The Elf

by Max Dune

  Judging by most of their reactions, I see I have scored a point. Everyone sees the logic behind my words. Except Tiktok and Bullets. Tiktok is probably disagreeing just out of spite, but I’m not sure why Bullets rejects my idea.

  “All right,” Jack states. “We leave at sunrise.”

  Tiktok audibly grumbles and exchanges a sour look with Bullets. Neither of them seem pleased with the new plan, but the rest of us have accepted that if Santa is ramping up his forces, we will need all the help we can get.

  My gaze meets Tiktok briefly, and his expression suggests that he blames me for this development. I start to say something, argue my point even further. But ultimately, I avert my gaze and steel myself. The decision has been made. Tiktok and any other naysayers will just have to accept it.

  Chapter Twenty

  I don’t get much sleep after our meeting, and every time my eyes flutter open, I have to remind myself that a new day has not dawned yet. Eventually, the sun comes up. I climb out of bed and begin packing for my journey.

  Our travel will be treacherous, and I know that packing heavily isn’t smart. I carefully roll only the essentials into my small bag. Food, water, and arrows. I try to pack as quietly as possible. I don’t want to wake the trainees who are still snoozing in their cots. Yesterday was a grueling day for everyone, and they need all the rest they can get.

  As I’m walking away from our sleeping quarters, I hear soft footsteps behind me. I turn around and find a sleepy-faced, yawning Chance. “Hey,” I say, a bit surprised. “What are you doing up?”

  He shrugs. “I wanted to wish you luck before you go on the field trip.”

  “Oh. Thanks.”

  “You nervous?”

  “That’s an understatement,” I mutter. “But we need all the help we can get. Maybe this Wintress lady will deliver. We have to take the shot and see if we can convince her to come onboard.”

  Chance just nods. “Well, be careful out there.” He sticks out his hand for a shake. “See ya when you get back, buddy.”

  “Hold down the fort till then,” I tell him, smirking.

  Just then, I spot Tiktok walking by. He sends a scowl my way. “Hurry up, will you?” he demands. “Or did you forget we’re leaving in a few minutes?”

  “I’m just finishing up,” I quickly respond. “I’ll be there on time.”

  “You’d better be,” he grumbles and starts walking away. “I won’t wait around for you.”

  I watch him round the corner, then glance back to find Chance making faces in Tiktok’s direction. “Wow. Such a ray of sunshine, that guy.”

  “Always,” I said, mirroring his sarcasm. “I find him very...refreshing.” I frown. “I really don’t know why that guy’s got it in for me. I get along with all the Rogues but him. You got any idea why he hates me so much?”

  “Don’t take it personally,” Chance says with a dismissive wave of his hand. “Tiktok is pretty much like that with everybody here. Believe it or not, from what I hear, you’re kind of the teacher’s pet around here.”

  “Seriously?”

  “Yup. You probably don’t see it, but he does treat you better than he does most new arrivals.”

  I have to laugh. “Well, that’s reassuring.” I check my watch. “It’s time to roll. See you later.”

  He gives me a thumbs-up signal. “Travel safe.”

  I turn and head down the hallway. By the time I reach the cave entrance, everyone is there and ready, donning their coats and backpacks. Fuego is wearing his flamethrower on his back as well. Bullets, however, has elected to put his machine-gun arm on a sled. Given how much it weighs, I’m not surprised.

  What does surprise me is when Jack turns around and creates an ice wall over the entrance, blocking us all in. It’s at least ten feet thick. I frown at him, not sure what our leader is up to.

  “This will ensure the elves’ safety while we are gone,” he explains.

  “Do you think we were followed here?” I ask.

  He shakes his head. “Highly unlikely. Still, extra precautions never hurt.”

  “I agree with you there.” I pause. “But if we’re trapped in, how will we get to Wintress?”

  “The most direct route is through the tunnels, to the ocean,” Jack states as he heads for a large passageway on the right side of the cave. Everyone starts following him.

  “You’ll need this,” Fuego says, handing an LED headlamp, then strapping one around his own head. As I put it on, he adds, “It’s dark down those tunnels, amigo.”

