No!
No?
İlyara smiled.
Then she began moving through the darkness. The farther she went, the more the darkness seemed to pull her in. As she moved among the foreign memories and emotions Elna had accumulated within herself over the years, she had to fight against them. One moment, she was carrying the feelings of someone writhing in pain; the next, she was feeling the emotions of a soldier driven mad with rage. At times, she witnessed people's madness, and at others, their love, watching their memories unfold before her.
She began to fear that if she stayed here any longer, she would lose herself.
What if she got lost in the Ancient's mind?
Pulling herself together, İlyara tried to distance herself from the foreign emotions and memories as much as she could. How could Elna carry such a heavy burden? Especially without a bond agreement?
It must be very painful, İlyara thought.
How could she reach Elna's own memories under these circumstances?
You can't.
Elna's voice echoed in İlyara's mind. Then she heard her laughter.
You are nobody.
"That's what you think," İlyara said.
For years, she had never argued against what people said about her, but she was now tired of it. She felt braver than ever before. And she wanted revenge.
"You're the one who is nobody," she continued.
Do you think I care about that? I can appear however I want in people's minds.
"You're fake."
Shut up!
"You're all alone," İlyara continued.
No, you're the one who is alone.
"Am I the one who is alone?" She stopped where she was. "Arın!"
"I'm here, İlyara," the voice said.
"See?" İlyara said. "I'm not the one who is alone."
For now.
"But you have always been alone."
I wasn't.
For the first time, İlyara sensed sadness in Elna's voice. She began to run after that sadness.
Leave it alone!
İlyara continued running, ignoring Elna's scream, and suddenly found herself in a narrow street.
"Don't!"
When she heard a little girl's voice, she turned toward it.
This little girl must have been Elna.
Little Elna had her arms spread wide, trying to protect the dog cowering behind her in fear. In front of her stood three boys who were older than her. The boy at the front raised the wooden sword in his hand into the air.
"Elna, get out of my way," said the boy with the wooden sword. "It killed our chicken."
"She was taking it to her puppies," little Elna said. She hadn't taken her eyes off the boy for even a moment.
"I don't care," the boy said and pushed Elna. Elna fell to the ground, hissing in pain.
"I told you to get out of my way. I got beaten by my father because of her."
Then another boy kicked the dog. The dog yelped in pain.
"Don't!" Elna cried, throwing herself over the dog.
"Get off her, or you'll get beaten too," said the boy with the wooden sword.
İlyara wanted to call out to the children, but she immediately changed her mind. Because all of this was just a memory.
Little Elna turned her gaze toward the dog on the ground. The poor dog was whimpering in pain. İlyara felt the dog's fear suddenly disappear. Elna must have done it. Emotions didn't just disappear like that.
Little Elna got to her feet and lunged at the boy with the sword. The two of them fell to the ground together.
"You scared her," little Elna said as she sat on top of the boy. "Feel what it's like."
Then she took the boy's head between her small hands and turned his face toward her.
The boy suddenly screamed and threw the little girl off him. Then he began crawling backward across the ground, moving away from her in fear.
The other boys, startled, ran after their screaming friend as he fled.
"Elna!"
A woman came over to Elna and slapped her.
"Didn't I tell you not to use this power?" she said, shaking her.
"But, Mother…" Elna began to cry. "…they were going to kill her," she said, pointing at the dog.
After looking at the injured dog, the woman hugged Elna.
"But you still shouldn't use it," she said, stroking Elna's hair as she cried. "This power is very dangerous."
"No, it isn't," little Elna said.
The woman stopped hugging her and moved Elna slightly away from herself.
"If you don't stop, it will take control of you."
Get out of my memory!
At Elna's voice, everything around them went completely dark. But İlyara began walking through the darkness again.
What do you hope to find?
She didn't know either.
You're wasting your time.
Maybe.
"Were you always this helpful?" İlyara asked.
Elna laughed mockingly.
This isn't helpfulness, Elna said. It's pure naivety. I should have listened to my mother.
This time, İlyara sensed Elna's regret and followed after it.
Stop chasing after it!
The ground beneath İlyara's feet suddenly gave way. As the darkness slowly faded, the light briefly blinded her.
"We're going to die here."
When İlyara turned around, she saw a wounded Taşkan leaning against a tree. His gray armor was almost completely torn apart.
"Calm down," a woman said.
It was Elna. She was a young woman now, and she was wearing gray armor. In her hand, she held a bloodied sword.
Could women also become soldiers in this world? This was the first time she had seen it.
"Don't tell me to calm down!" the man shouted. "I told you we shouldn't leave without bringing a healer with us."
