[Somewhere far away from Montfort]

*Fizzle-crackle-BANG!*

A bright flash lit up the darkness, and a shape was thrown across the room.

"Well done Spangle!"

The deep voice boomed out around the stone cells, and Santa beamed with
happiness as he saw one of his elves slide to a halt on the floor. Spangle
looked up after a couple of minutes, shaking his head groggily. Small wisps
of smoke rose from around the bells on his hat - proof, if any were needed,
that the enchantment on the bars of the cells was as strong as ever.

"Well, I'm out," Spangle said, a little shakily. "I'm not keen on repeating
that experience though," he added, brushing the dirt off the front of his
clothes.

"Don't worry. All you've got to do is go and find some way to get us out of
this place. It shouldn't be too hard for an elf of your skill..."

Spangle mumbled something under his breath, then looked around at the cells.

"Can't see a lock or anything on this side either," he said. "I'm afraid
whatever lock there is must be magical." His hands gestured briefly, and he
squeezed his eyes shut in concentration. "And without our pixiedust, I'm
afraid I can't see what it is, or how to unlock it."

Santa sighed deeply, setting his not inconsiderable bulk back down onto the
floor. He shook his head, despairing. Time was ticking off as they sat in
these cells, and all he could think of was the children that would be going
without their presents. What should be one of the happiest days of the year
was fast turning out to be one of the worst. His reputation would never
survive such a dismal failure...

"I'll just go look down here shall I?" Spangle said hopefully, trying to
keep a smile on his face as he wandered down the corridor. "Oooh, it's
awfully dark down here, and... ERK!"

"Spangle?"

Silence.

"Spangle?"


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


[The Orphanage]

*click*

creaaaaaak....

The front door eased open, and Santa tip-toed into Horace's dark house.
Behind him, the lock still glowed with the faeire dust he'd used to open it.

"Ho Ho Ho!" Santa chuckled. Then he smiled and walked lightly towards the
kitchen. The huge sack of toys he had slung over his shoulder didn't make a
sound... not a single rattle, rustle or jingle.... for that was the nature
of Santa's magic. He paused by door leading into the basement, and took
a long, deep breath. "I smell children! Ho Ho Ho!"

He opened the door and looked down. At first there was nothing but
darkness, but Santa's eyes began to glow... and suddenly he could see every
nook and cranny in the small basement. He crept down the stairs and
looked around at the dirty, dingy living conditions.

Santa's smile faltered.

"Poor children," he sniffed. He placed his sack of toys on the ground and
started to rummage through it. After a few seconds he pulled out a single
box. It was about the size of a loaf of bread, and wrapped in brightly
colored paper and ribbons. It was sealed with a bow so elaborate that it
could only be of elven design.

Santa sat the box down in the middle of the room.

"Ho Ho Ho!" he said. "Merry Christmas, children! Merry Christmas!"
Then he shouldered his sack once more and started up the stairs, moving as
silently as he had when he arrived.


---


[Church of the EverBurning Flame]

A feint scraping sound echoed in the church, followed by stifled giggles.

"Come ON!" a tiny voice whispered, then its owner sprang into view. Short
and lithe, the figure ran across the stone floor, beckoning to others
following behind. Follow they did, carrying the box behind them. One end
dropped to the floor, and the other elves rounded on their fellow - ignoring
his innocent look and open arms.

"You IDIOT!" one cursed, slapping him around the head and sending the green
felt cap skidding over the floor.

"Can't you even do that right, Calumsi?" another joined in, poking him in
the chest with one bony finger.

"Wasn't my..."

"...fault" another finished for poor Calumsi. "Well, don't just stand
there, we'd best check if they are okay... Santa won't be pleased if you've
gone and broken his gifts now will he... I've heard those beasts of his are
hungry again - and you know what happened last time they got hungry!"

Calumsi backed away, shaking his head. "Oh no, don't you be telling him
about this now... or I'll tell him about Fell hitching a ride under that
woman's bustle..."

The other elves giggled and nudged each other, smiling as they opened the
small box and started to empty the packing out. Strand after strand of fine
paper parted under their deft fingers, until the first half dozen sparkling,
twinkling glass baubles lay exposed. Golden ribbon coiled around them, and
each elf grabbed a bauble before climbing agily up the pillars, aided by the
wreaths of branches coiled around them. It took the brightly dressed pixies
only a few minutes to tie a multitude of baubles amongst the leafy
decorations that hung from pillar to pillar like a living roof over the
lines of wooden pews.

"Now, aint that pretty lads," one of them said, chuckling.

The light from the two burning flames danced and flickered, setting of a
myriad of lights within the baubles that cast pinpricks of colour around the
church walls. It seemed as though the baubles themselves had magnified and
spread the flames around the whole church, lending it a much warmer feel
than had been present earlier.

"Now come on," another said, kicking the box and packing under a pew.
"We've gotta get stuff to them other people too, aint we..."