  “And full of goblins,” Yuriko mentions.

  “What?” I ask, fidgeting. “Goblins?”

  She nods, but I suspect she is just pulling my chain. I turn to Fuego, hoping he’ll confirm or deny it. He only lets out a warm laugh.

  “I don’t think goblins are anything to joke about right now,” I mutter, annoyed at both of them.

  For the first time since I met the composed ninja, I hear a laugh escape her throat.

  Jack leads us through the icy corridors, their smooth, shiny walls casting our distorted reflections while throwing back weird echoes from time to time when we speak. We snake around many turns, leaving me completely disoriented. I hope Jack knows where he’s going in the underground labyrinth. This isn’t somewhere we want to get lost in. Every now and then, I hear unsettling noises coming from the dark tunnels we don’t take. Scraping. Hisses. It makes me wonder if Yuriko wasn’t joking after all, and I stick closer to the team.

  We soldier on for a couple hours before Bullets pipes up. “Yo, man, we almost there? This thing’s heavy as hell.” He does appear to be struggling a bit, especially when the path angles upward.

  Jack stops and glances around, as if he can discern which identical cavern is which. “Just a few more miles,” he assures the group.

  “Man...” Bullet growls.

  I step up and grab a harness.

  Bullets seems thrown off guard for a moment at the offer, then nods, smiling his thanks in my direction.

  “Why did we have to bring everyone?” Tiktok finally asks. As much as it sounds like a whining complaint, I have to admit that I’ve been wondering the same thing.

  “Because Wintress lives in a different dimension,” Jack explains. “It is far more dangerous than this one, and my powers will be severely limited. The more, the merrier...and the mightier.”

  “Ah. So we’re your bodyguards on this mission?” Fuego says in a good-natured tone.

  “Bingo,” Jack replies.

  As we trek along, I find that the sled is far heavier than I suspected, even with both Bullets and myself pulling it. Based on Jack’s comment, though, heavy artillery does seem like a good idea.

  “Is Wintress more powerful than you?” I ask Jack.

  “Much more,” he replies ominously.

  That worries me, but it’s also comforting to know we may have such a powerful ally in our fight against the Santa. “If that’s the case, I’d walk all the way to Antarctica to find her.” I sigh. “I still can’t believe how stupid I was, how stupid we all were to believe his lies.”

  Jack shakes his head, reassuring me. “Don’t beat yourself up, Lucian,” he says. “Santa’s a master actor and manipulator. If those skrillers hadn’t alerted us to the truth, he would’ve fooled us too.”

  I am silent awhile. “Can I ask you something?”

  Jack nods.

  “What else do I need to know about Santa? I mean, what else is he hiding?”

  Jack appears conflicted for a moment, as if he doesn’t want to divulge it all quite yet.

  “There’s more, isn’t there?” I say. “Tell me what you discovered on your recon.”

  He sighs, then drops the bombshell on me. “Well, for starters, Mrs. Claus did not die,” he says. “She left Santa.”

  “What!? Why?” I reply, shocked.

  “Because he wouldn’t give her a cut from his toy-selling scheme,” he replies dryly.

  That revelation stops me short. All my memories of Mrs.
Claus are fond ones. She was much more visible and interactive in the village than Santa ever has been, often stopping by the cafeteria to mingle with us, always smiling, laughing. She was made of sweetness. How could Jack’s words be true? How could she have participated in Santa’s sordidness? Knowing elves were perishing because of it? I shake my head, now revolted by the mere thought of her.

  “It seems they were made for each other,” Jack says.

  “Some leaders they are,” Yuriko says. Then she turns her eyes on me and shoots me a speculative glance. “Who do you think will take over once we’ve taken care of Santa?”

  The question baffles me. I haven’t given any thought to who would lead Santa’s Village after we defeat him. Who is strong, wise, and good enough to carry out all the responsibilities? To lead us out of this mess? To save Christmas?

  “Beats me. Hey, Jack, you looking for a job?” I ask, only half-joking.

  Jack just chuckles in response.