"But if we had waited for the healer, we wouldn't have had time to save the children," Elna defended herself.
"You relied on your power, didn't you?" the man said. "Do emotions really have power?"
His last words were contemptuous.
Elna suddenly crouched down in front of the man and grabbed him by the collar. Then she pointed toward the bushes on the left. There… seemed to be something there.
"Those children wouldn't be able to stay there quietly if it weren't for the power you despise," Elna said angrily. "If they start screaming and crying, they'll find us."
"I wish I hadn't teamed up with you," the man said.
"What?"
Elna took a slight step back.
"I wish I were with someone who had fire powers, or water… I don't know, anyone without this emotion nonsense," the man continued.
"Is that so?"
"It is," the man said.
"Good. Stay here," Elna said, then turned around.
As she headed toward the children, the man shouted after her.
"You can't leave me here!"
Elna continued walking.
"Hey!"
İlyara could feel the anger radiating from Elna.
Elna quickly turned around and ran toward the man. She crouched beside him, grabbed him by the collar, and pulled him toward her.
"I can feel the hatred you have for me," she whispered into the man's ear.
Her eyes slowly turned red.
"Would you like to feel my hatred too?"
With those words, Elna pulled out the dagger strapped to her leg and plunged it into the man's body.
"Ah!"
The man began screaming in pain.
"I told you to be quiet," Elna said, covering the man's mouth with her hand as she began to giggle.
Then she plunged the dagger into the man's throat and pulled it out, then stabbed him again. Just as she was about to stab him once more, the man collapsed to the ground. His eyes were open, but he was no longer breathing.
Elna stood frozen for a while. Then she looked at her bloodied hands. As her hands trembled, tears blurred her vision even more.
"What have I done?" Elna whispered.
İlyara realized that the children hiding in the bushes had witnessed all this horror. Yet the children looked at Elna emotionlessly, as if nothing had happened.
Are you happy with what you've seen?
"What did you do to the children?" İlyara asked angrily.
What did I do? I protected them from death!
"What happened to those children?" İlyara asked.
There was no answer from Elna for a while.
They were reunited with their families, and they reported me.
"Why didn't you make a blood bond agreement?"
Didn't you hear what the man said? Everyone looks down on our power. But now they're afraid, Elna said, pride evident in her voice.
"Ahh!"
With Elna's scream and pain, İlyara was thrown out of Elna's mind and suddenly found herself in the Council's dining hall. Then the sound of a knife hitting the floor echoed through the hall. When she felt the stinging in her throat, she brought her hand to her neck. She quickly pulled her hand back with a hiss of pain and looked at the blood smeared across her fingers.
Had someone cut her throat?
When she looked around, trying to understand what had happened, she noticed the sword embedded in Elna's chest. The sword had pierced the exact center of her chest and seemed to be very close to her heart.
Elna was groaning in pain in front of her, her head bowed toward the floor.
"İlyara cannot die."
When she heard Arın's voice, İlyara raised her head. Arın, meanwhile, pushed the sword he had plunged into her a little deeper.
"Damn puppet," Elna cursed. "How are you going to escape my power?"
"I'll get rid of you too," Arın said. İlyara could feel the hatred in his voice.
But how?
Were Arın's emotions coming back?
"He will betray you," Elna said, looking at İlyara.
Just as Arın was about to push the sword a little deeper, İlyara raised her hand, signaling him to stop.
"Why?"
She was very curious about the reason. Elna kept talking about it, as if she were obsessed with betrayal.
Elna grasped the sword Arın had plunged into her with her bare hand and began pulling it forward. As she pulled the sword, her palm was being cut as well.
"What are you doing?" İlyara shouted in disbelief.
Elna smiled gently at İlyara. İlyara had never seen that smile on her before.
"I have to die," she said. "Stay away from me. You don't want to become like me."
Arın suddenly thrust the sword deeper and quickly pulled it out.
"Don't let her manipulate you," Arın said in an emotionless tone.
Elna collapsed to the floor with a groan. As the white floor was stained with her blood, she lay on her side, clutching her wound with her hands.
"Loren," Elna whispered with a moan.
Who is Loren?
Arın raised his sword and lunged toward Elna. But black smoke suddenly burst from Elna's body and scattered in all directions. The force of the explosion sent Arın flying through the open doorway and into the corridor. İlyara, meanwhile, was dragged back a few inches as the smoke coming from Elna began to surge toward her.
This was no ordinary smoke; they were emotions… They were the lost feelings the Ancient had imprisoned within herself for years.