Dash winked at me before disappearing into his room.
“Look, Tomi, I’ve been thinking about this a lot,” I said, turning to face my stubborn familiar once more. “I don’t want to force your hand, but I will if I need to.”
“What do you mean?” he asked.
“I mean that you’re bound to protect me, so I’m going to have to put myself in a whole heap of danger in this house if you keep refusing to let me out of it.”
“You wouldn’t,” he grumbled.
Magic sparked at my fingertips. “Want to try me?”
The tomten glared in my direction, but I didn’t feel the tingle of his magic, so I knew the barrier still held in place.
“I don’t even need magic to do it. All it would take is one of those burning logs to be removed from the fireplace, and this whole place would go up in flames.”
“Are you really threatening to burn my home down?” Dash asked, entering the room once more. Thankfully, he’d found a pair of jeans and a T-shirt.
“I’m threatening to do whatever it takes to get me out of here.”
“Tomi,” Dash said. “Please don’t let her get all pyro on me. You know I’m going with Clio when she leaves here. I’ll make sure nothing happens to her.”
“Fine,” Tomi grumbled. I felt a prickle across my skin as he let his magic loose, and the soft scent of gingerbread I always associated with it wafted through the room. He was still muttering under his breath as he disappeared from in front of me.
“Where’d he go?” Dash asked.
I shrugged. “He’s probably gone somewhere to sulk. He’ll turn up again.” I was barely focused on my missing tomten though. Instead, I was walking toward the front door. I yanked it open and took in a deep and relieved breath as I stepped into the crisp morning air of the Northern Realm. I was officially free.
“You ready to go?” Dash asked, coming up behind me.
“Is that even a question?” I replied. “I’ve been wearing my pajamas for the last day. Get me home already!”
Dash chuckled under his breath. “You could have asked to borrow some clothes if you were that concerned.”
“And get your shifter stench all over me? I don’t think so.”
Dash shook his head, but I think he could tell I wasn’t all that bothered by his smell. In fact, I found it very appealing, but I was never going to admit that to him.
“Where’s the rest of your herd?” I asked, as I followed him to his truck.
“They’ll be meeting us there. It won’t be much of a trap if you show up in Bramblewood surrounded by a herd of reindeer.”
“True,” I agreed.
Dash opened the passenger door to his truck for me. It was old and rusty, and while the type of vehicle he chose to drive didn’t surprise me, I was shocked by its age. The truck looked like it should have been retired to a junkyard years ago. It’s not like reindeer were poor. No one in the Northern Realm was. When you were surrounded by clauses who could summon anything they wished in the blink of an eye and light elves who could transmute anything that wasn’t quite right, the place had always reeked of wealth. The creatures in the Northern Realm always had the latest gadgets and the best tech. Dash’s truck did not fit with that trend.
“Not friendly with any clauses?” I asked as Dash opened his door and sat behind the wheel. “A little closer to Christmas and you could have any car you want.”
Dash didn’t look at me. He simply focused on starting up the car and then gave the steering wheel a loving pat. “I happen to like Gandalf.”
“Your truck is called Gandalf?”
Dash chuckled. “He’s never late and he’s never early. He arrives precisely when he means to,” he replied.
I laughed. “I can’t say I’ve met many Christmas creatures who’ve seen Lord of the Rings.”
Dash shrugged. “I’ve spent a lot of time in the Human Realm. It’s not so strange.”
We both fell silent as Dash started down his long driveway. The snow was banked up high along the edge of the road, and behind the heaped mounds of ice, tall pine trees lined the way. Having a place in the middle of the forest was smart if you were trying to remain hidden. Pine always masked magic and made it difficult to trace the power’s source.
I sneezed three times in quick succession as we went through a particularly dense area of trees. The amount of pine was also one of the things I hated most about the Northern Realm. I was allergic to the stuff, and with Dash’s window down, I was starting to get a stuffy nose and weeping eyes.
“Can you close your window?” I asked.
Dash glanced at me and laughed. “Don’t tell me you’re allergic to pine trees.”
“Fine. I won’t.”
“What kind of claus has an allergy?”
Me, apparently. I scowled at him. He was such an insensitive jerk. “It’s not like I can help it.”
“True,” he replied. “Still, it’s pretty funny. I swear every claus I know puts a Christmas tree in their house come the season.”
“Well, I certainly don’t.” It was just some old wives’ tale about warding off bad spirits. Most clauses were very superstitious beings, but I was clearly nothing like the rest of my kind.
Dash finally came to the end of the track he’d been following and turned onto a main road. It was a clear day and snowcapped mountain peaks that reached high into the sky surrounded us. I was hoping we’d be driving away from the North Pole, but a bad feeling in my gut told me we were only heading closer to the city.
More and more wooden cabins popped up along the side of the road and it wasn’t long until I could see the North Pole rising before us. The place was the largest magical settlement in the Northern Realm, and buildings stretched as far as the eye could see. Even at a distance, I could see the top of the huge Christmas tree the city was centered around, and beyond it, the massive castle that the claus royals lived in reared up on the horizon. It stood at the edge of the city on a hill that overlooked the entire region. The shimmering metal of its walls was glinting in the morning sunshine.
