Chapter Twenty Three

Chapter Twenty Three

Everything immediately turned to chaos. The reindeer, who had been flying calmly despite their excitement, suddenly burst into frantic motion. Like wasps protecting their hive, they swarmed the sleigh, filling the air with speeding antlered projectiles. Several of them came to a stop surrounding Santa and the gifts, but the vast majority of them continued to dart in, snatching presents out of the bag, and then fly away.

“Wait,” Justin exclaimed, watching everything unfold around him, “what do I do?”

“Find Lucas and Willow!” Lena said, holding onto his antler with one hand. In the other, she now wielded her white staff. “There they are!”

Giving Santa one last look, Justin took off in their direction.

“Did you see anything?’ Lucas demanded as soon as he came within earshot. “Is Krampus really—”

“Santa and I spotted them over in that part of town!”

Everyone spun to look, and something caught Justin's eye. Strings of yellow Christmas lights, perhaps the biggest display he had ever seen outside of Laetitia, glittered softly in the night. They stretched for miles in every direction. The entire city must have worked together to light up the whole…

Those lights, he realized, his heart sinking into his stomach, are moving toward us!

Those weren't Christmas lights, they were eyes! Hundreds…no, thousands of them, all making their way across town, closing in on the sleigh.

“What do we do?” he asked again, the fur on his spine rising.

Lucas made a fist, rubbing his knuckles. “We go down there and show them some real Christmas spi—”

“No!” his Rider interrupted him.

“Tanraak is right,” Moryta agreed. “We have our duty, and that's to deliver these gifts!”

Justin stared at the red haired elf in disbelief. “We're under attack from the forces of hell—”

“Mantombra,” Lena corrected him.

“—and you're still thinking about delivering toys? We have bigger things to worry about!”

Lucas spun around, grabbing Justin by the collar of his jacket. “There is nothing more important than delivering these presents!”

“He's right,” said Willow. “Don't you understand yet, Justin? These aren't just toys! They're weapons—the only ones that stand a chance of defeating Krampus!”

“Every gift we deliver acts as a shield against him and his minions,” Lena said tugging on Justin's antlers to turn him away from the ocean of gleaming eyes. “If we get there first, that house is safe for another year!”

She thrust forward, and Justin reluctantly shot back toward the sleigh.

“But what about the farmhouse we saw earlier?” he asked above the rushing winds. “Santa said—”

“We can't protect them from everything, Justin! The world will always be full of darkness, and the lights of children will always be at risk of going out. But for tonight, one night every year, we can keep Krampus from attacking them directly! All we have to do…”

“...is what Santa is trusting us to do,” Justin finished for her, the whole truth finally dawning on him.

They reached the sleigh, where the Council of Eight had gathered to speak to Santa. Hundreds of deer were still grabbing presents from the back, but the small group—they couldn't have been more than two dozen—hovered in a sphere shape around the sleigh.

All of their antlers were glowing.

“Wait,” Justin said suddenly. “Are they…”

“The Lightcasters,” Lucas said with obvious envy in his voice.

“They're the ones who have mastered the art of channeling their light,” Willow explained. “They're the first and last line of defense to keep Krampus from reaching the sleigh—and Santa.”

Hesitantly, Justin reached up to touch one of his antlers. “Should I…”

“No!”

All three of them jumped, then spun around to see Vixen flying toward them.

“You have the gift,” she said, “and your light is bright, but you haven't had any training to control it. You are to remain on delivery duty until further notice!”

Justin paused, but then nodded.

“The three of you are a squad,” she went on, looking at Lucas and Willow. “Stick together. Fly fast. And if you must, fight hard. But don’t seek out conflict, and don’t stay in danger a moment longer than you absolutely have to!”

“Yes, ma’am!” all three reindeer agreed

“The darkness must not take this city! We can stop it, but only if we put our trust in Santa. Now go!”

Feeling a sense of optimism that defied the situation they were in, Justin grabbed one of the gifts and chased after the trail of light it conjured, his friends by his side.

————

Vixen watched as the three young deer sped off into the night, their hearts alight with the fire that only spreading joy to others could ignite.

How could I ever think he was lightless? she thought in dismay.

