Put back together

41. The first ones

"Please don't," Patton whimpered and Logan heard himself scream.
Next to him Roman kicked the man holding him in the shin.
Much too late to do anything as the bandit's sword met Patton's neck.

And shattered.

Shards of metal flew in every direction.

The bandit stumbled backwards staring at the broken sword in his grip.

"What the-?" the boss crossed the distance in a few large strides, took a long swing with his club and smashed it against Patton's head.

The heavy wood burst.

The man who had held Patton down let the bag he was holding fall to the ground and stumbled back.

"What is this witchcraft?" another yelled panicked.

"I'm out of here!" one ran into the woods letting the bag he had stolen slip from his shoulder.

"Me too! I don't wanna die!"

"Hey!" the boss yelled after them. "Get your asses back here!"

But Logan could see the sweat forming on his forehead even from across the five or six meters between them.

His men didn't listen. They fled back into the forest leaving their things behind, too scared to stay rational or organised.

The boss was alone now.
He looked down at his broken club, at Patton who was still covering on the floor and Logan could see his breath quicken. He stumbled backwards and ran.

Logan scrambled over to Patton as soon as the bandit had disappeared in the trees.

"Are you alright?" he asked and tried to get a good look at Patton's neck and head.

"I'm- I'm fine... I think," Patton stuttered. Logan gently turned his head and froze.

Not really because Patton didn't have any injury, only a few wood splinters in his hair, but because the moment his hand had touched the others chin light blue glowing markings had spread all over the bakers skin and darker blue ones over his own arms and - judging by how Patton stared at him in shock and awe - also his face.
From the markings a soothing sensation filled his body.

"What the actual fuck?!" Roman's voice ripped him from his thoughts.

The prince stared at them wide eyed.

"This looks familiar," Patton mumbled tracing the markings on Logan's arm.

"You're right...," Logan realised but he couldn't remember where he had seen them before. He felt slightly dazed but in a good way.

"Holy-," Roman scrambled over to where the bandits had dropped their bags and began looking through Logan's things.

"What are you doing there?" Logan complained and got up. The moment he wasn't touching Patton anymore the markings and with them the weirdly familiar feeling disappeared again.

"No, stay together!" Roman called and came back with one of Logan's books. Or rather the book with the Sphere of Live in it. He kneeled down next to them and quickly flipped through the pages. Logan almost expected one of the old pages to rip.
Then Roman found the page he had been looking for.

All three of them looked at the drawing of the sphere with all its markings.
The markings that matched with the ones on Logan's and Patton's skin.

"How-?" Patton cut himself off. "What's the meaning of this?"

"The sphere is said to change form...," Logan recalled numbly. "So maybe... It changed into people..."

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