"To those who shrink before the roar of the heavens
know this: I am the thunder that rides the storm."
The overcast sky roared. Thunder coiled between the clouds, violently tearing through the darkness.
In the middle of the devastated plain, the rain-soaked soil exuded the bittersweet smell of wet dust and ashes. Under that sky, she remained. She stood firm.
Lucretia was breathing with difficulty. Her body, covered in bruises, cuts, and burns, trembled with each breath. Her long, drenched hair clung close to her body, heavy with sweat and rain. Yet, there was firmness in her gaze.
The left eye, blue like the sky; the right, green like the heart of the forest, both shone brightly, bringing a thread of hope.
Sparks danced around her, crackling on her skin like embers gently kissing. Despite the fatigue, her aura pulsed with all its strength, incandescent like a live ember, and from the tips of her fingers electric sparks crackled, while an intense heat radiated from her skin. The protective glove on her right hand had been torn. The scars, memories she had never wanted to show, now shone in the light of the lightning.
His grip tightened firmly around the sword.
The energy discharges were tearing at her flesh, yet she still did not weaken. The same lightning that burned her skin also ignited the flame of her will. This was because Lucretia was the last wall between that thing and everything she loved.
Hordes of enemies gathered around her, obeying the embodied nightmare, the Mother of Calamities. A vile, powerful, and cruel creature.
But Lucretia's face remained serene. She knew what she needed to do. And, for the first time, she had no regrets.
"It may have been for such a short time... but I was happy"
She murmured.
Her gaze then turned to an unconscious man lying among the debris. Blood on his face and motionless body. She didn't know if he was alive or not. Despite that, she smiled.
Whispered something that no one else heard.
And so, walked.
Smoke covered the field. The silhouette of the enemy burned like a demonic mirage. The eyes of the Mother of Calamities, crimson like blood, shimmered with rage. Her screams did not reach Lucretia. Her eardrums had already been torn apart.
But in the silence, her heart still beat intensely and she could feel it. That was enough.
When the first monster charged, the sky answered. A lightning bolt fell with divine violence, illuminating the entire battlefield, blinding all in front of the radiant light that emerged.
"You shall not pass!"
Even if she could not hear her own voice, she called out to the world with all her conviction.
Electricity crackled in his body. It was more power than her body could handle. Her muscles burned. The skin burned. The fingers sparkled like living blades. The sound scratched the air, like a thousand birds flying away.
She was aware of what it would cost her. But she was not afraid… not anymore. Then she moved forward.
Each step cracked the ground beneath their feet. One step, one thunder. One lightning. One scream.
It was like a force of nature, unstoppable, pouring its wrath upon its enemies. And as it tore through the ranks of opponents, its mind stubbornly pulled back. It escaped the present. It traveled through memories that, like lightning following its course, brought it to that moment.
The orphanage. The solitude. The master. The smiling faces. The thanks. The 'I will protect you.' The words "I love you" that she couldn't say
She remembered herself as a child, saying: 'If I am strong, I won't be alone.'
And she smiled. What irony.
Lightning pulsed, burned, and tore apart. Surrounded by a powerful, vibrant, and noisy glow, merging her aura with the natural thunder, she became a living calamity, one with the storm. Not for revenge. Not for glory. But for a choice. For love.
She accepted in her heart to become the 'Daughter of the Dragon' and to gain the power necessary to defend what was important to her. Nothing would stop her anymore.
That call of 'Mother of Calamities', which considered Lucretia an inferior being, now hesitated as she saw the girl approaching with a divine fury.
Before it could react, a light filled everything.
...
In the heart of the smoking crater, only Lucretia remained.
But little by little, his breathing slowed down. Her body was now in a deplorable state. Her knees gave way and her eyes began to weigh down.
She looked back one last time. And smiled.
Above, the sky finally opened up. The stars peeked out, shyly, through the clouds. Lucretia gazed at them as one does nostalgically at a distant home.
She sighed, satisfied. There was no lament. There was no fear. Just peace.
And the vision of the stars slowly faded away as her eyes closed.
And then, she fell to the ground.