She floated back to the front of the sleigh, where Santa gave her an approving nod. He hadn't berated her for her treatment of Justin. Not that she had expected him to. In the thousands of years she had spent serving him, there had only been one person who could ever elicit that kind of reaction from him.

Sometimes she wished that he would. It would certainly make living with the knowledge that she had disappointed him easier.

An icy wind blew past the sleigh, carrying the sound of cruel laughter on it.

Vixen turned around just as the horned figure rose ghostlike into the air in the distance.

Speaking of that one person…

She felt a chill as Krampus ran his eyes over her, but she stood—well, floated—steadfast in her duty to protect Santa.

“Positions!” Dasher commanded.

She and the other seven took up the old formation in front of the sleigh. Memories pressed in on the edges of her mind, threatening to break her concentration.

How different things had been back then, when Santa had first blessed her with sentience. There had been so few people in the world in those days, at least compared to how things were now. He had been able to deliver gifts to all the children of the world with just the eight of them and a regular sized sleigh. But as mankind prospered—thanks in no small part to Santa, himself—it had also grown. And as the world's population grew, so had Santa's operation, requiring first a larger sleigh, then more reindeer.

And then more, and more, and more.

But some things never change, she thought as her antlers glowed with green light, along with those of the other councilmembers. Like my love for Christmas…and for the man behind us.

A ball of green energy took form in front of her face, filling the air with an almost melodic hum.

I would have given my life for him three thousand years ago.

“We trust in Santa!” declared Dasher. “Just as he trusts in us! Tonight, let us prove ourselves worthy of that trust!”

And that will never change either!

“Attack!”

Vixen and the other seven unleashed their magic. The beams of light connected a few feet in front of them, melding together to create a single, colossal pillar of energy. It, like the portal above Val Luminara, was a swirling vortex of every color imaginable—and it blasted toward Krampus in a burst of indescribable power!

Krampus shot to the left, and the attack missed him by a few scant inches.

No! Vixen thought in despair as the cloaked monstrosity swooped toward them.

————

“Okay,” said Justin as Santa vanished down the chimney, “that's the last one. Let's go get—”

Suddenly, a light even brighter than Santa's bag lit up the night sky. He winced at the sudden brightness, but spun to see what was happening. It only lasted for a few seconds, but the dark splotch it left on his sight lingered.

“Oh no!” Lena gasped in fright.

Krampus was flying toward the sleigh. Whatever the council had just tried to do, it obviously hadn't worked.

The Lightcasters leaped into action, clustering around the front of the sleigh to make a living shield. Twenty two beams of light shot from their snouts, zipping through the night in patterns that would have looked beautiful in any other situation. Tonight, though, all Justin could see was how deftly Krampus wove between the beams. Left, right, up, and down, he flew as skillfully as any reindeer, every movement bringing him closer to Santa.

“This…This is okay, right?” he asked, his heart racing. “He's no match for Santa, right?”

Nobody answered.

“Guys?”

“A long time ago, they were equally matched,” Willow said softly. “But as the world has grown darker, Krampus has grown stronger. Santa might still have been able to fight him, but tonight…”

“What about tonight?” Justin demanded.

“The gifts!” Lucas exclaimed, his teeth clenched. “The light inside of them…it's Santa's light! He's giving a small piece of himself to every child we deliver a gift to!”

“And Krampus knows that,” said Lena, face pale. “Santa will recover his power if he's given the chance. But if Krampus strikes tonight…”

“He could win,” Justin said, horror sending chills down his spine.

Up above, Krampus crashed into the wall of reindeer. What looked like a wave of solid darkness burst from his robed form, and the Lightcasters were cast aside like a house of cards. Screams of pain filled the air. Some of them caught themselves and rushed back to Santa's defense.

Others just kept falling.

“We have to help them!” Justin yelled. He tried to take to the air, but Willow grabbed his arm before he could fly away.

“Justin, no!” she yelled. “We have our orders! Vixen said to keep delivering presents!”

“But—”

“It's what Santa wants,” Lena agreed, pulling back on his antlers. “The children always come first. He would never want you to put his wellbeing before theirs!”

