There's no putting it off any longer: Yodhgorphat Scourge needs to meet the public. With Fon assisting her, she makes her way down the steps with the help of her long cane, but tries to look confident. She's wearing both her formal bandages and the High Priestess ceremonial robe, at Sil's insistence - she claimed it would be more inspiring, since Scourge was the de-facto High Priestess after all.
"I'm the sickest one here and I'm uncomfortable being here with them. Great," Nicora thinks. Still, she is good at hiding her nervousness ... plus it helps that few would get close enough to see it anyway. "Who would have thought terrifying would also be considered inspiring?" Even though she doesn't particularly want to,she heads for the tent for the sicker people first.
The mask of the Yodhrinala make them look like strange birds. The one attending the green tent bows, saying, "You honor us with your presence, High Priestess Scourge of Affliction. Do you wish to see the patients? I can arrange for a safety mask if you want."
"Having one at hand may be reasonable precaution, bring one and I will decide," Yodhgorphat Scourge acquiesces. "Meet me inside," she adds, before going right in! She cannot appear to be afraid of disease, after all.
Inside, the tent is dim - not that it matters much to Nicora, given that she couldn't see very far even in good light. But she can tell how many people are here.. and the state of their health, from their auras. Some show greenish tinges, other darker colors. It's very warm inside.. and quiet, save for labored breathing.
Nicora's head tilts. "Hmph," she murmurs to herself. She's used to warm and humid, at least. Since she has been tasked with trying to touch her other-body powers, she closes her mostly useless eyes and tries to find Snowcora's abilities ... and to draw the illnesses from those present.
It's a glimmer, an itch in her left hand. But unlike the Shrine Maiden, she doesn't seem able to simply draw the illness from multiple people at once. She may have to do it one at a time, with direct contact.
"Oh how lovely for me," Scourge thinks. And so .. she shuffles slowly towards what she perceives as the first person to ... touch them.
The man's flesh feels a bit cool. He rattles as he breathes as well, with some sort of lung infection. The longer she touches him, though, the more Nicora feels something happening: mainly that her breathing is becoming rougher, while the patient's evens out. It makes her head spin, as the illness hits her and seems to 'burn' through its various stages. It takes minutes, but still leaves her wobbly once it passes.
Scourge ends up leaning on the man and his cot for several minutes afterward, collecting herself. Nothing like getting to suffer through every stage of a disease in a hurry! She pats the man's cheek lightly before shuffling her way to the next patient. She's going to need a nap after this.
In the meantime, the Yodhrinala has entered with the extra mask. She moves to check on the first patient while Nicora tends to the next. This one is less obviously ill, save for constant shivering. The simple label on his cot talks of some sort of blood disease - and the man's face is caked with dried blood from his mouth and nose.
Nicora places her hand on this man. Hopefully she can draw it out this way. The alternative, biting, is not that appealing right now...
Soon she's aching all over.. and burning with a fever. It brings her to her knees, and she can feel herself bleeding from her nose and eyes. There are intense flashes and hot and cold and muscle seizures before it finally passes.
When the seizures pass, Nicora is on her hands and knees. While this is good for the people and belief, this is really bad for her. It's quite along time she remains on the floor before even trying to rise. It's only then she tries to wipe her face off with some of her own bandages.
"Do you need any assistance?" the Yodhrinala asks with concern. The first patient is gone.. probably moved to a recovery tent. The nurse seems uncertain of how to approach Nicora.
"As much as I may wish you could help me, you cannot. The most you could do is put the mask upon me," Nicora admits as she holds still for such to be done. "Well, and keep watch in case I collapse."
"Do you need the mask?" the nurse asks, holding up the conical contraption, complete with goggles. "You've already exposed yourself.."
"No, I probably do not," Nicora admits, "I wanted you to feel useful."
"I will move this man to the recovery tent then," the Yodhrinala says, easily lifting up the frail Eeee that had been suffering from the blood infection.
With some reluctance, Nicora shuffles her way along in her blurry darkness to the next patient.
