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Ashe had slowly felt herself slipping away. Every time she healed her friends, or summoned the golem, or used her powers in any way, part of herself tore from her humanity, never to return. It hurt more every time it happened, until it started to hurt less.
No one really noticed at first. She was a little less joyful, less inclined to laugh, or get angry. Then they started to realize something was wrong. Markus sang to her, but she was entirely unmoved. Unspeakable acts of horror were committed before her, and yet she shed not one tear nor felt any rage. She couldn’t even care that she felt nothing. The others’ attempts to speak with her on the matter were met with a cold silence.
Slowly, her heart became as stone, like the golem she called upon. Her eyes lost the bright spark of life that they used to carry, and instead became dead and stagnant. Her inhibitions about using some of her more intense powers vanished, and she became less inclined to give mercy. The others began to fear her.
Gregor was the first to snap. After seeing her nearly destroy a village in their attempt to rid it of some bandits, he proclaimed her a monster and attacked. It did not end well. The hollow shell that had once been Ashe swiftly turned on her former companion and struck him down like he was nothing. He died from the injuries three days later, and Ashe vanished into the woods.
The remaining members of her old group, grief-stricken, hunted her down. They all fought valiantly, but soon even they fell to their former friend.
Eventually, Ashe did fall. It was to a stranger’s blade. She was alone and in a strange place. No one mourned her passing, and she received no burial. Her body was left to rot on the forest floor, an easy meal for hungry scavengers. Hollow.
Ashe woke up in a cold sweat, bolting upright and breathing rapidly. Her hands frantically checked over her body, one coming to rest on the bindings on her arm, and the other clutching at her racing heart.
Markus stirred beneath the blankets next to her. His brilliant blue eyes opened, confused, then settled on Ashe. He sat up, seeing she was upset.
“Hey. Hey, Ashe,” he spoke soothingly, “what’s wrong?” He reached out a hand to rub the young woman’s back, trying to quell the panic he saw in her glowing yellow eyes.
“D-don’t... don’t touch me…” She curled her body forward and she tried to shake off Markus’ hand.
“Ashe, it’s okay. Whatever it was, it was just a dream. You’re okay now. You don’t have to cry.” Markus ignored Ashe’s attempts to withdraw into herself and wrapped both his arms around her, pulling her close.
“I’m not crying.” Her voice shook, though she tried to steady it.
“Ashe, there are tears the size of my thumb pouring out of your eyes. If that’s not crying, then the sky is brown and I’m not a tiefling.” He wiped a thumb across Ashe’s cheek, interrupting the flow of tears for a moment. “Can you tell me what’s wrong?”
Ashe sniffled. “I’m afraid, Markus…. Afraid of what I’ll become…. I don’t want to lose myself…. I don’t want to lose you.”
Markus looked down at the white-haired girl in his arms. Sometimes he forgot that, despite all her strength and ability, she was still just a frightened runaway, so unsure of herself that she couldn’t even tell her friends what bothered her most of the time.
“Ashe, you’re not going to lose yourself. I won’t let you. And gods help whoever thinks they can take me away from you.” He took the girl’s chin in his hand and tilted her head up to look at him. “Aesling, I love you more than life itself. To me, you will always be my Aesling, and nothing in this realm or any other can change that.”
Ashe looked into the tiefling’s eyes. They held nothing but sincerity. She couldn’t help but smile a little and hold him close as her sobs faded to hiccups. The sounds of his heartbeat and his breathing were so comforting in her ears. His warmth chased the chill dream away.
Markus held her just as close, rubbing her back and humming a gentle tune until she finally fell back to sleep.