Welcome to The Heart Pyre. This is episode 24, A Piece of the Puzzle.
[SFX faint in the background: sounds of fire that quickly dissipate]
RENA: [sudden heavy breathing, continues on during narration, gets faster and faster]
Rena awoke with a startle, the heat that had felt so real on her skin just a moment ago slowly vanishing. She was drenched in sweat—the heartbeat in her ears drowning out any other sounds. She didn’t notice right away that she couldn’t see anything even though her eyes were wide open. She blinked a few times, frantically, thinking that maybe her eyes just hadn’t woken up yet, but nothing changed. She was still surrounded by total darkness.
Why couldn’t she see? Where was she? Had someone buried her? Was that why the air felt so stifling, so damp? Why she kept breathing and breathing and breathing and breathing but still felt like she was suffocating?
The blanket on her chest felt like lead, holding her body in place, impossible for her muscles to move. It was pushing down on her, squeezing her into the ground until the earth swallowed her whole, wrapping around her so she would never be able to escape.
[SFX two quick clicks and then gas hissing starts, fast breathing stops]
Bright lights blinded her and everything stopped. Her heart stopped, her lungs stopped, her ears stopped registering sounds, as if the light had made the world vanish.
FINN (concerned, unsure): Rena?
Rena blinked until her eyes got used to the light. She was looking up at a simple, off-white ceiling, a singular bulb emitting weak orange light in the middle of it. She didn’t dare move, not just yet, as if the room around her could dissipate at any moment. Her mouth was dry, her tongue heavy against her palate. Her eyes shifted slowly, slowly, from one side to the other, from the wall to the empty bed next to hers, as if she wasn’t entirely sure that what surrounded her was real.
RENA (croaky voice): Finn?
FINN (hesitant): Is everything all right?
RENA: [deep, shaky breath] Yeah.
[pause]
FINN: You were breathing so heavily, I thought you might be in pain.
She wasn’t sure why she had lied to him. Maybe to not make him worry. To not be a burden. It must have been quite clear that she wasn’t, in fact, all right. But it had felt like the only answer she could give. As if any other words wouldn’t have agreed to cross her lips.
She pushed herself upright, her muscles aching with each movement. She pulled the blanket closer and buried her face in it before lifting her head to look at Finn. He was sitting on the bed opposite her, his back leaning against the wall next to the valve for the light, one leg angled up, staring at her with more curiosity than worry.
She tried to smile at him, to reassure him, but her face didn’t want to cooperate. A deep exhaustion spread through her bones as if the night had left her wearier than she’d been the day before.
RENA (weak voice): I’m sorry. Just a nightmare.
[Pause]
FINN (unsure): Is there anything I can do?
RENA: No, no. I just need time.
She forced her cheeks to move until they produced something resembling a smile, fighting against the dull ache in her muscles.
RENA: How are you? Did you sleep well?
FINN: Yeah, well enough.
[SFX blankets rustle]
RENA: Where’s Logan?
FINN: I don’t know. He must have left before I woke up.
RENA: Maybe he’s in Kalani’s room. I-I’m sorry if I woke you up.
FINN: You didn’t.
He kept his eyes on her, as if he was discovering something new with every move she made. It was such a stark contrast to how he usually tried to avoid eye contact that it made Rena want to freeze in place, as if she could disappear if she didn’t move.
RENA (nervous): Really, I’m fine, you don’t have to worry. I’ve just been getting these nightmares lately but I think that’s normal with what’s happened over the last two weeks. They really aren’t anything to worry about! I’m sure in a couple of weeks they’ll be completely gone. Considering everything else we have to worry about, this really isn’t that important.
FINN: If you say so. [small pause] It’s been a while since I’ve had a nightmare but I know as a child they could be really taxing.
RENA: [quick nervous laughter] Yeah, but I’m getting used to them, so it really isn’t that bad. We should head over to the other room to plan what we’ll do today.
[SFX clothes rustle and bed creak]
Rena slipped her legs out from under the blanket, avoiding his gaze as she walked over to the wash basin on shaky legs. The wooden floor felt cold and rough underneath her bare feet but she didn’t mind-it gave her body something real to latch on to. Her feet still hurt from their long journey the day before and Rena wasn’t looking forward to slipping into her canvas shoes again.
