"What did I say about getting into trouble?!" He gave me a stern look. Can't tell him about Melody, as I already had enough supernatural stress.
"I just took a small walk when I stumble upon this huge temple! I must had fell through a trap by accident!"
"Curiousity can lead you to new discoveries but without cautions, can also lead to danger!" He sighed. "Like I had done before."
"Maybe you should took your own advice before once ruining Christmas!" He circled his skull.
His dog picked up a rusted torch and gav it to Jack. He lit it on fire with his fire magic.
"I must say, this place seems very fascinating for such a whimsical land."
"And that wolf pack didn't single enough! Wait, Remember saying about curiosity?" I quoted him.
"As long as we're careful. Now, why don't we find a way out. Zero will provide you light. I'll look one way and you look the other."
"Fine, but I'm not touching anything!"
The floors were moldy, the wall's bricks look hundreds of years old, and it smell really bad. Metal chains hanged on the walls, empty iron bar chambers, the ones that holds prisoners. I gulped, this isn't Christmas related at all and I don't want to know why such a place exist! I almost stepped on something when, Jack pushed me away! I heard a loud snap. He shown me a snare trap!
"Thanks again, I guess." Zero whined. We stared what Jack was starring at, more torture devices!
"Certainly feels like home." He tapped his chin.
"Oh, you enjoy torturing others?!" He quickly turned to us!
"My dear, We're the undead! It's more of a pleasure to us than torture! Believe me, this is out of place for such a cuddly world!"
"Heh, you Halloween ghouls! I don't like this one bit! Christmas Town is looking less joyful the more we stay here! I'll tear down the walls to escape this bleakness!" I stormed off, when my foot seems to break something. Zero shined a light on it, my face turned white! It was an elf's remains! I was quickly reminded of that horrible night! My heart couldn't stop beating fast! Jack tried to snap me out of it, but the flames on his torch added more weight to the memory! I screamed and hit a wall! A spike iron ball almost smashed my head, only for him to yank my arm before it did! I tightly held him in fear.
"Get me out of here! The only skeleton I can handle is you!" I cried, he sighed.
Zero barked, as we looked up. Stairs leading up!
"Great work, boy! Come on, I'll get you outside soon." He took my hand and lead the way. The door was jam! But, his dog founded an axe. Jack chopped down the door. We founded ourselves in a narrow long hallway.
"Seems this place hasn't had a living soul in years! Perhaps this place is haunted!" He grin, I screamed! "Just a slightly joke!"
"As if two ghouls wasn't enough!"
We all walked down the hallway. Outside snow drip from the walls. Every door to a room was either busted or cave-in by fallen bricks. At least now we're in the upper level. The sooner we find a way out, the sooner we can leave this crazy old relic!
"Do you think there's a hole somewhere leading outside?" Suddenly, his dog started barking nonstop at one of the only room that wasn't blocked off.
"Seems like Zero has picked up a sense!"
"Is it a way out?!"
"Or another trap!" He grin.
"Stop that! Do you want me to like you?!"
"Take a sense of a joke, my dear! Besides, a bark like that means he founded something important. Shall we take a look?"
"Only it is means he founded a way out!"
Ice! Everything in the room was made of ice! Except for the books! That's right! It was a library, a really old one as that! But, something concerned me. I quickly looked at the skeleton.
"Hey, turn off that torch light or do you want to turn this room into a swimming pool!"
"Don't be impatient! Zero, I need you to maximumyour light source, at least for this room only." He put out the flames, as his dog heavily brighten the room. The library certainly seen better days. Some bookshelves were knock over, tables were snap in half, pieces of oil glasses candle holders shattered on the ground and many books either had missing pages or holes through them. When did pick one up, I was puzzled by the texts! I couldn't make out a single word!
"In case you were wondering, these books contains old elf language. Didn't you learn that from your stay in Christmas Town?"
"That no go condescending, underpants showing, ugly bearded liar of a fat elf didn't tell me nothing! I don't get why children look up to him!" I threw the book backwards!
"Now, watch your tongue, young lady!"
"You didn't respected him either, as you had your ghouls captured him in humiliation!"
"It was in the past! Arguing isn't going to get us anywhere!"
"I want to go home!"
Zero sniff the ground, only to find a book stuck behind a bookshelf. He pulled it out and quickly shown it to us.
"Another book?"
"This one seems important! Good find, Zero!" He received it, as Zero smiled.
"But, the texts is probably in that old elf language!"
"Well, I did recently picked up the language from a translation book I borrowed once on one of my short visits."
"Borrowed or steal?!"
"Why don't we just see what's inside before more poutings."
He opened the book and quickly flip through the pages. Suddenly, he looked up with a smiled.
"Well, we're in luck! It's a journal!"
"A journal? We can find out what had become of this dreadful place without having the ceiling collapse on us! Dang it, you made me curious! Go on, read it!"
"Even if translated, it'll be like in old english. I'll simplifiy the details for you." He flip to the first page.
"My old country in the warm kingdom was not a pleasant one."
"Wait a minute, you said there's no such thing as summer elves!"
"As of today! They are all gone. Replaced by modern society!"
"Less not get too gloomy on that, continue." He sighed.
"I was a shoemaker, along with my brothers and sisters. Sadly, we go under appreciated or even unknowable! Some of our forest counterparts are not happy by facing prey and the more human size elves are mock at by their pointy ears and noses! Strangest enough, we prefer the colder weather that only happens a few months a year.
"Then, on one faithful day, a fellow elf returned from his long journey and claimed he founded it! The promiseland of ice! Unfortunately, it was way up north! We had a long journey up ahead. Could we survive?! If many of us go at once, we could lose some of our elflings! It was a battle but, we will win the fight! A handful of our brothers and sisters from each of the elf's tribes packed up and left that forsaken kingdom for good. With supplies, tools and animal friends, we headed out north. A harsh journey we faced. Cruel wild lifes, rough weathers and stocking up more supplies. We lost a few to sickness and violent prey, but our courageousness leader told us to press on! What it seems like eons, we founded it! Our winter wonderland!