Like the previous man, this one seems to have an odd infection. He's actually strapped down, and there are flecks of foam around his mouth. A bite-preventer is tied in as well, and the man is conscious.. possibly. His eyes are bloodshot and agonized.
"An insanity disease?" Nicora thinks. She also finds it bothersome that a bite gag is turning her on! Well, a bit moreso than usual. Is this a disease she knows of from Sylvania, the mad bite from crazed animals? Touching this might be risky, but what choice does she really have. Her hands is brought down to touch his face and try to draw this away.
There isn't any purple in his aura, so it's not a form of madness, as Gorphat would classify it. The pain from it though.. that seems in line with rabies. It makes her head want to explode! There are seizures and worse this time, and Nicora can't really remember it well but her jaw aches from clenching. The patient's eyes are closed though, and he's still and breathing normally, so it probably worked.
And Nicora is lying on the floor. "Ow," she thinks as she lies there, recovering once more. While there she also makes sure she didn't break any of her own teeth.
They seem intact, but it could have been a close thing. Vampires don't get much use out of their molars after all. The nurse is back, and this time she does help Nicora sit up.
"Thank you," Nicora burbles. It is a few more minutes just sitting there and recovering. Sooner than she would probably like, she is getting back to her feet using the shoulder of the Yodhrinala. "What is your name?" she asks.
"Yodhrinala Sake," the nurse answers. "My sisters Hope and Charity are also here. Our mother was a Yodhrinala."
"Was? I am sorry for your loss," Scourge says as she steadies herself. On she shuffles to the next. They seem to be getting worse each time.
"It was much harder to be of our order back then," Sake notes. "She was caught and executed by the Yodhsunala. I think she would be happy at how things have changed though."
The next patient is barely moving.. she seems stiff as a board. "We aren't certain about this one," Sake notes. "We think it from some sort of fungus, but we brought her here to be safe." The woman's barely breathing, and her aura is dim.
Nicora pauses at the statement about being executed by the Yodhsunala. "I am sorry for that, too. She should not have been executed," she says. Her attention though has to return to the woman before her. "She is dying," Nicora says, "I do not know if Mother Gorphat, or I, can help." Still, she flexes her hand and places it on her to try.
The reaction is.. different. She can feel it, the disease.. but it makes her hungry. A very particularly kind of hungry too: whatever this is, Scourge wants to eat it.
"Has this woman been into the forbidden zone?" Nicora asks the attending Yodh.
"I don't know.. she was like this when she was brought to us," Sake says. "We don't even know her name or where she is from."
Nicora isn't sure how she will cure this one without shifting. Can she access Scourge's abilities from this form? "I may have to ask you to leave," Yodhgorphat Scourge says ... then tries to find Scourge's feeling to draw this disease out without shifting.
It isn't easy. Mainly because Scourge feeds through his tongue.. and Nicora doesn't have that sort of tongue. But she can 'suss' things a bit, without the floppy head-tendrils of the dragon, so maybe there is a way.
"Do you recognize the disease?" Sake asks. "We've been calling it Gorgon Syndrome, since it as if she is turning into stone."
Nicora places both her hands onto the woman and wiggles her fingers, trying to simulate the multi-tentacled tongue.
The woman's flesh feels hard too, with very little give to it. And the sensation.. shifts. Her left hand feels one thing, her right another. Mainly, the fingers on her right hand feel like they're passing deeper into the flesh.
But isn't Scourge's tongue also, for the most part - shadow flesh?
"I do not recognize this disease," Nicora claims. Eyes close and she focuses on using her right hand. To some how reach in and pull out the creature infecting her. She's pretty sure this creature is infected by another trying to take her over.
It.. seems like kenning. The shadow flows into the woman in much the same way. The trick is in isolating and feeding on just the alien presence. It does feel like something from the Mists - but not a shoggoth. Not something sapient, but more like an infection. It takes time to really find it, but Nicora finds a spore inside the woman's otherwise empty womb.
"This woman was likely raped by some monster in the forbidden zone," Nicora says, sounding distracted. She is carrying its ... child of a sort. I will deal with it." The creepiness of the situation is not lost on her; she faces this situation more often than she wants. She tries to encircle the spore with the sunken shadow and ... eat it.
