Ryane sat on the couch in a dark cabin, lit only by the dim flames coming from the fireplace, waiting for Jaxon to finally get the lights working again. He had just gone downstairs into the basement to try and restart the generator.. She felt slightly nervous and uncomfortable sitting in the relative dark, all alone. She had never been to this cabin before. It had been Jaxon's idea to bring her here, to his uncle’s cabin, to celebrate her birthday. She liked Jaxon, but had never told him so. The lights suddenly flickered on and she sat back with relief. In a moment Jaxon would be back upstairs and they would continue their night. She thought of the bottle of wine. She went to the kitchen, opened a drawer, and searched for something to uncork the bottle with. After a few seconds, she spotted the device and grabbed it, taking no time to uncork the bottle and pour Jaxon and herself each a large glass. Ryane then sat back on the couch in front of the fire and continued waiting for Jaxon. She sipped her wine as she wondered why he hadn't returned yet. As the minutes passed by she became increasingly nervous. She found a fire iron nearby and clutched it tightly, just in case. She crept towards the basement door, and yelled aloud, "Jax, what's taking you so long?" There was no reply. She said his name again, this time louder, but still nothing. Now she was really worried. She started down the stairs, saying aloud, "If you're playing some kind of joke on me, it’s not funny. Seriously!" Still there was no reply. She made it to the bottom of the stairs, and, turning, spotted the dimly lit lantern Jaxon had used to find his way down stairs, but there was no Jaxon in sight. She walked over to the lantern with the fire iron still raised in her hands. "Where the hell is he?" she wondered, then shook her head as she noticed a gaping hole in the wall, "Of course. It would be just like Jax to go exploring at a time like this," she thought. Reluctantly, she entered the opening, lantern in one hand and fire iron in the other. She followed the only path down a lengthy tunnel, calling Jaxon's name every few yards. Then, all of a sudden, a rush of magnificent bluish-green light filled the tunnel. As abruptly as it came, it vanished, and she headed in the direction it seemed to originate, figuring that she would find Jaxon there. She entered a large, domed room with a small circular opening in the ceiling that led to the sky. Directly in the center of the room on the floor was a small leather-bound book. She picked up the book and scanned the room once more. Still, there was no one. She then opened the book to its first page and began to read.
Thinking back, I don't even know if I can recall all that has occurred since that fateful day on Earth, now so long ago. In my dreams it was just yesterday. Me in my apartment, head in your lap, with your hands running through my hair. I can even smell your scent. A smell so sensational and real. In my dreams I reach for a kiss, but then I fall and am roughly jerked back into reality. I don't even know why I'm writing this. There's no hope it will ever reach you. Maybe I'm writing it to help myself grasp the strange phenomena that are now my reality, and in the back of my mind I can't escape the fact that it’s you that has kept me alive this long. The hope of one day returning to you is all that keeps me going, all that keeps me rational and sane. I know it can be done for I am here now, so far gone from the cabin I left you in; trapped in another dimension with no known means to travel back. But I'm here, and if there's a way to get here, then there must be a way to get back. At times I look up into this moonless sky and wonder if you are doing the same; gazing at the stars, hoping one day for my return. I don't know what writing this will bring. I don't even know how much longer I have to live, always on the run from the primitive yet powerful race that rules this planet; constantly alert for fear of predators lurking in the shadows. I‘ve gone through so much and I‘m afraid of what’s to come. Everything here is a mystery to me, a mystery which I fear I will never be able to solve. A mystery that has plagued my mind ever since I first awoke on this planet; Tatora.