[SFX water splashing]
She poured the pitcher of water into the basin before splashing some water on her face. It wasn’t as cold as she’d hoped but it still helped her center herself.
Like she had told Finn, it had only been a nightmare, like the ones she’d had over and over and over again since the fire. They might feel real in the moment but they couldn’t truly hurt her, no matter how exhausted they made her. Slowly, each day, their effect lingered for a shorter period after she woke up. She just needed to remind herself that they were temporary. To not just tell others about it, but to truly believe it herself. That they were just a reminder of the horrible tragedy that had happened and that she was doing everything in her power to rectify it-to at least get her sister back, if nothing else.
She took a deep breath and straightened, shaking the remainder of the water off her hands. She eyed the chamber pot wearily for a moment before deciding that she had enough self-control to wait until she found an outhouse somewhere. She turned around towards Finn and this time the smile came much easier.
RENA: Are you coming with me?
He looked around for a moment as if he was searching for something, then nodded.
They both slipped into their clothes before heading over to the other room, although Rena opted to still keep her feet bare.
As predicted, Kalani, Asha and Rodrick were already awake, although Logan was still unaccounted for. Someone had already gone out and come back with fresh bread rolls that were filled with a thick layer of orange jam. Rena grabbed a roll and walked over to where Vincent was lying on the ground next to Rodrick’s bed.
[SFX happy dog noises]
She sat down next to the dog, her back against the wall, and leaned down to kiss his forehead, before running her fingers through his fur.
RENA: Has one of you seen Logan?
Asha, sitting on the bed closest to Rena, looked over at her, brows furrowed.
ASHA: He’s not in your room?
Rena shook her head no as she bit into the still-warm bread roll.
ASHA: When did he leave?
RENA: We don’t know. He was already gone when we woke up.
Asha looked over at Kalani who was sitting on the third bed, a conversation unfolding in the moments their eyes met. Kalani carted a hand through her braids until they fell in neat rows down her shoulder.
KALANI (not truly convinced): He probably just went to say hello to someone he knows in the city.
ASHA: As long as it’s a friend and not one of his business acquaintances.
RENA: Maybe he couldn’t sleep and just wanted to take a walk?
ASHA: I highly doubt that, but who knows? We’ll have to ask him once he gets back. And hope he’ll tell us the truth.
[pause]
Rena buried her hand deep in Vincent’s fur, the sweet taste of the orange jam lingering on her tongue as she swallowed another mouthful of bread. She wasn’t sure why Asha thought so badly of Logan. With everything they’d gone through together, she couldn’t really believe that he would lie to them. It just didn’t make sense. Not considering the dangerous situation they were in. They needed to work together and trust each other to survive and she was certain Logan knew that too. She understood that there was a lot she didn’t know about his life from before she’d met him, but she didn’t expect him to tell her everything about it, not right away anyway. She also didn’t need to know the details of everything he did or was going to do, but that didn’t mean that she thought he would simply lie to her. Not when they’d grown so close.
RENA (incredulous): Do you really think he would lie to us?
ASHA: Depending on what he’s doing, absolutely.
[pause]
ASHA: Don’t take it personally, Rena. You could be the love of his life and he would lie to you. And don’t see it as lying to keep a secret from you. Often, it’s simply to protect others. The less you know, the less people can use against you. We all do it.
RENA: I-I know, but, considering our current situation, I think he recognizes that we should be able to trust each other, right? I trust you all and I wouldn’t lie to you. A-and I think it’s disrespectful to lie to the people you care about.
ASHA: [heavy sigh] That’s not how the world works, Rena. Especially not where we come from.
KALANI: I think it’s a very noble endeavour to trust the people you travel with.
Kalani stood up and shot Asha a glance, raising an eyebrow at her, before coming to stand in front of Rena and holding a hand out to her. Rena looked up at Kalani for an instant, unsure whether she had said something wrong, heat rising to her cheeks. She snapped out of it a moment later and took Kalani’s hand. She gently lifted Vincent’s head from her lap, then let Kalani pull her to her feet.
KALANI: Even the city of Rancor is built on trust, so don’t feel like you need to go through life wondering whether your friends are lying to you or not.
Kalani smiled softly and the heat in Rena’s cheeks spread further.
