A Snowball Christmas: Chapter 8
- Henry Livingston
- Nov 25, 2025
- 9 min read
Updated: Dec 3, 2025
TO PROTECT OR SERVE
In the dark of night, a much younger Nixie is running in the snow through a grove of trees, he is out of breath weaving in and out using the trees as cover from something. He stops to catch his breath behind a larger tree.
“I bet you think you’re getting away huh, little man,” a voice calls out from the darkness. Nixie is silent visibly shaking.
“You gotta give it to him Martel, he’s been at this for at least several kilometers,” another voice adds in a different part of the wooded area.
“We just want to talk to you about trading some items,” Martel speaks aloud again, his voice eerily echoing in the cold night.
“Yeah, and by trading we mean give us your stuff and we’ll let you live,” a third man chimes in.
Nixie remains quiet and conceals his whereabouts by covering his mouth with his mitten-clad hands. He is still breathing heavily and the light they have could allow them to see his breath in the cooler air. A few yards away the growl of at least two wolves adds to his determination to remain unseen.
“Easy girls, we need him alive,” Martel says with false reassurance to the one they are trying to catch, “If he doesn’t play along, then you can see what he tastes like,” he adds laughing and holding them back by their leashes.
A tear falls from Nixie’s face into the snow below as he fears for the worst.
Two of the men pick up Nixie’s tracks in the snow. One gestures to the other to come at Nixie from different sides of the tree. They move into place quietly and motion to attack in three, two, and ONE.
“Gotcha,” one of them yells. However, they are confused about what they see after lunging to what they believe was an ambush, because there is no one there.
They look around, but there are no other tracks leading away. Still confused, they begin to regroup when snow falls from a branch overhead, giving Nixie’s escape route away. He climbed the tree he was hiding behind.
One of the two men whistles and calls out to the others, “he’s over here!”
Soon all four of the men and the wolves gather beneath the tree Nixie is in, “we can wait here all night, little man, OR you can come on down and make this easy on everyone,” Martel says adamantly.
A few moments later Martel nods at two of the men and they begin stinging their short bows, “Now, listen carefully little man, I would like to suggest that you do this the easy way, but I am prepared to go the other route.”
Nixie, alarmed, tries to find branches big enough to shield him from the arrows he sees being notched and aimed at him.
Both men aiming at Nixie await the signal to shoot their arrows at the target above, “this is your last chance, little man, because you are testing my patience. Can’t you see I am offering you a better choice to the alternative.”
Nixie tries to say something, but the words just won’t come out.
Martel sighs heavily, “wing him.”
The two men fire their arrows. One ricochets off a nearby branch and the other pins his backpack to the body of the tree, “the next two won’t miss,” Martel threatens.
Nixie, finally getting up the courage to speak, says in low tones loud enough to hear, “Naluŋiq—takuġnaq. Siguŋnaqtuq paniruaq, qanikiaqtuq aniruqtuq. Aulluġnaqtuq quvianiq—nanuqtuquni tupiqtuaq. Nuliaqqa silalu aŋayuuni, tarraq-karuqtuq. Sigi lupiaq, avani qanuqpinġaaq—takiuqtuaq sunauŋa, awiraq sun’nguaq. Qupak, qanuq—siḷa taqqiq, inua qaqiġnaqtuq,” he tries to speak to the humans in his frightened state but forgets to use a dialect that they would understand.
“What kind of nonsense are you spouting, little man? Did any of you understand what he just said?”
The group all respond with different versions of no.
However, something in the darkness heard the plea perfectly, “Mercy, see me. The cold hunts my family, the snow takes our breath. I tried only for joy, to bring warmth where the darkness comes. My love is for the world and the stars. What light I have, what spirit I hold, do not take it, let me keep it. Please, when the sky ends, my soul must not vanish.”
Martel speaks up again louder than before, “Last chance, little man!”
Nixie shivering is unable to say anything in any language and awaits the next volley of arrows aiming at him.
Martel lifts his lantern up to give his archers a better shot at their target.
Nixie closes his eyes tightly.