It doesn't seem want to work at first, until the shadow takes on more Scourge-ness. Then the source of infection is gone. There's no other damage to the woman though.. certainly nothing to indicate she was struggling or fighting.
"Or maybe she let it sleep with her?" Nicora has to wonder. She slowly draws the shadow out, checking her for any residue infection.
The infection may have been chemical in nature, because once the spore is gone, the woman seems to be softening again. "What did you do?" Sake asks Nicora. "It looked like your hand.. became liquid.."
"I removed the thing inside her. How is my secret; I cannot explain it to you," Nicora says.
Sake puts her hand to the woman's head. "I think she's going to wake up.." she says. The patient is showing signs of movement.
"Good," Nicora says as she rises to her feet. "Cavorting with creatures in the forbidden zone is dangerous," she tells the woman who is starting to stir.
"M-.." the woman struggles to say. "Mas.. Massul.. Where is Massul?"
"Who is Massul?" Nicora asks.
The woman still seems to be struggling to fully wake up. Her eyes flutter but don't stay open. "Massul.. husband.. He came back, after so long.. he came back.."
"Came back? From where?" Nicora asks, blind eyes narrowing.
"Back. Guardians..." the woman babbles. "He came back to me.."
"Back from hell," she sighs.
"Yodhrinala Sake, this Massul needs to be found. He is infected. He may already be dead and is just a walking corpse," Yodhgorphat Scourge says to the attending nurse.
"That.. the Yodhsunala will be informed," Sake says, and asks the woman, "Where do you live?"
"Selas.. Selas Tower," the woman mutters. That is in the 'rebel zone', near Abbas and the Valley of Mists.
"I will have to send another as well. This cannot spread. I am sorry, your husband may already be lost. IF he can be saved he will, but I cannot promise," Yodhgorphat Scourge says. To Sake she now asks, "Are there others I need to attend to here?"
"None that were as bad as these," Sake asks, as she tries to get the woman to sit up. "She's dehydrated. I'll see to her."
Yodhgorphat Scourge sighs. "I will see to them anyway, it is my duty. An hour may make no difference," she admits.
"Are you certain you can continue?" Sake asks. "You are.. your bandages are wet."
"I am always wet," Nicora claims as she checks for how and where she is wet.
Her bandages are a bit sticky, but not just from the usual ooze.. there's blood in there too, likely from processing the disease from the second man.
"Eh, it is nothing of concern," Yodhgorphat Scourge notes as she shuffles away to try and tend to as many others as she can.
The others, at least are not in so dire condition. One has a bad cough and the other.. well, bowel issues. The latter is a chronic condition, rather than an illness. While Nicora can sooth him a bit, there's no way to completely cure him.
Yodhgorphat Scourge tends to what she can with the remaining people. Her mind, though, is on this mysterious man and his return. Or is it un-return. Whatever he did when he slept with her ... it was not normal Eeee. She gives her 'blessing' so much as it is, then shuffles her way back towards the temple. It appears Scourge will be needed this day.
Fon is waiting, some nervousness showing in his aura. "I saw them remove several people," he notes. "Are they cured?"
"Yes, they are cured. but, one of them pointed to a bigger concern," Micora remarks darkly. "You should return home. There are darker things I must now deal with."
"Let me help you to the Temple," Fon notes. "Do you need to be cleaned as well?"
"No need. I will likely be worse before the night is over," Nicora states.
"What.. what else should we do?" Fon asks. "We're to serve you.."
"Just go home. Rest," Nicora answers, "This is something you cannot help me with."
Fon still seems uncertain, but goes ahead of Nicora to fetch his wife and children from the Temple.
"Do not worry. I will see you in a few days," Nicora calls after the man. She shakes her head. It really is something they cannot help her with.
By the time Nicora makes into the Temple proper, it's empty again, save for whatever is growing on the walls that has escaped Sil's cleaning brushes.
Nicora rubs her forehead. It seems she must go monster hunting again. And that means she must disrobe. So, as she slowly makes her way to her chambers, she is removing her robe, then her bandages.
