Batur Bey entered Dundar's marquee with a worried expression, "Baba, Mongols."
Ceyda was walking towards her uncle's marquee when she heard some shrieks. She froze. Memories of her nightmares flashed before her eyes. She felt a stinging pain in the back of her head and groaned. Ceyda blinked it away and continued walking. It was awfully quiet and unusually empty. She didn't spend more time thinking about this as she was too excited to see her family.
"This border belongs to Mongol's iron fist Balgay now!" a deep and threatening voice thundered.
Ceyda decided to go around the tents to surprise her family. She giggled in excitement.
"The Kayis deserved Sogut with their swords!" Bogac declared, bravely walking up to the mysterious man.
"Bogac," Batur warned.
"Batur Abi, Bogac kardes," Ceyda squealed as she recognized their voices, and they came into sight.
She ran towards her brothers when Bogac's neck was slit open and he fell to the ground, blood slowly pouring around him. Batur ran to his brother's side in tears, "Bogac! Kardesim!"
Ceyda's head throbbed with pain, and her eyes widened in horror as memories of her nightmares started flooding her mind. Her father falling to the ground. Her mother, uncle, cousin, and brother being killed right in front of her. Her family being dragged and thrown into a blazing fire. She feeling useless. She clutched her head and shrieked as she fell to the ground, averting her eyes from the murder she witnessed.
Everyone turned to the familiar shriek, their mouths opening in disbelief as they realized who it belonged to.
"K-kizim?" Zohre and Selcan whispered.
"Kardesim," Gunduz and Aygul called.
Batur clutched Bogac and cried, then looked at his sister and froze.
Ceyda punched the ground and grabbed fistfuls of dirt, mumbling something as she did. "No more. No more blood. No more death! No more!" she cried.
"Who is this? Get her up!" the Mongol soldier ordered, peering at the woman.
"Don't you touch her!" Aygul screamed as she ran to her sister.
"Aygul, no!" Dundar and Zohre shouted.
The soldier dismounted his horse and smirked. He had long blonde hair that was shaved from the sides and pulled into a thick braid which was accompanied by several other smaller ones. He was extremely well-built and curiously taller than the other Mongol soldiers.
Kongar walked to Ceyda who continued mumbling and hitting the ground as Aygul tried stopping her. "Get away, Mongol filth!" spat Aygul, facing the soldier and glaring at him courageously.
Kongar scorned her courage and effortlessly pushed her to the side. The force was so strong it made her fall, earning yells from her family.
Kongar knelt beside Ceyda and grabbed her hands, "What is wrong with you?" Ceyda got out of his grip and continued punching the ground, grunting savagely as she did. Kongar scoffed and grabbed her collar, pulling her up with him, "Look here, girl!"
Ceyda looked away. Her head throbbed with pain. Suddenly, all she remembered was something black and blonde. Something she called, "Kahraman..."
"What?"
Ceyda looked at the blonde soldier with black clothes and grinned, her eyes shining brightly, "Kahraman. Kahramanim."
"Oh no..." Zohre despaired as Aygul ran to her mother, "What's happening, ana?"
"What we feared most." Everyone shared nervous expressions as they watched Ceyda.
"Moğollar... Kahraman," Ceyda continued muttering.
Kongar loosened his grip and furrowed his brow, "You...Ceyda."
"Moğollar... Kahraman."
Kongar smiled widely, "Balgay will be glad to see you." He looked at the people standing on the steps of the marquee. "Dundar! Now you are not the margrave but the leader of the shepherds! You will come to Commander Balgay with your nephew Gunduz."
The Mongols chained Dundar and Gunduz's hands. Gunduz kept glancing at his uncle, wondering why he wasn't saying anything. Clearly, he did not want himself or his family to have the same fate as Bogac. Zohre continued looking at Ceyda, longingly. I'm so sorry, kizim.
