#christmasfic

Things seemed to be going okay so far, but the snowfall had picked up and Rudolph's vision had dropped to near zero, causing the sleigh to slow down considerably to a near crawl. Christmas wasn't what it used to be, barely anyone believed in him anymore, every year the sack full of gifts would shrink smaller and smaller.

Tonight Santa didn't expect milk and cookies, but he also didn't expect to see the missile lock warning light displayed on the dash of his modernized sleigh either. "YAH!" Santa shouted, cracking the reins and trying to push the reindeer onward to outpace whatever it was that was trailing them. "On Dasher! on Dancer! on Prancer! on Vixen! on Comet! on Cupid, Donner, Blitzen, and Rudolph!" Santa shouted as the snow gathered on his long beard and covered his glasses.

"Ho ho ooohhh nooooo!" Santa said out loud as he looked over his shoulder to see the missile trailing them, it was a Stinger and it was locked on hard, unable to be shaken from its target even as Santa launched the flares made specifically for confusing surface to air weapons.

For the first time in history Santa hit the big red button encased in a flip-up glass cover designed to keep it safe from accidentally being engaged. He thought he would never use it, laughed at it when the elf engineers installed it, but he could tell there was no escaping the Stinger behind as it got closer and closer.

"Sleigh One going down!" Santa said out loud as he pressed the button that sent an encrypted distress signal to the North Pole calling for assistance. He knew what kind of assistance was coming, and it wasn't roadside, it wasn't a tow truck, it was the most highly trained elves that spent their entire lives waiting for this exact moment.

The Stinger missile made contact at last and the sleigh began to spiral, the reindeer panicked and soon they were unable to keep the sleigh stable enough for flight. Down below Santa could see the headlights of Taliban technical trucks and humvee's left behind by the US plowing through the snow, following the sleighs path in the hopes of ruining Christmas forever.

The sleigh wasn't able to stay in the air, but a sleigh is a sleigh, and Santa knew that sleighs performed better than any vehicle in the snow, especially the kind of snow that was gathering below. "Over there, Rudolph!" Santa said, pointing at a nearby mountain range, hoping that the reindeer would be able to make a crash landing and be able to navigate the mountains long enough for the Elvish Legion of Frostguard (abbreviated ELF) to arrive.

Back at the North Pole the elves were intently and diligently overseeing that Christmas was a smooth and almost formal affair, no sleigh pilot spent more than their allotted time at one residence and they didn't doddle around eating all the cookies, just enough to keep going and keep their energy up.

The control room began to flash green and red, an alarm sounded that showed the emergency on one of the large wall-sized screens. The control room itself was massive, the kind of place that NASA had wet dreams about, and it tracked everything including houses with chimneys, houses with good people and houses with naughty ones. "Contact the Legion, Santa has been shot down by the Taliban!" the head elf shouted, within seconds they had the ELF organizing and getting ready to deploy to Afghanistan.

"Captain Song, Santa needs your team in Kandahar province, Afghanistan!" the courier elf said, breathing heavily after running down the stairs and halls to reach them. "Yes, sir!" Yuqi said with a salute, she was the head of the Legion, Santa's most trusted when it came to matters of security and keeping order around the North Pole.

They were in the air within five minutes and on their way to Afghanistan at speeds that no other craft could ever hope to travel at. Along the way they tripped radars, triggered UFO sightings and caused more than a handful to look up and wonder exactly what they were seeing as two dozen pure white reindeer pulled an armored sleigh through the sky. It would take roughly an hour to reach Santa, and they all hoped he could avoid the Taliban that long.

Inside were about a dozen Legionnaires dressed head to toe in thick specially made red armor called Hearthscale, made from the scales of long dead dragons that Santa's predecessors had slain in centuries that had come to pass. The Hearthscale armor was supplemented by helmets made of a magic imbued metal called Spirit steel plated in white gold, and each helmet had a unique pair of wings like those a valkyrie would have.

