Page 8

Fighting for Krampus

NAOMI

K ilean’s angry expression shook Naomi like a bucket of cold water. She threw her blanket off and stood up quickly, running to his side.

“ What’s wrong? What’s going on?”

“ He ’ s here ,” he growled.

All the worst scenarios passed through her mind. Was it one of his kind? Were they here to take him? Oh god… did they find out about her? Were they going to kill her?

Before Naomi could even ask, Kilean rushed outside.

“ This is bad,” she whispered, nervous, flinching at the door slamming against the wall. “ This is so bad.”

She couldn’t let him go off alone, he had been recently injured! But she also likely couldn’t fend for herself if the being outside was a demon. Quickly , she reached for her faithful hatchet and peeked outside to gauge the situation.

Kilean was standing a few feet from the entrance, still growling at whatever he sensed in the woods. Naomi was too scared to ask any more questions, so she stood and waited, her grip tightening on the hatchet as more seconds passed.

Finally , something moved from between the far trees.

A krampus—his fur all gray with stains of red—stalked slowly out of the woods, growling back at Kilean . He had a muscular but slim body, and despite the color of his fur, his face looked younger than Kilean’s .

Naomi’s eyes focused on the blood stains. Perhaps this was the demon that had attacked Kilean before she found him. Rage immediately took over her body. How dare he come back?

“ I see you’ve found yourself a pet ,” the krampus spat with a wicked grin, glancing at her.

Kilean’s growl deepened further, and Naomi felt its rumbling in her bones.

“ I’ve beaten you once, I can do it again,” Kilean replied, taking a step forward.

The demon chuckled. “ Does it count as beating me when I’m still here?”

He was still alive, yes, but didn’t look like he fully recovered yet like Kilean had. No one had helped him, apparently, and that made Naomi feel a bit better. Since Kilean was in better condition, he would probably do better in a fight. At least, Naomi hoped.

“ You should have let yourself die,” Kilean spat.

“ Why die when I can become something more?”

Kilean tensed, brows furrowing. He seemed lost in thought for a few moments before he asked, “ Is that why you attacked me? You were looking for power?”

“ Are you not tired of this life? Being nothing, always following orders.” The demon laughed maniacally, the sound sending shivers down Naomi’s spine. “ There is a way to absorb others, you know? If I can get enough power, they won’t be able to control me anymore.”

“ But why me?” Kilean asked, a hint of curiosity in his tone. “ I’m not special, and I’ve never offended you.”

The demon’s face scrunched up in a disgusted grimace, and Naomi’s rage increased at the sight. Somehow , she knew what he was about to say.

“ Because you’re an outcast. Always by yourself.”

Before Kilean could reply, the demon jumped at him, hands forward. The demon slashed his claws down on him, but Kilean dodged to the side, bringing his own claws down onto the other demon’s back.

The gray demon roared, shaking the air around them. In such a silent valley, every sound echoed, and it was terrifying.

“ You always keep to yourself, not talking to anyone as if you think yourself royalty,” he spat. “ You think you’re so superior, don’t you? Looking down on us from your self-made pedestal. But you’re really just pathetic.”

“ I don’t understand,” Kilean replied, confusion clear in his tone.

The demon took advantage of his bewilderment and attacked again, this time tearing a gash in Kilean’s arm. Kilean growled at him, his expression turning back to anger.

“ Quit acting oblivious, you know what you do. You’re so annoying, pretending to be polite but you’re just a stuck-up ass.”

He swung again but Kilean dodged and pushed him away. The demon stumbled to the ground but rolled over and immediately pulled himself up.

“ Oh , look at me,” the gray demon mocked. “ I do my job so well and follow orders like a dog. I don’t have friends because no one is good enough, and don’t talk to anyone because everyone is scum .”

Now Naomi truly wished she had some kind of magic or supernatural strength as well, because she really wanted to smack that krampus on the back of the head.

He couldn’t have been more wrong about Kilean’s character.

But , really, she shouldn’t have been so surprised.

Men exactly like this krampus existed, and she had seen such self-centered, ableist and oblivious behaviors many times before in her life.

“ Not liking me is one thing. That’s your opinion and you can feel however you want. I don’t care about it,” Kilean started, voice strained. “ But going around attacking demons is not a light offense.”

