Chapter 16: Believers

After the first thirty minutes of wandering through the enormous piles of undelivered gifts, Kisa was forced to take a break and fight back the panic attack that threatened to consume her. The darkness was absolute beyond the small range of her crystalline light, and it was during this moment of respite that she spotted a pallet stacked with bicycles nearby.

She thought it was pretty fucked up that a bunch of kids somehow never got their bikes, but she found one roughly her size and dragged it clear. The tag fell free of the handlebars, and she bent down to pick it up and read the name.

“Sorry, Thomas. Looks like a sweet ride.” The bike was blue with a gold lightning bolt on the frame. She dug through the pile and found a helmet. When she pressed it onto her head, she hissed in frustration as she fought both her hair and her ears to get it on properly. By the time it was on, her ears had been folded against her scalp, muting the outside world.

Kisa made it nearly six feet on the bike before crashing. She didn’t know if she had never learned how to ride as a child or if it had simply been too long, but she climbed back to her feet and tried again.

Between her natural grace and dexterity, she was soon pedaling forward in the darkness with the crystal tucked between her knuckles providing enough light to see. She hoped that she was still headed in the right direction. It had occurred to her more than once that being shuffled around may have pointed her somewhere else in the warehouse and she was moving away from the entrance.

The good news was that Christmas was finite. At some point, she would reach a wall. When that happened, she would pedal her bike alongside until that damn elevator appeared. The building couldn’t be infinitely large on the inside ... right?

Once she reached the cave wall, it was essentially a coin flip for which direction to go. She chose left and was finally able to pedal with some speed, no longer dodging piles of gifts. When she reached the dais, hot tears of joy ran down her cheeks as she tucked the bike out of sight around a corner.

Kisa was tired, but refused to find somewhere to nap until she was out of the warehouse. The darkness felt like it would crush her at any moment, and she had no idea how long her crystal would continue glowing.

The trip up the elevator was uneventful. When the doors slid open, she let out a sigh of relief to see the lit caverns empty. She moved along the tunnels and found herself back in Grýla’s lair. A very large cauldron had been set over a fire and a pair of elves were cleaning up a horrendous mess on the floor that looked suspiciously like it used to be another elf.

“Fuck this place,” Kisa muttered, moving back to the main tunnel. When she reached the pits where the elves had been stored, she crouched down upon seeing Leppalúði standing above one of the pits, a figure held between his hands.

“I cannot cook this!” he yelled at a smaller version of himself.

“Krampus say children frozen!” The Yule lad gave Leppalúði’s shin a kick. “Stupid Christmas magic, only Santa can fix! After Krampus take pole, children become food!”

“What the hell?” Kisa moved to the edge of the pit and looked down to see that one of the elven prisons had been repurposed. Instead of elves, it held children, all of them wrapped in blankets and sleeping on the floor. Her heart raced seeing all of the children collected into a macabre sleepover in the giant’s den.

Leppalúði let out a roar, and Kisa looked over to see that he had tried to bite the child in half and cracked one of his teeth. He spat the tooth fragment onto the ground and hurled the child at his son.

“Put it back in the pen,” he snarled, rubbing at his mouth. “Your mother won’t be happy.”

The Yule lad squeaked in terror and ran off with his bundle. Leppalúði scratched his jaw and turned toward his lair, his large nostrils flaring. He walked within a few feet of Kisa, then stopped and sniffed the air.

Shit! Kisa crouched down, holding her breath. Leppalúði snorted, then picked his nose and wiped it on his shirt.

“They smell so good,” he muttered, wandering past Kisa and back into his cave. She could hear him smacking his lips for some time and fought the urge to gag in response. Her brain was busy processing the horror of all those children, just ready to be eaten. When the time lock ended, they would all awaken in the middle of a nightmare.

Kisa’s breath was coming quickly now. She reached into her coat and pulled out the adoption papers she had found addressed to her. Once upon a time, when she was a child, someone had wanted to make her part of his family. On Christmas morning, hundreds of families would wake to discover their children had gone missing. They would all disappear without a trace, just like Kisa had, only these children weren’t destined for a weird, albeit happy ending. They would end up as food for the giants, their final moments filled with terror.