Yuqi's helmet was the most unique, its wings colored red and gold, and on the back were dozens of solid gold stars that kept track of all the enemies of the North Pole she'd taken on over the years. The stars shimmered and shined in the light of full moons, and the helmet itself never got cold. She'd been given the promotion after the last captain had tragically died in combat with Krampus, a death that she had sworn to avenge at any cost.

With her were Xiaoting, Karina, Sullyoon, Kazuha, Yeji, Asa, Lisa, Natty, Bae, Sakura and Jiwoo, together they made up the core of the Legion, each handpicked for their unique experience and ability to not only tolerate but thrive in the rigorous training that the Legion demanded of their position.

The Legion consisted of exactly a thousand, and when one died there would be thousands of applicants who would be put to trial in the grueling blizzards, frozen depths, and unyielding harshness of the north where only the strong survived to become known as warriors among warriors.

Yuqi had extensive experience fighting the dark forces of Krampus, probably more than anyone else in the world, she was well known for taking on the dark hordes by herself. Xiaoting had single handedly defeated the dragon Qianfeng, the largest of the nine Chinese dragons, and struck a truce with the remaining eight. Karina, Sullyoon, and Kazuha had descended into the dark realm of Zadaris itself to stave off hordes of evil fairies who had opened up a corrupted fairy ring portal in an attempt to invade the North Pole, the trio successfully collapsed the fairy ring after twelve days of fighting at Gumdrop Falls and Gingerbread Glen. Natty and Lisa had fiercely defended the North Pole's postal district during the Battle of the Blighted Elves, ensuring that all wishes could be delivered. Asa, Yeji and Bae were involved in defending the Yeti tribes who were facing annihilation at the hands of the Skyr, gigantic predatory sloth-like creatures. They would bring peace to both, unifying them under the banner of the North Pole. Jiwoo was notorious for her actions against the the goblins of Frost Fjord and terrifying abominations of Blackberry Bend, holding the southern docks until reinforcements arrived to drive them away.

All of them were now rocketing toward Afghanistan, the place they'd cautioned and pleaded with Santa not to visit, but he was adamant about bringing Christmas to the middle east, something his predecessors had always turned their noses up at. "Ho ho ho, find me a chimney left in the United States!" Santa would say, "last time I tried to enter an American house, I nearly got shot!" he would tell them.

"So you're going to a place where everyone has an AK and hates Christmas instead?" Yuqi asked him, Santa just scratched his beard and shook his head. "Why not Indonesia, or Kazakhstan? you could even try Africa, I bet they would love that, millions of African kids don't even have toys," Yuqi pleaded with him, but Santa dismissed her worries.

"Listen, little elf, I'm bringing Christmas to the middle east, whether they like it or not!" he said with a hearty laugh. Yuqi rolled her eyes, she knew better than to keep arguing with the man himself. Now, Yuqi and the others clutched their weapons tight, they knew that the battle ahead was going to be intense, and it was going to be a long one.

"Ho ho ho! you mother fuckers!" Santa shouted as he pulled the pin on a grenade that resembled an ornament, tossing it over the back of his sleigh as a Taliban truck began to catch up. The grenade exploded and sent the truck flipping over onto its side in a fiery heap, but it was only one vehicle out of many that were now pouring into the valley.

The reindeer galloped as fast as they could while Santa tried to work on the sleigh, but he could see it was a losing effort as some critical parts had been destroyed by the Stinger missile. That was when Santa saw it, the pommel and handle sticking out of the present bag that he had yet to touch, it was the gleaming reindeer head of his mythical sword.

"Spirit Bringer," Santa muttered to himself as the snow and wind whipped his long white beard around his face. "Bless that little elf," Santa said, he knew Yuqi had packed it for him as he pulled the two handed sword from inside the sack, strapping the scabbard to his belt and drawing the gleaming northern steel that glowed solid red and buzzed with an ancient energy.

Santa held the sword up, the red light glowed brightly enough that the Taliban could see it. "I came to deliver presents and Christmas cheer, but now what I must truly deliver is clear!" Santa said as he swung the blade over his head and cast a bright red beam of light straight into the sky where it spread across the clouds like lightning.