Ceyda played with Kongar's horse's reins as Kongar dragged his bloodied sword against the porch and smirked at Dundar's vulnerability. He then lingered in front of each of Dundar's family members threateningly. Zohre, Ayse, Aygul and Selcan all glared daggers at him.
Kongar continued smirking his boyish smirk when Selcan took out her dagger and raised it on Kongar, taking her chance to wound the soldier. In less than a second, Kongar gripped Selcan's wrist, thrust his sword onto the porch and wrapped his large hand around her neck, earning cries of protest from the family. Zohre advanced to Selcan to help her but was slapped away.
Ceyda jerked her head to the fight and frowned. Her head started throbbing again. She knew those faces... but she couldn't place where. Suddenly, she remembered, "Yenge...ana..."
"Zohre!" Dundar yelled as he sat to help his wife.
"Ana!" Batur shouted, still clutching Bogac's dead body.
"Souls under the ground and above the sky gave us everything except for mercy!" Kongar roared, and he pushed Selcan away, making her bump into the alps and fall to the ground.
"Yenge!" Gunduz cried.
"Take them."
Ceyda watched as Gunduz and Dundar were being taken away. Memories of her family being dragged from her appeared. Now her head was aching more than ever, "NO! Yeter!"
She pulled her weapons from her back and killed the Mongol soldiers who were taking away her uncle and cousin. "I will not let you go! Not again..." All the soldiers who had come with Kongar instinctively took out their swords and pointed them at Ceyda.
"No! I need her alive! Balgay will want her alive!" Kongar warned, and the soldiers sheathed their swords as Kongar leered at Ceyda, "So you are as tough as they say."
"Why rely on other's words? Come and find out yourself, dog!" Ceyda insulted, gripping her swords tighter.
Kongar smirked, "Come on then, deli kiz."
"Don't call me that!" Ceyda got ready to pounce on him, but she groaned in pain from her wounds.
Kongar took his opportunity and walked closer to her, "You're wounded...deli kiz."
"Didn't I tell you to stop calling me that?!"
"Call you what? Deli? What's wrong, deli kiz?"
Ceyda cried in battle and pounced onto the soldier, stabbing Kongar's chest right when he took out his dagger and reflexively stabbed her in the same spot. They both attempted to hide their pain through glares as their weapons pierced each other's flesh.
"No... Ceyda!" Batur cried and Aygul gasped. Tears welled up in Zohre's eyes and curses flew from the rest of the family's mouths.
One of the soldiers took their chance and hit Ceyda with the back of his sword, intending to make her unconscious.
Ceyda barely flinched and squeezed her eyes shut, slowly turning her head and glaring at the Mongol, making him retreat in fear. Kongar used his free hand to take out the weapon in his chest and instinctively chained her hands.
It took a second for Ceyda to realize what was going on, and when she looked down, she groaned. He was fast. She then spotted the blood that stained her tunic and tutted. I just got that. Then, her head started hurting and everything went blank. The only thing she could see was blood. Fire. The sting from her wounds brought her back to reality.
"Make sure she's chained properly. Mad people can do anything," Kongar ordered, mounting his horse with some difficulty.
Gunduz and Dundar eyed Ceyda, looking for any sign of a mental illness or amnesia. Ceyda saw them looking at her and stared at them. Her eyes moving between the two of them cautiously.
"Yah!" Kongar pulled Ceyda's ropes as he rode his horse, making her stumble and ache from her wounds as the other Mongols dragged Dundar and Gunduz.
"Baba...Bacim," Batur called hopelessly, watching them stumble away.
Zohre watched as her husband, nephew and niece were dragged away as Ayse silently cried. "Allah. You help us Allah'im. Don't let Ceyda do anything mad. Keep them all safe," she prayed quietly.
"Ameen," Selcan agreed, rubbing her throat.
"Ana, what's going to happen now? What will Ceyda do?" Aygul worried, facing Zohre with teary eyes.
"Only Allah knows what will happen."
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