Kris Kringle
Chapter Twenty-Three: Hopes and Fears

Grinkers awoke from his sleep in a dreadful sweat. He had had another vivid dream, but this one had been dark and foreboding. He had seen his village being burned to the ground, his fellow elves fleeing for safety, and his friend Kris Kringle bound in heavy chains, unable to help.

Grinkers took a moment to catch his breath from the nightmare. It had seemed so real, and it left a dark feeling within him that he could not shake. He arose from his bed, putting on his clothes and cap, and sat down at the desk where he wrote down his thoughts and recorded his visions. But as he grabbed his feather pen to write, he heard wild screams from above. He immediately ran up from his underground home to see what had caused the commotion. And before his very eyes was the scene from his dream. Grinkers wondered—that is, he hoped—that what he was witnessing now was simply a continuation of his nightmare. Perhaps he had never actually woken up?

But as a fleeing elf knocked him to the ground accidentally, and smoke from the flames reached his nostrils, Grinkers knew this was all too real to be in his head. He pushed himself off the ground and looked desperately for someone who could provide help. But all he could see were human soldiers on horseback, chasing the elves and throwing torches upon their houses and workshops. Most of the elves were fleeing for their lives, but some stood their ground and used their magic to try to prevent the spread of the fire. The screams of elves, the collapsing of burning wood and trees, and the neighing of overworked horses were the only sounds that Grinkers could hear. And it filled his heart with dread and fear.

Suddenly, Felix was at his side, grabbing Grinkers by the arm and pulling him into a nearby bush for cover and concealment. “Who are these men?” Felix asked his leader with great concern. The two lay against the ground and watched as the hooves of horses and the armored feet of foot soldiers moved around them. They used their magic to turn themselves invisible to human eyes.

“These men belong to a king,” Grinkers said softly.

“Kris?” Felix replied with shock.

Grinkers shook his head. “No, this is not his doing. I dreamt of this very scenario moments before it happened, and I saw that our Kris Kringle was in as helpless a position as we.”

“What do we do?” Felix pleaded urgently, “Elves are being dragged from their homes and taken away as prisoners!”

Grinkers watched in horror as the elvish village was left desolate. “We were not prepared for something like this,” the old elf remarked sadly, “The reason for our moving to this forest was so that we would never have to be prepared for something like this. We cannot fight them—not successfully, not now. We must follow their horses to the place where our friends will be imprisoned. Perhaps then we can replace a way to help them.”

The two waited as the royal soldiers finished their work and began to leave the village. When the last soldier had left, Felix and Grinkers exited their hiding spot and removed their invisibility. As they did so, they saw many others elves doing the same thing from their respective hiding spots.

“How many were taken?” Grinkers called out to his elves. A headcount was called for, and the elves were relieved to replace that the vast majority of their race was able to escape from the humans.

An elf named Donny handed a piece of paper to Grinkers. “Here are the names of the elves that are missing.”

“Eight of them?” Grinkers confirmed as he read the list. Donny nodded.

Grinkers called for all the elves to assemble themselves together. “We do not know why these humans attacked and kidnapped our kind,” Grinkers began, “I know some of you are fearful that our helping King Wenceslas and Kris Kringle is related to this incident. I am sure it is in some way. But we must not jump to conclusions. I sense that Kris Kringle is in as much trouble as our fellow elves who were captured. Let us follow the trail of their essence and replace a way to rescue them.”

“Who was captured?” a voice called from the crowd.

Grinkers read from the list: “Dancer, Comet, Dasher, Vixen, Donner, Blitzen, Prancer, and Cupid.”

After revealing to each other their secret identities as Shepherds, Kris and Calvin shared all the information they knew in regards to King Renier. Kris learned that Calvin had been suspected of criminal activity when he was found traveling on the road between the Green Pasture and the village long after curfew. The first time he had been set free by a guard with a warning, but when he had returned from the Shepherds’ meeting in which it was decided he would meet Princess Eva in the marketplace, he was caught a second time and imprisoned for it.

The two were trying to lift each other’s spirits with talk of familiar things, when both King Renier and Princess Eva descended the staircase into the dungeon. Kris suddenly realized that the princess was not accompanying her brother, but being escorted as a prisoner.