“This is wrong.” She felt the hackles on the back of her neck rise as a surge of energy went through her body. No, this was more than wrong. It was evil, pure and simple.

A low growl came from her chest, and she bared her teeth as she moved against the wall and tucked her paperwork away. Something was brewing inside her. What little magic she had was concentrating itself and working its way through her body as if trying to figure out what came next. What would Mike do if he were here? Could he even do anything? What about Tink, or Yuki?

An elf wandered by Kisa, his eyes distant as he carried a stack of bloody towels. Kisa didn’t know why, but she was compelled to fall in line behind him, her eyes affixed on the back of his head. The elf didn’t acknowledge her existence in the slightest as he led her around the corner to a room full of garbage. It was a giant pile of busted furniture and appliances, most likely remnants of Leppalúði’s new rich lifestyle.

The two of them were alone. The elf dumped his burden and spun on his heels, walking into Kisa.

“Wait.” Kisa stuck her hand out and the elf froze, his blank eyes skimming her face. Had their brains been wiped completely clean, like a hard drive erased by a magnet? How much of the original elf even remained?

The elf hissed and moved around her. Worried that it was about to tattle on her to Leppalúði, an idea formed.

“I have new orders from the Krampus.” It had occurred to her that the elves obeyed the Krampus first, and that the only reason they listened to Leppalúði at all was because they had been told to. She crossed her fingers as the elf stopped in place, then turned to face her.

Several tense seconds passed, but the elf seemed content to hear her out. She had seen the elves stand by as their brethren were eaten, so it was unlikely she could say or do anything that would elicit any sort of response.

“Bring me five other elves from the cells below,” she demanded, then watched as the elf turned to leave. She moved against the wall and willed herself into the surroundings, hoping against hope that she was right.

Leppalúði was stupid. That much was true. There was no way he would notice a missing elf, or even several, which gave her room to improvise.

Soft footsteps echoed down the corridor and she was elated to see that the elf had obeyed. There were six of them in total, and they stood right where Kisa had been before, awaiting their next orders.

Smiling to herself, Kisa moved out of the shadows to greet her new minions. The giant was big, and an all out assault was out of the question. As of now, the elves didn’t question her presence, and she certainly didn’t want that fact to change. She would use these six to take the giant out of the equation.

As for after? By herself, she couldn’t save more than a child or two. But with an army of brain dead elves ready to obey her every command? Anything was possible.

There was a pull in her core, and she felt Mike’s presence wash over her, now closer than ever. He had been oddly distant for a while, but she hadn’t worried too much about it. Satisfied that the elves would remain hers to command, she ordered them to move trash around and look busy while she snuck over to a dark corner of the cave and crouched down to make herself small.

It was time to check in with her man.

After Mike stepped through the flames of the fireplace and into the Workshop, he moved to the side and frowned. With the time variance, he should have only been gone a few hours from the North Pole.

Somehow the atmosphere here had shifted drastically. The abandoned Workshop had been mildly spooky before, but now there was an aura of malignance that clung to everything. The shadows seemed darker than usual, with a few of them seeming to dance around when he wasn’t looking.

The flames flickered again, and Lily came through, followed by Freyja, Yuki, then Holly. Before the flames died out, Christmas Present stepped through the fire, brushing soot off her robes.

“This isn’t good.” She frowned and moved forward into the Workshop lobby. “Do you all feel that?”

There was a thud on the exterior of the building, followed by a screech. Dust fell from the ceiling and landed on the frost that had accumulated over by the door.

“Well, so much for first impressions. This place looks awful.” Lily stepped away from the fireplace. “So what’s the plan?”

“Hold up.” Mike raised a hand as a questing presence touched the back of his mind. He closed his eyes and concentrated, causing Kisa to come into focus in his mind’s eye.

“Thank god,” she muttered, then leaned back against a wall he couldn’t see. “I was afraid you might not be listening.”

“Sorry, some big shit is going down,” he replied. “We found out that Krampus has taken a bunch of kids.”

Kisa nodded. “I know. They’re being kept in that big bitch’s lair.”

“Are they okay?” He swallowed the lump in his throat. “Are they ... scared?”