"Endless of trees harvesting these strangely yet tasty snow fruits, beautiful ice flowers and the friendlist snow pals you'll ever meet! However, we did had to face wolves like we did back home. At least our hunters can face them to bring us some meat. We did had to say goodbye to our warmer climate friends but, we soon made friends with snow white bears and dapper flightless birds. We needed a castle for our own. So, we built one with hard ice bricks that the roughist fire will never melt. Even some of our furnitures were crafted entirely of ice! Since our brave leader helped us to this promiseland, he became our ruler, craving his face on the front entrance! Overtime, we migrated more of our people and decorated our castle with brilliant green from the trees! It was a happy time, it didn't last long.
"One day while I was doing my usual shoe making, when I noticed my cohort had made something special! He made a toy out of the shoe he was crafting on, to give to his daughter! We were all amazed by this and the first time, somebody appreciated our craftsmanship! Then, it got me thinking. There's a lot of younglings that has little to do around here. So, perhaps making these 'toys' can be both entertaining and make them happy! So from now on, some of us became toy makers! Crafting whatever came through our minds and testing them out. We laughed, the elf children laughed! We learn what is the gift of giving, except for one.
"Our ruler was fair and honest, until one day he returned home from a short journey with a wicked grin. Turns out, he was a bad elf who main goal was to rule a kingdom of elves all to himself! Making us do harsh labor and killing too many animals for his personal meals! He made us chopped too many poor trees to use for his fireplace! Even the toys we crafted! Not only he founded out but, he enjoyed them a bit too much! He had a new law that only make toys for him and no one else! What's the point of giving, if our hard work goes for waste! Such a traitor! The poor younglings! If we disobey or accept escape, he'll sent us to the torture chamber his goons built or feed him to his monstrous pet he founded once on a travel!"
I had to caught a break.
"That explains that horrible dungeon down there! To think that not only to be trick by your own kind, but to face something like that if you rebel out! Maybe elves ain't so different than humans!"
"This may seem negative but, lets see if there's a sliver linning in the end." Hope so.
"With no tree to chop, the animals disappeared besides those nasty wolves, which I believe they had grown a lot meaner and increase in pack, and more blizzards than ever before! Our once paradise became our personal heck! Perhaps, we elves don't deserve happiness or bringing happiness to others. On one clear night, I stared at the moon on the balcony. I pray that we'll find our true promiseland and perhaps, a real good hearted soul will guide us! Then, a miracle had occur! Out on a walk the following night, I spoted something glowing in a nearby cave! While no elves guarding, I had a few of us sneak out to the cave and what did we discovered? A baby boy!
"Wrap in a red and green blanket, he was half elf and half human. A happy boy he was! What was he doing here, where's his mum and pop? Is he an orphan? We carried him back to the castle, only to get caught! When we explain our situation, our cruel leader did not approved of his happy energy or any orphan baby! Child or not, he order us to take him back! At leat he gave us some time to say goodbye. Maybe we should try to find an animal friend to find the child a home. We gave him a toy as a parting give. That when he began to glow and suddenly, a hidden path! He's was a magical boy, like Merlin or something! It lead us to the long lost promiseland this once was! The snow fruit tress, our snowly friends, no snowstorm! Our long last escape! We can't let the cruel leader get his greedy hands on the youngling! Some of us less important elves and their poor children used this path to leave and to hope to find the baby a safe place from any harm! I choose to stay to keep out the ruler from finding out and slowly migrate my people out of here!
"On their journey for the wonderland, I heard tales that they built cottages to keep the baby safe and leave those cottages behind for who lost their ways. The baby loves toys they make for him, songs they sings and one day, they discovered these creatures called reindeers. With the baby's magic, they learned to fly! My lord, if only I could see all this instead reading letters and hearing rumours!
"Then, darkness fell over the kingdom. On the night of reading whats appears as my final letter, the nastiest blizzard ever blew, the ruler's pet broke loose and ATE THE RULER LIMB BY LIMB! He may was a bad elf but, the horror of that sight! Now he knows how my people felt! I evaluated the remaining survivors through the secret path! I shall leave my journel here for those who will find this in a very far future! About that last letter, the baby and his followers finally founded the true promiseland! They even crafted a vibrant living town! A magical spell created a barrier so outsiders won't ever find them! The evil creature is pounding the door, I must right one last thing. They gave the baby a name; Santa Claus."
Jack closed the book. I sat down on a chair.
"Maybe that old kook isn't what I thought he was. He saved those elves and brought them to what is now is Christmas town. The cottage we stayed at must be one of the cottage from the past."
"Who knew, Sandy was born from the holy angels of miracles. And I once thought he had lobster claws for hands!"
"Should of had dig a bit deeper on your research!"
"There's no mention of Sandy's true origin or this cruel castle in any books I picked up!"
"Perhaps the ancestor elves didn't want to remember this place, can't blame them. That kook may had let himself go over the years but, he was and still is an honest man, beside from his silly appearance."
"You know, I saw a old picture from centuries ago and he lookee very majestic, I do admit what you mean." I can't believe we both laughed. "But there's nothing about this in any history book!"
"Maybe we should bring that book with us! To show how their history began! The truth may hurt but, it's important how they grown on from it!"
"Great idea, nice to see your spirit back." If only I could take my own advice.
"I could spend hours and 90 years examining this castle but, we still need to get you home. Lets find the entrance!" Suddenly, Zero barked near the library's entrance. To our surprise, it was a baby penguin.
