The Ship

A Shield lay on the fire. It floated silently into the air like a kite grabbed by a breeze, then shot away, trailing ash across the burning sky. Concealed within its armored face was a dark office. Shelves filled with leather-bound manuscripts lined the walls. The constable sat at his desk. He dipped his claw into the ink jar and scratched words onto parchment by the firelight, kneading the pane behind him.

“Would you like me to send an all-points bulletin?” a mechanism said, walking in through the hatch.

The mechanism had a square head. The cogs inside his chest ticked. The firelight glowing through the porthole shone on his metal skin.

“Don’t bother,” the constable said.

“Other constables could be on the lookout for your suspect, if informed.”

“This is my arrest.”

The constable got up and went to the kitchen on the other side of his office. He opened the pantry. Inside were lagomorphs wearing little black waistcoats and masks. Their ears perked when they looked up from their grimoires to see his smile.

“Greetings,” they said.

The constable grabbed one by the tuft on the back of his neck. He hugged him, stroked his ears, and closed the pantry door. He cracked the lagomorph’s neck and dressed it on the counter next to the basin. A flame sprang up from the countertop. He placed the carcass beside the flame, and the meat seared and crackled. The smoke, entrails, book, and mask were vacuumed into the waste pipe like dust, and he stretched the pelt on a rack to dry.

The constable placed his baton on the weapon rack. He unfastened his coat and hung it on the hook. Then he removed his mask and placed it on the rack above his baton. He dropped to all fours, resuming his natural black feline form. He swallowed his meal whole and leapt onto the porthole’s ledge, where he lay, gazing into the fire and swatting away irritants with his tail. He laid his head on his paws and closed his sunset eyes.

“Good evening!” someone said moments later.

“Who’s there?” the feline said with a start.

A wizard emerged, drawing the bookshelf aside like a curtain. He wore a long beard that hung from the bottom of his white mask and a weathered green robe. Ivory-feathered wings were folded on his back.

“You are from the Loyal Trench?” the feline said.

“You’ve heard of me.”

“You’re welcome aboard my ship.”

“Thank you. Do you mind if I take off my mask?”

“Make yourself at home.”

The wizard removed his mask, revealing the face of a white canid with long floppy ears and a big black nose.

“Most are uncomfortable seeing me as a simple creature, but you constables see a lot more than conventional folk.”

“Unfortunately true,” the feline said, hopping from the ledge.

“I’ve never seen the inside of a constable’s ship before,” the wizard said.

“That’s usually a good thing, isn’t it?”

“I suppose it is,” the wizard laughed. “It smells like roasted lagomorph in here.”

“I just had breakfast. There aren’t any leftovers. I was very hungry.”

“No bother at all,” the wizard said, pulling an apple out of his satchel. “Why are you in Wanton Moor?”

“I needed a heading to begin my investigation.”

“Met with the queen?”

“I did.”

“Do you mind if I eat?”

“Of course not.”

“I know the Baszilisk well,” the wizard said, taking a bite of his apple. “She and I had many dalliances–until I lost my self, after which she named me one of her arch-enemies.”

“What cause would she have to hate you so much?”

“Mm, good apple … I freed myself of her influence.”

“How is that possible?” the feline said, perking his ears.

“I hope you find out, but probably not today. What’s your heading?”

“We’re tracking a monster hiding in the Domicile Sanctum.”

A troubled look overcame the wizard’s face.

“This is your office,” he said. “But most are not so comfortable using that language in my presence.”

“I mean you no discomfort, but a monster should be regarded as a monster, not held to the standard of innocent creatures.”

“Okay,” the wizard said, taking another bite. “The Baszilisk is one of the richest rulers in the Infinite Beyonds. She profits from the craving of the masses, not their gratification. She is lying to you.”

“She’s given me the only lead I have.”

“What if your suspect fled? What if he was never there?”

“He’d have left evidence if he was ever there. His trail of victims will lead me to his bloodbath. If I find the bloodbath, I’ll find the monster.”

“I’ve also heard bloodbaths referred to as spawning pools.”

“They can be used for that too, which is another reason I need to find him fast. I cannot entertain the thought of him reproducing.”

The wizard removed a silver compass from a little shepherd’s crook on his waist. He opened the compass and surveyed its face.

“Tell your pilot to alter course to azimuth fifty-one by seventy-three degrees,” he said.

The feline nodded, and the mechanism went up the stairs to the bridge. The wizard clapped his compass shut and tapped the bulkhead three times. The fire outside the porthole changed into a white mist that swirled into the shape of a tunnel that led to a white light.

“Changing to another realm without traveling to a deactualization point …” the feline said. “That’s quite a trick. I could have used you on other cases.”

“What put you onto the Oglr?” the wizard said, placing his compass back on its crook.

“His musk.”

“A smell?”

“Yes. Type matched in the Constabulary Station.”

The feline went to the cage in the wall and reemerged a moment later with a couple scraps of fabric in his mouth. The wizard took them and sniffed.

“How can you be sure these samples match?”

“I’m sure.”

“My nose is far more powerful than yours. The scents are close, but I doubt they are the same.”

“They are the same.”

“Assuming that’s true, how do you intend to apprehend this Oglr?”

The wizard gave the rags back to the feline.

“I believe he’ll turn himself over once I find him,” the feline said, walking the evidence back into the locker.

“You’ve had an impressive career,” the wizard said, walking over to the shelf and removing a volume.