Chapter One - I Awaken
I’m not sure exactly when I came to, but I think it was the warmth of the sun on my face that stirred me to consciousness. I was laying on my back, and could hear several strange voices talking above me. Awake, but with my eyes still closed, I tried to listen to the conversation between the men, or whom I supposed to be men. I didn’t know where I was nor how I came to be there, only that my head was pounding and felt as if someone had driven an ice pick through the side of it. I felt the ground beneath me. A bed of long grass, warm from the sunlight; so different from the hard-wood floor in my Uncle's cabin where I should have been. I wished I could have remembered whatever had happened, but all my recent memories were escaping me. The voices of the men around me were deep, hard, and guttural. I couldn’t place the language. I thought maybe I had a concussion, but after focusing hard I knew this was no language spoken by any humans. I smiled, thinking jokingly that I had been abducted by aliens. At that moment, the three figures stopped speaking and I knew my smile, however brief it had been, had betrayed me. I opened my eyes to greet whoever, or whatever, surrounded me, but before my eyes had time to fully adjust to the light, the blur of a dark object came swinging toward my head, and, in a coursing jolt of pain, I was again rendered unconscious. The next time I awoke, I found myself bound belly down over the saddle of some sort of draft animal. It must have been the size of a Sherman tank, and was covered in large, thick scales, which created a permanent shield for the massive beast. I doubted anything short of .50 caliber rounds could penetrate the scaly hide. As I was bound, and bound well, I couldn't move my head around, so I was unable to see much of the surrounding area, or even which direction we were headed. Not that I thought it would do much good. I couldn’t explain it at the time, but I knew the impossible had happened. Somehow, I had been taken captive on an alien planet. The strange animal that carried me substantiated my thoughts further, as did the air! The air was almost intoxicating, so fresh and uncontaminated, making each breath on Earth seem stale and tainted. This air, however, was energizing and exhilarating! What was surprising to me, though, was that I wasn't particularly frightened by this prospect, only worried for what had happened to you. I could only hope that you were still in my uncle's cabin, safe and out of harm's way. I tried as I could to look around, but all I could see was a nauseating view of the ground. The scaly animal continued on its way, making grunts here and there, as did other animals of the same sort, both in front and to the rear of my beast, and that's when I realized I was part of some sort of convoy or caravan. The massive draft animals continued across the grass for a long time, until I was finally positive that we were heading into a forest, most likely to find a place to camp. My thoughts were then immediately cut short. From directly in front of me, which was the left side of our path, there was some sort of a loud commotion. Without warning, I suddenly heard thousands of projectiles whistling through the air. A moment later, the missiles struck the draft animals’ hard exterior, making loud pings and bouncing harmlessly to the ground. I could hear cries of pain and then the sound of bodies as they struck the ground. More frightening, I heard ferocious growling and snarling, followed by dozens, if not hundreds, of deafening roars. All hell seemed to have broken loose. My captors must have regrouped. I heard shouting and screaming in the strange language, what must have been the relaying of commands. The beast that carried me stopped, and, turning slightly, fell into formation with the other beasts. Once in position, they dropped to the ground, closing off any possible space beneath or between them. Though I couldn't see much, I was still able to understand what was being done. The draft animals, with their completely scaled bodies, were forming a wall for my captors to take cover behind. I thought about how well trained and disciplined these creatures were. Then I thought how their owners must be equivalent in such matters, if not superior. Unfortunately for me, as I was securely bound, I had no way to protect myself. I was left to lie in wait for the outcome of the battle, if I were to even survive it. As the minutes went by, and shots from the antagonists showered upon the make-shift wall, I somehow miraculously remained unscathed. On the ground before me, I could see piles of stunted arrows, less than a foot long, bristled with feathers on their tail ends. These were the projectiles that tormented our group in the beginning of the attack. In the tips of the arrows, I could see inch long needles, which I fearfully assumed carried lethal poison. From behind me, and behind the beast-wall, return fire erupted out of nowhere. Simultaneously, I heard shouts, commands, being issued. The draft beasts turned ninety-degrees to the right, leaving their rear-ends facing the enemy with only a shoulder's width of space between them. In another instant, four-toed footprints and fur-covered feet were all I could see, as my captors swept between their defensive lines to confront their antagonists head-on. Within minutes I could hear them returning, exhausted but triumphant in forcing their attackers to retreat. All was calm then, except for the pace increase in our march. On the ground below me, I suddenly saw the shadow of someone approaching, coming up on the back right side of the beast I was bound to. With a sharp, shocking pain, I felt a needle enter just under my left buttock, and almost instantaneously my body became heavy and drowsy, with each attempt to stay awake becoming a greater challenge. The last image that came into focus just before I fell asleep, the deepest sleep I think I have ever known, was the hand of the creature who had forcibly administered the injection. The hand was covered in short fur, and could easily have encompassed the full circumference of a basketball. The most peculiar thing about it, though, was the number of appendages; there were four in total, not five as with the human race, and each came to a sharp point. In combat, I had no doubt that these four-fingered claws would deliver many menacing and deadly blows. Then, all went silent. Then, all went black.
Chapter Two - I Begin To Remember
Abruptly, I jumped from my sleep, as my dream, so real and vivid, came to its curt end. My body was covered in sweat and my heart pounded so hard and so fast that I wasn’t sure if my chest could contain it. I was lying in a dark cell on a rough dirt floor. During my sleep, I had found the memory I had been searching for; the one knocked so far from my mind that only this drug-induced deep sleep could give me the time to find. I knew it was somewhere in my subconscious, and now I had retrieved it as if I were living it all over again.
