you blackmailing him or helping him bury his shame?

Logan’s jaw was set tight, his eyes ablaze with fury as his hands clasped tightly into fists. The more Deacon said, the less Rena understood. She knew Logan had been researching the train line’s construction before, but she’d never asked him what exactly had interested him in it. The woman they’d tied up in the Crow’s hideout in Halvint had talked about the train, but she hadn’t mentioned anything about bad working conditions, just that she wanted everyone to be able to use it equally. Rena couldn’t tell if Deacon was speaking the truth, that Logan’s father actually had something to do with this project, or if he was simply trying to annoy Logan.

RENA (murmur): The train?

LOGAN (through gritted teeth): What do you want, Deacon?

DEACON: What I’m owed! You paid me a horse’s crap for that job and now I have to fear for my life! I want more!

LOGAN: I don’t have more!

DEACON: Bullshit! Considering your lineage, you have a fuckton more!

LOGAN (starting to shout): The lineage you made up!

[SFX footsteps coming closer quickly]

KALANI: Guys. Guys! Stop it! Deacon, I’ll pay you your fare wage when we get back to Rancor! Money isn’t worth the time you’re making us waste with your petty bickering.

DEACON: Why are you protecting him?

KALANI: I am not! I just do not have the time for this idiotic argument right now.

DEACON: Do you know who he is?!

KALANI: I know more than you can ever dream of. I also know who you are, Deacon Hal-Vega.

Deacon’s face was contorted in hatred as he stared at Kalani, red splotches forming on his skin.

KALANI (calmly, with a rest of anger): Now go back to Cass and wait for us to return.

DEACON: I am not your dog.

KALANI: Oh my stars, Deacon, put your pride aside for one day. You will get your money!

DEACON: If I don’t, Logan, I can’t promise that your little friend will stay safe for much longer.

LOGAN (confused): What? Which friend? What the fuck are you talking about now?

DEACON: She knows.

Without looking at her, Deacon nodded in Rena’s direction.

RENA (dazed, then panicked): What? … Jesper? … Why would he not be safe?

LOGAN: Oh come on, Deacon. That’s a low blow. The man was trapped in a fire a week ago. He doesn’t even know me. Why would you pull him into this?

DEACON: Then you better get me my money.

LOGAN: Money you don’t deserve.

KALANI: Logan.

LOGAN: But he doesn’t! He’s threatening me with something he just pulled out of his ass!

DEACON: You just don’t want to admit it!

Asha suddenly stepped forward, her sword glinting golden in the sunlight as it was held against Deacon’s throat.

ASHA (calm, threatening): Kalani told you to go back to Cass.

[small pause]

DEACON (low voice): Always do as your masters tell you, right?

ASHA: Just shut up, you insufferable waste of skin.

Deacon slowly backed off, his gaze first on the sword, then on Rena.

DEACON: Your friend is a really interesting man, you know. Went through so much these last few days. Thankfully, the Historical Academy was there to help him back on his feet. What a tragedy that fire was, just so unlucky that that haybale caught fire. So unpredictable. But that’s life, I guess. You never know what might happen next.

He walked backwards for a while, then stood still, staring at her until Rena felt the need to stop breathing. Like a prey in front of its predator, hoping desperately it wouldn’t notice it move. But eventually, he turned and walked away.

Asha let her sword drop, sliding it back into its scabbard and dropping it in one of the burlap sacks.

LOGAN (under breath): What the fuck.

She turned to Logan and glared at him.

ASHA: You make life so complicated for anyone around you!

RENA (scared): D-Do you think he’s gonna hurt Jesper?

KALANI: [sigh] Let’s hope not, but we can’t think of that now. We should be leaving.

RENA: B-But we can’t just let him go back to Jesper! H-He’s going to hurt him! We have to do something, right?

KALANI: We can’t be everywhere at once.

RENA: B-but.

KALANI: Deacon likes to threaten people but rarely follows through. I doubt he actually intends to hurt Jesper, especially when the Historical Academy is looking after him. He doesn’t actually want to be on their bad side, not all on his own.