Inside the book was a dark crystal sunken into the pages.

“You caught the Heheebkau twins who murdered their father,” he said, clapping the book shut and replacing it, then grabbing another.

“The Agbatt boy who buggered and murdered his own mother,” he said, clapping the book shut and removing another.

“The Woekooni who robbed her own kits,” he said, clapping it shut and removing another.

“The Wulf who was eating his employees to collect life insurance,” he said, clapping it shut and putting it back on the shelf. “You’ve got all these suspects in custody, just sitting here, crystallized in your books. Why haven’t you delivered them to court to stand trial?”

“The constables are overwhelmed right now, as I’m sure you know. These monsters are comfortable where they’re at, for the time being.”

The wizard cocked his head to the side. The feline stepped out of the evidence locker and slammed the cage door shut.

“I am aware of this Oglr you speak of,” the wizard said. “He’s dangerous. Are you willing to waste all your good work just to arrest one suspect?”

“I risk it all with every suspect I arrest.”

“You have a musk of your own, you know. One I know as the smell of distress, so potent that I was compelled to come find you. How long has it been since you saw your family?”

“Almost two years.”

“That’s very unfortunate.”

“Well, that’s the way it is.”

“Does it really have to be? What loss has driven you so far from home?”

“My son.”

“You lost a kitten?” the wizard said with a quiver of tragedy.

“Not lost. Taken. By the Oglr whose stench permeates that little blanket.”

“Do you have any hard evidence proving this is the same creature who napped your kitten?”

“The Oglr’s musk follows him everywhere he goes, permeating everything he touches. This is the same stink he left on my kitten’s blanket and window sill.”

“That’s thin, even for a scent-creature like me.”

“It’s the only thing I have to work with.”

The wizard looked deeply into the feline’s eyes.

“This loss is not your fault, you know?”

“I was at home when he was taken!”

“The Oglr, and those like him, are no simple-minded crooks. They’re more powerful than you think.”

“Any information you have could be of great benefit to me.”

“I am already giving you the information I believe will benefit you. If you choose to throw life away despite it, then there’s nothing I can do to help.”

“Maybe you underestimate my power. I’ve survived many monsters.”

“I wasn’t referring to your life. You have a wife too, I surmise, and other kittens?”

“Yes.”

“How many kittens do you have?”

“Two.”

“Girls? Boys?”

“Two girls.”

“That’s wonderful. Why not go home? I’m sure they miss you terribly.”

“My son deserves justice.”

“He does? Or you do?”

“Others will suffer if I don’t find his napper, wizard! Would you have me abandon my duties?”

“You’ll never see your home again if you attempt to catch the criminals lurking in every realm.”

“I must catch this one before I can go home. I can’t give up.”

“Why not?”

“It’s my vocation. Moral enforcement is weaved into the dust of my being. My son will haunt me until I catch his napper.”

“Perhaps if you had the cooperation of the realms, but that’s always been in short supply. Creatures don’t trust constables. Nobody would think any less of you.”

“I would think less of me.”

“Self … That’s what it’s really all about.”

“There’s more to it than that.”

The wizard’s ears perked. He took another bite of his apple.

“The queen has decreed I pursue my suspect.”

The wizard fell silent. His floppy ears drooped. Sympathy saddened his eyes as several long moments passed.

“I did not realize there was a royal decree involved,” the wizard said.

“And nobody can refuse a royal decree.”

“No, they cannot. Your investigation will be dangerous, but imprisonment in Blanding Flats will be far worse if you give up.”

“That’s why I must succeed.”

The wizard went to the porthole and gazed at the thoroughfare swirling outside.

“Criminals will be criminals,” he said. “They can do a lot of damage when they step out of their hells. You might stop one of them, which is honorable, but what about the damage done to your family? What about the untold damage they will cause after growing up without a father? Your kind are powerful creatures too, even though they often bind themselves unfairly to their machinations. Few ever learn to compartmentalize their responsibilities.”

“My family knows who I am.”

“You have a lot in common with your great-great-grandfather.”

“You knew my great-great-grandfather?”

“I crewed under him. Never knew a better skipper.”

“But that must have been …”

“Over three hundred years ago.”

“I thought you’re a canid from the Loyal Trench.”

“I am.”

“But they only live about …”

“I am very old. I expect to die any time now, but the king of Goldin Tickets has decreed otherwise. I understand what it’s like being bound to a royal decree, but I also live by perspective. I must be needed in the hard times ahead.”

“Can you tell me more about my ancestor?”

“The Pather was skillful and driven–a natural leader. He held to his values no matter the cost, even if it meant his life and the lives of his crew, which I understand it eventually did.”

“Help me.”

“Pardon?”

“One with your abilities could make a speedy arrest. Help me find the monster so I can go home.”

“I’ve given you all the help I can. That’s why I’m here. I am a master voyager. I can change you to another realm or repair your ship, but I cannot heal the wounds you inflict. Law enforcement is not in my nature.”

“What should I do then?”

“Only you know what’s best for you.”

Moments passed as the wizard’s words sank in.

“Ah,” the wizard said, licking what remained of his apple and placing his mask back on his face. “You’ll never be truly happy until you let go of Wanton Moor.”

The wizard pulled aside the bulkhead like a curtain and vanished between its folds. The bulkhead returned to its solid form, leaving the black feline with a browning apple core at his feet.