We were driving north in my old 1998 Jeep Grand Cherokee, with the good old classic “Johnny Be Good” playing on the radio. "So, who else did you say was going to be there?" you asked, curiously. "Everyone," I replied. "Care to elaborate?" you asked, with a smile creeping onto your beautifully freckled face. "Just everyone," I reiterated. "I told you, it’s a party for your birthday tomorrow. I invited everyone I thought you would want there." "Jax, this is so sweet of you. You didn't have to do any of this," you replied. "I know," I said with a wide grin of satisfaction growing on my face, "but I wanted to do something special for your birthday this year." The plan was to bring you to the cabin where I said our friends would be meeting us. What I didn't tell you was that no one would be arriving until the afternoon of the following day, on your birthday. That night, I wanted you all to myself. I don’t know if you had surmised as much, but I had been madly and incomprehensibly in love with you for years. It seemed I was condemned to be just your friend. You went through boyfriend after boyfriend, and I just remained stagnant, pursuing relationships that would inevitably fail, hoping one day I'd have my chance to be with you. And this was it. For the first time in years we were both available at the same time. In my mind, what better way was there then to proclaim my love for you with a special birthday weekend getaway; one in which we could be all alone in a romantic candle-lit setting. I was finally past the fear of rejection. Though the thought was ever present, the closure that finally unveiling my feelings would bring seemed a much less torturous route. To be honest, it was more of an anxiousness that I was feeling, but everything still had to be just right before I could tell you. For a long time I felt some sort of intangible connection to you; one I felt you might reciprocate, though we had never spoken of it. It was as if our brainwaves had synchronized and we shared an almost telepathic means of communication. I would awake from a bad dream in the middle of the night and a minute later I would receive a text message from you asking if I was okay. Or I would go out somewhere and run into you there as if we had planned it, though we hadn‘t. I couldn't explain it. I like to believe we are all connected in some sort of cosmic way, and since there are so many of us out there, only those who can truly connect with each other are able to acquire the ability to synchronize with one another. You and I were such a pair, and I couldn‘t help but hope you recognized it too. "Well thank you. You don’t know how much I appreciate it," you said, "I'm so excited! How much longer till we get there?" "We're almost there. Just another fifteen minute drive after we pass the waterfalls up ahead," I replied. "Waterfalls!” you exclaimed, “Can we see them? I love waterfalls!" "It'll be dark by the time we get to the cabin then," I said. "Oh please?" you asked. "I thought you'd say that. Don't worry, I had already planned on stopping there," I said. "You know me so well," you replied, happy and content. We pulled up through a dirt path to a rocky parking lot in front of a three-tiered waterfall. The water cascaded down from the top of one to the base of the next, and so on. The falls dropped into a large basin enclosed by vertical rock walls that had been cut away from thousands of years of turbulent water flow to form a completely private and secluded getaway. We tested the water. It was too cold to swim in, but we still stayed there for a while, talking and laughing, very much enjoying our small oasis in the woods. Then, when the sun was low in the sky, we climbed up to the top of the waterfall so that we could see the sunset and watch the northern lights come into view. We settled into our destination and the sunset was immediate and beautiful. The aurora borealis took over the night sky as we lay on our backs and gazed into the heavens. “Do you think there’s life out there?” you asked. “Of course,” I replied, “the universe is too vast a space for only our planet to have life. You see there,” as I pointed with my finger, “that star could have had planets revolving around it that at some point contained life, and might still today. We could never really know, but it can't be proven impossible, so therefore it could be possible. I like to believe that there is something out there. It gives us new and exciting things to think about.” At that moment, you looked intently upon the sky, taking in the beautiful rays of the magnificent light show. You looked even more beautiful than the phenomenon you were watching, and I thought this might be as good a time as any to tell you how I really felt about you. I fumbled with the words in my head for a second. Finally, I opened my mouth to speak, but nothing came out. All of a sudden, I was extremely nervous and my heart was beating so fast that I was sure you could hear it. Luckily, you broke the silence. "This place is really beautiful,” you said, “Thank you for bringing me here.” "Oh, you’re welcome,” I replied, “Anytime. I-I love it up here." I'm sure that if it hadn't been for the darkness you would have seen my face turn as red as an apple. I was all choked up and embarrassed, tripping over every word as butterflies seemingly fluttered around in my stomach. “Should we start heading back to the car now?” you asked, “Everyone should be at the cabin by now, right?” I stuttered, "Oh yeah, I forgot to mention it. I just got a message from everyone and they said they got the days wrong. They'll be up tomorrow afternoon…” I replied. "So it will just be the two of us tonight?" you asked. "Yeah...sorry," I said. "Don't be. They messed up, it's not your fault," you reassured me, "Did you bring any wine?" I smiled. You were believing me. Maybe my plan would work. "Well, of course," I said. "Good, the night is still young," you said with a smile. After a few more minutes, we found my jeep and made our way to my Uncle’s cabin. When we arrived, we rushed up the porch steps and went inside. I flipped the light switch, and the lights flickered on. The cured and tempered timber gave the place a pleasant smoky-wood smell, which we both enjoyed. All alone in this remote mountain forest, we laid down next to the fire on the fur pelt of a large grizzly bear my Uncle had taken down when I was a young boy. The fireplace had wood already stacked inside, ready for ignition. My Uncle had always made it a habit to stock the fireplace before going anywhere, so that, no matter when he returned, he could quickly start a fire. I remembered coming to this cabin as a young boy, always wanting to explore my surroundings, terrain overrun with caverns and old mica mines. I never had enough time to do so, however, since there was always work to be done. Cutting and splitting wood, retrieving water from the well, hunting and cooking, trips to town for gas and other supplies, etc. Luckily, my Uncle kept a gas powered generator in the basement for the electricity. Otherwise, oil lamps were all we had. Of all my childhood memories in these woods, the most enjoyable ones were when I learned how to hunt and shoot. I became exceedingly skilled with a rifle and sufficient with the bow and arrow as well. My Uncle also taught me some useful trapping skills, like how to set a basic snare or dead fall trap, as well as how to use the stars and Sun as directional guides. He even showed me how to find places most likely to hold fresh water, which in turn would usually lead to food. He was a huge believer in self-sustainability. He truly was a brilliant man, my Uncle Deecan, but he liked to spend his time here in his cabin. He liked his peace and solitude. In the end, it proved to be his undoing. One day, on one of his long hunting trips from the cabin, he just went missing, and no one ever saw or heard from him again. After six months of searching, he was declared dead. The cabin had been left to me in his will. This was the first time since his disappearance that I had come to the cabin.