  “Whoever takes over, I just hope they compensate us for our efforts,” Tiktok mumbles.

  Yuriko’s narrowed eyes cut to Tiktok’s. She appears to be deeply insulted by the callous remark. “Are you joking?” she asks.

  “I never joke about money,” Tiktok replies. “And if you spent your childhood dumpster-diving for food like I did, you’d understand why.”

  Yuriko scrunches up her face, obviously preparing to lash out at him with a verbal beat-down. I actually wouldn’t mind that. It’d be nice for someone to put him in his place.

  “All right, y’all,” Bullets says loudly, breaking the tension. “Relax. We’re all in this together, on the same side.”

  Everyone heeds his advice and stays quiet for the next hour, assuming it is best to save our energy for whatever is to come. When we stop for a break, I decide to probe Tiktok about his childhood. Even though I dislike talking to him, something inside me wants to know more about what turned him into the angry scowler he is today. “Hey, what part of Sweden did you grow up in?” I ask. I’m genuinely curious about his country; the only thing I remember about Swedes from high school history is that they descended from Vikings.

  “Malmo,” he says.

  When he doesn’t elaborate, I ask another question. “Is it as cold there as it is here?”

  He hesitates before answering, like I’m setting him up for a trap or something. “It’s doubtful that anything could be colder than this bloody place, but winters are brutal there sometimes. It is not uncommon for temperatures to drop into the teens—nor was it uncommon for the orphanage heater to give out unexpectedly, often for days at a time.” He grimaces as the old memories waft back into his head. As he talks about himself, his distrust seems to fade away, and he opens up more. “I was always hungry and bullied. Of course, the directors did nothing about it. They were too busy renting out children out to wealthy tourists.”

  With every detail, I get angrier. The innocence of childhood was stolen from Tiktok and all the others, and it infuriates me that the world could be so cruel. “Nobody would help us. Nobody cared. It taught me a very important life lesson.”

  “What lesson?”

  “That all you really have is yourself.” He stops for a moment. “I ran away before I was dragged into their business. I was on my own, sleeping under bridges and in sewers, stealing whatever I could. In dump yards, I found everything I needed. People throw away such treasures—computers, cables, motors, and all kinds of kinds of things I could use to make my...toys.” He shrugs. “I also found people who were willing to pay generously for them.”

  Hearing his story, I begin to understand why he is the way he is. His gruffness toward me and the other trainees is simply a symptom, a reaction to how the world has treated him.

  I look away and shift my eyes to Yuriko. Her face is much softer than usual. Clearly, his story pulled at her heart. She is in the business of taking out garbage. I bet if Yuriko knew where those directors were, she’d pay them a visit, I think, imagining the damage a ninja could inflict on those monsters.

  Around noon, we finally break out of the darkness, although not for long. The tunnel opens to a long, curving ice bridge that leads to another glacier across a passage of water. We follow Jack all the way to the apex, where he stops.

  I join him and look down over the edge, letting out a small gasp. “It must be 100 feet down,” I mutter, gazing into the chilly blue-gray water. “What is it?”

  “The portal,” Jack says.

  I shiver at the thought. As the others join me in looking down, none of us sees anything but freezing water, lapping about far below us.

  “Uh...where?” Fuego asks.

  Jack throws a snowball down. A white, shimmering circle appears and swallows the snowball completely. Then the portal disappears from sight.

  I’m not sure I like where this is leading. “So we have to jump?”

  He is upbeat. “Correct.”

  With that, Jack jumps off the bridge and disappears into the portal. The team around me falls silent, everyone glancing over the edge. Nobody appears particularly eager to make the leap. Except for Yuriko, who is grinning like a madwoman.

  In response to our general apprehension, she chuckles. “Don’t tell me you boys are afraid of heights.” Then, before any of us can answer, she dives headfirst into the portal, and we watch her disappear into the shimmering portal, just as Jack did.

  Bullets finally discovers enough courage and attaches his gun arm. “I bet I’ll fall the fastest,” he brags. “See ya on the other side!” He leaps over the side.

  After doing the sign of the cross, Fuego jumps too.

