December 24th, 1777:
Snow froze in the thick beard of Santa as he snapped the reins of his trusty animals. The magnificent sleigh rode through the turbulent storm that blanketed the villages and small towns below. Flickering, dim light danced in the windows of the small wooden buildings and in the lanterns hung along the street. Few people currently walked these streets, only a constable down the main street, and a young man carrying a large basket.
Flying through the mild blizzard, Santa carefully landed behind a building and jumped out of the sleigh.
“What are you doing?” Krampus asked from the back.
Santa laughed, “just lending a poor little fellow a hand.”
“Oh, come on. We have work to do.” Krampus moaned.
“Spreading cheer is my work, and I’m going to do it.” He touched his nose and instantly transformed into the image of a different man, dressed like the nearby constable.
Krampus slunk down in the back of the sleigh and muttered nasty things about his brother. Santa ignored the grumbling and strode out into the street, as calmly as he could. No sooner had he turned the first corner did he bump into that hurrying little child.
“Whoah, there. What is thy hurry, chap?”
The boy stumbled back, worried at the sight of a constable in front of him. “Oh, pardon me, fine sir. I am late home. My family needs this bread. Work was late this eve.”
“Christmas Eve? Surely your family would spend time in the chapel this eve?”
“Nay, kind sir. My father is ill, and my mother weary from tending to him. I am the only child old enough to work so we might have food.”
Santa knelt down, “tis a fine young man who thinks so maturely at such a youthful age. Here, let this be of some cheer to your family in this time of woe.” He pulled his arm from around his back and presented a large bread pudding wrapped in a heavy wax cloth.
“Truly! The smell is so wonderful. But, I cannot accept this!”
“Please. Be sure your father eats at least a mouthful. It will do him well.”
“I shall, Happy Christmas to you, Happy Christmas!” The boy bounded away.
Santa stayed there, a smile on his face as he watched the child leave.
“You enchanted that with a healing spell... didn’t you?” Krampus startled his brother, slinking behind him in a shadow.
Santa turned and walked back toward his sleigh, slowly transforming into his former self. “What if I did? No child should face a sick father this time of year. These humans have just survived a brutal war to gain independence here in this new country of theirs. They need this cheer, all of them.”
“These humans are weak and live brief lives. We shouldn’t worry if they’re sick, they won’t live for long as it is.” Krampus climbed back into the sleigh.”
Santa got back in and snapped the reigns again, “I wish I could break you of that habit.”
“What habit? Knowing my superiority to these creatures.”
“Yes. Being different does not make you superior. In fact, our gifted lives give us the great joy of helping those in need. Can you not see that?”
Krampus held his green sack, “I only know that this is the one night you let me have any fun. So, let’s stop wasting time and get to the next house.”
“Bah! You’re such a grouch. But, you do a good job teaching the naughty little children their lesson.” Santa sped the sleigh up as they moved to the next small town.
***
“Come on, are you done yet?” Santa looked down a chimney.
Krampus held his sack, which was bulging at this moment. “Almost. He’s gonna really need to recover from this nightmare.”
“Now, you aren’t torturing them. You have limits to what you can do to them.”
Krampus rolled his eyes up at Santa, “I’m not torturing. This brat got his father to kill his sister’s favorite pony, claiming it was rabid. But, it wasn’t. He just wanted to punish her for not getting in trouble as often as him. He is one naughty little kid. Right now, he is being chased by that undead pony. Should leave a nice mental scar for a while.”
“Okay, it’s been long enough time to...” both jerked as a loud bang echoed across the whole village. A bright orange flash lit up the house, then a steady glow flickered against Santa’s face.
“What just happened?” Krampus asked.
Santa looked to the side, a shocked expression. “Oh, dear heavens! The gun powder stores just blew up. Several homes are on fire!” He glanced down, “put that child down and get up here. We have to help!”
Krampus tumbled the kid out of his bag and then zoomed up the chimney. Santa was already in the driver's seat of his sleigh.
“Lord Dragon doesn’t want us to interfere too much!”
“I don’t care. We can’t just sit here and watch people die. Those homes had children, I already visited them.”
“Fine.” Krampus jumped in.
Santa drove his sleigh, in the sky, over a section of the town that was on fire. A warehouse and several buildings were completely destroyed, currently engulfed in flames. Homes nearby were also on fire with significant damage to their roofs.
“We need water!” Santa looked back at his brother.
Krampus gave a nod and zipped away with his unnatural speed. He used his sack to draw up a massive quantity of water from the river and came back. Santa swooped down and used his own sleigh to ram into a wall, knocking it inward so it wouldn’t fall over onto another building. It crashed down and smothered part of the warehouse fire.
“I have water!” Krampus held up his sack.
“Dump it on the homes!” Santa commanded.
Krampus got on the back of the sleigh and held his sack under one arm while he pinched the tip so it would spray the water. The sleigh moved back and forth over the home fires as Krampus doused flames. They fought the fires for as long as they could before the locals got involved and began fighting this.
“Why are we staying here?” Krampus asked as he peered over the side of the sleigh.
Santa watched the people put out the last of the flames and rescue the living from the rubble. “Just want to be sure everything is okay. Such a tragedy, and to have it happen on Christmas morning. Oh, those poor families.”
“Yeah, yeah, it’s real sad. They have this under control. Can we go home now?”
“They’re leaving.” Santa said.
Krampus replied, “they’re through. They’re leaving. We can leave.”
“Not yet. I sense something.”
“What do...” Krampus fell over as Santa turned the sleigh sharply toward the ground.
They landed in the middle of one of the burnt homes. Smoke and fire blackened everything. Before Krampus could protest, Santa jumped down from the sleigh, into the middle of this mess. With a reluctant huff, Krampus joined him.
“What are you doing in here?”
Santa quickly held up his hand over Krampus’s mouth, and then carefully walked among the debris. Soon, both could hear the crying of a baby. “Oh, dear god.” Santa said.
A woman was in a crouched position, her body wrapped around a child. The woman was dead, black marks covering her body, her clothes completely seared off. Santa carefully unfurled the dead woman and found the living child she saved.
“Is the baby okay?” Krampus asked, a hint of genuine concern in his voice.
Santa nodded, tears in his eyes, “just a little smoke. Her mother saved her life.” He touched the child’s head. “I... I sense no family. This baby has no relatives left in this world.”
“What a pity. We should bring the baby to an orphanage.”
Santa sat there, holding the crying infant. “What a cruel fate. To be born into a world, then lose both parents without ever truly knowing them. Then to be sent to an orphanage to live hoping a kind soul would give you the love other children enjoy.”
“Come on, we need to get going. Someone is bound to see us.” Krampus pulled on Santa’s shoulder.
“Krampus. I can’t do it. I can’t let her go.”
“What?”
“She is so little, so innocent. She deserves the love of a parent. I want to give her that.”
Krampus gasped, “this isn’t like giving a kid a cake or toy.”
“I know. This is the most valuable gift in the world. I want to hold her in my arms, as my daughter.”
Krampus let out a soft sigh, “Lord Dragon will not approve of this.”
“What he doesn’t know won’t hurt him.” Santa stood with the baby cradled in his arms.
Krampus took him by the shoulders and whisked them both back into the Sleigh, which blasted off into the early morning sun, heading back toward the North Pole.
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