Staring at the North Pole now, I found it hard to believe I was truly there. It was the place I’d been born in, but when I’d left with my mother eight years ago, I’d never expected to return. Even now, within the safety of the car, my heart was thumping quickly and my foot was tapping restlessly against the floor. My mother had never told me what dangers lurked for me in the Northern Realm, but I wasn’t stupid, and I knew that whatever reason she had for leaving had everything to do with my magic.
Ever since I was a child, I’d had to hide the extent of my powers, especially out of season. My memories of that time were blurry now, but I could still remember the day when I accidentally exposed my powers for the first time by using my magic in front of others out of season.
Like all young clauses, I was expected to train for battle, and every morning, I journeyed to the castle on the hill to undergo lessons in one of the courtyards. I’d always been quite good at fighting and had excelled at my lessons. My skills with weapons were unmatched, and I only needed to resort to magic on rare occasions.
I was at the top of my class, but then one day, I was finally bested. My teacher assigned me a new opponent from one of the older year groups. I fought well in our mock duel, but the boy was too quick for me and disarmed me with a brilliant maneuver. Adrenaline pumped under my skin as I watched him approach. I’d never had to surrender before, and in the heat of the moment, I summoned a pair of daggers to my hands without giving thought to the consequences.
The battle had ended right there. The boy fighting me pulled back in shock, and everyone in the class turned to look at me. The fear in their eyes was something that stuck with me for years. It wasn’t Christmas season, and I wasn’t supposed to have magic. It was then that I truly understood how different I was.
My mom never told me that exposing my powers that day was the reason we left the Northern Realm, but we packed up and left that night. We didn’t say any good
byes, and we never looked back.
“Where are we going, Dash?” I asked, trying to ignore the memories that were invading my consciousness.
“The nearest sleigh point.”
I obviously knew that, but I was freaking out too much to call him out on it. “Yeah, but where exactly is that?”
He frowned as he glanced at me. “The center of the North Pole.”
My eyes darted toward the huge Christmas tree I could see rising from the middle of the North Pole. My palms grew sweaty as I looked at it, already knowing how busy it would be in the city and how many magical beings I would have to encounter.
“Right.” My voice was soft and breathy, barely louder than a whisper.
I looked away from the tall buildings ahead, trying to distract myself as I stared out the window toward the mountains that bordered the road. I needed to calm down. Dash must have brought me through the sleigh point the other night, so in a way, I’d already been through the city. There was nothing to worry about. I’d been passed out at the time though, so it didn’t really feel like a fear I’d already overcome.
The car slowed as we got into the outer edges of the city. The North Pole was just as I remembered it. Huge cabins lined every street, and each structure was finished with a different material. Some shone a rich golden color while others glittered like sapphires, emeralds, or rubies. There were a couple of buildings that had walls made of cascading fountains of water, while one of the places I passed was built from the brightest array of candy I’d ever seen.
Christmas beings were notorious for attempting to outdo each other. Elves were constantly kept busy transmuting cabin walls into whatever material was on trend. As we got farther into town, we started to pass a lot of metallic buildings, and the silver color was almost identical to the cool shimmer I’d seen on the castle walls. I assumed that was popular these days.
Christmas season had clearly already started in the North Pole, as wreaths of winterberries dotted each front door we passed and ancient vines of frost and icicles wove in long garlands over every street. Lanterns glittering with golden Christmas lights lined the snow-covered footpaths, and I spotted one or two pine trees through the windows of the homes we passed by.
We saw all manner of Christmas creatures as we drove. Small elf children played in the snow while the sparkling dust trails of Christmas fairies zipped through the sky. Reindeer shifters in their natural form lumbered down the sidewalk, and the faint glowing forms of ghosts hovered on the street. I saw tiny tomten peeking out of windows and a group of teen clauses happily using their magic to summon snacks as they walked between shops.
Dash braked suddenly as two snowmen crossed the road in front of the car. They were deep in conversation and didn’t give us a second look. Once they were back on the footpath, they waved to one another in farewell. One of them walked into a shop while the other’s humanoid body of ice liquefied into a puddle. He shot away from his friend, the puddle darting down the street in a blur.
A sigh escaped me as I watched the puddle disappear into the distance. I’d forgotten what it was like to live in a place where beings were so open and free with their magic. There was a deep sting in my chest as I looked out into a world in which I belonged but one I could never be a part of.
“You all right?” Dash asked, accelerating down the street once more.
I shrugged. “I guess I’d forgotten what this place was like.”
He glanced in my direction. “Why do you live in the Human Realm?”
I looked out the window, hesitating to answer. Christmas creatures were free to live in the Human Realm, but those who did were always looked upon with suspicion. Why would you live amongst humans and have to hide a part of yourself, when you could live freely in the Northern Realm? I’d never felt the truth of that fact more keenly than I did right now, and I could barely come up with a lie to feed Dash. So, I settled for a half-truth.
“My mom didn’t want to live here anymore,” I said. “I was still young when we left, so I didn’t exactly have a say in leaving.”
“You don’t live with your mother now,” Dash replied. “Surely you want to return.”
