Chapter 9: Liberty

Thunder roared across the vale, a crackling burst that birthed great forks of lightning. The sleek white shards tumbled to the indebted earth, and the shattered heavens flew asunder in feral delight. Deep in their burrows the little creatures cowered, and waited for the rains to subside. And low the storm came, its shadowy wing beckoning over the window where Liziwe sat with hands folded, peering through the thick panes of glass. She smiled, and shifted to a new position, pressing her nose to the window in childish enchantment. There was something so awfully thrilling in the nature of the storm; the unadulterated power coursing through the heavens, and through her fingertips she felt it. It was as if some essence could be harvested from the very air around her, tingling with jagged, electric energy.

When she was young, she had often sneaked out from the house, bursting forth at the slightest bloom of thunder and prancing barefoot among the knee-deep brush, howli