“ Exactly.”

Aeschylus stands with fear in his eyes. “W-what?” He stutters

I laugh “ maybe they will make an exception for you being so feminine.”

“ that can be arranged.” The woman laughs

“What is your name ma’am?” He asks 

“My name is Alexis, meaning defender or helper.” She says formally. “ And what are your names, little ones?”

“ Zoe……...Zoe Angelos, meaning the life of an angel.” I tell her “ And I am 14 I am not a little one.”

“ Beautiful name, and you're a little one to me, I am 22”

“ Aeschylus, meaning shame.” He says bluntly with a harsh tone in his voice

She nodded.

He nods in response. 

“ good, we should start walking,” She heads east. 

We walked for what felt like hours, my feet ached beneath me as I followed Alexis. I dare not complain, I don't want to seem weak so I continue walking stubbornly. Aeschylus was next to me, allowing himself to struggle, but only enough for me to notice, and only me, not Alexis. I don’t trust her yet, I will play along with her game till we get to this Amazon she speaks of. 

“ We may need to camp for the night.” She says looking back at my determined face. “ but only for a bit, we need to get there by tomorrow.” 

She sets up camp and we eat nothing, no matter how hungry I am I won’t eat what she cooks. I don't trust her, not one bit. I sleep and Aeschylus watches Alexis for me, we rotate this every two hours. Living in Sparta had our perks. I fell asleep after a few minutes of staring into the stars. I had a dream of a place full of beautiful gardens and stunning architecture. All of it burned down, every last bit, all the people died and everything was reduced to ashes. I woke up and took guard for two hours, Alexis was asleep, So I watched the stars, I saw five shooting stars that night. 

In the morning we started walking right away. It was about three hours before anyone spoke.

“Almost there,” Alexis says smiling back at my determined expression. 

“We need to hurry up. I am not sure how much longer my friend can go.” I say bluntly, I was not just talking about Aeschylus. I am exhausted, my legs ached as we walked each step worsened as we walked.

About an hour later we arrived at a tall clay wall bordering something, but I could not see. She motioned us forward and we walked past a gate.

I walked in on women training with full armor on, Men working in the background, beautiful gardens, artwork, and other beautiful landscaping.

“Welcome home Zoe,” Alexis says smiling.