you and the males to love, taught you how to win their hearts, but still, you warred with your sister, born a moment before you and more powerful than you could ever be. Darkness can consume the light, but there will never be a world where light chases away all the shadows. You held on, and here, on Al Moro Nat, was the night you almost lost. The night she was at the peak of her power.”
“You know the truth of our story,” Lariana said, her eyes narrowing.
“You realized you could never beat your sister and truly rule the dragons,” Alchan continued, ignoring her words. He had put the pieces together, realized what he was missing, and drawn from his own life, parallel to the goddess in front of him. “You had to earn her love. A dark creature who had never known it but understood its power. A dark creature who knows power and dominance but not leadership. Goddess Lariana, mother of my bloodline…you rule because your sister loves you and allows it. If she chose, she could defeat you and plunge this world into an endless night. She could bring death on a scale unimaginable. But you rule and hold her leash because she loves you and allows it. You love her enough to keep hold of that leash, so she can continue to enjoy this world she can never truly be a part of and could never truly rule. A world she could ruin if that bond is lost.”
Lariana stared at him, wide-eyed. “How do you know this story?”
“Because I love my sister, Maevana Lorren Amori. She is powerful, and she is dominant. She could defeat me in single combat, and I would…stand no chance.” Alchan blinked back tears as he smiled, finally allowing himself to show one emotion in front of these powerful females. “But she chose me to be her king, and she currently walks to your domain to confront your sister and become the first Avatar of Kristanya. I am here to become your Avatar, not because I believe I am worthy of you or your gift, but because I must be worthy of her, or I cannot rule and serve my people effectively. She means more to me than all things.” He had already boldly stepped over the line and offended this goddess. Now, he looked up and truly met her eyes, a challenging stare, one he felt fit and ready to give her. “Just as Kristanya means more to you than all things. Balance is the key, isn’t it? Light needs darkness to shine in. Darkness needs light to snuff out. Life needs death to be meaningful, and death needs life to feed on.”
“You are the only male to ever stand here and have the chance to speak to me,” she said quietly. “And you picked a story you should not know nor understand because my sister and I thought it would be best to keep it hidden. We didn’t want anyone to think I could ever lose control of her and what that might look like. You are the only Andinna to ever say the story out loud in its entirety, knowing the implications it brings, knowing what it means. And I think…you might be the only one to ever know and understand without fear.” She shook her head, no longer angry but somewhat awed by his words. “You don’t fear the darkness.”
“There is some in all of us,” he replied. “At least all mortals.”
“You don’t fear the power.” She stepped closer to him.
“Not in the hands of someone I love, no,” he said, looking up at her.
She studied him as though he was something she had never seen before.
“I watched you grow up from your grandmother’s eyes. When you became the last of my children on this mortal plane, I had hoped you would have a daughter and send her to me. Now, I see you have walked on a path I didn’t recognize. A path so close to my own, I could not recognize it for what it was.” She leaned back and smiled.
“I didn’t see my path either until the Avatar of Amonora, a male named Varon, decided to show me the way,” he admitted. “But once the light revealed it, I knew what I had to do.”
She hummed, her smile widening as if she knew something humorous.
“Alchan Andini, you have been judged, and you have been found worthy.” She reached out and grabbed his forehead. Power flowed