“Nah, they’re all frozen in time or something. I don’t know all the details, but once the Krampus takes the pole, they’ll unlock and...” Kisa looked like she was going to be sick. “I have a plan to get them out of here, but it’s only temporary. Whatever you’ve got cooking, you better get on it fast.”

“Wait, hold up. How about you? Are you safe?”

“I’m underground with a bunch of dickbag giants, elves with missing brains, and a stack of time-frozen kids. I’m fine.” Kisa rolled her eyes at him. “But I’m okay for now. You have a plan to bail me out of this shit storm?”

“You know me.” He winked.

“Fuck.” She dragged the word out. “You just came up with it, didn’t you?”

“Nah, I’ve been working on something for a couple of ... hours.” It had been a long walk back to the ski resort and he had plenty of time to discuss strategies with Freyja and Yuki. The Krampus was just waiting for the chance to get his hands on the North Pole, so his first destination was Santa’s house. However, with Grýla on the loose and a village full of warped snowmen, Yuki and Freyja had agreed to do a quick reconnaissance to see where things stood.

As for the Krampus himself, Mike believed he had a solution to that particular dilemma.

Kisa looked like she was going to say something, but tilted her head. “Shit, do you hear that? No, of course you don’t.”

“What is it?” he asked.

Kisa grinned. “I think I just heard the heat come on. Here, before I go.” She pulled her map from her pocket and unfolded it. “I went into a tunnel under this building,” she said, tapping one of the corners. “Grýla and her ugly potato children all live in a series of caverns beneath it. If you get the chance, I could really use an assist down here.”

“I’ll see what I can do.” He gave Kisa a hug and then opened his eyes. The others were standing around, waiting for him. “Kisa knows where the children are. They’re safe for now. She said they’re time locked, so that’s one less thing for us to worry about.”

“They only unfreeze for their personal visit, remember?” Christmas Present looked at Lily. “You’ve been doing this for months now, we know those kids weren’t lying awake in their beds the whole time. They only unfroze for us because we’re Santa’s helpers. Being abducted by Yule lads definitely doesn’t count, so they’re safe for now.”

Lily still looked unhappy, but Mike couldn’t blame her. Though the news was good, it didn’t make everything else better by comparison. “Okay, so we should—”

The building groaned as something large hit it, sending a cascade of snow sliding off of the roof and over the windows. A massive furry bulk moved just outside the window, and a large eyeball appeared in one of the windows.

“It’s the Yule cat!” Holly grabbed Mike by the hand. “They know where we are, we need to get to Santa’s house right away!”

“On it.” Mike looked at Yuki and Freyja. “Are you coming with us?”

The building creaked when a paw appeared on one of the windows and pressed. The glass cracked, splintering out to the edges.

“Let’s move.” Yuki nodded at Holly. “Once we’re at Santa’s house, we can make our stand there.”

Holly threw a handful of powder into the fireplace just as the front door of the Workshop burst apart, revealing a misshapen figure with a distorted jaw.

“Food!” Grýla shouted, her arms twitching as she squeezed her bulk through the busted doorway. Mike didn’t remember her being this large before, and he couldn’t help but notice that the shadows seemed to bend toward her.

“You all go.” Freyja turned toward the giant. “This one has something of mine. I’ll catch up soon.”

“Don’t have to tell me twice.” Lily bolted into the fireplace ahead of the others, her tail snaking back to hook Mike by the wrist and pull him through. Yuki and Holly came through next, followed by Christmas Present. Back in Santa’s house, Mike turned to look through the flames, but only felt a blast of cold before they snuffed out completely, plunging the home into darkness.

“What the hell?” He summoned a pair of glow spiders to illuminate the room. Yuki was already holding foxfire, and Lily’s eyes glowed in the darkness. Santa’s home, which once felt warm and cozy, now had the same ominous feeling as the Workshop.

“Mother!” Holly ran toward the stairs, and Christmas Present followed, the light from her body illuminating the way.

Yuki moved to the window and frowned. “I can’t see anything out there,” she said, then turned to Mike. “All the lights are out.”

“Sounds like things are moving fast,” he replied just as something large walked across the roof. “Looks like we’ve got company here, too.”

