Under normal circumstances, Ash would have followed Rohaan's advice and gotten rid of the Dark Blade without a second thought. However, if she had to be honest with herself, she was feeling a certain allure towards the blade. It was odd. These thoughts didn't truly feel like her own. She rubbed her temples, in an attempt to focus. She pulled out the Dark Blade and made a motion to throw it away... or at least she tried to. She had a sinking feeling that she was no longer the one truly in control, and she could no easily discard the cursed blade than she could willingly cut off her own arm. Under different circumstances, she might have been concerned, startled, or fearful of this very fact, but a feeling was filling her body that was putting her at ease. She was no longer concerned, and placed the blade back into its hilt at her belt. Rohaan just didn't understand. The blade would allow her to accomplish great things! How could he not see that? Fortunately, it didn't matter at the moment. The blade was hers and not his, and she'd make sure it stay that way. She firmly gripped the hilt of the Dark Blade. If he ever go in her way, she knew exactly what she would have to do. Her head was throbbing and she was nearly put off balance as her senses finally returned to her. Her previous thoughts felt nothing more to her than a nearly forgotten dream. And then, all of a sudden, she remembered the second reason why she wanted to come here, aside from killing Thoburas. Lord Cassander!

If he was dead, then he'd be in this room with the rest of the bodies. With the threat on her own life subsided, it was rather macabre and grim to witness the pile of bodies that had been cast haphazardly into the corner without any concern. Most of the bodies were husks and malformed, especially in comparison to how most looked when they were alive. And the smell... she'd have to utilize a significant amount of her remaining willpower to stop herself from retching. She never thought that she'd ever find herself digging through a pile of corpses, but here she was, and this was the work that she had to complete in this moment in time. Make no mistake, it was ghastly work. Pulling one body off of one another wasn't doing much to help Ash's own psyche in the slightest. Body after body - husbands, wifes, daughters, and sons. Not even the children were spared in Thoburas's ritualistic massacre. She went over each body to the point where she could be certain whether or not she recognized the body. Most of them she had never seen in her entire life, save for a few servants. Her heart went out to all these people, especially when considering their cruel fates, but she had to wipe away any tears and get back into it. By the time that she had reached the last body, she was covered in sweat and entirely exhausted. She turned over the final body.

It wasn't Lord Cassander. In fact, it was just another person she had never seen before. Did this mean that her adopted father was still alive? Or was he just dead elsewhere? There were so many secrets that still remained a complete mystery to her. She gave out a yell of frustration as she returned to her feet, finally realizing that ever inch of her body ached. They had released a portion of a calamitous dark god on the entire world and her hair was a mess. She worked her way over to Rohaan to complain about it all when she noticed that the ring from her neck was glowing. It was the same ring that she had fashioned into a necklace after concluding their chat with the Emperor. It was odd timing with everything considered, but she was far too tired to bother questioning it. She removed the leather strap from the ring and placed it on her finger. As the image of the Emperor began to materialize before her, Ash offered her hand to Rohaan.

"Ready?" Ash offered, not sounding at all thrilled about the recent series of events. Aside from killing Thoburas, of course, but she had a sinking suspicion that things weren't about to look up from here.