As soon as Ash struck the god, Luna cried out, "Asha, you can't draw a divine's blood, not even if you've been challenged!"
Tenebris responded a bit drily, "That was the whole point of the challenge. My father is a great many things, a combat junkie first and foremost. One thing he isn't, at the least, is a sore loser."
Ash was just tensing to get off of the god's back when he began to chuckle and move, changing his form as he did so. Knocked off balance, she fell forward onto the broad back of his Draequus form.
She was just about to apologize and get away when he started chuckling, "You are quite the challenger," his tail lashed in the air, his wings all but trapping her as she managed to at least sit up.
Tenebris stepped towards his father, changing his own form as he did, "Father, enough, your challenge has been met."
The god's power surged strongly and countless traps wound around him to stop his advance even as Ash collapsed entirely, assaulted by a wave of strong dizziness, "Approach no closer, Tenebris. You are causing her a great deal of discomfort. Change your form back or at the least mask your scent."
Reluctantly, Tenebris obeyed even as his father curled his tail around Ashterra and placed her on the ground so he could get a good look at her. Her collapse had taken him by surprise, particularly with it being tied to Tenebris' change in form. He knew, of course, of her divinity but it felt a bit strange to him that she was so strongly touched by the divinity of another. She and Tenebris were not like normal divines, it felt wrong for them to be bound by the threads of fate.
Divines were born fully formed, everything about them already decided including who they would love. The threads of fate bound the mated pairs together from the very moment they came to be and the divines never questioned it. Their bound races and in particular the children that turned the divinity that made them into their own, he had thought would be different. They had little knowledge when born, had the opportunity to learn and grow. They were supposed to be as much like the free-willed races the gods had created as they were like the gods themselves.
Turning himself back into his human form, he knelt and touched her neck to feel her pulse and the flow of her mana. His traps kept the priestess from approaching, though he could smell her worry keenly. Her pulse was fast and he could see that she was fighting off several status effects. Normally she, like Lord Sidus, was immune to all status effects but not even divines could fight the threads of fate.
He stepped back suddenly, getting himself out of the way of Lord Sidus as the elder god appeared to check on his child.
Curious as to the opinion of the Lord of the Stars, he spoke, "The threads of fate, it would seem, are not being kind to our children."
"In particular," Sidus grumbled in response, "My child is heavily burdened by them. She does not have enough control over her divinity to defend herself. At least, not with ease. She adapts swiftly, though."
Tenebris stayed where he was, once more in his human form with his scent completely masked, "Would you care to explain what the threads of fate are?"
The gods waited until Ash had regained consciousness and was seated leaning against Lord Sidus with Luna next to her, worriedly checking on her, to explain. The threads of fate were a simple enough concept, really. They tied things together. In the case of the divines it was an indisputable part of their reality. They did not choose the one they would love and, for them, that was fine. For the races they created, though, they had not intended the threads of fate to be able to interfere to such a degree.
"The threads of fate are what tie a member of my temple, for example," Lord Sidus said as his hand ran along Ashterra's hair, "To a Starborn Unicorn. Lunarilia could feel Ashterra from the moment her soul was formed. That call was how she knew that Ashterra had been 'born' very early compared to when she was expected and how they were able to arrive so swiftly at her side. Those threads bind their souls together and will call Lunarilia back to Ashterra's side for so long as Lunarilia is willing to answer the call."
"The threads of fate were meant to touch my Draequus very little," Lord Venatio addressed Tenebris, "Nothing beyond drawing a member of one of my temples to find your egg so they could raise you to act as a person rather than a wild animal acting only on instinct."
"They also tie together those whose magics are capable of healing each other," Sidus reminded, "Though that is relatively new knowledge for us, considering such a thing was never needed before."
"Could that be what's happening here?" Tenebris asked, his eyes moving to Ash though he kept his distance, "Something connected to us being able to heal the damage to each other's magic, maybe even connected to the amount of damage her magic has taken?"
Lord Sidus shook his head, the bright stars in his deep black hair shimmering in the clearing as several of their lights dimmed and even more flared to life, "No. This is different and not entirely unique to the two of you even, though it would seem that it is interacting with the other threads that bind you."
"Normally," Lord Venatio explained, "The threads of fate are more of a suggestion to our creations. One person may have dozens of such 'fated lovers' and they may choose one, or several, or even none of them. There is not supposed to be any magical influence to push you towards each other beyond that initial spark of magic the threads create. They are ignoring that with the two of you, sparking not along that ignorable line as they are supposed to but along the one that twines your magics together, the thread that we did not intend to ever need exist."