FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

The appearance of the golem at the entrance was something that attracted a lot of attention, just as it did as the golem went back to the mall. That initial impression passed, the cops once more had retreat back to the tent, and once in there, they now were looking at the thing that the golem delivered to Marceli.

"Didn't knew that there were still some of these around." Nick said, as he looked at the apparatus. It was a cell phone. Not the modern day carrot phones that you could buy at the stores. The thing was massive, and it looked heavy. It looked pretty much like one of the earliest models of mobile phone that were release on the early 80s.

"Seriously, that thing should be at a museum."

The other animals were around the table, either standing on a chair (for the smaller ones) or just standing there (for the bigger ones), as some of them were trying to understand why the phone had been given. However, it seemed that the Enforcers really know.

"They will be calling through this." Marceli said, "It is pretty obvious."

"Well, they could at least have gotten a more up to date model? I mean, where did they even get that thing?" Nick asked, still amazed that there was a thing like that around, or that people would still use it. Part of him was not surprised, for he had heard how mages were with technology, but still, it was amazing that they would resort to something like that.

Suddenly, the thing came to life, playing an old tune to signal that it was calling.

There was a rush among the cops, as Marceli calmly reached out for it, pressing a button and taking it to his head.

"Hello?" He said, and the answer came from the phone.

"Yes, I can hear you." The fox said, and he listened a few more.

"My name is Marceli Mieczyslaw, of the Mieczyslaw clan."

He listened intently at what the one on the other end of the phone was saying. The fox frowned a little bit, and some could sworn that his lips curled a bit in a snarl.

"Please, don't call me that." The fox said patiently, and the one on the other end seemed to carry on. The fox nodded as he listened. He kept in silence at all the times, and he was good at keeping his expression neutral. However, to some, like Nick, it was easy to say that the fox was becoming tense with what he was hearing. After a while, the fox simply lowered the phone, placing it back in the table, before he sighed.

Everyone else stared at him as he simply stood there, his expression empty. That mammal looked like he was the king of poker face.

"So?" One of the officers around finally said. "What did they said?"

Marceli sighed, and he said:

"They have taken over the mall; there are groups of golems and mammals under the effect of hypnosis as their mammalpower. They have blocked the doors and reinforced them with spells, and they will know if we try to force them open. There are groups of hostages under watch on each floor, each one surrounded by a group under their control and if they realize we are trying to break in, the groups will be harmed. They also said that there are mages hired by them inside the mall to provide additional force, probably freelancers, though I can think about very few who would be willing to do something like this."

The fox explained to it all with a lot of professionalism, and his expression and voice didn't wavered even for a second. Everyone shared looks as they heard to what the fox said, and it was Judy who spoke:

"Did they mention anything about the hostages?" She asked, "They said their names or what kind of mammals they were?"

"Only that they had them in good number and that they were divided in groups spread over the floors." The fox said, "And that they would pay dearly if we tried to invade the mall by force."

Judy tensed a bit, once more worrying about the safety of her relatives, who could probably be among the groups of hostages. Nick placed a paw on her shoulder to comfort her, as he looked at the black tod, and asked:

"Did they demanded anything?"

Marceli looked at him, and for a moment, it seemed that he was debating if he should or not tell them. Eventually, he said:

"They want back what we took from them."

The mammals on the room shared looks among themselves.

"And, that would be...?" Nick asked again, and the black tod looked at him.

"The wooden box that you and Officer Hopps brought to us a few days ago, along with the golem remains."

Nick blinked, and so did Judy. The cops shared a look among themselves.

"They are taking the whole mall over that!?" Nick asked, and the fox looked back at him.

"So it seems." He sounded neutral as he spoke that, and the other mammals around shared looks.

"Well, then maybe you should give it to them." Someone suggested, making the eyes turn to the said mammal, including the eyes of the black tod.

"That is exactly what I don't plan to do." The black tod said, causing all of the other mammals in the room to look at him.

"Excuse me?" The polar bear said, looking at the fox. "You mean that there are mammals being threatened by a crazed mage, and you are saying that you will do nothing about it?"

His tone was aggressive as he spoke that, and some actually flinched. However, the black tod remained impassive.

"I didn't said that. I just said that I don't intent to give them what they want."

"And why would be that? If I may ask." The polar bear said; arms crossed as he looked at the fox.

"First of all, because we have no guarantee that they will actually release the hostages if we give it to them." The fox said to them, "Which is part of the reason why many police force departments have a policy of not attending to the demands of kidnappers and terrorists. Unless I'm mistaken." The tod said, and the polar bear saw himself forced to admit. There truly were no guarantees that the one responsible for this would actually release the hostages once the demand was meet.

"And second, because if they are willing to go this far to have that back, this means that it must be important enough for them to ignore the danger that comes from exposing themselves like that." The fox continued, "And if the MTC wants the box back this bad, then it might be a good idea to keep that out of their paws."

"MTC?" McChill asked, looking at the fox. "You know who is behind this?" The polar bear asked.

Nick and Judy shared a look. This was not the first time they heard about the MTC, as it had been told to them by the enforcers themselves what they were about.

"Sure do." The fox admitted, "They are a criminal organization composed by mages. One of their main forms of business is producing and selling golems like the ones that we saw back there." He explained, looking at the bear, "The style of the golems is hard to mistake, these golems were made by the MTC."

Everyone talked among themselves as they took in the information that the fox had just gave them.

"You said that they sell these things?" Another officer said, "So, it could maybe be someone else using golems they bought from them?"

