Heroes Rising Fiction: Chase the Myth Part 3

 Santa paced in his workshop while the elves carefully filled his magical bag with all the goodies they had made. A team rushed by with wrapped up fruitcakes and other baked treats. The flurry of activity was not uncommon for Christmas Eve, but Santa seemed even more worried as each moment passed.

“Is he back yet?” Angela asked as she approached.

Santa continued to pace. “No. I haven’t a word from him at all. I can’t believe he convinced me to let him scout the European front. It’s madness out there.”

“If anyone can handle themselves in the middle of a war, it’s Uncle Krampus.”

Santa shook his head, “you don’t understand. During the war on our world, he took fiendish delight in stirring up trouble for both sides. He has a chaotic spirit that loves anarchy. I keep him under control.”

Angela lost any sense of happiness on her face. “With the Great War happening, this could be trouble.”

“I know. He has grown increasingly unsatisfied with his work in the last fifty years. This might be too much temptation.”

Angela smiled again and took a cup of hot cider from an elf. She held it up to Santa. “Right now, we don’t have any idea what he’s up to. You could be worrying about nothing.”

Santa took a drink of the steaming beverage. Spending a moment to allow the warmth to fill him, he calmly said, “you’re right. When did you get so wise?”

She grinned. “I think it was on my one hundred and thirtieth birthday.”

Santa drank down the rest of the cider and handed her the silver mug. “Well, even though this world is at war, we still have a lot of children who will need the Christmas cheer. Help me get the sleigh ready. I have to make sure the reindeer have had enough sugar.”

“SANTA!” An elf ran up to him.

“What is it?”

“We’ve had a sighting over the north pole. Someone magical is approaching.”

Santa frowned, “over the pole... Krampus doesn’t fly. Might be a visit from Lord Dragon. Angela, you know what to do.”

“Right.” She gave him a sweet kiss on the cheek and then left to hide.

Before Santa could do anything else, someone swooped in through a tall window and landed. Cupid shook off a layer of snow and then shivered across his half naked body. “How can you stand all this cold?”

“I wear clothes,” Santa muttered. “What are you doing here?”

“We have a problem. It’s your brother.”

“Krampus... what about him?”

Cupid said, “I have been watching over Europe during this horrible war. Lord Dragon won’t let me intervene, just observe. What I’ve observed is your brother instigating more and more fighting. They were calming down. But where he goes, the fighting gets worse. It’s like what he did before we came here.”

“Damn. I worried about sending him to the front. Can you help me get him out of there?”

Cupid nodded. “I’ll help. But, we have to help the humans. Krampus has stirred them into a frenzy. This war was terrible enough, but it will be a bloodbath over night if we don’t cool it down.”

Santa shook his head. “A bloody war... on Christmas day. I...” he looked up with a twinkle in his eye, “I know what to do. You get help, get Krampus back here on the double. Restrain him however you can. I will take care of the front lines.” Santa marched off toward his sleigh.

Cupid called to him, “what can you do?”

“My job. Trust me. I have this. You just make sure Krampus is stopped.”

Cupid pulled out his bow and then ran for the doors.

***

Santa swooped over the battlefields of Europe. Thousands of soldiers fought in the bloody rubble of what was once beautiful country sides. Men too young to be losing their lives were riddled with bullets and left to die in the mud as their fellow officers raced to do the same to their enemies.

“Oh, Krampus, what have you wrought?” Santa could sense it, the power emanating from the humans. Krampus had spread a lust for battle, a greed for evil, and thirst for death in them. He didn’t cause this war, and they would still fight, but they were hardly more than wild animals at this point.

Santa turned the sleigh up and drove through thick clouds. He spoke the ancient tongue of his people. His sleigh lit up and waves of golden energy rushed through the clouds like lightning. Snow trickled down, touching all the people below. The intense struggle slowed down. Some people stopped entirely and hunkered into their holes and trenches. The violence ceased.

This amazing snowfall fell over the continent. To the people below, it seemed just like another wintry Christmas Eve. They had no idea that the snow itself was infused with the fundamental magic from Santa, cheer. British soldiers sang Christmas carols, then their German counterparts joined in. They declared truces, men who had formerly been shooting at one another were now joining hands in celebration of the holiday.

