CANIS HADES

KINGDOM Animalia

PHYLUM Vertebrata

CLASS Echidnæ

ORDER Praesidium

FAMILY Canidæ

GENUS Canis

SPECIES Canis hades

I ORIGINALLY BELIEVED THE hell-hound was a singular creation, much like the ganesha and the chimæra. However, I had the peculiar fortune to come into the possession of eight beasts, all of which appeared to have perished together as a pack. Several of the beasts had two or three heads, and one of the dogs possessed six. A specimen with three heads and a serpent tail is the case for study here.

There must be some element in the bone, blood, or brain of the cerberus and the chimæra that allowed for the growth of multiple heads. These creatures are not mere mutations born of unnatural conditions; their design is far

too deliberate and intentional. Despite their superficial similarities I have no evidence that these two creatures are closely related. I am not related to a fish simply because we both have a single head.

The cerberus would have been warm blooded with many traits likened to other mammals: a four-chambered heart, normal-sized organs, mammary glands, et cetera. A natural conclusion to draw would be that the serpent auxiliary to the body of the cerberus (as well as the chimæra) had adapted appropriately, losing the need for cold-blooded temperature regulatory systems. Similar adaptations are found in other reptiles, such as the Dermochelys coriacea, the leather-back turtle. There may be a shared ancestry among these reptiles, suggesting that the bloodlines are vast and still flourishing in regions yet unknown.

CREATING THE PEGASUS WAS A MASSIVE

UNDERTAKING; IT IS EASILY THE LARGEST OF DR.

BLACK’S CREATIONS. HE HAD TO DESIGN AN ELABORATE HOIST-AND-PULLEY SYSTEM JUST TO

MOVE THE ANIMAL TO HIS OPERATING TABLE .

MORE RIGGING WOULD BE NEEDED TO SUPPORT THE CREATURE IN ITS DESIRED POSTURE WHILE ON DISPLAY (IT WAS LIKELY IN THE SAME POSITION AS WAS DRAWN AT RIGHT).

Months of labor used to construct wings that can never work. I have sewn the muscle carefully to their respective locations; I have taken care with the nerves and skin and all of the fibers of the tissues of the beast’s flesh … but it does not live. I do this, only to show that it could have and once did live.

—SPENCER BLACK