The wolves begin to whimper and tug away from their handler, “what has gotten into you two all of the sudden,” Martel says reacting to their erratic behavior whilst trying to maintain a hold on their leashes.
A long push of hot breath appears in the light from something behind the group of men, followed immediately by a loud, audible snort.
Martel turns cautiously with the lantern to get a better look, and in the light, he observes the largest canine teeth he has ever seen on a polar bear. If one were to guess, they were at least 17.78cm in length.
The wolves out of fear, break their leashes and run off into the night. Martel visibly shaken, whispers out the corner of his mouth, “I don’t mean to alarm you all, but…”
The bear intersects and snorts loudly a second time, standing on its hind legs to a height of over thirteen feet tall. It’s eyes glow blue and it roars! In that moment it swings it’s huge paw and strikes Martel, sending him flying into the air and toward a nearby tree. His body slams hard into the base and sinks in the snow below. More snow from the branches above descends and bury him deeper.
It roars again and the men scream and scurry away in a panic. A second man is swatted into the darkness and another one runs for his life from the bear’s sudden charge. A quick lunge from the massive polar bear and the man is head butted into an icy snowbank. The bear, searching for more targets, notices that the fourth man is well out of reach, he is one of the two bowmen. He shoots his only arrow at the bear and hits him, but the bear is unphased by the attack.
On another Plane of Existence, Ogma inhales deeply as he feels the pain of the arrow dig into his leg. He heals it quickly, but the damage is so significant that it will undoubtably leave him with a limp, “silver tips,” he adds returning to what he was working on.
Meanwhile, the man, reaches for another arrow to fire, but he is out of ammunition. The bear’s eyes focus on the man, roars, then charges at him until they are both out of sight.
Soon the stillness of the night returns and the young elf finally opens his eyes, but to his surprise no bear in sight, only the results of the scuffle. He heard the commotion but only took a quick peak to see that a large polar bear showed up and fought the men below. Shortly after that the screams of the men forced his eyes shut again until it was quiet once more.
In the distance Nixie hears another roar and a scream, he tries to motivate himself with words of encouragement, “come on Nixie, you got this, but you need to go now,” he thinks to himself, “the coast is clear. They aren’t coming back,” he thinks again tugging at the arrow lodged in the tree. Seconds later he is finally able to free his backpack. He looks all around to ensure he is alone, then cautiously climbs down the tree and makes his way toward the small town he saw in a valley near a frozen lake.
Several yards behind the Drift Elf, a pair of blue eyes appear and glow brightly in the shadows of nearby brush. Stealthily Nova follows his brother using his white coat to blend into the snowbanks and drifts when cover is lacking. He follows at a distance remembering Aspen’s instructions to remain unseen by Nixie. He will continue to do this in whatever form he needs to take. Whether it be an owl, a bear, or any other animal, he must stay hidden and can never let Nixie see him as a white fox.
This is the plan in place, however, after the adrenaline finally goes away, Nova realizes that the arrow that hit him has done more damage than he thought. He is hurt and it is slowing him down. Nevertheless, that pain, no matter how severe, cannot slow him down. He must protect his brother’s life, even if it may be at the cost of his own.
Present Day
Lumi sits staring at the note Icelynn crumbled up and threw away, “why did she lie about who this was from?”
“Icelynn,” Peak Mother calls out from her office.
Lumi continues to stare at the note, “I could ruin Icelynn with this one little slip of paper.”
Peak Mother calls for Icelynn again.
Figgy walks over to Lumi after Peak Mother’s third attempt to get the attention or her First Assistant, “Miss Evergreen?”
Lumi looks up, “Yes, Figgy? Apologies, Mr. Pepperfluff. What is it?”
“Peak Mother has called for you three times,” he mentions in a whispering tone.
Lumi gets up and puts the note in her desk, “…but I didn’t hear her call my name.”
“She wasn’t,” Figgy says sadly, “she was calling Miss Northbrook’s name.”
Peak Mother erupts out of her office, “did YOU NOT HEAR ME, Icelynn??”