The blockage in her ears make the place seem even more empty. But aside from the stickiness there's no issue disrobing.
Nicora tosses the sticky clothing into the corner to be tended to later. Then it is the matter of going down on all fours to shift into ... well, mostly an animal. No hands or teeth, just tongue and tail, and an odd way of speaking. How she feels? Grim. She has to go hunt, and probably kill, someone.
Once things finish shifting around.. the world is bright. Scourge's senses are so much stronger than what Nicora has been limping along with. It can tell how many people are gathered down below the Temple (quite a bit, maybe a hundred.. and most of them are healthy) and sense even more beyond, if with less accuracy. Finding the telltale 'signature' of something from the Mists should be easy.
Scourge still isn't comfortable walking about on all fours, or, well, slithering about, but it does so. Moving in shadows and quietly until it can go airborne to search and 'sniff' out the thing that infected the woman. "Is it just a monster in a skin, or an infected man who can be cured?" it wonders.
Selas Tower is someone upscale, compared to its neighbors. While not being as large or notorious as Abbas Tower, it still falls into the darker area of Babelite activity. It isn't surprising that Guardians of the Tower had been recruited from it. It's also fairly active, with people moving around everywhere. But Scourge doesn't have to get that close for its senses to work. Nobody there seems to carry the taint of the Forbidden Zone in their auras.. but then there's no guarantee the woman met with her husband in the Tower. It could have been in the countryside.
Scourge's wings fold in as it dives, then glides low to the ground and out of sight. Past the tower it goes, more towards the edge of the forbidden zone. If this creature is no longer fully a man, it may have to remain close, in the ruins there.
The search is fruitful. In one of the ruins of an old watchtower, there's a flicker of an aura, mostly gone over to alien now.
"There," Scourge thinks. Now it lands with a soft thump. Slither-crawling along its belly, it makes it way towards the ruined watchtower, sniffing. Well, sniffing in the alien sense of it since Scourge has no actual nose. If it were asked to explain it, it would be hard-pressed to do so.
Up close, it's easy to find Massul. The Eeee is hunched in a corner, radiating enough dark aura to make Scourge's mouth water if it was capable of such. There's still some Eeee in the aura. He clearly has a much more advanced version of the condition than his wife.
"Can I save this one?" Scourge has to wonder. It tries to slither closer and closer ... until the Eeee is within range to grab with its tail ... then eat with its tongue.
The man is certainly stiff, and there are patches of something like bark on furless spots on his head. So it isn't being turned into stone exactly.. more like a tree. A fungal tree, like those in the Mists.
At first taste, it's easy to tell there are several spores in the man. Delicious spores! At this advanced stage though, it isn't clear if there's enough of him left to survive having the foreign growth removed.
Scourge's tail snaps out to grab the Eeee anyway! Once secured, its disturbed tongue extends like some demented swamp frog and splits apart, swapping around the man from the head down! It tries to consume the fungus there and then, seeking out the spores. If the man survives, that is great ... but it cannot be allowed to spread outside of the forbidden zone.
There's a certain amount of converted flesh to get through, but it breaks down or dissolves beneath the tongue's onslaught - the Mist-life isn't entirely corporeal to begin with, just like the shadow flesh that feeds on it. One by one the spores are sucked out, and Massul begins to shake and shiver.
Part of Scourge feels bad for the man, but it really has no choice. These spores cannot spread out here, there will just kill; like the woman earlier. "I am sorry," it thinks while it slowly tears out the spores from the poor Eeee.
"Sorry," the man gurgles. "Thought I could.. get back in time.."
"What happened?" Scourge tries to ask around its own tongue.
"Had to see her again," the man says, never opening his eyes. "They said.. I couldn't leave. Nobody can leave. I didn't believe."
"She is fine, safe," Scourge says around its tongue. "How many remain within? Where are they?"
"Hundreds.. at the fortress.." Massul says, his voice beginning to slur. "The Damned. Not the Guardians anymore. We can't leave Hell.." He begins to grow cold.
