Religion is a human invention, and the concept of gods is not one we foxes share. You won't find us worshiping an invisible deity that demands sacrifices, or whatever other brutalities the humans invent.No, we know of something darker still.
We have no god, but we do know a hell. And it is called The Scream. Imagine a pit so black that even the eyes of a fox, so precise they can see a black mouse during the new moon, can penetrate none of it. No sensation, no vision. Only the Scream. This is what awaits those who do no good. So behave, little foxling, or you might find yourself there once the cold clutches of death reach you.
You see those rocky hills over yonder? We call those the Screaming Stones. If you listen on a windy day, you'll hear it. The long, high-pitched shriek of the damned. If you venture in to those fell rocks, you'll find them full of tunnels. The darkness is absolute down there, and no fox who has ventured farther than a few meters has never returned. Some say they lead directly in to the Scream.
But no, little one, don't look so terrified. That isn't the only place a fox could go. Do well in this life, protect the ones you love, and you will return to our mother, the earth. When you die, your body will feed the grass and the trees, and you will join the great collective spirit that is our mother earth. And if you are particularly good, little one, perhaps you will get the option to be reborn anew, and experience the world with new eyes.
But listen to your mother, don't stray far from the path of good, or you may find yourself lost in the Long Scream.
Sleep tight, little one.