“But all the presents in the world won't do anyone any good if there's no Santa!”

Willow opened her mouth, but didn't reply.

Lucas put his hand on Justin's shoulder. “We have to trust Santa. That's what we've always done, and it's all we can ever do.”

Justin looked at his friend—and then his eyes widened when he saw something appear behind him.

Yellow eyes.

“Look out!” he shouted, pushing Lucas out of the way just as the creature lunged for the elf on his back.

Lucas yelped, his arms windmilling as he fought to keep his balance. The monster swiped at the spot where he had just been with grimy, clawlike nails. It was dressed in dirty greens and reds, with a pointed cap, in a hopeless—and insulting—attempt to mimic Santa's elves. It looked to Justin like it was on the verge of declaring it wanted to be a dentist, but only so it could have the pleasure of ripping your teeth out one by one.

“Straggele!” Lena yelled.

The misshapen creature turned to glower at Justin, enraged that he had ruined its perfect ambush. Justin launched into the air, but the straggele leaped after him before he could fly far. Its short, stumpy legs proved to be stronger than they looked, sending it rocketing all the way up to Justin. Snarling, it wrapped its thick arms around his torso, pinning his arms to his side, then bared its razor sharp teeth to sink them into his flesh.

“Get off of him!” Lena screamed, springing from her saddle. In a blur of motion, she perched herself on his shoulders and swung her white staff so that it struck the straggele's head with a sickening CRUNCH. The beast let go of Justin, plummeting back to the ground with a howl of pain.

“What in the name of Saint Nick,” Justin gasped, “was that?”

“A straggele,” Lena answered, climbing back into the saddle. “They make up most of Krampus’ army. He makes them out of children who go lightless.”

Down below, the straggele picked itself up, rubbing its head where Lena had struck it. Its hat fell off, revealing two thick black horns curling out of its skull.

“That thing,” Justin asked in disbelief, “is a kid?”

“Not anymore,” Lena said grimly. “Don't waste your time feeling sorry for them, because they're not going to return the favor.”

“But—”

“A little help here would be great!”

Justin spun around in midair to see that Lucas and Willow were still trapped on the rooftop. Five more straggele had appeared, surrounding them. Lucas and Willow were standing back to back, their Riders clutching weapons, but neither of them dared to move. If they tried to fly away, the straggele would pounce, dragging them back down before tearing them apart.

“Hold on!” Justin called, and shot toward them, accelerating as quickly as he could. He didn't have nearly enough time to reach full speed, but it was still more than enough to send the closest straggele flying when he collided with it. Off it soared into the night, howling in rage.

The moment he made contact with the first straggele, everything began happening at once.

Lena leaped from his back, her staff a white blur in the night air as she struck the creature closest to her.

“ROTTEN ELF!” it roared, swiping at her with its nails. “I'LL FEED YOU YOUR OWN INTESTINES!”

Lena dodged backwards, the force of its attack blowing her hair back, and then thrust forward with her staff almost like she was playing pool and the straggele’s face was the cue ball. It stumbled backwards, cursing, and Lena followed it up with a move that Justin immediately recognized: one blow to the chest, knocking the wind out of its lungs. One to the shin, throwing it off balance. Then she gripped the staff like a baseball bat and swung it with all her might, sending the straggele tumbling off the rooftop with a screech of pain.

While she did that, Lucas and Willow took advantage of the other straggele’s confusion. Lucas ducked his head and charged forward, his antlers picking the straggele in front of him up off its feet. Bending his knees, he leaped thirty feet straight into the air. Then, with the straggele dangling helplessly from his antlers, he grabbed the deformed thing’s ankles, yanked it free, and began to spin around, and around, and around, until he and the straggele were nothing but a blur. Then he let go, flinging the screaming monster away.

Willow may not have been able to match Justin’s speed, but she was fast. When the nearest straggele lunged at her, she dodged easily out of the way. Then, moving with fluid grace that Justin couldn’t tear his eyes away from, she positioned herself behind the it. It spun around to attack again, its needle-like teeth dripping with saliva, only for Willow’s fist to connect with its face. Its head was snapped to the side, and it lashed out at the doe blindly, but Willow was already gone. The monster quickly recovered and swung its head back around to face her, only for Willow to reappear behind it. She raised both fists over her head and brought them both down on the straggele’s head. It crumpled at her feet, unconscious, and she disdainfully kicked it over the side of the roof.