"If they haven't changed yet, perhaps they can be redeemed," Scourge claims. "Your escape may have saved them."
"We deserve this," the soldier claims. "We kept following, even when we knew it was madness. When the dead man became the General's gopher.."
"The singer, yes. He will be dealt with," Scourge states. "As will the General. And you may deserve some sort of punishment, but few deserve this."
"It's alright," the man says. "I got to see her. I'm dying a man, not a monster. I won't be killing anyone. What are you?"
"A monster. I will likely die with the General. I exist to stop them," Scourge claims.
"I heard there was an angel in Babel," Massul says quietly. "An angel. Is it true?"
"Yes," Scourge says hoping it gives the man comfort.
"I wish I could have..." Massul never finishes the statement, and it's clear he isn't going to be making any new ones from that point.
"She wasn't worth seeing. I should know," Scourge says as it draws its tongue away from the corpse. "I'm not very good at saying people," it mutters to itself. It looks around the darkened ruins ... then goes about the only task left; it works on digging a grave with its paws.
There's movement outside the ruin, and the beginning of an aura.. as if something is just now appearing there.
Scourge halts and listens to the aura, trying to discern what is coming.
It's different and familiar - demonic.
"Who is there?" Scourge calls out.
There's a whuff sort of sound. Then a massive head pokes through the ruined doorway, looking like a bad mix of Eeee and Rughrat. "Dig?" Rhugaro asks gruffly.
"You," Scourge remarks dryly. "I do not have time for you. I have a grave to dig," it says.
"I dig," Rhugaro says. "Good digger. Dig lots of graves."
Scourge's brow ridge rolls. "Go ahead, then. But I have to ask what you want in return," the genderless monster asks.
"Life," the demon says, and retreats to begin digging outside the ruins.
"Life? What does it mean by that?" Scourge has to wonder. Right now, though, it has things to do; it collects what remains of the Eeee to carry outside.
Rhugaro's oversized hands and muscled arms have already made a lot of progress on the grave. Since he lives in the Yodhinala graveyard, maybe this is one of his actual duties? "Dead is not Yodh?" he asks when Scourge brings the body.
"No. Just a foolish man who made a mistake that cost him his flesh. He knew coming back would kill him, but he had to see his wife one last time. He died for love," Scourge explains.
"Yes, good way to die," Rhugaro says, squaring the grave. "I bury for that."
"A better way to die than most," Scourge has to agree. After all, it did return to Babel out of love even knowing it would likely die here.
The demon finishes the grave, and stands aside, watching Scourge expectantly.
Scourge lifts the body with its tail and carries it over to the grave. With an unusual amount of care the strange dragon lays the body to rest at the bottom of the grave. "May you find peace in death that you could not find in life," it says as it steps away from the grave.
"No Paradise blessing?" Rhugaro asks as he begins to fill the grave back in.
"I do not know the blessing," Scourge admits, "If you do, please give it."
"Uh," the demon shuffles. "Die for love, love find you in Paradise. Inala bless you." He then crudely draws the Flower in the loose dirt of the grave.
"And may your wife find you when she also passes from this world," Scourge adds softly. "And you two can know happiness that this world denied you."
"Good," Rhugaro says, and stares at Scourge.
"What?" Scourge has to ask Rhugaro.
"Life," the demon repeats. "Child. For me."
"I have no gender," Scourge points out.
Rhugaro growls. "Not you. Yodh. Others say Yodh."
"You want the Yodhgorphat then. I thought you could not find release in anything less than something tied to Inala. You would actually mount Inala's rival' daughter?" Scourge asks.
"Shrine Maiden won't give me child," Rhugaro says, sounding a bit conflicted. "Others get children. I deserve too."
"You might be too big for her," Scourge points out. "I can try to summon her."
"Yes, I want child," Rhugaro claims. "Bring... Yodhgorphat?"
"Fine, wait here," Scourge says as it ambles off back into the tower. "I really, really, don't want to do this. It also means as soon as I shift back I'm going to be swollen with fungus child. Great," it thinks dejectedly as it flops down onto the ground, closes its eyes, and tries to let its body revert.