I glanced back at him, my lower lip caught between my teeth. “I could,” I agreed. “But I’ve been in the Human Realm so long now I’m not sure I’d fit in here anymore. Besides, my whole life is out there.”
Dash nodded, but from the way he was staring at me, I wasn’t sure if he accepted my answer. When he focused back on the road, all thought of the Human Realm ran from my mind. We were drawing closer to the center of the city, and I could now see the base of the ancient Christmas tree that the North Pole was built around.
The tree was unlike any other I’d ever seen and was just as impressive as my childhood memories recalled. It was mammoth in size and reached up hundreds of feet into the sky. Its thick green branches were covered in a sprinkling of snow, and the glittering dust of fairies that used the tree as their home could be seen lighting up and sparkling along every tree limb.
Legend had it that the tree stood long before any Christmas creature ever existed, that it was as old as the yule gods, and that it would exist long after we were all gone. I’d always wanted to admire the tree, but like every other form of pine, it made me sneeze, so I’d avoided it as a child.
Dash pulled the car over and started to get out. I darted a questioning glance at him.
“It’s only a couple of blocks from here. We’ll walk the rest of the way,” he explained.
I nodded and let myself out of the car. The stench of magic assaulted my senses as I stepped onto the frozen footpath. It was sweet and sugary and overwhelming after spending such a long time in the Human Realm. My skin itched from the constant tingling sensation I could feel brushing against it.
I followed Dash silently, trying to adjust to the intensity of being back in the North Pole. It was lucky it was early in the season, or I felt certain the smell of magic would have been so strong I would have ended up with a headache. As it was, I just found it highly distracting. It was strange to be surrounded by the smell of the one thing I used as a warning in the outside world. The whiff of magic had helped me protect myself on more than one occasion. But here, the smell was useless.
As we walked into the large square that housed the ancient Christmas tree, my nose started to become agitated. Like it wasn’t already having a hard time with all the magic surrounding us, I then had to face my senses’ mortal enemy. I glared up at the enormous tree, directly blaming it for my sniffles.
“There wasn’t another sleigh line nearby?” I asked after a bout of three more sneezes caught me off guard.
Dash grinned as he looked at me. “Nope.”
He was enjoying my torment way too much. I rolled my eyes at him but was quickly distracted from my annoyance as I sneezed once more.
“Stupid pine tree,” I grumbled as Dash led me closer to it.
Even though magic and allergies clouded my senses, I began to catch the scent of the sleigh point ahead. I’d always thought the sleigh points smelled like peppermint. Their magic gave off an icy, minty aroma, and this one was no different.
There was no visible indication that the sleigh point existed, but once I felt a cold shiver run down my spine, I knew we’d hit the right spot. We were just under the outer reaches of one of the long lower branches of the Christmas tree. I didn’t use the sleigh lines frequently, but I’d used them enough to know what I needed to do.
This location was one of thousands of magical points all over Earth that were connected by a grid of energy lines—sleigh lines as we called them. Magical creatures were able to portal between the points in the blink of an eye, and all it took was complete focus on the destination they wished to travel to.
My mother had been the one to first teach me how to use a sleigh line. She’d shown me the picture of our destination for weeks beforehand, making certain I could remember the place as clearly as if I’d been born there. I wasn’t sure who was more terrif
ied on my first attempt, her or me. There were horror stories of children going missing, ending up in the wrong location and not being able to get home.
I’d nailed the sleigh line on my first try though. In the blink of an eye I’d ended up in the back of a dingy diner in New York that was run by an elf. The woman had been waiting for my arrival. She applauded me, rewarded me with a slice of the best pizza I’d ever eaten, and sent me right on back to the North Pole. The pizza had still been steaming when I got home. My first trip was a total success, but even now, I never entered a sleigh point without my stomach clenching in apprehension.
“Do you know the sleigh point near Bramblewood?” Dash asked.
I lifted an eyebrow at him. “How stupid do you think I look?” Any good Christmas creature knew multiple sleigh points close to where they lived. It was like Magic 101.
He winked at me. “Just checking.”
I poked my tongue out at him and closed my eyes, focusing on the location we were after. The closest sleigh point to Bramblewood was in an old barn about a five-minute drive out of town. I constructed a picture of it in my mind, focusing on the way the old wooden floorboards were covered in hay and how there was a gaping hole in the corrugated ceiling at the far end of the building. I pictured the lofty roof and the handful of empty stalls that must have once held horses.
My skin tingled as magic started to buzz around me, and the hairs on my arms stood on end as I felt electricity zapping against my body. The sharp scent of peppermint grew stronger, overtaking my senses. I lurched forward as I felt the magic slam through me. It always made me feel like every cell of my body had been plunged into freezing cold water before being yanked back out again.
Warmth flooded my surroundings, and a moment later, the buzzing around me ceased. The stench of peppermint faded to bearable levels once more, and I started to smell the more mundane odor of hay and manure.
My eyes blinked open. The barn before me was exactly how I’d pictured it and I looked over my shoulder just in time to see Dash appear behind me in a whirl of light green magic. His skin had paled from the experience, and he shuddered before opening his eyes.
Christmas Magic Page 6
