Chapter Seven

Chapter Seven

Dasher led Justin further into the manor, followed closely by Lucas and Lena. Though the old reindeer's back was bent with age, there was still an undeniable spring in his step, and Justin found he had to walk quickly to keep up.

“What is your name, young buck?” Dasher asked as they walked.

“Justin.” He glanced back at Lucas, remembering how deferential he had acted, then hastily added, “Sir.”

“Well, Justin, I'm sure you must be confused, so let me start at the very beginning.” They paused at a window, and Dasher waved a hand toward it. “Welcome to Val Luminara, the Valley Beneath the Lights. Right now you are in the valley’s capital, the City of Neverending Celebration, Laetitia.”

Justin couldn't help but stare. While he had seen the city in its entirety during his fall from orbit, he hadn't really gotten a good look at it since…well, since he had been falling from orbit. But now that he had the opportunity to do so, his mouth fell open in awe.

The manor stood atop a large hill at the far end of town, giving him a birdseye view of the whole city. Laetitia stretched for miles, each window a candleflame in the night. Looking down at it, Justin couldn't decide if Laetitia looked like something out of a history book, or a fairy tale. The buildings were outdated, having gone out of style roughly around the time the wheel was invented, but they had a certain…Justin wasn't sure how to put it…presence that made them seem ageless rather than old. Just like the elves that roamed the streets, now that he thought about it. How old had Lucas said Lena was? Three hundred? And yet, she didn't look a day over twenty. That was the same feeling he got when he looked at Laetitia.

But what truly left him speechless was what he saw above the city. Up in the sky, miles higher than the tallest of Laetitia's towers, the night was on fire with a mind bending array of colors. Reds, blues, greens, yellows, and more, they swept across the dark sky like a river of pure light that circled around and connected with itself, forming a halo around the city below.

“This is, as you may have already guessed, Santa Claus’ city,” Dasher went on. He turned a corner and began making his way down a different corridor, and Justin had to tear his eyes away from the view outside to follow him. “Technically located at the North Pole, and nowhere at all. Have I lost you yet?”

Justin hesitated, then nodded. Dasher smirked, chuckling, and continued walking.

“The simplest way that I can put it is that Laetitia doesn’t exist on earth. Remember that ring that you saw the Northern Lights make? That acts as a gateway between our world and the human world. Here, let me see if I can guess what happened just moments before you arrived: you had just placed an envelope containing your resume and cover letter into the mailbox, when suddenly the mailbox burst alight and you were sucked into it. The next thing you know, you’re falling from thousands of feet above the ground! Am I right?”

“Uh, mostly,” Justin admitted, his new ears twitching nervously at the memory. “But it was my computer, not a mailbox.”

The four of them still had yet to reach the edge of the mansion. Just how big was this place?

Dasher paused, then glanced at Lucas. “Computer, eh? Is that what people are using to get jobs these days?”

“Yes, sir,” said Lucas.

He waved dismissively. “Never could make antlers or tails of the blasted things, myself. But what you used doesn’t matter. What matters is that you are here in Laetitia, and now your new life can begin!”

“A new life?” Justin echoed, dumbfounded. “B- But I don’t want a new life!”

Dasher looked at him with sad eyes. “Are you sure about that, young buck? The fact that you’re here at all tells me otherwise.”

“Okay, fine, I admit that I was looking for a new job,” Justin said. He reached up and grabbed his new antlers. “But that doesn’t mean I wanted this!”

“Or, perhaps you simply don’t know what it is you want.”

Justin stared at him in disbelief. “No, I’m one hundred percent sure I didn’t want to be turned into a deer monster! Uh, no offense.”

“None taken.” Dasher sighed. “Young buck, I know that this is a lot to take in, but there’s one thing you should bend your mind to understanding as soon as possible: Santa Knows you better than you know yourself. He always has, and he always will.”

“You can’t say—”

Dasher stopped and turned to face Justin. The hallway seemed to grow darker, and the old deer towered over the frightened young buck.

“Santa is old, far older than you could ever begin to comprehend,” he said, his voice ringing through the air. “He has many powers, but the greatest and most terrible is the Knowing. The Knowing is his gift, but also his curse. He Knew the first person to ever walk the earth. He Knew every man and woman who has ever lived and died. He Knew when the earth was formed, and he Knows every ache and pain the planet feels as it spins throughout the great void. He Knew you, Justin, the moment you came into existence. He Knows every word you have ever said, he Knows every sin you have committed, and he Knows every good deed you have performed.”

Justin took a step back, feeling a very deer-like instinct to bolt. Dasher blinked, as if he hadn’t realized the effect he was having, and seemed to shrink back down into the wizened old deer he had been before.

“Ah, but I’m being overdramatic,” he said apologetically. “What I meant to say is that Santa spent a great deal of time crafting this particular spell. It seeks out those who…well, I hate to say it, but those who have no future. Since you were searching for a job, can I assume that you had recently also lost a job?”

“Just this morning,” Justin admitted, folding his arms self-consciously.

“And as for your applications, there were no promising leads?”

“There were a couple!” Justin snapped.