“Not for long.” Yuki moved to the door and put her hands on it. “I’ll clear the perimeter. Lock it behind me,” she told him, then winced and put her hand on her side. “I’ll take care of the popsicle patrol.”

“Hey, are you okay?” Mike asked.

“I will be.” Yuki looked over at Lily. “Take care of him, will you?”

Lily nodded, but said nothing. Mike found her silence more than a little disturbing.

Yuki let herself out. The home filled with a burst of arctic cold that chilled Mike even through his jacket. He rubbed at the fur-lined coat, then turned back to Lily.

“Welcome to the North Pole,” he told her, then walked to the door and locked it. “It used to be a lot nicer.”

“Mmhmm.” Lily spotted a hat rack by the fireplace and moved toward it. She casually reached for the furry rim of her hat and gave it a tug.

It didn’t budge.

“Fudging figures,” she muttered. “Thought it might work. So what happens next?”

“That depends on what Mrs. Claus might say. She was in bad shape this morning, so I don’t know what—” Footsteps on the stairs caught his attention, and he looked up to see Holly descending. She walked across the room and stopped right in front of Mike, her eyes on the ground.

“What happened?” he asked her. Her only response was to hold out a pair of silver glasses.

“We think she disappeared just as we got here.” Christmas Present hovered down from above, lines of worry on her face. “Mike, we have two problems now.”

“Just two?” He grimaced at the spirit.

“With Mrs. Claus gone, there is nothing to keep the Krampus out. He is coming, and will be here soon enough.”

“That was to be expected.” He sighed. “What’s the second problem?”

“I can’t help you. You have to understand, the spirits are an extension of Santa’s will, and just being in a room with him might be enough to turn me against you.”

“Well, that sucks.” He bit his lip in frustration. “So where will you go?”

“You said that Kisa is with the children? I will go to her, but I’ll have to take the long way so Krampus can’t track me. Can you show me where she was on the map?”

“Yeah, sure.” Mike pulled the map out of its carrier, then pointed to the spot Kisa had shown him. “She said there are tunnels underneath.”

“Understood. Even if we fail here, the kids, they...” For a moment, the spirit looked like she was going to be sick.

“Go.” He nodded at the spirit. “Make sure those kids are taken care of.”

Christmas Present left, leaving Mike with Lily and Holly. The succubus was staring at where the fire had been, her cheeks burning bright red. Occasional flames crawled across her skin, and she turned fiery eyes in his direction.

“So it’s just the three of us?” she asked.

“Yuki’s right outside, and I’m sure Freyja will catch up. The Krampus will be on his way here to claim the North Pole.”

“You can’t claim it?” Lily cocked her head.

“Nope. Santa and Krampus are still the same person. He needs the North Pole for ... something.” Mike paused. Did his house have a feature like the North Pole? Was there something he could interact with to tap into the home’s inner power?

“Could you if we killed him?”

Mike looked over at Holly, who was staring quietly at Mrs. Claus’ glasses. Technically, he supposed he could. But then what? Did he even want the responsibility of the North Pole? Would he become like Santa? What about the elves? His time was already stretched thin amongst his own family. The last thing he wanted was to be responsible for a whole holiday.

Lily scowled when he didn’t answer, but her features softened when she noticed Holly. She moved toward the elf and put a hand on her shoulder.

“Would you like to talk about it?” she asked as she led the elf to a nearby couch.

Mike didn’t hear Holly’s answer. He was distracted by flashing lights through the front windows, followed by a gust of wind that made the whole house creak. When he moved to the window and looked outside, he was greeted by the sight of a moose made of ice slamming its antlers into the house.

“Looks like the snowman house of horrors has arrived.” He moved away from the door and winced when the glass cracked. A second later, the fracture repaired itself, and he let out a sigh of relief. There was still a bit of magic left in the North Pole. Looking over at the couch, he saw that Holly was weeping with her head on Lily’s shoulder.

“Now that’s a different kind of magic,” he muttered to himself, then took up his post at the window. He could sense the changes in Lily, even from here, and when he took a peek at her soul (or whatever it was), he couldn’t help but notice that the whole structure looked like a nesting doll. Crimson arcs of energy were layered around obsidian gems that hovered around the succubus. At her center, a tiny silver flame flickered quietly, the crimson light folded around it protectively like a mother bird’s wings.

