by Johnny Miles
“Mind games and parlor tricks. Not even Black Magic, no matter how corrupt, can bring someone back to life.”
“You’re wrong, Tem. The dead can come back if there remains even the smallest spark of love. The tiniest flicker of hope.”
“You-you said that to me…once.” Krampus whispered, as if afraid he might awaken from a nightmare. “Is it…is it really you?”
“I swear to you, it is I. Just as you, darling Temmen, are the man who made me a woman…that Christmas Eve by the river bank so many years ago. Do you remember? On that bed of dried grass?”
“You…you said after that it scratched your ass.” Krampus chuckled.
“You rubbed salve on me.” She smiled adoringly.
“I— I remember.” Krampus bowed his head slightly, shoulders hunched. “But it was you who made a man of the boy.”
“Oh, Tem. My dear, sweet, beautiful prince. You were so handsome then. Easily the most handsome ever. The men hated you, and the women grew wet at the sight of you. So big and strong. So unbelievably flawless.”
“Am I…am I not…handsome to you now? Am I really that ugly?”
Griffin could no longer watch the tragedy unfolding before him. He closed his eyes and opened his mind to think of no one but Woden.
“Woden, please. If you’re listening, make this stop. This is…this is unbelievably cruel.”
“I am doing nothing.”
Confused, Griffin opened his eyes. He scanned the faces of those in his group who stared just as horrified yet fascinated by what was happening.
Then who, Griffin wondered, and he noticed the woman had gotten closer to Krampus.
“You are not ugly. You are still the most handsome man in the world to me.” Her smiled never wavered, nor did the look of adoration on her face. Except Griffin thought he detected the tiniest flaw, a hesitation he sensed more than saw. But if he felt it, Krampus would have felt it too.
“See how you left me?” she said, taking his hand once more and pressing it against her belly.
Krampus shuddered. The woman then touched his cheek. He leaned into her touch as she caressed his horns, his thick, muscled neck. She moved her hands to his massive chest and stepped into his open arms.
Griffin held his breath, certain Krampus was playing them. In fact, he thought he saw a hitch in the others as they, too, held their collective breath.
Krampus embraced the woman named Anwyl. He closed his eyes and let his lips part. They kissed tenderly.
In that moment, Krampus changed. Griffin saw him as he once might have been. As Temmen, he’d been tall, swarthy, and rugged, with a smooth, naturally muscled body. He had an amazingly thick head of wavy black hair, chiseled features, sleepy gray eyes, and a wide, generous mouth with the type of lips you couldn’t resist. Then Griffin blinked and the image was gone. He glanced around. Had anyone else seen?
“I’m so sorry, Anwyl. I never meant to…” Krampus sighed heavily and let out a sob that nearly broke Griffin’s heart. Then Krampus continued. “You’re exactly the balm I needed to sooth my wretched soul…except…”
Anwyl hesitated. Griffin tensed. He felt a shift in energy. Then, a loud voice hollered,
“He knows!”
Krampus grabbed the woman’s braid and snapped her neck with one deft move. The shape-shifter’s limp body fell to the ground, reverting back to original form.
“And for that…you’re all going to die!”
Krampus morphed back to the demon he had been. He opened his mouth and roared, his body taut, muscles rippling. He took a step toward them, squishing the shape-shifter’s body beneath a hoof, and thrust his arms forward, palms out. He let loose with a wave of energy that rippled the air as it swept toward them.
Chapter Twenty-Four
It all happened at once. Kris ran for Bucket while Gavin rushed to the doors of the Great Hall.
“Everyone, out. Quickly!” Gaea shouted, herding Magicals toward Gavin.
Griffin reacted without thinking. He threw a protective shield against Krampus’s surge of power. Jackson took a stance beside him, amplifying Griffin’s energy.
“Griffin. Jackson. No!” Woden shouted. But it was too late. Magic had already been released.
Griffin held his position as Krampus’s blow clashed against the shield surrounding them. Sparks flew. Deflected, the energy ricocheted. It glanced against the stone pillars and bounced off the walls and ceiling. One of the shots slammed into Krampus and knocked him back. He flailed like an upside-down turtle.