“Such as?” Dasher asked, placing his hands patiently on top of his walking stick.

Justin hesitated. “Like mold taster, and…um live bait?”

Dasher nodded sagely. “Santa Knew that you were at a dead end. Either none of the jobs you applied for would accept you, or you would be even worse off if they did. And so he sent you a gift that only Santa Claus could ever offer. It was what we call the Opportunity.”

“What opportunity?”

“The Opportunity for a new life. The chance to start over, to craft a future worth living for, and to fill your days with purpose and meaning.”

“What kind of meaning and purpose? What is it you all expect me to do here?”

Dasher laughed in pure, childlike delight. “Young buck, this is the North Pole and you’re a reindeer! What do you think you’ll be doing?”

Before Justin could answer, he turned and placed his hands against a huge pair of green doors. They flew open almost on their own, revealing a massive room on the other side. The ceiling was close to three hundred feet in the air, and the far wall was more than five times that distance away. Cube-shaped pillars rose from the floor, their sides layered with dozens of platforms, upon each of which a single reindeer stood. Some were true reindeer, with four legs and four hooves, but others were the two-legged variety like Dasher and Lucas.

And like me, Justin thought, his stomach doing a somersault.

As if that wasn’t strange enough, though, the longer Justin looked, the more he came to realize that the two legged and the four legged reindeer were one and the same. More than once, he saw one of the four legged beasts stand up on its hind legs. Its entire body would promptly reshape itself, taking on a more human form, and clothes would appear out of thin air to cover them. Likewise, occasionally one of the two-legged creatures would get down on all fours, instantly transforming to make the posture more natural.

“These are the Elder Stables,” Dasher explained, leading the way inside. “If a reindeer survives their duties, they are allowed to retire here. Every one of the deer you see was a strong flier, their very lives dedicated to the keeping and spreading of Christmas cheer.”

Justin’s ears perked up. “Wait, what did you say? If they survive?”

Dasher didn’t answer, only continued leading the way through the Stables, and Justin had no choice but to follow.

Justin looked around as he walked. Why would anyone want to live here, he wondered? Each platform—or stable, he realized—was bigger than his entire apartment back home, but it was still just an empty stage with no walls or doors. But then, just as he passed one, the deer inside moved as if to sit down even though there was no furniture. Justin raised a hand, already knowing he wouldn’t be able to make it there in time to help—but then, in a tornado of red and green light, a large, overstuffed easy chair appeared right where it was needed. A book quickly materialized in the deer’s hands, along with a side table holding a candle, and a plate with a fresh carrot sitting on it. Nearby, in a different stable, a king sized bed sprang into existence for a tired looking doe, followed by four walls to block out the lights and noise as she napped.

“And there’s our destination,” Dasher announced, pointing toward a platform on the far wall that was larger than all the others. It was also more than a hundred feet above the ground. “Race you there, young buck!”

The old deer immediately leaped into the air, his red robes fluttering in the wind as he soared effortlessly across the room.

Lucas laughed, surprising Justin. He and Lena had been so quiet ever since Dasher had arrived that Justin had forgotten they were even there.

“Come on, we can at least give him a good race!” the other deer said with a grin. Before Justin could protest, he grabbed him by the arm. “Ready?”

“Don’t you dare leave me behind!” Lena shouted. Before Justin knew what was happening, she had clambered up onto his back, wrapping her arms and legs around him.

Justin reached back to shove her off. “Hey, stop that! What do you think you’re doing?”

“Lena, you know you’re not supposed to do that without his consent,” Lucas snapped, glaring at her. “Just because you’ve chosen him doesn’t mean he’s chosen you.”

Justin stared at him in bewilderment. “Chosen her for what, exactly?”

“The sooner you get up there, the sooner you’ll know,” Lena answered. Then, apparently having second guessed herself, she asked more quietly, “Can I please ride on your back?”

“You…I don’t…” Justin’s mouth opened and closed, his overtaxed brain a single wrong word away from short circuiting. Finally, he just gave up. “Fine, I guess.”

With a whoop, Lucas took all three of them up into the air again. Justin could immediately feel the difference from last time, when he had been completely out of control. Lucas clearly knew what he was doing, and could control not only where he flew, but Justin and Lena as well. That didn’t stop Justin from whimpering as soon as his hooves left the floor, but he had to admit there was a small—microscopic, really—comfort in knowing he was being guided by an expert.

Lucas had said he’d wanted to race Dasher, but the older deer had long since landed on the large platform by the time they caught up to him. There were eight chairs lined up beside each other, with seven reindeer seated in them. Five bucks and two does. One of the chairs in the center was empty, and Dasher sat in it before pounding the end of his walking stick on the floor with a loud BOOM.

Then, with obvious authority, he declared, “Dasher!”

The doe on his left spoke up, “Dancer!”

“Prancer,” said the buck to Dasher’s right.

“Vixen,” said the doe on Dancer’s left.

“Comet,” came next.

“Cupid!”

“Donner!”

“Blitzen!”

Dasher struck the floor with his walking stick again. “Let this meeting of the Council of Eight commence.”