What woke Poyraz was that aggressive, bright sunlight that seeped in even through his eyelids.
It was as if the sun… were closer here.
He sat up in bed and looked around. Hak had already woken; he sat on the edge of his bed, hands on his knees, waiting with the stillness of a statue.
On the other side, Tunay was utterly cut off from the world, sleeping on as if he'd never fallen into this ill-omened place at all.
Poyraz sat for a while without moving. This house he was in… was strange. There were stone walls and wooden beams reminiscent of crude medieval architecture, but this place felt more solid and more peaceful than most of the damp rooms he'd had to stay in the back streets of the city.
At least, after the rotten air of the Ruined Lands, he'd been able to sleep without a single interruption for the first time.
He went over to the window and looked outside.
The heat of the sun burned his skin even through the glass, its light painting everything white. But that wasn't the truly unnerving part. When Poyraz noticed the two other stars shining in the sky, he felt his breath catch.
These two stars stood in the sky like two bright holes, even though it was daytime. They were so close that they looked larger than all the moons in the sky.
'Unnerving and beautiful,' he thought to himself. The beauty of this world always seemed to carry a threat of death beneath it.
"BONG! BONG! BONG!"
The hard ring of a bell, echoing with three sharp strikes, cut the morning silence like a knife.
Poyraz flinched.
For an instant… he thought something had happened again.
Then he noticed that no one was running.
"…Breakfast," he murmured.
As the metallic echo coming from outside burst inside the room, Tunay stirred uneasily in bed.
"What's going on?" he muttered, the sleep not yet cleared from his voice. When he sat up rubbing his eyes, the long hair that already covered his face had tangled even more, his bangs turning into a black curtain that completely blocked his line of sight.
"Get up," said Poyraz. "Training time, soldier."
Tunay turned up his nose.
"Unfortunately I've got a long way to go before the army."
He got out of bed and brushed himself off.
"But I won't say no to training. I'm curious."
Meanwhile Hak had already risen and was standing at the door like a shadow. He was in his usual silent wait.
The three of them headed together toward the bell that came from the center of the village, cutting the morning calm like a knife.
The village square was as lively as a waking organism. One of the women struck the bell with a great rhythm using the metal mallet in her hand; another handed out food to those gathered around an enormous pot, steam rising off it.
Among the crowd, Poyraz noticed little Erlin. The boy was carrying vessels bigger than himself, helping the women, and meanwhile giving the group a familiar smile.
After the gloom of the Ruined Lands, this sight felt to them like an almost surreal moment of peace.
The three of them mingled with the crowd and took a few spoonfuls of their warm food. Poyraz had long since stopped questioning what he was eating. If it was edible, he ate it.
A short while after eating, Yalaz moved to the middle of the square. His booming voice cut off the conversations.
"Erk users will follow Garrun."
Garrun stood waiting, his spear planted in the ground like a cane. He was in his late fifties; every line on his face looked as if it had paid the price for something.
"Sezi users will follow Miren."
The old woman leaned on her cane, looking ahead with dull but deep eyes.
"Yelvi users will follow Togan."
Togan was the youngest face in the village. In his twenties, with three leather-bound books in hand. Poyraz hadn't quite been able to read him since first seeing him. How relaxed he looked contradicted how little he spoke.
"Old man," he called to Yalaz. "Which one do I go to?"
Yalaz paused for a moment. His gaze concentrated on Tunay.
"Those with dual affinities can learn both," he said. Then he added: "But I don't recommend it."
His eyes wandered not only over Tunay but over the whole group. As if reminding each of them once more of the costs of this world.
"Learning both at once takes time. Your mind and body are stretched between two different paths. And later… at some point, you'll be forced to choose one. Because you can't climb two summits at the same time."
After a brief pause he added.
"This isn't an advantage. It's more weight on your shoulders and a divided focus."
Without further explanation, Yalaz turned away.
Poyraz looked at Tunay. "Which one are you going to?"
Tunay shrugged with his usual careless but curious manner.
"Let me try magic first. It sounds nice." He gave a faint smirk. "Heehee."
Poyraz responded to Tunay's decision with a slight smile. "Together, then."
