The red water suddenly began to violently stir, then erupt as the remaining statues shot out of the water and raced up into the night. Their silhouettes glided over the moon, as they spread their wings. Now that they were free, they whisked through the night, I understood that sense of freedom they must all now be feeling. To fly, to soar, to swoop and dive was a feeling like no other. It was freedom. To look down upon the Earth from such heights gave you a detached feeling – a sense that you were not a part of the real world, just a spectator, watching the world pass by below. Those freed statues would be feeling all of that now. And like me they would remember those feelings – that sense of freedom – for the rest of their lives. One by one, they swept out of the sky and landed on the shore before us. Their wings buzzed, hummed, and fluttered behind each of them. All of them were female, apart from one. “This is Peter,” Meren said, introducing him to Murphy. “Good to meet you,”
