The inside of a stormcloud was a dark thing, only lit up by formidable discharge of lightning. For each spear of thunder aimed at the distant ground, there were hundreds raging internally and making the cloud come alive with their energy. It was cold, but Nya felt no discomfort even though she was unclothed. The cloud was hardly a static thing; in fact, it was not even entirely clear where it began. There was no hard wall to go through, just the feeling of a dark fog swallowing you into alluring depths of unknown power. There was life in these clouds; they grew fat with water from the land, and then they gave back to the land as Zulrav commanded. No life would be possible away from the sea without his blessing.
Nya was spun around again and again, and now there were no such notions as North and South. Even up and down were questionable things, as the situation encouraged Nya to disbelieve in directions altogether.
"I have gone by many names over the ages, Nya," lightning crackled around her mimicking a voice. Electricity caressed her every now and then, making her feel the heat but not the hurt. "There was a time when a new breed of creatures came to this place from a distant world among the stars. I very much disliked these people at first, for they were the newest and yet acted as though they had been here the longest. And so, while other gods gave them gifts and blessings, I gave these creatures - humans, as they went by - storm, hail and lightning. I visited hurricanes and tornadoes upon their cities, doused their fires and crushed their roofs. At that time, they called me the Harsh One, the Slap of the World, He Who Hisses in the Night, and a myriad other colorful names that sound quite amusing in retrospect. Sometimes I miss the naive fantasies of those ancient people. They still had the ability to marvel at things, like pups and children do; then came ages when they thought they had learned everything there was to learn, and off they went to kill one another to convince themselves that they had learned well."
"Even I can't remember the exact moment when I started to like them. You could say they grew on me after a while. Some of them started praying to me, and even I was surprised to hear not all of them were praying for their lives and safety. I would have taken no heed of such invocations borne of blind fear - I never do. No, they were asking for freedom and enlightenment. They wanted to fly, and were ready to abandon their comfort to do so. Thus were the Stormwardens born. I have chosen you for the same purpose, Nya: because you want to soar higher."
"You have been told many things. You have been told your race is one of short-lived servants who work in the shadows for the benefit of another. Ever since you were born, you were grounded... chained to a series of expectations just because of who you were. I give you the opportunity to be something else, perhaps something more. That is the true gift of the Stormwardens. If you know the wind, if you know when to follow and when to lead, then you can fly. Fly for me, fly with me... fly to fix one or two of the evils that plague this ball of air, water and rock and fire."
"What do you think, Nya? Stormwardens are the voices I like to hear, so I give them the voices that will reach me wherever. I enjoy listening to their opinions, even though I do not always talk back. Aruin's prison was not the dark room in which you found him; it was an isolation of his own making. Ashamed, he chose to shut himself out. His regret nearly drove him insane. Don't make the same mistake, Nya. Don't walk away from the wind, even when it feels cruel, for I assure you, I am still the Slap of the World when I want to be." And with this, the lightning subsided for a while, giving Nya a chance to voice her opinions.