As the sun was newly rising on the horizon, the exhausted Coldfangs sat on the mud-covered ground. Shielding my eyes with my hand from the sun, I simultaneously surveyed the tree rising in the middle of the arena. The ground around the tree was covered with muddy black water. The roots of the majestic tree occasionally poked their heads out from the muddy soil, reminding us how unstable the arena ground was.
The ground was stony and painful. No one knew what kind of pit or unevenness awaited beneath the muddy water. Except for Yutan...
He had taken countless heads here to avoid losing the leadership of the Stinkers. He had shed countless blood, swung his sword countless times.
Grigöz was a clever warrior, he was agile, and the cold had whipped his will hundreds of times, but mud had never been his friend. He knew this himself. This was the reason he was transfixed, looking at the sparks he created by rubbing his swords together.
Yutan raised his hands and saluted the cheers. As the majestic Stinker crowd hurled humiliating insults at us, we poor Coldfangs were forced into silence, sitting on the mud while men with spears stood guard over our heads.
I ran my hands under the mud for a bit. As I tried to gauge how bad the ground was, a stone came into my hand. A stone... But a strange stone. I remembered this stone. What was its name? Kakil stone... Fakil stone... Chak stone... Which one was it? Was this knowledge from my previous life or... I brought the stone in my hand close to my chest and started to pray. I sent a signal to Grigöz. "Grigöz, fight for us!"
The guard who felt my signal kicked me with his foot. Grigöz, noticing the kick aimed at me, shouted, opening his signals in all directions:
"O, Stinkers! I have brought not only bad news but also the cold on my sword! We hear your insults. We endure them! When I take your leader's head and turn my cold sword on you, I will demand an accounting for what you have done!"
Yutan could not hide his rage at Grigöz's embellished words. He tossed his fur aside and gripped his axe with two hands. With his other two hands, he swung his barbed chains.
"Shall we begin?" Yutan shouted.
"Let's begin!"
***
As the two giants walked towards each other, the mud that spurted from under their feet could easily drown a child. Grigöz had daggers in his lower two hands and swords in his upper two hands. When Yutan swung his axe, Grigöz guarded with his two swords. Now was a good opportunity to plunge his daggers, but chains wrapped around his lower two hands left him immobilized.
"I laugh at you!" Yutan said. "Such a simple warrior..." Yutan grabbed Grigöz, who was trying to stop the axe descending onto his head with his two swords, by the wrists with his chains, and tried to pull him down to the ground. The barbs of the chains were sharp, but a Veg's armor was not easily broken. The only thing he felt on his wrists was a slight pressure. "...How can such a simple warrior become a leader?"
"A simple warrior?" Grigöz suddenly let go of the chains. Yutan, who was trying to pull him to the ground with all his might, was startled by the sudden release of tension. As Yutan swung his axe randomly, Grigöz dodged the axe and plunged his swords into the joint spaces beneath Yutan's arm.
Yutan cried out in pain: "You!"
As Yutan's full attention was scattered by the pain, the chains on Grigöz's wrists loosened slightly. He allowed the chains to wrap around his own hands a bit more. He climbed onto Yutan with the chains on his wrists, wrapping the chains around Yutan's neck. While he was choking Yutan with his own chains, Yutan dropped the chains. Grigöz, choking him with the chains in his lower hands, punched Yutan's head with his upper hands. Yutan, receiving blow after blow, dropped his axe.
He ran quickly towards the tree and slammed Grigöz into the tree very hard. The entire ground, along with the tree, shook. There was a huge hole in the tree's trunk. Yutan had also hit his own head against the tree, but he couldn't be said to have taken much damage.
Grigöz had shattered the tree branches with his head, and when he finally hit his head hard against the tree, he was stunned. Seizing the opportunity, Yutan threw himself backward onto the ground, hoping to slam Grigöz, who was on his shoulder, hard onto the floor. Once again, the entire ground shook, and the mud on the ground splashed up and fell back down.
Seeing Grigöz release all his breath, my heart almost leaped out of my chest. If Yutan hadn't slipped on the ground, he would have managed to climb onto Grigöz, and the fight probably would have ended.
Yutan slipped on the muddy ground and slid face down for a bit. Grigöz was rising, spitting out the blood pouring from his mouth. As both slowly stood up, Grigöz was the first to move. He delivered a hard punch to Yutan's mouth as he was standing up. The sound was like the rumble of earthquakes. Yutan, in the same way, delivered a hard punch to Grigöz. Sound and air spread around.
Grigöz held the man's two hands with his two hands. With his other two hands, he delivered two punches. The man, in return, grabbed one of his wrists and twisted it severely. There were four hands in the fight, and each was doing different things. One of Grigöz's hands could be winning while the other was losing. The same was true for Yutan.
Finally, Yutan rushed at Grigöz and tried to hug him. When he couldn't properly grip Grigöz due to the mud on him and his feet slipped, he received a knee to the mouth. The sound of bones breaking was heard.
Yutan became so enraged by the pain of the knee strike that he began to push Grigöz away. Grigöz, whose feet were dragging through the mud, finally tripped on one of the branches and fell backward. This time, Yutan managed to climb on top. Grigöz was hitting him; Yutan was hitting him. Finally, Grigöz put his hand on the muddy ground and plunged the stone he pulled out into Yutan's eye. As blood spurted from the eye onto his face, Yutan didn't even scream... He continued to punch, bloodthirsty.
"You monster!" Grigöz shouted.
"You vile Coldfang!" he said and delivered another hard punch. The entire ground echoed with every wave. "Infidel!" One more punch... The blood flowing from his eye increased. Grigöz was even pushing the huge stone almost all the way into Yutan's brain. "Vile! Infidel!"
