you, but you surprised me. You showed me the warrior they all saw, those warriors who fell to you. You have a dark core, something I had never seen in another of the Andinna. I saw the paths and knew if I continued to take my anger out on you, there was no hope. So, I switched course and decided to make you great. Not that it helped.” Kristanya released her and reappeared several feet away again, staring into the storm.
“It did,” Mave growled. “Look at what I’ve accomplished and where I am! I’m here, begging you, my patron goddess, to give me the power to defeat our enemies. I need to become your Avatar. I keep this punishment you’ve given me. I don’t need children, but I need to watch my husbands grow old. I need to help my king. I need to protect the people I fought against for a thousand years. Allow me to prove myself for the Andinna one last time. Allow me to bring more death in their name, instead of death to them.”
“You, like so many others, wish to use the power to subvert death. To keep what is rightfully mine from me. Make no mistake, Mave, their souls belong to me. They all do in the end.”
“They aren’t yours yet,” Mave snarled, refusing to accept Kristanya’s words. “I’m not bringing anyone back from the dead. I am demanding the chance to change their path. The Andinna don’t believe in destiny. No soul belongs to you until it’s dead. Others tend to the living; you tend to the dead. You said it yourself.”
“That changes nothing. You cannot be my Avatar,” Kristanya said, shaking her head. “You will not pass this test. I should kill you now, but you’ve made it this far. I’m only indulging you at this point.”
“Why?” Mave screamed, feeling powerless. “Why can’t I be your Avatar? Why do the Andinna need to die for you to hold this line?”
“Because if I make an Avatar, the world will be plunged into darkness,” Kristanya roared, making the earth shake. “Because I am Darkness. I, the first god of all gods. When the world was new, I was born, and I was powerful.” Something shined in her eyes—glory and a mad power. Mave didn’t move, but she wanted to. She wanted to run…to hide. “I am the primordial darkness! There was nothing before me!” Kristanya smiled, fangs bared, and walked closer to Mave.
Mave took a step back.
“I am the beginning, and I will be the inevitable end. Here is the problem, dear, naïve little girl…I will let the Andinna die before I put my power into the world and destroy it. If I release my power onto this world, my sisters will turn against me, and I am more powerful than both of them. It will not be the end of the Andinna. It will be the end of everything.” Kristanya’s smile turned into a grin as if she was pleased with that idea. “It’s so tempting. When I was born, I was alone. I was everything, and I was nothing. I was destruction with no outlet. Death with no life to destroy. Darkness with no light to snuff out and consume. Endless possibilities, but no paths to follow. Then my sister was born, and she gave me all of those things, and we battled. Endless and violent energies, constant foes, trying to claim this world. Finally, my vicious needs had something to crush, and I nearly succeeded. I nearly ended this world before it ever began.”
Mave stumbled as Kristanya appeared right before her. She fell as Kristanya looked down on her.
“But…after my sister and I warred, for what felt like an eternity, we settled. We learned from each other, and I’ve grown fond of this family I have. So, my dear, naïve warrior…” Kristanya crouched and reached out, touching Mave’s chin. “I will let the Andinna die because the alternative is worse. I do not want to be alone anymore. I do not want to turn against my siblings and hurt them. I do not want darkness and nothing. I want them with me for eternity. I need them. So, no, I will not give a mortal even a fraction of my power. It would only lead to endless death of all things. There is no mortal—past, present, or future—who could understand the things I have had to do to fight my darkest urges.”