“Why don’t you go in the cell with your boyfriend,” Renier told her, gesturing toward Kris’ cell, “Give you lovebirds one last chance to say goodbye.”

He opened the cell door and pushed the princess inside. She fell into Kris’ arms, who was standing there with great concern.

“What is the meaning of this?” Kris asked Renier angrily, “What are you doing?”

Renier held up Percy’s Parchment and smiled. “I hardly slept last night,” he explained happily, “I have been asking so many questions. Of course, I received some answers that I was not particularly pleased with. Especially when I learned that one of the people most disloyal to me is my own sister.” He glared at Eva, who had turned from embracing Kris to look back at her brother.

“Our Father would be disgusted with the beast you’ve become,” she spat out.

“If I cared at all for Father, I wouldn’t have done what I did and allowed your beloved to keep his robe. Wenceslas was a fool who tried to restrain my power and vision. He means nothing to me.”

Renier paused and looked over at Calvin. “You know, I had held off with your execution because there was something about you that concerned me, but I could not put my finger on what it was… until last night.” He looked at Kris and then back at Calvin. “The Shepherds, huh? The parchment revealed your secret brotherhood to me. Trying to take over my kingdom. Such a waste of time and effort.”

He looked out a small window on the far end of the dungeon where a faint ray of the setting sun was coming through. “Tomorrow morning I will execute Kris Kringle in the public square as a warning to any who would question my authority or betray my trust.” Eva gasped, but Kris stood firm.

“What will become of Eva?” he asked the king.

“Nothing yet,” he replied casually, “In fact, as far as the people know, she will still be continuing on in her royal position. But I think I will keep her in this cell, where she will be forced day after day to think of her love and how he is no more.”

“You’re a monster!” Eva cried out.

“You won’t get away with this,” Calvin added sternly, “Your power was given to you and it can be taken away just the same.”

“No one can take my power!” he snarled, “I will be invincible!”

“I couldn’t help but notice you’re missing some fingers there,” Kris observed wryly, pointing to his injury, “You can acquire all the power you want, Renier, but even a king is not invincible.”

“We shall see,” Renier retorted with a knowing smile.

With that, he turned quickly and ascended the stairway, leaving the prisoners alone in fear.

“He is invincible,” Eva admitted, “Or at least, he soon will be. You see, Percy’s Parchment was not the item he ultimately wanted. He needed it to replace something else. Something that would be even more dangerous in his hands.”

“What?” Calvin asked impatiently.

“He caught me spying on his conversation with Monty. That’s when he brought me down here,” she explained, “I heard him say how he had asked the parchment for the location of the North Pole—an item that he said would finally grant him the power of immortality.”

“Where is this North Pole located?” Kris asked her.

“I am not sure exactly. I hear him say it was not far from here. Past the Green Pasture and Pinetop Mountains.”

Kris sat down in defeat. “Then he will have it soon enough,” he mourned.

For the next several hours of the night, the three of them sat there in their prison, each thinking of some way to escape and stop Renier. Kris had suggested that Paul might come to their rescue, since he worked in the castle, but Eva reminded him that Renier now knew of Paul’s identity as a Shepherd and would have seen to it that he was kept far from the castle.

“Silverbell is lost,” Calvin finally decided with a soft voice choked with emotion.

“There may still be hope,” Kris countered, “If the other Shepherds have done their part, the people now know who Renier really is. Perhaps with enough support—“

“It won’t make a difference, Kris,” Calvin argued, “It’s done. If he replaces this ‘North Pole’, all will be lost. But even if he doesn’t, you’re still dead in the morning, with me and the princess not far behind.”

“We can’t give up though,” Eva urged, “Like Kris said, it’s not just us who are fighting for Silverbell. We must hold on tight to any ray of hope there is left. Hope is the key.”

Kris sighed as he placed his forehead against the bars of the cell. His sad eyes suddenly widened as he saw a most unusual sight before him. Floating down the staircase, just above the ground, was a brass key. It flew through the air and stopped right in front of Kris.

“Hope is the key,” a disembodied voice repeated. A smile appeared on Kris’ face, for he immediately recognized the small, high-pitched voice he was hearing.

Removing his invisibility, Felix now stood visible to all, the brass key to the prison cell in his hand.

“And the key is the hope,” he said with a grin.