Armando Lazzari - Nikolaos The Man Of Dreams ...and The Legend Of Santa Claus

"Here they are, Your Excellency. They are wrapped in an endless sleep..."

The Bishop bent over the children and, as he did, unfortunately, those who had already seen such symptoms began to examine them.

"It's just as I thought... the souls of the boys are relegated to limbo halfway between life and death, we must act soon or... the worst will prevail."

The door suddenly opened wide and sneering monstrosities appeared on the threshold, maliciously peering at them.

"Oh my God, the demons! They're back!" cried the man.

Everyone gasped and fled back in terror. All except the holy man, furious at the mere sight of intruders. Foreboding what was going to happen, he grabbed his stick and prepared himself for the fight.

The monsters, whose leader of the pack was supposed to be the biggest, came boldly and showed the worst intentions.

"Nicholas! You finally fell into the trap! The time has come for you to pay your debts to our master, with your blood!"

The other hideous creatures, snickering, foolishly echoed their leader's last words.

"Eh! Eh! Trap! Trap!"

"Your blood... your blood!"

Nicholas, revealing his perplexities, frowned upon his forehead.

"And you think a shabby bunch of Krampus can really bother me?"

"You're a regular loudmouth! However, while we will tear you to pieces, the souls of the little angels you wanted to save will fly straight to the lands of my Lord, slaves for eternity, and you will not be able to avoid it!"

Anger took hold of Nicholas and the hand guided her.

"No more words!"

Swirling the stick in the air, he struck a violent blow on the muzzle of the first Krampus, who, unfortunately, had inadvertently crossed the threshold of safety distance. The jaw, broken on impact, distorted the creature's face in a comical grimace. The creature, pirouetting on itself, headed at great speed on the opposite wall. The others, without further delay, threw themselves screaming at the enemy trying to knock him down, those with nailed clubs, those with spears or sharp sickles. Every attempt to hit him generated skilful parades and quick responses that at first disarmed and then inflicted painful blows. Nicholas alternated the use of the crosier with his fists and slaps, settling them with great satisfaction and with all the power that his enormous bulk made available to him. Whenever one of the evil creatures was put out of action for good, it would dissolve, leaving a greyish dust and disappear forever into the limbo of evil. Much of the furniture was destroyed in the fight, used mainly by Nicholas both to defend himself and to put the enemy out of the game. During the clash, the Bishop had the impression that this group of Krampus was not particularly trained for battle, given their lack of ability to coordinate with each other, and it did not add up. This was also confirmed by the ease with which he disengaged from attacks and how easily he managed to bring them down. One after the other all eleven demons were sent into the underworld, leaving only their wounded and crawling head in the corner of the room under the threat of the giant's coup de grace.

"You think you've won, don't you?" the Krampus insisted.

"Correct me if I'm wrong: you're alone, unarmed and on the ground, what do you think?" replied the man with the confidence of the winner.

Panting despite his condition and panting for his wounds, the creature spat a blackish mush into the ground.

"I may disappear from this world to the underworld, but you, dream man, will never find the way to bring the children back in time!"

The Bishop bent over the demon, grabbed him by his lapel, lifted him up to threaten him more closely.

"Indeed, I believe you will lead me down the right path."

In a grimace the being expressed all his hatred.

"I wouldn't swear to it, Your Excellency!"

Pressing a claw on the abdomen, the Krampus self-inflicted the fatal blow and dissolved in the hands and astonished glances of those present, while a last malignant giggle echoed in undefined points of the room.

"No! Damn him!" he yelled at Nicholas.

While not fully understanding what had happened, others did not escape the concern that appeared on the Bishop's face. Breaking the silence created, the father of the children dared to express his fears.

"Your Excellency, can you still do something for my boys?"

The holy man, although he sought concentration by squeezing with his thumb and index finger the area between the bridge of the nose and the eye cavities, had to surrender to the evidence of the facts: he had fallen into the trap! That group was only sent to slow him down.

"I... I'm sorry, but that thing was right, I don't think..."

As he was about to announce his defeat publicly, the unexpected solution arrived from the front door: a last Krampus burst in, upset by the long wait.

"So? How long does it take to... to..." the little dark demon abruptly suspended the sentence when he entered the room. Noting the absence of his companions and the presence of the Bishop towering imposingly, he sensed that something had gone wrong and decided to improvise.

"...to sell those branches? Yes, good cleaning branches! But I can see you're all very busy, so if you don't mind, I'd like to get out of your hair and..."

Nicholas' heavy stick fell to the ground a few inches from the demon, as a clear warning not to move.

"The next shot will go straight to your ugly face."

The black leprechaun began to sweat cold and, swallowing with difficulty, tried to pity the man with the furious look by kneeling at his feet.

"I beg you, Excellency, show mercy and magnanimity for an unfortunate being who begs for mercy! I'm a simple, pointless mistake! I shouldn't have become a Krampus, I'm too cowardly and incapable, think that they never let me take part in any armed confrontation!

The master only recruited me because there was one missing to form the group of thirteen and I was looking for mushrooms that day. It's the truth, I swear!"

The giant grabbed her by the lapel of his shirt and gnashed his teeth like a furious mastiff and pulled against his face.

"No one can become a filthy Krampus unless he has first soiled his soul, but you're right, leprechaun, your gaze is that of a coward. Relax, your arrival was providential, and I need you, so I won't eliminate you. Not yet at least..."

"Oh, thank you, mighty and wonderful lord, I will do anything you command me, you'll see, you'll trust me, I'm just a lost sheep and..."

"Now, little monster, you must sleep" he warned him.

"Huh? I beg your pardon? Sleep? I don't mean to be irreverent, but I'm having trouble sleeping at this hour..." he tried to apologize for not understanding, but he knew there was nothing good in those words.

"No problem, I'll gladly help you," the bishop made clear in his own way.

A well-aimed fist in the head was enough to knock the creature out.

"Well, sleeping pills administered, now it's my turn."

Noting that another bed had been set up next to the children, probably for the night vigil of the mother, he lay on his back holding the forehead of the Krampus with one hand and the crosier with the other. A white patina covered his eyeballs: a sign that the journey had begun.

Those present watched in silence without commenting, but confident that the Bishop knew what he was doing. Despite this, however, apprehension and anguish weighed on the hearts of the parents, only partially relieved by hope and prayer.

Chapter 2