Maddy wrapped her arms around her legs in a hug and pressed her forehead against her knees, all in order to keep all of her limbs tightly together and her face hidden. Her eyelids were glued shut. She refused to look at her stalkers.
Rhydian ran faster than he ever had before, he neither cared about, nor even felt the lactic acid building in his muscles which would normally burn so much that he had to stop. The only thing he cared about was Maddy. He allowed his instinct to carry him along, as he kept his eyes shut whilst he used Eolas to monitor her. He needed to hurry up. The men were closing in.
She listened to their footsteps; they were getting louder as they got nearer. Maddy felt herself jump with fear each time that a heel made contact with the floor. She sensed that they were within touching distance of her now, but, without warning, the footsteps stopped. Then there was a great thud on the floor 20 yards away from her. Maddy took a deep breath to steady herself in her confusion at what was going on, and then opened her eyes.
Rhydian! It was Rhydian! Words could not describe Maddy's shock and ecstasy at seeing him, even more so than those few hours ago when they were reunited after six, long, deadening, months apart. He had rugby tackled, unbelievably, every man at once. He got up from the ground and left them there in wonder, his back was to Maddy, but his arms were outstretched protectively to block them from her. She had never seen him so angry before. He was literally shaking with the force of his inner wolf dying to burst out and rip the drunks' heads off. His eyes were a vibrant gold; his black veins had stretched to the tips of his fingers and covered his face.
'What is this?!' one man cried in his disorientated state. None of the men wanted to look, but they couldn't take their eyes off Rhydian.
'IF ANY OF YOU SO MUCH AS COME NEAR HER, OR IN FACT ANY YOUNG GIRLS, AGAIN, LET ALONE STALK THEM, I WILL PERSONALLY, ONE BY ONE, HUNT YOU DOWN SO THAT THE REST OF YOU KNOW WHAT'S COMING, AND I WILL GIVE YOU THE MOST EXCRUCIATING DEATHS THAT HAVE EVER BEEN KNOWN BY ANY SPECIES EVER, NEVER MIND ONLY KNOWN BY MAN!' Rhydian roared. The threat was sincere and, more importantly, a promise. The men, although drunk, clearly understood this by the constant growl which ran under every word of Rhydian's speech. 'NOW GO!' The men all clumsily got to their feet and ran the best that they could whilst under the influence. 'DON'T YOU EVER LET ME SEE YOUR FACES AGAIN!'
Rhydian stood there for a minute in silence, still with all of the anger present in his features, until Maddy called him back to the moment.
'Rhydian?' As soon as he heard her call his name, all of his anger began to melt away. His eyes returned to their natural light shade, his skin was no longer plagued by black highlighting his veins, and he turned to look at Maddy with a soft, concerned look on his face.
'Rhydian, I-' was all Maddy meekly managed to get out before Rhydian hastened towards her, fell down in front of her, and encased her in his arms, praying that he could keep her in them, safe, for all eternity. Maddy too wished the hug would never end; she could stay in his tight embrace forever. Her face was pressed into the side of his neck, allowing him to feel her tears. In Rhydian's arms, as anger had left him, all traces of pain had left Maddy. Her hurt chest was nothing compared to what she had just been through. They both hoped dearly that she would never have to go through anything like that again.