Barnad's Tear

By Yusuf Baydu

"...We live life not in a straight line but in a circle. Everything returns to its original position, no matter how far we move away. The race in this circle is to control power. And that can only be done through bloodshed; our blood or the blood of others. We have to make a choice, and I have already made my choice. Everyone who sits on a throne is most fond of his own vein, hiding it from everyone so that no one else can cut it. Because a king's head is always provocative..."

 

## Zahir, raised by his uncle in the lands of the Republic, is forced to leave the only place he has ever known in search of the purpose of his existence, while Akın leaves his home with the Dictator's soldiers to pursue the adventure he has been waiting for all his life. Meanwhile, the Realm of Heyn, once ruled by a single monarch, is approaching the age of war to repeat its history.

Conflicts between the Kingdom and the Republic open up a new era and provide an opportunity for the ordinary people of the land to tell their stories. Ezpiades and his friends on the one hand, and Sena and those they represent on the other, are ready to step forward to write this story. ##

• Language: English
• Publisher: Yusuf Baydu
• Release date: Mar 17, 2023
• ISBN: 9798215801123

Book preview

BARNAD’S TEAR

YUSUF BAYDU

CHAPTERS

Mythra

Long Live The Dictator

Leaving The Nest

New Commander

Creating Demons

The Sorrow of Lake Seyra

Footsteps of Barsasel

Call

Duru Valley

Ceremony

Sword Of The Revolution

First Task

Bloody Castle

Exile

Noise of Blood

High River Weeps Blood

The Fall of the Republic

Resurrection of the Dead

Song of Death

Laminos' Dream

Barnad's Tear

Neither living nor dying

Deciding how to live

What is unique to us

And to fight for it

Mythra

W

hen he opened his eyes, he found himself alone in a dark corridor. As he made his way past the pillars in the direction of the light, he approached the pool and saw himself in the reflection of the still water. Despite his wrinkled face, he was as vivid as ever. He took his white hair in his hand, which had reached his wrinkled beard.

Where am I? he asked himself, thinking that he was alone where he was. As he asked his question, he looked in the direction of the noise that seemed to answer his question. This time he moved towards the huge door and the throne in front of it. As the old man moved towards the throne, a silhouette emerged from the throne and moved towards him. When they saw each other clearly, the old man fearlessly asked his question again.

Where am I?

Philosophers build their lives to meet death and train themselves all their lives not to be stunned by it. Here I am, I am Ayzaber, or more familiarly known as death.

The old man realized that his heartbeat had quickened and his breathing had increased. He soon pulled himself together. When his breathing returned to normal, he looked around.

What do you think? Ayzaber asked.

You don't have scary teeth. You don't have a gaze that we don't dare to look at and groan under. You don't have the impetuosity that always waits for an opportunity to pounce on us. And I would even say you are a loving person. the old man said coldly. Ayzaber replied with the same coldness.

Everything that has life in it defies time to reach me. We are much closer than you think.

It seems my journey ends here.

No. Your adventure here will be over when you pass through the door you see behind me.

Ayzaber moved towards the pool to remove the old man's heart and drop it into the pool. When he placed the heart in the pool, the stagnant water began to bubble like raging streams. As Ayzaber walked back to his victim, the door behind the throne opened.

And which realm are you waiting for now?

I have left heaven and hell behind me. I only expect not to return to the same place.

So be it. Ayzaber replied. After the old man passed through the door, it closed and Ayzaber returned to his throne.

His next victim was a middle-aged man. Like any poor soul in the crypt of death, he impulsively moved towards the only source of light in the darkness. He came to the front of the throne, examining the places where his eyes met, as if trying to comprehend where he was. As Ayzaber rose to greet his victim, the man fell to the ground screaming.

Beast, get away from me! he cried, but his words were meaningless. With each step Ayzaber took forward, the man crawled backwards across the ground and back into the pool, hoping to escape. When he realized that Ayzaber was not going to do anything bad to him, he tried to suppress his fear.

Who are you? the man asked when he calmed down, realizing again that he was in a place he did not understand.

I am the one you are afraid to mention, the one you never thought existed. Ayzaber replied.

Hah! What do you mean by that? Speak clearly. I didn't understand anything you said.

Do you remember the last thing that happened to you?

Last time I was hunting rabbits in the woods. Yes, yes, I remember it now. My horse had a broken hoof, so I had to continue on foot. I was following a rabbit I had spotted in the forest for lunch. When I caught the rabbit in a fixed position, I immediately took aim. But before I could shoot my arrow, someone had already hunted the rabbit. Soon after, an arrow hit me in the throat. Suddenly grabbing his throat, the man remembered the last wound he had received in the story he was telling. I was so distracted by hunger that I didn't notice the other hunters. Bastards, that rabbit was mine by right. He stood up and looked at Ayzaber a little closer.

