Danny's Inferno Chapter One
#1 of Danny's Inferno
The odyssey of Daniel through the Nine Circles of Hell, guided by the demon Mephisto.
It was on the road of Daniel's exile that he was ambushed by the men of his enemies. Just another stone in the avalanche of misfortune that plagued his recent years. The comely husky was ambushed and beaten by a leopard, lion and wolf, and though they bore no marks and had no words, Daniel knew that they must have come from the Lords of the House of the White Rose that had now ruled the city of Byrir. Daniel had supported the Red Rose House, now shamed and driven from the city. The bandits beat down the canine with cudgels, ripped all the clothing on the gray furred male's body, leaving Daniel in rags and left him in a ditch by the roadside.
He gave up hope then, Daniel's life had been ruined by one misfortune too many, his friends abandoned him, his enemies risen to power, driven from his homeland, no one wished to associate with him. He was truly alone. And then he began to curse the world, wanting to drag all down with him, Wicked and vile oaths and blights spilled forth from his mouth as his eyes grew red from the salt that was leaked out of his eyes.
"Now then, are you going to give up and die here. And in such a fallen state?" Daniel turned and saw a rabbit, but not just any rabbit. A handsome white one dressed in the finest of Victorian Era finery, a cruel but understanding smile, red eyes, little fangs, and batlike wings. But the very air about him screamed unnatural and the faint scent of flame and brimstone And Daniel knew in his heart that what stood before him in spite of its form as a bunny was a demon.
Daniel wailed "I am a ruined man, not only does the world wish to heap disaster after disaster on me, but now the Wicked One sends a demon to torment me. There is no justice, there is no-" But the dog was cut off by a fierce slap from the demon. Daniel felt a silken gloved hand seize him by his loins and roughly pulled up to his feet. Captive with his family jewels in the grip of the demon, he couldn't run away even if he tried as the rabbit's hand was quite firm.
"Now see here, I didn't understand when I was released from the Pit into the world of mortals to comfort a brat like you. But now I see I'm to give you a real wake up call and perhaps slap some sense into that empty head of yours." Then the demon showed in spite of his form as a lagomorph, he had a very sharp temper with a quick smack to Daniel's balls. "But if it comes with having your cute ass in my care, maybe this won't be so bad after all. Now March!" The demon stomped off, leaving Daniel whimpering and with no choice but to follow.
They made their way deeper into the woods, until they reached a rocky outgrowth and on its side was an opening, a cave where strangely warm air was escaping. But that was not all, screams, moans, sighs and wailing came from the cave in a parody of a symphony. Though not of pain and agony that cuts sharp and long. "What is that horrid cacophony that is being emitted from this pit, demon?" Daniel said.
"The screams of the damned" The demon said giving the husky's balls a little squeeze. "And that's Mephisto to you" the demon said, pleased with the pained squeak that came out from the dog. Mephisto led the husky down into the cave. The gloom surrounded them and while it was dark, Daniel swore he could see strange shadows dancing along the walls. A red glow began to reappear in Daniel's eyes. Soon the demon and mortal entered a large cavern in which there was a huge beach and lake. It was the shore of hell and throughout the sands were possibly damned souls running about, all male. And demons flying above with whips made the souls' bottoms were nice and red.
"Why are they running? For what crime have these poor souls committed?" Danny asked.
"These are the souls that were flippant about good or evil in life." Mephisto said " For these wretches who wouldn't be bothered about choosing a side, they must be driven with whips until exhausted for their lax standards. Then they are dragged into hell proper for their punishment."
"Why don't they just stop running?" Daniel asked. His head was turned by the rabbit's other hand. A soul, some sort of horse could not run anymore. Stumbling into the sand, one of the whips caught his ankle and the demon dragged the horse towards a pier, the horse's skin rubbing against the fine silky grains all the way. "Because just one second out of Hell's hands is better than being in them." At the husky's fear of what was to come and the fate of those running, the demon continued. "All souls are damned here for good reason. No need to pity them" The rabbit wriggled his eyebrows and affirmed his control over Daniel with another set of ball squeezing..
They made it to the shoreline, where on the pier was a boat and a mass of waiting souls with some demons. A tall black mastiff stood there in the boat, obviously the one who would transport souls over the waters. There seemed to be three groups of souls, ones that seemed to wait around, others that dropped coins into a box on the pier before entering the boat and those beside demons that seemed to argue with the ferryman. " That's Charon over there." Mephisto said, confirming Danny's suspicions. "His services aren't free however. Unfortunately old customs are dying out, and today's souls now have nothing to pay their fare with. Thankfully he takes credit." The demon's chuckling however didn't calm the husky any. "Unfortunately the credit is extra punishments for the damned." Daniel asked how did that work and the rabbit repeated his example of disciplining the husky "Watch that outburst! Charon's the only one that can freely leave Hell when he wishes. But we must have our damned souls to work with. The extra punishments allow him to leave more often. Though," the rabbit pointed to the souls still waiting on the shore without any demons or coins to buy passage. "those poor fools would get a better deal if they'd bargain themselves instead of having an interested demon make the payment for them."
Daniel, worried about the part about an interested demon and Mephisto made their way closer. The husky could see a tiger in front of Charon's groin. "The one 'lucky' soul that can get on for free" said the rabbit demon. "Except servicing Charon is a lot harsher than it looks. Charon's cock is quite the beast." Danny could see the feline thrashing as if something was blocking air from reaching him. It was a miserable piece of luck for the tiger as all but Daniel were dead and the husky wasn't even sure that he was alive anymore.
"Greetings, Mephisto, you are aware that you walk with the living?" Charon said, removing his attention from a brown furred raccoon demon standing with one foot on the neck of a blue furred tattooed rabbit. Those words should have brought slight relief to Daniel. But the way the mastiff demon said those words gave him the feeling that being alive here wasn't a good thing.
"I'm quite aware of that, but we do have permission." Mephisto pulled out a letter written on vellum in a script that the husky had no way of reading. Charon gruffly admitted the papers are in order however, the husky wouldn't be getting on his boat for free. Said Husky gulped, and then let out a little cry when the demon finished what the thugs started and tore off the last of his rags. But Daniel didn't protest too much, his balls still in the hands of the demon. Yet when the demon burned them, he had to say something. "What are you-?"
Daniel let out a yelp as his balls were squeezed more roughly this time. "Quiet you, I'd been kind enough to let you have your dignity so far but from here on out, you're just another soul that needs punishment. " The husky shivered as he realized the gravity of his situation, just another naked and damned soul in hell. "Perhaps a few extra days in the desert for him?" The rabbit demon said to Charon.
The husky as much as he knew it was a hopeless effort, really wished he could run out of there with the grin filled with rows of sharp white acute teeth. "Acceptable" Charon said and Daniel was dragged onto the boat. As more damned souls were loaded on, the husky stared at the bottom of the boat, not daring to look up and witness any more horrible sights. When the boat started moving, he couldn't help himself and looked back to the shore, fast receding. Daniel shivered, and his cries joined the rest of the damned souls' lamentations. The living world was slowly getting farther and farther and the husky didn't even know if he'd ever return. Just then Mephisto placed an arm around the husky, pulling the canine closer with Daniel's right into the demon's chest. The rabbit's body was warm and a hand went to rub behind the husky's ears. Even though Danny's body still stung from previous wounds, the rocking of the boat and that soft touch made the world fade to black and Daniel fell asleep in tears.