KALANI: I trust Logan to be smart enough to recognize which of his actions would put us all in danger. But since he isn’t here, there’s no point in discussing the nature of his character.
Kalani turned away from her, letting Rena’s hand slip out of her grasp, and addressed the rest of the room.
KALANI: The faster we get any information on Silac and what else we’re dealing with, the faster we can act. We don’t know if the Crow or Silac know where we are yet, but we have to assume that they’ll find out eventually. Act like regular citizen while in the city and don’t draw any unnecessary attention to you, but don’t let your guard down either. I don’t think we’re in any imminent danger but you never know what they have planned next. We all have our own plans for today and I trust you all to get it done without creating any problems, so we’ll meet again by nightfall at the front of the inn and then we can discuss how to proceed. We can split the rest of our money up for today, but we’ll need to sell what we took from Rodrick’s caravan eventually. It doesn’t have to be today, it might not even have to be done tomorrow, but we shouldn’t forget about it.
RODRICK: Rena, would you like to accompany me to the library?
RENA (unsure): Well, ehm, I was thinking that maybe I could join Asha at the docks.
ASHA: Terribly sorry, but I don’t think that’s a smart idea. It might be dangerous out there, and sometimes talking to these people can be a delicate affair. Not all of them, but some. They’ve lived through enough that they don’t fully trust people they haven’t met before and if I want them to talk to me truthfully, I need them to trust me.
RENA (taken aback): Oh, yes, that makes sense.
ASHA: I promise, I’ll take you with me another time. Maybe even tomorrow. But I need to get a feel of the place on my own first.
RODRICK (jovial): We can have just as much fun at the library.
Rena tried to swallow her disappointment, to not let it show on her face, and smiled at Rodrick.
RENA (forced joviality): I’m sure we can.
She didn’t mind the prospect of the library, at least not on a regular day, but she couldn’t imagine sitting down all day to look at books would feel very rewarding. She wanted to explore the city, to talk to people, find out if they’d heard anything new about Silac or the Crow. Books were great to learn about the past, but wasn’t it more important for them to learn about the present?
Rodrick scooted forward on his bed then stopped at the edge and looked up at Rena.
RODRICK (as if he’d just remembered): Before we all leave, maybe we can take a look at the documents you and Logan found in the Crow’s residence.
RENA (startled): Oh, yes! Although, I think they weren’t in any languages we could read.
RODRICK: They might still point us towards what the Crow is planning.
Rena walked over to the corner where they’d put the backpack with the things they’d salvaged from Rodrick’s caravan. She crouched in front of it and rummaged through it until she found her sister’s dress in which they’d wrapped the parchment rolls and bird figurine. She picked them up, running her thumb over the inscription carved into the figurine from wing to wing. She handed Rodrick the parchment rolls without looking up from the bird and sat down next to him.
RENA: Do you think we can find someone who can translate this for us?
RODRICK: Hmm, I’m not sure.
RENA (pensive): We probably shouldn’t show it around to strangers anyway.
Kalani came to stand in front of them and crossed her arms.
KALANI: Probably not to anyone we don’t know, not while Silac might be looking for us. We don’t know how deeply the Crow’s anchored in the region and who is and isn’t on their side. You wouldn’t be able to lie about where you found the figurine.
RODRICK: We might be able to translate it ourselves though! I’m sure the library has plenty of books on the old languages. Wouldn’t that be a fun activity for today? We can copy the inscription on a page from my notebook and then you won’t have to bring the figurine with you.
Rena couldn’t help herself from not being all too thrilled about it. Calling it a fun activity for the day almost felt condescending to her, like when she’d asked her parents to be more involved in the affairs of their bakery and they’d simply told her to prepare the dough. Like they just needed something to keep the child busy while they were doing grown-up stuff. While Kalani and Asha were going to walk the thin line between gathering important information and drawing unwanted attention to them, she would be with her nose in a book far, far away from any danger.
But it was probably for the best. She wouldn’t be able to mess anything up at the library, and she could recognize that finally knowing what was etched into the bird figurine would ease her mind. Maybe they would finally find out what the Crow’s plan was and why they’d captured her sister. She just needed to find a way for her body to sit down for an entire day without feeling like she would implode.
