New Body

Belluk and the rest of the bandits behind him reached the cobblestone paths, now seeing the entrance of the church.

The doors were broken now, in the center a perfect breakage of splintered wood. The bandits then grouped together, picking and cleaning up the remains of the door; ten of them working way to remove the rubble, and then making way for their exalted leader.

Belluk entered the church, scanning with his eyes and scowling at the surroundings of the cathedral. He observed the space, remarking to himself the filth that littered all around, until his eyes met a figure at the pulpit; the boy laying in a pool of blood with the dagger lodged at his back.

"You, over there." Belluk said, his gloved hand pointing at a nearby bandit. "Grab the book."

The large, muscled and tanned skin bandit gave a salute, acknowledging the order and he went with a disciplined stride to the front.

Belluk looked at the man walking to retrieve the tome with anticipation, finally getting back what was his, his dreams of finally peeking through the abyss of knowledge he had so long wanted, was coming too fruition. 

He was eager, his eyes finally showing emotion as he squinted ins suspense, though barely. The man reached the boy, grabbing his arm limply like an unstringed puppet, lifeless as he was picked up. 

"Awww, the damned runts dead." the jaundiced hunchback said.

"The poison prolly got to him, dammit I wanted some fun." Pircle said with frustration.

The two bandits were disappointed at these outcome, that the aspect of tormenting the boy was now lost within their grasp.

"Do not worry, hell be my first subject for experimentation, I wonder the sorts of spells I could use." Belluk said, answering them, his stoic expression finally broken by the most suspenseful of grins. 

The large bandit finally got hold of the book, observing the cover all around, and was unusually clean without a speck of dirt or blood.

"Bring it he-"

A movement in the boys arm interrupted Belluk's sentence, the tanned bandit was still holding the boys hand, when a slight twitch broke out.

"Oh? It seems, the boy is still alive." Said Belluk, trying to sound surprised.

Smiles broke out at the line of bandits, devious in their intentions at the notion that the child was still alive and breathing.

"Looks like well have some fun afterall."

The bandits broke in slight laughter, even the large man holding the boys arm chuckled heartily, and the boy slowly stood himself up, shacking and struggling, the dagger dropping from his back.

"You are quite resilient child, I commend you for that."

A gurgle from the child responded to Belluk, trickles of blood from his mouth slowly dripping.

"Oi, answer the boss properly, you muck!" The large bandit said, clutching tight the boys arm and holding him up dangling from his entire, fickle body with barely any strength exerted. The child did not respond, even when the man shook the boy violently.

"Bring me the book, that child is to be saved for later."

"Aye si-" the bandit didn't continue, as sudden, billowing flames of black ruptured out of the flesh from the boy, pillars rising tall with untamed wildfire.

The bandit quickly let go of the boys arm from the sudden pain inflicted on his arms, letting go and dropping the book at the feet of the child. The black fire burned his flesh, and he retreated back quickly to escape the razing fires.

The boy, being dangled up was now dropped, and standing miraculously on his own two feet by mysterious means.

The raging flames exploded further across his body, his other hand was now being engulfed with the same fire as was the entirety of his face, plumes rising tall like a beacon of black light.

His body convulsed from the force the flames generated, they were rupturing from within, all each in the direction of their own as it tore violently through his body.

The fire kept raging forth, growing hotter and fiercer, burning the child wholly, the limbs that were affected were being turned black and charred, crumbling and cracking away to dust and ash. 

"RAAAHHHHH"

A large roar erupted, its sound a fierce and baritone cry that echoed through the air like a thunderclap, and the sheer force of the scream sent a shockwave through, rattling the earth beneath.

The group of bandits were stood frozen, their previous bravado shattered at the sudden events and each of them was found dumbfounded at the wave of energy sent their way. It was a powerful blast, the impact able to push back even the most strongest members of the band of bandits.

"SIR, WHATS HAPPENING!!?" The tanned man said, both hands to his face blocking the invisible energy.

"I don't know" Belluk said, his eyes widening but not containing the same amount of stupefaction, but still surprised. "This is unprecedented."

He started to think deeply on how this could happen, did the child peek through the pages? Did it use a spell? Did it backfire? He tried in his knowledge to find a solution, but couldn't find the answer.

"Sire, what do we do?" Pircle said, concern in his eyes seeing his comrades being propelled back.

And as Pircle said this, the bursts of flames abruptly ended, as if it never happened and his question left unanswered at the interruption.

The raging torrents had now fizzled out, the only remaining flames left were flickers, calm but still with light, a pitiful visage of what it once was, and the child still standing enflamed.

The bandits shocked faces, lessened to calm concern, their bodies still with worry at the thing that had happened, and apprehension at the child, all sharing looks at each other with anxiety.

It took time for things to settle down, the initial rush of emotion fading but thin tension was still in the air, and no one dared to move, until the thin, veil of silence was broken, when the first words were spoken, and it came from the child.

"What...happened."

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