Coyote.

What does an infinitely-aged-now-turned-human do with a century old skin-walker-turned-human-creature do to pass the time? I'm very glad you asked! We did… well… human things? We ate burgers, played bowling, went to a skate park after buying some skate boards… we did a lot! He wasn't much of a fan of skateboarding but he loved the food! I guess food was his weak spot? Every time we walked past a place he hadn't eaten from before he wanted to go inside! Svangr was definitely a fan of food, just like the people his name came from.

We talked a bit and over time he spoke of his past. He had apparently been caught by Coyote a few hundreds of years ago. I had been to America around the thirteen hundreds so I had an idea of the Ways Of Earth. Back then, it was what natives called their beliefs. No, not religion. They don't believe that god is all powerful and will burn them in hell should they not pray.

God is actually a nice guy, though, I think? He seemed sad when I met him. He's almost as old as I am, though, so I can understand the depression.

Anyway, their beliefs come down to this: Shu.

It's a confucius idiom meaning: do unto others, what you want to be done unto yourself.

Do not waste what you kill. Pelt? Clothes. Meat? Food. Bones? Weapons, tools, armor. Nothing of what they kill is wasted!

Now, Apparently Coyote had been informed of such beings that were killing livestock and only eating the meat. It soon evolved into eating humans, as well. Coyote stopped one of them and forced it to obey. Hundreds of years later, Svangr appeared!

Coyote never did tell me how he became a pseudo-god. I assumed it was from the beliefs of the natives, but he diswayed me from such a notion. Clever little bastard, he is. A god of mischief, actually. We had sat down in teepees on more than one occasion, smoking peyote.

I was reminded of the days where I could find an escape. A way to leave all of… this… behind. It was nice but at the same time… disgusting. I had turned to drugs and liquor-

I shivered as I felt someone tap my shoulder.

"Shí ak'is, that is it, no?" Svangr asked me as he looked at me with confusion.

We had been walking down the street and I had apparently passed the address in my stupor.

"Uh… yeah." I nodded as I took in the building in front of us.

It was a ramshackle structure that looked like it started life as a garage, but has now been turned into some kind of sketchy looking mechanic shop. It stood out amongst the clean walls of the buildings next to it. We both walked inside, directly into the garage area. It didn't have a counter or reception of any kind. It was lit only by scattered oil lamps and candles, and the air inside was slightly smoky with a mix of oil and grease. The occasional drunk pedestrian could be heard outside, as we walked to the man underneath my car.

"Excuse me?" I called out.

I heard a grunt and he slid back from my car and stood up. He only reached my stomach. He was a dark-skinned dwarf with wiry black hair pulled back into a ponytail and had piercing, yellow eyes. He wore a simple, dark leather jerkin with several belts for carrying various tools. He held up a wrench as he spoke.

"Watcha want?" His voice was a low grumble, rough and gruff with a hint of annoyance.

"Luci said you were good?" I asked him.

"Aye. Not to toot me own horn but, aye. The best in Chicago." He replied. "But this 'car' is scrap metal, at this point."

I grinned. "Care to try something?"

He frowned at me. "You got a nasty grin, fella."

"I get that a lot." I said as I walked to the back of my car.

I opened the trunk and flipped up the carpeted interior to pull out some papers that were hidden underneath. I turned around and handed them to him under his curious gaze. He looked over the first page and immediately handed them back to me.

"Nope. Not possible." He spoke. "I may be a dwarf but even I can't make something so complex."

I hummed in silence. I figured if anyone could do it, a dwarf would be the best. They're a species that lived off of artisan crafts, after all. Weapons, armor, carriages, cars, if you could make it, dwarfs could make it better.

"But I might know…" he paused. "Nah."

"Please, continue." I said.

He sighed. "Fella… what's your name?"

"Birger."

"Alright, Birger. I know someone that *might* be able to make this. But he's in Tuethe De Dannan."

"A… dwarf? In the land of faeries?" I asked in confusion.

Dwarfs and faeries hated each other more than wolves and vampires! It was an impossible idea!

"Aye. You can't get it him even if you tried." He said.

"Fair. Just fix her up then, yeah? Make sure to put in a good engine, too. I don't care about the price."

The dwarf grinned at me, showing his crooked teeth. "You got it, Customer!"

I nodded at Svan. "Let's go."

I opened a portal to New Mexico using the magic in the necklace. It took about a third of it's total capacity.

