Amara needed to see Emery and know that he was okay, but she was nervous. She stood there staring at the door as though it would make the decision for her. Three days had passed since she had seen him, he was finally stable and Amara was grateful. With a deep breath, she gripped the doorknob, and swung open the door. Inside was inviting and homey. Emery was asleep on the couch with an IV running into his arm. He looked fragile, a state Amara had not seen him in. His eyes were closed and sweat dripped from his forehead. He was shirtless, his arm tightly bandaged, and the air smelled of medicinal ointments. The vibrations Amara sensed for him were not as lively and strong as she was used to. 

She tiptoed to kneel beside him. Amara lightly caressed his uninjured arm, thankful to find his body was still warm. Her eyes flitted to his chest, two symmetrical scars rested at the base of his pecs; slightly raised but well healed. Amara had never seen such scars, without hesitation, she delicately brushed her fingertips across them. His eyelids fluttered, she drew her hand away quickly, but he reached out and grabbed her wrist. 

“I was wondering if I would see you again.” His voice was dry and coarse.

She smiled and knelt back down beside him. “I did not want to wake you.”

He looked down at himself, realizing he was shirtless, looking back to Amara with brief concern. 

“How were you wounded this way?” She asked. 

Emery let out a deep breath, then snorted. Suddenly he was laughing so hard that Amara was confused. 

“Wounded, that is in fact one I have never heard before. I forget, your knowledge is limited, not an insult, just a fact.” Emery sat up, struggling a little with only one usable arm. “How do I explain something I haven’t had to explain in a while?”

“You don’t have to tell me anything you don’t want to.” Amara felt the line she may have crossed with her own curiosity and ignorance. 

He smirked, turning to face her, feet solid on the floor. His eyes did not meet hers as he spoke, “No, it is something you should know. I was not born Emery, in fact, I was not born at all. Like you, I was created to be a Daughter of Athena, a grand warrior or whatever.”

“I don’t understand.”

“Let me finish,” Emery winced as he adjusted his position, “I had all the right bits, genetically speaking, the perfect XX chromosomal pair. I was raised as a Daughter, trained as one, but I never felt like one. They scientists thought it was the madness that takes over some of our siblings, I never believed that was the case, at least not for me. I was different and they did everything in their power to keep me exactly the way they created me.”

Amara waited, she had many more questions but Emery had to define this first.

“I met a scientist there, we became friends then eventually lovers. A strictly forbidden thing as you know. She helped me to see that it was not that I had contracted the madness but that I was in fact just different. My mind, my body, and my genetic makeup did not match. I was, I am a man, despite being designed to be something different.” He finally met Amara’s eyes, she saw and felt his mild fear and sadness. 

She took his hand, letting the silence stand between them for a moment. From the moment she met him, she sensed something within him, a kinship. “I believe I understand. What happened to your friend? How did you end up here?”

“She died, was executed really, for helping me escape. Our relationship was discovered, my difference seen as a reason to put me back in stasis. She didn’t want that for me, so she got me out. I didn’t expect her to die because of it. I found my way here and the Scales took me in, helped me, transformed me really. Now I am who I am meant to be.”

Emery moved a curl out of Amara’s face. “I’m sorry you had to do what you did, that was not the original plan. It was painful to watch you unplug all of them but I understand why you did it.” He took a breath. “I don’t know if I would have been able to do the same.” 

She leaned in, placing her forehead on his forehead. Emery rested his hand on her cheek. Anara allowed him to, she embraced it. She had gone so long in her life without nurturing touch or intimacy. When Emery moved in to kiss her, she let it happen. His lips were soft and warm. Amara’s mind felt clear as her body buzzed with energy, and she melted into his arms. When they pulled away from each other, Emery’s hazel eyes were sparkling. 

“I certainly did not expect that,” he said with a grin. 

Amara laughed and shook her head. “I’ve come to expect the unexpected.”

Emery leaned back to rest on the arm of the couch. “You should probably go before Joslyn gets back. She hasn’t been in a very good mood. If you look in my bag, there are some books I grabbed from the lab. There are some things in there you may be interested in. Take them with you.” 

Amara grabbed the bag, lingering with Emery’s hand in hers. If Joslyn saw them together in this way, all hell would break loose. He did not deserve the trouble it would cause. She jogged back to the house and hid the bag of books in her closet. Amara was not ready to read them, she was afraid of what truths they held. The door to her room slammed open. Joslyn was out of breath and doubled over trying to catch it. 