"Not likely." The fox said, "Just a few days ago, Officers Wilde and Hopps have brought the box, saying that they apprehended it from an attempt of trade between a freelancer and a member of the MTC. Now the very same box is being demanded in exchange for hostages? To me it seems that the MTC wants their package back."

Everyone took in what the fox told them, and this was causing them to get increasingly worried. A group of criminal mages that now wanted something that they truly want back? Like the mobs that they were used to hear about and sometimes deal with? This could not end well...

"Well, they will not have that back." Emilia said, and Marceli nodded.

"Indeed, for all that we know of the MTC, giving it to them would only cause them to consider the hostages as disposable. Also, the fact that a criminal group is taking such an elevated interest in that box and its contents is surely motive to worry." The fox said, and everyone looked at them. Some of them agreed with the fox, but others were worried that denying the responsible what they wanted could bring grave consequences to the hostages.

"So, what do we do now?" Nick asked, and the black tod looked back at him.

"Now we wait." He said simply, and some of the cops looked at him.

"And...?" Judy said, and the fox looked at her.

"And that's it."

Everyone stared at the black fox, and it was McChill who said something:

"So, you plan of action is just sit around and do nothing?" The bear said, sounding a bit outraged, and Marceli looked at him. "Well, you enforcers are surely proving to be quite useless right now."

"McChill, please!" Judy said, trying to make the bear stand down. However, she too didn't really liked the idea of just sitting and doing nothing while her family was in danger. However, she already understood that they were in a difficult position.

"What else can we do?" The fox said, looking at the bear. "We can't give them what they want."

"Yes, but we can rescue the hostages!"

"Without knowing where they are?" The fox retorted, "It would most likely only bring us trouble, as we will be inside without being able to help them at all. Not to mention that they surely have placed bounded fields within the doors, so if we break in, they will surely know and order the hostages to be executed. We would basically risk ourselves by going inside only to find corpses."

Everyone flinched with the way that the fox was speaking. It was not because he was aggressive or anything, but because he spoke it with an absolute sureness, as if he knew that this was exactly what was going to happen.

"Still, this is no reason to only sit around and do nothing!"

"We cannot do anything in the state things are now!" The fox shot back, now raising his voice. "We cannot go inside to rescue them and put ourselves in danger without even knowing their precise location! So, as far as I can tell, we all have our paws tied! Unless you have another idea! Do you have another idea, Officer McChill? If you do, please share with us!"

"Why you filthy pelt." The polar bear said, his lips curling as he snarled at the fox. "You are just a coward little-"

"McChill!"

A booming voice suddenly broke what was developing, and everyone turned around to look at the newcomer.

At the entrance of the tent, stood Chief Bogo, still on his uniform. They finally had managed to open the car enough that the buffalo was able to get out of it. Like Nick, he had been lucky enough to get only some bruises from the whole episode. It seemed that Nick was not the only lucky animal on the force.

"Chief." Someone said, and the Cape buffalo only looked at the scene that was unfolding before him.

"I stay away for some minutes, and when I arrive I see mammals who were supposed to be working together ready to go at each other's necks." The buffalo said. McChill was quickly to try to justify himself.

"Chief, the enforcers know who is the responsible for this event! They have been withholding information from us!" The polar bear said as he pointed an accusing finger at the foxes. Both of them looked indifferent under the accusations of the bear. The buffalo looked at them with a raised eyebrow.

"The ones behind this event are the MTC." The black tod said to the buffalo. "And truth is; we have had knowledge that they were in the city for a while now. Ever since your officers brought the box and the golem remains to us four days ago. We didn't had how to predict that something like that would happen, but we should have gave the threat more attention."

"Darn right you should, pelt!" McChill said, and Bogo was quick to react:

"Enough, McChill!"

The way that the buffalo spoke was to make it clear that he wanted it to stop. It was efficient, as it made everyone in the tent, even the ones who were not taking part or paying attention in the squabble between the polar bear and the foxes, to stop and look at the buffalo, who was now looking at the polar bear.

"But, Chief..."

"Don't come 'but, Chief' with me, you are not eleven and I'm not your father!" The buffalo said, cutting the polar bear. "Yeah, the enforcers could have shared an information with us but they didin't, and this came back to bite all of us, but throwing the blame at them will not solve our situation. We need to think of a way of solving it, and this means working together. So you better stop with this attitude right now!"

The polar bear surely flinched as he heard that from his boss. He looked like he still wanted to try to justify himself. However, the look that the buffalo was giving him was preventing him of actually saying anything. So, the ursine simply looked away. This was a clear sign that he had been defeated.

Bogo seemed satisfied with this, and he turned to the black fox.

"So, since I lost a little of what happened while they were getting my out of that van, could someone please tell me what I missed?"

The black tod was glad to give to him the information that he needed. He told him about the golems, about the phone call, and even gave him a quick briefing about the ones that they believed to be behind the event.

"We really should have given this more attention." The black tod said, "The MTC is a big problem, all of the enforcers know that."

"Yeah, they really seem to be." The buffalo agreed, as he mentally repassed all that the fox explained to him. "You are right, in the state things are in, we cannot simply go inside. It would put the hostage and ourselves at risk."

"So, what do we do?" Judy asked, looking up at her boss, and the buffalo looked down at her.

"We plan and try to find a way." The buffalo said.

"And meanwhile, we wait." The black tod said, and Bogo agreed with him. It seemed that it was finally enough for the cops, as they all agreed.