One left.

Realizing it was outnumbered, the remaining straggele held up its hands in surrender and began to back away.

“Don’t hurt me!” it begged them, its golden eyes wide with fear. “I- I’ll go! Just don’t touch me, okay?”

Justin floated back to the rooftop, rejoining his friends. “You’d better start running, then. And don’t stop until you’re back at the South Pole!”

“Oho, good one!” Lucas piped up.

The straggele paused at the edge of the roof, peering down at the ground a dozen feet below, and then back at them.

“This ain’t gonna work out well for you lot,” it snarled. “Lord Krampus has been plannin’ this attack for centuries! The world’s been fallin’ deeper and deeper into darkness every year, and you buggers know it! Just take a look!”

It pointed, and Justin couldn’t help but glance up at the sleigh. Beams of multicolored light flared in every direction as the Council of Eight, plus the few remaining Lightcasters, desperately tried to hold off Krampus. Even as he watched, one of the Lightcasters flew too close to the hooded creature. It struck out faster than Justin could believe, scoring a deep cut in the reindeer’s side. Clutching his wound, the Lightcaster cried out in pain, spiraling downwards until he crashed in the empty streets a thousand feet below.

“Lord Krampus is winnin’ up there,” the straggele boasted, grinning. “By mornin’, the world will be…well, once the Light goes out, there won’t be no more mornin’s, will there?”

“When he said run,” Lucas said, taking a step toward it, “he didn’t mean your mouth. Now are you going to get out of here, or are we going to have to beat you up after all?”

The straggele sneered at him. “The only one gettin’ beat tonight is you, you furry freaks!”

“Have it your way!”

Lucas charged toward it—but then, before he could react, something vaulted over the chimney. It landed on top of him, knocking him off his hooves.

“Collin gotcha! Collin gotcha! Collin gotcha!” it ranted, giggling maniacally as they rolled across the rooftop. “Merry Chriiiiiiistmas!”

Then it sank its fangs into Lucas’ throat.

Everything froze.

No, Justin thought, watching as blood began to spurt from a dozen wounds in his friend’s neck.

This wasn’t happening. He was still asleep in the infirmary. He was lying comatose, halfway buried in snow at the North Pole. He was still in bed the morning before Black Friday!

No!

Lucas gasped in pain, his eyes going wide. He coughed as blood flooded into his lungs, but all he managed to do was splatter it all over himself. With a trembling hand, he pressed his palm against the wounds, but it fell limply to his side.

NO!

“Lucas!” he could hear Lena and Willow cry out at the same time. But they seemed to be as frozen by shock as Justin was, and could only watch as their friend fell unconscious.

“Krakkers turn! Krakkers turn!” the bloody-mouthed straggele giggled, doing a little dance as it looked from its companion to the dying reindeer. “Take big bite! Taste gooooooood!”

“NOOOO!” Justin roared.

His antlers lit up more brightly than they ever had before, bathing the house—no, the entire neighborhood—in blue light. With a scream of anguish, he forced the magic up through his chest and into his head, until it exploded from the tip of his snout. The blue stream of energy shot across the rooftop, striking the straggele in the chest—and kept going. Piercing straight through the misshapen horror, it burst out the other side, hitting the straggele behind it as well.

Both straggele screamed in pain and terror. Before Justin's eyes, they turned black, their forms becoming vaporous, less solid. The next gust of wind swept them off the roof, nothing more than quickly dissipating clouds of smoke.

“Justin!” Willow gasped. “You just—”

But Justin wasn’t listening. He dashed across the roof and fell to his knees before his dying friend. Lucas was still alive, hiccupping weakly as he struggled to breathe. He had minutes, if that.

No time to waste! he thought, sliding his hands under his friend’s body and picking him up. Must save him! Can’t lose him! Not Lucas!

“Justin, what are you doing?” Lena demanded, chasing after him. He ignored her and took to the sky. “Don’t go off by yourself! JUSTIN!”