On the floor in front of the fire, now lit and rolling with flames, I leaned toward you to whisper in your ear what was written for you in my heart, and then the lights went out! "What was that?" you asked uneasily. "It's probably the generator,” I suggested, “I don't hear it anymore, so it must be out of gas or something. Let me just go down to the basement and check the fuel level. We'll break out some wine when I get back.” "I can get it while you‘re down there,” you offered, “Where is it?" "On the wine rack in the kitchen, you can't miss it," I said with a smile, and grabbed the oil lantern from a nearby shelf. I used my trusty Zippo lighter to light the lantern, and then adjusted the brightness I proceeded downstairs and searched for the generator in the dim light. The basement was one room that stretched the length of the cabin. The foundation, I was told, had been built inside an old cavern, with a little bit of empty space between the cement walls and the walls of the cavern. I always found this fascinating, but since there was no entrance to the extra space, I never had the opportunity to explore it. The stairs opened up in the middle of the basement, so I turned left and continued in a circle around them until I found the generator in the northeast corner. It was out of gas, so I refilled the tank, pumped the generator, flipped the switch, and the machine roared to life. It took a moment for the lights to flicker back on, and before they did I noticed some sort of bluish-green light coming from behind the generator. It wasn’t noticeable once the cabin was re-illuminated, but being inquisitive in nature, I decided to make a quick inspection. I crouched next to the generator and examined the wall behind it, checking for any cracks or holes. In the shadow of the generator, I was able to see a decent size crack in the wall, with about a two-inch gap, glowing with a bluish-green light. When I touched the wall, it broke away and crumbled to pieces, forcing a cloud of cement dust into my eyes and lungs. I coughed violently for a minute, shaking my head and trying to wipe the dust from my eyes. Once I was able to see again, I saw a hole in the wall large enough for a person to fit through. I could see the odd light glowing on the cavern walls was fading away. It looked like a reflection of the northern lights above, somehow seeping into the cavern. My curiosity was getting the better of me; I wanted to see how this marvel was even possible, and why no one had discovered it earlier. I took a step through the hole in the foundation and stood inside the cavern. My footsteps echoed as I turned and walked toward the fading bluish-green light. I rounded a corner and the light had finally vanished, leaving me in complete and utter darkness. Then, to my surprise, I heard voices. “Voices, down here?” I thought, “How could this be?” I tip-toed silently towards the voices, trying to be as stealthy as possible, and walked straight into a wall, causing me to fall hard on the ground. I quickly regained my footing, hoping whoever was down here, doing whatever it was they were doing, had not heard my clumsy approach. I don’t know why, probably one of those intuitive feelings people sometimes get, but somehow I knew whoever was down here was not someone I wanted to run into. In retrospect, I probably should have turned around right then and there, but we both know it's not within my nature to walk away from a mystery. I couldn’t understand any of it. Where were the voices coming from if the path before me was blocked by a solid wall of rock? And how did they get in there? I was utterly perplexed and almost ready to turn back, to feel my way back to the basement, when a bright white light shone through a small crevice in the rock wall before me. But then it, too, disappeared and there was nothing except pitch blackness again. I felt foolish for leaving my lantern on the ground by the generator. I peered through the tiny crevice and found the source of the echoing voices. Three men dressed in identical clothing stood within a large chamber, conversing in the strangest English accents I'd ever heard. It was as if they were unaccustomed to speaking the language. I couldn't tell what nationality they were, though. I was suddenly drawn from my thoughts when the light, which emanated from metallic cuffs on their forearms, shone in my direction. I ducked back from the crevice as quickly and quietly as I could. I tried to stay in the shadows, but they must have been moving towards the crevice, for the area in which the light encompassed grew on my side of the wall. Then, to my utter disbelief, I saw the rock wall split at the crevice and recede into itself, as if it was being pushed aside like a window curtain! I jumped back out of view, but not before being flabbergasted by what I had just witnessed. It was unbelievable! I knew what my eyes had seen but my mind was incapable of comprehending what had happened. For a moment, I completely forgot about the approaching men, who would inevitably find me if they came any closer to my decreasing patch of shadow. But they never did. Instead, I witnessed the following. “These can’t be the correct coordinates, can they?” asked one of them, a short round man. “I don’t think so,” replied another, an average sized man, “but this is where Orric, our noble and holy protector, has sent us. And he is infallible.” The tallest of the three turned in anger to his two comrades, “Can’t you see what’s going on here, or are you still as naive as infants? Orric isn’t