The shout stops everything. Nayl's heart is in her throat and her eyes tightly shut, waiting for chaos to ensue. "Bossman!" The elves shout ecstatically before Nayl can bring herself to look up. A sweet sound of jingling bells brings an entirely new aura to the destructive scene. What had just been a warzone with shouting, a gunshot, and blood, has suddenly settled into an eerie silence. Nayl spares a glance to the minions then to the Grinch. She holds his gaze for what feels like eternity before she sets her attention on the reindeer above her. A broad smile wiggles onto her pretty face as she searches for Rudolph among the group. This isn't how she imagined her Christmas, but she finds light of the situation when she sees the scarlet light emanating from the reindeer's nose at the head of the team. Warmth blankets over her heart but within a matter of moments Santa is bidding them farewell. He looks down at Nayl and lends her that little information before cracking the reins and soaring away. Feeling helpless and confused she stands motionless for a long moment. It's when she feels tugging on her sleeves that she blinks and glances down.
"Snowflake," she whispers his name as he stays nestled in the snow and in her arms. "We'll get you home. You'll be okay." "Nayl, we have to go NOW." Bubbles strains through his teeth as his eyes flicker to the demons congregating to the Grinch. "Run," she agrees before standing, still holding Snowflake in her arms, and running toward the back woods with the elves.
"They're getting away!" The minions turn and shout before looking back to the Grinch, waiting for his orders. "Then go get them. The others will start making their way to the North Pole." A few of the demons bound through the snow after their enemies but just as the distance was beginning to close there is a pop in the air and suddenly no one is in front of them.
Nayl didn't realize what happened. They were about to crawl through a fence that led to the woods before she heard a pop and the fence was no longer within arm's reach. With her balance thrown off Nayl tumbles to the ground. The snow that had swallowed their feet is gone and replaced by a dry landscape. Dust lifts from her fall and clouds around the group of them before eventually settling. A few of them cough and shield their eyes as the sun heavily bears down on them. "It's so hot here! Where are we?" Nayl finally rises to her feet and looks around with her hands on her hips. "Guys, I think we're in the Australian Outback," she sees the sculpted cliffs and Ayer's Rock. "You have some weird magic to bring us here," she manages a small laugh before swinging her arms to urge them forward. "We can't stop. We have to get to the North Pole." She's worried for its safety but at the same time excited to finally see Santa's infamous workshop.
Seconds feel like minutes, minutes feel like hours. With the sun hovering above they've almost forgotten it's Christmas but a groan emitted from Snowflake reminds them.
Nearby they see clusters of wildlife. There are red kangaroos, emus, and even camels (how odd). "Can you use any magic to use on them?" A hopeful glance is given to the elves. "We can try. Boys?" They all rub their hands together and let fly a small, controlled bout of magic. Within moments two kangaroos have approached them. With a smile of awe Nayl asks, "They're so cool. What did you do?" "Just a very minor and short-term mind control. Nothing crazy. Just wanted them to offer a little assistance," Sugarplum pats one of the animals with a proud expression brightening his face. "Let's put Snowflake in a pouch and we can try moving. Less of a distance to travel means less exhausting teleportation for you guys." They agree and begin to take their places until a low growl cuts through them like a knife. As one whole they all turn to see the small pack of dingoes. "Oh no," her voice is barely a whisper as she sees the stained jaws glinting in the sunlight. What most captures her curiosity, however, are the strange green eyes they have. There are no pupils, just a solid, disturbing green. "They're being controlled by the Grinch's crew," a breath catches in her throat as they inch closer. One howls into the afternoon sky. Fortunately, most of the elves have already clambered onto the kangaroos with Snowflake nestled into one pouch. "GO!" Nayl hops onto one kangaroo as quickly as she can and within a heartbeat the animals are taking off into the open landscape. Their hops are swift and so powerful. Each elf is clutching tightly to whatever they can, their eyes tightly shut as they wish for it to end. Looking back behind her shoulder Nayl sees the dingoes running after them, desperate to reach them. "Hurry!" "We're almost strong enough for another teleport!" They're excited, but there is one elf who did not speak as he strains to maintain a grip. Cuddles, the heaviest elf of the bunch, is clamping down as he struggles to hold on. He is on the right side, his palms becoming sweaty against the kangaroo's coat. "Oh, please no," he whimpers before his muscles quiver and crumble. In an instant Cuddles is left behind rolling in the dirt. "Cuddles!" Nayl shouts. "We have to get him before the dingoes do!" "We can't, Nayl! We have to keep going," They assume Cuddles will figure out a means to escape.