Tunay nodded, and the two of them started walking toward Togan, who was heading with his old leather books toward one of the village's ramshackle buildings.
When Poyraz entered the old building, what he saw were dusty rows of desks, a blackboard, and walls that smelled of damp. It struck him as strange that there'd be such a small classroom in the village.
He chose a seat by the window. He brushed the dust off his chair a few times with his hand and then sat.
Tunay settled in beside him. Aylin cast a wary glance around as she came through the door, then sat in a row near the front. Tekin chose the very back.
Togan stood in front of the desk. He set the three leather-bound books on it.
Once everyone had settled, he raised his head.
"You've gone through your awakening," he said. "You've felt the energy. You won't be learning that today. You already know it."
A brief pause.
"Today you'll learn to accumulate it."
He picked one up and held it out to Aylin.
Aylin took the book. She opened it. She looked at one page, then another.
Then she raised her head.
"I can't read it."
Togan froze. "What?"
"I don't know this alphabet." Her voice was flat, she wasn't apologizing. She was just saying it. "None of us do."
Togan took the book back. He set it on the desk.
He stood where he was for a while.
Poyraz was sure the man was cursing inside.
Finally Togan turned.
"All right," he said. There was neither anger nor surprise in his voice. Just the levelness of someone setting up a new equation. "We'll do it differently."
He drew the books aside.
"You've felt the energy before. You know how it feels. Now I want to ask you—when you were feeling it, what were you doing?"
A moment of silence.
Then Tunay spoke. "Nothing. It just happened."
"Yes." Togan nodded. "Because that's how the awakening works. You only became aware of it."
He leaned against the edge of the desk.
"Accumulation is different. This time you'll draw it in and hold it."
"How?" said Tekin.
"With breath." Togan paused. It was clear he was weighing how to explain.
"Energy is everywhere. Normally it passes through you and leaves nothing behind. Breathing techniques change that—instead of letting it pass through, you hold it. A small part. With every breath."
"Show us," said Tunay.
Togan looked at him. "I can't show you."
"Why?"
"Because it's invisible." His voice was flat, not defensive.
"You can't see how much energy is accumulated in me. And I can't see yours. You can only feel it—your own."
Tunay was about to ask something else. Togan went on.
"Stand up. Come to the middle."
The desks were pushed back with a screech. The five of them formed a semicircle in the middle of the room.
"Sit cross-legged."
Poyraz sank to the floor. The stone ground was hard; his bones complained at once. Tunay sat down beside him, folding his legs comfortably—as if he'd spent his whole life sitting on stone floors.
'How is he so comfortable?'
Togan walked among them, examining each one. Then he stopped.
"Put your right hand just below your navel." He showed his own hand, pointed to the spot. "Right here. Your left hand stays on your knee."
Poyraz put his hand there. It felt strange.
"Your chest must not move at all." Togan began to walk among them. "Only the belly. I'll be checking this."
Tunay raised his hand. "Why not the chest?"
"Because that's how it works." Togan kept walking. "Stop asking, start doing."
Tunay lowered his hand.
"You'll breathe in. You'll count to five, in your head. Then you'll breathe out—to seven."
"Five and seven?" said Tekin. "Why not equal?"
"They don't need to be equal."
"But—"
"Seven." Togan didn't raise his voice, but it was clear there was no arguing. "Count."
There was a silence.
"And finally—" Togan stopped, looked at them all. "Don't fully exhale. Some will always remain inside you. How much?"
No one answered.
"You don't know, that's normal." Togan sank to the floor, coming level with them. "You'll feel it. Just as you're about to empty fully, stop. There's a resistance there. When you feel it, stop."
"Why?" said Tunay.
This time Togan answered.
"If you empty fully, you give back everything you've accumulated."
A brief silence.
'Ah.' Poyraz hadn't thought of this before. It made sense—it was like trying to scoop water from a river. If you held your palm open, everything flowed back out.
"Close your eyes."
Poyraz closed them.
"Begin."
The first breath felt strange.
Counting to five occupied his mind—one, two, three, four, five—but while trying to fill his belly he lost count. He started over.
