Episode 91 - Heartburn

## Synopsis

Mira stuttered for a moment, then nervously confessed her crush on Delnys, apologising for not telling her sooner.

Delnys slowly turned to Mira as their faces turned bright red. With a small smile on her face she thanked Mira for telling her, and said they should talk about it after she got some sleep. They awkwardly parted ways, and as Delnys fell asleep, Mira went outside and gleefully laughed to herself.

As time passed, Mira looked around the house, seeing the old furniture in the shed, the bad state of the garden, and some books in the loft on the arts and performances. She read the books into the evening until Winsler and Integrity returned to the cottage.

As Winsler entered, Yog rose up and greeted him. They showed Winsler a recording of Professor Allaro, and asked if anyone seen with Artis or SWIM should be considered a friend. After a moment’s debate, Winsler replied that most could, but anything with a “*menacing aura*”, and “*not a mortal*”, should be considered a threat. This seemed to satisfy Yog, who stayed put as the students regrouped to share what happened to them.

Winsler and Integrity explained that they hadn’t burned anything down, but they had met Cannon Nathan and told Deeptar about the pebbles. Mira told them that she’d confessed to Delnys, to Winsler’s confusion as he hadn’t picked up on her crush. Integrity also told Mira that Serinepth was staying in the infirmary with Phillip, and that she had bread if Mira wanted any.

As they shared stale bread and stolen snacks, Mira told her friends that Artis and Delnys had spotted Teb sleeping in a tree. Some time later, Artis walked in with a leather backpack, and a small bundle of clothes for Mira. Surprised to see Winsler and Integrity back so soon, he asked what had happened, and they again explained the Cannon Nathan and Abjuration Department situation.

Integrity asked Artis if he knew any way to find the history of a wand, and he suggested she ask Professor Doss. Curious, he asked why she wanted to know, and she told him about the wand she found in the Trial of Reverence. After some more discussion, he revealed that initially his team had only taken the Orb of Reverence, and had decided to run tests on it before trying to get the others. When they returned for the Orb of Might, they found that Teb had left on his own to retrieve the Orb of Progress.

As they finished eating, Artis asked Integrity to take the backpack, which contained the Heart of Gold and the notes relating to it, up to his office. He then took off his cloak and ribbon, and walked into the woods.

Up in the loft, Integrity found preparatory charts for the next trip to Isathil. When she descended, the students eventually found their way to sleep.

Over in the Infirmary, Serinepth sat next to an unconscious Phillip. She quietly told him about all that had happened in the past few days, and settled down to sleep.

As she slept, she dreamt of her chambers back in Aroughs. At the same time, Winsler dreamt of his home back at the Mudflats. They heard a voice whisper, “*It was only a simple little task, to go out and burn the sniffer of worlds, to undo what that demon Nalder did, to just burn one little thing. Is that so hard?*”

Around them, they saw their family homes begin to burn. Floating through her tower, Serinepth found her parents sleeping in a burning room, a small fire inside their chests.

“*You didn’t give us enough of an explanation as to why his office had to be burnt! You can’t just demand something be burned, and not have us ask questions.*” Her voice sounded as though it were miles away.

The voice responded, showing Serinepth the image of a wooden candle snuffer, and begging her to burn it. She agreed, saying if it let her and everyone on the stone go, she would burn it right then.

As Winsler watched his house burn, he realised he was dreaming and reached out to touch the flames. He heard the same voice say, “*Just one task, and then it won’t be a bother anymore.*”

He looked at his reflection in a window pane, and saw a fire burning in his chest. “*I’m not afraid of you or your lies,*” he said, “*none of this is real, you can’t really hurt anyone.*” His reflection grinned back at him, and both he and Serinepth woke up.