Some were still not quite satisfied with this. For example, McChill still could not accept to just stand down and wait for something to happen, mainly because it will mean that he would listen to two foxes. The other one was Judy, but that was because she still was dead worried about her family, but she recognized that she could not really do anything, at least not in the current state of things.

Soon the cops were on their way, as they continued to move back and forth to gather information and come up with a way to get into the mall and rescue the hostages.

"You sure that this is how we'll go, boss?" Asked McHorn, as the rhino accompanied the buffalo away from the table.

"Right now it is the best we can do." The buffalo said to him. "As soon as we have a plan we will be able to get things going. I just hope that we don't get killed trying to rescue the mammals inside."

"Well, if that fox goes with us then I won't be worried." The rhino said, "He can just touch the golems and make them explode."

This caused Bogo to stop, and he looked at the rhino.

"What did you said?"

"Yeah, the fox can make things explode after touching them." The rhino said to the buffalo, who had wide eyes. "He did it with the golems back there. It was freaky, to be honest. I don't want to know if he could do that with mammals."

With that, the rhino walked off, going to make his duty. Meanwhile, Bogo stood where he was, looking at the departing rhino, before he turned his look at the table, at the black fox that was discussing with his niece.

Making them explode after touching them...

This sounded awfully familiar to Bogo. The only difference was that of the species. Mieczyslaw was a fox, not a wolf...

---

A group of mammals was walking on the hallways of the mall, which seemed like the empty streets of an abandoned town. All the while, the mammals continued to make some noise as they went, kicking down anything that was still standing, and putting their paws and hooves up while they cried "rock n' roll!" and stuff.

They looked like a very troublesome bunch, the kind that others would want to avoid at any cost. Of course, it would be hard since the mall was currently under siege by these mammals, as well as by the golems that companied them. This particular group had two golems, which walked alongside the seven crazed mammals, following obediently and in silence.

The group passed by some more trashcans, and they kicked one of them, sending it to the ground, before they continued their way, calling out and making a fuss.

There were a few minutes of silence, before one of the fallen trashcans said:

"I think they are gone now."

With this, from the trashcan that was still standing, the lid was remove by someone on the inside, before a blue-eyed female thylacine peeked out, looking around. From the trashcan on the ground, a male wolf with white fur and wearing a ZPD uniform forced the lid out of the trashcan and crawled out of the fallen container.

Once he was out, Eliot Fanghanel soon was helping his wife out of her own trashcan.

He felt kind of bad for making her hide in there, but he had to think fast when he realized that there was another group coming their direction and they would not have time to make a run for it.

It was bad enough that they had been unlucky to not being able to get out of the place before the exits got blocked by the guys. The last thing they needed now was to be catch by these groups and truly become hostages, or worse...

"Okay, the coast is clear. Let's go." Eliot said, as he and his wife sneaked past the empty hallways. The wolf made it sure to keep the female thylacine as close to him as possible. She was almost too close, but for Eliot she was just close enough for him to be able to protect her in a moment's notice.

"Don't worry, we will find a way out." The wolf said to her. The past three paths that they tried to find that could lead to an exit were being covered by these living statues and by the crazed 'rock n' roll' guys. They were also watching the stairs, escalators and elevators, in a way that these options were not viable to move between a floor and another. There was also the fact that these groups were still walking across the hallways, apparently looking for more mammals to capture.

This forced the two mammals to sneak around to avoid capture by them, for they had already seen that they could be aggressive.

Eliot was holding his wife's paw as he guided her across the pathways, and he was determined to get his dear Pumpkin out of danger. She looked so troubled right now, that it just teared Eliot's heart.

"Eliot." She said, immediately granting him to look at her. "Maybe... Maybe I could help. Maybe I can help you take down some of these mammals."

"No way." Eliot said, quite more incisively than what he usually did. "No way am I letting you fight these wackos and those freakish walking statues! It is too dangerous." He looked at her, and stopped for a moment to take her paws into his own and look in her eyes.

"If worst comes to worst, I want you to run as fast as you can and hide."

"But, Eliot..." She said, but the wolf cut her off.

"I'll try to buy you as much time as I can, so you can escape." He said, looking at her lovingly in the eyes. "I'll not let them touch you."

"Eliot..."

"You can leave everything to me." He said, giving her a reassuring smile. "Don't worry, I'll get you covered."

"Oh, Eliot." Chloe said, looking in the devoted eyes of her husband. "Why are you always like that?"

"Hey, I promised when we married that I would always protect you, didn't I?" The wolf said with a shrug. "Seriously, I put it in my vows. It was between the eternal undying love and the promise to never ever keep secrets from you."

Chloe looked at him. He hoped this would ease her mind with his words. However, she seemed to have become even sadder at this. Could it be because she was truly worried about him?

She was about to say something...

"Rock n' roll!"

The two mammals stood in attention as they heard the familiar cries of more of these crazed mammals. Eliot wasted no time, as he soon was pulling his wife by the paw and urging her to run.

The calls of "rock n' roll" were coming after them. That group seemed to be going on the same direction that they were going. Eliot was about to turn a corner, but he stopped in the last moment, causing Chloe to also stop and lean against the wall as the wolf peered over the corner.

Two of the living statues were just around the corner, standing in there as if they were guarding something. They were there most likely for how it was an important path to move to the other side of that floor, so someone who was walking around and trying to escape would most likely pass by them and be capture.