With one last look back at Cuddles, they continue their escape.
"The fat one fell, the fat one fell! Get him!" The dingoes are communicating as they watch Cuddles topple from the kangaroo. Their mouths salivate as they prepare for their meal. What they didn't expect was to be met with fire. A blast of flames is shot toward them, igniting two on fire. "You'll never make it to the North Pole!" Cuddles shouts after having seen his comrades continue on their trek without him. He wouldn't want them to stop. They need to save Christmas. "And neither will you, tubby." The remaining two dingoes leap onto the elf, ending him quickly while their own partners take their last breaths as the fire consumes them.
POP.
Tears are burning in Nayl's autumn eyes as she buries her face into her hands. She, along with the remaining eight elves, are in another distant land. The magic on the kangaroo was waning but fortunately by the time it gained its entire free will again the elves were able to teleport them into a place much farther north. But where? Nayl is too heartbroken, too distressed, to even look up at her surroundings. They are all panting after the chase. Their adrenaline is steadily coursing through their veins. The only silent one is Snowflake who is huddled in a blanket. His eyes open weakly to look at them all before shutting them again as the wound burns through his core. "Just hang in there, okay? We're almost there," Nayl gently speaks to him when she lifts her head and rests her chin on her knees. A chill shivers down her. "Let's figure out where we are." Standing slowly she brushes the snow off her legs and looks in every direction. There is no sunlight, only stars and the distant northern lights. "Are we in Alaska?" The question hangs idly among them before Peppy steps forward. "No, miss, we are in northern Norway. We're just below the Arctic Circle." "So we went from the Australian Outback to Norway? Yet you couldn't have teleported us straight to the North Pole? How does that make sense?" There is tension in her voice that shudders through Peppy. He cowers down, frowning. "I'm sorry, Peppy. Just losing Cuddles and watching Snowflake suffer is really getting to me. I wanted a quiet holiday, not this." She rubs her face thoughtfully as the elves peer up at her anxiously. "Okay, we have to get started. I guess covering some ground in the Outback helped with your teleportation distance. This is the most random place ever but we have to make the best of it." She offers them a smile before they move on, Snowflake being carried piggyback now.
They're traveling on foot. They're muscles are exhausted, their feet hurting. "This is taking forever. Can you halt time for a bit? I don't want to arrive to the North Pole late and long after the Grinch has already overrun it." The elves glance among each other before finally nodding their heads. "That's a little harder than, say, moving us at an extra fast speed as to use up less time." After a moment to think Nayl agrees to the latter. Magic nestles across them all and suddenly their exhausted pace becomes a blur as they speed across the mountains and snowy hills. Only until they've approached a village does their speed revert back to normal. "There's life in these parts!" Smile stretch across their frosty faces. Snow has crusted in their hair and clothes. Their cheeks are rosy and their noses runny. Forcing themselves to forget their obstacles they run into the small fishing village of Forsøl.
Most of the houselights are turned off, leaving the world shrouded in black. There is one home, however, that twinkles in the night sky. With hopes warming their hearts the group of nine approach the small cottage and knock on the door.
A woman appears at the doorway with a smile spread across her pink lips. "Hello, dears. You look mighty cold. Please, come in and sit by the fire." Her eyes aren't green, Nayl notes, before leading the elves into the house.
