Demon(#Wattys2017 Entry)

Chapter 60:Plagued

Guiltare lead the group on, and they paused only when they came to the village. The villagers were grim-faced, and quickly went to their huts when they passed. Vaussten scoffed."Hmph. Rude of them." He walked forward, noticing a boy sitting on his porch."Oy! What's with the panic?" He asked.

The boy looked over, head tilted."You havn't heard? Incarnate passed through. Did all sorts of damage 'round here, and there's talk of disease everywhere." He squinted slightly."...You guys aren't from around here, are you?"

A wizened old man walked out, glaring."Boy! Inside, now!" He ordered, and the boy obediently ran into the house. The man hobbled over to them, head raised."...Strangers. What brings you here?"

Guiltare walked forward, bowing slightly."A member of our company was abducted by these Incarnate. We seek to rescue her." She replied.

The old man blinked slowly."...Your companion is already lost. You do not oppose the Incarnate and live." He warned.

Guiltare heard rustling behind her and turned."Morz, sto-"

Morz rushed past her and lifted the old man, an odd, guttural noise vibrating from his mask."You don't speak like you know of the Incarnate, old man. I know more than you ever will, and you dare to speak as though Gem's been slain!?"

"Morz!" Guiltare said, more forcefully."Put him down!" Morz continued his growling, and Guiltare feared for a moment that she would have to attack him. But, he silently put the old man down.

He seemed relatively unshaken by what had happened, and looked at Guiltare."I speak only the truth...You're the leader?" Guiltare nodded, and the old man sighed."...Come with me then. If you're determined to see yourselves slain, you'd best know what it is you face."

Guiltare nodded."Vaussten, make sure the men stay out of trouble." She ordered, then followed the man.
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Guiltare looked over the corpses with horror. The old man sighed."I've been preparing them for burial, trying to get them as intact as I can...quite the challenge, with the skill of those Incarnate." He gestured her forward, and Guiltare followed, slipping on her mask to hide the nauseated look on her face.

He first walked to a man with greyed skin upon his face, frayed about the edges of a large, crater-like orifice of his cheek that exposed yellowed teeth. "This man, for example, slain by Disease Incarnate. See his blackened skin? He forced unhealthy growths upon his face, and it dripped away and crumbled like ash...From what I can tell, a mix of the growth of cancer cells, and induced apoptosis. His body became exhausted, and couldn't maintain itself. He died not long after the man left."

He stepped to the next table, and Guiltare saw flurries of cuts along his body."Killed by their Greed incarnate. He needed to make but one cut, and the man's fate was sealed. The cut was made here first-" He pointed to a wound on the man's shoulder."And he multiplied the wounds across his body. Bloodloss."

He shook his head."...It's odd, speaking like this...I'm naught but the town herbalist, never thought i'd be explaining a massacre to a mercenary." He grumbled, then moved to the next one."Killed by their Pain Incarnate. Their Greed first made many cuts on his neck, and when people rushed over to help...she touched them one by one, and a wound was transferred to them. She was unfazed by the damage herself. Needless to say, most of the casualties were caused by her. Any strikes they managed to make were but strikes against themselves."

Guiltare frowned at the last one."...Nothing odd about this one." She said carefully. She'd seen the aftermath of battles before, but something about this was different...crueler, as though the only thought was efficiency, not any wealth to be gained or glory to be earned.