"Monster!"
Amidst all these shouts, Yutan finally delivered such a hard punch that Grigöz's entire face collapsed inward. The sound of his skull breaking was heard, and pieces of flesh, not exploding, spread from his face. Yutan stood up and raised his hands, celebrating his victory. Everyone looking at Yutan's face trembled with fear. "I won!" he shouted, but his voice was also strange.
Then, when he looked at me, I understood why they were afraid, because Yutan's brain was flowing out of his eye. Yutan, after laughing for a few minutes with the stupid smile on his face, fell face down and died next to Grigöz.
***
They hadn't given up on killing us. Nura, Yutan's Azt, had appointed himself the new leader despite not being a Buh. Despite not being a warrior... That the Stinkers took this as normal frightened me even more.
It was said that Yutan had won, so I would become the Ega of the Stinkers and give birth for them. My people, the Coldfangs, would be killed because they fled from the Fire God Fuag. While all this was happening, I looked at the stone in my hand and then at the exposed-trunk tree standing in front of me...
"We use flint to create fire." I heard a voice, but it wasn't a sound delivered by a signal. It was a voice from the past. A woman's voice... Yes, that creature had a gender. A creature that I once was... I was more than a stranger from the outside. I was coming from beyond the outside. "We controlled these creatures greatly by using trees as fire barriers." Yes... There was a woman against whom I swore vows of revenge. The one who imprisoned me here. As everything started to disappear and I had nothing left, this start of remembering this woman pushes me to doubt. I don't know if I'm making it up to keep my sanity.
"But I must try!" I said, throwing myself forward toward the tree. Before the guards could leap onto me, I struck the flint stone against the shattered region of the tree. Nothing happened... I knew it had to make contact with the tree's sap. The guards are about to touch me, about to capture me. As I rubbed the flint stone against the tree's sap, a spark started, and then a huge flame... The tree burst into flames, and they all retreated. I took a glow of fire into my hand and kept them away from me with the fire. And... And they all bowed down before me. Calling me the Prophet of the Fire God.
***
Let me briefly tell you what happened next. I took control of the Stinkers and Coldfangs. I announced that the creature's fire was a false fire, that its command of fire was seen as apostasy by the god, and I gave the death warrant for the creature named Nightmare. The Sandwanderers, learning that I was a prophet, invited me to their region. I should mention that by now, I was a prophet who had managed to unite all three tribes.
The Sandwanderers said that centuries ago, a creature who made fire, but a creature of another race, came here and drew a picture on the wall. Only the guards wandering at night had seen it, and this story had been told in different ways for hundreds of years. The drawing is in a cave beneath a temple... They take me there...
***
The picture on the wall is of a human woman. "Lara" is written next to her in the human alphabet... It's very surprising that I can still read it. The other Vegs, realizing I was reading, leave the cave in fear. I follow the drawn images; I see myself... I see myself as a prophet to this race, holding fire in my hand... The interesting part is that there is another figure kneeling beside me, and that figure... is also me...
***
One of the Sandwanderers brings me a golden case. They say they found the treasure inside this case in this cave.
As the golden case is opened before my eyes, I see a voice recorder. I tell the Vegs around me to move away, and I start listening in a corner of the cave.
***
"Hello Mehmet, I am Lara..."
"Damn it! Was I really human once? Was it not a trick of my brain? Was the hatred inside me real!" The voice recording continued:
"If you are listening to this voice recording, you have probably succeeded, you have managed to become the person who can control all the Vegs. Congratulations... Now you might ask me why I did this. You might also wonder why I sent you there in a Dermovox body, like a guinea pig."
"I am experiencing things beyond mere curiosity!"
"The first reason was this. Your brain was 100% human and not an easily obtainable brain. Therefore, both for cost and effectiveness, it was easily transferred into a Dermovox's body. The second is that no one would notice your disappearance. The last human, lonely, all alone in the universe... These were the words that described you.
Now, look on the bright side. You have a people, people who care about you, and a race waiting to be moved forward. You may not want to lead this race as a prophet. You know that this race was created to be a weapon. A weapon for humans... You may not want this race to fight for humans."
"No! I will absolutely not involve the creatures living here in the dirty business of humans! This is a clean race! Clean, but ignorant!"
"When the time comes, you might want to betray your race by not guiding them in our direction. Then we will intervene from above, eliminate you, and appoint another prophet. Either you will lead them in our direction and accompany them to the unavoidable destiny for the loyalty of your people and your race. Or you will give up..."
"You piece of trash woman!"
"What do you say? Will you lead them?"
***
I emerged from the cave with a burden as if dozens of human lifetimes had passed over me. The Vegs, seeing my exhaustion, rushed at me in fear. Although they tried to carry me, I didn't allow it. I let myself down onto a rock outside the cave and tightly hugged that rock. As the huge sun rose over the sand, the Veg tribe was progressing towards becoming a city. Their city-state was near, then an empire, and then an Interstellar threat. I could hear the joyful signals of the children, the hopeful smiles of the Egas. I desperately wanted to bring civilization and happiness to this race. I wanted to watch over them as a leader, but... But isn't the first duty of a leader honesty? How could I not tell them they were weapons? How could I keep this secret inside me?
Then I accepted one thing. When the time came for the future of this entire race to be decided, I wanted to be there. If they were going to make this race a weapon and exploit it without me, I would exist, and during this existence, I would try to minimize this exploitation. Even if we were to be a weapon for humanity, we would be comrades-in-arms, not hunting dogs. As the tears flowing from my eyes mixed with the dust, I raised my hand. The Sandwanderer Vegs lined up beside me also raised their hands.
I clenched my fist and swung it towards the sky: "We will fight, but for friendship!"