Descent Book 2: Descent into Madness

Book 2: Descent into Madness

Written by Phil Geusz

Copyright Phil Geusz 2010

Published by Legion Printing Publishing at Smashwords

First Printing August 2010

Published by Legion Printing and Publishing, Inc, Birmingham, AL

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and events are products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously and are not to be construed as real. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, organizations, or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

All right reserved. No portion of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without explicit written permission, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

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I

This whole affair was growing tiresome, I decided. By now I'd had all the attention I wanted, and more. Besides, it was long past time for a nap. Go away! I willed at the humans gathered all around me. Shoo! But they wouldn't take the hint, not even when I retreated into my little private place at the back of the hutch and ignored them. In fact, the stinky creatures actually took away my little hollow log and fixed things so that there wasn't any private place left for me any more. That wasn't very nice of them!

In fact, I suddenly realized, it was scary! The big soft one was making sad noises, and strangers kept bending over my hutch and staring at me. How rude! I turned my back on them all and gnawed at my chew-toy; that’d show them! Usually I liked people all right, but not so many all at once! And certainly not when I had no place to hide!

Then it finally turned dark. Only one human-thing was left by then. I knew him a little, but didn’t trust him. There was something bad about him; I didn’t know what. I decided to just ignore him too, and sat quietly chewing, chewing, chewing and wishing that someone would bring me my private place back.

A long time passed. I tried to sleep now and again, but it wasn’t easy without the private-place. Besides, the silly human-thing was making far too much noise. He kept whimpering to himself and moving in funny ways; a couple times I thought that he might be about to hit me. But he never actually did. What a miserable time of it I was having! No one was even petting me anymore!

Then something really scary happened. The human-thing quit his whining and opened my hutch. He was after me! Oh, no! I leapt towards my special hiding place, but it was still gone! I had nowhere to go!

Just as quick as could be, the human-thing grabbed me firmly behind the neck. I was trapped, captured, prey! I kicked and fought, but I'm much smaller than a human-thing. Besides, it knew just the right way to hold me. Then the human thing lifted me way way way up high into the air, so far that I was terrified just by that alone. Rabbits belong on the ground! So why wouldn't he put me back there?

I was going to die! Die, die, die!

The human-thing made it all better, though. Certain human-things can make everything all better, and this was clearly one of them. I like those humans best of all! He laid me on my back in the crook of his arm and rubbed my tummy. Oooh! It felt so nice! My eyes closed in delight and I went away for a little while inside my head. When I came back, he'd put a thing around my neck and stopped rubbing. Stopped rubbing? Oh no! I blinked, then looked up at him in irritation. More more more! I tried to say.

The human thing snorted, then whined at me in a mocking sort of tone. Next he closed his eyes and made more mouth-noises in a sort of song. It was a pretty song, though not as good as having my belly rubbed. I laid my head back and sighed, hoping that maybe he'd rub me again when he was done.

But soon the song began to fascinate me. No other human sounds I'd ever heard before could even compare. So I listened carefully. Ontog omo tomano hin, the voice intoned. Ontog Gregory Lombard Prince! Ontog Gregory Lombard Prince!

I hummed it to myself, under my breath. Ontog Gregory Lombard Prince! It sounded rather silly. I twitched my nose, then sneezed. Ontog Gregory Lombard Prince. Ontog, Gregory Lombard Prince! Now the human-thing had opened his eyes and was staring down at me. Oh no! Now he was angry! What’d I done wrong?

Ontog Gregory Lombard Prince! he demanded in a louder and more threatening tone. Ontog Gregory Lombard Prince!

I'd decided that he was nice after all. But he sure wasn't being very nice anymore, was he? And he held me tighttighttight! I squirmed, but it was no use. "Aaa! Aaa! Aaa! I wailed.

Ontog Gregory Lombard Prince! the evil thing demanded. Ontog! Ontog Ontog!

It was too much; I twisted and turned and writhed. Then, driven beyond desperation I twisted my head around further that even I thought possible and bit the ball of the bad man's thumb.

Shit! he cried as he dropped me.

I fell fell fell, and the bad nasty ground hit me hard! But nothing broke, and quick as could be I was up and running for my life.

Shit! I heard the bad man yelp again. It didn't sound nearly as musical as the stuff he’d been saying before. But I knew that it was an angry-word, and I was terribly angry just then. I ducked under a big square-thing, then stuck my head just far enough out to ensure that the bad man-thing heard me.

Shit! I screamed back at him just as loudly as I could, meaning every letter of the vile word. But it didn’t work. He just stood there with his mouth hanging open and stared at me, the bastard! Didn't he even care that I was angry with him? That made me madder still. Shitshitshit! It made me feel better to yell at him, though I wasn’t sure why.

