"No!" Ronnie gave a choked cry and lunged for the snake. "Please, no!" He tried grabbing for the head, hoping to yank the salamander free.
Puck watched in amusement, then scowled as he realized he couldn't let the transformed boy actually die. At least, not as a direct result of the transformation. Later, when it was part of the normal life cycle. He gestured, and the snake convulsed, mouth and throat now filled with a horrible taste. It was almost too late, but with a violent shake of its head and opening its jaws as wide as possible, it was able to dislodge the intended meal and send it flying across the tent. The human that had been its brother scrambled after the salamander, eyes wide. "Robbie! Wait! Don't run!"
The other two boys were already out of the tent, screaming. The rest of the camp would here soon, and he couldn't leave evidence. Puck flitted over to where Ronald was picking up the still-stunned salamander. It was perhaps a foot long, a slimy gray-pink with vestigial limbs, more an eel. The creature twisted to escape the huge human, wanting only to find water, safety. Puck weighed possible fates in his mind. Turning the boy into a snake would also be amusing, but still not of much value tot he forest. Then his eyes lit up. With a gesture, he caused a shower of glittering dust to fall over the panicked boy.
Ronald was struggling to keep hold of the slippery eel-thing that had been his brother, only to gasp as it suddenly wrapped tightly around his hand. It was hard to fight the instinct to shake the salamander off, but Robbie seemed suddenly calm. Ronald felt warm, damp, confused, and Robbie was getting larger and heavier very quickly. The salamander slid up his arm, easily covering the whole limb. But Robbie was not getting bigger - Ronald was shrinking. He tried to scream, but no sound came from his throat. He was becoming a Salamander! He could see his skin turning gray-pink, feel his body rapidly dwindle. The confusion grew, his mind feeling divided.
Robbie was now heavy, covering his entire body. Except Ronald did not have a body, not even that of a salamander. He was not breathing, no heartbeat pumped blood. He was aware, even that now a strange input of awareness like the multi-faceted vision of an insect. Intelligence faded, memories dissolved, and Ronald broke apart into multiple sparks of life.
Puck watched as the salamander sucked the last of the former boy into its body, unbirthing one human into a mass of a hundred eggs. Then he sent it to the lake with a thought, giving the newly-made creature and her many eggs a chance at life. There were many such salamanders in the lake, so it was likely she would get her eggs fertilized by a male. In four months or so, those that survived would join the ecosystem of the forest as new salamanders.