Central Russia, Saratov

  December 5th, 2022

  Todor:

  The snow fell gently outside the window of the boy's room on my family's floor of the Saratovskiy Park apartment complex. I had been told to go to sleep hours ago, but I just couldn't do it. The snow was just so beautiful when I looked outside.

  When you're nine in my country, you have to sleep with your siblings and cousins—it's comforting sometimes, but also a little cramped. It's also rather inconvenient if you want to sneak out to enjoy a snowfall in the middle of the night.

  I had to gently push down my blankets and move down the creaky ladder of the bunk I shared with Timur, my ten-year-old cousin.

  As I touched down, I looked around the room at my family's boys, all five sleeping peacefully. It was calming but not enough to make me want to return to my warm bed. Besides, days when snow falls usually aren't too cold, so I wasn't too bothered.

  I heel-toed quietly a swiftly to the door, turned the knob, and took one look back to see- Timur's face about thirty centimeters from my own- I nearly jumped when he grabbed me by the back of my head and my mouth.

  "Hey, I thought you wanted to go see the snow," Timur said with a smile. I relaxed. "Just keep it down, is all." He pulled the door open relatively quickly, which kept it from creaking. I wouldn't have thought to do that, so I was glad he was alone tonight. He patted me on the back, saying, "Let's go."

  We both crept out of the room, our movements keyed together—though we looked very different. Both of us were white, but that's Russia for you. I had black hair, and my cousin had blonde. I had freckles, and Timur didn't. Timur was bulky, and I was skinny. Timur had blue eyes, and I had brown. Timur wore red pajamas, and I wore light blue ones.

  We reached the door, and I felt something fall on me. I turned to eye my cousin, who was just folding his arms at me, as I sighed and shifted into the coat he had tossed on me.

  "What? I can't let your skinny butt wander out there and freeze. You don't have any muscle or fat like me; you will lose your fingers and nose if you do not have something." Timur said with a grin.

  I gave him a side smile. "Then shouldn't I have gloves or something?"

  "That is not how it works," he said, stuffing a small cotton winter hat over my head and then opening the door to go outside. I followed him.

  Timur wasn't much older than me—well, he was two years older than me most of the year, except December through February. Still, that's not a whole lot. Regardless, he usually felt some kind of need to watch over me. I only cared about seeing the snow that night, so I went along with it.

  We quietly trudged up the exterior metal stairs of our complex. Although it was only two floors, to my excited mind, this was too long. I was almost jumping with excitement. I wanted to see the snow!

  Finally, we set foot on the large, flat stone roof. Save for a few vents and exit doors, the roof was relatively featureless, with only a large stone guard. Timur and I finally stopped sneaking, raced over to the roof's edge, and looked out at the vast city before us—now slowly blanketed in a soft blanket of white.

  I gasped in awe. In front of us stretched the architecture of Russia, domes, curves, row after row of tall and straight buildings, with fountains and statues of old Russian heroes all around. Several churches with golden onion domes were slowly covered and uncovered as snow fell, only to fall off their slopped surfaces. Stars twinkled over it all as I grinned and felt like laughing, so overtaken by the beauty.

  A shadow flew over us and moved off as a raven flew over and landed next to me. I wasn't sure what the shadow was, but I was drawn to the raven.

  "Hey, Timur... it looks kind of orangish," I said, pointing at the silent bird as it appeared to survey the city with us.

  "It's gotta be a trick of the light," Timur said as he pulled his sleeve back and stuck it out over the roof. "Hey, let's see if it..." The raven flew over and landed on his arm. "Oh! So cool!" The bird pecked at his fist a few times and opened his hand, but he didn't have anything, of course, so the bird just looked back at him in what I guessed was frustration and flew off.

  We both heard a thump behind us.

  I sighed, knowing Dad would be upset at us for this. I turned around and...

  I almost jumped back at what I saw. It was a giant creature, maybe eleven feet tall, with messy hair from head to toe, like an extremely bulky gorilla with severely overgrown fur. Two horns protruded from its head, each going up and back like a ram's horn, though they were almost three feet long.