The ground rumbled.
“Stop it, Griffin. This instant, before it’s too late!” Woden tugged at him.
“Are you crazy?” Griffin shouted above the din. “I can’t let up now. Not when this crazy power is still bouncing around all over the place!” As if to illustrate the point, at that very moment another shot sparked against the shield. Griffin grimaced from the struggle of keeping the shield in place.
The ground shook.
“Go help the others, Woden. Get them to safety.” Griffin turned to Jackson. “Baby, I love you, but you’ve got to go. Now!”
“I’m not leaving you!” Jackson shouted.
Grit fell from the ceiling, coating them both.
“I said go!” Griffin hollered and renewed his efforts. Jackson refused to budge.
“I said get out!” Griffin bellowed as the floor of the Great Hall cracked open.
Woden pulled a protesting Jackson away. Griffin turned his attention back to Krampus, who struggled to his feet. A portion of the ceiling fell on him, knocking him back down.
Griffin looked frantically about, fearful of letting go despite the increased shaking, despite the chasm growing wider before him. A boulder fell from above and hit the edge of the maw on the ground. The boulder continued falling, to whatever still held the castle up from below.
Except Griffin knew it wouldn’t hold much longer. If the ground continued to shake, the castle would crumble.
Griffin dropped the shield, even though Krampus’s magic still bounced and glanced off the ceiling, columns, and walls, causing the ground to shake even more violently. Arms and legs trembling from the exertion of holding the shield, Griffin forced himself to turn and run, but not before a final glance behind him.
Krampus stood at the other side of the chasm. It had grown too wide for him to cross, but as Griffin watched, Krampus ran as far back as he could, then turned to face the growing sinkhole.
Griffin ran, though it was difficult because of the shaking ground. An instant later he was at the doors of the Great Hall. Kris and his father were there, guiding the last of the Magicals out. Bucket lay on the ground behind Kris.
“Take Bucket and go. I got this!” Griffin shouted at Kris. A split second later, Kris and Bucket disappeared into thin air.
“Dad. We’ve got to go.”
Gavin looked up, and Griffin thought he saw a tear trickle down his dirty, wrinkled cheek.
NOW THAT THE freed Magicals were out of the Great Hall, they filled the foyer, pushing and shoving to get to one of the three remaining portals. One of them, the portal at the wall separating the Great Hall from the foyer, had already collapsed. A second, the one by the stained glass, looked imminent. Gaea was already shoving people toward the portal by the front doors and barely escaped being crushed herself as the castle began to crumble and fall apart.
Woden surveyed the pandemonium, his hair blowing about his face from the vortex created by the two portals that remained open. He shouted above the din.
“Everyone! There’s another portal. It doesn’t matter which one you use. Just escape this realm! We’ll find you and get you sorted. Hurry!”
Before the castle collapses, he wanted to say but bit his tongue. He turned to his son.
“Jackson! The other portal. We need to get as many as we can out of here.” In a whirl of wind, Woden stood by the rear portal. He extended a hand to a worried-looking goblin.
“But I’m not— I fought with Kramp—” the goblin started.
Near tears, the goblin thanked Woden and leaped through the portal, sucked into a vacuum of darkness. Woden then cupped a pair of shivering fairies who held hands against the tide and tossed them as gently as he could to the other side.
KRIS’S HEART RACED. His first thoughts were of Bucket, to see him safely through the portal, but Santa Claus could never abandon anyone, not when there were so many in peril. In fact, duty demanded he make the sacrifice, to put others first no matter what.
He glanced over his shoulder. Bucket still lay quietly behind him. Despite the warning against Magic, Kris reached out with his mind. But it was a bit too late for that. So much Magic had already been used, Kris wondered if there would be anyone left at all who wouldn’t suffer some sort of consequence because of it.
Bucket still breathed. Physically he was fine, even if parts of him were bruised and might never again function the way they should. His mind, that was what worried Kris most. Bucket’s mind was erratic from the physical, mental, and spiritual atrocities done to him. Memories, thoughts, and Magic all popped in and out like static, zapping his poor body and causing him to jump. Kris knew if he didn’t stabilize Bucket soon, his mind might short-circuit. Yes, Kris thought. Duty first, but…
“Woden.” Kris reached out to Woden, wherever he might be. “I must get Bucket to the sleigh.”
