Book Two, Chapter Two

Chapter Two

Justin looked from Lena to the other elf, a pit forming in his stomach. The way they were looking at him, he half expected them to say that his dog had been run over.

“If this is about the missing bell,” he said hesitantly, “then I just want to say that I’m sorry…and that Lucas did it.”

“Traitor!” Lucas spat.

“Wha—” the other elf started, then shook his head. “No, I’m here to tell you, Lucas, and Lena that you’ve all been summoned to the Elder Stables.”

Justin’s eyes went wide, and he felt Lucas stiffen next to him. The Elder Stables? That could only mean that the Council of Eight wanted to talk to him. And if the council wanted to talk to him, then that could only mean…

I’ll see you again, Justin Flinchley. You’ll pay for this!

Justin shivered as that voice echoed in his mind. As sharp and cold as a shard of glass on a winter night. As corrupt as a corpse overrun with every disease known to man. It was the voice of Darkness. The voice of despair. The voice of he who was the very antithesis of Santa Claus, Christmas, joy, and hope.

The voice of Krampus.

Fear began to rise up inside of him, freezing his blood solid. He had known this day would come. Suddenly, the past year seemed to have gone by in a heartbeat. One night of terror and agony followed by twelve months of peace might have sounded like a fair tradeoff, but…

Justin’s eyes burned, but he didn’t dare blink, knowing that if he closed his eyes, Krampus’ rotting cervine face would be waiting for him there in the darkness.

No, he told himself, clenching his fists. No, I won’t be afraid of him. I won’t! Fear is what he wants. It’s what he feeds off of! I have to stay strong. I have to keep my light shining.

I have to trust in Santa.

“What is it?” he forced himself to ask. “Has something happened?”

The elf shook his head again. “I don’t know. I was only sent to find you—oh, and Willow too. Do you know where she is?”

Again, Justin’s eyes widened. “W- Willow?”

“Heeere we go,” Lucas muttered.

“Y- You’re bringing Willow to the E- Elder Stables too?” Justin asked, his heart skipping a beat.

The elf nodded slowly. “Yes. Is there…a problem?”

“No! No, I was just wondering!” Justin said, just a little too fast to sound natural. His face turned red beneath his fur, and he grinned lopsidedly. “Sorry, I have no idea where she is. Come on, guys, let’s go see what the council wants!”

The elf gave him another weird look, then sprinted away down the street. Letting out the breath he’d been holding, Justin turned to make his way toward Celebration Hall. The massive log mansion was built on top of the hill at the edge of Laetitia, right above Aurora Square, and could be seen from anywhere in the city. In addition to housing the Elder Stables and the Toymakers’ Guild, that was where Santa and Mrs. Claus lived.

“That,” Lucas said, catching up to him a moment later, “was the most pathetic thing I’ve ever seen.”

“What?” Justin demanded as Lena jogged up to walk on his other side.

“O- O- O- Oh no, there’s not a p- p- p- p- p- problem!” Lucas mimicked him. “I just haven’t s- s- s- s- s- s- seen Willow in so long! What if she’s f- f- f- f- forgotten me in the p- p- p- p- past five hours?”

“Lucas,” Justin said warningly, giving him the most Lena-ish glare he could muster.

“Wh- Wh- What if she’s found some handsome buck, gotten married, and had, like, fifteen fawns in the ten seconds I wasn’t staring at her?”

“Lena, hit him, please.”

To his surprise, the elf shook her head. “Not this time. He’s right. You need to tell her—”

“ANYWAY,” Justin said more loudly than he meant to, drawing the eyes of more than a few of the people around them, “what do you think the council wants to talk to us about?”

They didn’t answer. They had to be thinking the same thing he was, though. Krampus. Why else would the council summon them? A shadow crept over Justin’s heart. What had the Krampus done this time? Had he somehow begun his yearly troublemaking a month early? That shouldn't have been possible. According to some kind of cosmic truce that Justin couldn't even begin to comprehend, neither Santa nor Krampus could leave their homes and enter the real world except for one day a year. But Krampus was the embodiment of mankind's sins. Cheating was absolutely in his repertoire.

Justin shook his head. There was no point in jumping to conclusions. For all he knew, this had nothing to do with Krampus, and they were summoning him to tell him that…he wracked his brain for a possible answer…he could start flight training three days early? That sounded like wishful thinking, but this was Santa’s village. If there was one place on Earth (or hovering unnaturally over Earth) where wishful thinking should be encouraged, this was it.