  The creature had a pitch-black, non-reflective human face and hands and carried a large red sack on its shoulders, along with a net of chains in its left hand. Its body was wrapped in so many strange metal chains that they became its clothes, and strangely, they moved with the creature rather than falling off. Its hands had huge claws, and it grinned down at me and my cousin, showing us both sharp cat-like teeth.

  We both tried to back up, but there was nowhere to go besides jumping off the roof. The creature dropped its bag, and we both screamed when we saw it open. We also saw other boys and girls inside it. Some of them looked unconscious or dead, while others looked to be restrained in chains with metal shackles in their mouths. I looked into the eyes of one of them as he cried into his gag, and I felt horror overtake me.

  My legs felt like rubber beneath me, but I had to try running anyway. My cousin and I took off in different directions as the enormous creature roared, sounding like a twist between a lion and a ram.

  I ran for a door on the roof just as a net of chains slammed into Timur and drove him to the ground. I slammed into the door and tried to open it, yelling loudly for help. But the door was locked, and one massive hand wrapped around me, pulling me into the air.

  I was pulled up to the mockery of a human face as it grinned at me.

  "Naughty boys. You should have been good," a booming and gravelly voice came from the creature's mouth. "Now you will come and serve me... or maybe I'll eat one of you now; you look like you would make a good snack for the road."

  I started crying as I continued to scream, beating his hand impotently with my fists.

  Suddenly, the bird that had overseen the snow with me and my cousin slammed its beak into the monster's right eye.

  He threw me to the ground, and I rolled three times before slamming into the perimeter wall.

  Bruised and confused, I got up and watched the creature smash that brave bird between its hands. I looked away, wondering if I should lament an ally or fear for myself.

  Just then, "Ahhhhhh!" Something came literally screaming out of the sky and crashed into the roof behind the monster, the concrete cracking beneath it. The ram creature turned to look at the object, and so did I.

  I watched as a young man rolled over and stood up from the re-falling snow around him. As he stood, he planted a large metal pole in the roof's cement.

  A green hat was on the young man's head, almost like an old Western cowboy. He was a lithe with brown eyes, dark brown hair, and caramel brown skin. He had the face of a teenager but a dark beard that hung down to his Adam's apple.

  His shirt and leather jacket were dark green, and the coat hung to his mid-thighs. He was wearing long dark green jeans with brown leather over the knees. I could see a sheathed short sword on his side.

  Finally, as he drew to his full height, I saw a band around his wrist with a silver tear-shaped pendant with a golden Jewish Shin symbol on the front and back.

  The bearded man huffed, then slammed the end of his pole into the roof again.

  The giant goat monster stopped mid-stride and looked over at the new person. A voice came from the beast saying, "Amen Ra... I can sense you have a new host... we have no quarrel, you and I. Leave me to hunt in peace."

  Another dark orange raven alighted on the man's head as he stood, his eyes looking directly at the monster. Finally, the man spoke. His voice was... kind of a letdown after his entrance—nasally, gravely, and not all that deep. "Krampus! Should I say you look good? I don't know, kinda on the chubby side." He snickered, leaning on his metal staff.

  "I have no interest in you. Had I- boy, you would be fed to my pit of demons."

  "If I tell you to leave these boys be and free those you have- to change your ways- are you gonna do it?" The man pulled out a beef stick, unwrapped it, and pulled off a chunk with little effort. He stood there chewing and looking at the beast, eyes unflinching. "You know I have the power to force my will."

  As the two conversed, I crept slowly over to my cousin and started moving the metal net that tangled him up.

  A second mess of chains slung from Krampus' right hand knocked me away from Timur. A stave on one of the ends drove into the snow and actually pulled the net off of Timur for me. This was not what I expected, as I saw Krampus look at me with a growl, but I decided to roll with it. "Damn it!" Krampus yelled as I pulled Timur to his feet, and we staggered to the door.