And then I got all scared again, remembering all the terrible things that had just happened to me. The bad man-thing had reached into my hutch and grabbed me and made loud noises at me! And he'd put something around my neck! It was still there! The whole thing was so terrible! I was still trembling when he started making mouth noises at me again. Oh no! What else could go wrong today? Maybe yelling ‘shit!’ at him hadn’t been such a good idea after all? Now he might be meaner still! Ontog Gregory Lombard Prince! he began again. Ontog Gregory Lombard Prince!

Shit! I screamed. Why couldn’t I be left alone? Scared! Shit!

But the human wouldn’t leave. Most likely, I figured, he wasn't smart enough to understand. So I laid there and listened to the bad man chant the same words over and over and over and over until eventually I slept, annoying racket and all.

The next morning I woke up with a terrible headache. In fact, I ached all over; whatever I was lying on, it was hard! I hadn’t slept in such a bad place that I could ever remember. In fact…

I leapt to my feet. This wasn’t right! Where was my hutch! And where was I? Then I remembered. I was hiding under a desk, because Hurnt the elf was trying to work a spell on me-

My head exploded in pain; I rolled over and writhed in agony. Hurthurthurt! Suddenly the universe had become a terribly complicated place! I pawed at my eyes and tried not to think. It worked a little; soon I felt a smidgen better. But I was still hungry and thirsty, and the bad man-thing (Hurnt! a voice whispered in my head, to the accompaniment of a bright flash of pain) was gone. So, moving slowly and with the utmost care, I went looking for something to eat.

At first I liked the new place I was in. There was tons of cover, and it was all spaced out so that I could get to almost anywhere without being seen. But there wasn't anything to eat or drink! So it wasn’t so nice after all, I guessed. Finally I sat down to think about what to do next. When I did, however, my head burst into agony once more. Oh, would the Bad Time never end?

Then someone spoke. Can you hear me, Gregory? It was the bad man-thing from last night! I scurried further under the furniture. That should fix him!

But it didn’t. Gregory, I can feel you in my mind. So I know that you're up and about. Can't you hear me?

His voice wasn’t like other sounds—it didn’t come in through my ears. I shook my head, but it didn't change anything.

Speak to me, Gregory, the voice commanded. Now.

I didn’t want to give away such a good hiding place. But I had to! Go away! I cried out, my misery now complete. Leave me alone! My brain sort of squished around in my head, and wave after wave of nausea washed through me.

I'm sorry that it pains you so, Gregory, the voice said. Really and truly I am. But there's no help for it. You've been far away from home for a long, long time. And it appears that you were happy there, for the most part at least. Which makes things even harder for you.

A single tear rolled down my cheek. Yes, I'd been a very happy bunny indeed, spoiled rotten and surrounded by doting humans. But now the world was getting all complicated again. And I didn’t like it one bit. Go away! I repeated. Leave me alone!

The voice chuckled. "I'll have to remind you of this someday. First you fought like the devil not to be a rabbit for years and years, and now that you actually are one you're putting up just as much of a fuss to stay that way. I think you must be contrary by nature, Gregory. Most Lombards are. In some ways, it's your family's greatest strength. The image of an ancient yet smiling elf flashed through my mind. Do you remember who you are?"

Gregory Lombard Prince, I replied. The sounds should’ve meant something to me. But they didn't.

Good! the voice in my head replied. "Excellent, even! And do you know what you are?"

A rabbit! Just a plain, ordinary bunny-rabbit!

Yes, the voice answered. You're a rabbit, sure enough. But not a plain, ordinary one. And deep down you know it. He paused again. This is going to hurt, Gregory. Both physically and psychologically. Are you ready?

Nonono! I answered, scrambling for a new place to hide. Surely there was somewhere that the nasty voice couldn't find me. "Not hurt! Please not hurt!"

But the pitiless words didn’t stop. You were once a man, Gregory. While you’re now a rabbit at heart, you’re also at the same time still him. Do you understand?

Nonono! I replied. Now I was curled up on the floor; red-hot pincers ripping my skull apart! Why couldn't the man-thing shut up and quit forcing me to think when I didn’t want to?

"No, of course you don’t understand. You can’t, because you’re still far more the rabbit than Gregory. But that’s about to change, for better or for worse. He paused a moment, then sighed. Rabbit, in a very real sense you’re about to die, through the act of becoming someone else. It’s hard, but necessary. Because that someone else first died to become you. Do you understand me?"

Nonono! I wailed in pain and