[SFX paper rustling]
Finn came to sit to Rodrick’s other side, frowning at the document Rodrick was unfolding.
FINN: Where did you find those?
RENA: In Halvint, in the house where the Crow was staying. They had a sort of altar made of red and orange fabric that kind of looked like fire. Do you know anything about them? Can you read them?
FINN (pensive): No, but the prints resemble a lot of the tapestries hung in the palaces.
RENA: Logan mentioned the same thing.
[SFX paper rustling]
Finn delicately slid the parchment out of Rodrick’s hand and held it to the light, scanning the woodblock print carefully with squinted eyes.
FINN: I might have seen this one before but it was slightly different. There’s a tapestry in one of the dining halls in the palace in Mak-Hemma that looks similar.
RODRICK: Oh yes! Now that you mention it, I think I remember it! It has been quite a while since I’ve been to that dining hall, though, so I wouldn’t be able to tell you if it’s the exact same image or not.
FINN (pensive): Hmm, no, it’s definitely different. This picture is older. I would say, maybe, three or four hundred years old. The tapestry must be a depiction of the same myth from when the dining hall was first decorated and the palace was only built for the unification of the Royal Council, so it can’t be older than two hundred years. The lines are blockier in the tapestry and the human anatomy truer to life. Very clearly a different art style.
ASHA (a bit derisive): Great to have an expert on art in our midst. Shows how much time he’s had to focus on learning about the truly important things in life.
KALANI (under her breath): Asha, behave. (Louder) Do you know what it depicts?
FINN: It must be the myth when Hama’Voshi created the world. It’s said that she gathered the loose energy that was floating in the vast nothingness and gave it its physical form. But it’s impossible that it’s a true story. As far as we can tell from records, Hama’Voshi was a real person who existed no more than six hundred years ago, and our world is much older than that.
RODRICK: As I already mentioned yesterday, these legends and myths are often metaphors for human struggles or explanations for something we don’t yet understand. Of course, Hama’Voshi didn’t actually create our world. [Chuckle] That would be quite the feat.
Rena frowned at the print, at how lines swirled from the edges of the parchment towards the centre and formed a sphere, a figure resembling a woman surrounding it, almost as if she could barely fit into the box the image provided her, her body wrapped around the sphere as if it was forming in her arms.
Could this image actually be of any help to them or had they stolen these documents for nothing? They could probably spend hours and hours and hours trying to decipher what they meant or why the Crow felt the need to bring them to Halvint or whether they could tell them anything about the Crow’s plans.
Rena felt a headache approach, her exhaustion mixing with her confusion. Her eyes wandered over the edge of the image where a row of symbols resembling those on her figurine created a border. Could that inscription tell them anything more useful, or would it simply be a reiteration of what the image told them?
RENA: [heavy sigh] I don’t think these images can help us.
RODRICK: We don’t know that yet. There’s no need to despair so quickly, my child. Once we know what the Crow’s motives are, it will be much easier to understand their actions.
RENA: Sure, but it will take us forever to figure this out and then Silac will have reached the city and Inkra will have gone back to wherever the rest of the Crow is hiding and they’ll leave the province and maybe we’ll never find them again.
RODRICK: Nonsense, I’m sure we’ll find plenty of useful information at the library without spending a full week on it. Leave this to me, yes? I can find out if there’s anything in these myths that could be useful to us. You can concentrate on deciphering the figurine’s inscription.
KALANI: I understand your concerns, Rena, but Rodrick has a point. If we want to be able to predict what the Crow is planning next, we need to understand why they’re doing the things they’re doing and how it’s possible that Silac can suddenly control other people. Maybe these documents will point us towards an answer. Maybe they’ll tell us if more people like Silac could exist. We need to diversify how we can find out what’s going on as much as possible and tonight we’ll bring all our knowledge together and hopefully, we’ll have a better idea on how to proceed.
Rena looked up at Kalani, turning the wooden figurine in her hands, and nodded solemnly. She had to believe that she wouldn’t be wasting her time, even if she couldn’t shake the feeling that learning about these stories wouldn’t get them anywhere. But these myths were important to the Crow, so they had to become important to her too.