"I would descend into Zadaris if I could get a fudge and caramel cookie right now," Xiaoting said to Yuqi. "There's no cookies in Afghanistan, Xiaoting," Yuqi said, "only anger," she added, resting her hands on the top of her square shield made from holly wood and oak, a thin magical piece of Spirit steel across the front. They were a half hour away, but it was going to be the darkest half hour of Santa's life.

"Good thing I brought two sacks! one for good people, and one for bad little fuckers like you!" Santa said as he rummaged around the sleigh to find the correct sack, one stuffed full of coal and explosives. "Ho ho ho! these will make excellent stocking stuffers for the Taliban!" Santa said as he tossed out landmines shaped like fruit cakes and little self-seeking ornament shaped drones that he tossed into the air, they immediately went to work causing a wake of destruction behind the sleigh.

Just when Santa believed he was making distance, the Taliban fell back and a volley of artillery fire lit up the valley, one landing close enough to flip the sleigh and sever the reindeer from it. Santa was flung from the sleigh without cheer, his only hope as he went headlong into a snowbank was that it hadn't harmed his reindeer.

He stood up and dusted himself off, pulling Spirit Bringer from its scabbard once more and preparing for a full on confrontation with the approaching Taliban. The reindeer, now free of the sleigh, launched upward into the sky and circled around to individually dive bomb and stomp Taliban machine gunners in the backs of trucks, shoving their hooves through windows and kicking the drivers in the face.

"To me!" Santa shouted, his bellowing voice echoing across the valley as the reindeer regrouped behind Santa. Within minutes they were encircled and Santa found himself having no real plan for what to do next. The reindeer snarled and stamped at the ground beneath them as Taliban fighters exited trucks and vehicles pointing AK's at Santa.

"Right where I want you," Santa snickered, plunging his sword deep into the snowy ground and sending a huge red wave of energy radiating outward that sent Taliban fighters flying hundreds of feet in every direction. The blast flipped their vehicles, shook the ground and cleared the snow down to bare sand and dust.

More Taliban were streaming into the valley now, they even had helicopters that were closing in on his position. Santa looked up as a machine gunner took aim, holding his sword up to the sky and creating a red and green barrier that stopped the bullets from hitting him or the reindeer.

Santa was now taking immense small arms fire and felt the shaking of artillery shells falling all around him, the reindeer huddled together close and Santa could feel his power waning, he couldn't hold out much longer, there just wasn't enough people believing in him to keep his power up. The reindeer began having to run out to trample incoming fighters approaching on foot, dodging a deluge of AK bullets in the process before they could stomp terrorist brains to a bloody pulp.

The barrier began to falter and Santa immediately took two bullets to the gut, another to the leg, and the reindeer were taking fire from every direction. Vixen could hardly walk, Dasher had a bullet through his neck and Cupid had lost one of his antlers and taken a round in the rump, effectively crippling him.

Santa swung his sword and rendered Taliban heads from necks, cleaving them in two and launching others into the air whenever he had enough for a burst of energy. But the glow of Spirit Bringer began to wane along with Santa's spirit, and as he wiped the crimson blood from his beard he felt all was lost, this was his end, here on the cold barren ground of Afghanistan next to his loyal reindeer.

Suddenly, muffled music, the sound of Led Zeppelin's Immigrant Song could be heard…

Then the sky opened up and a golden glow basked the valley in amber light, the elvish Legionnaires had finally arrived and they were descending upon the battlefield like armor clad battle maidens with weapons drawn and helmets gleaming. Santa felt a renewed sense of spirit and lifted Spirit Bringer above his head as it glowed brighter than it had in its 2,200 year history.

Santa let out a powerful cry that rallied the reindeer to him, he ran headlong into the Taliban with his sword swinging and his trusted companions by his side. Rudolph's nose shined red and buzzed with electricity, he paused for a moment and leaned forward, a red hot laser erupting from his nose that cut a dozen Taliban clean in half.