They reached Celebration Hall and made their way to the Elder Stables. As they crossed, Justin couldn’t help but stare in awe at the stables around him. He had only been in here a couple times over the past year, and as amazing as Laetitia was, this was one of the places where Santa’s magic was at its most obvious. Thousands of wooden platforms were lined up and stacked on top of each other all the way to the ceiling high above them, like an apartment complex without walls or doors. There were so many that he was almost sure the room must have been bigger on the inside than the outside. On each of those platforms lived a single reindeer. These were the deer who had completed their years of service pulling Santa’s sleigh and fighting Krampus, and had been allowed to retire. While the platforms looked barren at first glance, if you were to watch them long enough, you would see that they were anything but.

The swirling light of magic caught Justin’s eye, and he turned just in time to see what looked like an automatic massage table appear out of thin air (with attached carrot dispenser) which the resident deer gratefully climbed onto.

Everything and anything you could ever want was only a wish away in here. A fitting reward for the deer who had risked life and limb for who-knows how many decades—perhaps even centuries—protecting the children of Earth and their precious lights.

Eventually, they came to the end of the stables, where the largest platform of all waited up above them.

“Ready?” Justin asked.

Lena hopped up onto his back, grabbing his antlers like a pair of handlebars. “Ready!”

She pushed his antlers forward, and Justin’s hooves rose up off the floor. Lucas rose in perfect synchronization with him, and together they soared toward the large platform. There, eight old, gray-furred reindeer waited for them, sitting side by side and dressed in robes of deep red. As soon as Justin and Lucas landed, they all rose to their hooves in greeting—all except the doe sitting two seats right of center.

Vixen had been severely injured in the battle against Krampus last Christmas Eve. Though she had survived, even Santa’s near-infinite power hadn’t been enough to save her. The ancient reindeer would never walk—or fly—again.

“Welcome, Justin, Lucas, Lena,” said Dasher, who sat back down in his seat in the center. “We’re sorry to have called you here on such short notice.”

Lucas smirked. “If it gets us out of having to paint toys for another two hours, then I won’t complain. Because painting toys is all we’ve been doing—right, Justin?”

“We are going to discuss you stealing that bell,” Vixen said, her voice sharp. “Eventually. Unfortunately, we have more important things to talk about today.”

Lucas’ ears drooped slightly, but Vixen’s words only made Justin’s heart grow heavier. The Council of Eight had been with Santa since the beginning, and had experienced everything a reindeer could possibly go through. Though they all looked calm and collected, sitting there in a row with their billowing red robes, there was a certain…stiffness to them that gave Justin the feeling that they were more nervous than they let on. And that, in turn, made him even more nervous.

“Has something happened?” Lena asked.

“Yes,,” Dasher answered, “but I would prefer to wait until Willow is here to begin explaining—ah, wonderful!”

Justin looked up just as a third deer descended to land on the large platform. Justin’s ears perked up excitedly, and then his face turned red again at the sudden, uncontrollable reaction.

“Hey, Justin,” Willow greeted him with a smile. “Lena. Lucas. Have they told you what’s going on yet?”

“I- I- I- I think they were waiting for you to get here,” Justin stammered, his tongue suddenly feeling as slippery as an ice skating bar of soap.

“Indeed we were,” said the eldest buck, rising to his hooves. “Dasher!”

The doe to his right stood up. “Dancer!”

As did the buck to his left. “Prancer!”

Vixen, of course, stayed seated. “Vixen!”

“Comet!”

“Cupid!”

“Donner!”

“Blitzen!”

Dasher struck the floor with his walking stick, and they all sat back down. “Let this meeting of the Council of Eight commence!”

Justin took a deep breath. “I take it something bad’s happened. You wouldn’t have called the four of us here if it weren’t urgent.”

The council exchanged troubled looks.

“Though I wish I could say otherwise, you are correct, Justin,” Dasher admitted with a sigh. “A great and terrible shadow has fallen over the Earth. One we have not seen in hundreds of years. We had, perhaps foolishly, believed this shadow to be vanquished, but it has resurfaced to spread do the Krampus’ will once again.”

A chill went down Justin’s spine. “What is it?”

Dasher leaned forward, an ominous glint in his eye. “Mari Lwyd has returned.”