With that, he turned and disappeared into the shadows, his laughter fading into the stillness of the woods. I stood there, my heart racing, as I stared after him. I didn’t understand what had just happened, but I knew one thing for sure.
This wasn’t over. Not by a long shot.
“Liam, are you okay?” I asked, my voice shaky, the words tumbling out before I could think.
He didn’t answer. Instead, he dropped to the ground, clutching his head as he rolled on the frozen moss, his face twisted in agony. His screams tore through the night, raw and filled with pain. “Make it stop!” he yelled, his voice hoarse. “It burns!”
Panic gripped me as I dropped to my knees beside him,my hands hovering helplessly over him. “Liam, talk to me! What’s happening? What’s burning?” My voice cracked, and I hated how powerless I felt.
Behind me, Krampus let out a low, sinister laugh that sent a chill straight through my bones. I whipped around to face him, my blade still in hand. “What did you do to my son?” I snarled, my voice shaking with fury.
His glowing red eyes gleamed with malice, and his twisted smile stretched wider. “He has been purified,” he said, his tone dripping with mockery. “The boy was tainted, and I have purified him.”
“Purified?” I spat, stepping in front of Liam as he writhed on the ground. “You call this purification? You’re nothing but a coward, preying on the innocent.”
Krampus’ grin faltered briefly, replaced by a flicker of irritation. “Innocent?” he growled, his deep voice reverberating in my chest. “No one is innocent. Not you, not him.”
I opened my mouth to fire back, but the subtle shift in his stance caught my eye. His muscles coiled, his horns tilting slightly forward. He was going to attack. He thought I was distracted.
But I wasn’t.
The second Krampus lunged, I moved. My blade flashed in the moonlight as I sidestepped his charge, narrowly avoiding the sweep of his massive claws. Snow sprayed into the air as his hooves skidded across the ground, and he whirled to face me, his teeth bared in a snarl.
“I’m not as easy a target as you think, horns,” I snapped, my voice low and grounded, though my heart was hammering in my chest. I spared a quick glance back at Liam, who was still writhing in pain, his screams echoing in my ears. Whatever Krampus had done to him, I was going to make him pay for it.
But first, I had to survive.
The moment Krampus lunged again, I didn’t think. I acted. My knives clattered to the frozen ground as I reached over my shoulder, gripping the hilt of my saber. The familiar weight felt like an extension of my arm as I drew it, the blade catching the moon’s faint light.
Krampus barreled toward me, his claws outstretched, his roar shaking the very air around us. I waited until the last second, twisting to the side and driving my saber forward with every ounce of strength I had. The blade sank deep into his chest, before I yanked it back. His scream tore through the night, a guttural, unearthly sound that made the trees seem to shiver.
He stumbled back, clutching at the wound as blood spurted onto the snow in dark, steaming arcs. I kept my blade raised, ready for him to come at me again, but he hesitated, his fiery eyes blazing with fury as he glared at me. He was hurt, badly. It wasn’t fatal, but it was enough to make him think twice. He’d need time to heal.
Krampus growled low in his throat, his chest heaving as blood seeped through his fingers. “This isn’t over,” he hissed, his voice full of venom.
I didn’t respond. My attention snapped back to Liam, who was still on the ground, clutching his head and writhing in agony. I couldn’t leave him. Not even to finish Krampus off. My son came first.
Krampus must have seen the shift in my focus, because he smirked, despite the pain etched on his monstrous face. Then, without another word, he turned and ran, his hooves pounding against the frozen earth as he disappeared into the woods.
I didn’t chase him. I couldn’t. My saber clattered to the ground as I dropped to my knees beside Liam, my heart racing. The air still felt heavy, charged with the tension of what had just happened, but all I could think about was myson. Whatever Krampus had done to him, I was going to find a way to fix it. No matter the cost.
I dropped to my knees beside Liam, my heart pounding as I grabbed his shoulders, trying to steady him. “Liam,” I said, my voice trembling. “What’s going on? Talk to me!”
He groaned, his hands clutching his head, his knuckles white. “It’s my head,” he gasped, his voice raw and broken. “It’s on fire—I can’t… I can’t stop it. It’s burning.”
My chest tightened, panic clawing at my throat. “What’s burning? What do you mean? Look at me, Liam!”
And then he did. His eyes snapped up to mine, and the look he gave me sent a cold, sharp chill through my body. His face was pale, his features twisted in disbelief, horror etched into every line. His gaze locked onto me like I was a stranger, someone, or something he didn’t recognize.
“Mom…” he whispered, his voice trembling, barely audible over the sound of my heart hammering in my chest.
I reached for him again, but he flinched, scrambling back so quickly it was as if I burned him. His hands shot out behind him, palms pressing into the snow as he put as much space between us as he could. His eyes were wide, his breathing ragged, and the disbelief hadn’t left his face.
“Liam,” I said softly, my voice cracking as I tried to keep the fear out of it. “It’s me. I’m right here.”
“No,” he breathed, shaking his head violently, his eyes darting between me and the ground like he couldn’t reconcile what he was seeing. “No, no… what did you…” His words broke off into a sharp gasp, and his whole body shuddered.
My heart splintered. The look on his face wasn’t just disbelief. It was fear—fear of me.