~~~~~
[SFX gas hissing stops, faint city crowd noises, faint ocean and seagull noises from far away]
They left Vincent in their room, as they couldn’t bring him to the library. They’d fed him and gone for a short walk with him, so he would be more than fine on his own, but Rena didn’t like the idea that he was all alone in a difficult-to-reach place far away from any of their group. Rodrick reassured her that he’d left Vincent to fend for his own quite a few times over his travels and that the dog was used to it by now, but Rena still couldn’t shake the feeling of unease.
It took Rodrick and her a bit to find the library even though Rodrick assured her he’d been to Hrevim before. The city had been built over several centuries, constantly expanding and rebuilding itself to fit all the people flocking to it, which meant that the streets had to adapt to its ever-changing form. Most buildings were tall and had been constructed close together, keeping the small roads winding between them in the shadows. But even though the city had an air of confinement to it, Rena never felt scared. The streets were well-paved and clean, the houses were painted in a multitude of bright colours, and even the older buildings looked well-kept.
They passed through a few old gates that were kept permanently open, indicating where the city walls had previously stood. Rena was sure that they had been going in circles and resorted multiple times to asking the people they passed for directions before Rodrick, who still insisted that he remembered the way, would lead them to a completely different city. When they finally approached the library, Rena wasn’t sure anymore in which part of the city they were, but it had to be one that had been built hundreds of years ago. The buildings weren’t as tall as the ones they’d passed before, although they were wider and seemed sturdier. The library was a rectangular building, its facade painted with a myriad of intricate, symmetrical patterns similar to the ones in the archives. Browns and blacks and yellows formed stars and flowers around the wide entrance and four white, round towers jutted out of each corner of the building’s roof, a column of grey smoke rising out of one of them.
[SFX ocean and bird noises fade into background, inside crowd murmuring fades in, light rhythmic mechanical sounds in background]
As they went through the entrance, Rena noticed that the patterns hadn’t just been painted on, but that they had first been meticulously carved into the sandstone. She was in awe of the building, instantly forgetting the restlessness she had felt all morning. The library’s entrance hall looked similar to the one in the archives, with patterned tiles covering the floor and the bottom half of the walls, although they were kept in reddish tones instead of the archives’ blue and green colour scheme. Seats had been placed in the corners to each side of the entrance for visitors to sit on and a desk, much smaller than the one in the archives, stood to their left.
Only one path led into the library, at the far end of the room, but there Rena saw something that she’d never even considered possible. A box, large enough for four people to stand in it, rose out of the ground and disappeared into the ceiling. Next to it, another box emerged from the ceiling, two people stepping out of it when it was level with the floor.
Rena barely even registered that Rodrick was talking to one of the clerks, too fascinated by these rising boxes. Did they travel through the entire building? But then where did they go once they’d reached the roof or the basement? They had to go around in circles. Did the same machine that moved Rodrick’s caravan also make these boxes rise and fall? It certainly had to be a machine. It would be impossible for human hands to lift these over and over again.
Rodrick turned back to her and gently put a hand on her back, urging her to walk forwards.
[SFX mechanical sounds come closer]
RENA (full of wonder): What is that?
RODRICK (excited): Oh yes, they added these only recently. Had to entirely shut down the library for a few months to build it. Isn’t it fascinating? Such a marvel of ingenuity. Do you want to try it out?
RENA (shocked): What?
RODRICK: We only have to go up one floor but if we’re already in the presence of such a wonder, why not use it, right?
Rena stared at the contraption, fear rising in her at the thought of stepping into one of these moving boxes, although it quickly mixed with excitement. She nodded, not taking her eyes off the strange device.
[SFX mechanical sounds become more regular and louder]
As they approached it, she took hold of Rodrick’s arm, following his lead as he stepped into the box when it was level with the floor. She stumbled in, not used to the ground underneath her feet moving so abruptly, and lost her grip on Rodrick’s arm. She fell against the back wall of the box, quickly turning around and pressing her back against it. With wide-open eyes, she saw how the entrance hall disappeared and the box was plunged into darkness, although enough light still pierced past the front of the box that she could see the texture of the wall in front of her. Before she had time to panic, light reappeared at the top of the opening.
Rodrick took her arm again, leading her to the front of the box as a spacious reading hall appeared before them. Climbing out of the box was more daunting than climbing into it, and Rena ducked as she hopped out to make absolutely sure she wouldn’t be crushed.