  Next, after a shrug, Tiktok goes.

  Left alone, I stare down into the abyss, feeling potent hesitation in my bones. How am I supposed to do this? What if I miss the portal? I sigh out loud. Screw it, I tell myself, then close my eyes and dive down.

  Chapter Twenty–One

  I fall through the portal and land in a clump of something soft, letting out an audible huff. I look and feel around me. I’m lying over mossy grass that smells a lot like oregano. The others are standing nearby, also gawking at our unfamiliar surroundings. We’re in the middle of a tropical forest.

  But this isn’t like any forest I’ve ever seen.

  It reminds me of Avatar, that movie with the blue aliens. Despite it being a moonless night, we have no trouble seeing; there is enough light emanating from the tree leaves, the grass, and the flowers. Even the exotic insects that drift by glow in various shades of green, blue, and purple. I inhale deeply. The air feels rich. Full of life. I amble to my feet, feeling energized. I notice that everyone else has already taken off their winter coats, and I don’t blame them in such a warm climate. I remove my outerwear and tie it around my waist.

  A bright, fuzzy light floats near me. I reach out to touch it. It is soft and cool. It bounces off my fingers and continues floating along on its merry way.

  “Wow,” I say out loud, stepping next to Yuriko, her face full of wonder as her cheeks are blued by our new environment.

  “Everything’s so beautiful,” she says.

  “Beauty is a deceptive beast,” Jack warns sternly, breaking me out of my awestruck state. He starts walking and waves for us to follow. “Stay close.”

  As Jack leads us through the magical woodlands, more beautiful sights and sounds cross our path. From above come long, slow cries, like whale songs. When I look up, I see a school of stingray-like creatures majestically gliding across the indigo sky. Their flat bodies glow with neon pink, and their long, purplish tentacles trail behind them in gently flowing cascades of color.

  Fuego taps me on the shoulder, wearing an amused look on his face. “Come on,” he says. “You don’t want to get separated here.”

  I look ahead and see that the other four have already moved on, so we hurry to catch up with them. On the way, we jog past a massive tree trunk. Fluorescent green fungi grows around it, spiraling up the bark like a fancy staircase.

  When we rejoin the g
roup, we encounter another example of the realm’s exotic animal life. It’s a toad-like creature with luminous aquamarine skin and orange horns all over its back. It’s the size of an elephant. Despite the fact that we are the alien interlopers here, the giant amphibian seems unfazed by our presence or weaponry. It just blinks its bulbous eyes lazily, then keeps munching on grass.

  As we continue, I notice that there doesn’t seem to be a path of any sort and wonder how long it’ll take us to find Wintress. “Are we close to the Wintress’s home?” I ask.

  He stops, then spreads out his arms. “We’re in it.”

  “The entire forest?” I ask.

  “Yes,” he replies in a casual tone.

  I can’t help but groan. “So we’re basically looking for a needle in a haystack?”

  “That’s a fair analogy,” he says.

  It is not at all what I was hoping to hear. I’d assumed there’d be some sort of yellow brick road to lead us to this infamous Wintress. I sigh. Time isn’t a luxury we have. We keep heading the same direction for the next few hours. During our journey, we uncover more exotic flora and strange fauna, but there is no sign of Wintress. Everyone on the team is beginning to get as tired and agitated as I am.

  Bullets suddenly stops in his tracks. “Enough,” he says, crossing his huge arms. “If this is her place already, why don’t we ring the doorbell and let her know we’re here?” he huffs. He then turns to Fuego and points at one of the trees. “Light this sucker up. Once it’s nice and toasty, I’ll bring it down.” He cocks his machine gun.

  “I’m not sure starting a forest fire is going convince Wintress to join our side,” I say, alarmed at the suggestion.

  “No kidding,” Jack agrees.

  “Hey, at least I’m throwing out ideas,” Bullets says, narrowing his gaze at us. “If anyone has something better, speak up. We can’t keep playing hide-and-seek in Magic Wonderland forever.”

  “How big is this forest?” I ask Jack.

  “I’m not really sure,” he confesses.