our protector. He, the Council, and the rest of them who claim to be our Gods are nothing more than manipulating liars, each with their own agenda and their own greed.” “Blasphemy!” cried the average sized man, “Do not tarnish the names of our fair and holy lords with the irreverent words you speak.” “They have soiled their own names,” said the tall man. “You cannot speak like such!” cried the smaller man, “the Gods may strike you down where you stand! We both know they have such capabilities!” “Better they do it now than have me return to that wretched hell of a place,” announced the taller man, “I’d rather stay here with our own people, the people from whom our ancestors derived,” “Then here you will stay!” shouted the average sized man, as he lunged toward the taller man with a drawn dagger. He forced the dagger up under the man's rib cage and twisted. The taller one looked his attacker in the eye and tried to say something, but, instead, blood gurgled out and he began to choke. “What have you done?” cried the small man. “What was necessary,” replied the average sized man, now wiping his blade clean on the clothing of the dying man. “He was a non-believer. We needed to make an example of him for the others. Now, let us return. We have much to explain to Orric.” He reached a finger towards one of the metallic cuffs he wore on his forearms With the press of a button, he initiated a spectacular bluish-green light that forced me back from where I stood. It took a few seconds to reorient myself, and then I was again looking in on where the trio had been. Inexplicably, the two uninjured men were gone, and all that remained was the third man, bleeding on the floor, under the receding bluish-green glow. Without a moment’s thought, I rushed forward to check on the fallen man, and the instant I entered the room, the wall behind me snapped shut, trapping me inside! I made it to the man and turned his head toward me. Blood spilled from his mouth as I rolled over his limp body to check for a pulse, but I couldn‘t find one. Though I didn’t know the man, I couldn’t help myself from tearing up. I couldn’t help but be affected by death, any death. Some might miss-construe this as a sign of weakness, but, in my experiences, expressing one’s emotions can sometimes be one of the most difficult things to do. I put my hand over his heart and did the only thing I could think of; something I had heard once at a funeral. “May your soul rest in peace and your body provide new life, and know, brother, that you are loved and will always be remembered.” As I finished my words, the blue light fully dissipated, leaving me in absolute darkness yet again. Wiping the tears from my eyes, I contemplated what to do next. I ran through my most recent memories and recalled the bright white lights that the men had used. Maybe I could use them to find my way out. My thoughts then turned to the metallic cuff upon the deceased’s forearm. This was where the intense white lights had shone from. Thinking that this was my best hope, I attempted to remove the cuff from the fallen victim, but it gave me strong resistance. I felt around for a button that might disengage the cuff from its owner, and found a raised bump on its edge, which I pressed. I heard a click, and then the cuff released its hold on the nameless-departed’s flesh. I took the cuff and placed it on my forearm. With a terrific shock, I felt a series of pricks, akin to needles sliding into my flesh, locking the cuff in place. It hurt, and I frantically tried to pull it off, but that only made my arm hurt even more. Without me touching a thing, the white light shone from the cuff so that it looked like my hands were the source of the illumination. It must have had a sensor of some sort, which automatically emitted light as was needed. Now, for the first time, I was able to see the entire cave. I gazed upon the large cave, some fifty feet across with a dome-shaped ceiling cresting some twenty-five feet in height. The entire interior of the chamber was encrusted with mica, a reflective mineral common in this area. In the direct center of the domed ceiling there was a circular aperture. This must have been the avenue of escape for the other two men. From where I was, I judged this underground location to be exactly where our well was. Then I saw in the aperture, high in the ceiling, the stones that lined the bottom of the well. “How could this be?” I thought. The well had never been a deep one, and drew its water from the rain absorbed by the ground and captured in pockets in the dense rocky terrain of the mountains. During droughts, one would occasionally have to obtain water from the nearby lake. But how could this place be here? Then I recalled all that had just transpired and decided it was beyond my abilities to calculate. I walked to the center of the chamber, looking up through the well and into the night sky. All I could see were the waves of colors from the northern lights over-shadowing the stars. I noticed a flash of light as a small circular screen appeared on the cuff, with three lights on each side of the screen. Curious, I pressed the top left of these lights to see what it might do. What happened next would change my life forever. A beam of bluish-green light shot down through the well, hitting the ground where I stood. It fully encompassed me with a bluish-green, transparent bubble. I tried to break my way out of this bubble, but it was as strong as titanium. The bubble then shot up through the well and carried me off into the night sky!