Santa let out a bellowing laugh, "Rudolph! I didn't know your nose could do that!" Santa shouted. Rudolph began cutting down every Taliban in sight as the elves touched down on the ground, weapons ready and shields raised, they let out a battle cry that shook the Taliban to their core. "Ho ho ho! getting clapped by women wasn't on your Christmas list, was it!" Santa bellowed as he cleaved a Taliban fighter clean in two and picked up his AK to spray into a truck, killing the driver and passenger.

Yuqi pulled the ancient sword named Yulerend from its scabbard, the mythical blade glowed a bright blue as she charged the first Taliban in sight and decimated him with precise swings. Xiaoting wielded Firhammer, a large magical two handed hammer with an unbreakable fir handle and a head made of pure white steel that weighed nothing but could break boulders.

The others wielded a mix of swords and spears, all mythical in their own rights and passed down by the elf whose place they'd taken among the ranks. It was a rite of passage, one elf died, another took their weapon, and so it would go on until the end of time or the end of the Legion itself.

"Santa!" Lisa and Natty shouted as they formed around him, protecting him from rifle fire with their magical shields. "You're bleeding," Lisa said as Santa pushed her away. "I don't have time to bleed! worry about the reindeer, I'll be fine once we get out of here!" Santa said as Lisa motioned for Karina to hurry over. Karina looked at the wounds and pulled a small bag from her hip, blowing a glittering dust onto each reindeer's wound that began to push the bullets out and seal the holes left behind.

"It will keep them alive until we get back to the North Pole," Karina said, "but they have lost a lot of blood, and I can't mend broken bones here," Karina said as Natty and Lisa nodded. They covered Karina alongside Santa while she did everything she could to help.

Asa, Yeji, Bae and Jiwoo had formed a shield wall while Sullyoon and Kazuha used their pulse rifles to suppress and whittle down the Taliban numbers. The rifles fired a concentrated pulse of red, green, and sometimes purple energy, nobody knew exactly what kind of energy, but the elves always said it was pure Christmas spirit.

"Yea! get some!" Sullyoon said as she reached down and traded a pulse rifle for a larger machine gun version that she began mowing down the Taliban with. Bullets whizzed overhead as they held back the Taliban, Yuqi and Xiaoting teamed together and swung their weapons with immense skill while Santa and the rest protected the reindeer.

"Take cover! NP-130 above!" Yuqi shouted as every elf pulled their shield high above them just as the area was lit up by Christmas colored energy projectiles that bombarded the Taliban and sent chunks of earth flying into the air. Bodies littered the valley, the snow ran red with blood, but the Taliban were more determined than ever to continue their push to kill Santa even as NP-130 Sleighfires loitered overhead.

"Tell them we need an ice barrage!" Xiaoting shouted as Bae radioed up to the attack sleighs and asked for an ice barrage. "Roger that, take cover Legionnaire," the sleighs radioed back, waiting until the elves had all regrouped around Santa and formed a defensive circle of shields around him and the reindeer.

Huge icicles and candy canes began to fall from the sky, impaling Taliban and exploding in the ground, sending sharp shards of ice in every direction like frozen shrapnel that cut through anything and everything they touched. "Sleighfire to Legion, we're out of munitions, second wave inbound with Yeti heavy infantry and polar bear cavalry, ETA fifteen miracles," the pilot said as the sleighs were forced to turn away.

"We'll hold, Sleighfire, thanks you for your assistance," Bae said as they broke the shield wall and charged the Taliban, who were caught off guard. "Blitzen!" Yuqi shouted, whistling to the reindeer who came running to her, she hopped onto his back and Blitzen took off like a rocket that launched into the oncoming Taliban.

Blitzen lowered his head and gored a Taliban fighter, sending him flying into the air while Yuqi swung her sword and cut more fighters from their feet before they even had time to aim or respond. "Ho ho.." Santa said, coughing, "ho," he said, wiping the blood from his lip as Karina remained beside him firing her pulse rifle at anyone who got close enough.

Santa got up to one knee, bracing himself with Spirit Bringer and pulling himself up to his feet slowly. Santa's blue eyes looked out over the carnage, the pulses of light from the rifles, the swinging magical blades cutting through Taliban like lightsabers, the silhouettes of his beloved reindeer jumping and trampling the Taliban under their hooves.

