Chapter 14 - Taking The Lowest Road
 
Christofert was now on his own navigating through Hell.  Almost
immediately he began to see the lost souls.  Immaterial people were
moving about performing all sorts of tasks.  The people pretty much
ignored him as he walked along.  Many glanced in his direction, but
quickly returned to what they were doing.  A couple winked at him.  There
were demons walking around too.  They were mostly in human form.  They
were telling the souls to keep working, and gave them more tasks when
they were idle.  Christofert made a point of avoiding the demons as much
as possible.  When he saw one, he nonchalantly changed his direction to
keep an obstacle or lost soul between himself and the demon.
 
After traveling through hell for a while, he started to get very hungry.
Remembering the warning that Dante had given him, he knew better than to
eat anything in Hell.  He remembered Dante's advice though.  He searched
around for a little while before finding what he was looking for.  In a
secluded, out of the way corner, Christofert found a small bush growing
against a wall.  He moved around behind it, so that he was well hidden
and began to dig.  He dug a short tunnel down to the roots before he
found what he was looking for.  Twining among the roots was a tiny
labyrinth of mice tunnels.  He sat and waited and soon he was able to
catch some mice as they scurried by.  His hunger satisfied he took a nap.
 
When he awoke, he felt refreshed and ready to continue his journey.  He
crawled out of his hole and started back to the main tunnel.  He had
taken no more than four steps, when he heard a squeak like noise.
Turning, he saw a small creature just a little bigger than himself.  It
looked sort of like a rabbit, except it had six legs and little horns.
The creature had glowing-red eyes.
 
"What are you doing here?" demanded the demon-rabbit.  "You're no demon.
Come with me, The Boss will want to talk to you!  Boy are you in trouble."
 
Christofert had to avoid meeting 'The Boss' at any costs.  He thought
about running, but instead pounced.  He moved so fast, that he was able
to get a death grip on the throat of the demon-rat.  He bit and held
on.  The odd thing was the creature wasn t bleeding.  It wasn't even
struggling to breathe.  It just scratched ineffectively at him with it's
back four legs.  Fortunately, because of Christofert's grip, it couldn't
call for help.  After a minute or two of the stalemate, Christofert knew
the creature would simply wait for him to become exhausted.
 
Christofert changed tactics and let go.  He grabbed the nose of the
demon-rabbit and began to back up.  He backed up all the way to the hole
that he had dug the previous day.  The then backed up into the hole,
while dragging the demon-rabbit.  When he got to the bottom of the hole,
he let go and attacked the creature again.  This time, he just wanted a
diversion so that he could get behind the demon.  It was a tight squeeze,
especially while fighting, but he was able to get behind the rabbit.  Now
he was at the mouth of the cave, and the demon was inside.  He bit the
rabbit's butt once more for good luck, then while the demon tried to turn
around, Christofert began to dig frantically at the roof of the tunnel.
Quickly he had a cascade of rocks and sand falling.  After a few minutes
of digging, he had the tunnel completely filled.  He could barely hear
the demon-rabbit squeaking around under the ground, but he didn't think
it could get out for awhile at least.
 
He quickly departed that area and continued on.  Soon he came to the
river that Dante had told him about.  Somehow Christofert would need to
cross the river without drinking or touching the water.
 
(to be continued)
 
            Bryan P. Coffey - Boston, MA
      Weasel Warriors - Albi, Esef, Merri, and Mint
        http://www.gis.net/~bpcoffey/furball.html
[Posted in FML issue 2830]