'Finally... I mean I didn't think it was going to happen this way but... perhaps I can finally rest... my life was an absolute shitshow... what is taking so long... shouldn't I be done?... I can't wait to be done... shattered childhood... dreams were only for the nightmares to end... broken heart... poor and meaningless... Ah... yes... there it is... that final darkness...'

These were my last thoughts as I laid in the street bleeding profusely from numerous bullet holes. Collateral damage, an unfortunate casualty in a gangster's drive-by, wrong place wrong time. Oh well. I was forty years old, but it wasn't like I really had anything to live for.

'Wait... what is this really cramped feeling?... why do I feel like this?... what's that light?...'

Then, instead of entering what I thought would be some kind of afterlife, I was thrust into a bright light, and I was awfully cold. I was so uncomfortable that I cried out for relief, but what came from my mouth was foreign to me.

It was the cry of an infant... Suddenly I was thrust into the bosom of a woman.

Without warning, my eyes were wiped, and I could see! I was definitely an infant and had been reborn, but something was different. My surroundings were strange...

I could see walls made of some material that I could not recognize. There were some guards that were quiet yet they put off this... foreign energy... I could feel it in the air... The blanket I had been swaddled in was made of material that felt like a cross between fleece and silk, but it was undoubtedly nothing that I'd ever encountered before.

The most important part of my surroundings was this woman who I assume was my new mother. She was not knock out gorgeous, but she did have a certain beauty about her. Her hair was as black as obsidian but with the colored sheen of a raven's feathers. Her eyes were a color I didn't think was possible for humans to have.

They were deep royal purple with gold tendrils snaking into the amethyst like distorted sun rays. They were powerful, like she could stare a burning hole through you, but she looked down at me with sincere adoration which was evident in her eyes and her pink spring-rose colored lips. Her ivory skin was warm and so comfortable... I was so tired... sleepy...

As I was slowly losing the battle against the blanket of sleep, I heard another woman's voice, "What will you name him Lady Veirna?"

So that was the name of my new mother, It was unique to say the least. It sounded like something a futuristic outer space warrior would be named, but I imagine that could very well be a common name wherever I am.

"I think I will call him... Zionai..." Veirna stated, her voice was soft and melodic, but noticably tired.

"A powerful name... No doubt he may just live up to it. Congratulations Lady Veirna. Now rest easy."

"Will do..." My mother said as we both drifted off to sleep.

I let it take me with one final pleasant thought... 'Zionai...'