Santa adjusted his hat and picked up Spirit Bringer with one hand, his other holding a pulse pistol that Karina had handed him. "Little elf, let's kick some terrorist ass!" Santa said with a smirk. "Just like old times, huh?" Karina asked him, Santa nodded, his lips curling into a smile.

He remembered those days before everything was holly and jolly, back before red was just festive, back when red symbolized the blood spilled so that good people could celebrate with their families each and every year without fear of being oppressed, punished or killed by the forces of darkness.

Santa charged forward alongside Karina with a surprising amount of agility, launching himself into the air and bringing Spirit Bringer down cleanly to cleave another Taliban in two. Yuqi rallied the elves and reindeer, her shield knocking fighters unconscious while her sword severed heads and limbs.

"Victory! we have victory!" Santa shouted as the Taliban began to break and turn away, running through the ruts in the snow created by the vehicles they'd arrived in but were now smoldering heaps of scrap. Lisa mounted Prancer, Sullyoon mounted Cupid, Xiaoting mounted Comet and Yeji mounted Donner, together they ran through the retreating Taliban while Yuqi pushed Blitzen to his limits to run down the Taliban warlord atop his own horse.

"They can't see with all the snowfall! hurry Rudolph!" Santa said as Karina jumped on Rudolph and they took off to try and catch up to Yuqi and Blitzen. "Follow us!" Karina said as Yuqi turned Blitzen to follow them through the snow with Rudolph's nose leading the way and providing a very decent amount of red light to track the trail of the warlord.

More sleighs were arriving with more Legionnaires, bright beams of energy coming from them as they fired at the Taliban from above. The Yeti and Skyr had arrived, fighting side by side as they flung Taliban fighters with ease. The polar bear cavalry charged into what was left of them, breaking the fleeing Taliban for good.

"There he is!" Karina said as Xiaoting rode up behind them on Comet and took off after the warlord. "Oh no you don't!" Yuqi shouted as she and Karina chased after her with hooves beating and weapons raised, no way Xiaoting was about to steal their thunder and get the capture.

They circled the Taliban warlord, knocking the AK from his hands and forcing him off his horse to his knees. The reindeer snarled, grunting and shaking their antlers side to side, rutting the ground beneath them with their hooves. "Should we send him to Gumdrop Bay?" Karina asked, referring to the top secret facility where enemies of the North Pole were rumored to be interrogated in extreme ways.

Before any of them could speak there was a sudden wet thud and the warlord's head exploded, Rudolph had kicked him square in the face with enough force that it had turned into nothing but a lingering red mist slowly falling to the ground behind his kneeling corpse.

"Rudolph! what the fuck!" Yuqi shouted, she was so upset that she threw down her shield and stamped her foot. But Rudolph didn't seem to care, he turned and shined his bright red nose on the approaching lumbering silhouette of Santa. "I'm afraid it's not over yet," Santa said lowly, clutching Spirit Bringer in his hand.

Yuqi, Karina and Xiaoting turned, the snow had stopped and there was a sort of fire approaching that cleared the snow on the ground. "Krampus, that mother fucker," Santa said out loud. It was unmistakable, the horns, the evil beings surrounding him, that wicked smile that could be seen from a mile away, it was him, and he was leading a small army toward them.

The elves now numbered some 200, with about 50 Yeti, 5 Skyr, 30 polar bear cavalry and about 120 reindeer. "There has to be a thousand of them," Karina said out loud, the ground began to shake beneath her feet as they drew closer. "Good," Yuqi said, surveying the battlefield until Krampus came to a halt a short distance from them.

Krampus and Santa locked eyes, staring each other down for a few moments. Krampus spoke in a deep, demonic sounding voice, "we can make this easy, sacrifice yourself and I will spare all your little elves," he said. Santa let out a loud laugh, "never, Krampus, you always were a fool," Santa said.