Interesting.

He looked back out the window and sighed. The only thing left was for him to wait and see what happened next.

As Mike and the others ran through the fireplace, Grýla hurled herself forward with a speed Freyja had never seen. Sending out a blast of cold air, the goddess extinguished the flames behind her and side stepped the oncoming monster, summoning a two foot tall wall of ice for Grýla to trip over.

When the giantess stumbled over the small wall, a casual twitch of Freyja’s fingers sent the wall smashing into her.

“This won’t take long,” Freyja muttered, the air around her swirling. Snow blew in through the front door of the Workshop, collecting into a massive spear made of ice that hovered over her shoulder. She could feel the weight of it in the back of her mind as bands of golden light wrapped around the back of the icicle.

Grýla laughed as she extricated herself from the hearth. She had cracked several bricks on the way in.

“Do you think I’m afraid of little Jack Frost?” The giantess shoved bricks away from her. “You are no longer queen of the north, for stone is stronger than ice.”

The golden bands of light tightened around the twelve foot long icicle, strengthening its structure to survive the sudden acceleration as Freyja launched it forward. Grýla’s eyes went wide as it penetrated her torso, pinning her to the back wall. The light faded from Grýla’s eyes and her whole body slumped in place.

Freyja held up a hand, palm facing Grýla. A thin stream of golden light fled the giant’s corpse and wrapped itself around Freyja’s fingers before vanishing into her body.

“What the heck?” Freyja examined her hand, then stared at Grýla. The amount of divinity she had pulled out of the giant was almost trivial, far less than what had been taken from her before.

Up above, the roof creaked and she heard a growl as the Yule Cat pressed its face against the glass. It moved away and shattered the window with a massive paw.

Freyja leapt to one side, the wind carrying her out of reach as the cat’s paw smacked around, trying to find her. She summoned an ice shield and raised it in time to block a claw that was nearly a foot long.

Up above, she saw one of the skylights was heavily fractured. She rode the wind upward, using the shield to smash through the glass safely and ride further into the sky.

Down below, the Yule cat turned its gaze up at her. Letting out a terrible hiss, it leapt up in an attempt to catch her, but she dodged away at the last moment. Spears of ice formed around her and she directed them to fall toward the Yule cat, driving the foul beast away as it ran for safety.

“Coward,” she muttered, then gazed out over the North Pole. Though it was the same village she had known for over a century, something had changed. Shadows now hung from buildings as if made from fabric, and colors had been bleached from the city. Down below, creatures made of ice and snow lurked in packs, but they weren’t alone. On occasion, she would see a shadow briefly manifest a form and crawl, walk, or slither across the main street.

“Gods,” she whispered. She had seen such a phenomenon before, shortly before the fall of Asgard. The cracks in reality had become visible, allowing the void to leak through. Though the shadow creatures would be harmless for now, they would soon be able to manifest and interact with this realm without any issues.

Her senses buzzed, and she looked down in time to dodge a massive boulder that had been hurled in her direction. She used her shield to help deflect the attack, but the collision was enough to knock her out of the air current she had been riding.

Tumbling through the air, she showered the area where the attack had come from with hail the size of bowling balls. Dark shadows shifted below, revealing dozens of Yuletide lads crawling across the ground like vermin.

“Which one of you threw that?” she demanded, landing in a crouch in the middle of the street. She didn’t think the Yule lads had the strength necessary for such a feat, but Grýla had been seriously lacking in divinity. It was entirely possible she had shared it with her children.

In response, another boulder rocketed out of a nearby alley. Freyja dodged this one readily enough, but was caught by a massive rock from a different direction. This one slammed her through a candy cane light pole that shattered, the air filling with the smell of peppermint. Groaning, she raised her shield in time to block the attack of a large figure who leapt off a nearby roof.

“Hello, food.” Grýla opened her mouth and tried to take a bite of Freyja’s face, but the goddess pushed the giant away.

“I killed you!” she cried, then braced her foot against Grýla’s fat gut and shoved. The giantess grunted, then sailed through the air and vanished into the shadows.

