Quote from Sphynxyy >>

At the same moment back in camp where Ghoul has remained perched near Alaris, the cormorant suddenly explodes into raucous squawking. The bird begins pecking and prodding at the paladin and Astrid in turn, attempting to drag them to where Shiva and Caio had slipped off earlier.

     Astrid looks up from her tinkering on her timepiece to find the large bird hopping and pecking about the campsite. The dwarf rises and begins to approach the cormorant. "Alaris, what's wr-..." Her question is cut short as the hears something through the trees - hissing followed by the shouts of Caio. She quickly stuffs her tools in her satchel and begins to head towards the noises.

    "We should hurry!" she says looking back to the paladin. "Something is after Caio!"

A flash of movement catches Alaris' eye just before Astrid captures their attention. Without a word, the bogatyr grabs their glaive and hurries after the worried dwarf. Worry and strain are evident on their features as their strides devour the distance.

Caio breathes out a sigh of relief and relaxes his grip as Shiva seems to gain control of her new form. Her apparent pain and angered hisses earn no sympathy from the elf, only more of his scolding glare. “Perhaps the knight and the priest can cleanse you of this affliction. If you attempt to strike them then I’ll take your other arm.” 

At this fresh threat, Shiva narrows her many eyes at Caio but says nothing. But with a series of thin protective films through which she can see rather than eyelids, however, the effect is one of silent acquiescence in the place of aggravation. 

Alaris' silence is broken with a shocked, "What demon is this??" as they rush towards the serpentine creature Caio appears to have cornered.

"Oh you know, just our dear friend Shiva getting in above her head again. Or rather, above her heads." Caio jests as he walks forward. If Shiva was in control of the form now, perhaps his own abjuring magic could help her break free from the transformation. He scrawls a sigil through the air with his fingertips as he grows closer, then places one glowing hand on her flank...

Caio's palm makes contact with the smooth, dry surface of Shiva's scales and they're so cold that it almost feels as though he's burned his hand. Slowly and yet also in the blink of an eye, his elven mind intrudes upon the turmoil within and then something monstrous in Shiva's mindscape roars and snarls and snaps at him. The magical backlash erupts in a blue pulse of energy that sends Caio flying away from Shiva and into a tree with a dull thump.

At the same time, Shiva's snake skin begins to peel down around her as though she's shedding it and the Tiefling collapses on the ground as she emerges from within. Her arm appears to still be physically attached, but she cannot feel or move it.

Before Shiva can reach out to Caio, her serpentine body seizes and begins to rapidly desiccate. Her vision goes dark as the body falls apart, but whatever Caio had done was giving her a kind of foothold onto herself. Her sense of touch lacks distinction for a time, as if she were only spirit, before she becomes aware of her normal form again. She pushes and struggles in the dark, soon tearing an opening out of the innards of the large demonic body. Her breathing is wet and haggard, and there’s a weight on her right side that unnerves her. Shifting to examine herself, she realizes that there is no obstruction or injury; the weight she feels is her right arm, entirely numb and unresponsive. “...Help…”

Alaris stops in their tracks, skidding a little on the soft surface. Act now, figure it all out later. "Astrid, help Shiva!" they call out as they turn and hurry towards Caio.

     "Uh... Sure..." Astrid replies at Alaris's request. The dwarf's head whips back and forth still trying to understand the scene.

     "Shiva... right!" she says in a huff. Her short legs carry her as fast as able to the tiefling lying on the ground. Nearing Shiva, she slows her pace, keeping a watchful eye on the empty husk their friend spilled from. "What happened, dear?!" The cleric kneels and begins to assess the condition of her patient - her focus is on the arm she clutches with the opposite hand. 

      The empty serpentine skin rattles lightly in the breeze that blows through the glade. Astrid's head snaps to the source of the noise that looms over them menacingly with its many heads flowing in the wind. "Wh-... What is that?!

Shiva sluggishly raises her head to meet Astrid's eyes, a tired smile spreading across her face as she watches her friend's horror at the corpse to their side. "That was me. I lost control again." She takes a rattling breath that shakes her shoulders before continuing. "I can't feel my right arm. I can't even move it."

