Several days after the incident with the ghost girl, Holden found himself standing in the middle of a strip mall during the afternoon. He was looking up at a thirty-foot statue of the Sage of Commerce. However, it wasn’t the statue that caught his attention, it was Sable, who had plopped himself atop the statue, that was the object of Holden’s focus.


    Sable had a wild look in his eyes as he laughed hysterically while looking down at the people below him. “Ha ha ha. Lowly mortals. Bow down before your superior. I, Sable, am standing high above you all. The higher you are the more superior you are. This is the way of cats. I mean cait-sith. You feed us. You pet us. You treat us to things for free. We are obviously superior. And I am standing higher than any other cat in the city.”


    Elliandra just so happened to be in the area. She had heard whispers from other elves in the strip mall about a cait-sith acting all crazy on top of the statue of the Sage of Commerce. Elliandra was curious, so she went by the statue, and was surprised to find Holden staring up at Sable, who was still ranting on and on about being superior.


    Elliandra couldn’t help but laugh at the ridiculous scene while walking up to Holden. “I always thought that cats thought they were superior to everyone and everything else. I guess this confirms it.”


    Holden groaned when he saw Elliandra appear behind him. “Yeah.”


    “So, what’s wrong with him?”


    “I gave him catnip.”


    Elliandra laughed even harder at Holden’s response. “Really? How long has he been like this?”


    “About five minutes. We were doing some grocery shopping, and I got curious when I saw catnip. Who knew this would be the result.”


    After another ten minutes passed, Sable had finally regained his senses. The cait-sith quietly climbed down with his ears tucked. Sable remembered everything he had said and done, filling him with embarrassment. He then walked over to Holden and Elliandra, who were both still standing in the spot they had been watching Sable from. “What was I just doing?”


    Holden gave Sable a sideways glance laughing with his mouth closed. “Oh. Do you not remember? I can repeat everything you said.”


    The fur on Sable’s back stood up from anger as the cait-sith growled at Holden. “Stupid human. That question was rhetorical. Don’t think I forgot that you’re the one who gave me catnip.”


    “And you’re the one who was just acting like a stuck-up fool. How’s it go again? ‘I am a god. Bow down before me, inferior mortals.’ Was that it, Sable?”


    Sable growled again. “Holden, I swear, I’m going to smother you in your sleep.”


    Elliandra laughed at Holden and Sable’s usual bickering. It was then she noticed something peculiar about their interaction. “Hey, did you two just refer to each other with your actual names?”


    Both Holden and Sable’s eyes popped. It was true that Holden would usually call Sable ‘cat’, while Sable would refer to Holden as ‘stupid human’ or ‘chopped liver’. However, that had changed recently, at least in private. In public, the two of them were still embarrassed to admit that they were starting to get along.


    “It’s only natural,” Sable insisted. “Calling him Chopped-Liver all of the time is a mouthful. So, sometimes I use his actual name.”


    Elliandra crossed her arms in disbelief. “Sure. Whatever you say, Sable.”


    Holden and Sable parted ways with Elliandra soon after, making their way back to Holden’s office. They didn’t have any jobs waiting for them, so they spent most of their time sitting around, until they heard a knock at the door.


    A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.


    Holden jumped to his feet, and found a shaggy looking man on the other side. The man reeked as if he hadn’t bathed in days, his clothes were torn up, and everything else about him seemed disheveled. However, Holden was familiar with this man, because they had met a few days prior while investigating the disappearance of a sword.


    “What brings a drifter like you here?” Holden asked, stepping outside to talk to the man.


    “I saw it,” the man said in a raspy voice. “I saw the dragon. In the alley. Last night.”


    “Did you say dragon? Are you on something right now?”


    “No, no, no. I’m perfectly sober. But I’m telling you, I saw it. Green scales. Poisonous breath. A long tail. It was trapped in a cage that they were dragging through the streets.”


    Holden took a step back, bumping into the door by accident to avoid the man’s foul breath. “Did you tell the police? This seemed like a problem for them.”