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  A troop of ten more dark orange ravens landed on a door to re-enter the complex. Heedless of them, I grabbed at the locked door. Not knowing how to pick locks or anything like that, I ducked down to see if there was a key in the snow under a mat or something... luckily there was a mat and a key under it- which was frozen into the stone.

  I cringed as the beast threw another metal net at me and Timur. The metal flew forward as four of the overhead ravens flew down to intercept it, but rather than knocking it off course, two flew through the holes in the net, one flew outside the perimeter, and the fourth was pulled along with it as the metal slammed both of us boys into the door, this time four metal staves driving into the door and holding us there.

  "Looks like we're doing this then," said the man, spinning his metal staff up and to the side. The shadow at his feet suddenly grew, darkened, and split into twelve individual shadows, all extending equidistant from his feet as he yelled and drew his sword, pointing it at Krampus, "Rise!" Two giant orange wolves, each looking eight feet tall on all fours, seemed to jump out of the two and seven o'clock shadows and lept at Krampus.

  Krampus turned and grabbed one, hurling it away from himself. The second grabbed onto his back and clamped down with its jaws, but it failed to find purchase.

  With the wolf on his shoulder, Krampus looked up at the man, swinging another chain at him. This one had no net; at the end was just a large stave that shot out at the man and hit him in the shoulder. The monster had drawn blood as the man screamed in pain and hit the ground.

  Tiny strange tentacles came out of his wound and wrapped around the stave and yanked it out, blood flying out, but the man gritted his teeth as he ran for cover behind... well, there really was no cover to take up here, so he just ran low to the ground as the tentacles kept the stave in their grasp as the man touched his sword to the chain. A pulse of electric energy shot down the chain and hit the monster, who was wrapped in chains. The initial hit forced the monster to drop the weapon he used to attack and sent a powerful shock into the beast through all of his combined chains.

  The remaining orange wolf fell off the beast.

  Krampus stumbled back and yelled in pain, then collected himself and ran at the man, who was now trying to circle him. The beast barreled forward, but- oh right, he only threw off the second wolf, he didn't destroy either of them- which explained both of them running at him again.

  This time, the dogs slammed into him and pulled him into a roll, trapping him under snapping jaws and powerful massive paws.

  All of this was exciting- but also terrifying to have involuntary front seats for. Timur and I squirmed against the chain net, me getting enough room for my foot to slam into the door as we both turned to try to yell for help. This man might have been helping us, but he didn't exactly say he was.

  Suddenly, both of the man's familiars turned and started biting at Krampus's face as they pinned him. Krampus grabbed their heads while they bit ferociously. The goat creature then grabbed both heads and slammed them into the roof. I heard cracking and crumpling and imagined hearing the dogs whining as they crumpled under the sheer power of Krampus' massive hands.

  "Naughty children will be punished on my day—leave me to do my duty!" Krampus yelled as he threw a chain from his near-prone position.

  The stave of the chain fired out and impacted the boy's metal staff, electric energy passing from the staff to the chain and Krampus once again, forcing the beast to roll over and roar in pain.

  Krampus was now bleeding, and I could see burns on his body.

  By contrast, the man seemed unharmed. The man favored the spot where he had been hit in the shoulder by a stave earlier, but it seemed to not be bleeding anymore for some reason. However, Krampus was not doing well after having to balance his attention between us and an active fighter.

  Timur kept pulling at one of the staves that kept the metal net in place, pinning us to the door. "At least no one is paying attention to us anymore, huh?" Timur said as if trying to lighten the mood. Just then, a shadow fell over the door, and I had to look up.

  "Is it a good thing?" I asked.

  We both looked up and saw... it. What was it? Something I hoped I would never see again. It was a ten-foot wolf-like entity—well, actually, it had a body structure closer to a corgi than a wolf, having a large barrel chest with stubby legs over huge paws. But when I looked at those paws, I quickly realized they only appeared covered in fur. The dog creature was actually covered in thousands or millions of tiny, roiling tentacles.

