The light was too bright to look at directly, yet it gave no warmth. It was a cold, artificial glow.
On the ceiling of the underground valley there were stones beyond counting. They were all like stars winking in the sky, but they weren't stars. This was a false sky, mimicking the world above.
They could light up every corner of the enormous valley.
Yavuz had opened his eyes wide in astonishment, gripping his friends' hands tightly with both of his. His mouth hung open.
He wasn't the only one with his mouth open. Poyraz and Hak were in the same state.
For a while no one spoke.
Everyone watched the distance with awe and fear.
When I raised my head, I noticed my neck had tensed involuntarily. No matter how long I looked, this place felt so different from the world outside that it was unsettling.
"This place…" Yavuz began, then fell silent. He couldn't finish the sentence.
Poyraz narrowed his eyes and scanned the area. He was looking less upward than at the ground. He studied the slope leading down to the valley floor, the passages between the rocks.
"Going down looks easy."
Hak didn't speak. He stepped forward a few paces, knelt, and pressed his ear to the rock. He was listening for a sound.
Sevda let out an impatient breath. "Are we going to stop here?" she said. "We're not running anymore. I'm not sure that's a good thing."
No answer came.
Hazar was at the back. Aylin stood right beside his arm. His bandage had darkened, but Hazar wasn't making a sound. He was just looking into the valley; as if he were spellbound.
A path we could move along had opened up before us. A path without end…
Aylin broke the silence. "Hazar can't walk for long in this state," she said. Her voice came out calm, but her eyes were fixed on the wound. "If we want to keep going, we have to factor that in."
Hazar lifted his head slightly. He didn't object. He didn't agree either. He just looked. Into the valley, to where the light was thickest.
"Staying here isn't a solution either," said Poyraz. With his foot he pushed a small stone downward. The stone rolled for a few seconds, then stopped in silence. "This path at least goes somewhere. Going back doesn't seem like an option."
Hak stood up. He touched the rock he'd pulled his ear from one last time.
"I couldn't hear anything. I wonder if the eyes could be detected in advance by listening to the rocks."
Yavuz still hadn't let go of his friends' hands. His eyes were fixed on the depths of the valley.
"Going down is the only option," he said.
He wasn't sure, but he wasn't backing off either.
Tekin cut in: "We have to find water. I'm dying of thirst. And Hazar's wound needs cleaning too."
He was right. Now that the adrenaline had drained away, the thirst had made itself known.
"Not everyone has to go down at once," I said at last. Even I was surprised at how clearly my voice came out. "There'll be a group that goes to scout. The others stay here. With the wounded."
Veda, the one who'd given first aid earlier, had her arms around her brother while also watching Hazar:
"I'll stay here." Pointing to Hazar: "He still needs help."
Her brother Devran turned to her: "I want to go, sis. I want to do something too."
Veda's face suddenly hardened. "You're staying with me. Not up for discussion."
Devran grumbled, but his sister's look was enough.
In a short while the talking began. Low-voiced arguments, names, half-sentences… Who would go, who would stay, who would stand by whom.
Some were looking down, some couldn't take their eyes off Hazar.
Sevda stamped her foot. "Let's decide. Waiting here doesn't sit right with me."
Hak drew back a few steps. He moved to a spot where he could see both the path opening into the valley and the mouth of the cave at the same time. He spoke without looking at anyone:
"It's quiet down below. Quiet up above too. That's not good."
The sentence was short, but it was enough to smother the chatter.
There was a moment of silence.
In that silence I noticed it; people had shifted places without realizing. Some had gathered around Hazar. Others were closer to the head of the path. It wasn't a coincidence.
"Let the scouting team be small," I said. "Those who can move fast should go. As soon as they find water they'll come back."
Tekin nodded at once. "I'm coming. Right now I'd do anything for a sip of water."
"Me too," said Yavuz. Then he turned to his friends. "Sedef, Esen… you stay here."
Sedef looked like she wanted to object, but Esen took her hand.
"We're here," she said, smiling. "Don't worry."
Hearing that answer, the girl couldn't reply. She looked first at Yavuz, then at Esen. She just accepted it quietly.
Sevda stepped forward without waiting for an answer.
Poyraz threw me a brief glance. "If we're going, let's go now."
Hak moved to the head of the path. "Let's not waste time."
The girl who'd been with Veda and Devran quietly stood behind them. She neither spoke nor objected. As if the decision had already been made.
I looked back.
Hazar was staying put. Aylin was beside him. Veda and Devran a few steps behind. Sedef and Esen had drawn close to each other.
The path wasn't waiting for us.
But we weren't waiting anymore either.
When we took the first step down, the sound the stones made echoed through the valley. It was very brief, but it was enough.
The descent had begun.
"THUD!"
Sevda, rushing ahead at the front, tripped on a small stone on the ground, lost her balance, and fell forward.
Poyraz was at her side in an instant. But he didn't help her up right away; first he bent down slightly and smirked.