However, this also meant that, if they could get past them, they would surely be in advantage. Eliot understood that almost immediately, and his mind already came up with a plan.

"There are two of the statue guys in there." He said to his wife. "I'll distract them and you use this chance to run."

"What about you?" She asked, and Eliot was quick to some up with an answer.

"I'll be fine. I just have to get past them and reach you. You just worry on running while they are distracted with me. We gotta do it now."

Indeed, the voices of the crazed mammals were getting closer, indicating that they would soon reach Eliot and his wife, spot them, and then it would really be problem. They needed to get away, and the only way now was past these stone guys.

It was now or never, and Eliot soon was able to convince his wife of that.

"Ready..." The wolf said, with his wife really close to him, as he got ready mentally for what he was about to do.

This gotta be one of my craziest ideas, and that's really saying a lot. The wolf thought to himself, right before:

"Now!"

Eliot immediately jumped across the corner, and waved his arms.

"Hey, stone dudes!" The wolf cried, causing both of the beings made of rock to look at him with their lenses/eyes. "Did you guys run out from some square or maybe the entrance of a hotel? I wonder if the pigeons knew that you guys are hiding here!"

The two beings soon were going in direction to the wolf, both of them with sure steps, and it looked like they had no hurry. Eliot took this chance to walk around, moving himself farther from the corner, to be sure the stone dudes would not have it in their sight, and Chloe would be able to sneak past them while he had them distracted.

"So, did you guys decided to take a break from just standing still all the time?" Eliot taunted, as the two statues had their "eyes" on him all the time. "Well, can't really blame you, I just feel like walking if I stay in a place for too long."

As they got closer to him, and the wolf continued to move, the two stone creatures were farther from the corner, until they almost had their backs turned to it.

"So, what is like to be a statue?" Eliot asked, having an eye at the two creatures, although he was also looking behind them, at his wife, who was already giving the first steps to sneak past them and get moving.

"Do you guys try to make competitions like, 'who stops to take more selfies near me', or 'how many pigeons leave love packages in me', or something...?" He did, and his wife was taking this chance to move. She stopped for a moment to look at him with a worried expression, before sprinting into running. As Eliot saw that, he knew that now was the time for him too to try to get away.

"See you around, pebble-heads!" The wolf said, as he suddenly dashed, aiming to go after his wife. However, he stopped and yipped as he felt stony fingers wrapping around his tail.

Hearing this, Chloe stopped and her tracks and turned around, seeing her husband being hold by one of the golems.

"Eliot!"

"Hey! Only my Pumpkin can grab my tail!" The wolf said, and turned around, immediately moving his leg into a kick to the groin of the stone creature.

It connected, and the scene froze for two seconds, as Eliot's face change from the angry determination to one of surprised pain. Soon, the Wolf was shrinking to the ground, whining and holding his ankle as he curled into a ball.

Meanwhile, the stone being was standing before him, raising its primitive sword made of chipped stone, ready to strike. Eliot looked up, and he saw that weapon ready to come down at him.

The wolf held his breath, as flashes of his life went through his eyes.

This is terrible... I'll never met me future pups. I'll never see Judy and Nick getting married. I'll never be able to renew my vows with Pumpkin on our 40th anniversary!

The wolf could only look and wait for the weapon to come down and end his life.

The weapon came down. However, it didn't connected with Eliot's body.

For, in the moment it came down, something flew across the air and stood in between the wolf and the weapon. The thing was translucent, but it was solid enough that the blade was stop by it. Right after, the thing projected back into the golem, pushing it back as it disappeared in thin air.

Eliot blinked, confused as to what had just transpired. As he did, his ears picked out some familiar voice speaking something that he didn't understood.

Looking back, he saw Chloe walking forward, determination on her face and her arms rose to her sides, as she kept chanting something. As she did, shapes were moving around her, seemingly coming out of her body. They were not very clear at first, but they got more solid as they moved out of her body. Not only that, but they changed from the invisible to the more visible, as if they were really materializing from an energy that came from her body.

Eliot watched with wide eyes as shapes materialized coming from his wife, taking the shape of ghosts. They had long and slender bodies, that made it look like they were wearing long coats over their bodies, and their heads were those of thylacines. They floated around Chloe as she finished the chanting, and now the ghosts stood around her.

"C-Chloe?" Eliot said, looking at his wife. She met his eyes, and her expression wavered for a second. However, she soon recovered her fierce expression, as she turned her eyes to the golems.

"Yau Yee!" The thylacine said, as she made a sweeping gesture. On cue, the entities that had formed around her now went ablaze in blue flames, turning into literal flaming ghosts. With another gesture, two of the flaming entities flew across the air, turning into fire comets, which connected with the golems, forcing them to stumble backwards.

Eliot looked over to see the golems stumbling back from the attacks of the flaming ghosts. They stumbled back as more ghosts flew to them, hitting them one after the other, forcing the creatures to stumble down, until they fell to the ground.

Next, Chloe said a few more words, and the remaining ghosts flew to the golems and wrapped around them. Soon after, Chloe made a single gesture and the ghosts all combusted, generating an explosion that was strong enough to destroy both of the golems.

The force of the blast caused Eliot to be force back, sending him with his back into the ground.

The wolf remained where he fell, his expression unmoving as his eyes still wide. He almost didn't reacted when Chloe came into his view.

"Eliot." She said, looking at him. "Eliot, honey, are you okay? Eliot? Eliot!"

The wolf blinked, as he took a few seconds to focus on his wife.