Chapter Three – I Arrive; I Arrive Again I looked ahead from inside the bubble and saw that the bluish-green beam of light extended towards the moon, bending close around it. I thought that if I passed this close to the moon, then its gravitational force would surely kill me, but my body continued to feel weightless as the moon’s pull sling-shot me around. I was out of Earth’s atmosphere, but somehow I could still breathe. I bounced around inside the bubble, afraid for my life. I quickly realized, however, that if I broke the bubble, I would be released into outer space and die horribly. I tried to calm myself, but I still shook with fright. My path, now redirected, approached the right side of the Sun. The stars around me seemed to elongate as I neared the Sun and my speed accelerated out of control. I must have been approaching the speed of light, yet the G-forces that should have ripped my insides out and the lack of air that should have crippled my lungs went unfelt. I accounted these mysterious ineptitudes to the bubble that drew me along inside the beam, like some sort of car traveling at light-speed on a solar highway. The beam bent around the Sun, hugging it even closer than it had the moon. Still my body maintained a comfortable, weightless feeling as my speed increased exponentially until it seemed like I was one with the light; traveling with the light particles as they moved through the empty space. Then, out of nowhere, I was blinded by another magnificent flash of light. I emerged through a literal tear in space, revealing a new world lined with new planets and new stars. This would have boggled the minds of scientists on Earth. I was truly in awe. I could see the beam’s inexplicable and abrupt termination at an empty point in space up ahead. As I approached the endpoint, I drew in a long breath, preparing for the worst. Then, my body passed through some sort of barrier and right in front of me was a small planet! I looked behind me through the bubble, but saw only empty space. Where had this planet come from? I thought it must have been some massive camouflaging system that projected the images from behind it to its front, in an infinite number of angles, to make it seem as if there was no planet there at all. Or, perhaps, the light was being bent around the planet in a way that rendered it invisible. Either way, it was a marvelous feat; an entire planet hidden from the naked eye! The only way one would find this planet would be by complete accident. My path brought me toward a mass of shining towers, designed like the spiraling double-helix of a DNA strand. At the tops of these towers were large disk-like rooftops. I descended towards the towers, and my speed gradually starting decreasing. On the flat, circular rooftops, I could see strange air-crafts landing and departing. I couldn’t see the ground, however, only a layer of cloud blocking its view. My path seemed to take me towards the tallest of the towers. I winced as I approached the structure, thinking I would crash into its roof and be pulverized into a carbon-based pile of goop, but I was gladly mistaken. My speed steadily decreased as I approached the rooftop of the magnificent structure. However, I conjectured my velocity was still somewhere in the realm of five hundred miles per hour at the least. Moments before impact, I let go of the breath I had held for so long. Miraculously, my body slipped through a small aperture in the roof, roughly the same size as the one in the cavern chamber on Earth. Just before smashing into the floor inside the building, the bubble stopped, leaving me levitating several feet above a raised platform in the center of an entirely white room. I looked around and saw the room contained only a single computer. There was a small window in one of the walls, which rested high off the floor, and through which only more white could be seen. Around this window, I saw an almost invisible seam which I knew must be the outline of the door to the room. It rose twelve feet from the floor and was four feet wide. “Why are the doors so massive?” I thought. Suddenly, the bubble dissipated, and I fell hard to the floor. At first, it was hard to breathe and my body felt a tremendous compacting pressure from the atmosphere. I found some difficulty in coming to a standing position. I attributed this to be due to a potential change in gravity or pressure, but that didn’t make sense since this planet seemed to be much smaller than our Earth. I then considered the possibility that this planet was made of some sort of element that was more dense than Earth, or perhaps it could have artificial gravity and/or pressure. Barely able to rise to a hunch-back position, and partially using my arms to keep myself upright, I felt as if I were an ape on Earth. I recalled the men in the cavern chamber on Earth. They didn’t seem different from me, at least not in their outward appearance, but, then again, they must have been born on this world and were well adapted to the planet. Then I thought of the one they had referred to; the one called Orric. Perhaps this was his planet and the large door size was fitted for him. I shuddered, and the hair on the back of my neck stood up. If these beings were that massive and could move on this planet as well as humans do on Earth, then they must be a viciously strong and formidable race. If they ever came to Earth, they would be a dangerous threat to humanity. My body was beginning to adjust to the new planet and I was able to stand upright without much difficulty. My thoughts were irrational and not fully complete, but my body continued to function so that I could do whatever I needed to do in order to return home. I pushed aside my fearful thoughts and made my way to the computer. Perhaps I could send myself back the way I came. After several minutes of searching, I failed to discover any means to turn it on. I turned my attention to the cuff I wore, but the screen was blank. Nothing was going my way. I went to where the window was in the wall and searched for any possible way to open the portal. I rubbed my hand along the smooth wall around the door and came across nothing. Then, as I was removing my hand, a light flashed on the wall where it had lain. There must have been some sort of motion sensor because just then the door slid