Rena looked around at the rest of her companions, hoping any of them would support her, but Kalani and Asha were already on their way back to the cart and Logan avoided her gaze at all costs. Rodrick looked just as lost as her, unease written plainly on his face, while Finn’s eyes were fixed on Logan as if he’d already half figured out the mystery Deacon had laid at their feet.

---

Three paths lay in front of us, on which the story could continue.

• On the first path, the companions take the cart to the bigger town that is further away & try to talk to Konrad’s informants.
• On the second path, they take the cart to the bigger town that is further away & find their way to the Crow on their own
• On the third path, they take the cart to the smaller town that is closer and find their way to the Crow on their own

You can cast your vote by going to the show’s twitter page, the tumblr page, or on theheartpyre.com. You have until December 29th 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.

---

Welcome, to the Heart Pyre. This is episode 28, The uncertainty of reality.

CW: anxiety attack, heavy self-doubt, loss of reality

---

[SFX city noises, multiple footsteps, over time the city noises get muffled and there’s a louder breathing noise]

Rena and her companions didn’t stay long at Asha’s family’s house, just long enough for Maniala to force a bag of food onto them and make Asha promise she’d visit more often. They needed to return to the safety of their rooms in the Broken Mast Inn but not without finding Logan and Finn first. In the hope that the two men were still at the palace, they made their way through Hrevim’s narrow alleyways, avoiding any major streets to reduce the likelihood of running into Silac or Deacon. A strange feeling enveloped Rena as they passed through these tight lanes as if her body was once more trapped between buildings and her lungs couldn’t expand. Her mouth ran dry and a cold sweat chilled her back. She held on to Asha’s robes, not wanting to fall behind and be left alone. She still didn’t truly understand what had happened as she’d run after the fox and to be quite honest, she’d avoided thinking about it as much as possible. It had surely only been her nerves who’d made her feel like the buildings had been pressing in on her. She’d lived through a lot over the last days, her companions told her as much, it was no surprise she couldn’t fully trust her perception anymore.

And Rodrick might be right. Even if the fox was a real animal, how could she guarantee it was actually trying to communicate with her. The concept alone was outlandish. Even if Silac had these strange powers, and even if the Crow thought they were bringing back old Gods, why would a mystical fox be talking to her? Be telling her to hurry? What was so special about her? It had been so vague with its instructions anyway, it might all just have been a figment of her imagination. A strange way for her mind to rationalize all that had been going on.

Her eyes darted around, her heart beating erratically in her chest. Could she still trust her own perception? The others might have seen the fox but the cities were full of foxes. She was the only one who had heard it speak. The fox’s mouth hadn’t even moved, the voice had been entirely in her mind. How could she ever have believed that the fox had actually spoken? It seemed so clear to her now that it had all been her imagination.

The buildings around her kept inching closer, almost grazing her shoulders. She could still feel it on her skin how she’d had to push herself out of the narrow alley only hours before, how empty her lungs had been for her escape. They cramped up again, forcing her to breathe in short bursts. She held on tight to Asha’s arm and luckily Asha didn’t complain or truly even notice. Asha’s shoulders were set tight, her gaze focused on the path ahead, scanning any face who dared pass them. Barely any people were walking through these side streets and most of them simply greeted them politely, nothing to be wary about, although it seemed almost impossible for their entire group to rest easy.

Time stretched into eternity for Rena, as if they would never emerge from Hrevim’s underbelly, as if the palace had been swallowed by the ground and they would never be able to reach their destination. She wished any of her companions would say something, she’d even listen to Rodrick ramble on about the difference in architecture between Hrevim’s districts. This silence was choking her, amplifying the oppressive presence of the surrounding walls. Her brain was about to implode and she didn’t know how to save herself from it.

[SFX crowd noises grow louder but are still in the distance, breathing abruptly stops, footsteps stop one after the other]

Kalani slowed down, holding her hand up to stop the rest of the group.

KALANI (quietly): I don’t think there’s an easy way to find Logan and Finn without going into the palace’s crowd. We just have to hope that luck is on our side and Silac hasn’t made his way here yet… Or if he has, that we spot him before he spots us.