"Chloe?" He asked, and he seemed a bit lost. Soon, the female thylacine was helping him on his feet. Meanwhile, someone reached them.

"Rock n' roll!"

The two mammals looked, as they saw a group of mammals coming in their direction. A rhino, followed by two tigers. They had a vicious look on their faces, combined with crazed smiles that made them all seem like they were psychotic. One of the tigers was even foaming from the mouth, as if he was rabid.

Eliot was about to react, when his wife stepped forward and chanted a few words.

Soon, three more apparitions emanated from her body, floating by her side silently, and she swiftly made a gesture in direction to the advancing mammals.

"Bung!"

Immediately, the ghosts shot forward, flying in direction to the mammals. They met as the mammals continued to run in direction to the two. The three tried to attack the ghosts with their fists and claws, only for them to phase right through the entities. As they did, the entities wrapped around them, in a manner not too different from a snake wrapping around a victim.

The mammals looked like they didn't felt anything at first. However, soon they were becoming slower, and they looked like they were having problem to stand up.

"Rock n'... roll." Said the rhino, as he fell to his knees, before laying on the ground, where the two tigers already were. The three were now struggling on the ground, as if they were trying to get up but were unable to. The apparitions were still wrap around them, and it seemed that they were the responsible for keeping them on the ground like that, unable to get up.

Eliot blinked as he looked at that, but he was broken out of it as he felt his wife's paw grab his own.

"That will hold them for a while, but more may come." She said, causing him to look at her. "We gotta hurry."

"Huhhh. Yeah. Let's go." The wolf said, as now it was his wife that was guiding him away. As they went, Eliot couldn't help but look back, at the mammals that were still trying to get up, but were prevented by the entities on them that shifted from translucent to transparent and nearly invisible...

---

"What do you think that sound was?" Cameron asked, as he followed right behind Vicky. The vixen was going forward as she and the beagle both tried to find a way out of the mall. However, that was proving hard, once it seemed that there were these stone creatures blocking all of the exits.

"It sounded like an explosion." The beagle said, and Vicky said nothing in return. However, she knew very well that things were probably getting more and more complicated.

Vicky cursed the fact that she and Cameron had both been toss aside by the crowd as everyone was fleeing from there as fast as they could. By the time they recovered, they were force to run in a different direction to escape from all of the crazed mammals that were attacking everyone, as well as the stone creatures that now were patrolling the place along with them and capturing anyone who they could find.

"We need to get out of here." The vixen said to him, "Maybe we can find some place that is not being guarded by the moving statues."

"You mean the golems?" Cameron said, and Vicky looked at him.

"Golems?"

"Well, they look like that." The beagle said to her. "I used to play B&B when I was younger. Golems were one of the foes that you faced. They were create by wizards using stone or other materials. These guys pretty much look like it."

The vixen looked at him, and she had to admit that he had a point. She too felt that the term "golem" felt a bit familiar to her, as something that she would often hear young ones and geeks talking about, or hear about in some series or movies, but wouldn't give too much attention in real life. Well, it seems that this had changed, along with many other things. Apparently, golems were a real thing now.

She looked at her partner, and saw that he was still carrying the camera over his shoulder and pointing it at her. Vicky couldn't help but stare. The red light of the camera was still on, showing that it was recording.

"You know, maybe it would be easier to sneak around if you stopped filming and put that down."

"No way, I need to get images of this." The beagle said, "When we get out, they will want to know how we did it, and this video will be very important."

Vicky sighed, as she knew that there was no point in discussing with Cameron. That dog could be quite stubborn when he wanted to, especially when it came to doing his job. She just told him to be careful and that, if they really got into trouble, he should just drop the camera and run, to which the beagle agreed.

They both continued to move across the empty hallways. As they did, they noticed that some of the golems and of the crazed mammals were moving to a certain direction. Apparently, they were going into the direction from which came that distant noise that they heard a while before. A noise that somehow sounded like an explosion, according to Cameron.

This was bad because it meant they moved more across the hallways, increasing the chances of them bumping into the sneaking mammals. However, it was also good; for it meant that they would go into that direction and would not pay much attention to what was happening around them. This gave the two mammals a better chance to sneak around without being see and of maybe finding a way out of the mall.

However, that was proving to be hard for them. They had already walked a good deal, and they were now on the part of the mall that looked like a miniature version of Tundratown. The place was a bunch of frozen plateaus all over each other, with many stores on their inside, and a layer of frost covering the ground, as a cold artic wind blew softly, companied by a light snow that fell from somewhere more above.

The two barely minded the breeze and the snow inside of a building. First, because it was not weirder than the fact that the mall was so much bigger on the inside than on the outside. Second, because at the moment it was more important for them to focus on a way to get out of there in safety.

The two were just sneaking across the place, the sounds of the fresh snow crushing under their feet sounding deafening in the silence. They just crossed a corner when they almost bumped into two other mammals.

There was some brief noise as the two pairs of mammals startled each other. However, they soon calmed down when each duo saw that the other one was not a golem and was not acting like a crazed mammal. Cameron and Vicky actually felt even gladder when they saw that one of the other duo was wearing a ZPD uniform.

The wolf presented himself as "Officer Eliot Fanghanel", and the two quickly wanted him to help them. However, they were a bit crestfallen when they found out that the cop, along with them, was also trying to find a way out while running from the other mammals. He had used all of his darts to dart the crazed mammals, now he found himself armed only with his baton, and he was trying to find a way out of there along with the thylacine, who happened to be his wife.