    The man nodded his head. “I did. I did. They didn’t believe me. Said I was deranged. Said I was crazy.”


    “You must have hated that.”


    “No, no, no, no, no, no, no. They’re right. I usually am crazy. I see things. Strange things. Weird things. Things that don’t make my sense. But not last night. No, last night my head was clear. No voices. No hallucinations. Just complete clarity. But then I saw the dragon.”


    Holden and the man both suddenly heard a scratching sound coming from the other side of the door, along with Sable’s voice. “I bet you it was the red pixie. Their kind can create illusions. It must’ve been her.”


    “Cat, what is it with you and this red pixie? Not everything is the red oxide’s fault.”


    “No,” the man said once again. He then gestured for Holden to follow him. “Come on. I’ll show you. Come on.”


    Holden rolled his eyes, opened the door to let Sable out, then followed the man. Holden and Sable followed the man all the way to the edge of town. There was a large sewer manhole that led out into a marshland. It seemed that much of the city''s sewage spilled out into this particular spot.


    Sable twitched his nose at the repugnant smell. “The man must live in this alley. What do we call you anyway?”


    “Atticus,” the man said. “You can call me Atticus.” He then pointed to the sewer manhole. “Right over here is where it happened. There was a dragon in a cage. A bunch of men took it into the sewers.”


    Sable tilted his head toward Holden. “This man’s definitely crazy. Why are we even here?”


    Atticus’s lips twitched from irritation. “Everyone thinks I’m crazy. But I’m not. I want you to look into this.”


    “We’re private investigators,” Sable said, sticking his chin up at Atticus. “We don’t just investigate things for free.”


    Holden clicked his tongue at Sable. “Didn’t you just say that the red pixie was involved? I thought you’d be jumping at the chance to investigate this.”


    While Holden and Sable were bickering back and forth, Atticus shoved his hand into his pocket to pull out an old pocket watch. The watch was made of silver. The back of the pocket watch was engraved with a pegasus standing on its hind legs. “I’ll pay you with this.”


    Sable didn’t seem at all impressed with the watch. The only thing the cait-sith said about it was that it looked shiny. However, Holden’s jaw dropped when he saw the engraving, because it was the symbol of an elite group of soldiers in the Western Confederacy known as the Skyborn Calvary. The Skyborn Calvary was a special forces group from another city-state within the Western Confederacy called Shieldfelt, which was also known as the Fortress City, or the City of Warriors, since it procured the finest warriors in the Western Confederacy. The engraving was that of a pegasus mounted by a warrior clad in light armor.


    “You used to be a member of the Skyborn Calvary?” Holden asked, surprised given Atticus’s disheveled appearance.


    “No.” Atticus grumbled. “This was-.” Atticus paused for a moment, then continued. “This was given to me by a friend.”


    Holden could tell Atticus was lying. However, there was a somber expression on Atticus’s face, leading Holden to believe there was more to the story. Regardless of that, the watch Atticus was offering had immense value both monetarily, and as something he could use for a cover identity. Either way, Holden wouldn’t pass up the opportunity to acquire such an item.


    “I’ll take the case.”


    Sable’s eyes widened in shock. “What? Really? You’re going to take the case just for a simple pocket watch?”


    “It’s a good deal. You don’t have to help me with this one. It’ll require another trek through the sewers, and likely the Undercity, too.”


    Sable’s face contorted at the thought of spending all day in the sewers. “It’s. I mean. The red pixie might still be involved. The sewers are where she was last seen. I’m going.” Sable paused, then groaned when he thought of the sewers again. “Let’s just get this over with.”


    “Your funeral, Cat.” Holden said as he made his way toward the sewer manhole. Sable jumped onto his shoulders, and Atticus followed closely behind. Holden then walked through the large, open manhole, plugging his nose as the group stepped in. “Why do I get the feeling I’ll never get this stent h out of my nose?”


    “This better be worth it, Holden,” Sable sneered. “I already have a feeling we’re in for more than we bargained for.”