  Krampus turned to look at the new creature, and even he staggered back as it opened its maw, which morphed into an alligator mouth. Orange saliva ran out of it and poured down over Timur and me.

  We were so terrified that we forgot to be disgusted, screaming our lungs out.

  The strange raised its foot and slammed it down- taking out part of the roof of the door we were pinned to and clumsily falling to the roof's surface. It seemed goofy when it dropped like that, and Krampus, who looked like he was becoming afraid, gave the strange beast a side smile and turned back to the man.

  Meanwhile, when the door frame we were imprisoned against had broken a little, Timur and I started looking around for a loose stave or two—maybe we could finally get free!

  The two of us found a loose stave and squirmed under the net until we could push on it and unseat it and three other staves. Out of the net, we tumbled into the snow and inches from the dog with writhing tentacles for fur. "Crap...crap-crap-crap!" I screamed, and Timur pulled me back from the tentacle monster as it pushed itself onto its feet.

  We scrambled away. I was disgusted at the very idea of touching the dog creature. Still, as I ran past, Krampus grabbed at my ankle. He narrowly missed me as I tripped over his hand but quickly recovered. Timur and I didn't know the man fighting Krampus, but on a wild guess, we decided he was on our side, so we ran to him.

  We both ran behind the man in green as the nighttime horrors turned to look at us.

  Sure, I knew what Krampus was supposed to be, and it occurred to me by this point, the judge of naughty children. Not exactly a pleasant creature if the stories told the truth. He would kidnap, torture, and murder them or force them into slavery for the rest of their miserable lives.

  But the other thing... I had no idea what that thing was.

  The man in green slammed his staff into the roof again as he stood between us and the creature. He touched the brim of his hat and pulled it down a little in a move neither of us kids understood until we watched hundreds of tentacles grow on the dog monster and stream towards Krampus.

  Krampus turned quickly, throwing a metal net at the dog creature and forcing it off its feet, sending it tumbling and rolling backward. Krampus took a step towards the dog beast- but stopped and looked back towards the man in green as he said one word. "Orange..."

  I realized it, too. The man in green and the orange creatures were—oh, you get the idea, they were connected.

  Timur, myself, and the man in green were all hit by a massive chain as Krampus spun around. We were sent tumbling, with the roof's edge right behind us.

  Timur and I almost rolled off, barely grabbing the ledge. Meanwhile, the man in green slammed into the wall, and three orange ravens came out of his shadow and flew straight at Krampus.

  The birds flew at the beast as Timur, and I tried to pull ourselves up, the birds zipping in and out at our adversary.

  The birds did little, and all three exploded in feathers as the man in green got up and paused, looking between us boys and the monster. I could tell he was contemplating whether to attack again or help us.

  I gritted my teeth, trying to pull myself up alone. I pulled myself over the wall- but Timur fell, screaming as he did. It quickly turned, holding my hands out to him as he fell, knowing there was nothing I could do as he descended to the ground below.

  The man in green turned around, and an orange tentacle grew out of his sleeve, firing down after Timur. It grabbed him out of the air by his right leg, pulled him back up, and slammed him down on the roof.

  I ran to my cousin as he was deposited a few feet away. It wasn't exactly a happy reunion, as he screamed at his leg, which was now bent at an unnatural angle due to being violently caught mid-air.

  Krampus got up, grinning at me and Timur. Timur couldn't run, so I steeled myself and stood between my cousin and the beast. My heart was beating wildly in my chest, but even so, I had to stand my ground.

  Krampus stopped as he looked at Timur and me. "You..." he pointed at me. You risk yourself for family..." the creature's deep and creepy voice said. He stepped back. "You are no longer naughty. I will give you your cousin as your gift and leave you in peace."

  The monster turned around and walked back to his sack. He shoved a few of the bound and dead children back in roughly as the man in green and the enormous, grotesque orange dog moved in around him.

