This time, she asked Koryl to stay in the ship. Her feet stepped on the wet grass, then the muddy earth, then the slippery stone surface. The rain formed an impenetrable curtain, creeping into the smallest folds of her armor and streaming down her face.

Zara took off her helmet and left it hanging by her side. The storm that roared around her hit her harder and harder, leaving no respite for her senses. The moon was hidden by the thick layer of clouds, but the lightning struck so often that she felt like it was daylight.

Her walk stopped on the shore of the lake. High waves were crashing on the shore, running up her legs to her knees.

She was in the west of Venezuela, in an area avoided by pilots, both human and fallen. Above this immense water body, a quasi-permanent storm was unleashing the fury of the sky on the world below every second. According to the Cryptarchs, there was none more violent on Earth.

Lightning was falling, setting the sky on fire, and Zara remembered the first storm of her new life: during their ocean crossing, after fleeing from the frozen hell of the South Pole in a stolen Skiff, a huge thunderstorm had struck them. The young Guardian had then been terrorized, powerless against the power of the elements. They had almost disappeared that day.

But now she had become a Warlock. Her Solar Song was born out of her anger, out of her thirst for power in her first battles. She had reached the City and learned to walk into the Void.

Yet she had never felt fulfilled. Her teachers kept telling her that the Light manifested itself differently, changing with the personality of those who handled it. On the battlefield, in the face of adversity, fire roared within her. In the City, surrounded by unknown faces, she preferred to isolate herself and put her mind at peace.

Zara was standing on an unbalanced scale and could not decide which side to jump on. Then the memories of the storm came back to her. Carried away by the howling wind, the Skiff's instruments blowing and spitting arcs of static electricity, Koryl had shouted for her to get up, to get away from the raging ocean. She had grabbed the stick and pulled with all her might, pushing the alien device to the limit.

Then they had emerged at the top of the clouds. There, above the troposphere, a flat calm reigned. The sun shone above the horizon, illuminating with the warm colors of dawn the infernal whirlwind that stretched beneath them.

So, Zara had understood. It was not a matter of choosing between silence and fury. To reach her full potential, she had to embrace both.

The Warlock stretched out her arms and invoked the Light. The storm answered her, and her hands reached up to the sky. The air was set ablaze and Arc energy flowed through her muscles, nerves and neurons. A stream of lightning flashed across the surface of the water, swirling and curling along her limbs like a snake trying to suffocate her.

Her body was bruised by the blue fire, yet Zara's mind was in harmony. Beyond the storm, the Warlock could see the shining Sun on the horizon and felt a light wind in her hair. Around her, the cyclone roared without reaching her. The rumble of thunder turned into a song, a melody that only she could hear. She followed his advice and held her helmet out in front of her.

A bolt of lightning struck, destroying the protective layers. Moving her fingers like a puppeteer, she reassembled the pieces of metal and fabric. The rock surrounding the lake melted under the power of lightning, and a cloud of crystal fragments adorned her work, taking with them a piece of the storm.

The headdress forged in Light rested in her hands, and the tempest released her.

"This is our crown, the chant blew to her while fading away. You shall wear it, for only a queen can rule the fury of the skies."