Chapter 7:
The Elil Warren

Zenthlay was trapped in a world of darkness. There was nothing but black surrounding her; engulfing her. She looked around, standing on her hind legs to get a view of something, anything that would suppress her burning fears. As she looked in the direction that she thought was mostly likely up, dark, grey storm clouds appeared out of no-where and began to swirl together in a spinning vortex. Thunder streaked out of the spinning clouds angrily, a bolt slamming into the ground with a deafening thud by Zenthlay's feet. Her vision was totally taken away from her and the only thing that she could see was the bright light that had erupted from the thunderbolt. Zenthlay blinked her eyes a couple of times, until the light slowly began to fade away and she could see again. This time the brown doe was in a vast land, with rolling hills as far as the eye could see. But something was wrong.

"What is this place?" Zenthlay questioned, her voice carrying in the wind, and brushing past the vast wheat fields. No answer except for silence came to the very confused rabbit. She sat in wonder and awe, wondering what was going to happen to her, and where Balm had gone off to. It was all so strange. Suddenly Zenthlay caught a very familiar smell; it was rabbits. She let out a great sigh of relief, and lollopped over to what looked like a warren.

"Hullo!" she called into the largest run. Zenthlay's voice echoed through the runs, bouncing into every burrow and hole. Zenthlay furrowed her brow with distaste. Why weren't they answering her? That was rather rude, wasn't it? She puffed up her fur and huffily headed down into the run, ready to give whoever greeted her piece of her mind. When she was a couple of metres down the run, a head popped out of the burrow.

"'Ho are you?" the red and white creature asked. His tail was unlike any other rabbit tail though, as it was bright orange, with a white tip. And beyond that, he had quite sharp pointy white teeth; nasty looking claws.

Zenthlay drew in a sharp breath and gasped as she realized that the creature wasn't a rabbit at all, it was a homba. "A rabbit," Zenthlay answered looking at the homba wearily. Why was it that the homba was the same size as her? That just seemed a little too weird.

The homba looked frightened when Zenthlay told it that she was a rabbit. It backed up into the burrow, and curled itself into a little ball, tucking its tail around its face to cover it up. "Pleeze leave me 'lone," it whimpered, looking very pathetic indeed.

"I wasn't going to hurt you," Zenthlay spoke slowly, as she looked down the run to see if there were any smaller homba in the warren. "So why are you so small?" she asked the homba, as she hopped three steps closer to it. "And the rabbits actually let you live in their warren?" she questioned it, one of her ears falling over sideways.

The homba stared at Zenthlay for a moment, and looked like it was going to answer her questions when suddenly, its eye went wide with fear and it let out an ear-piercing screech. "GIT 'VAY! GIT 'VAY!" the homba screamed wildly, backing up against the burrow wall. It squished itself as far back as it could get.

Zenthlay just couldn't understand what was the matter with this tharn homba kit. Well at least she figured it was a kit, because it was so small. It had to be. Zenthlay was staring at the homba curiously, when she heard some pounding footsteps coming up the run quickly. Since she was in the burrow, she couldn't see what was coming upon her, and her gaze swiveled to the burrow entrance; the only exit. She drew a hasty breath as a shadow of the creature was cast on the wall. She shifted her head a little bit to the right to try and get a better glimpse on the creature, but she still couldn't see it.

"WHAT'S GOIN' ON HERE??!!" A booming voice came into the burrow that seemed to echo off the walls and bounce back at Zenthlay, sending chills up her backbone. Then the creature showed itself, as it walked up to Zenthlay. It strode up to her with an air of confidence like nothing could stand in its way; nothing would be able to defeat it, ever. And it was human.

Zenthlay's body felt paralyzed with fear as the man entered into the burrow. He had dark brown hair nicely accented with blonde highlights, and a muscular build. His face was very cold and stern though, and it was easy to tell he was a no-tolerance kind of guy. As long as things went his way, everything would be all right. But, unlike most men, he was much smaller than them; rabbit size. Or was Zenthlay human size? It was too confusing and difficult for the doe to comprehend. Her whiskers quivered slightly as she answered the man, "N-nothing at all," she failed at concealing the fear in her shaky voice, "I-I was just looking for a nice burrow to rest in for a while. I'm rather t-tired and my foreleg it really hurting," she told them.