Santa sighed in great relief as he watched this transpire. Hours had passed since he began this snow, and it was working. He knew this magic wouldn’t last more than a day at most, but it would remove whatever Krampus had done. Now this was free of Krampus’s influence. He turned his sleigh
northward and headed back.

Santa lowered the sleigh into the special opening above his workshop. He stepped out and found Angela waiting for him.

“What are you doing here?”

She trembled as she said, “Lord Dragon is here. I’ve been hiding.”

“Good girl. Stay here. I will deal with all this. Be ready, I will need your help tonight.”

“Me?”

Santa nodded. “Yes, but I will tell you later.” he patted her on the head and left.

It did not take long for him to hear the yelling of his brother. Krampus was on his knees in front of Lord Dragon, Lady Phoenix, and Cupid. A magic arrow protruded from his back, doing no physical harm, but it restrained him from getting up.

Santa came into the room, “Lord Dragon, Lady Phoenix... I don’t believe I have ever seen you in my workshop. I was not expecting Cupid to ask for your help.”

Lord Dragon sternly said, “he didn’t. We came because we sensed what you did.”

“Me?”

Krampus bellowed, “see! I’m not the only one who bends the rules!”

“SILENCE!” Lord Dragon spoke and Krampus could no longer speak, his mouth was bound shut.

Lady Phoenix said, “Santa, did you use your Vexillian magic in its fullness tonight?”

“I... I did.” Santa admitted.

Cupid gasped, “what?”

Santa explained, “my brother had cursed many thousands of humans, sending them into a madness. I simply couldn’t allow it to continue. If I had used my half-powers, it would have taken too long. So, I connected with my talisman and cast a very special spell over the battlefields. It worked.”

Lord Dragon said, “I’m sure it did. But, these humans will suffer even greater battles if Legion sensed that.”

“I knew the risk. I felt I had little choice.”

Lady Phoenix said, “Lord Dragon and I were able to conceal it before the echo of the magic left this planet. We are safe. But, that was an extremely foolish move.”

Lord Dragon said, “foolish it may have been, but necessary. I do not condemn you, Santa Claus, for what you did. Your brother, on the other hand, deserves great condemnation.”

Santa softly said, “I shall deal with my brother. I promised to be his keeper when we came to this world... and I failed. It is my duty to continue to watch over him. Give me the ability to restrain his magic.”

Lord Dragon bowed to Santa, “it is yours. The talisman of Krampus is under your control. Now, we must leave you. All of us.” He looked up at Cupid.

Cupid quickly bowed out and left. Lady Phoenix leaned over and kissed Krampus on the forehead. “Perhaps some time of punishment will help you.” In a flash of fire, she vanished away.

Lord Dragon stepped up and looked at Krampus, who struggled to tell him something, but couldn’t open his mouth. “It is only by mercy and grace that we allow you to live. Do not forget that.” He just about transformed when he looked off, “I sense another of our kind... I believe... the sensation is extremely weak.”

Santa looked back. His eyes widened when he realized what this was. With a gentle smile, he did something he had never done before, lied to Lord Dragon. “That is probably my sleigh. It is still mildly over charged from the use. It will fade quickly, I’m sure.”

“Of course.” Lord Dragon vanished away.

Krampus spoke, now that Lord Dragon wasn’t present to keep him silent. “He can sense her. You’ve used too much magic to keep her alive.”

“Leave her alone.”

“When I tell him...” Before Krampus could finish his taunt, he vanished away and was sealed inside a block of ice, deep inside the snow outside.

Santa walked back to his Sleigh and found his daughter waiting on him.

“Well... what happened to Uncle Krampus?”

Santa gently took the old green sack out of the sleigh. “He’s being punished. His myth will return to just that, myth. I have a long night ahead of me and I’m behind schedule. Care to join me?”

“ME! YES, YES, YES! I’ve wanted to go along my entire life.”

“Then, get a warm outfit on and let’s get going.”