“We need you, right now!” she wheezed, panic clouding her features. 

Roars sounded outside, startling Amara back to reality. 

“Dragons. Not the good ones.” Joslyn spat out before turning and running out of the room.

Amara looked out of her window and sure enough there were two dragons burning the forest behind the house, Maiyara trying to fend them off. There was no time to waste. Amara ran outside to give aid. Soldiers were already firing rounds into the sky but Amara knew they would be useless; the only weak point dragons had were their eyes. Dragon scales were too tough to pierce without the right bullets. Sadly, Amara had none of those bullets and could surmise the soldiers did not either. A fireball rained down next to her, blowing her backwards. A soldier helped her to her feet. She dusted the soot from her body and got to work. Bringing the dragons down from the sky would not be easy but it had to be done. The power radiating from these two dragons thrummed all throughout Amara’s body. One jet black, the other a striking sapphire blue. 

With the presence of three dragons, the air was alive. Tiny pricks of electricity traced along Amara’s skin. Power radiated from deep within her. She latched onto the power from herself and from the air; it jolted her body. Her pupils dilated, her irises were a startling green, and her blood was on fire. She never attained this kind of power; she felt as though she may explode.Whatever was growing inside of her was foreign, it did not belong to her body. She doubled over for a moment, believing she was being split in two. 

She quaked as it took over her completely. Her thoughts scattered but were no longer hers. The foreign power ate at her mind until it gave her one word to speak. Her neck grew hot and tense as she tried to fight it, but the power pushed harder against her. Amara could not hold it in any longer. She raised her head to the sky and one word shouted out of her open mouth.

“Desann!” The sound of her own voice was foreign to her. It had a resonance that shook the ground she stood on. 

Time slowed down, Amara could see every minute movement from every direction. Her words roared towards the sky and hit both dragons with a loud boom. In a matter of seconds, they spiraled towards the ground. Everyone fled in order to avoid being crushed by them. They both hit the ground with such force, craters were left beneath them. Amara wracked with pain, knowing she could not miss this chance, ran full speed. She ripped a gun from a soldier’s hand, as she closed the gap between her and the dragons. Maiyara landed directly in Amara’s path.

“Do not hurt them. They have lost their way,” she pleaded. 

Amara was taken aback–pausing momentarily, gun still at the ready. She kept her mind wide open to hear whatever Maiyara had to say. 

“Allora, Irissa, stop this now! This is not who we are!” Maiyara advanced on them. 

They both hunched down, growling as she moved closer. “You know not of what you speak. Dear mother, we have not lost our way but you have lost yours. How could you help these people who only want to destroy us?!” The black one projected with malice. 

“Allora, you must understand, they only tried to protect themselves. This era is different from the others. Humans of this time knew nothing of us. Destroying their city was the wrong thing to do.” Maiyara stated.

Amara now knew the black dragon was Allora, which meant the sapphire one was Irissa. They called Maiyara mother, were these her children?

“The wrong thing to do was coming back here. We should have let this species destroy itself. Why is it our job to save the poor little humans? What have they ever done for us?” Allora growled and blew smoke from her nostrils. 

The standoff was growing tense but Maiyara was blocking Amara’s ability to take any shots. 

“Because someone has to! They helped us long ago and in return we must help them. This is our way and you know that. Leave this place, I do not want to kill you.” Maiyara moved another few inches closer to the two of them. 

“Alright Mother, have it your way, but this is far from over.” Allora took off and Irissa followed in suit. Amara scowled, aiming her gun towards the sky. Against her better judgement, she did not take the shot.

The Scales busied themselves with putting out fires, while Maiyara disappeared amongst the chaos. Amara’s energy was depleted but she tried to help as much as she could. As she moved, she noticed people kept moving away from her. Always keeping a large amount of distance wherever she went. She stopped and looked around, every set of eyes was on her. Fear painted the faces of everyone in the crowd–even Joslyn looked afraid. 

She backed away and booked it to the house, terrified that they were about to attack her too. She had not given a second thought to the power she displayed in front of them, because it was not a power she understood. When it hit her, she knew what to do, a deep primal instinct buried within her. None of this was part of her training, she was out of her depth and it was no wonder everyone else was also alarmed. Whatever it was, whatever she did, had unleashed something ancient and entirely inhuman. Amara doubled over and threw up.