There's still some blood and goo that never got washed off before the last transformation, and it's also cold in the ruins. And true to expectation, there's the telltale abdominal discomfort.
Nicora feels her gut and actually cries. She doesn't want to do this. The mood is especially not right. But, she doesn't exactly have the choice. So ... blind and in pain, while holding her gut, she makes her way back out of the ruins to find the demon.
"You are.. the mother?" Rhugaro asks.
"Unfortunately. Can you not tell?" Nicora asks, then points at her distended gut.
"Rrrrrr," the demon says. "You.. look cold."
"Yes," Nicora says. "But it is unimportant. I ... how do you wish me to be?"
"Warm," the demon says, and scoops up Nicora to hug her against his wooly chest.
Nicora squeaks! She was not expecting this. Nor was her gut because a bit after the squeak, another part of her makes a sloppily rude noise.
"You not pretty," Rhugaro laments. And then starts cleaning Nicora with his wide tongue. At least it's warm, and not too wet.
"I am aware I am hideous," Nicora remarks as she pushes away at his slobbery tongue. "Mother Gorphat wants me to be the most hideous Eeee alive."
"I ugly and stupid," Rhugaro notes, trying to be.. helpful? "You are Gorphat's favorite? Her precious?"
"Yes," Nicora admits.
"Beautiful monster then," the sheep-demon claims, and very gently tries to enter Nicora while he holds her in his lap.
It isn't enough that Nicora has been stretched to the point she is; Rhugaro is still quite large and she doesn't quite fit him. So, entering her hurts anyway. There's enough slime to make it possible, but she feels stretched worse than ever. She doesn't scream, though she wants to. Instead her jaws clamp and all she can manage it letting out hissing bursts through clenched teeth.
As her belly squirms, the demon begins to rock back and forth. His ardor is slow to build, given how tight things are. He seems to be testing just how much motion he can get away with.
Then.. something changes. Nicora isn't too tight. Rhugaro may be triggering Inala's latest blessing - the one she bestowed upon Nikky. Of course, that could have a painful aftermath, given how Gorphat's own blessings work to counter those of Inala.
The Yodhgorphat is well lubricated, so the demon can move quite freely, even if she is tight to him. "You're huge," she mutters to the demon, "Rhians won't be able to satisfy me after this." She's also ... not even sure if she'll get any pleasure from this at all; it is Inala's demon after all and Gorphat really dislikes it when her daughter does anything with Inala. And the sudden change makes her blink.
"Like my Maiden," the demon growls.. and the gentleness gives way to passion. Nicora goes from being in a warm lap to being on her hands and knees, as Rhugaro begins to show is true colors again. And thanks to the blessing.. it feels good. Not enough to overcome the general awfulness of the rapid pregnancy.. and the slapping will probably leave her butt bruised.. but still better than expected.
"This is degrading," Nicora thinks with her face practically in the dirt and her butt high and sore. But the fact she's feeling some pleasure at all is a bit of a shock. so is the actual cries out of pleasure from it even as her gut cramps, swells, and skin stretches.
The timing is off. Nicora can feel the 'child' trying to be born.. but being pushed back by Rhugaro. This causes her to swell more as the creature matures further inside of her.
"Ow, ow, ow," Nicora thinks in agony as her gut distends further than it ever has before! The demon needs to find release before she explodes! In a panic, she does the only thing she can think of; she tries to find Snowcora's aura and use it on Rhugaro!
Desperation (and sex) help Nicora find what she needs. The demon shudders in surprise as he's almost forced to finish - something clearly new for him. This momentarily stills the struggles of the worm-baby, but just for a moment. There's still the issue of getting Rhugaro to get out of the way.
Nicora tries to crawl forward and unimpale herself from the huge demon!
The big demon is still a bit stunned, but once Nicora moves he gets the idea, pulling out with.. a mess.
Nicora squeaks! This leaves her on all fours, sort of squatting. She isn't even sure she can get this thing out of her now ... and the labor cramps are starting! They really, really, hurt, as usual. All she can do is cry out, dig claws into dirt, and push.
