Sheepdog

"He looks like a little sheepdog, wouldn't you say?" Ripley asked me. "Y'know, with that kind of coat on him?"

"Oh, and you're one to talk, Shucky," Puck responded, arms crossed.

I gave a little laugh hearing someone else call him Shucky.

"Okay, okay, all of you cut it out," Evan said, kneeling down to reach the puck's level, although he was still a few inches taller.

"Can you tell us anything about the cadejo negro, Black Dog, or Shadow Beast?"

"You mean like that guy over there?" Puck pointed.

"No, I don't. He's a Black Shuck."

"We're in the same family, but he's even worse than I am," Ripley called out.

"Exactly; we're talking about a creature that looks like a shadow with nothing attached to it, but can become unattached to attack; they have also been known to kill a shadow and, as a result, kill the person who the shadow belongs to."

"Aren't those extinct?"

"There was one that was kept for research or preservation or something to that effect, and it escaped. That's what we're looking for."

"Oh, I know what you're talking about!" Puck smiled. "Come and follow me!"

Puck

We ran after the shaggy black thing, and Ripley (or, if you prefer, Shucky) leapt onto its back and grabbed its neck, twisting it around. It was then that we saw a short little face with pointed ears, wrinkles, and an oversized nose.

"Let go of me!" He shouted in a squeaky voice, and Ripley did. The figure he had grabbed popped up. He was a midget with knobby knees. The shaggy blackness that we had seen was a coat that had probably come from some kind of spitz dog, like a Swedish Lapphund.

"What are you?" I asked. I had never seen anything like him.

"Allow me to introduce myself. I am Puck, part sprite and part hobgoblin. How may I assist you?"

(sorry this is so short; I've been really busy lately)

The Hunt Begins

Chapter Three

In Which We Hunt a Cadejo Negro

A black-and-white cat, a shaggy black dog, and a police officer sneaking around in the bushes looks even more normal than a red-eyed dog the size of a cow with cloven hooves and horns, right? Please tell me that you said no.

"Do you even know where this monster lives?" Evan said through gritted teeth.

"Of course I do! Just trust me!"

"I have a hard time trusting anybody with a record."

"Be quoiet, de both av yer! Oi'm tryin' ter 'ear!" I hissed.

"Sorry," they said simultaneously.

I stood stark still and listened until I heard a faint brush to the west. I pricked my ears in that direction and heard something like footprints. It was probably just some hunter, but I took a few steps closer to get a better look at it. Something large, furry, and black. Maybe it was just a bear?

"That's it! Over there! The cadejo negro!"

"I thought that you wanted to call it a Shadow Beast," Evan said.

"It doesn't matter, what matters is that we've got him! Go! Go!"

We went, all right.