"Gravity," said Poyraz, holding out his hand. "It's more stubborn here, isn't it?"
Sevda raised her head. Her eyes were already on fire. She ignored Poyraz's hand and got up on her own.
"My foot slipped," she said sharply. As she brushed herself off, her gaze was keen. "It could happen to anyone."
"Absolutely," said Poyraz, his voice full of a put-on seriousness. Then he turned his head slightly and winked at me in the back.
"But admit it, Tunay—after that vertical hell back there… doesn't this feel a little too comfortable to you too?"
Sevda paused. Her dusty hands hung in the air.
"What hell?"
Poyraz shrugged, his voice deliberately careless, but he'd raised his tone loud enough for everyone to hear.
"I'm just saying; after that cliff where there wasn't a single branch to grab onto and the rock crumbled like flour under your feet… this place felt like a royal staircase to me."
Sevda knitted her brows, but her anger had given way to curiosity.
"I wasn't there."
"I know," said Poyraz, his voice softer this time. His eyes were on Sevda, but his words were for everyone. "That's why I'm telling you. You're lucky. Hak nearly went to the other world."
A brief silence fell among them. But this time it wasn't a tense silence; it was one full of curiosity.
Sevda clenched her teeth, but her voice didn't come out all that threatening.
"If you throw this in my face again, I'll roll you down this 'royal staircase.'"
Poyraz raised his hands as if surrendering, that rogue's grin on his face.
"Message received, my lady. I just wanted you to enjoy the walk."
Sevda turned away and started walking. But her steps had slowed. Her ear was turned to the back.
And right then, Yavuz's thin voice was heard,
"Was it really that bad? That cliff?"
"Bad?" Hak jumped in, finally joining the conversation too. Pointing to his shoulder, "Look at the state of my shoulder. Who knows when it'll heal."
For the first time, everyone wasn't going quiet at once.
The distance between us hadn't fully closed, maybe, but it had loosened. People were standing side by side, listening more closely to one another's voices.
In that moment I realized why Poyraz had been needling.
Silence was dangerous.
It was tearing people apart from one another.
Noise, though—however small—
was keeping us together.
The 'royal staircase' ended at a certain point. Not because the descent got harder, but because the descent itself ended.
The ground was level.
I deliberately stepped down a little hard. It didn't slip. The stones had stopped being steps and become a solid road.
"Flat ground," said Sevda. She kept it short. As if she were testing the word.
Poyraz looked back over his shoulder. "At least we won't be rolling anymore."
"Don't talk," said Sevda, still with anger in her voice.
Tekin exhaled. "Being able to walk on flat ground is nice."
"Don't get used to it," said Hak. He neither stopped nor slowed.
For a while no one spoke. The sound of footsteps had changed. They no longer fell, they spread out.
Yavuz broke the silence. "Look at that."
"What?" asked Poyraz.
He pointed with his hand to a large chunk of rock. It was covered with a greenish, velvety layer: "It's grown moss."
Hak turned his head slightly to the side. He started looking at the rock.
The woman at the very back of us—the one walking with Devran and Veda—spoke:
"This is a good sign, I think. The first plant we've seen here."
"The second," I corrected.
She must not have understood my correction, because she gave me a strange look. And not only her; the others had turned to me curiously too.
"At the place where the cave first widened," I said, remembering that black sapling. "Just before we came out into this valley… there was a sapling. Black as coal. That was the first."
"I see."
Poyraz, seeing the mood turn serious again, cleared his throat.
"Since the subject's come up," he said, a little sheepish but forthcoming, "we were forced to memorize each other's names on that damned climb up there…"
He pointed at me and Hak, then turned his head back toward the cave entrance.
"Hazar was with us too… We made that climb together. But we never properly met the rest of you. If we're going to be killed by moss here, I'd like to know who I'm dying with."
A faint, tense chuckle was heard. The mood had softened a little.
Tekin said, "Tekin. Useful to know if you need to shout for me."
"Good. Noted. I'm Poyraz."
Yavuz, "Yavuz," in a low voice.
The orange-haired girl in front said without looking back, "Sevda." Her voice was still hard but not hostile.
The last girl said quietly, "Duru."
When it came to me, the eyes turned my way.
"Tunay."
Poyraz nodded. "Right. And this silent giant is Hak."
Hak gave just a short nod of acknowledgment.
"Good," said Poyraz, clapping his hands together. "At least now we won't have to call each other 'Hey, you!'"
The names piled up. I didn't try to hold on to them. A few stuck in my mind, the rest went with the wind. Remembering people I'd just met had never been a strong suit of mine.
Still, out of an old habit, my mind categorized them. Like taking inventory:
The climbing group: Poyraz, Hak.
Those left behind: Hazar, Veda, Devran, Aylin, Sedef, Esen.
And the new faces beside us: Sevda, Tekin, Yavuz, Duru.
Counting me, thirteen people.
Thirteen breaths.
And those waiting for them in the dark…