[SFX mechanical sounds become fainter and more irregular again]
RODRICK: Well, wasn’t that fun?
Rena turned around and observed the boxes rising and falling at their leisurely pace as if nothing could ever go wrong. A wide smile appeared slowly on her face, dissipating the fear she had felt only moments before.
RENA (happy): Yes.
RODRICK: And we can go back on it when we leave. Didn’t I tell you there was plenty of fun to be had in a library?
RENA: I didn’t know something like this existed.
RODRICK: Oh yes, and a myriad other, just as interesting, things. I think that’s what I miss most about Mak-Hemma. Working on these new marvels.
RENA (shocked): You made these?
RODRICK: No, no, not this one. That was a friend of my son’s who figured this beauty out.
RENA (shocked): You have a son?
RODRICK (solemn): Had. He sadly passed away a few years ago.
RENA: Oh. I’m truly sorry to hear that.
[SFX mechanical sounds faint in the background, occasional turning of pages in background]
Rodrick waved her concern away but before he could reply, a clerk approached them to greet them and lead them to an empty table. Rodrick explained to Rena that they weren’t allowed to go into the rooms that held the books, and that they were instead supposed to tell a clerk what exactly they were looking for and the clerk would then bring them the books, which would be chained to the table. Rodrick took the lead in explaining what they needed and once the books arrived Rena was almost too scared to touch them in case she ripped one of the pages of what was clearly considered a very valuable object.
~~~~~~~
A few hours passed and Rena could feel her heartbeat hammering incessantly in her head again. The initial wonder of the library had faded and all that was left was her frustration with the research at hand. The symbols of the old language, the one she’d found out was called Mohrishim, had started to flow together, becoming one big mass on the page in front of her.
She had managed to piece together how the letters on the bird figurine should be pronounced. Vöshek if she wasn’t mistaken, although by the time she was done deciphering the word she was certain that Mohrishim used sounds that her own language didn’t have.
But finding an approximately correct pronunciation seemed to be the easy part. Finding out what the word actually meant, was a thousand times more difficult. Of course, Mohrishim hadn’t simply been one language. No, that would have been much too simple. There had been regional differences that had all evolved over time so that the same pronunciation meant slightly different things in ancient eastern Mohrishim than it did in the more modern form of southern Mohrishim. According to her research, Vöshek could either mean endurance, he survives, or a very specific form of chance that was tied to the concept of living that Rena didn’t quite understand. Which meaning the inscription on the figurine held was impossible to know. She hadn’t found out anything about whether this word had ever been used as a prayer or charm or other symbol although she had found mentions of other words being used in such manners. Rodrick told her that there used to be a custom where people would etch symbols or words into objects over and over while praying to strengthen their worship. It seemed quite likely that the Crow had done the same with these bird figurines but that didn’t actually tell Rena anything about why they’d done so.
But she could see the connection between the inscription and the symbol the Crow had carved into the graves in Miller’s Knee and the church ruins in Oceansthrow. The symbol was linked to Tavuu’Moda, the God of chance and survival. But knowing that all of this had something to do with chance or survival or endurance or perseverance didn’t help her at all, not when she didn’t know why they were carving those words into the bird figurines and why they had placed them around Oceansthrow. It had to be a ritual, but which one? And what for? To have Tavuu’Moda bring them luck? To give people like Silac strange abilities that no other human had ever had before? How did survival or chance connect to being able to control other people’s movements? And if their God truly existed – which Rena doubted but at this point, she had to admit that anything could be possible – why did he agree to help such heartless murderers? And why did they need her sister for any of this?
RENA (mumble): I can’t do this anymore.
RODRICK (distracted): Hmm? What did you say?
RENA (exhausted, annoyed): [sigh] The books are giving me a headache. Knowing what the inscription means doesn’t actually help us figure out what the Crow is planning. I feel like we’re just wasting our time.
RODRICK: One little piece at a time, my dear child. It is quite clear now that the inscription ties back to Tavuu’Moda and with the region-specific symbol the Crow used and the particularities of their practices we can search for specific rituals or practices or beliefs that could explain their behaviour to us.
RENA (whiny): But it takes so much time! Silac will have found us before we’ve figured out what it means. What do any of these symbols have to do with burning down entire villages and killing hundreds of people?
