The light intensified until I had to squint against it.
"Prove how exactly?" I asked, though dread was already settling in my stomach like lead.
The arbiter's form expanded, filling more of the crystalline space, and the projections around us dissolved into nothing.
"Power without proof is meaningless," the layered voices said. "Capability without demonstration is hollow, you possess strength beyond understanding, but possessing is not the same as wielding."
"Get to the point," Azryth said, his voice edged with impatience.
"The balance point between success and catastrophic failure is your genuine love," the arbiter continued, ignoring his tone. "Love that exists independent of manipulation, independent of necessity, independent of fear. Only that can provide sufficient power to seal the gates without shattering them."
I felt my chest tighten. "We already know that, the prophecy told us, our bond has to be real or everything fails."