The man raised his eyebrows at Zenthlay, as he strode over to her, and looked at her foreleg. It was something a man had put in her; there was no doubt about that. "Hold still," the man told her, as he delicately reached his hand into Zenthlay's wound and fished out the black pebble. "All right, you may stay here, as long as you don't goin' causin' any trouble," he told her, his voice remaining cold and firm. And with that he turned on his heels and headed out of the burrow. "Hungthar, follow me," he called to the homba, who looked at Zenthlay and without further hesitation scrabbled out of the burrow, following obediently after its master.

Zenthlay was utterly lost in a world she didn't know. It didn't make sense to her, had the man put her in some kind of different world, or maybe done something too her that caused her to grow or the man and homba to shrink? She was so very tired, so the brown rabbit curled up on the hard burrow floor, and fell asleep, despite her worries.

* * *

"I jut don't 'ow where 'ee came from, 'ee just appear dere" Hungthar, replied to the man. They were now in a large burrow, and many of the other warren inhabitants had gathered around them, listening in on the conversation between the homba and the man. It was the strangest crowd that would ever be seen together. There were many hombas, dogs, pfeffas, rats, lendril; really just a wide array of elil creatures tossed together in the same warren. And they were all the same size too, except for some of the runts which were smaller than the rest.

"I sssay we ssssstarve her!" a pfeffa yelled out of the crowd, hissing at the thought of a rabbit amoung them. She spat on the ground, and then licked her paws. She brought her paws up to her face and groomed her beautiful white face. She had sparkling blue eyes and a luscious coat of long white hairs, that she always kept tangle-free and looking quite splendid.

The man looked out into the crowd, spurred on by the pfeffa's comment. He lifted his arms to the crowd of vermin and turned to them. "Okay time ta take counsel. Frost says that we are goin' ta starve 'er? What do ya'll think? I want options, not opinions," he bellowed to the crowd once more. It was no wonder he was a leader; he was able to control the others and get out of them what he wanted to know.

"Sir," a black dog a little larger than the rest stepped forward, pushing his way through the crowd. "I say dat ve feed her to dem," he said cruelly, a smirk crossing his face. The man nodded, acknowledging the dog's suggestion, and waited for the others to speak out giving their options.

"COLLAPSE A BURROW ON 'ER!"

"TORTURE 'ER!"

"LET 'ER GO!"

Immediately, every creature in the entire place turned towards the one that had yelled for him to let her go. It was one of the black rats that had called for Zenthlay's freedom. Her fur was a bristled to make her appearance somewhat brute, and she had her teeth bared. A wave of crude comments about the rat erupted, and the other vermin were closing in on her, about to tear her to shreds for her insolence when the man held up his hands.

"ENOUGH!!!" he bellowed. "There will be NO maimin' of our own, we 'ave already been enoughly reduce'd by...well ya'll knows by what, so that's why we're here." The crowd hushed, even though they were starting to get a little antsy from being cramped in the small space together. One of the lendri bumped into a cat, which hissed and gave her a sharp jab back. "Now, I want ta hear ya'll reasons why you've made them suggestions, and then the best decision will be made within time." He paused and the crowd pulsated anxiously. "Icarus, Hungthar, Frost, Rasendel, Kilarn, come up to the front." The man had been standing on a rather large mound of dirt in the middle of the crowd, and his voice to carried to the tense ears of lendri, pfeffa and every other creature.

Since Hungthar was already fairly near the front of the crowd, the orange and white fox made his way to the mound. The population had erupted into a fit of hisses and growls, trying to debate Zenthlay's fate once again, but they hushed when he began to speak. "I 'aid dat we 'ould torture 'er," he said, his eyes glinting with rage. "'Ou all don' know 'ow 'orrible it was. 'Ee torture'd me in dat burrow, 'o I 'ay we do da 'ame to 'er. A rush of cheers began to engulf Hungthar's speech, and the man quieted them down again, by holding his arm up, motioning for silence. "Next," he commanded.

Icarus stepped onto the mound, shoving Hungthar off it with his bulk. He was a black Labrador retriever, and a little bit larger than most of the other animals because he trained a lot. "Well I already said whad I wanted to do, bud yes, I wand to feed her to dem," he spoke out, his voice carrying not sign of backing down from this option. He full well knew that the man understood what he was talking about. The man rubbed his hand across his face thoughtfully. Not a bad idea at all. Some of the vermin in the burrow looked at Icarus like he was crazy, but others thought the idea was splendid. Feed her to her own kind, what an ironic twist of fate it would be for the doe.

