The North Pole Challenge (Flea's Five Christmases, #1) (33 page)

             
“You’d better not send the wrong elf to your master,” Niko warned the polar bear. “I know that
I
wouldn’t want to anger him.”

             
General Polar Bear growled as he continued to look at Niko’s ear. But when the general turned away from him to study Flea again, Niko reacted. In one swift motion, Niko grabbed his spear and launched himself toward the general. The animal might have been quick but not enough to move out of the way. Unfortunately for Niko, the bear’s strength
was
enough to keep him safe.

             
Niko plunged the spear into an exposed part of the general’s shoulder but the weapon merely snapped in half against thick muscle. Niko landed perfectly on his feet but could not avoid the back of the general’s paw, which struck him in the face and sent him flying through the air. By the time Niko crashed to the ground in front of Minko and Rome, he was already unconscious.

             
“He should
not
have done that,” the general growled.

             
General Polar Bear shoved Flea to the ground next to Niko’s unmoving body. When Flea tried to stand up, the polar bear growled at him.

             
“Stay still and turn your ear so I can see.”

             
Flea did as he was told and lay face down in the snow. A pair of snowmen approached Niko and placed his limp hands in a big ice block. Finally, the general made his decision.

             
“Get up and drag your friend over with the others,” he ordered, before turning to the next line of snowmen. “I only have enough dust for
one
to travel to the South Pole but I can’t take the risk of choosing wrong. That’s why
I’ll
go back and let my master know what has happened.
He
can come back with me and determine which elf is the correct one. It should only take me a few minutes to get him so you better watch the prisoners closely. If anything happens to them – especially the two with split ears – I assure you that you’ll
all
pay severely.”

             
“What will we do with the
wrong
split-eared elf?” one of the snowmen asked.

             
“The same thing as the other two.
I’ll
personally make sure they never return to the North Pole – at least not in one piece,” the polar bear said. He turned to the four elves – only three of whom were conscious – and warned, “You better not try any funny business or I
will
find you.”

             
Flea and his friends nodded. The general proceeded to take out the pouch again, but this time he didn’t hesitate to sprinkle the dust over himself. Flea was amazed as he watched the monstrous animal disappear before his eyes. Now that the general was gone and they were out of immediate danger, Flea had the chance to look closer at Niko and his ear. He didn’t think it could be coincidence that they both had the same split ear. Flea wondered if his connection to the North Pole might possibly run deeper than just an ability to build…

             
Could I actually have a real family here?
Flea wondered as he thought about Niko and Santa Claus and whether he was related to the world’s most famous holiday icon.

             
“I’m so sorry for getting you two into this mess,” Rome said as the tears flowing down her face turned to ice before sliding off her cheek. “I was so stupid to ignore Niko’s warning and I can’t believe you two came after me despite the danger. What have I done?”

             
“
I
should be the one apologizing for making you so upset. I never should’ve smashed your Christmas ball. This is all
my
fault,” Minko said. He also appeared on the verge of tears, as the two surely realized the hopelessness of their predicament. “I hope Santa doesn’t curse our names forever for putting his son in such danger. How do you think Niko knew to come out here after us?”

             
“I was trying to find Rome,” Niko croaked as he slowly returned to consciousness. When he looked up and saw Flea staring at him, Flea instantly turned away. “I had some information to give her about your building lists. Not that it matters now, but all of you were really close to finishing.”

             
Flea and Minko looked at each other. Neither had to say a word, however, as both felt terrible for having questioned Rome. She
had
been telling the truth all along despite their doubts. Niko got stronger with every passing second and pulled himself into a sitting position.

             
“Anyway, I checked the security maps to find her and saw
you two
wandering away from the North Pole,” Niko told Flea and Minko. Santa’s son was clearly annoyed with them, especially Flea. “This was the last thing that
you
should’ve done. You’ve jeopardized everything and everyone at the North Pole by coming after Rome.”

             
Niko became angrier and angrier as he scolded the three elves, though most of his fury was aimed directly at Flea. Santa’s son struggled to his feet and while Flea wanted to help him, he couldn’t let the watching snowmen know that his hands were no longer secured in ice. Flea tried to focus on Niko’s words but he couldn’t stop looking at his split ear, nor could he stop himself from asking the question he knew Niko didn’t want to answer.

             
“Does this mean that you and I are – ”

             
“We don’t have time for this,” Niko snapped. “The general should be back from the South Pole with
him
any minute and then we’re
all
in serious trouble.”

             
“
Who
is the polar bear coming back with?” Flea wondered.

             
Niko sighed with annoyance, a sign that he had fully recovered from being struck so hard.

             
“The one who’s trying to rid the world of the North Pole, Santa Claus and Christmas,” Niko said. “
Jack Frost
.”

CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE

Jack Frost & Santa Claus

Flea shivered at the mention of the name, as a freezing blast of wind nipped him squarely in the nose. But before he had the chance to ask anything else about Jack Frost, Niko stressed the importance of getting back to the North Pole right away. One of the front row snowmen slid toward Niko, its weapon raised.

