Calamity's Dream

Sublime Calamity slept, and found herself standing in a vast empty hall, wearing her day clothes, a sword riding easily at her side. Across from her stood an armoured figure clad in masked armour, the same height as her, it's face masked, it's armour gleaming gold.

"Is this one of those dreams where I face myself?" asked Calamity.

"Yes." said the figure, and it's golden sword whipped towards her face. She jumped back, her own sword coming back to block the daiklave, and steel and oricalcum rang in the vast space. Calamity found herself sorely pressed, giving first one step, then another, but refusing to give a third, her style smoothing out, flow of thrust and block becoming more and more rapid.

"So in this kind of dream doesn't your opponent usually taunt you?" asked Calamity.

"Why would I need to taunt you Christina of Thellesia? " the armoured figure swung a mighty blow at Calamity and she barely blocked, forced to roll to one side and launch her own fresh attack, her blows splashing off its shield "After all, aren't you just about to achieve every dream a princess could have? Marrying the handsome man who saved your life and all?"

"Don't call me that!" snarled Calamity "And that's not why I'm marrying him!"

"Why not oh princess. That's your name isn't it?" the armoured figure's voice was cruel. It's blade almost penetrated Calamity's guard and knocked her to one knee. "You're weak now. Moping over one love interest after another. whispering in their ears as they lie injured. weeping over them. It's pathetic." The figure came in for the kill, it's blade beating down on Calamity's guard, almost decapitating her as she rolled again to one side

"I wouldn't become that person again. Even if I wanted to, what good would it do me? Cal and Petals don't want some waif of a princess." Calamity slashed her blade up, but the knight caught the strike on her shield, knocking her off balance.

"That's right Christina, don't even worry because of how much less you've become, worry because Cal might stop loving you. When did you start caring what people thought of you princess?" The figure shield bashed Calamity back, knocking her down again. Calamity rolled across the floor, before coming to rest.

"Never." Calamity's blade slashed out into the knight's knee as she advanced and she fell back a step, gold smoke pouring from the wound. Calamity rose and her blade was earthquake and quicksilver, four steps the knight retreated before her, then their blades locked together, snarling face to golden mirrored helm "Isn't the best way out of the tale to beat it head on? To be a heroine, but still be able to be in love?"

The Knight's golden visor was an inch from her own, she could see the eyes within, her own angry brown eyes "Then do it." they held like that, straining at one another. "You stood on a hill once looking down at the battlefield bellow, the slaughter you had wrought and named yourself..."

"Sublime Calamity, a magnificent storm that kills or awes all those who stand before it..." sparks dripped from the locked blades "And I swore to myself that day that I would..."

"...Through armies and steel and fire build the greatest empire the world has ever known." the knight strained, not letting up in her quest to upend her opponent, Calamity setting herself to maintain pressure on her side. And suddenly her perspective shifted and Calamity realised she and the knight were truly one. She reached up to remove her helmet...

And so Calamity awoke, and smiled a terrible smile. She was going to happen to someone.