Since I'm dead, you must be death.

You could say that.

The man pointed to the door behind Ayzaber.

Is this the gate to heaven? Without waiting for an answer to his question, he continued.

Ah! I have helped so many people in my life that I knew that one day I would go to heaven. I remember once giving food and work to a family with two children who came to my door. At first I thought they were being attacked because the woman was wailing so loudly. It turned out that the stream running through their land had dried up and they couldn't irrigate their crops and all their crops were ruined. They couldn't plant any more crops, they couldn't do the only work they knew, so they came to my door out of hunger. I gave them work on my land and even bought their dry land from them. The next summer I realized that because I had diverted the stream the previous summer to irrigate my field, no water was getting to the dry land. I diverted the stream and built another road to turn the dry land back into fertile land. Now I remembered that I had saved a merchant's goods from bandits in Oslit marketplace. Or tell the story of the yez I regularly gave to a peasant whose husband had died.

You don't need to tell me these things. I know you and your life. Your decisions and their consequences, your actions, your intentions and your reality will soon be weighed in the pool of life and then you will be judged. Ayzaber ripped out his victim's heart.

You will no longer need this. After dropping the heart into the pool of life, he moved towards his victim to accompany him on his final journey. As he moved towards the door, the man did not wait for it to open slowly, but ran towards it.

Let the gates of heaven open for me. I am coming to take what was created for me.

When the man saw the door behind him, he screamed. He looked at Ayzaber, hoping for one last hope.

Remember, hell is also the devil's paradise.

Long Live The Dictator

A

t this time of the Tanhat, the streets would be deathly silent. Taking advantage of this, Zahir would take small strolls through these deserted streets, searching for something since he was a little boy. Perhaps the father he had never seen, perhaps the gentle voice of his mother singing lullabies to him when he was a child, perhaps the key to unlock the chamber of secrets of life. He did not yet know what he was looking for, but this uncertainty did not deter him from his search while all the people of Tanhat were locked in their cozy homes. He had little reason to go home, though. His father had disappeared when his mother was pregnant with Zahir, and his mother had died of an unknown illness after raising Zahir in hardship until he was six years old. After his mother's death, Deberah raised his nephew with his own children. Deberah, the owner of the Red Night Inn in the south of Tanhat, was a cheerful man in his forties, but he always kept his distance from Zahir, his sister's heir, and was afraid to make eye contact with Zahir because he had Serenay's sad eyes. Zahir was aware that his uncle's house was not a home for him, but a temporary accommodation.

Zahir had extended his walk today. When he reached the lake on the outskirts of the city, the lavender reflecting the first rays of the sun and the sound of the water in the lake accompanying the singing birds made for a scene that could be called magical. When he realized that he had not been to Lake Seyra for a long time, he lamented angrily.

Oh my stupid head. I have lost sight of the beauties of the world because I stayed between masonry walls. How could I forget that there is goodness among the evil, just as there are cracks in the seemingly endless dark corridors that lead to light?

After resting his body and soul in Lake Seyra, he set out for the city. When he arrived at Deberah's inn, Zahir was greeted by a gentle voice.

Where have you been, Zahir? We were getting worried about you. Melek continued without waiting for an answer to her question.

And look, today the Dictator's men will come here to collect taxes. Those death guards give me the creeps. Maybe if you are here, I won't be so scared.

If Zahir is here, what can he do against the Dictator's men? He doesn't even know how to hold a sword. Akın said.

You know how to handle a sword, but what about you? Didn't you lose to Labek's thirteen-year-old son in a duel just the other day?

I couldn't humiliate the son of the richest man in Tanhat in public. Akın was furious at what his sister had said.

That's why Zahir being here when the Dictator's men come here gives me more confidence than you. Because a strong heart is stronger than a strong wrist.

Boys, enough of this discussion, come and help me. Today is going to be a long day. After calming his children, Deberah turned to Zahir and said, You can help us if you want.

I don't have much to do anyway.

Entering the Dictator's room in the palace in the capital, Army Commander Ekelam sat down in the chair closest to the door, relieved to realize that Lakergus was not in the room. After resting for a while, he asked the servant who had tidied the room to fill his goblet. As he sipped his wine, he kept his eyes on the maid who continued to tidy the room after setting the goblet down on the table. After waiting for a while, the door was opened with a sudden movement. Dictator Lakergus entered with quick steps and sat down opposite Ekelam. Ekelam began to speak.

You summoned me, Dictator.

Yes, I called you. This morning the farmers woke up to find their crops destroyed. Have you found out who did it?

No, sir, but there is a good chance it was the Kingdom's spies. Turan would do anything to put us in a difficult position.

That's what I thought. A rift between Turan and us will not be good for either realm.

What do you want us to do, sir?

For now, it is best not to make a counter move. There is something else I need from you. Find my son Erdem and keep him with you. Take him with you in everything you do.