The elves had lined up side by side, their shields facing outward, Yeti behind them clutching large stones and logs, reindeer and polar bear cavalry on the flanks and the Skyr looming behind the line with an elf atop each one clutching a pulse rifle. "Ready to die, Krampus?" Yuqi called out, attracting the gaze of his glowing red eyes.

"You again, heh, I'll see to it that your pretty head is on my wall," Krampus said to her, sneering wickedly. "I'll turn those horns into a magical bow before tonight is over, boy," Yuqi said, it seemed the incorporation of the word "boy" set Krampus off as he raised his axe and shouted his forces forward.

Both armies clashed, the forces of Krampus smashed into the shield wall, the polar bear cavalry ran through their flank and the reindeer went hurdling over the elves to sink their antlers deep into the front lines of the dark forces, giving the elves the space needed for an effective counter charge.

Naturally, a circle formed where Krampus and Santa circled around facing each other, and it became clear that nobody was allowed to interfere. Krampus sent one of his own high into the air when the demon attempted to stab Santa with its spear, Krampus hissed and coiled his clawed fingers around his axe.

"No more running away, old man, you die here," Krampus said, his axe glowing fiery orange with hate and anger. "You've had 1700 years, and not once have you prevailed," Santa said, "always tucking tail and running, like the coward you are," he said as Krampus became visibly agitated. They raised their weapons and clashed, sending a seismic shockwave across the ground that opened up wide cracks.

Yuqi swung her sword, tangling with demonic forces that reeked of evil and smelled of sulfur. "Go back to Zadaris!" Yuqi shouted, plunging her blade into the heart of a demon that crumpled into ash on the ground. Xiaoting swung Firhammer around in circles, clearing wide swaths on her own, smashing it into grotesque evil forms that withered into husks and crumbled under her feet.

Karina leapt high into the air and ran her spear through three demons at once, Lisa and Natty jumped over top of her and severed heads with their swords. Jiwoo aimed her bow and fired magical arrows while Sullyoon and Kazuha worked together sweeping demons off their feet and plunging swords into their chests.

Asa, Yeji, and Bae were at the edge of the battle, bashing heads and cleaving demons in half with their weapons. It was a sight unlike any other, both demon and elf bodies were strewn around prostrate on the cold earth, fallen in the biggest battle either had seen in centuries.

Around the valley were the remnants of the Taliban forces, wide eyed and fearful as they watched the battle unfolding before them, unable to comprehend what was truly happening. They regrouped and left as fast as they could, retreating to the nearby city where they hysterically began telling the elders.

Krampus and Santa whirled around in brutal combat inflicting pain and trying to end one another as quickly as possible. The numbers around them were dwindling, and neither side could be sure who was truly winning. The cost was already staggering, dozens of elves, hundreds of demons, half the cavalry gone, a Skyr lie dead, Yeti were surrounded and being attacked by spears.

Reindeer were dwindling as well, they couldn't move or function effectively in the sea of bodies, surrounded by sharp objects that poked them and slowly whittled their numbers down. After a few more minutes it became clear that the North Pole didn't have enough numbers to keep going, Krampus had brought his best, his strongest, his most elite, and it showed.

The elves had fallen back, now numbering only 37, 13 Yeti remained, 1 Skyr, all of Santa's reindeer and 12 polar bears who had lost their riders. "It's over, old man, Christmas is dead!" Krampus shouted at Santa, who stood in front of the round elvish shield wall behind him.

Krampus still had at least 200 demons left, and they were all eager to finish off the elves as soon as possible. "Christmas is never dead, as long as there are those who believe," Santa said back to him, his elves rallied around him, each with their weapon drawn and shield raised.

Krampus snarled, "any last words before we finish you?" he hissed, pointing his axe at Santa. "Behind you," Santa said, his words confused the confident adversary. "What?" Krampus asked, thinking it had to be a trick. "Behind you," Santa repeated, plunging Spirit Bringer into the ground to cast a protective red and green shield over his forces as Taliban artillery rained down on Krampus and his demons.