open, silently, concealing itself in the wall. I stepped through the opening and found myself in an empty hallway. Faced with the dilemma of choosing which direction I should go, I stuck with my patented hunting plan; when in doubt, go right. I walked along the corridor without seeing a single soul. The word “peculiar” hardly epitomized the situation. My stomach churned with an unfamiliar and incredibly anxious feeling. What would I find? What would I learn? Who would I encounter? The seconds of intense anticipation that passed in silence felt more like hours ticking by. It was finally much easier to breathe and move about. I passed several hallways, but still no sign of life. Where were the people of this world? Then, from behind me, I heard footsteps. I turned around and saw two very large individuals coming my way, each wearing a purple cloak that concealed their features. They spoke to me in a strange tongue, and, when I failed to produce a response, they growled with impatient rage. I tried to explain myself to them, but, to my dismay, they too could not understand me. Then, they grabbed hold of me. I tried to break away from their grasp, but they carried me down the hall with ease, despite my struggles. They brought me to a room and strapped me to a medical bed. Though I knew they could not understand me, my will to fight and live kept my mouth chattering away. It was too late that I realized this was only aggravating them further. One of them forced a gag down my throat, and then they left the room. A leathery skinned individual wearing a medical face mask stood alone in the room with me. The face mask concealed most of its face, but I could still see that it had black, beady eyes and some kind of fin-like protrusion sticking out from the top of its head. My gaze then shifted from its head to its hand as it came towards me with a dripping syringe. I tried to scream, but the gag proved effective. The physician injected me with the needle’s contents, and my heart began to beat faster and stronger, while my body tingled with energy. He then reached for an instrument on a nearby table and started towards me with it. I tried with all my might to break my bonds, but they held strong as he approached me with a scalpel steady in his hand. It came dangerously close to my chest, when a female voice rang out inside the room. The words were indecipherable to me, but they must have had some sort of significance since the blade ceased its progression. The door to the room opened and in walked a figure completely concealed by a thin robe. The figure motioned for the physician to exit, which he did, muttering something under his breath and sounding annoyed. The newcomer removed its hood and a horrid looking creature was revealed. It was bald, with the exception of a small crest that ran from its forehead to the back of its neck. The creature bore no nose. Instead, it had two vertical slits where the nose should have been. Its skin was hard and leathery, like that of a rhino. The ears on this creature were small and fin like, with what could only be a set of gills behind each. As I stared at the creature, it too stared back with scrutinizing black eyes that never blinked. Then it spoke. The voice was soft and gentle, consoling almost, but still utterly indistinguishable. Seeing consternation on my face, she removed the gag from my mouth and then pointed to the cuff on my arm, gesturing for me to let her see it. I haven’t the faintest clue what she did to it, but the device sprang to life. She quickly sped through a series of prompts, and then a jolt of electricity coursed through my body. She again tried to speak to me, but this time her voice was clear as day and the words she spoke fell into order in my mind, allowing me a fluent understanding of the language. “There, that is better now isn’t it?” she asked "What the hell is going on? Where am I? How did I get h-" "Calm down, relax. I am a friend. I am here to help," she said. "What did you do to me? What did he do to me?" I demanded. "It’s...complicated. But all you need to know is that you are safe now," she said. "How do I know I can trust you?” I asked. “You don’t,” she replied, “but I am the only option you have if you wish to return home.” I said nothing. “Here, put this on,” she said, and handed me a robe from a nearby table. “You will blend in better with this on, but do not speak, for your accent will reveal your true identity as quickly as your clothing did.” She touched a series of keys on the metal cuff again. When she finished, the device morphed into a perfect camouflage, blending into my arm, just like the technology I had seen around the planet. “This, too, will help you blend in, for we do not permit our humans to wear these devices while not on assignment,” she said, “Stay here while I fetch my two hand-maidens. When I return with them, we will all proceed towards the transport room with you between the three of us to further mask your Earthly behaviors. Understood?” “I understand,” I replied. With that, she exited the room. Many minutes went by and still she hadn’t returned. I began to doubt the truthfulness of her word. Yes, she had saved me, but I knew nothing about her or what her underlying intentions might be. It was too hard for me to believe that she rescued me just because she pitied me. Then the door slid open. A resurgence of hope filled my body. Maybe she was in fact true to her words. Maybe she would get me home, back to you. I looked to the doorway and, to my dismay, was greeted by a small group of cloaked beings. The leader, a massive creature towering almost eleven feet in height, stepped forward and shoved me into the hallway. Forming a tight circle around me, they led me through a labyrinth of passages and hallways until we came to a set of grand chamber doors. I was pushed through the doors and brought to the center of a circular room, to stand beside the very alien I had so recently encountered. My blood boiled as I stared at her. She built up my hope only to have it shattered into a million pieces in an instant. What a cruel joke. In the few seconds that I had been caught up in my own emotion, I had failed to realize that the two of us were not alone. We were surrounded by a large number of these aliens, all sitting high on pedestals. It was a mixed group, consisting