Everything after that is fuzzy. Salamander carried me to the edge of town and left me there. The next morning, someone found me and took me to the hospital. My broken leg never healed quite right, and I quit being a bounty hunter. The local police department didn't believe me when I told them what had happened, even after they found Jakob's body. They claimed it was a large dog that had killed him. As far a I know, to this day they haven't been able to explain the burn marks. Recently I went back to see if they were still hot. They were.

        I never went back into those woods, for fear of what else might be lurking there. Maybe my fears are justified. Maybe I'm just a coward. but that thing, that Dog Man, was way more terrifying than any wild animal, and if there are more like it, then I want to stay far away from them at all costs.

        I did see Salamander one more time, many years later. He had a young silver haired boy with pointed ears with him. The boy's right eye was ice blue, and his left was golden yellow. When he smiled in greeting, his front teeth were pointed like a carnivore's. I'll never for get the kid's confusion when I backed away from him. I feel bad about how I reacted to this day. The kid couldn't have been older than three or four. I still remember my conversation with Salamander.

         "Why are you back?" I asked

        "To ensure your silence." Salamander replied. "You are one of the only humans who know of my kind. If you were to let the rest of the world know of our existence, there would be a war, and humanity would not survive."

         "Why would there be a war? Wouldn't this knowledge be helpful to humanity? What if another monster like that Dog Man surfaces? Humanity needs to know!" I insisted

        "You will NOT reveal this information!" Salamander growled. "If you do, so help me Michael I will kill you with my bare hands! Any other Eternal would have let the Dog Man kill you and Jakob, then attacked while he fed on your pathetic corpses!"

        "Then why did you save me?" I asked "If any other Eternal would have let me die, than why didn't you? And what is an Eternal, anyway?"

        Salamander stood there for a long time, a pained look on his face, like he was remembering something terrible that had happened to him long ago. The kid was playing in a nearby lot, squealing and laughing as he chased down a stray cat. He tackled the disheveled feline, and hugged it affectionately. The cat fought and clawed like a demon to get away from him, like the kid was a rabid dog biting down with the intent to kill instead of a playful human child.

         Eventually, Salamander answered.

        "I saved you for my own reasons, and they are none of your concern. As for Eternals, they are beings with the ability to live forever. Each of us possess a unique animal spirit, and when we die, that spirit inhabits a new body, thus creating a new Eternal. In return for hosting the animal, we receive immortality."

        "If you're immortal, how can you die and pass on the spirit?" I asked him.

        "What a foolish question." Salamander responded " You saw with your own eyes how an eternal can die."

        "You die by being killed by another Eternal?" I asked, shocked.

        " Indeed." Salamander responded.

        " Wait. You told the Dog Man that you would raise his successor. Does that mean that, that boy you brought with you is Dog Man?" I questioned, afraid the boy would turn into the monster that had killed Jakob.

        "No." Salamander replied. "He is not the Dog Man, though he is the Dog Man's successor. I fear he is much worse. He is a Wolf Man."

        " But you said that the animal spirit was passed on to another body. If the spirit inhabiting the Dog Man was a dog, how is that boy a Wolf Man?" I snapped.

        "Long ago, four animal spirits, The dog, cat, wolf, and Mountain Lion were all killed on the same day. Because of a special connection shared between them, the dog fused with the wolf, and the the cat fused with the mountain lion. More often then not, when one of the fused spirits is passed on, it is the dog or cat that makes itself manifest. Only rarely do the wolf do the wolf or mountain lion display dominance. And whenever a wolf or mountain lion rears its head, it means the other will not be far behind." Salamander replied.

        "That kid, how old is he?" I asked

        "Brendan is three." He replied.

        "And has the mountain lion manifested?" I asked him.

        He shook his head and said "The mountain lion is always a late bloomer. I wouldn't be surprised if it didn't appear for a year or so." I could tell he was hiding something, but I decided it wasn't a very good idea to press him.

        He looked over to the boy, who was crying because the cat had scratched him badly and run way. Salamander opened his arms, like he was going to give the kid a big hug and said "Brendan, its time to go." They boy walked into Salamander's embrace. "Don't cry over a silly cat, my cub."

        The boy sniffled and said "I only wanted to play with it. Why does it hate me?"

        "Because it doesn't know how much fun you are." Salamander said softly

         As I watched, a familiar pair of emerald green wings with fiery red tattoos sprouted from his back. He turned to me and said "Remember, you tell no one about us, or I will hunt you down. And I am far more terrifying than any Dog Man." And with that final warning, he spread his wings and soared off, and I never saw Salamander or the boy again.

 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

You're probably asking yourself, "Why did he write this?". Its simple really: I have nothing to lose. I never married, never had kids. Most of my direct family died a long time ago. If Salamander wants to hunt me down, then so be it. I'm ready for him.