"I think we attracted some attention." Chloe said, looking over her shoulder. "We should look for a place to hide." The others were quick to agree with the suggestion of the female. They put themselves to walk for a while, and soon, they found refuge in an "alleyway" that was set between two stores, opening space for the restrooms. No crazed mammals or golems in there, and so, the four mammals were now able to take a breather in there as they finally were able to gather their thoughts.

"So, what do we do now?" Cameron asked, "What does police training says about this situation?"

"Well, it usually says to find a safe place and proceed carefully." The wolf said, rubbing the back of his head. "It also says that you should call for backup, which I tried a while ago, but I think my radio died, I try to use it and I only get static. Does anyone has a cellphone?"

That was a no go. The cellphones didn't had signal, and even the Wi-Fi was gone, as they could not make calls or send messages. It seemed that all ways that they could use to contact the exterior world were gone from their reach. Even the camera, which was capable of transmitting live when needed, seemed that it could not transmit any images back, as it could only record.

They had to find another way.

"Maybe we can contact someone on the outside by other way."

"What other way? Smoke signals? We are not even close to a window."

"Yeah, it seems that we are on our own in here."

A silence followed these words, and Eliot was the one who spoke.

"In these occasions, they teach us to try and keep surveillance. It is important to have a way to keep watch over the place to deal with possible ambushes. But this won't be possible here." The wolf said, "Not only we cannot talk to anyone, but we also have no way of making surveillance of the place. We don't know where the hostiles are situated, and so walking around is very dangerous. We are all in for a pickle here."

These words caused everyone to get a bit crestfallen, as they all understood just how dire their situation is.

"So, I guess that our only option is to keep moving and hope we won't bump into any of them." Vicky said, looking around. That was when Chloe got up.

"Maybe not."

Everyone looked at her.

The female thylacine sighed as she closed her eyes, and she started to chant something in a language that they did not understand.

Cameron and Vicky looked at her with confused expressions, but soon, they turned into surprised ones as they saw that there was something happening to her: shapes were coming out of there body and taking the form of...thylacine ghosts!

These specters looked like thyalcines as they had the head of one, while their bodies were thin and looked like they were cover by a long mantle that didn't let anything else visible. They stood around her as they materialized, and looking over, Cameron and Vicky both could notice that they were not touching the ground, but were actually floating right above it, like actual ghosts.

Cameron almost let out a curse as he looked at this. They both looked at the things that materialized, and soon, Chloe looked around at them.

"Go and survey." She said to the specters, making a wide gesture, and the entities soon were moving away, floating away, gliding across the frozen ground as they shifted, going from translucent into transparent, before they disappeared completely.

There was a silence following this, before Chloe explained:

"They can vanish from the visible spectrum, but they will still exist." She said, causing the other mammals to look at her, "They will remain out of sight and they will survey the areas, and soon they will come back to inform. This way we will know the locations of possible enemies and a safe path for us to go."

"Oh..." Cameron said, as his was still processing what he just saw. "So, the ghosts are like... your minions?"

"More like my familiars, actually." The thylacine said, and Vicky looked at her.

"So, you are a mage, right?" The vixen asked.

This made the thylacine stop, look at her, before looking back at her husband who was looking back at her.

"Yes... Yes I am." She said, looking at her husband, who still looked at her, and he tilted his head slightly.

She looked at him, her expression worried.

"Eliot... We need to talk."

The specters would take a while to come back, so meanwhile, the Thylacine was now in front of the wolf. They were both gone inside of the restroom, to be away from the two reporters, who agreed to give the couple privacy for their talk.

Once inside the restroom, the two mammals looked at each other.

"So..." Eliot said.

"So..." Chloe said.

They continued to look at each other in silence for a while. At some point, Eliot broke the silence.

"So, this is an occasion in which I have to talk first or..." The wolf said, and Chloe looked at him, and realized that she better just have the guts to say. She should have been preparing for this talk for a while now.

"Eliot... You know that my family, the Dapperclaw, are a very rich family back in my hometown." She said to him. "You know that they are an old money family and that they have a lot of businesses."

"Yeah, I learned that soon after I first saw you." The wolf said, and he was referring about all of the research as he did what could practically be label as stalking of the female thylacine with whom he fell in love at first sight.

"Yeah, what you didn't learned, I'm sure, is that they are mages." She said, and Eliot looked at her with perked ears.

"The thylacine clan is a descendant of a tradition of thylacines from our homeland that were all 'gifted by the mystery', as they said back on the time. These thylacines were very influent on their land, but they were forced to leave due to a great deal of battles with other tribes, and they took refuge on the representatives of the Association that were taking part on the colonizing the land of Austroala."

She looked at her husband as she said that. The wolf looked at her with intent ears, but she could see no hostility or resentment on his eyes. She took it as a good sign, and she continued.

"These thylacines were taken in by them, but they soon saw that they would have no real place among the rankings of the proud mages of the Association, so they cut ties with them and moved to Animerica. In there, they gave origin to the Dapperclaw clan, who were in charge of continuing their legacy and of raising above the arrogant mages of the Association."

"So... You've always been a mage?" Eliot asked, and she looked at him, before she nodded.

"I was born as one." She said to him. "As a member of the Dapperclaw clan, I was a mage from birth, and while I was not the heir, I was still someone who had compromises with the clan. One of these compromises was to marry a mage from another clan of thylacines, to bring advantages to my family. Actually, the arrangement was made when I was just eight years old."