of eight females and thirteen males. I figured this to be some sort of jury or council, comprised of some representation of the population. All were silent. Then one spoke. “You think we do not know all that transpires on this world, Nadina?" asked one of the male figures. “No, my Lord, I was simply trying-” then she was cut off. “SIMPLY trying to interpose in the matters of the council,” interjected one of the females present, “Do you know what you could have done?” “He is stupid and ignorant, my Lady,” replied the female defendant, “What harm could be done by returning him to his world. He knows nothing, and his people would call him a raving lunatic for talk of aliens and other worlds.” “You think too small,” chimed in another of the males, this one behind us. “You know the delicate fabric of our people. They need strong, decisive leadership. There are a great many of our people and we are but a few. We cannot afford to show weakness or leniency.” “Yes, my Lord, I understand but-” and again she was interrupted. “But nothing!’ announced the first of the aliens to have spoken. There was a lot of emotion in his voice, and he alone showed this emotion while the others remained docile. His voice resonated with anger, but when I glanced up at him, his expression was one akin to hurt. He regained his calm and readied himself to speak again. “This is not a hearing,” he said, “This is a sentencing, for you know your crimes, Nadina. Since you wish to ally yourself with this inferior brute, he shall share your fate, along with your human servants. I hereby ex-communicate you from Scynthia, to be banished for eternity to the planet Tatora. It is decided!” We were then roughly ushered out of the chamber and back to the transport room. Two human females dressed in white silk dresses were pushed through the doorway and thrown into the center of the room with us. The guards stood to the side as their massive leader walked to the computer. I thought perhaps this was Orric. He took out a metal key, of a color I had never seen; new and indescribable. He inserted the key into the machine and a moment later all four of us captives were trapped in the familiar blue bubble. “Thuric, no! Please, don’t!” screamed the Scynthian, Nadina, “You used to love me! Please do not do this to me! It’s like you always said; they hunger for the power. We cannot let them do this! Please!” “My dear,” said Thuric, with an evil smile on his wretched face, “This has all been part of my plan. I know your weaknesses, along with those of the Council. They will soon fall, and I will rise to power! You had your chance to be with me, but you sealed your fate long ago. Now you will perish far from your home, all alone. Farewell, Nadina.” With that, the bubble that encased us all shot up and slipped through the aperture in the ceiling. The bubble flew through the sky, again following its blue beam of light, but this time in a different direction. We sped through the camouflage barrier, none of us breathing a word to each other. I think what had just occurred was still being processed by all. A large round shape emerged in front of us, and I got my first glimpse of the planet wherein lie our destination. It seemed about the same size of the earth, perhaps slightly smaller, but still much bigger than Scynthia. We started to slow down and entered the planet's atmosphere. I realized we were headed toward an enormous landscape made up of flat grassland stretching for miles in every direction. In one area, I could see a thick patch of forest that stretched for miles, as well. Suddenly, from what I judged to be the north, I saw three rain-drop shaped air-crafts cutting through the sky in a triangle formation. The lead aircraft came dangerously close to our beam, then sputtered and crashed through it. The side of its hull was partially vaporized, and the aircraft fell straight down to the ground just feet below. Our beam of light, severed, popped our bubble in the sky nearly twenty feet from the ground. We suddenly dropped and hit the ground with such force that I twisted my ankle. When I attempted to stand, I discovered I was unable to walk. Instead, I lay there staring at the sky, and then at the aircraft that had broken the beam, now lying half buried in the dirt. As the other two aircraft turned around to investigate what had happened to their comrade, a hail of stone projectiles fell upon them, eventually taking down the left flank. The craft spiraled erratically out of control and plummeted to the ground, shattering into many pieces. I saw the last aircraft, the right flank, bank left and head back to what I had determined to be north. Then I heard one of the human women scream. I turned to learn why, but, unfortunately for me, I was struck by an unknown adversary in the left temple and was knocked unconscious.
It was after this blow that I had awoken to the individuals surrounding me, only to be rendered unconscious again, and later stuck with the needle that forced me into a comatose-like state. This series of violent thrashes and strains on my brain had left me without the memory of the aforementioned events, but during this dream I had recovered them. Now, I was locked away without the faintest clue as to how much time had elapsed since I was last conscious. I had no knowledge of where the Scynthian female and her handmaidens were, or if they were even alright. I was left to wait inside the dark cell pondering equally dark thoughts.
Chapter Four - I Make A Friend
I discovered I wasn’t the only one in the cell. To my left sat a skinny blue alien. He was tall and completely hairless, with rubbery looking skin. In the dim lighting, I could see he had an elongated skull and a large wrinkle in the center of his forehead. He looked at me as curiously as I looked at him. I went to stand up, and he backed away. He was extremely apprehensive. Not knowing if he would understand me, I decided to attempt to communicate with him. There was so much I needed to know; so many questions I needed answered. I was about to speak, but he stole the opportunity. "You are a human, aren't you?" he asked. "Yes I am. I'm sorry, you have me at somewhat of a disadvantage, for I don't know who or what you are," I said. "I guess a proper greeting is in order,” he said, “My name is Demtrius, of the Dotaran race, f