Ash leaned on his knees, breathing hard. His whole body hurt. Blood dripped from his nose onto the stone below. The two attackers weren't moving anymore. He should feel good about winning. But he didn't.
Then he felt it. Something was watching him. A shiver crawled up his spine. The hairs on his arms stood up.
Ash turned.
At the top of the broken statue's neck, where the head should have been, stood a man. Except it wasn't really a man. It was too tall. Too thin. Its skin was white like a dead fish left in the sun. Long black rags hung off its bony body, blowing in a wind that wasn't there.
Ash's mouth went dry.
The thing's arms were too long. Its fingers were too thin, with nails that scratched against the stone as it moved. The sound made Ash's teeth hurt.
He knew what this was.
Kryvar.
One of the Asura.
Kryvar's blank white eyes locked onto him.
KILL. The thought screamed in Ash's skull. Not a plan. Not a choice. Pure instinct. Kill or be killed. He moved before he could think.
Ash swung his sword with all his strength. Lightning crackled down the blade. Kryvar didn't move. The pale hand came up so fast Ash barely saw it. Long fingers closed around the sword.
Then the blade snapped like a dry twig. Ash stumbled back, clutching the broken hilt. His heart pounded so hard it hurt.
Kryvar's mouth twitched. Lips—too wide, too thin—parted.
"Mmmmyyyy... dearrrr... deaattthhh..."
The voice wasn't human. Wasn't alive. It sounded like many voices at once, some high, some low, all wrong. It made Ash's skin crawl.
Ash's legs almost gave out. He grabbed the largest shard of his sword. Swung.
Kryvar flicked him. Just a tap. One bony finger against Ash's forehead.
The next thing Ash knew, he was flying through the air. He crashed into the statue's hands so hard the stone cracked beneath him. Pain exploded through his back.
Ash tried to get up, but his arms wouldn't work right.
Slow footsteps came closer. Kryvar walked toward him. No hurry. No rush. Like Ash was already dead. Ash tried to crawl back. His arms shook. His legs wouldn't obey.
No. NO NO NO NO NO—
Kryvar stood over him. Tears—thick, acid-yellow—dripped from those blank white eyes. They burned holes in the stone where they landed.
Ash's breath hitched. A sob clawed up his throat.
"P-please," he whispered. Voice breaking. "Please... just... stay away..."
Begging. He was begging.
One long, bone-white hand reached for him.
Ash screamed as Kryvar's cold fingers touched his face.
At first, nothing happened. Then Ash felt it - something moving under his skin. Like worms crawling through his flesh. His stomach turned.
He looked down at his broken arm. The skin was stitching itself back together, but wrong. Black threads pushed out from the wound, pulling the edges together like a badly sewn doll. The pain wasn't sharp anymore. It was deep. Slow. Terrible.
Ash opened his mouth to scream, but only a choked voice came out.
Then his bones started to crack.
First it was just a small pop in his wrist. Then his whole arm shuddered as the bones inside began to shift. Ash screamed as he felt them breaking and reforming, getting longer, thinner. His fingers twitched wildly as the joints popped one by one.
"No... no please, don't..." Ash whimpered. Tears ran down his face.
Kryvar just watched with those blank white eyes.
Ash's back arched as a new wave of pain hit him. His ribs were changing now, his spine stretching. He could feel every single bone in his body moving under his skin. It felt like someone had poured hot lead into his veins.
Red lightning burst from his chest without warning. For a second Ash hoped it would hit Kryvar. But the lightning twisted in midair and struck Ash instead.
The pain was unbelievable.
Ash's whole body jerked as the electricity burned through him. His muscles locked up, his teeth clenched so hard he thought they might shatter. The lightning kept coming, hitting him again and again while Kryvar watched.
The veins in his arms bulged, turning black under his skin. They pushed outward, threatening to break through. Ash could feel his body being torn apart and put back together all at once.
Kryvar leaned closer. Those long fingers brushed against Ash's bandaged eye. The touch burned like ice.
"My dear death," the thing whispered.
Ash's body kept changing. His shoulders popped as they grew wider. His spine cracked as it lengthened. The pain was everywhere now - in his teeth, in his hair, in the very air he tried to breathe.
He wanted to die. He wanted it to stop. But it didn't stop.
Ash's fingernails darkened, growing harder, sharper. His skin paled, taking on the same sickly white tone as Kryvar's. The changes moved up his neck, toward his face. Ash could feel his jaw shifting, his teeth sharpening. His bandaged eye burned as something moved underneath.
Then - darkness.
Ash's mind finally gave out, plunging him into black nothingness.
The statue stood silent in the empty space, its broken hands cradling Ash's changed body. The only sound was the slow drip of black liquid from where Kryvar's yellow tears had burned holes in the stone.
Far away, the stars blinked out one by one.