She still had not received news on Emery’s condition, leaving her with unexpected guilt. She should have been able to protect him and she had failed. Another part of her was angry that she cared at all. Joslyn sent her along to watch the Scales kill them–that had to be the plan before Amara took it into her own hands. She opened her window, hoping the air would cool down her sweltering room. Amara tried to bury the visual of unplugging her siblings. Even more so now that she knew they did not have to be left alone, abandoned to rot, unaware of what was happening around them. She tried feeling guilty for the Daughter she shot. Never once had she turned a gun on her siblings, however, self-defense had to be a good enough reason.

Amara stood in front of her window, staring at the house Emery was being treated in. She was never once allowed inside, despite her sacrifices to save him. It was clear Joslyn blamed her, and why would she not? She should have run, she should have begged her sibling to save her and bring her wherever they were hiding–then, none of this would have mattered.

Amara gave up on clearing her mind and went outside barefoot, in her pajamas. Rules and expectations be damned, she had questions, so she ventured to the cave. The walk was swift, Maiyara was there, perched upon it basking in the moonlight. Her beauty captivated Amara, how could a large beast be so delicate. 

“I had a feeling you would come back.” Maiyara’s soft, matron-like voice passed through Amara’s head. 

She eased up on Maiyara, as her instincts still made her feel like sudden movements could end in death. 

“I know what you did today. What you had to do.” Maiyara turned an ice blue eye towards Amara. 

Amara’s body tensed; she did not want to talk about what she had done. The wound was still too fresh, too raw and open. 

“I apologize for your loss. I know that does not mean much coming from me.” Maiyara tilted her snout downwards to simulate a bow.

“It doesn’t. You wanted me and my siblings dead. The Daughters of Athena were a threat to you; you are not truly sorry for their deaths.” Amara spit out.

Maiyara grunted, “You do not know much about me or about what I want. There is a reason I am here, that my kind is here. Your people fail to see beyond violence.” 

“My kind were fine before you came and destroyed everything. I wouldn’t have been created if it weren’t for you!” 

“Dear child, are you that naive? Do you really believe that we were the sole cause of destruction for mankind?” She tilted her large head to the side. 

Amara’s hands heated with anger, her power too dampened by the woods to take any real action. 

“We came here to save you and were met with violence. It was only right that we defend ourselves.” 

“Suddenly everyone I meet is the savior of humankind. We never asked to be saved and we certainly never asked you. You can hardly call total destruction self-defense, most would call it genocide.”

“Humans were destroying the very planet you rely on to exist. People would rather tear each other apart than help, to come together for a common goal. We felt it necessary to intervene as we have done before many times in your history. Others welcomed our help in the past but this time around, it went very wrong.” Maiyara dropped down off her perch on the cave and moved much closer to Amara. 

What Maiyara saw as benevolence, Amara saw as arrogance. Yes, humans were flawed, they always have been. One thing they did have was choice, choice that was ripped away from them in the blink of an eye. 

“I know we destroyed your home, it was not without reason, though that reason may be lost on you. In time you will come to see your makers for who they really are: monsters that prey on the weak for their own gain. You saw how they abandoned your sisters, left them there to die. You are simply a product, a means to an end that they can extinguish any time they like.” Maiyara proclaimed. 

Amara swallowed a lump that had formed in her throat. Extinguish: as though she were a nuisance and not a person. But she was not a person, was she? She was a science experiment, something altogether different from humanity itself. 

“I sense conflict in you. Conflict is good. You have lived your life allowing nameless people to think for you. It is time for you to think for yourself and see the world through your own eyes.” Maiyara nudged Amara with her nose, an unusual gesture, then flew away.

The air from the flap of her wings caused Amara to shiver. She stood in the cool night and wondered, if she ran away now, would anyone know she had gone. Everyone was so concerned about Emery, perhaps Joslyn was too busy to keep her spelled. Freedom from the madness was tantalizing, yet she could not bring her feet to move. Even if Amara had not known him long; she refused to abandon Emery. He had almost died in her arms, they were bonded through that experience and she could not leave without knowing he would be okay. The sun began to rise and birds sang their morning songs. Amara toyed with the idea of going back to bed but knew it would be no use. She would have to power through the day on little sleep. Her feet instead carried her to the church. 

Thankfully empty when she entered, mats on the floor were in neatly lined rows, and the smell of burned incense hung in the air. She sauntered up to the front, taking a seat on a mat positioning another behind her so that she could lie down. As she lay back, she stared at the mural that covered the ceiling. The faceless women were captivating, the dragons even more so. The artwork was undeniably beautiful but it was also cracked and worn. Chips in the paint could be seen at the edges. Dragons and the women seamlessly merged together, becoming one large conjoined circle. Earth was in the middle of this circle with rays of light behind it. 

It was such a bizarre image, but gorgeous. Amara sat up to look at the painting of Maiyara. She was regal and refined, even though she was a different species. Amara felt an affinity with her. Whenever she was near, palpable energy coursed through her body. Warm and tingly from her head down to her toes. Energy that made Amara feel like they were part of each other, like long lost friends or distant relatives. The connection was the same connection she felt when she was near her siblings, like they were a missing piece of her. She had to find answers. She needed to know that her existence meant something more than being the spoils of war.