After lunch, the children came together again and under the guidance of Instructor Elina, they came to another training area. This was not a flat and empty area like the previous one. It had various obstacles, pits and mechanisms connected to each other by ropes. While the children were examining the training area in front of them, Instructor Elina started her speech,
- Yes, my little foals… Some of our afternoon lessons will be in this pentathlon field for a period. By working here you will develop your muscles and endurance and become a strong adult.
As you can see, they have very nice and useful equipment. I want you to have fun and have a good time while training here…
Don't worry, I will be right next to you and help you. Let's go now and do some work, okay?
The children followed Instructor Elina with trembling steps. Each obstacle in this pentathlon field, which has a military layout, was there to develop a certain skill. They visited each obstacle one by one, learned about the obstacles and learned how to pass them. When the information was over and they returned to the starting point, Trainer Elina started talking to encourage the children.
- You saw, right, children. The obstacles are not difficult at all. (She continued her speech, ignoring the strange looks of the children.) The completion time of this track is approximately six minutes and ten seconds. I believe that you too can finish the track within this time.
Come on, my beautiful foals, now show me what you can do...
They lined up in groups of two, with Eiderd and Tauriel in front, Demir and Durualp behind. When instructor Elina said "Begin", Eiderd and Tauriel quickly started running towards the course. The first obstacle they came across was a covered zigzag tunnel formed by two opposite walls.
The tunnel was wide enough for only one person to pass. As they progressed through the tunnel, with Tauriel in front and Eiderd in the back, thorns that they had not noticed before appeared. Although the thorns coming out of the wall slowed down their speed considerably, the duo moved forward without tripping over the thorns. Just when they thought the tunnel was over, they heard Instructor Elina say, "Begin."
Even though they never spoke to each other after leaving the tunnel, Eiderd and Tauriel's thoughts were the same. "Demir and Durualp started running. Now, if they start from behind and pass us, Instructor Elina will not leave us like this." Without needing to say anything, the two of them increased their speed together and started to pass the obstacles in front of them, one by one.
When they reached the sixth obstacle, a deep pit welcomed them. They both jumped into the pit together, but it wasn't easy to get out of the pit. Since the depth of the pit far exceeded their height, it was not easy to get out of it alone. Tauriel managed to get out of the pit by stepping on Eiderd's back, then his shoulder, and then his outstretched hands.
Just as she was about to leave Eiderd and continue running, what happened on the running track came to her mind. She immediately stretched her arm downwards and called out, "Come on, jump, I'll catch you." Eiderd jumped once or twice, but he couldn't seem to reach Tauriel's hand.
He tensed up and then came running. He jumped towards Tauriel's hand but couldn't catch it. He tried a few more times but the result didn't change. When Tauriel, who was waiting at the top of the pit, saw Demir and Durualp coming running, she shouted to Eiderd. "Hurry up... They're here..."
Eiderd, who understood that he would be caught or even passed, tensed up to jump one last time. While he was preparing to run, Demir and Durualp had also arrived at the head of the pit.
As Eiderd started his run, the other two jumped into the pit, but Eiderd was not about to be caught. Eiderd, who was running at full speed, managed to jump with all his strength and catch Tauriel's hand, albeit with difficulty, and with her help, he got out of the pit.
While Tauriel and Eiderd were quickly getting away from the pit, Demir and Durualp were thinking about how they were going to get out of the pit. The two of them tried to run and jump a few times but it was very difficult to get out of the pit on their own. Finally, Demir managed to get out of the pit by climbing on top of Durualp. While Demir was stretching his arm down for Durualp to get out of the pit, he was not aware that Trainer Elina had come to them.
- It's nice to help your friend, but isn't it more important to catch those spies who took our state's secret information and escaped?
- !? (Demir, who didn't understand what was happening, looked at Instructor Elina in surprise.)
- While you're linger here, they'll run away, don't you realize?
While Demir was trying to understand what Instructor Elina meant, he saw Instructor Elina reaching for her whip. He suddenly stood up, and he left Durualp as he was and started running fast. Instructor Elina, who was left behind, was standing at the top of the pit and calmly looking at Durualp below.
- What a great honor it is to die for your homeland. But do you know what is even greater? Protecting your homeland from the enemy and becoming a real hero.