Eliot nodded. Yeah, he remembered well that, by the time he met Chloe, she already had a fiancé, as part of an arrangement that her family made with another, as a way of bringing more money and prestige to the family.

"That is how the traditional mage families do things, and my family is very traditional." Chloe admitted to him. "I was expected to study and become a good mage, so one day I could make a good wife for my fiancé, and help my own clan to grow and achieve more. Everything went perfectly according to plan for a while..." She said, and looked at her husband. "Until you came along."

Eliot remained silent, as he let his wife talk.

"I admit, when I first saw you following me everywhere, I was scared. I almost resorted to using magecraft to make you leave me alone. But... when we actually talked, and after... that night." She said, blushing as she did so, "There was just no way that I could simply go on with my life and forget about you."

"I guess you know well how my parents were about that." She said, and the wolf nodded, as he remembered well how her family was about him. "That was not only because I was planning on breaking my engagement, or for you not being rich or a thylacine. It was also because you were not a mage. They couldn't accept that I was giving up their entire plan for having falling in love with a non-mage wolf."

Eliot remained in silence, but his expression got a bit heavier. Chloe noticed this, and it caused her to flinch a little bit. She continued:

"But, I was truly in love with you." She said, looking at him. "I knew that I would not be able to bring you into the world of magecraft, for you were not a mage. So, my only option, if I wanted to marry you, was to abandon this world and give up being a mage."

"My parents didn't took it nicely, but I had made up my mind." She said to him. "So, as we left my hometown, we were also leaving behind the moonlit world. No more researches. No more political dances and arrangements. No more magecraft..."

She stopped for a moment, and Eliot was still looking at her, she then continued:

"I didn't told you about any of that because I just wanted to leave all of that behind." She said to him, "Because this world is dangerous and cruel, and I wanted to keep you out of this, as much as possible."

"Well... this proves you love me, right?" The wolf said, and the thylacine flinched again, even though her husband was smiling at her. For a moment, Eliot even thought that he had done something wrong.

"There is... another reason why I didn't told you." She admitted, and Eliot looked at her.

"All my life, I grew up hearing from my parents just how stupid and cruel the non-mages were with anything that did not conform to their beliefs." She said to him, and she sounded almost ashamed of this but also... fearful?

"They told me that as soon as they found out about my magecraft, they would treat me as a monster. That they would hate me and fear me for what I am." She said to him, avoiding his gaze. "They told me that this was just how mammals are, that they are stupid and reject what they don't understand, and that non-mages are like that."

"They told me that you were also like that." She said; sounding a bit hurt for saying it. "That you could love me as you said, but that as soon as you found out that I was a mage..."

She stopped talking, she could not conclude the thought.

"Eliot. I love you so much... The idea that you could hate me after finding out about me being a mage was just-"

She didn't finished, for she felt paws landing on her shoulders. She looked up, and she saw that Eliot was looking at her with a very serious expression.

She held her breath.

Suddenly, the wolf leaned forward, and gently pressed his lips on her own.

Her eyes widened at this, as she felt that sudden kiss on her mouth.

After a few moments, Eliot pulled back, and he said:

"I'm sorry."

Chloe blinked, she looked at her husband in a slight confusion.

"I'm sorry I didn't showed you how much I love you." He said to her, and he sounded genuinely sad. "I'm sorry that I didn't showed you that I loved you so much that I'll never stop loving you for anything. I don't care if you are a mage, an alien, or a mutant slime in disguise."

She looked at him with a raised eyebrow as he said the last one.

"Chloe, I love you, you are my life." He said, and the thylacine could tell on his eyes that he was being sincere.

"I'm sorry if I made you think I didn't loved you enough..."

She looked at him, and she saw that he was feeling guilty, and then it was her turn to feel guilty.

"No, Eliot!" She said, looking at her husband. "I am sorry! I'm sorry for doubting on how much you love me! It was just... I kept remembering all that my parents told me during years of my life. I couldn't take on the thought of you abandoning me after finding out. I should have known that you would not leave me for that. I should have gave you a vote of trust. I'm sorry!"

"No, I'm sorry!"

"No, I'm sorry!"

"I'm sorry!"

"I'm sorry!"

"I'm sorry!" They both said at the same time, and for a while, they just looked at each other.

Chloe then leaned forward, resting her head on his chest, listening to his heartbeat.

"Eliot, I love you so much."

"I love you too, my Pumpkin." Eliot said to her. "I'll love for all of my life, no matter what happens or what comes our way. I also said that on my vows, remember?"

There was a brief silence, and Chloe also said:

"I'm sorry for keeping it a secret from you."

"Yeah, I guess you were not ready to tell me." He said to her, "Besides, I never really asked you if you had magic powers or not, so not really your fault here."

"Oh, Eliot." Chloe said, and she once more took in just how much of a sweet Eliot actually was. How could she ever think that this wolf could hate her after finding out that she was a mage? She felt very bad for letting her parents' words get into her head like that.

"Guys!"

A voice suddenly came to the restroom, breaking the two out of their moment and making them look. They saw Vicky in there, and she looked at the two of them.

"Your ghosts just came back."

Chloe took the hint, and soon, she and Eliot were both walking outside of the restroom, and they soon saw Cameron on the inside, his camera turned at the ghosts that floated in there.

"They are just standing there." Vicky said, and Chloe clarified:

"They are waiting for my commands."

Vicky looked at her, "What, do ghosts do what you want when they are summoned?"