             
“You are not allowed to leave here, the general wants you to remain in our custody,” the red-eyed snowman said. “If you try to leave, you will force us into action.”

             
Niko ignored the warning and started to kick at his ice block, slowly chipping away at it.

             
“This is your final warning,” the snowman said.

             
“Do you really expect me to be afraid of
you
when I know that the general and Jack Frost will be back at any moment?” Niko asked, as he continued to slam his foot into the heavy ice block. “Why don’t you do me a favor and go somewhere that’s
really
hot!”

             
The snowman turned to two others in the front row and ordered them to bring over another ice block. They approached Niko and told him to lay down on the ground and put his feet together so they could place his ankles into the block. Niko refused and kept kicking away, although he wasn’t making much progress to free himself. The Army snowmen weren’t happy about being disobeyed and Flea knew the situation was about to turn ugly. Flea realized that the time to act had come. With all the attention focused on Niko, Flea ripped his hands out of the ice block, which finally cracked in half. He hurled the two big ice chunks at the snowmen near Niko, destroying them both before anyone realized what had happened. Flea then turned toward the snowmen closest to Rome and Niko.

             
“Duck!” he called out as he hurled several snowballs.

             
His friends crouched low just as the snowballs soared over their heads and connected with the guards right behind them. Although Flea had
plenty
of other targets to choose from, he knew it would take more than just his throwing ability to rescue his friends. So instead of trying to destroy more of the Army, he kneeled next to Niko and placed his hands on the ice block.

             
“What are you
doing
?” Niko yelled as the rest of the Army began to converge around them.

             
“Just
trust
me!” Flea yelled back. His ringed-hand glowed beneath his glove as his hands melted through the thick ice.

             
“Well whatever you’re doing,
hurry up!
”

             
Flea glanced up to see the first row of snowmen – their sharp ice spears drawn and ready for use – only a few feet away. Just before the first snowman could plunge its weapon into Flea’s back, Minko heaved his heavy ice block off the ground and smashed it through the snowman, which instantly disintegrated. Unfortunately for Minko, the momentum of swinging the massive block sent him crashing to the ground. But the distraction provided Flea just enough time to break through the rest of Niko’s ice and free his hands. Flea expected some sort of thanks or appreciation but the moment Niko was free, he grabbed the ice spear from the recently-destroyed snowman and swung it just inches above Flea’s head. At first, Flea wondered if Niko was attacking him but he turned around to see Santa’s son slice apart a nearby snowman.

             
“Help!” Rome called out.

             
In one fluid motion, Flea grabbed a handful of snow, spun around and launched a snowball, which crashed into an Army snowman that was swinging its spear toward Rome. Other snowmen also tried rushing toward her but the entire scene seemed to move in slow motion to Flea, who had an instinctual ability to spot the most immediate danger and eliminate it with a well-placed throw.

             
“Run!” Niko called out to Rome and Minko, who struggled to move with the heavy ice blocks still weighing them down. Flea wanted to free his friends as well but he no longer had the element of surprise on his side as he had with Niko. In fact, his friends stood little chance of surviving if Flea stopped firing snowballs for even the briefest moment.

             
Fueled by adrenaline, Rome and Minko found the strength needed to lift the ice blocks and rush back toward the North Pole. The weather was so bad and the snow so deep that their escape was slowed to a crawl, but Flea’s
whizzing
snowballs and Niko’s acrobatic fighting skills held off the Army, at least for a few minutes.

             
“Flea, you have to go ahead!” Niko yelled as the Army started getting closer. Dozens of flying spears crashed to the ground by their feet and it seemed only a matter of time before one of the weapons hit them. “Hurry, before the Army gets you or Jack Frost shows up!”

             
Flea looked toward the North Pole but couldn’t tell how much farther they had to go to reach safety. Rome and Minko struggled through the snow and were only a few feet ahead, not yet far enough from the Army to guarantee that they’d reach safety.

             
“I’m not leaving my friends
or
you!” Flea said. He stood his ground and continued to pick off the snowmen, which were easier targets to hit now that they’d gotten closer.

             
“None of
us
matter!” Niko yelled. “It’s most important that
you
survive!”

             
Now was not the time for thinking, which was a mistake that nearly cost Flea his life. He stopped to ponder Niko’s words just long enough to miss spotting a snowman throw an ice spear at him. Flea created a gust of wind that blew the spear enough to the left that it ripped a hole in the side of his white puffy shirt. Upon seeing Flea’s close call, Niko again yelled for him to run and proceeded to take his own advice – but in the opposite direction. Niko rushed straight into the first group of snowmen, swinging his spear like a possessed elf. Flea watched in horror as Niko was all but swallowed by the swarm of snowmen, although he still saw a hurricane of motion followed by an explosion of snowmen fragments. Flea threw snowball after snowball at the Army surrounding Niko but he couldn’t see Santa’s son within the chaos.