“Yes. I can feel his energy. It’s not good. The sleigh is less than a mile away, just outside the castle on a ridge. Go.”
“Gavin—” Kris started.
“Go,” Gavin replied. It seemed he already knew. “I can take care of the last of them with Griffin. Here he comes now.”
Kris turned. He scooped Bucket into his arms and held him close to his chest. Bucket’s heart was faint, but it still beat. His eyelids fluttered.
“Don’t worry, Bucket. I’m going to get you out of here.”
And with that, Kris closed his eyes and popped out of the castle to where the sleigh stood waiting.
Dunder and Blixem snorted in disapproval, braying through their fear and anxious to fly away as the ground beneath them lurched. Kris flew forward and nearly lost Bucket as the ground they’d landed on when popping out of the castle shoved them up into the air. Kris jumped with Bucket in his arms and hurriedly tucked Bucket in the backseat. As he did so, a shard of granite speared through the ground on the other side of the sleigh. It shot up toward the sky. To his right, a sinkhole opened up.
Kris tried not to think of their precarious situation. Instead, he placed his hands on Bucket, closed his eyes, and gave of his own life force. Seconds later, exhausted but fueled by adrenaline, he stepped down from the sleigh and grabbed each of the deer. He placed his forehead against each in turn and spoke to them.
“We must wait a moment longer. The others. If things get bad…if your lives become more endangered than they are now…just go. Leave us.”
GAVIN GLANCED UP long enough to see Kris disappear with Bucket. He forced himself to remain calm as he and Griffin helped the last of the freed Magicals through the doorway, ignoring those already crushed beneath his feet.
“Dad. We’ve got to go.”
Gavin looked up at his son and took in the sight of his formerly thick and flaming red hair now streaked with white. There were wrinkles around his eyes and lips. His forehead, previously smooth, was now a bit more furrowed. Above the bridge of his nose, the twin wrinkled grooves that made Griffin look as though he were squinting. In less than ten minutes, Gavin’s son had aged nearly twenty years.
And yet, he looked as robust as ever.
Gavin picked up Kaine, who’d been knocked out by a minotaur trying to escape before him, and slung him over his shoulder. Then he let Griffin push them through the door but stopped when he heard the growl from the Great Hall.
“What are you doing? Dad. Where are you—?”
“Take Kaine. I’ll be right with you.” Gavin passed Kaine off and hurried back to the Great Hall. He stood just beyond the threshold.
Krampus ran.
Rooted to the spot, Gavin stood agape as Krampus reached the edge of the large chasm in the ground and leaped. If he reached the other side, if Krampus got to them, they would surely be doomed. Someone had to stop Krampus in his tracks. Someone had to keep him from reaching the other side. Without thinking, Gavin sprang to action. He raced as fast as he could toward the chasm. He sensed the Magic around and called it to him, drawing it into himself. Gavin sped up. For the briefest of moments, he felt as strong and powerful as he’d once been. He felt…Magical.
The chasm loomed closer. Krampus was already up in the air, nearly past the midpoint of the abyss. Gavin tapped the energy source. He dug deeper and found panic, fear, anger. He reached the chasm even as the ground heaved with a tremendous force. Gavin leaped, propelled by the quaking ground at his feet, pushing him farther to his destination better than Magic might have done. He collided with Krampus, who let out an angry cry as, together, they locked limbs and fell into the dark abyss.
Down, down they went. Tumbling and turning. Spinning and falling. Holding on to each other. Down. Down. Down. There were no screams. The ground did not rumble. In fact, the only noise was the sound of wind as they plummeted.
And Krampus’s glowing lizard-like eyes as he snorted like a charging bull.
Gavin tried to let go of Krampus, tried to push him away, but Krampus was having none of that. Gavin pulled back and gave the demon a head butt that surprised Krampus into letting go.
And still they continued to fall.