The gray demon’s lips turned into a chilling grin. “ The other three I killed didn’t mind.”

Kilean’s growl rumbled through the clearing, but the demon’s smirk only grew wider.

“ The higher-ups don’t care,” he continued. “ I can kill you and they won’t even bat an eye.”

They sprung forward and reached out to each other at the same time, claws out and growls following every action, until they started moving so quickly that Naomi found it hard to see them—only able to capture the colors of their bodies mixing in a whirlwind of motions.

What she could see were the blood stains in the snow, and her heart was stuck in her throat.

Please , let it not be Kilean ’ s blood.

The frenetic motions were interrupted when Kilean threw the gray demon, his back hitting a tree a few feet away. He let out a pained groan but his red eyes immediately sharpened and glared back at Kilean , who was snarling quietly at him.

“ You should have surrendered when I attacked you the other day,” the gray demon told him. “ Now you’ll regret this twice.”

A moment later, he stood up and started sprinting, this time towards the chalet. Naomi watched it in slow motion. She didn’t have time to rush back inside the house, only to swing the hatchet with all of her strength.

The blade struck his arm, and he grunted in annoyance, but it didn’t do much to stop him.

He tore it from the muscle without a second glance, blood spraying everywhere, and threw the weapon away.

Snarling in her face, he wrapped his clawed hand around her throat.

His grip tightened, the points of his claws digging into her flesh.

She dug her own nails into his hand, scratching him desperately, but it did nothing to fight him off.

Just as flickering stars appeared at the corner of her eye, the gray demon was torn away from her.

Naomi fell to her knees, hands on her neck as she wheezed and tried to catch her breath.

“ You should not have done that ,” Kilean’s voice barely sounded like him, so low and rough and angry.

Naomi looked up quickly enough to see him wrap his teeth around the other demon’s throat.

He ripped it open, jets of blood painting everything around them.

Between the brief lack of oxygen and the sudden sight of all that blood, Naomi’s head started spinning.

She dropped to the side, holding herself up with her hands.

Kilean stood over the gray demon, staring down at him until he stopped breathing. After his last breath, the body crumbled until it was nothing but ashes, then magically flew up into the air, disappearing from sight in the clear sky.

She choked on her own breath when Kilean turned around. His mouth and fur were drenched in blood, and so were his sharp teeth, still bared in fury. His red eyes were frenzied, a look she had never seen before, not even when he had considered her a threat the day before.

Silence stretched between them as Naomi wondered if Kilean had lost all control, and if this would be the last thing she saw.

She tensed as he took one step toward her, then Kilean froze too.

His eyes widened, roaming over her body as if seeing her for the first time.

His mouth opened to speak, but he immediately closed it again, pressing his lips together.

Before Naomi could say anything, he turned around and ran into the woods.

She stared at the now empty courtyard in front of her, puddles of blood staining the white of the fresh snow. The forest around her was dead quiet, as if it, too, were wounded and scared.

When she regained the strength to prop herself up, she locked the front door and dragged herself to the bathroom, her mind blank from the shock.

Naomi stood under the shower, letting the hot water wash over her until her skin burned and her muscles started relaxing.

Her legs were shaky and heavy when she got out, and she sat on a stool in front of the mirror to check on the small, claw-shaped indents on her neck.

Thankfully , while they had released some blood, they hadn’t been deep enough to do real damage. Still , she took care of all the little cuts, hoping they’d close soon without leaving scars. The bruises would probably stay a while, though.

She changed into the warmest clothes she had and curled up with a blanket in front of the fire, staring into the flames. Eventually , her brain let her process everything that had happened, and her heart immediately squeezed in her chest.

How silly she had been. She knew Kilean wouldn’t have hurt her. But seeing him like that… it had been terrifying. Scary enough to make her temporarily forget who she had in front of her.

Kilean was gone now. Would he come back or had he ran away for good?

Had that disastrous moment been their goodbye?

Naomi hated that thought. She wanted to see him again, ask him about what happened and check on his injuries.

The other demon had hit him a few times, too, and she needed to know if Kilean was okay.

Hours passed as she stared into the flames. Naomi worried about him, asking herself whether Kilean had already gone back to Hell or not, and wondered if there would be a way for her to find him if he hadn’t?—