He threw his head back, and roared

He threw his head back, and roared. Thunderclouds rumbled, lightning clapped. Everything stood still for one minute. And then it was all gone. Darkness. In the darkness, there was light. A red, glowing, maniacal light. Two pinpoints. They blinked. They opened. His eyes. Those were his eyes.

He threw his head back and roared. Everything stood still for one moment.

Up above, the celestials heard the cry, and for the first time in millenia, speaking of firsts, they had experienced many firsts these last few years. Or at least since they had been reborn. They were beginning to have the inklings of remembrance.

He threw his head back, and roared. All those that remained, all those that could hear, all those that could process and react normally, they cowered, they shivered. The ones that had long since lost their minds, they scuttled about in excitement. Some of their number shivered, a few dropped dead. He was not at full strength yet. Stren-g-th. It’s funny how that word is pronounced.

He laughed. A giant, booming laugh that was felt across the globe. He looked at his hands, they were solid. He punched a fist into the ground. The ripples spread across the planet. When the dust settled, where he stood, there was a crater. Close to the epicenter, there was a fissure. Further away, there was the ocean. Within it, subterranean volcanoes erupted. Farther away, animals flew, screeching, aimlessly. For where could they run? All was lost. It was drawing to a close. On the exact opposite side of the world, the sounds of his roar reached each man from the other side, travelling across the globe in lines that could be matched to one another, they looked up simultaneously, blinked. The board though. The board glowed. The board let out a bright purple light, a beam that shot high and heavy into the sky. The clouds parted, as if cut by a knife. The shadows scuttled about, unable to contain their excitement. Until now, they had been waiting patiently. Something was going to happen. Something that could be felt. Until now, the moves that had been played for the fate of this world, they had been in the minds of beings far superior to them. They could not understand those games. But now, with the reveal of this light, they could. Something big was about to happen. Some began to devour the others, who fought back. Others began to rub their bodies together, an eerie display of intercourse. But all were moving. The movement seemed to give the board energy. The light grew bigger. By the light, the men were drawn in, their faces lit up, haggard and ancient. Far longer than any human had a right to live. As the purple beam grew bigger, their faces seemed to shrink. Slowly, they became as horrible caricatures of themselves. Then they faded. Only clothes remained. The light popped out of existence, the board having consumed the energy from the dancing shadows, and the men who had given it their lives. The pieces began to move of their own accord. Now, it could not be stopped.