The Native American reservation in New Mexico was a proud and ancient place, and it's people and their traditions have been here for generations. The land was filled with vast expanses of arid desert and rocky bluffs, but the nearby mountains provided a stunning back drop. This was one of the few reservations that remained untouched by American culture.

The people of the Native American reservation in New Mexico were deeply connected to the land and its native plants and animals. Their homes were often simple and built in harmony with the land, constructed from materials that can be found nearby. The structures themselves were varied, as the people's different beliefs, cultures, and needs have led to varying designs. The people were proud of their traditions and culture, and strove to continue keeping these traditions alive in the modern world.

There were buildings made from sticks and mud with straw at the top and sides, as well as more traditional structures such as teepees.

As we stepped into the portal, a man stepped out from one of said teepees. He had a canine-like visage about him. He carried himself with a swagger, as though he is always ready to play some kind of trick. He wore the same as always. A simple loincloth. His dark eyes turned into crescent moons as his olive collared face broke into a grin.

"Birger! Good to see you, my friend." He said as he gave me a bear hug.

I patted his back. "Coyote."

"I see you have met Naagloshii!" He said as he turned to Svangr.

Svangr bowed to Coyote and spoke. "I realize that I had been foolish, master. I have been gifted a name from Birger. Svangr."

Coyote turned his eyes to me.

"It means 'skinny.' I've heard it be used as 'hungry' as well." I told him.

"Svangr Naagloshii. The skinny, hungry, Skin-Walker." Coyote said slowly. He grabbed Svangr's shoulder. "It is a good name. It will remind you to remain skinny, even in your hunger, to keep the gift that had been given to you."

Svangr's eyes turned to me. "Thank you, shí ak'is."

I coughed and Coyote turned to me. "Okay, Coyote. Where and when did it happen?"

"Two days ago. I will show you where." He spoke and started walking south. "The south is a bad omen, Birger."

"So I've heard. I don't know if I can even help you. I don't have much to offer for shit like this."

"You we're a detective, no?"

"Well, yeah? Centuries ago. I've lost my touch."

"And yet, you come." Coyote grinned at me. "You can do this, my friend."

I sighed. "I'll try, don't get me wrong, but if I can't find anything I'll have to call some people over."

"That is all I ask, my friend."

We marched up to the top of a nearby hill and saw a teepee. It stank of blood. The metallic stench was strong, even from fifty feet away.

"Jesus." I said.

"Aoo'. Bad omen." Coyote agreed.

"Hmm." I walked around the teepee for a few minutes in silence. "Some one came up here a lot?"

"Aoo'. They had a midwife who came once a day." Coyote responded. "The husband left to find food every day, as well."

"Your people burned the bodies, already?"

"Aoo'." Coyote said.

"Okay. It seems like…" I shook my head. "It wasn't a naagloshii."

Coyote froze. "Dooda. It was." He disagreed.

"Did you see it? Because from what I see here… it was made to *look like* it was a naagloshii."

"Why do you say?" Coyote asked me. "It has the scent of Naagloshii and the markings."

"So imagine this." I said in a serious tone. "A naagloshii just so happens to kill a family of three after being radio silent for years. At the same time that other families are being killed? It's too… I don't know… obvious?"

"You are saying that it was not Naagloshii because the person who did this must be with the group doing the others?" He squinted his eyes.

"Yeah. Naagloshii' aren't creatures that have wants and need besides eating. Sure, the rare one pops up like Svan." I gestures towards Svangr. "But why would a naagloshii go out of its way to kill them and not eat their fear?"

"You… can tell?" Svangr asked me.

Coyote's head swiveled between each of us before his eyes widened. "Naagloshii wouldn't leave it. And yet it stays!"

I nodded. "Their fear still permeates the earth. I can smell it in their blood."

"So it was not Naagloshii… then what?"

"Your people heard the screams? They ran over immediately?"

He nodded. "Aoo'."

I grabbed my chin in thought.

*they haven't tried to hide the other killings… why would they make them think it was a naagloshii? It doesn't make any sense. Unless… this one was sloppy.* my eyes widened. *I can't smell anything other than naagloshii! They were trying to hide their scent! But why? The other murders had…*

"Holy fuck." I said it out loud.

"Did you find something, Birger?" Coyote asked me.

I looked at him from the corner of my eye before speaking. "What if… and I mean a really big if… it wasn't a group of murders but rather, a single person?"

"Shí ak'is?" Svangr turned a worried look to me.

"There have been murders everywhere across the country, but each and every single one of them only had a single scent? Unlikely. Possible, yes, but unlikely."

"Interesting thought…" Coyote said slowly.

"I'll have to call James."