The five of them went on sitting on top of the rock for a while longer.
Yalaz was still fighting, the sounds of his sword striking the rocks and echoing.
The smell, meanwhile, was growing heavier and heavier. It seemed to cling not only to their noses but to their throats.
When Yavuz looked at those beside him, he saw that each of them met this horror differently.
Poyraz's face was screwed up as if burned with acid; Hak had covered his nose and, every time the master made a move, clenched his fingers despite himself.
Erlin followed the battle excitedly, seeming untroubled by the smell or the disgusting sight.
Tunay just watched, giving no reaction.
Were they the abnormal ones?
While Poyraz and he could barely even look, the others didn't seem to care much.
He could understand the little boy somewhat—most likely, despite his age, he'd lived here all his life and had perhaps seen worse than this.
But the other two were strange.
Despite the burning in his throat, he asked.
"Doesn't this bother you?"
Without taking his eyes off that bloody hill, Poyraz answered.
"Hak and I… we saw a lot on the streets. We walked past corpses that had been lying in abandoned buildings for a week. But this…" He waved his hand in the air. "This is a whole other level."
He paused for a moment. His face screwed up again.
"In one of them… there was a woman. She'd been stabbed to death in an abandoned building and had lain there for a week."
As he spoke his eyes drifted off for a moment, a faint sorrow in them.
"When Hak and I went into the building we both emptied our stomachs. We couldn't even get near the room she was in. And that's just one of them. Though none of their smells were as bad as this."
He seemed to be holding his breath, as if trying not to breathe, which is why his voice sounded strange.
"Have you ever seen anything like it, Tunay?"
Yavuz looked at Tunay; Tunay's focus had broken and he was listening to them.
"Never have," he said. "But for as long as I can remember, things like this haven't bothered me much."
He paused briefly. His lips curled slightly.
"Am I some kind of madman, I wonder? Is there a killer lurking inside me?"
"I've never seen such a cheerful killer." Poyraz laughed and slapped Tunay on the back.
"And I hope I never do. Tunay, I've noticed you've been awfully cheerful ever since the old man showed up. Why's that?"
Tunay shrugged.
"Because the genre of the story changed," he said.
"When we first fell here, I felt like an extra in a horror film. Around every corner a death I couldn't name was waiting."
His gaze slid for a brief moment.
"But when the old man came… the curtains opened. Now this place has rules. It has a logic. The unknown is frightening… but once you crack the rules, the game begins. So I just decided to enjoy the game.
Heeheehee!"
His giggle echoed off the rocks.
After Tunay's strange speech, everyone had fallen into thought. There were places where he had a point, but to Yavuz he was too optimistic.
Esen and Tunay would get along well, Yavuz thought.
Then the eyes came to mind; through everything so far he hadn't paid attention to the others' eyes.
He looked.
Hak's eyes were green, quite bright and vivid.
Not as bright and vivid as Sedef's eyes. Still, they were there.
Poyraz's eyes were blue, quite dark and lifeless. Almost black.
If you weren't paying attention you might not even notice.
Tunay's eyes, though, were different; part of his eyes was blue and part red.
They were quite dark, but they were there.
These colors were turning very slowly within his pupils… almost too slowly to notice.
'Hak Sezi, Poyraz Yelvi, Tunay Yelvi? Erk?' he was trying to work out within himself which energy the others had.
When he looked at Erlin he saw ordinary black eyes. The boy's eyes had probably glowed years ago and long since returned to their normal state.
Poyraz had noticed Yavuz paying attention to the eyes.
"The eyes are interesting, aren't they? Mine barely glow at all. I'm unlucky in both worlds."
He took a deep, sorrowful breath but had to screw up his face at the disgusting smell. Then, pointing at Hak,
"It bugs me that this guy's more gifted than me," he said.
Hak didn't answer; instead Tunay spoke.
"Half the group's wandering around like disco balls, look at these."
He pointed to his own eyes.
"No, forget that—why are my eyes changing color? I feel like one of those computers with lights all over them.
Anyway, at least half of us are gifted, half of us normal. Actually it's surprising none of us failed the awakening at all."
"Has anyone found out what these energies are even for?"
When Yavuz finally put forward the question nagging at him, a deep silence fell among them. No one knew what to say, and they looked at one another. When Poyraz and Tunay shrugged helplessly, the gazes inevitably turned to the youngest of the group, the boy native to this world.
