Sabır (Patience) - Kurulus Osman

Chapter 13

CEYDA'S POV

It's dark. Wait... there's some light. I move towards the light and find myself in a forest. This is where I went hunting with Baba.

There are my arrows. There is the bird. My bow hangs from a tree. And there's... is that who I think it is? A tall man is standing in front of me. A few grey hairs are visible under his hat. He turns around, his face beaming with joy. There is a twinkle in his eyes. One I've known for as long as I can remember. He's looking at... me. Baba.

I run towards him, tears falling from my eyes. "Baba! It's me!" I open my arms to hug him, but he turns away. "Baba?"

He turns around and walks directly into me. I gasp and turn around, only to see him on the other side. I grasp myself. Am I real? I feel pretty real. I walk towards my father and wave. "Baba? Can-can you see me?"

He doesn't respond.

"Baba! Look! Baba!" I am panicking now. I look around frantically. Why can't he see me? I smell smoke and look into the distance. Something's burning. Suddenly, an arrow flies in my direction. It takes me a second to realize that the arrow has gone... through... me. I am unharmed. I turn around quickly and see my father, falling to the ground.

I run to my father and try touching him, but I can't. I can't. "B-baba! Baba'im! What happened? Who did this?! Baba! Your eyes are open, but you're not moving! Where's your wound? Where-"

Blood drips on the floor near my father's head. There's a hole in his neck. I can't stop hyperventilating. "No. No! No more! No more! No more blood! No more death! Baba! Wake up! Don't go! Don't go!!"

I watch as my father goes still. I try hugging him, but I can't do anything. I hate this. I'm useless. Useless. My eyes tear up more, but there's something else that's tearing it up. It's the smoke. I try closing my father's eyes, but I can't. I can't touch him. I reluctantly leave my father and head towards the smoke, the horror of the sight blinding my vision.

The smoke leads to a tribe. It's destroyed. It's being destroyed... right in front of my eyes. Blurry figures run wild in the tribe, slaying everyone in their way viciously. I run to stop one of the blurry figures from killing a child, but the sword goes through me as if I'm a ghost and kills the child. "NO!" I try grabbing the child before he falls, but I can't. It's hopeless.

Someone heads for the main marquee. "No, my family. Ana! " I run.

But I'm too late.

My mother falls to the floor right in front of me, followed by my brother, uncle, and cousin. "NO!!"

I fall to the floor, sobbing. Hopeless. Useless. Their bodies are being dragged outside. I get up and start smacking and pushing the blurry figures. "Stop! Stop it!" But I can't. I can't touch them. I can't do it. I can't do anything.

There is a blazing fire pit burning in front of the main marquee. The blurry figures drag bodies into the fire. I cover my mouth in horror, then I see my father's body being dragged into the tribe. "No... don't do it! Please!" I beg the blurry figures. But it's no use. No one can hear me. No one hears my pleas. My begging. No one hears me. No one listens to me.

I close my eyes and clench my fists and jaw as my uncle's body is thrown into the fire. My cousin's. My brother's. My mother's. My father's. Screams of fright are heard in the distance, screeches of pain in the background, the raging fire roaring, and the blurry figures cackling.

I can't feel. I can't think. I can't breathe.

I open my eyes to a white room. Everything is blank. It was just a dream. The nightmare is over. Colour fills the white space, and objects start to form. I'm somewhere else now. I look around and pick myself up as I realize whatever I saw wasn't real. I wipe my tears and walk around.

This is another tribe. In seconds, the thriving grass and flourishing fruit-bearing trees transform into ash, leaving only darkness and destruction. The blurry figures form again. "Oh no..." They head towards me. This time, they could see me.

I run. I run into the main marquee, but the door doesn't budge. I can't get inside. There's no time to ponder. The figures move towards me, fast. I duck one of their blows and take my chance to run into the forest. I run and run. I run until my legs wear out. I look behind me and don't see anyone. I sigh in relief, "Çok şükür, I've lost them."

I hear rapid breathing nearby. It's not me. I slowly turn around and there it is. The blurry figure.

"You can't run from me," it says, its hollow voice echoing.

That voice... it sounds familiar, but I can't place where. The figure lunges at me. I forget to duck. It hurts. The weapon it holds gets me again. It doesn't stop. My body aches with pain, and I feel something wet and hot. I clutch my stomach as the figure continues hitting me. I fall to the ground and put my head between my knees. "Please...stop! Enough! That's enough... please."

I feel dizzy. My vision is blurry. My head hurts. I feel the back of my head... my hand comes back bloody. I look around, and the figure is gone. "Allah... help me." My head hurts. I try getting up but somehow forget how to. My body goes numb, and I can't breathe. My eyes threaten to close. I see something. Someone. It's the blurry figure.

And it's coming back.

"Hayir!!" I wake up with a jolt. The horrors of my nightmare still on my mind. There's a stinging pain on the back of my head. I look around in confusion. I am on a white and gold mattress with matching pillows and covers in a tent. A spacious one. There is no one around. I chuckle, "Everyone forgot me already." There are some noises outside. I am about to get off the bed when everything goes blank. My head hurts. I shake the feeling, get dressed in a forest green top with earth-brown trousers, place my dagger-like swords in their sheaths on my back and walk out.

---

Early, but I thought..why not? and also this is now ep 10 (yayy.. I mean..oh noo). I decided to skip ep 9 cuz there wasn't much to write about it (aaaand u didn't need to know about that..). ANYWAYS thanks for reading and remember to vote/comment! :)

French is boring...