"This is my family's magecraft." The thylacine said, walking forward as she looked at the thylacine specters.

"In the old times, there was the belief that it was possible to summon the spirits of our ancestors and ask for their support in important matters, from clarifying about the future to helping face challenges that appeared in our way." The female explained, and looked at the ghosts, while the other mammals looked at her.

"The Dapperclaw clan is a family that found out ways to maintain this tradition. We worked in summoning magecraft to be able to summon the spiritual projections of the ancestors of our clan to serve as our strength in moments of need. We reach out for the ones who came before us, and bring them into the present to help us in our moments of need." She looked at the specters as she said that, "We refer to them as Migaloo Mob, or Spirits of the Kin."

There was a silence as she finished explaining it.

"So, these guys are the spirits of your ancestors?" Cameron asked, once more looking at the ghosts, who just stood in there, floating silently.

"Well, at their basic nature that is what they represent. You see, they are actually apparitions that..."

"Wait, you mean these guys are your ancestors?" Eliot asked, cutting Chloe in her explanation, and making the thylacine look at him.

"Well, they represent my ancestors, but-" Chloe tried to explain, but Eliot didn't gave her a chance.

"This is so cool!" The wolf said, immediately rushing forward and standing in front of the specters. "Hey guys! My name is Eliot, and I'm Chloe's husband! It is so nice to meet some of her relatives!"

Chloe blinked, as well as the other two mammals who were looking at that scene developing.

"I already meet her parents and her little brother. Her mother and father didn't liked me, but her little brother is really nice." The wolf said, talking to the entities, which just stood there, floating silently as they looked at the wolf with their hollow eyes. "I am kinda upset that her parents never approved of me for being a wolf and not being rich. Well, I guess they also didn't liked the fact that I am not a mage, I just learned that."

"Huhh, Eliot..." Chloe said, as she wanted to explain better to Eliot, but the wolf was still too focus on the entities.

"I bet you all have lots of stories to tell about Pumpkin!" The wolf said, but then he realized something. "Oh, wait, you guys are her distant ancestors right? You all must have died before she was born. Hey, maybe I can tell you guys some things about her! I bet you all want to know how she lives nowadays. Oh, I have so many things to tell you guys, by my ancestors' fangs!"

Then the eyes of the wolf widened.

"Uh! Do you guys know my ancestors!? Have you guys met on the other side? Or thylacines and wolves go to different places? Oh, I hope not, I really want to spend the eternity with my Pumpkin!"

The three mammals only watched the wolf have that "interaction" with the specters, whom only continued to stare at him silently.

"Huhh, is he always...?" Cameron asked, and Chloe answered:

"Most of the time."

She then walked forward; Eliot was still distracted talking with her "relatives", as his tail wagged behind himself.

"Eliot." She called him, "Eliot!"

The wolf finally stopped what he was doing and turned around to look at his wife. She was looking back at him, and she said:

"Eliot, we are in the middle of a situation here, remember?"

The wolf blinked, and suddenly it was as if he remembered that they were in trouble. He was quick to apologize to his wife, and to the ghosts, saying that they could "talk later".

Chloe could only roll her eyes at this, as even in a situation like that Eliot didn't stopped being Eliot. Well, that was one of the reasons that she loved him so dearly, and to be honest, she still found it rather endearing, even if the timing was definitely not appropriate.

Once her husband had stepped down on his antics, Chloe was able to step forward, standing in front of the specters, and she asked:

"So, what have you seen?"

The specters soon moved forward, and they floated around her. The other animals were looking as one of the specters came close to her ear, and they could hear a faint sound of whispering.

The words could not be clearly heard by any of them, and neither they could do lip-synch, for the thing didn't really had visible lips. However, it seemed that Chloe could understand what was being whisper by the specter, as she listened very intently, and she nodded at it.

As soon as that specter was done it moved back, and another specter took place in whispering in her ear. The thylacine once more nodded as the specter whispered to her, and soon it stepped down only for another to take its place. This process was repeat until all of the specters had whispered in her ear, and the female nodded, and turned to the others.

"They say that there are groups blocking the paths at north and west, but there is an open path that is unwatched in that direction." She said, point at Northeast. "They also said that there is a group of five golems coming in this direction from there." She said, pointing at another direction, "And that they will probably arrive here in seven minutes, if they keep at the speed they are, so we all better move now."

The other mammals all nodded at this, and they all felt inclined to believe in the thylacine, especially Eliot, who trust in her with every fiber of his being.

"Good, but what if there are more of these teams on the way?" Cameron said, "We could end up bumping into them after walking for a while."

"Not if we use them." She said, gesturing to the specters. "They can serve as scouts, and go forward while invisible to scout and come back to tell us what path is safe. This way, we will be able to go around without the risk of getting caught."

"Sounds like a plan I can get behind." Vicky said, and the others agreed with her.

"So, everyone agrees with the plan?" Chloe asked, looking at the other animals, who all looked back at her.

"I am." Vicky said simply.

"Yeah, it seems to be our best choice now." Cameron said, looking at the thylacine. "Anything that can get us out of problem."

"I am by your side in everything." Eliot said, wholeheartedly, as he looked at his wife. "Wherever you go, I follow."

Chloe took a moment to look at her husband, once more admired on how devoted he was to her. It really warmed her heart that Eliot would be on her side for everything. It made her feel glad that she married him.

"Then let's go." She said, and soon, the group of four was moving, guided by the mage thylacine and by her specters.