Counting to seven on the exhale was even harder. His breath ran out at six, but he kept counting anyway. The air left inside him felt trapped.
And the matter of not emptying fully—how was he supposed to understand that?
He tried again. Five. Exhale. Seven. Stop.
Nothing.
He could hear Togan's footsteps among them. He stopped at one point. Not beside Poyraz, but a little ahead.
"Your chest is rising."
Was it to Aylin? To Esen? Hard to tell.
"Feel it with your hand. Not the chest, the belly."
Poyraz concentrated on his own hand. The hand below his navel was rising and falling faintly with his breath. Is this right? He looked at his chest—with his eyes closed he couldn't tell.
'It's probably right.'
He went on.
Time passed.
Poyraz didn't know how much. His back had begun to ache. The stone floor had numbed his hips. The numbers spun around in his head—five, seven, five, seven—it had become mechanical by now.
He could feel the energy, he always could. It had been there ever since the awakening. But holding it was something else. With each breath a little seemed to stay, then on the next it was gone. Like water slipping through a palm.
At one point Tekin shifted. It was clear he'd opened his eyes.
Togan spoke without raising his voice. "Close them."
Tekin closed them.
Poyraz laughed inwardly. Then he returned to himself.
'Keep going.'
He didn't see when Aylin succeeded.
He only heard, at one point, Togan's footsteps stop somewhere and stay for a long time. Then he quietly said "good."
A single word.
Poyraz clenched his teeth. He returned to the rhythm of his breath.
Five. Seven. Stop.
Five. Seven. Stop.
Five. Seven. Stop.
At one point Togan stopped somewhere again. This time he waited a shorter while.
"Good," he said. "Keep going."
Was it to Tunay? Poyraz wasn't sure.
More time passed.
Then Togan stopped somewhere again, and this time he said nothing at all. He just waited. For a long time.
Then he moved away.
'Esen.'
Poyraz counted to himself. Aylin, Tunay, Esen.
He and Tekin were left.
By the time he noticed, Togan had already moved on from there. Poyraz hadn't understood when it happened.
He didn't get angry. He tried not to get angry.
But something inside him strained, as if it had reached the last thread of a rope.
He breathed in.
Five.
He breathed out.
Seven.
He stopped.
The energy passed, gone.
'Okay. Again.'
Togan came to his side at one point. Without stopping, he spoke as he walked.
"Right hand's correct. Chest isn't moving."
Poyraz didn't answer.
"You finish exhaling too fast. Slow it down."
Poyraz slowed it down.
Togan passed on by.
'So the technique's correct. It's just… not happening.'
He went on.
He didn't know how long after.
Maybe ten minutes, maybe five—on a single breath, with nothing having changed, something changed.
It was tiny. Almost nothing.
As the energy passed through him, a part of it… hesitated. It didn't quite leave. There was a small spark inside his head.
Poyraz held his breath.
It didn't leave.
It was still there.
Togan's footsteps came. He stopped. He waited a long time. Poyraz kept holding his breath—in case it would vanish if he did something wrong.
Togan finally spoke.
"Don't forget to exhale."
Poyraz exhaled. Slowly. He counted to seven, stopping before fully emptying.
It was still there.
'Ah.'
"Good," said Togan.
He moved away.
Poyraz didn't open his eyes.
In case it would vanish if he did.
It was afternoon by now. The sun had changed the angle through the window, the light falling slanted across the desks.
When Togan released the five of them, no one got up right away.
Poyraz opened his eyes. Only then did he realize his legs had gone numb. He tried to stand, looked for something to hold on to, found nothing, and pressed down on Tunay's shoulder.
"Hey."
"I know," said Tunay. He was struggling too.
Tekin rubbed his knees. Esen cracked her neck. Aylin just stood, blinking, as if she were still inside.
Poyraz looked at Togan.
"Same thing tomorrow?"
Togan was gathering his books. He answered without raising his head.
"The same thing for the rest of your life."
Poyraz said nothing.
As he stepped outside, he felt the sun hit his face. It was hot. He squinted.
That little thing inside his head was still there.
It was almost nothing.
But it was there.