---


[The Orphanage]

"Look!" cried Jocob as he and the other boys filed down into the dark
basement. Jocob had just lit the lamp and he was the first to see the gift.
He pointed at the brightly-wrapped box on the floor. "It's a PRES-"

"Shhhh!!!!" hissed Pauly. He didn't know what the box was, but certanly
didn't want Horace to come down and take it away. He had already sent them
to bed without dinner. And on Christmas Eve, too.

"You boy's stay QUIET down there!" Horace roared from upstairs.

"But we're HUNGRY!" yelled Belthier. "And it's CHRISTMAS EVE!"

The door slammed, and the double locks slid into place with an audible
*click-click.*

They heard Horace grumbling as he walked away.

"Hey, Belthier... Look!"

The boys gasped and gathered around the present.

"What is it?"

"Who's it from?"

"What's inside?"

"Should we open it?"

"I SAID QUIET DOWN THERE!" shouted Horace. "How am I supposed to digest
my food with all that YAMMERING going on!"

"Is it from Santa?" one boy whispered.

"Maybe it's from Horace," said Jocob. "Maybe that's why he sent us out to
steal on Christmas Eve... so he could leave us this present."

"Shut up, Jocob." said Pauly "Horace doesn't believe in presents."

Jocob picked up the box and shook it. Something made a lot of little
'thumps' inside. He put his nose to the paper and smelled it. Then his
eyes got as big as saucers.

"What is it?" whispered Belthier.

"Chocolate!"

"No!"

"Yes!"

"Lemme smell it!"

"Forget smelling it... open it!"

"Shouldnt' we wait 'til Christmas?"

The boys stared at each other in the lamp-light. They reached a silent
concensus that waiting until Christmas was NOT an option.

Jocab and Belthier ripped the paper off, revealing a box of candy like
nothing they'd ever seen. It had almost every kind of sweet treat any of
them had ever tasted... jelly beans, chocolate drops, peppermint sticks...
everything! And enough for each boy to literally eat 'til he was full!

They tore into the sweetness and devoured it like ravenous wolves.

"Mmmmm!" Jocob was in heaven. "MMMMM!!"

"Ohh, this is so good," said Beltheir.

"Yah, Mr. Horace is okay!"

"It's not from Horace, it's from Santa!"

"Wherever its from, it's good!"

"MMMM!!!"

The boys ate and ate until they could eat no more. Then they lay down and
slept... their stomachs were full and happy... and undisturbed by the
ridiculous amount of sugar they'd consumed. The slept with smiles on
their faces, dreaming of candy and Santa.


---


[Somewhere far from Montfort]

A tiny figure crept out from behind a rock, peering down at the cabin that
lay nestled below amongst the pine trees. Their boughs hung laden with
snow, and the elf watched as first one, then another, shed the flakes
abruptly onto the drifts beneath. The wind was picking up, yet he could see
no smoke from the chimney of the cabin. He ached all over from the
unexpected journey earlier. He'd bounced off so many rocky twists and turns
that he was sure he would be purple from head to toe.

Is it safe? Spangle wondered, unsure if anyone - or anyelf - was below.

"AAAARGH!" he screamed, spinning around and falling backwards into the snow.
His world abruptly went white as it enveloped him, and he thrashed about in
panic. Something wet and cold had touched the back of his neck - one of
those nasty elves, he was sure...

Then a soft sound caught his attention and he stopped struggling in the cold
snow. A pair of dark eyes gazed down at him, and a whiskery muzzle pushed
the snow away.

"Prince!!!" he yelled, grabbing the reindeer and hugging his neck tight.
"Prince, you beauty!"

All his aches and pains were forgotten in that instant, and hope suddenly
gleamed brighter than the stars.

"Come on lad, we've got to go and see what's going on down there..."

Elf and reindeer made their way down the slope, slipping from tree to tree
as they crept closer to the cabin. No sound or movement came from within,
and eventually Spangle crept toward one of the darkened windows, slowly
raising his head to peek over the sill.

"Oh my. Oh my..."

Inside, toys lay half finished, scattered over the workbenches. What
worried him more than that though, were the wicked looking implements that
never got within childrens reach... gleaming blades, glinting coils of razor
wire, and other terrifying objects - some half assembled into the toys.

"Prince, what has been going on here!"

Prince just looked at him with big, dark, reindeer eyes.

"Come on, we've got to get to Montfort before... before..."

Spangle gulped and swung onto the reindeers broad back, hanging on tightly
to the red leather harness as he spurred the reindeer across the snow
covered meadows. Faster and faster they went, the wind whistling in the
elf's ears and drowning out the jangle of bells from the harness.

Faster and faster, until Spangle thought they would run off the edge of the
world, then ...

... suddenly they were flying, and Spangle hung on with tightly closed eyes
as Prince banked around, gaining height as they raced across the sky toward
the small town so very far away.

Behind them, the first tinge of dawn crested the mountains, turning snow and
ice into a shimmering raging fire of delicate pink, orange and purples.