As the warmth of morning seeped into my mind, I opened my eyes to those glowing stones on the valley's ceiling. The light was so intense that for a moment I couldn't grasp where I was, or in what time I was breathing.
Strangely, despite this eerie valley, I'd woken from a deep and peaceful sleep. I'd even had dreams; dreams so vivid, so real…
In my dream I was back in that café. The familiar, slightly bitter smell of freshly ground coffee was in my nose. Sitting at the table with my friends, chatting about nothing in particular, our laughter echoed off the walls of the shop.
The sound of cars passing on the street outside, the blare of horns… All of it was as it should be. It was so real I could have sworn I felt the wooden grain of the table at my fingertips.
As I blinked and looked at those false stars on the ceiling, my mind refused to leave the warm reality of my dream.
For a moment I thought, "Could it be?"
Could this valley, this Ruined Region, Yalaz and the awakening… could it all just be a bad nightmare? Maybe I was dozing in my chair at the café right now, and any moment one of my friends would tap my shoulder and wake me.
I hung suspended on that thin line between reality and dream. But the instant the valley's sharp cold touched my skin, the coffee smell of my dream gave way to the smell of damp stone and dust. As the hard earth dug into my back, I felt that fierce unrest from last night awaken again.
The dream was over. There was a reality waiting for me.
I sat up and looked around. People had woken; some were eating, some were wandering about.
When I went over to them, I saw that no trace remained of Poyraz's troubled state from last night—it had given way to an icy silence.
Hak, meanwhile, was busy clenching his fists; as if what he'd face today were a flesh-and-blood enemy rather than an energy, and he was preparing for it.
No one had shaken off the heavy unease upon them. There were those staring blankly around, those scratching at the dirt with their fingers.
It was as if their souls were still suspended in that last beautiful dream they'd had, while their bodies were forcibly imprisoned in the reality of this ill-omened valley.
Like me, they were struggling to accept reality, hoping with each blink to find themselves back in that café or in their warm homes.
"It's time," came Yalaz's voice, like an echo rising from the depths of the valley.
We all flinched. Yalaz had drawn the circle he'd mentioned last night and was sitting cross-legged on the edge of the wide circle.
At his signal, the two others who were with him—the blond little boy and the young man in his twenties with a cane in hand—sat down on the other sides of the circle.
The three of them sat cross-legged on the rim of the circle, forming what looked like a triangle.
"Now there are a few things I need to mention."
The old man's voice made us more uneasy still.
"There are three kinds of energy. We call them Erk, Yelvi, and Sezi."
As he said this he raised his arm and tapped the ground lightly—yet for some reason the tap wasn't light at all; it left a deep mark in the earth.
"This… is Erk."
Then he pointed to the other two.
"You're lucky that the other two use Sezi and Yelvi. Otherwise this 'awakening circle' couldn't be done."
'Are we lucky? People who were last sitting happily drinking their coffee came to a world they didn't know, and you call that lucky? Never mind the world they didn't know—you told us we're in the most ill-omened place in this world. How can that be luck?'
I wanted to say the thoughts going through my mind, but I didn't want to anger the old man.
After all, he was our only option right now.
The old man went on.
"As I said last night, some of you will have an affinity for one of these three energies. Some for two, some for none."
A voice came from the back; I looked, it was Yavuz.
"How will we know which one it is?"
"From your eyes," said the old man.
"From our eyes?"
"Yes. From your eyes. When you go through the awakening, your eyes will begin to glow in three different colors. Red for Erk, blue for Yelvi, green for Sezi…"
He paused, looked into the distance. His face turned sorrowful for a moment.
"The brightness and vividness of these colors determine how strong your affinity for that energy is."
I asked.
"So the more talented we are, the brighter it'll be?"
"Yes," he said.
"And your eye color isn't red? Or does it fade after a while?"
I didn't like the idea of my eyes glowing every second and drawing attention. When I looked at the old man, his dark brown eyes, like mine, caught my notice. So I'd quickly been able to form a theory.
"Correct. This glowing state is temporary. For some it ends in a few days, for some in a week. For the very gifted it lasts longer, but not forever.
He drove the sword in his hand into the ground; a dull sound echoed through the valley.
"Once you're inside the circle, all you need to do is focus. When you feel something different inside you, you'll have taken your first step onto the 'Path of Kut.'"
"The one who will show the way…" Poyraz's muttering beside me wasn't heard by the others.
I shot him a quick glance. We'd both understood what the other was thinking.
'That message written in the tunnel, the Path of Kut and the one who will show the way… Was the one who will show the way, mentioned in the message, this old man? If so, was the part that followed—"knows not the truth he carries"—said about the old man? What truth does he carry? And what is the Path of Kut?'
While theories ran through my mind, Poyraz spoke.
"The Path of Kut? What's that?"
"The Path of Kut is the road that begins with awakening and slowly gives back to itself that thing sleeping inside you. Most people can't even get past its beginning. Most who do, never see its end."
The old man took a breath, then looked at the circle he'd drawn and turned back to us.
"The first step — what you'll go through now. The Awakening. The feeling inside you appears no bigger than a spark. Invisible, small, fragile. Not a fire. Just a beginning."
"And then?" asked Hazar. His voice was trembling, but his eyes shone with curiosity.
"Forget about what comes after for today. Right now the only thing you need to focus on is the awakening; what follows is none of your concern. Now all of you get inside the circle and focus."
After his words we quickly gathered inside the circle.
The old man closed his eyes; the other two had closed theirs too.
"Focus, and feel," he said.
They were doing something, but I didn't understand it. I decided to focus and closed my eyes.
I focused, focused, focused…
A short while passed and there came the sound of someone standing up. With my focus broken, I curiously opened my eyes and looked.
The one who'd stood was the blond Yavuz; he was looking at his own body, examining it as if trying to make sense of something. Then I noticed his eyes.
His eyes… his pupils had changed, glowing a deep red. It was the most vivid red I'd ever seen.
Before I could even understand what was happening, someone else stood up. It was Duru.
I looked at her eyes; hers were glowing too, but not blue—green, and it was one of the most vivid colors I'd ever seen as well.
The two of them went over to Yalaz and spoke of something they'd seen. I tried to listen to their conversation, but they were far away and I couldn't make out most of it.
A few minutes later Aylin stood up; her eyes were glowing too. They were blue, like her own natural eyes. Though this was a different kind of blue.
I decided not to dwell on these things. I closed my eyes to focus.
I thought I heard a few more people stand up. They too were recounting some things. I kept focusing, trying not to listen.
I wanted to set foot into this ill-omened world too. I was full of curiosity.
I focused on my fingers, my arms, my body, the breath I drew, the world and the sky.
I felt something, a burning sensation… Deep, faint, and warm… I could feel two little flames, one inside my head and one inside my belly. They were so small you couldn't even call them sparks. They were just like two points.
Strange — one in my head, one in my belly. Why two places?
I kept focusing, and something began to happen.
Even though my eyes were closed, I was seeing something. I tried to make sense of it. I tried to see.
Was this a ghost? Was I locking eyes with a ghost?
The ghost seemed to appear for a brief moment, then vanished instantly.
Wait a second… What… What is this?
Concepts I didn't know began to crowd into my mind.
I didn't know their meanings, but they were there, as if they'd appeared all at once.
'Truth?... Kut?... Paradise in the Heavens?
These… what are these?'
And Tunay Gece — with two sparks within him, with nameless concepts in his heart — was awakening.
After this, a voice began to speak: soft, patient, and near…