Lumi stands up quickly, “my NAME is LUMI EVERGREEN. Peak Mother Tannenbaum!”
The office is completely silent. This sudden burst has also shocked Peak Mother speechless.
“I have been here for eighty-six years, you have never EVER called me by my ACTUAL name and I cannot take this kind of self-induced, pseudo-innocent hatred any longer. I thought that by becoming Second Assistant you would at least try, but you didn’t.”
Peak Mother still in shock tries to say something to stop this disobedient display in her office, but is shut out by Lumi continuing to say what is on her mind, “I THOUGHT that you would finally see me when you half-heartedly promoted me to First Assistant, but in true fashion, you did not care to even realize that I was NOT Icelynn. In fact, you only saw me as another Snow Elf,” she pauses as tears effortlessly fall down her face, “is that all we are to you, just Snow Elves?”
Figgy tries to say something, but is also hushed by Lumi hand, “as a matter of fact,” she turns to the other office elves, “hasn’t anyone ever noticed that there are no Ice Elves working here… ONLY Snow Elves? Like we are trampled snow beneath her feet.”
The office elves begin to whisper to support Lumi’s statement.
“ENOUGH,” Peak Mother interrupts to save face and silence what is happening, “I will not be talked down to by – “
“WHAT, a SNOW ELF,” Lumi questions loudly.
Peak Mother frowns, “get out,” she spits heatedly.
“Gladly,” Lumi fires back. She grabs her coat and scarf, but stops before leaving, “I just want you to know, I have ALWAYS had your back. I was proud to work for you…, you were my idol and everything I ever wanted to be. But now…, now, the best I can do is find a way to live with myself for not sticking up to you for all the elves you have incorrectly placed. That being said, this year, I hope you get COAL in your stocking.”
“How DARE YOU,” Peak Mother yells.
“MERRY CHRISTMAS, Wynter Tannenbaum.”
“GET OUT!”
Lumi closes the door loudly behind her.
The office is awkwardly silent as Peak Mother looks out at them, “What are you all looking at? The show is over,” she adds preparing to go back into her office, “so, get back to work.”
The employees do as she says, but with whispers still questioning what is happening. Figgy sees this and asks everyone politely to remember to be professional and keep their thoughts to themselves. He then directs Sunny Dewdrop with a head nod to go see Peak Mother.
Sunny stands in the entrance of Peak Mother’s office which is wide open, bows politely, then speaks, “Peak Mother Tannenbaum, I am Sunny Dewdrop, your Second Assistant as of yesterday. How can I help get your appointments back on track for you right now?”
Peak Mother lifts here head up, slightly embarrassed and vulnerable, “my next appointment is here in thirty minutes. Please make sure we are ready to see them and bring them in when it is time.”
“I will see to that, Peak Mother.”
“Thank you…,” Peak Mother pauses, “what is your name again?”
“Sunny Dewdrop, Peak Mother.”
“Would you like to be my First Assistant?”
“I would. I would like that very much, Peak Mother,” Sunny says hopefully.
“Then, it is yours. Please find a Second Assistant to perform your duties at your earliest convenience.”
“Yes, Peak Mother. If there is no further instruction, I will see myself out.”
“That is all. Thank you, Miss Dewdrop.”
Sunny closes the door and turns with a big smile. She is not happy about how she got her promotion, but she is glad to have the opportunity to shine.
Figgy walks over to his protégé, “Well?”
“I was promoted to First Assistant and instructed to find a Second. Your thoughts?”
Figgy smiles, “well, since my name is no longer in the hat, I do have a couple more suggestions that may be perfect for your Second.”
“Thank you so much for getting me here, I will not forget it.”
“It always warms my heart Miss Dewdrop, to see elves that deserve a chance, get that chance to prove that they’re worth the risk.”
Sunny smiles, “I need to prepare for the next appointment, and collect Miss Evergreen’s things to send to her house.”
“Well, if you need me, I’ll be at my desk Miss Dewdrop.”
“Will do, Mr. Pepperfluff.”
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