Krampus snaked his way through the workshop. He stepped over a pile of wood remnants and avoided a collision with a tray of cookies. In his hand, he carried three sharp throwing knives.
“Angela!” Krampus called out in that deep, gruff voice of his.
A ten-year-old little girl ran to the edge of the raised walkway above him. “Uncle Krampus!”
“I’m back, and I have something for you.”
Just then Santa joined her on the walkway, looking down at his brother. “Oh, when did you get in?”
“Just now. The meeting with Lord Dragon was shorter than I expected. He asked about you.”
“I expected him to.”
Krampus tossed one of those knives up and caught it by the handle. “He said you’ve been missing too many meetings.”
“It’s just for him to check on us. He knows I’m the busiest of our kind here on Earth, and none of us have seen one morphon particle in the atmosphere, so no Legion either.”
Krampus smiled up at the little girl. “Wanna try these babies out?”
She looked up at Santa, “can I?”
Santa frowned. “I still don’t like you teaching her a combat skill. But, she enjoys it and I have to get ready for Christmas Eve in two days. Go ahead. Just...don’t hurt yourself.”
“I won’t.” She ran off.
Krampus smiled as Angela raced up to him, bouncing along the way. She grabbed a cookie from a passing tray before reaching him. He held the blades up for her. “These are special, made by the finest metal smiths in Japan. Very sharp and perfectly balanced...at least by human standards.”
She shoved the cookie in her mouth and took the three throwing blades. “They feel better than the knives I learned with.”
“I know. Now, try to hit me.” He zipped back away from her about ten yards.
She took aim and threw with precision most humans would envy. Krampus dodged the first, then the second, but the third almost got him in the arm. He caught it in his claws.
“Gotcha!” She bounced around in victory.
“Yes. You’re getting better. Next time, don’t miss with the first two. Try again.” He handed her the blades and then moved back again.
Angela threw at him for hours, almost hitting him many times. He was quicker with his hands than her and could catch any that would make contact. The last round she threw her second blade, which he caught, but didn’t catch that third blade. He quickly whipped his head to the side and used his horn to deflect it, deflected it away from his face.
Angela gasped, “sorry!”
He picked up the blades. “Don’t be. That was impressive. I’m no easy target. You show considerable skill, especially for a human.”
Santa arrived just then. “That is because she’s a very special little human, she’s my daughter. Now, Angela, Uncle Krampus and daddy need to get things ready for Christmas. Play with all those nice toys in your room.”
“Can I come with you this year? Please, please, please. I want to see other humans.”
Santa said, “no, my child. Now, get going.”
She took her blades and raced toward her room.
Krampus came over to his brother. “Why won’t you let her come? She’s been living up here for ten years. Eventually she’ll need to be with her own kind. This isn’t the place for a human to spend their life.”
“Why not?” Santa softly asked.
Krampus gave his brother a sideways look. “What?”
“I love her, she’s my daughter. I don’t want to see her leave... ever.”
“She is not your daughter, she is an orphan you rescued. She is not one of us, and she needs to live with her own kind someday.”
“I guess. But, the longer she is with me, the more I dread that day coming.”
Krampus shook his head, “come on, let’s plan out our trip.”
“I was thinking...Krampus...it might not be wise...what I mean is… maybe this year, uh, you don’t need to go.”
“What!? This is my job as much as it is yours.”
“I don’t know about that. I give them gifts, you terrorize them.”
Krampus said, “the deal was, you give the good little kids gifts, I give the brats a lesson.”
Santa said, “I was just thinking... maybe it is punishment enough that I don’t give gifts to the bad children. We don’t need to traumatize them.”
“I can’t believe I’m hearing this!” Krampus growled and grunted, then pointed back toward the living quarters, “it’s because of Angela, isn’t it?”
“No.”
“Oh, yes, it is! You want to protect her from the likes of me, and you extend that to all children. Well, this world is just like ours was, hard and difficult. We can’t coddle all these people with pretty toys and sweet candy all the time. Hard lessons help them grow into better humans.”
Santa said, “fine, it’s true. The more time I spend with her, the more I realize how innocent and sweet she is. The idea of her going through what you do to children... scares me.”
Krampus got in Santa’s face, “I will do my job, you do yours. I’ll go out on my own if you won’t give me a ride. You can’t stop me.”
“I understand. We will go together.”
“Get your fat butt to the map room, we have plans to go over.” Krampus stomped away, fuming mad.
***
A beautiful woman in a warm, red outfit strolled into Santa’s office. She smiled at him as he folded up an ancient map.
“How’d it go?”
Santa stuffed the folded map into the drawer of his antique desk. “Perfectly. This was a great Christmas Eve. The weather over most of the world was decent, unlike last year.”
“Oh, yes. The blizzard in North America was terrible. I have never worried about you like that before. Glad it wasn’t that bad this year.”
“All was well. And, I stopped and pick this up for you. It is all the rage in England and America.” He handed her a book.
She held it, “oh, A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens. What is this, a song book?”
“No, it is a fable about three spirits visiting a miser and teaching him to have a kind heart. I dare say this has revitalized Christmas in the world in ways I thought impossible.”
She hugged him, “you give the best presents. I will begin reading it right away.” Opening it, she marveled at the drawings inside the cover.
Santa touched his nose, and a tray appeared with two cups on it. “Here, let’s have a nice sip of some Christmas tradition.”
“ooh, Eggnog, my favorite.” She took the silver cup and drank some of the rich liquid. “Oh, this is the best kind. So creamy.”
“Now, off to bed. I have other presents waiting for you in the morning.”
“Dad, you don’t have to treat me like a little girl.”
“Just enjoy it. No other child has Santa Claus as her father. Let me have my fun. Off to bed and don’t spend too much time reading.”
She gave him a sweet kiss on the cheek and then walked away, sipping the drink and looking at her book.
Krampus came in after her, “you give it to her?”
“Yup. She loves to read. I wanted to find an original copy of the book, not just a magical reproduction I made.”
“Well, I hope it’s worth the trouble. We spent too long searching London for that book. I missed several excellent opportunities to really have fun with some terrible children.”
“It’s worth it to see that smile on her face.”
Krampus sniffed the air and looked at the cup, “oh, I see you’re still at it.”
“At what?” Santa pretended not to know.
Krampus shook his head, “you have been slowly infusing magic in her, our magic. She is sixty-seven years old and doesn’t look a day over twenty. She’s human, let her be human.”
“But, she will grow old. I... I can’t bear to watch her pass of old age.”
“It will happen, eventually. You can’t keep this up. If you infuse too much magic in her, there’s no telling what it will do.”
“What would you have me do?”
“Wipe her memory, give her a basic life, set her up in a home in a human city, then set her free.”
“She’s no captive!”
“Yes, she is. And, she is holding both of us back.”
Santa sat there in silence, not responding to his brother.
“You can’t let her stay. I will inform Lord Dragon if you don’t do something about this.”
Santa looked up at his brother, “don’t you care about her? Don’t you feel like she is family?”
“She is nothing more to me than a pet around here. I like her and have enjoyed some of our time together, but there is a time when you have to prioritize. She must go.” He turned to leave.
Santa stood up and touched his nose, Krampus’s green bag flew to his hand. “You won’t tell Lord Dragon.”
“Give it back.”
“You know that Lord Dragon gave me the right to control you after what you did on our world before Legion left. I can take your power and stop you from ever leaving this place.”
“You would choose that human over me?”
Santa slowly nodded, “I love her. She is my daughter. I will protect her.”
Krampus came up, snatched his bag, and then said, “I won’t divulge her to Lord Dragon. But, mark my words, this will not end well.”
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