"Um…" he said, his voice coming out at first as weak as the wind in the tunnel. "Erk… is mostly used by martial artists, like the master.
He paused. Yavuz and the others, as if they'd forgotten to breathe, were listening to him, all but swallowing every word that came from the boy's mouth. This intense attention was enough to turn Erlin's cheeks instantly bright red.
He lowered his gaze and pointed a finger at his own chest.
"Those with an affinity for Sezi, like me… master the arts of reverie. Unlike Erk, we use not our bodies but reveries."
Not a single word came from the four of them. Each was caught up in the spell of the important knowledge this little boy was sharing. When Erlin saw the awestruck silence over the group, he gathered a little more courage and raised his head.
"And lastly there's Yelvi," he said in a near-whisper. "That one's used by sorcerers, like Togan."
He was about to go on when Hak silenced him.
"It's over, there are no creatures left."
Everyone's attention turned back to the old man. The hill he stood on had risen a few meters higher, and his clothes and body had grown filthier still. But his bearing hadn't changed; he didn't look tired.
The old man surveyed the area for a while.
Then he fixed his eyes on the rock. He looked at them and stopped.
In that moment everyone's tongue was tied. They were hoping the old man wouldn't be too angry with them.
Then the old man came to the rock at a speed the eye couldn't follow. In barely one or two seconds he'd covered more than two hundred meters.
When Yavuz suddenly saw the old man appear beside him, he lost his balance and his foot slipped. What stopped him at the last instant was the old man's hand at his back.
Contrary to what they'd expected, the old man wasn't angry; he said a few simple words.
"Were you able to watch well? What you did could have been dangerous. You were lucky there were only insectified rot this time." He paused and took a breath.
"Anyway, let's get back now," said Yalaz, and started walking.
With sheepish looks, the others followed.
When they got back, the rest had gathered and were watching for them to arrive. As they drew near, no one asked any questions.
After Yalaz gave a few brief explanations, they set off toward the pass again.
When Yavuz came up beside Sedef and Esen, he found them with angry looks.
"Why do you go getting mixed up in dangerous things? Sedef and I were sick with worry." Esen's tone was quite sharp.
"There was nothing dangerous, we just looked and came back. And I wasn't alone."
"You weren't alone? What difference does it make if you're three or four people, when in the end we're all weak?" said Sedef in her quiet but angry voice.
Yavuz stopped and said only, "You're right."
When he noticed the march had started again, their conversation was cut short and they too went on.
Yalaz had changed the route, bypassing the hill of corpses.
The surroundings had begun to change. The flying rocks were thinning out, the plants growing sparse, the earth hardening.
The harsh, disgusting smell of the world outside the valley had reared its head again. Many were barely holding themselves back from vomiting.
They'd gotten used to the normal air inside the valley and forgotten the smell of the outside.
Yavuz was less affected than when he'd met the smell of the corpse hill a few hours earlier. Noticing that Sedef and Esen were unwell, Yavuz chose to talk.
"Did either of you have one of those visions? Some of the others saw things. Hak, for instance, was in a graveyard."
"Is this really the time? My stomach's so queasy I don't want to open my mouth. I could throw up any second." Esen snapped angrily, but then paused. "Sedef saw something, but she didn't fully explain it. I didn't see anything."
Noticing the others were waiting for an answer, Sedef reluctantly opened her mouth.
"I was facing a crowd. Hundreds of people were looking at me and a few figures beside me. No one's face or body was distinct." She paused and began to cough; talking didn't agree with her, but she went on.
"Everyone was humanoid figures of different colors. Some blue, some black, some orange and the like. There were people of every color. And I was behind someone pure white and glowing. Then…"
Sedef stopped abruptly. Her breathing had worsened, her hands and legs were trembling. She could barely keep her balance, while with one hand she covered her mouth, trying to stop herself from vomiting. Then her body, like a sandcastle, began to crumble toward the ground.
She was about to fall when Yavuz caught her.
Sedef was out of breath, trying to understand what had happened.
"Are you all right? What happened?" Esen's voice was cracking.
"I think I'm okay. Ahem, ahem!!" she tried to cough. "I, I… for some reason I suddenly lost myself. I don't know what happened." Her voice wouldn't come; she could barely speak.
Esen took her by the hand and lifted her off of Yavuz. She and Yavuz supported her between them.
"Forget about those visions and all. You can tell us later. First let's get you seen by the master."
"All right" was all Sedef could manage.