The birth canal hasn't completely collapsed back to its normal shape, but still the baby is.. either stubborn or stuck. Rhugaro hunkers over Nicora, and reaches around to push on her stomach.. while trying to reach inside with his other hand.
This leaves Nicora almost screaming and making a bizarre array of twisted faces. If her body recovers from this it will be a shock!
Rhugaro gets a grip, and pulls. The worm begins to move.. it seems to take forever for it to fully emerge. And once it is, Nicora feels mercifully empty, even if it comes with a bit of hollowness as well.
Nicora grunts, sounding almost like Rhugaro himself when the creature pops free from her body. The Eeee then falls over to the side, panting and holding her gut. It's with a shaky hand a bit later that she ... checks herself down lower for damage; or just how big the demon has left her.
The creature being cradled by Rhugaro is.. fluffy. It's covered in black wool, the ends of it foot-tentacles capped with hard hoof-like nails. It has big brown bar-slit eyes in a ring around it's head-mouth, between the roots of its other tentacles. It's also fatter than the others, nearly round.
Nicora can't help but giggle at what she sees came out. It's a ball.
Giggling hurts a bit. Nicora's thighs are covered in goo of course, and she looks and feels swollen and tender. But there's not obvious damage, despite the sharp look of the baby's hooves.
"There, you have your child," Nicora says as she sits up in a puddle of her own goo and winces. She rubs her bald head and sighs. At least she isn't having any severe cramps from Gorphat's curse.
Amelia says, "Well, there's soreness swelling. From the roughness. Her butt and the backs of her thighs are sore and bruised."
Gorphat probably enjoys the perversion of birth enough to spare Nicora the cramping. After all, isn't it twisting around Inala's favorite function into something more fitting of Gorphat?
There Nicora sits for a bit. "I should return to the Temple," she remarks to Rhugaro. "Do you feel your debt is paid?"
"Debt?" the demon asks, as he fusses and licks his squirmy child.
"For digging the grave. You stated you wanted Life," Nicora explains.
"Yes, life," Rhugaro says. "Not for digging grave. Just.. for me."
Nicora actually dares to reach over and pet Rhugaro. "I did enjoy the rutting some," she tells the demon.
"Yes, it was.. surprising," the demon admits. "Even ugly ones like us can enjoy, yes?"
Nicora laughs. "Yes. You are not ugly, by the way," she notes.
"Brute," Rhugaro says. "Others tease. Except Ephasto."
"I would willingly be your partner again," Nicora claims, even though she's rather sore right now.
"I miss my Maiden," Rhugaro says, and hugs the horrible baby closer, until it lets out a sickening stink and rude noise. "Again.. call on me when.. you need me. Tired. Must go.. go back with child. Thank you."
"If I see the maiden I will tell her," Nicora promises as she pushes herself up on shaky legs. Then she realizes she cannot fly blind and deaf. So ... to get home she has to change back into Scourge.
By the time the transformation is finished, Rhugaro is gone, along with all the discomfort of the encounter. Scourge doesn't have the anatomy to even feel sympathetic pain.
And for that Scourge is thankful. Its wings spread and it launches into the air so that it can fly home. "Not the worst encounter. Hosheb was far worse," it thinks as it flies home. A proxy horrib birth ... still gives nightmares.
Of course, there are still the other four of the Sabaoth Seven. Which one will be next?
None of then should be as bad, at least. Well, except for the one that explodes. That could go badly. Maybe she lucked out and there are no further eggs to worry about.
The rear of the temple is soon visible once more - a forgotten shrine on the back of the mountain, that connects to the main Temple if one knows the way and is careful.
Scourge dives for that forgotten shrine. It is easier and invokes less questions if it enters through that door.
Half an hour later, Scourge is back in Nicora's chambers, the blood-and-milk soaked bandages crusting over in the corner. Further on, outside, Scourge can sense Fon. Despite being told to leave, he's still nearby, watching the Temple.
And so, Scourge shifts back to Nicora so that she can collect the bandages and take them to Fon. At least she can have him clean them. And might yell at him for disobeying her.