It didn’t matter. Nothing mattered. If Lucas died, then…Justin couldn’t even imagine what would happen next. Lucas, the one who had saved his life and brought him to Laetitia. The one who had been by his side since the beginning. Who always had a joke, or a wisecrack, or a pun. He always knew how to heckle people without going too far, and get them laughing right along with them.

His best friend.

He can’t die. He can’t die! HE CAN’T DIE!

Justin didn’t realize where he was going until he got there. The sleigh. Santa! His mind was so blank with terror that he even forgot about the battle going on around it. Flying right past the council and the last remaining Lightcasters, Justin landed in the driver’s seat next to Santa.

If the red-caped man was surprised to see him, he didn't show it.

“Save him!” Justin begged, wild eyed and senseless. “Please, do it! Heal him! Don’t let him die!”

“Justin,” Vixen demand, swooping down next to him, “what on earth do you think you’re—”

A blast of dark energy struck Vixen in the side. Her eyes went wide, and she clutched the side of the sleigh with one hand as she began to drop out of the sky. For a moment, she dangled from the edge of the sleigh by her fingertips.

Not her too! Justin thought. He reached for her, but was too slow. Vixen's eyes closed, her hand slipped free, and then she was falling…falling…falling…

A shadow fell over the driver's seat, and Justin spun around to see the hooded figure hovering right in front of them.

“And now,” Krampus said, his voice dripping with cruel satisfaction, “it is your turn, Sa—”

“GO AWAY!”

Justin summoned his power like he never had before. His antlers shone so bright that for a split second, he could see beneath Krampus’ hood. A grotesque sight greeted him. Half of Krampus’ face seemed to have been burned or rotted away. Muscle and bone were exposed to the elements, with dead skin hanging from his jaws in loose, moist curtains. But what was left was familiar to Justin in a way he would never have expected, and which threatened to make him violently sick the moment he laid eyes on it.

Krampus was a reindeer.

Then the power exploded from Justin’s snout, hitting Krampus in the chest and sending him rocketing backwards across town. The light faded after less than a second. Justin wasn’t able to maintain an attack of that magnitude for even an instant longer. Fatigue swept over him, and he had to lean heavily on the side of the sleigh to keep from collapsing.

Every eye around the sleigh was staring at him in disbelief.

“She’s alive,” Dasher said, appearing on the other side of the sleigh. He was holding Vixen’s body the same way Justin had carried Lucas. “But she’s in bad condition. Santa, she needs—”

A hollow, ghostlike voice echoed across the town. It rose and fell, singing a song that caused visions of death, decay, and endless nights of absolute darkness to dance before Justin’s eyes. He clapped his hands over his ears, but it did no good. That wicked, hateful voice burrowed straight into his brain.

“Nolo multum in Nativitate Domini.

Unum tantum postulo.

Non curo munera.

Subtus arborem Nativitatis.

Ego iustus volo te esse meum.

Plusquam scire potuisti.

Da mihi quod volo.

Omnes volo pro Nativitate est tibi.”

Krampus rose up into the air again, his arms spread wide. Behind him, the moon began to disappear, like the night itself was falling asleep and closing its eye, casting the entire city into even deeper shadow. The only light remaining came from the back of Santa's sleigh, and from Santa himself.

Justin looked at Lucas again, who had all but stopped moving. The shallow rise and fall of his chest was the only thing that told Justin he was still alive. Only Santa could save him now. He had the power, Justin was sure of that. What he didn’t have was the time. Not with Krampus hounding him like this, dividing his attention, forcing him to use his magic to defend himself and the sleigh.

Justin knew what he had to do.

“Please,” he said, putting one hoof on the edge of the sleigh, “save him!”

“Justin, what are you thinking?” Dasher demanded. “You shouldn’t even be here! Your duty is to deliver the—”

Santa put his hand on Justin's shoulder, and Dasher fell silent.

“There is no greater love than this,” Santa said quietly, "that a man should lay down his life for his friends.”

That was all Justin needed to hear. Lifting into the air, he took off, flying in a straight line toward his destiny.

Toward Krampus.

Alone.