Moments later, Gavin slammed into the ground. Grit, pebbles, and rocks showered his face. He didn’t need Magic to know he’d broken his legs, shattered his pelvis, and possibly even caused damage to his internal organs. And then…
Ploof!
An extremely heavy weight fell on Gavin with such force it knocked the wind out of his already rasping lungs. Seconds later he blacked out but not before realizing Krampus had fallen on top of him.
As he slipped into unconsciousness, Gavin thought of the strapping young man Griffin had become. He lamented the child whose growing up he’d missed but was grateful to have finally met him. Then came the image of his lovely and innocent Virginia, who’d once possessed the heart and mind of a child. From the darkness, she beckoned, and Gavin willingly followed the love of his life.
GRIFFIN PUT KAINE down seconds later, after he’d awakened and insisted he could run. Griffin raced back into the Great Hall in time to see his father collide with Krampus.
“Dad…no!” Griffin called out, horrified as the two hung together in the air in a bizarre embrace, then fell.
“No, no, no!” Griffin raced to the edge of the chasm in time to see Gavin and Krampus locked together in a bizarre free-floating danse macabre, falling and tumbling.
The ground heaved. Griffin lost his balance, but all he could think of was his father sacrificing himself to save them from Krampus, only to fall into blackness with the monster.
“Dad!” Griffin hollered, belly down and barely hanging on near the edge of the shaking, grumbling ground.
“Griffin. We’ve gotta go. It’s not safe,” said Jackson. As if on cue, a large chunk of the ceiling tumbled and shattered to the ground beside him. Griffin rolled over in the nick of time.
Jackson loomed above him, extending his hand. Griffin took it, and Jackson yanked him up, away from danger.
“I thought you were helping Woden at the second portal?”
“I was. I came to get you when I saw you run back in here. The second portal is about to fail, and it won’t be long before the other one goes.” The columns in the Great Hall cracked and began to collapse. So did the ceiling.
Griffin and Jackson ran out into the foyer.
“Everyone outside!” Woden screamed.
As Griffin and Jackson raced for the main door, one of the Elves holding the rear portal open lost his footing. The portal snapped shut, pinching a creature
half in transit. It burst from the force and the remains splattered on those closest, but their wailing lingered in the foyer amidst the rumbling and the screams from those who hadn’t yet gone through.
“Everyone stop, now! Shut the portals. Shut them down!” Woden cried.
The remaining Magicals, even those who’d been on Krampus’s side, rushed for the door as the castle collapsed. Griffin, anticipating the mass of bodies running toward them, grabbed Jackson, closed his eyes, and suddenly found himself outside.
“Ha! Did you see that? Oh my God. Ohmygodohmygodohmygod!”
Griffin laughed and whooped, part from relief but mostly from the rush of adrenaline. Then he hurried back to the pair of portal openers that had been by the door. He and Jackson helped them to their feet. The Elves immediately got to work, and the Magicals streaming out of the crumbling castle hurriedly climbed through the vortex.
Griffin looked up. He took in the scene happening around him. They’d saved a lot of Magicals, but there were still several hundred left. With the violent shaking and only one portal…
“Jackson—”
“Don’t go there, Grif. We do what we can.”
Gaea suddenly appeared before them.
“Go! Meet us at the sleigh!”
Seconds later Griffin felt the rush of spirits and ghosts as they sailed past and through him. Kaine stumbled against him, and Griffin reached out for him when he fell on his ass. With their fingers inches apart, the ground gave another lurch.
A chasm appeared before Griffin, and he watched, horrified and helpless, as Kaine along with several dozen Magicals fell. Their screams lingered in Griffin’s mind, and he cried out, staring into the yawning abyss.
Kris popped up beside him. “We have to go. This isn’t going to hold much longer. The realm is about to implode.”
“But we can’t! There are still—”
“There’s nothing else we can do for them!”
“Go!” Gaea’s voice was loud in Griffin’s head. He looked up as she physically picked up as many Magicals as she could and tossed them through the last remaining portal. She grabbed them by the scruff just as two minotaurs raced toward the opening. They leaped and sailed through like they were diving into a pool. Gaea tossed her creatures in after them.