- ?? (While Durualp was thinking, "What the hell is this woman saying?", Instructor Elina added to her words.)
- What are you waiting for, you're still there... Go out and run after your enemy...
(But there was no movement in Durualp.) Oh, my little foal. Or did you sprain your ankle while jumping into the pit... Don't worry... I will organize a beautiful and magnificent ceremony for you. Everyone will know what a great hero you are. Don't worry… Okay?
When Trainer Elina left Durualp behind and followed the others, Durualp realized that today could be his last day. "I'm still young. I have many days to live," he said, increasing his effort and determination and started trying everything he could think of to get out of the pit…
Tauriel and Eiderd passed through a few more obstacles and came to a spider web-like obstacle created with ropes. All they had to do was to slip through them, but there was a sticky substance on the ropes. If they got stuck to the ropes, they would have a hard time getting out again. As she calmly passed through the ropes, Tauriel turned to look at Eiderd behind her.
At that moment, she noticed Demir running towards the obstacle they had just passed. "Why is this kid alone? He couldn't have left Durualp behind, could he?" she muttered, and when she saw Trainer Elina coming towards them from the edge, some things became clear in her mind…
She had to be faster. She wouldn't think about Eiderd anymore, because Demir was also alone. So being alone in this training was not a problem for Trainer Elina. She increased her speed to pass the obstacle in front of her, and after a while, she had completely escaped the spider web obstacle.
The next obstacle was the rope ladder climb, which was four meters high, and the twenty-meter-long rope bridge, which consisted of a lower and upper rope, following it. When Tauriel, who had completed her climb, stepped onto the rope bridge, Eiderd had also started climbing the stairs. At that moment, Demir had passed the previous obstacle and had come to the spider web obstacle.
As Tauriel stepped onto the rope bridge, which was four meters above, the rope started to swing. Even if she held on to the tight rope above her head, it was not easy to cross this swinging rope bridge under her feet. When Tauriel, whose progress had slowed considerably, passed the middle of the bridge, Eiderd had also taken her first step onto the rope bridge. When the bridge became unstable, Tauriel shouted,
- Wait until I pass. Otherwise, we will both fall down.
- (Eiderd pointed to Trainer Elina waiting at the bottom and objected to Tauriel's suggestion.) What are you saying... Do you want me to wait here so that that filthy villager catches me? I can never be caught. Otherwise, don't you see that my job is finished?
When Tauriel saw Trainer Elina, she agreed with Eiderd. She turned to the front and focused on what she was doing. She had to get rid of this bridge as soon as possible and quickly go to the finish. And when she finally crossed the bridge and started to go down the stairs, she looked towards Eiderd and Demir. Eiderd had only just made it to the middle of the bridge. Demir was about to cross the rope ladder and climb up to the small platform above.
Tauriel gathered her thoughts and increased her determination. She would go down as soon as possible and pass the obstacle of large steps to reach the finish line. Tauriel could not see Instructor Elina coming towards her as she was rapidly descending the rope ladder. Just as she was about to escape the ladder, Instructor Elina's voice was heard,
- Is it the right choice to leave your companion behind? If she is captured by the enemy, won't all your secrets be revealed?
- !??
Tauriel looked at Eiderd in surprise. Eiderd had not been able to advance very far on the rope bridge. Demir was quite fast in comparison. He had almost finished a quarter of the bridge and was rapidly approaching Eiderd. If he continued at this speed, he would definitely catch Eiderd before the bridge was finished.
- Don't you know that a companion being captured also puts your life in danger? (Instructor Elina moved a little closer to Tauriel and silently reminded her of a fact.) If a companion is going to be captured by the enemy, wouldn't it be better if he were dead so that he wouldn't say anything?
They both looked at Eiderd for a while. Finally Tauriel made up her mind and started to quickly climb back up the stairs she had come down. When she went up and reached the small platform at the beginning of the bridge, Demir was about to catch Eiderd.
She immediately climbed onto the rope and extended one hand towards Eiderd. She was also holding on to the railing at the edge of the platform. Thinking that she would be caught, Eiderd was very happy that Tauriel had come to her aid. When she took a few more steps and caught Tauriel, Demir was right behind her.
