Sparks - Final

[Elma]

Elma was tired, to say the least. She was forced to kill two people tonight, and that did not feel good at all. She headed north from Shadgard towards the university, but upon reaching it she shook her head. Hours have passed, but dawn was not close. She would sleep the next night and push through to Mistral Lake. Rumor had it some merchants were around town and she was curious to see what these peddlers had in store. She hoped they would have nice berries and frosting, hopefully more exotic than the emberberries the locals were used to.
Lifting her backpack by the straps over her shoulders she soothed her aching muscles a little before making her way to an outcropping in the field next to the road. She had some bland bread with her, bought from the bakery in Shadgard. After a few bites and some minutes sitting down, she rose again to trek her way home. The darkness did not help for her fatigue either, but the sounds coming from shadowy shrubs along the way were enough to keep her awake. Fairly soon she arrived at a crossroads and took another seat next to a post, searching for a waterskin she was sure she forgot in town. Muttering to herself she took a short nap before waking to the sounds of croaking frogs. The sun obviously had not risen yet, and she stifled a yawn. She wanted to sleep, but she also welcomed the constant tiredness. She did not want to occupy her mind with the two lads. In all her years she would never become accustomed to death. Life was so temporary, and killing made it only more so.
The evening chill started touching her cheeks and she pulled the hood of her cloak up, passing a man that looked at her suspiciously before grunting, tripping over a duck that was crossing the road and attacking him in startled fury. She gave a chuckle, just soft enough that the lout would not hear her. Elma made her way northwest, and a comfortable glow was visible in the distance. She was close now, just an hour or so before she was within the Mistral Lake borders.

Lin never considered herself pretty. She remembered Benon, a boy from her youth. He liked her, she never knew why though. Her skin itched, and whenever she scratched she'd notice a strange fungi drop to the floor. That made her skin itch more, and she became increasingly irritated. Glancing around at the merchant's caravans around her, she made her way to one before stumbling across a man who she faintly remembered. They met earlier this week. What was his name? Tellen? Tellor? Just Tell? The man was also growing those strange things from his skin, though his case was not that serious. He spun to look at her angrily, but upon seeing her turned to pointedly ignore her. The nerve of the man!
She left the cart and the fool behind and staggered to her own. She was tired, something was draining the energy out of her. Could it be this fungi? Of course not. That was ridiculous. Everybody knew that the things were as natural as breathing! She could not help but feel it was only a recent sensation though. A cracking noise came from her side and she realized that she'd camped close to the road in order to gain first customers when they started milling out of town. She liked being ahead. The night was shadowy but she saw a rather large figure move towards her, its cloak hood drawn up. The poor man was probably cold. He threw back his hood and Lin was surprised to see that it was not a man at all, but a woman!
The woman had brown eyes, motherly, almost. She definitely spoke in a grandmotherly town, however.
"Excuse me, dear," the woman said, "Would you perhaps-" the woman's eyes widened as she raised her eyes to Lin's face.
The woman had smooth skin, not the fungi that Lin herself had, or any of the other merchants. That was not natural. The woman was an abomination! Her heart started racing and she felt a deep anger at this creature. Was her presence a mockery to her or the other merchants? Her anger grew, and she did not know why.
The creature - the woman with smooth face - seemed to focus on something, looking inward, holding a finger over something nestled between her breasts. It seemed uncomfortable.
"Child," the thing said, "are you alright?"
Child? The creature called her child? She was no child of this smooth-skinned... /thing/! It was definitely mocking her. Anger welled up inside her faster than she could think. The very mushroom caps on her skin seemed to pulse with outrage.

A mental calling came for Elma in almost immediate response to her question.
:They are dangerous, be weary.
:What will happen?
:They are infected with a spore that makes people violent.
:Can they be saved?
:No.
She felt a chill.
"Child," she said, "are you alright?"
The woman stared at her, and barely a moment later she lashed out at Elma, shouting something. A warning, perhaps? Thinking quickly she prepared to channel and almost failed to grab onto her power. As fast as thought she sent out a pulse she hoped was fire, and with luck it was. It hit the woman in front of her but did not cause the damage it did to the lads that tried to kill her. The woman screamed and tore at the fungus on her skin, then proceeded to charge forward. She was very tired, she could not continue to channel this power for long. She threw up both her hands and from each sprang a bolt of flame that surged towards the charging woman. She had to cover her face from the heat as a sizzling sound flowed through the air and the woman collapsed in a motionless heap. The mushrooms on her skin seemed to deflate, then. Holding her head with one hand, Elma tried to regain focus.
A man burst from one of the wagons closeby, another merchant, by the looks of it. He also had this strange fungus growing on his skin. Her heart pulsed and she stretched her palm outward, pulling on a larger amount of her strength. A ball of fire the size of a human head burst forth and crashed into the man, sending him flying back into his wagon. She heard a loud snap and the man was still. Heartbeats later another merchant, she assumed, was charging from one of the farther wagons.
She worked again.
Four corpses lay on the ground within a matter of seconds, with a fifth charging towards her in a frenzy. She needed help! She had to draw attention. The sky was clear, so maybe calling lightning from it... She spun the elements quickly. She was weak and tired, and not to mention unskilled in all other elements than fire. A strong thread of fire laced with air should do, but she needed to connect it with the man charging towards her. He was grounded, so... she tapped the bottom of her combination with earth and the entire spell exploded. The man falling was electrocuted, yes, but she was too weak. She could not call a bolt from the sky. Elma sank to her knees, exhausted, another two of those things charging at her. There was a loud swipe and the gurgle of blood was heard nearby. Everything was still, frenzied cries silenced. She looked up to see a familiar shape. Slaidh.