The demons ran in every direction as artillery tore them to pieces, then the Taliban returned with a renewed force with AK's blazing and machine guns firing, they cut down the demons with concentrated fire. It took whole magazines to bring down one demon, but the Taliban were determined, they ventilated each one thoroughly until the body turned to ash.

Krampus turned to see what was happening, but his momentary distraction would cost him everything. Yuqi rushed forward with her sword held high, leaping into the air with both hands on the grip, and when Krampus turned around the last thing he saw was Yuqi's sword coming down across his neck, severing his head.

His neck spurted black blood, his body fell to its knees and remained in place as Yuqi picked up the head and held it high for every elf to cheer. The polar bears roared, the Skyr bellowed, the Yeti howled, Krampus was dead, Christmas was saved.

Santa walked forward to the kneeling lifeless corpse of Krampus and looked at it for a moment, then lifted Spirit Bringer and plunged it into the chest where the black heart of Krampus would be. The body exploded in a flash of fire, turning to charcoal and ash before Santa.

The Taliban approached with guns raised, shouting unintelligible words at Santa and the elves. A Taliban commander stepped in and pushed the barrels away, telling his men to stand down. "Do you remember me, Santa?" the commander asked, pulling his keffiyeh off so that Santa could see him clearly.

"When the Americans were here I was a little boy, one time you visited them and I asked you for three camels, and the next day three camels arrived at our house," he said as Santa thought about it, knowing it had to be an impostor Santa. "You brought us three camels, and I believed in you, and now you are back," the commander said.

"And what would you like this year?" Santa asked turning to Yuqi, "hurry to the sleigh, get my bag, the one with gold tassels, not the black tassels," he said quietly, Yuqi dashed off to his smoking sleigh to retrieve the bag and bring it back to him. "I would like… a pair of boots, these are no good!" the commander said.

"Ho ho ho! a pair of boots, let me see!" Santa said, rummaging around his bag to pull out a pair of shiny new black boots that were the perfect size. The commander beamed widely and the rest of the Taliban began to murmur. "There's no fucking way the Taliban are about to start believing in Santa," Xiaoting said to Lisa. "Believe it," Lisa replied.

One by one the Taliban came up to Santa, the commander translated their wish and Santa presented the gift from the bag. They were so elated that they ran off back to the city. "I will see you next year, Santa," the commander said, shaking Santa's hand. "Ho ho ho! indeed, you will!" Santa said.

The elves cleaned up their dead and loaded them for return to the North Pole where this Christmas would forever be remembered as Sleigh One Down.

Yuqi sat in the Fruitcake Cathedral, it was quiet, she held a solemn vigil for the fallen elves who were laid around the edges being visited by North Pole residents and their families. Xiaoting walked in and sat beside her, "did you hear the news?" Xiaoting asked, Yuqi shook her head no.

"Letters from all over Afghanistan are pouring in, there's even some from Pakistan and Iran," Xiaoting said. "Great, are we just going to do this all over again next year?" Yuqi asked, her voice was full of grief. "Nobody could've predicted Krampus would show up, Yuqi," Xiaoting said, looking around for a moment.

"It's sad we lost so many, but that's the price we pay, and we knew the price of our lives when we joined the Legion," Xiaoting said, "we've lost thousands over the centuries, and every elf that fell did so with honor and dignity, knowing they were fighting for something that mattered," she said.

"You and I both know not a single elf who fell in Afghanistan would have turned and ran, they trained their whole lives to fight Krampus, and now he's dead," Xiaoting said, sitting back beside Yuqi who remained silent for a few seconds with her helmet clutched in her hands, one of the wings had been bent in the battle.

It dawned on Yuqi suddenly, Krampus was dead, the North Poles biggest adversary was gone. Lisa, Natty, Jiwoo, Kazuha, Asa, Yeji, Bae and Karina all walked in, standing in the middle of the hall where Yuqi and Xiaoting joined them. "What will we do now that Krampus is dead and Zadaris is collapsing?" Karina asked.

"What we've always done," Yuqi said, tucking her helmet away under her arm and drawing her sword to extend it out in front of her. "We'll protect the North Pole and defend Christmas Spirit," Yuqi said as the others drew their own swords and placed them on top of one another between the circle of elves.

