"Finally I will have you for myself. Once I do you will be mine per village law, hold her down." The leader says.
"If you do this you will be branded! This is against our ways!" She screams.
"These two will testify you came upon me as I was watching the moon. I’m a man, who would believe you over me?" He exclaims with confidence. The two boys begin to step towards her when Roderick grabs their leader from behind in a head lock. He lifts him into the air and looks at Reina. Her face is swollen and bruised where the leader punched her. Roderick loses himself to hate and screams a primal sound. The leader's feet dangle as his life his choked from him. He releases his prey as his lifeless body falls to the ground. The other two charge him and Roderick blocks their barrage of blows and returns his own. It’s all over in a split second but his life is forever changed.
The three of them lie dead on the ground, bloodied, beaten and passed on from this world. Roderick looks at Reina and as the blood covers his face and body his eyes almost glow. She is frightened by him but also fascinated at his display of power. He was like a beast, fighting for his very life against them. All to protect her, this is the moment that she realized her attraction to his fierceness. The chieftain comes upon the scene and in the only kindness he has ever shown Roderick decides to expel him from the village instead of putting to death. Reina decides to leave with him against the pleas of the village and the two set out into the brave new world that awaits them. Years go by and two fall deeply in love, the kind of love that will one day be dreamt of, written about and wanted by all. Roderick stands in front of a raging bonfire. His hair is long now, and he wears only a loin cloth. In his hands he clutches a wooden club with a sharp rock tied to the end of it. Sleeping next to him is a woman, his eyes scan the night for any movements. Any kind of dangers that may attack them. She is the light of his life, the one precious thing he has in the world of predators that surround them. The Gods gifted them the growing child in her womb, and he knows he must kill something soon.
They are running out of food, and she can only find so many berries for her and the growing baby. They need meat, they need to kill to survive. He is scared but he knows that he can find prey, he has done it his whole life. As the sun begins to rise he sits down next to her thinking another night is now behind them. He can finally rest easy at least for a few hours but something stirs in the brush. He quickly gets to his feet and sees a shadow dashes between them, something is moving fast. Too fast and he can barely keep up with it. There shouldn’t be a beast this size in this area and especially one that is hunting in the morning.
“Reina wake up and get on top of that rock! There is something hunting us!” He screams with an intensity she has only heard once before. She begins to climb on top of it when the beast makes itself known. It steps from the woods and stands before Roderick. A massive black dire wolf that is double his size. It growls and Roderick can feel primal fear begin to take hold. He squeezes his weapon tight and roars as loud as he can. Hoping he can scare the wolf off but to no avail. It dashes towards him, and he swings as hard as he can. The wolf catches the club in its mighty jaws and snaps the wood in half with ease. Angry its prey dares to confront it the beast slashes Roderick down his chest with its mighty claws and sends him flying backwards. He tumbles in the dirt and his chest is bleeding everywhere. The wolf leaps through the air and grabs Raina by the throat. They land with a loud quake and Roderick watches as her life and by extension his child’s are snuffed from existence. She reaches for him with tears in her eyes.
“Please, run. Live your life for both of us.” She whispers.
"No!" He screams. It’s a guttery sound and rage unlike ever before overtakes him. He grabs the rock on his broken club and charges the wolf. The beast is in the middle of its meal and unaware of its surroundings when Roderick leaps onto his back and plunges the sharp rock into the back of its head. The wolf tries to shake him off, but he grips its fur in his right hand and stabs it repeatedly. They both tumble on the ground and the wolf is on top of him. It opens his mighty jaws and clamps down on his shoulder. Roderick stabs the rock into its neck and feels the warm embrace of the beast’s blood wash over him. With the last of his strength, he pushes the wolf off him and begins to crawl towards Reina.
“Wake up my love, please don’t leave me here. I will follow you to the ends of time. This I vow!” He screams as his own blood begins to fill his mouth. He cannot reach her as his strength has all but left his body. Roderick reaches out with and touches her hand with his own. His vision begins to blur but as it does, he notices a winged creature sitting on a nearby tree. Its eyes will haunt his dreams for ages to come. They looked feline with vertical slits, but it seems to grin at him. Its teeth, they are all sharp and jagged. A fear unlike any he has felt before washes over him, a terror that grips his very soul. That creature is not of this world, and it reeks of evil. Roderick closes his eyes he takes solace in the fact that he will see her in the dreamlands. Where the creature won’t follow.