Rena craned her neck past Asha and Kalani and was blinded by the lights beyond the alley’s end. They had the perfect view of the palace, shining bright white on its hill, a million colourful ants swarming around it. Blue, red and white ribbons had been tied to the lamp posts leading up to it, blowing calmly in the breeze. The air flowed into their alley, filling Rena’s lungs with cold, expanding them until her chest hurt.

RODRICK (unsure): Maybe if some of us stayed in the safety of the alley, one brave soul could venture forth into the crowd to find our missing companions and our chances of being seen by nefarious eyes won’t be as high.

ASHA (mocking): Are you scared, old man?

RODRICK (nervous): Well, Asha… I’m not above admitting that this situation has not particularly filled me with the greatest sense of security.

Rena almost agreed with him but at the same time she wanted to run out and leave these alleys far, far behind. Danger seemed omnipresent wherever they went but at least she would be able to breath out in the open. If only they could already be back in their rooms, her heart might settle again.

Kalani shifted, a contemplative frown clouding her face.

KALANI (hesitant): I don’t think splitting up is wise. If something happens to any of us, the other party might not know about it until it’s too late. It’ll just make us lose too much time and we don’t have a lot of it left.

RENA (worried): Kalani’s right. I-I don’t think we should split up anymore. Nothing good came of us splitting up this morning.

KALANI (solemn): Let’s just hope Logan and Finn are still here. A lot could have happened in the last few hours.

[SFX crowd noises get louder, footsteps start again]

They slowly spilled out of the alley, Kalani leading the way. Rena focused on her breathing, forcing it to stay calm as her eyes carefully scanned the crowd around them. Masses of people moved in and out of the palace’s massive entrance like the waves of the ocean, all becoming one and threatening to pull Rena and her companions into their core.

The group advanced slowly, staying on the edge, their necks craned to see above the sea of heads. Dread ebbed through Rena anytime she saw black hair or a hint of orange, no matter how illogical it was that the fox would appear at the same height as people’s faces.

RENA (excited): There!

Rena’d spotted Logan’s curls to their left, her heart skipping a beat at the realisation. He was pushing his way through the crowd, a grim expression on his face. She excitedly waved at him before thinking better of it. Her hand came down just as quickly as it had shot up but it seemed to have been enough for Logan to turn their way. His expression momentarily grew heavier but then his eyes met Rena’s and his face instantly lit up. He enthusiastically waved back and corrected his course to head towards them.

ASHA (murmur): [big sigh] Did he never learned anything about being discreet?

[SFX footsteps coming closer]

As Logan and Finn emerged from the crowd, Rena noticed that they were wearing different clothes from that morning. Finn was clad in a golden yellow coat and beige trousers while Logan had donned dark blue trousers, a green vest and a cape that matched his trousers.

RENA(astonished): What are you wearing?

LOGAN (quiet voice): We wouldn’t have gotten into the palace with our regular clothes, now would we?

RENA (confused): B-but where did you get them from?

LOGAN (cheeky): A store.

ASHA (deadpan): He stole them.

LOGAN: I did no such thing! I exchanged them fairly against something of equal value.

ASHA (deadpan): Which you stole.

LOGAN: That is not the point we’ve been discussing.

Finn kept looking back to the palace’s entrance, his whole body rigid. He barely blinked; his jaw set tight as if he was anticipating something bad happening.

RENA (uncertain, a bit scared): Is everything alright?

LOGAN: Well… not everything but it’s manageable.

KALANI: We shouldn’t stay here to chit-chat. Let’s get back to the inn.

Kalani’s stance had never relaxed – arms crossed as she scanned the crowd entering and leaving the palace.

LOGAN (more cheerful than he should be): So what kind of situation have you folks gotten yourself into?

KALANI (serious, murmur): Silac’s in the city.

RENA (small voice): And Deacon.

LOGAN: Ah, how wonderful! Let’s organise a big fest for all these reunions! Finn’s sister is also in town!

RENA (astonished, unsure): Your sister?!

Rena looked at Finn, a smile forming on her lips which quickly fell when she saw Finn’s expression. The muscles in his jaw clenched as he glanced at her for a moment, his eyes ablaze with something resembling fear, before they darted back to the palace’s entrance. His hands clenched tight at his side, before opening wide and clenching again, the motion repeating incessantly.

