Darkness all around me. I cannot see yet I know my eyes are open. My body limp on a cold hard surface, jagged ends push against me. Move, I must move but I cannot. So tired, so cold. Where am I? Who am I? I wait longer for my eyes to adjust, nothing comes. So many questions, no answers only darkness. Why am I not scared? What is there to be afraid of? I need to move to find an answer. I must do something. Slowly, oh so very slowly, I move my head. Pain strikes through my body and now I can feel a warm wet patch on the floor beneath my cheek. The cold and exhaustion soon comes back filling me with numbness. I thought I saw something. No, I couldn’t have. A faint light glows. There it is again. What is it? A way out? It has to be an answer. There is nothing else in this world of darkness. The light has gone again but I know where it is now. It is just a matter of moving.

          I start with my hands trying to flex the muscles through my arms. I cannot feel them moving but they have to be, it is the only way out. I move them up, one arm over my chest and one arm stretched out to grab something, anything to help. I must rollover. I pull and twist at the same time. Abrupt excruciating agony strikes through my body. A spasm runs through my back. I try to relax and for a split second I forget about getting up. I can still feel the pain, at least I know I am still alive! The small energy I have is fleeing away from me, draining out of me as a red ooze. I begin to give up, it is hopeless I cannot get out. It is easier this way, anything is better than that Agony. I slowly close my eyes and I see that small luminous light again. No! I must move. It is my ray of light, my small hope. Again I reach over to grab something invisible and unfelt but this time I push with the other hand forgetting about twisting. I start to move. The pain comes back again, running through my body causing me to shudder but I push through this time. Only thinking of the light and what answers it will bring. I collapse onto my front realising that my legs are not working, I begin to scramble pulling myself along the jagged surface towards the light source, living off borrowed energy pushing through agonising barriers. I get closer inch by inch. One individual painful movement at a time. As I get closer I realise that the light is too small to be a way out. At this point it does not matter the light is consuming me, I have to get to it! Harder and harder. Deeper and deeper, I push into the very essence of my strength until the light is beneath me. There it is right under my nose, a small light shimmering like a glowing gem. It does not illuminate its surroundings but I am fascinated by the beauty of it. Staying the same colour while also seeming to ebb through so many pale perfect colours. I am captivated by its immense display. Only I and it left in the world now. I reach out and touch it…

          Uthra opened his eyes, all he could see was blurred shadows. A dim light filtered through this distorted image. He could not process what he was seeing, like a fog had been laid down upon his mind. The mere act of thinking was as hard as finding clarity to what his eyes were telling him. Thoughts would try to form but were blanketed in darkness as soon as they were reached for. All he could hold in his mind was the feeling of a faint memory of an even fainter dream. He could not grasp any details, just a sense of nothingness. But there was something to this nothingness.

         His eyes focused. This felt new, like it was the first time his eyes had figured out how to focus. It was at this point Uthra realised he was not breathing. He gasped in a great breath and slowly exhaled as the fog over his mind began to disappear. He was standing in a dark room, nothing around him could be made out, the only light came from an archway a few paces in front of him. Through this archway was a deep purple wall with a circular image. He was drawn to this image. Hesitantly he took a step, this also felt new. Slowly he took another step, his body did not feel right, as if he was not in his body. Like it was somebody else’s, everything felt new his thoughts, his movements, his feelings. He knew what to do and how to do it but it was like he had never done it before.

          He cautiously peered around the corner, leading into a corridor a few arm’s lengths wide. The walls were the same deep purple, they curved into the roof where a natural light seeped through. This was just enough light to illuminate the hallway so as to create no dark patches. Although the source of this light was unknown. Uthra crept out. The walls were covered in detailed carvings, engraved from floor to roof. At the end of these engravings was a grand archway holding some kind of door. Even at this distance, he could see it was a beautiful piece of artwork.

          Taking another step Uthra could see that the walls depicted a story, the circular image in front of him was a planet, along from this were images of humanoid creatures creating fire and tools, this grew into intricate buildings and technologies until finally there were what only can be described as spaceships, voyaging to new planets that were covered in structures themselves. The next carving showed two differing humanoids shaking hands, similar characteristics but one was tall and slender while the other was more stocky looking.
Nearing the end of the hallway, Uthra realised he hadn’t noticed himself walking the 20 paces there. He stood in awe staring up at the intricately designed archway. A planet with one flower shaped settlement in the middle. The details were endless, the closer he stepped the more he could see. A linear crack appeared in the centre of the planet and before he knew it the two sides had separated, opening into a small circular room. A quick glance of the room showed screens, computer panels and a large beaming man with a smile on his face. he had his arms reaching out in a friendly and unthreatening manner. This was obviously to put Uthra at ease, and it worked. This man looked like an expert at being friendly and although Uthra was unsure of most things at this point, his instincts were certain of one thing at least. That this man seemed to care about him.

          “Welcome to Ukantu Uthra,” the man said in a cheerful but easygoing voice “ I am Iteroah, and we are the Zelari”