As you command. Ekelam rose from his chair, saluted the Dictator and left the room, while Lakergus asked the servant to refill his goblet.

C ome on Erdem, let's get out of here without being seen. Yagız warned his friend in uneasiness, partly because they were spying on the girls and partly because he was afraid of what would happen to him if they were caught.

I need to see her, don't you understand? Erdem answered his friend.

What would happen to us if we were caught spying on someone who devoted herself to the presence of the gods in the temple? And do you understand that?

What could happen? At most, our ears will be scratched a few times, that's all.

If you are the dictator's son. Yagız snapped at his friend.

Erdem understood what his friend meant, and after putting back a piece of the wall that he had separated from the whole wall in order not to leave him in a difficult situation, he started moving towards the exit of the temple with Yagız. As they approached the door, a voice came from behind them.

Who are those running away from the temple of Barnad and Tebeyd? I haven't seen you around here before.

We, Erdem said, slightly dazed at the sight of the girl whose face he had been trying for days to see clearly, the way the sun's rays dazzle the human eye after leaving a dark room.

We were checking around to make sure everything was okay. Completing his friend's words, Yagız nudged Erdem with his left arm and waited for him to come to him.

Yes, we were looking around. Erdem could finally say.

There was no need for that. There are already two gods protecting this place. But thanks anyway. Sena nodded to the two strangers and walked away from the door.

Let's get out of here. said Yagız.

As they headed towards the palace, Erdem finally opened his mouth.

Did you see the view I saw? It was as if Barnad and Tebeyd had carefully created her to serve them.

I really can't argue with the taste of the gods. Yagız smiled slightly as he said these words, thinking that his friend was being flirtatious as usual.

But it will not be easy to get someone who devotes herself to the service of the gods. As you know, trying to do that is like being a rival to the gods.

Yes, that's the beauty of it. The harder it will be to get her, the more my love for her will grow. Erdem was almost floating in the clouds while saying these words. When he saw Sena, a feeling he had never felt before enveloped his whole body. He and Yagız, his friend since childhood, had chased after many girls together, but Erdem's behavior this time had caught Yagız's attention.

As they approached the palace, the cheers of the crowd gathered outside the Council Building in favor of the Dictator filled the squares of Irontown.

Long live the Dictator, long live the Republic.

As Erdem and Yagız ignored the crowd, a soldier from the crowd rushed in front of them.

My heir, I could finally found you. The soldier was out of breath and his exhaustion was evident from his breathing and the sweat running down his forehead.

Yes. Erdem said What is the reason for your trouble to find me? When he saw the soldier, all the joy of Erdem, who realized that he would be dealing with one of the government affairs again, was gone.

My heir, Army Commander Ekelam wants you to come to Yaskent to join the border security forces.

So we are in his hands again. Anyway, let's go.

Leaving The Nest

A

s the sun retreated into its lair in Tanhat, six men arrived in the city on horseback, five in military dress and one in civilian clothes. These were the Dictator's men, sent to collect taxes. The Dictator would send Barsasel with five well-trained soldiers into cities, towns and villages to collect taxes from businesses and households. If anyone refused to pay the tax, in return they would cut out their tongue and seal their chest with a piece of iron roasted in a hot fire. In many parts of the Republic, which did not cut taxes in times of famine, dumb people with sealed chests tried to live among indifferent people.

The people of Tanhat, who did not want to lose their tongues, prepared their taxes and waited anxiously for their turn. Although Barsasel received the taxes from many without any problems, the screams of those who could not pay the new taxes broke the silence in the city.

Here come the monsters, and with them the pain. said the Melek.

This is what the dictator needs to do to maintain order. But what do you know with your girl mind? Akın was angry at what his sister said about the soldiers. He wanted to be one of the Dictator's Guard one day. But he couldn't do it without his father's permission, at least for now.

Tell that to those whose tongues were cut out and branded for the rest of their lives.

It's their fault they were caught unprepared. If the Dictator fails to restore order, Turan beast will slaughter us all. Do you think that's better?

Two monsters in different masks. replied the Melek angrily.

That's enough, children. The soldiers will be here soon. If they hear what you say, they will cut off our heads, not our tongues. Deberah, afraid of what might happen if the soldiers overheard his children's conversation, ended his children's argument and went to the back of the inn. As he looked around, he was relieved that there were no strangers in the inn.

Just then the door of the inn opened. Barsasel and the five soldiers behind him entered and sat down at a table in the center of the inn.

Bring us six glasses of Tanhat wine, innkeeper. Barsasel shouted. The wine here has a different flavor. I wonder if it's because you poured your tears into it. he added, referring to the weeping of every citizen he encountered in the city.

When the soldiers entered, Deberah moved to the counter and began to prepare the orders. Barsasel pointed to Melek

"You, young girl.