RENA (small voice): So, not a good reunion then?

LOGAN: Apparently not.

KALANI (restless): We can discuss all these grandiose things once we’re somewhere quieter. Let’s go!

Kalani turned around and didn’t wait for any of the others to follow as she sped past the crowd and headed back to the narrow alley they’d come from.

[SFX footsteps, crowd noises fade into the distance again]

Dread slowly crept its way over Rena’s back again as they approached the alley. She needed to distract herself, to not think of her surroundings anymore. She latched onto Logan’s arm and let the rest of the group lead the way.

RENA (excited): I also met someone else! Someone from Oceansthrow. An old friend of my father’s. I’m not the only one who survived!

LOGAN (astonished): Oh, shit, really? How’s he doing? Why’s he here? How did he survive?

RENA (regretful): He’s hurt pretty bad, actually. Didn’t have my luck. He might lose sight in one eye… And he’s here with Deacon, strangely enough… and some lady from the historical academy.

LOGAN: Deacon? Why? [sigh] What’s that guy planning again?

RENA: I don’t really know. I guess the Historical Academy helped Jesper recover and Deacon latched on to that. I don’t really get it. But he’s really, really focused on finding you. He knew that I was travelling with you. I tried to downplay how well we knew each other, not sure he believed me though.

LOGAN: [big sigh] I’ve got better things to do than deal with that guy.

RENA: I don’t think Jesper should stay with them. I really don’t know what the Historical Academy wants to do with him but it’s certainly nothing good, and I don’t think Deacon is the most trustworthy companion either. Jesper deserves better than them.

LOGAN: If we could avoid running into Deacon, that would be grand. He’ll get bored of looking for me eventually.

RENA: What did you do to him that he hates you so?

LOGAN: Just some disagreement.

RENA: I don’t think “just a disagreement” turns into such a wild chase. What did you disagree on?

[small pause]

RENA: About the train? That’s what you’ve been trying to gather information on, right?

LOGAN (dismissive): Kinda.

[Small pause]

RENA: You really don’t want to talk about it?

LOGAN: Nope. Now tell me more about Jesper? Who is he? You said he’s a friend of your father’s. So have you known him for long?

RENA: (big sigh). Yeah, all my life.

As they followed Kalani through most of Hrevim back to the Broken Mast inn, Rena told Logan about all the old memories she had of Jesper, about his goats and the cheese he would gift her family. About her parents’ bakery and her four siblings. About her uncle and aunt and their children she would visit almost every day. About all that had been taken from her so brazenly.

Thinking about it hurt less and less each day and talking about her family and her life unravelled some knots deep within her that she had barely been aware of. She almost wished the journey back to the inn could last longer, that they could walk slower through the city, just so she could tell Logan more about her family. It made her ignore that they were passing through the same alleys as before, that she had felt miserable just a few moments ago. But with Kalani’s pace it took them no time at all before they crossed the threshold of the lopsided building that was the Broken Mast Inn. They didn’t stop until they’d passed through the long, labyrinthine hallways that led them to their rooms, making sure that no one was following them.

[SFX happy dog noises, light gas hissing in background]

Relief flooded over Rena as they reunited with Vincent. She fell down to her knees and let the dog run to her, burying her hands and face in his fur as he happily fidgeted in her arms. She had barely even noticed how worried she’d been about him with everything that had been going on but seeing him happy and healthy relaxed at least some parts of her body.

[SFX porcelain on ground, water pouring into porcelain, wrapper noises]

Rodrick took the bowl of the wash basin off its stand and placed it on the ground near Vincent before pouring in some of the water from the pitcher. Asha unwrapped the food she’d gotten from her aunt’s cousin and picked out some pieces of meat that seemed appropriate for the dog.

After having taken care of the dog as best they could, they all settled on the beds while Vincent ate, silently gazing into nothingness, the energy of the day having drained out of them. Kalani was staring straight ahead, unblinking, her hands clasped together in front of her face. She stayed like this for a while, no one daring to break the silence filled with her deep thoughts, before she took a deep breath and straightened.