Caio groans as Alaris helps him to his feet, one hand rubbing his back as it turns purple and blue beneath his armor. "That was foolish of me, I should have left the exorcisms to one of you." He glances over to Shiva crumpled on the ground, then turns back to the paladin and speaks lowly so just they can hear. "There must be a means of preventing this. If the priors had been nearby she would have eviscerated them."

     "Lost control..? Mmm-hm. This is starting to feel like a regular thing," Astrid admonishes, not taking her eyes of the empty shell of the demon snake.

     As Shiva shudders under her touch, the cleric lets out an exhausted breath and turns her attention back tiefling. "Well, let's see what we can do about that arm." Keeping a hand on the injured arm, the other goes to her holy symbol hanging around her neck. "Brightmantle, may your powers flow through me and give aid to Shiva... And maybe give her an extra dose of some of your wisdom." She gives a playful wink to the tiefling with the last remark, as her hand glows with the healing powers she's used many times before. However, it quickly winks out and the smile on Astrid's face wanes. "Uh... umm." She tries again with the same results. 

     "So, uh. Something's wrong here," she says with a nervous laugh. The dwarf rises and paces about the area. Her eyes glance to the husk and severed arm - both now beginning to crumble, and Shiva's injured arm. "There was nothing for my magic to heal... Like the spirit is gone from that part of your body."

"Something is trying to come through from the demonic realm, using her as a portal. I'm getting frightened, Caio. Back in Piotrgrad, I thought this was a manifestation of her magic. Now I don't know what to think, except that she is in danger."

Shiva chuckles as Astrid jokes about wisdom, causing her to fall into a coughing fit as pain lances through her chest. When the magic fails, her pulse quickens with panic. "Gone? Gone where? How can that be when I'm still alive? Her voice falls to a pleading whisper. "Please...I can't lose my arm, Astrid."

     "I think maybe whatever was inside you took it." Astrid takes Shiva's hand in hers seeing the tiefling's unease. "There, there, hun. We'll figure something out." She meets Shiva's eyes and for a moment regrets the way she reprimanded her, seeing that her loss has been it's own form of punishment.  "We're not going to let that happen," she whispers back with a warm smile, patting her hand.

"Thank you, Astrid." Shiva smiles back at Astrid and her reassuring words, calming herself enough to start setting her mind to a solution. She looks to her arm, then towards the disintegrating snake body. 

"It's all me, so I should be able to command it to give me my arm back, right?" "Yes, I guess? I'm way out of my depth here, babe. Whatever you do, be careful."    

Working herself into an upright position, she now felt the full extent of whatever was happening to her. She could not tell if she was freezing or burning, but a disorienting ache pulsed across her body with each breath she took and she could not stop herself from shivering. Her numb arm lolled back and forth as she shifted and, with considerable effort, she came to rest on her knees. "I have an idea, hun. But it may mean tempting the demon again. Could you tell the others that you all need to bind and blind me if I start losing control?" She gives one more weak smile to the dwarf before looking out into the distance.

Closing her eyes, she delved down into herself to once again search for that ferocious terror that dwelled within her. Upon locating it, she stood at what felt to be just outside of its reach. "Give. Me. My. Arm!! You are a part of me and I. AM. IN. CONTROL. YOU WILL BEND TO MY WILL AND GIVE ME YOUR STRENGTH WHEN I CALL UPON IT. NOW GIVE ME MY ARM!!!"

Shiva concentrates, trying to call the transformation into her arm and take what was lost back from... herself? Almost immediately, she once again feels the other presence welling up everywhere inside her. However, this time the tiefling is ready and clamps down on the change with all her will. The rising pressure passes, but her arm remains stubbornly still and numb.

"Caio, would you please send Ghoul to check on the camp? This attack on Shiva... this incursion could be a feint to pull us away from protecting the relic." Alaris paces, frustrated. "This is beyond my depth. Maybe the priors will have some experience, some wisdom to help us. Or... perhaps the power of the relic - if it has any, if it isn't just a valuable symbol - could restore your arm, Shiva."

Shiva sighs deeply as the attempt at communion fails and she arduously brings herself to her feet to face Alaris. "It's worth a try. The only thing I can think of would be to try to take my arm back again tomorrow when I don't feel like I just got thrown through the hells." Her tone is sullen, the weight of her arm an inescapable reminder of the situation's gravity. "I need help. If I keep trying to do this on my own...I'll end up killing one of you."