“Tom,” you called out gently, as you stepped into the room. He turned to look at you, a small smile gracing his lips before he pointed at the mess on the floor around him.

“I was trying to get some Christmas presents wrapped so that you didn’t have to do all of them, but I seem to have made more mess.” He looked disappointed with himself and you sighed sadly, hating to see him so miserable.

“Here, let me help you.” You sat down beside him and began untangling the ribbon and tape from around Tom’s arms, occasionally your fingers grazing at his skin causing him to shiver. Kissing gently along his arm and up to his shoulder, Tom sighed under your touch, relaxing against you.

“I just wanted to help,” Tom sighed, looking up at you with his ocean-blue eyes that resembled a small child’s.

“I know you were, Baby. It’s ok, we can do them together.” You hopped up, grabbing the presents off the bed before Tom could stop you. You placed them in a pile between the two of you and noticed a small box on the top. You reached out for it just as Tom did the same, snatching it from your hand and burying it in the pocket of his shorts. You looked stunned, Tom was never one to grab things off of you, even when you thought it would be funny to wear his dress shirt and nothing but his dress shirt right before his graduation.

“I’m sorry,” he said quickly, reaching out to grab your hands between his.

“It’s ok,” you shook it off, moving your hands away from his and busting yourself with the other presents.

“Love?” He said quietly, trying to catch your attention. When you didn’t answer, he leant across the pile of presents, taking your face into his hands and holding you gently.

“I’m sorry.” You looked up at him and the sincerity in his eyes told you he meant it. He continued to hold you, waiting for your reply.

“I know,” you mumbled quietly and you had forgiven him, you were just confused about why he’d do it. What was in the box? Tom chewed his lip worriedly and his eyes darted back and forth across the room. He took a deep breath, steadying himself before he spoke. He mouthed your name, barely above a whisper but just loud enough that you heard him.

“I need to ask you a very important question. I was going to ask you on Christmas Day but I don’t know if I can wait, I’m worried my nerves will get the better of me. I’m also not sure I can trust Mav not to blurt it out either.” He chuckled lightly and for a moment he became his normal confident self again.

“Well, I better get on with it.” He joked as you looked at him in complete confusion.

“Tom, what is this?” You asked, worried at this sudden outburst.

Tom smirked as he stood up, pulling the box from his pocket before kneeling on his right leg in front of you.

“Darling, I have loved you from the moment I first met you at the bar when Mav was trying to serenade you. From the moment you turned him down, I couldn’t picture my life with anyone else. Every day I have grown to love you even more and I didn’t even know it was possible to love someone as much as I love you.” He took a deep breath, opening the small box in his hand and revealing a delicate silver ring, with a small diamond clasped on top.

“I know it’s not a very elaborate ring and I…”

“No Tom, it's perfect. I love it and my answer is yes.”

“But I haven’t even asked the question…” he began but you cut him off, bringing his lips to yours and kissing him deeply. He let out a muffled yelp as you continued to kiss him, running our hands through his blond hair. You pulled away, placing a small kiss on the tip of his nose. “My answer will always be ‘yes, Tom. Always.” He let out a loud, “YES!” Fist pumping the air and a large grin spread across his face. He jumped over the pile of presents, wrapping you tightly in his arms and spinning you around. You shrieked, laughing loudly as you celebrated together. Tom took your face in his hands, kissing you sweetly without the smile leaving his face. Both of you were so wrapped up in each other that Tom had completely forgotten the ring that he’d left on the bed.

“I love you so much,” he kissed your hands delicately, realizing the ascent ring and whipping around to grab it. He took the ring from the box and slipped it slowly onto your finger. “That’s much better.” He kissed your now ring-clad finger.

“I love you future Mrs Kazansky.”

“I love you too Mr Kazansky.” You laughed as he picked you up again, throwing you onto the bed before climbing beside you. The Christmas present scattered on the floor had long since been forgotten but you’d have plenty of time for that later.