It's a small cottage but what strikes her as strange is that there are no family portraits on the walls or tables. With minimal decoration Nayl asks, "Did you just move here?" The woman pauses midstep and hesitates before facing the young girl. "No, why would you think that?" There is a pointed edge in her voice and the elves recoil. "Ahem, I'm sorry. You're just, uh, not the first to comment on my decorating." What decorating, Nayl almost asks but keeps her lips pursed tightly shut. They proceed deeper into the warm home and sit down near the fireplace with their hands stretched outward. "This feels so nice, but you know we can't stay long. We just need to rejuvenate then go," he speaks low with hopes only his friends will hear but the woman's attention is unexpectedly piqued. She says nothing, at least not yet, as she offers them raisin bolle, a type of bread bun, with cheese. The group nibbles hungrily and allows their bodies to warm before standing up. "Thank you so much, ma'am, but we really must go." "Go? But why? You only just got here and it's getting dark," she glances to the door as her breathing becomes slightly more labored. "Dark..." she repeats in a deeper voice. Suddenly, she collapses to her knees with a growl. Her skin rips and tears but rather than spout blood there is gray fur. It spreads across her as her body shifts and transitions into something far more dangerous than they could've expected. "Run!" Nayl shouts as she makes a break for the door and ushers the elves out, Snowflake being exhaustively carried. They hold off on their magic knowing that the time for it is quickly approaching just as the edge of the ice is.
"Where do we go?! We're hitting the end of the road!" Fear grips them all as they hear a howl behind them. "She's coming!" What they didn't realize is that the seemingly kind woman was a Maras, a she-werewolf known in Scandinavian folklore. No one knew they actually existed, but they can hear her rushing footsteps as she closes the distance. There's no denying the reality of the situation now. Without anywhere else to go, they all stop on the edge of the ice. Some look to the frigid waters while the others stare bleakly at the Maras running toward them with eyes hungry for blood. "Can't we teleport yet?!" She yells as her muscles tighten and her mind falls into a dark trap of what may happen to her. Christmas will be no more. Her parents will move on without her around. She will no longer be able to torment her brothers. Cuddles' death and Snowflake's injury will be in vain. She will be dead. They will all be dead.
A breath catches in her throat as a large wake crashes into them. They scream as the water splashes across them and soaks their coats and shoes. When they each look to the water they're met with a sight that twists their stomach in knots. A sea dragon, or lindworm (or linnorm) as the Norwegians call them, stares coldly back. Needle-like teeth protrude past its lips giving the creature a more grotesque appearance. A serpent neck rises from the water followed by two legs that clutch heavily to the ice. It reaches forward quickly and snaps at the air thought hoping to have caught one of the elves. It fails and retracts itself immediately prior to submerging back underneath the water. Waves roll against the icy edge in a rather foreboding way.
A sea serpent behind them and a she-werewolf in front of them.
"Shit," Nayl mutters under her breath as she wraps Snowflake into a hug. "We tried," she listens to the elves mention they need more power to teleport and that this will all have been futile. She can hear the disappointment in their voices and see the resignation in their eyes. "Just try," she hisses to them as the Maras edges closer, licking her jowls. This can't be the end to Christmas; they couldn't have come all this way just to be viciously murdered by folklore creatures. Her breath is held and her eyes tightly shut. What she doesn't see is Snowflake lifting his arm so that he can contribute what little magic he has left inside him. With a combined effort the elves turn the Maras into a block of ice before being able to finally teleport. What they didn't take into perspective was the ice-on-ice. The she-werewolf is held prisoner in a block of ice that continues to slip toward the water's edge. There is no control over where she is heading. Her velocity to reach the elves has now repaid her with her life. With the inability to stop, the Maras approaches the edge just as the colossal sea serpent rises from the water with gaping jaws. In one fell swoop the linnworm grabs and crushes the ice that the woman is contained in before pulling her down into the cold depths of Forsølbukta. Two monsters - one made into prey - slip into the darkness, their attempts to kill Santa's elves futile.
A whimper slips from Nayl as she huddles close to Snowflake, expecting their lives to have ended. Only when her arm stings does she open her eyes and see what surrounds them. Where the BB gun's shot had grazed has left her arm red and inflamed. Air hisses through her teeth as she examines the damage before returning her attention to the giant building in front of them. "We made it?" She questions how real this is. Is this a dream? She steps forward and reaches to touch the building. Giant candy cane columns stands sentinel next to the grand entrance. A smile stretches broadly across her lips as she glances over her shoulder to the elves. "Guys! We did it! We made it to the North Pole!" She runs toward them and embraces them all in a warm, excited hug. "We're home! Now, let's save it." In unison they nod their heads and turn to face the North Pole around them. It will only be a matter of time until they are faced.
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