The black rat stepped forward next, shrinking a little under the cruel glares that he got from his companions. She cleared her throat, and began talking. "We a should let the bunnnnny go," she squeaked, bristling up her pitch black fur to make herself look bigger, and more beast-like. A moan went through the crowds, but Rasendel held up her furry paws in protest. "Nnno, a wait, hear a me out," she asked the audience, in particular the cats, who were beginning to hiss at her. But of course, the cats and rats never did really get along, they only tolerated each other to the best of their ability. "Obviously she's a only a kitten," Rasendel rationed, "because she's a so small. She cannnnnot a do any damage to us a yet, so let her a go. Besides what if they a came a lookin' for 'er?"

"GIT RID O 'ER!" a very angry lendri yelled through the many vermin. The man motioned to three tough looking creatures that always seemed to reside nearby. One of them grabbed Rasendel by the paw and dragged her off the mound, while another covered her mouth with a gruff paw. Rasendel barely had time to react; she could only let out a muffled squeak, and tried to kick free in horror. She knew what they were going to do to her now, what they did to any creature that caused trouble. Feed her to the hungry monsters.

The man grinned evilly at Rasendel, "Don' have anythin' else to say now do ya?" he said to the black rat, as he motioned for his bodyguards to keep a tight grip on her. She was not to escape, as he had big plans for the filthy vermin. "Now, next, and bare in mind it better be somethin' I like, or else ya'll be joinin' Rasendel here later...and trust me you don' wanna do that."

Frost didn't have a problem with that, so she boldly stepped onto the speaking mound. The white pfeffa stared into the audience, her piercing blue eyes sending shivers down the spine of whoever dared to look straight into them and see the evil that hid beneath. If such a thing could be said, she was a deadly beauty. "Uh humm!" Frost cleared her throat, and then raised herself so she was sitting straight, her fluffy white tail swishing around behind her body. "I ssssaid that we ssssshould ssssstarve her," the cat hissed to everyone that was paying attention. "I think it would be a ssssssplendid way for her demissse, ssssince thatssss often what the larger onessss do to usssss," with elegant grace, Frost descended from the mound, and walked back to her spot in the line of creatures.

Now, the only animal left that had yet to speak his mind was Kilarn. He slowly made his way to the mound, painfully aware that every single inhabitant in the warren was watching him; waiting for him to speak. The lendri tried to clear his throat, but it just got even more parched, and scratchy. "I..." he began and then coughed. He felt like he couldn't breathe. All those eyes were suffocating him. Suddenly, Kilarn could take it no longer and fled from the mound into the crowd, where he sat down and tried to blend in. Which didn't work very well. All the animals that were around him moved when he sat down, leaving him isolated and alone.

Seeing as all the vermin had spoken their minds, the man, clapped his hands together loudly. It was rather strange how none of his followers knew his name, but whenever someone asked, he always replied for them to call him sir. So they did, without much question. As they learned after a short time living with him, that questioning about himself would cause him to grow angry and often find a sacrifice to feed to the ones that lived outside. "Now ya'll, you know how long those things outside have been interferin' with our lives. They won't let us go outside anymore, and if anyone does, they get eaten, or somethin' worse may happen to them, that we have yet to know 'bout. Well, at any rate, I'm not gonna sit idly by and let one of their kits go back to them, not while I'm around anyways. They have already reduce'd our numbers enough, now's time to give them a hit to their numbers, even if it's only one." He paused and combed his smooth hair back with one hand. "Ya'll, this is what I've decided t'do. We're gonna cover her in berries so she don't look like one of them kits anymore, and then send her outside." A cruel smirk passed the man's face, "And then, lets see 'ow they like eating dere own kit, won't know what hit 'em until it's over. Now ya'll wit me?" he called out to the swarms of animals that had all gathered there, in anticipation for this moment.

"YEA! KILL DAT DOE!"

"HURRAH! HURRAH!"

"WE'LL SSSSHOW THEM!!!"

Wild cheers erupted throughout the burrow, and immediately, swarms of vermin headed into the run. They pushed and shoved their way, each one trying to get to Zenthlay first. She was totally unaware of the danger that was soon to befall her. If any creature was to fall, they just got trampled by the hoards of others. Finally, they neared Zenthlay's burrow, and about five different creatures shoved their way in first, amoung them was Frost, the pfeffa. She leapt onto the sleeping doe and hissed in her ear. "Itssss a good day to die."