All around Freyja, the town erupted with laughter. It was Grýla’s voice, magnified dozens of times. The shadows danced along in staccato fashion, moving closer to Freyja as if trying to touch her. The goddess scrambled to her feet and jumped, commanding the wind to take her into the sky once more.

A massive paw batted her out of the sky, slamming her into a snow drift so hard that it exploded. Freyja rolled across the cold cobblestone road, summoning a sphere of golden light to protect her from the next attack. The Yulecat smacked her again, sending her bouncing down the main street like a giant hamster ball.

Freyja held tight, trying to guide her journey as the giant cat chased after her. She summoned massive pillars of ice for her to bounce off of, hoping to get enough distance from the cat so that she could release the shield and either flee or counterattack. The Yulecat was fast, however, despite its giant size. It could turn into a ball of light to chase her, a fact that frustrated her to no end.

After getting smacked around the North Pole for several minutes, she managed to trip up the Yulecat by summoning a series of ice pillars that grew taller every few feet. She rolled harmlessly between them as the Yulecat got stuck and had to climb upward to escape.

Freyja released the magical shield and fled into a nearby building. When she looked out the window, she saw the Yulecat fighting to get through the pillars, so Freyja summoned even more, pinning the feline in place.

In the sky above, a dark figure briefly blocked out the Northern Lights. It was the Krampus, cackling madly as his demented reindeer burst away from his makeshift sled like shooting stars and headed toward her. The Krampus leapt off of the falling sled and disappeared, his vehicle crashing into a nearby structure with a loud bang.

“Shit.” Freyja ran through the building, which was housing for the elves. Abandoned presents and toys were scattered everywhere, and she nearly tripped over a wooden horse. When she made it to the backdoor, she shoved it open so hard that the hinges creaked.

“You’re all alone, Jack.” A Grýla stood on a small hill overlooking the building. A pair of distorted reindeer emerged from nearby, snorting wildly and raking their electric antlers through the air. Up above, the Yulecat leaned over the top of the building and leered down at Freyja.

Freyja stared at Grýla, her thoughts whirring. Somehow, the giantess was commanding her own army.

Well, two could play this game. Curling her fingers up, Freyja sent her mind into the aether, touching the faraway fields of Fólkvangr with her mind for the first time in over a century. She felt them there, the minds of thousands of men and women who had fallen in battle, suddenly restless in their eternal slumber.

“I’m never alone,” she whispered, calling to the fallen dead. She wasn’t at full strength, not yet, but the shades of the fallen stepped from the darkness around her, ready to defend their queen. There were maybe two dozen of them, weapons held ready.

“What an interesting trick.” Grýla laughed heartily and stuck her hand in the snow, then ripped free a massive rock. “Tell me, Jack. Can I eat them?”

“My name is Freyja,” she declared, summoning armor made of ice and snow. As a winged helmet settled across her brow, she drew a blade made of frost and pointed it at Grýla. Her soldiers all readied their weapons, their spectral forms flickering in the light. “And the only thing you’ll taste tonight is my blade.”

Freyja and her soldiers charged forward.

Yuki stepped out into the cold, pulling the door shut behind her. It didn’t take long before something leapt out of a nearby snowdrift, all teeth and fangs. She summoned a massive spike of ice from the ground beneath the snow tiger, spearing it in place. It snarled and tried to catch her with its claws, but was forced to tear itself apart to reach her.

She dodged to one side as an eight-foot tall bear jumped down from the roof, then danced away when the creature shattered and reassembled itself, golden light holding the thing together like magic glue.

“Yeah, I know that feeling.” She summoned stone pillars this time, forcing the bear into an earthen prison. It growled as it squeezed between the bars, its body bursting and then reforming on the other side of its cage. Pain ripped through her stomach, and she groaned as she leapt away from the bear.

“Ugh, shit.” She gasped in agony, her hands briefly igniting with golden flames. It was divinity, and her body had absorbed so much of it from her sexual encounter with Mike and Freyja that her body was now breaking down. She hadn’t known for sure until just before passing through the fireplace when the weird cramp in her stomach hadn’t gone away. There wasn’t going to be time for Mike to soul weave it in, or whatever the fuck he wanted to call it.