KALANI: [sigh] I think we need to pool all our knowledge together before we can figure out how to proceed. I sent a message to Cass to let them know I’m alive. I’m not sure how much they’ll be able to help us right now but they might manage to gather some information that could help in the long run. I doubt we have the luxury to wait for an answer. Not with Silac strolling through the streets.

ASHA (mocking): And Logan’s friend hot on his heels.

Asha looked over at Logan and flashed him a devilish grin but Logan only dramatically rolled his eyes in return.

KALANI (pensive): Yeah. And we can’t forget about Inkra. We don’t know where she went after the attack outside of Halvint but with Micheal now tagging along with Silac, I’ve got a feeling she isn’t far.

RENA (small voice): He really didn’t look like he was doing too well.

Rena wasn’t sure how Michael had ended up looking so rough. Sure, Asha might have pushed him around a bit during their confrontation in Halvint but she was certain that it could not be the reason for his dreadful appearance. Someone else must have gotten to him since then.

LOGAN: Do you think he’d still be willing to show us where the Crow’s hideout is?

ASHA: Why the fuck would he?

LOGAN: I don’t know, Asha, but have you figured out where they’re hiding?

[small pause]

ASHA: (sigh) Not precisely. If I had more time I’m sure I could find someone who knows where they are. The fishers and dockworkers know more than people realize. Everything goes through the harbour, it’s impossible to hide stuff from the workers. They know about the Crow. They might not all know precisely who the Crow is or what they’re doing, but the Crow’s schemes are much less subtle than we think they are. We just need to find the correct people to talk to.

LOGAN: They’re not gonna lead us to the Crow for free, though.

ASHA: If we had a week, I’m certain I could find someone who’d help us with no expectations of return. But in our situation? … We might have to think about what we’d be willing to part with. Did you figure out where they’re hiding?

LOGAN: Not even close. We know a lot about Viscount Zarkid’s upcoming wedding and his three husbands though.

ASHA: How’s that supposed to help us, Logan?

LOGAN: Well, as it turns out, one of the husbands is family with the Zawarecs who weasled their way into controlling the military academy who are also family with Silac.

ASHA: … and?

LOGAN: Nothing. That’s about it.

ASHA (annoyed): That’s it?

KALANI (pensive): I’ll have to hear more about this later. It’s not going to help us now but I haven’t considered how connected Silac is yet, even if his branch of the family is disgraced.

FINN: They’re not officially disgraced, just disliked by a lot of people.

Everyone looked over at Finn but he simply stared straight ahead at a spot on the floor. It had been the first time he’d said anything since they’d reunited. They waited for him to say more but he stayed silent.

KALANI: Well, … either way, who knows what all these connections imply for the kingdom. As far as I know, the Zawarecs aren’t the most well-liked family in general. They just have a lot of power. But that doesn’t matter to us right now. We have a vague idea where the Crow should be, we could try our luck and search for them on our own. I really don’t know what the best option is right now.

Three paths lay in front of us, on which the story could continue.

• On the first path, the companions try to get out of Hrevim as quickly as possible and find the Crow’s hideout on their own
• On the second path, the companions try to find a contact at the docks who could show them the way
• On the third path, the companions try to reconnect with Michael to find the way

You can cast your vote by going to the show’s twitter page, the tumblr page, or on theheartpyre.com. You have until November 23rd to cast your vote.

I wanted to apologize once more for the delay between episodes. I didn’t expect that starting this new job would disrupt my production habits so much. I’ll try my best to be more consistent in the future and to stay much closer to the initial release schedule. We’re nearing the end of the season so it would be highly annoying if it took another six months to finish it.

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.

---

With 70 percent of the votes, our story continues on the first path.

The companions finally all reunite as they try to avoid the different threats coming at them from all directions. 

Content Warnings: anxiety attack, heavy self-doubt, loss of reality

By the end of the episode, three choices will be presented to you. Voting is open until November 23rd.

The Heart Pyre will go on a short hiatus after this episode.

Find A Searing Faith, the novelisation of season 1, on your favourite platform:
https://books2read.com/A-Searing-Faith

Intro music: Lonely Dusty Trail by Jon Presstone

Logo Design: Mars Lauderbaugh