RODRICK: Patience, my child. Patience. Knowledge wants to be chased. It wouldn’t be very rewarding if there were no sacrifice in our pursuit of it, now would it? And our current sacrifice is our time. I’m sure these books will help us resolve the mystery, we just need to find the right ones. And as luck would have it, this building is filled with all sorts of books. You just have to think of it as similar to the archives. Jumping from one document to the next. We just don’t have the margins telling us how to continue this time. But I think that makes it more fun.
RENA: I need a break. I-I’m gonna go take care of Vincent. I’m sure he needs some fresh air. And I might try to sell some of the things we salvaged on653 the market. Get that done while we aren’t in imminent danger.
RODRICK: I think that’s a brilliant idea, my dear. And once you’ve walked off your frustration you can come back here and help me figure out the rest of this mystery.
RENA (dejected): Yeah. It might be a while though.
~~~~~
[SFX turning of pages fades out, mechanical sounds become louder]
At least she got to use the moving box again as she left the building. Stepping into it alone was a million times more daunting than having Rodrick by her side and she let two boxes pass by her before she found the courage to move forward. She couldn’t keep her face from smiling, however, even though a nervous knot was forming in the pit of her stomach. She stepped out quickly, afraid that if she didn’t exit where she was supposed to, she’d disappear somewhere she could never get back from. She turned around and stared at the boxes-people streaming past her to step in, some more confident than others. She clutched the leaf-shaped pendant and ring around her neck as she watched the boxes rise and fall.
[SFX mechanical sounds fade to background again, light murmuring of crowd]
She turned back around, happy that the library had at least shown her one exciting thing, and stopped right away. Her eyes had landed on another visitor at the other end of the hall, someone wearing a dark-blue robe with golden inscriptions-the uniform of the Historical Academy. The knot in her stomach tightened momentarily, afraid that it was the woman they had stolen the decree from in the archives, but she soon realized that it was a completely different person. But then her eyes moved slightly to the left and she froze.
RENA (unsure, under her breath): Jesper?
At first, she thought she was dreaming, but the vision never disappeared. In the same room as her stood a person she thought she would never see again. Her father’s friend who had owned a goat farm in Oceansthrow. His face looked different, with short-cropped hair and a bandage wrapped around half his face. Dark rings adorned the underside of his eyes and he was holding himself upright with a crutch.
[SFX running footsteps]
Rena rushed forward before she could consider whether it was a good idea or not.
RENA (excited): Jesper!
JESPER (shocked, confused): Rena?
His green eyes were bloodshot and a fresh burn wound peaked out from underneath the bandage.
RENA: You’re alive!
JESPER: What are you doing here?
Before Rena could answer, the third person who had been standing next to Jasper pushed himself between them and held a hand out to Rena.
DEACON: So, you’re the infamous Rena. Hello, hello, so nice to finally meet you.
Rena looked at him in confusion, her eyes darting between the man in front of her and Jesper, letting the man shake her hand out of habit. He had pale skin with a reddish tint, a patchy, reddish-brown beard and clothes that looked like they’d been stolen from a nobleman’s estate fifty years prior and had since been kept in a humid cave.
DEACON: My name is Deacon. I believe that you’re travelling with an acquaintance of mine, is that correct?
Three paths lay in front of us, on which the story could continue.
- On the first path, Rena brings Deacon and Jesper back to the rooms in the Broken Mast Inn and waits for her companions there
- On the second path, she searches for her companions in town and brings Deacon and Jesper to them
- On the third path, she tries to get away from Deacon and Jesper and report the situation to her companions
You can cast your vote by going to the show’s twitter page, the tumblr page, or on theheartpyre.com. You have until the February 15th to cast your vote.
If you like this podcast, consider leaving a review or supporting it on Ko-Fi or Patreon. One of the tiers on Patreon lets you vote for the alternative timeline, in which you can make Rena take a different path. You can also get the novelization of the first season as an ebook and paperback from most major retailers.
You can find transcripts for each episode, character art, and a map of the kingdom on theheartpyre.com.
The intro music is Lonely Dusty Trail by Jon Presstone.
The Heart Pyre is written and produced by me, Audrey Martin.
Thank you for listening.
The Heart Pyre 