  "Perhaps you had your place in saving these two. I almost made a mistake- I will go," Krampus said to the man in green.

  I looked at the red sack as he slung it over his shoulder. By the way, the bag writhed, I could see a few of the children inside struggling while others seemed to cry. I wanted to save them, even though I was glad to be saved.

  The man in green only pulled his hat down as Krampus crouched as if to jump away.

  So, I had met Krampus... and something else. I guessed maybe the man in green was some kind of spirit patrol, keeping supernatural creatures from going mad. He certainly wasn't moving to stop Krampus now as he collected himself while giving a few coughs, leaned back, and-

  Collapsed to the roof, coughing and choking over and over, punching and kicking the cement as if desperate to drive something out of its lungs. The enormous hairy monster roared until orange material expanded out of its mouth.

  My cousin and I watched, our relief turning to horror as we watched Krampus' face start to writhe with tentacles and inflated orange flesh, material coming out of his eyes, nose, mouth, and ears. The creature's eyes went wide and were crushed. The aggressive roars of the beast slowly changed to fear and terror. Once sounding like a kind of goat dog, now they sounded like a combination of a frightened puppy and a bleating lamb. They sounded like that until so much material came from its mouth that the orange bubble acted like a gag, silencing the holiday monster.

  I turned to the man in green to see him slowly starting to grin.

  Krampus continued to give more piteous cries as I could hear its panic.

  "I'm not here to keep you in check, beast," the man started to say, callously walking toward the creature. "Men are made in the image of God. It was forbidden to prey on them, but creatures like you have forgotten. I am not your check; I am your judgment."

  I grabbed Timur's hand, unsure what I felt- was I feeling sorry for Krampus?

  Krampus pushed himself up and ran in a random direction. Unable to see, hear, or smell, it ambled towards one corner of the roof.

  I couldn't take it anymore; I grabbed the hand of the man in green. "Let him go- he's beaten- let him go!" I started to plead.

  "Why? So he can attack more children like the ones in that bag? You think you're scared? Maybe go over and look at them," the man said with gritted teeth.

  I still found myself begging for mercy on my attacker. "He's beaten, he's beaten- let him go!" This was so beyond a battle- it felt like bullying something to death. Did Krampus ever stand a chance?

  Krampus finally fell by the roof's perimeter, his body expanding until finally, orange material started pushing out of cuts in its skin that tore and ripped.

  Blood leaked out of Krampus as he finally lay motionless.

  The orange masses shrank and disappeared at Timur and I kept our distance from the man in green. I stood in front of Timur. "Go away!" he shouted at the man.

  "Some things have to be..." the man said as he looked back at us.

  "Leave us alone!" I screamed at him.

  The man looked at us, his eyes looking hurt as he stepped back. He then looked down and sighed.

  The man's shadow seemed to roil and writhe on the ground until it started to form something. Suddenly, I saw the shadow cast forward and change not into a shadow but a series of Russian words spelled into shadow. They read "Палач судьи." (Meaning "The Judge's Executioner".)

  Timur stood his ground.

  The man in green shook his head and held the shoulder injured in the fight, turned, and jumped off the roof.

  "Wait!" I shouted. I was angry, but I didn't want to hurt this guy. I just wanted him to leave. I raced to the roof's edge and hesitantly looked down to see- the man in green stand up and look back up at me. He was still injured from where he was hit by the stave, but he looked like the fall had done nothing.

  He stared into my eyes for a moment, then seemed to sigh and walk away under his own power.

  "Todor," my cousin said behind me. "Todor- is he okay?"

  "I don't know how, but yeah."

  Timur looked at the bag of children. "We must help the other kids- wake everyone up."

  I looked over at the squirming bag of children. Just children like myself.

  I went over and opened the bag a little and looked in, seeing the sheer terror in their eyes, seeing the blood and human children stuffed in a bag with corpses... I stepped back.

  I then looked back at Krampus and thought about his terrifying death. This hadn't been a fight; it had been an execution. Even so, I had to think, "Was the man in green right?"