Tauriel warned Eiderd, who had one hand on the upper rope and the other on her own. "Now stop holding on to the rope I'm going to pull you." As Eiderd let go of the rope, Tauriel used all her strength to pull her towards the platform.
But Elina had used so much strength in fear of the instructor that Eiderd flew over Tauriel before she could hold on to that small platform. Luckily, she was used to red-ringed rabbits. She immediately protected her head and began to pray that there was no object where she would fall.
When Eiderd fell and got back up, Tauriel had also come down the rope stairs. They didn't have time to argue. They both ran towards the big steps obstacle together and reached the finish line without being caught by Demir. With the finish, Eiderd unleashed all his anger.
- What do you think you're doing? Are you trying to kill me by throwing me down?
- What to kill. Can't you see there's grass everywhere? How was I supposed to know you were so light. I pulled a little, you took off immediately like a kite...
You are ungrateful. Your ungratefulness is beyond its limits. This attitude you're taking towards someone who came to help you is not nice at all... You should be thanking me and being grateful, but you're blaming me.
(Tauriel added, ignoring her own fear.) If I had known you would be so ungrateful, I would have handed you over to Instructor Elina...
- !?...
Eiderd couldn't answer Tauriel because of the guilt psychology that had formed inside her. Just then they heard a loud noise and both stopped arguing and turned towards the direction of the noise.
While Demir was trying to pass the big steps obstacle, Instructor Elina shattered a log used as a step in the obstacle with her whip. Demir, who suddenly fell to the ground because of the log that shattered in front of him, got up from where he fell in fear when Trainer Elina's angry voice was heard,
- Those spies you were chasing ran away. You no longer have an enemy to catch... It seems that you failed this task given to you. Moreover, your teammate is nowhere to be found. Do you know what the punishment for such a failure is?
- !? (When the fear of being whipped completely took over Demir, his body began to tremble.)
- (When Trainer Elina noticed that Demir was trembling, she calmly approached him and spoke in a soft tone.) Oh, my little foal. We were getting along so well this morning. Now what happened that you failed? Come on, tell me…
(When Demir didn't respond, he made a go sign with his hand and added.) Now go and come back here with that little foal with a broken leg, okay?
While Demir turned back and ran towards Durualp, Trainer Elina came to Tauriel and Eiderd.
- Yes, my little foals… You accomplished the task given to you, even though it was difficult. No one was left behind and you came back safe and sound. I must say that; you two have achieved a great success for your nation. From now on, your name will be remembered as a hero within the organization...
You deserve an award for this great achievement. My beautiful foals. Now wait a little. I will come back with your award…
As Trainer Elina was leaving, Eiderd turned towards Tauriel,
- I don't understand what this woman is saying at all. Is she saying something good or bad? I can't figure it out.
- She spoke in such a way that I thought she was going to give us the state's medal of honor for superior service.
- I wouldn't be surprised if he came back with such a medal.
- !... Oh dear. What?... Really?
- If he comes back with such a reward, I can't figure out what his punishment will be.
- Then it's certain that we'll go to a secret torture chamber...
As the fear in their hearts increased, their gazes turned to the direction Trainer Elina went. After a while, Demir and Durualp came to them and they all started talking about the obstacles they had difficulty with. Time passed and Trainer Elina came to the children with cold drinks in her hand.
- Yes, children. You did a good job and you deserve it. Drink it, let's see.
- (Tauriel muttered calmly.) A drink.
- Yes, a drink... Or was my little foal waiting for a medal?
- !?
Tauriel, who was surprised, immediately covered her mouth with her hand. He was sure that he had heard this woman's conversation with Eiderd. But how? How could she have heard it when she wasn't there? While looking at Instructor Elina in astonishment, Instructor Elina did not continue the topic further and thus the topic was closed.
The children finished their drinks and returned to the start of the pentathlon. This time Demir and Durualp changed places in front, Eiderd and Tauriel behind. Although the training, which was like a competition, excited the children, they were aware that they would be whipped for the first mistake they made...
Instructor Elina was not happy with her students, who finished the pentathlon course in fourteen minutes, which had a six-minute finishing time. Despite constantly warning them to speed up, the children did not make any progress.
After a few more relocations, they left the pentathlon field. They came back to the morning's training ground to practice the basics of the north wind. After a few hours of practice here, the day ended and everyone went home…