A Holiday Adventure - 7. Would The Last Sparkle Fairy Please Stand Up

Reilly and Gabby watched in horror as the elves and Santa got overwhelmed by the vicious attack. The sprites were relentless as their energy beams knocked the elves to the ground. Then, before they could get back up, gremlins jumped on the fallen bodies, hitting, spitting, kicking, and slashing at their flesh with their pointy claws.

"I feel like such a coward hiding here," Reilly fumed.

Gabby placed his hands on the human's shoulders, gently massaged them, and said, "I feel the same way, but I can't go against my orders to keep you here. Besides, you'd be helpless out there."

The brunette nodded and hung his head as he patted the elf's hand. Suddenly, an explosion from the duplicator machine caught their attention, and the faces of the human and elf were plastered to the window as Kris was struck by a pipe and fell to the floor, unconscious.

"No! Papa!" Reilly hollered.

Gabby wasn't fast enough to catch the dark-haired human. He gasped in shock as Reilly flung the door open with such force the top two hinges broke and ran to the fallen Claus. Shaking off the disbelief over what happened, the green-haired elf began shooting at any sprite and gremlin he saw while running to protect his new friend and father figure as best he could.

"Papa, I wish there were something I could do," Reilly said while sobbing as he held the elf's left hand.

"Dad, Reilly," Stella and Nicky hollered. The mother and son wasted no time in joining the fight.

Slowly, the tide began turning as the sprites and gremlins were taken out of commission. Once the elves outnumbered their attackers, Stella and Nicky ran to their loved ones.

"Papa's still alive but hasn't woken up yet," Reilly said.

"Your presence is helping him heal, my love," Nicky softly stated as he kissed his mate and dad.

Stella, Nicky, and Gabby's eyes widened, and they gasped when a bluish-white glow surrounded Reilly's body. The human's skin brightened and sparkled, his ears lengthened and became pointed, his eyes changed into an azure blue, his fingers were more slender and daintier than before, and his hands glowed, his dark hair lightened to a golden blonde as it reached his waist, two almost translucent, sparkly, thin wings sprouted from his back and broke through the two layers of shirts. Their intrigue grew when the glowing light surrounded Kris, and his superficial wounds healed before their eyes.

"Mom, what's…"

"I'm not quite sure, but I believe there's more to your soul mate than any of us realized. If I were to guess, we're looking at the last Sparkle Fairy."

"If that's true, it fully explains everything about his unwavering acceptance of us."

For the first time anyone could remember, Gabby was totally speechless.

The glow around Reilly and Kris slowly dimmed. When the elf's eyes opened, the transformed being's eyes closed, and he swayed.

Nicky's arms wrapped around his lover and drew the exhausted male to his firm chest. "I got ya, babe," he said. He and his mom chuckled because they both heard the chorus to the Sonny & Cher hit in their heads.

"What happened," Kris groggily asked, his speech slightly slurred.

"Oh, thank the Winter spirits, you're okay, Santa. Holy crap! You won't believe it, Boss. Reilly's not a human, and Mama Stell thinks he's the last Sparkle Fairy," Gabby rambled, seemingly making up for the lost speaking time. "So do I. He's all sparkly and has wings and is glowy."

"Gabby," Nicky, Stella, and Kris said in unison. "Thank you for the short version of events. Please help the others get this place back in working order because there's still Christmas to prepare for," Kris added.

Everyone jumped and looked at the door when Leland burst through, gliding in the air on a sheet of ice.

"What in Winter Wonderland's going on? The machines at the house went haywire and blew up. Then, dark sprites and gremlins attacked. Luckily, Mom and Dad were with me, and we froze them and suspended their animation. And... where's Reilly?"

"Lee, bro, take a breath," Nicky said, chuckling.

"Yeah, speaking fast is my thing," Gabby said. He squeaked and giggled while ducking Leland's attempted head slap.

"Umm, we're still in the dark on the specifics, but the sparkling guy in Nicky's arms is Reilly," Stella said.

Leland shook his head and sat down before he fell on his ass. "Well, that explains the warnings all over the mountain about a Mammoth Hound coming this way."

Stella jumped to her feet and exclaimed, "Shit, we totally forgot about him."

Everyone jumped and ducked for cover when the door exploded, and splinters of wood flew everywhere. The elves quaked in fear of the massive, long-fanged demon howling as he stared at Reilly, who just started to come around.

Kris was still weakened from the blow, but he found the strength to stand, and after picking up a discarded ray guy, he started shooting it at the salivating beast. "We've got to drive it back and protect Ry," he hollered.

The others quickly joined their leader, and they fired their rays at the hound, but the weapons had little effect.

Stella began creating a spell she hoped would send the dark animal back where it came from.

"C'mon, Lee. We gotta do whatever we can."

"I got your back, Nicky."

The snow elves stood side by side, facing the snarling, growling hound, and surrounded it with the thickest ice prison they could create. The elves ducked behind anything they could as shards of ice flew when the beast slowly broke through the ice wall. Finally, a minute later, the entire barrier shattered, and then, with a mighty roar and swiping paw, Nicky and Leland were slung into one of the walls.

Reilly saw the carnage and still hadn't noticed his transformation. Without a thought or having even the basic knowledge of what was happening, he took to the air, faced the ancient creature, and firmly stated, "You shall not harm them anymore."

The hound roared, and with lightning speed, it latched onto the flying being's right ankle. Pain shot through his body, and Reilly howled in agony. His eyes glowed, he raised his arms, and balls of sparkly energy flew from his palms, bashing the demon. Surprisingly, they had the desired effect because the beast released his prey and slowly backed away from the attacker.

"Keep at it, Ry," Nicky hollered.

The recovered elf duo stood on either side of their hovering guy, sending balls of ice and snow flying at the still retreating hound as Reilly shot sparkling beams from his hands at the furry monster.

"Ry, keep firing your beams. Boys, join hands with Kris and I," Stella said. "Combine our magic and hope it's strong enough to send this thing back to hell." When everyone's hands were joined, the lone female elf recited, "All the powers of goodness and light, remove this evil from our sight, send this hound back to hell, so all will be right, and all will be well."

Blazing golden-white flames ignited around the evil beast, and its mournful howl shook the ground as its body became nothing but ash that blew away with the snowy wind.

The energy he used exhausted Reilly. He groaned, and his eyes closed as his body fell. He would've hit the ground, but Leland acted quickly and held out his arms, catching the unconscious male.

"Poor baby, he's out cold," Nicky said as he kissed his mate's forehead and lightly stroked his sparkling hair.

"Stell, I'm needed here to help get things back up and running," Kris said.

"I know, my love. While you're here, I'll take the boys home, put Reilly to bed, and call Father Time and Mother Nature. They may be the only ones with enough knowledge of the past to accurately explain our boy's transformation."

Leland looked at the Claus family and said, "Now that the main threat has passed, I think it might be best if I stay and help restore the workshop."

"You're definitely needed, Son," Stella said.

"Thanks for saving my Ry and offering to stay and clean up, Bro. I don't know what any of us would do without you."

Leland chuckled and said, "I do. You'd jump around like a crazy loon shouting, "What do I do? What do I do?"

Nicky grinned and tickled his best friend's sides. The Frost male burst into laughter as he fell to his knees. When the tickles ended, he stood up, hugged, and kissed the Claus family before seeing where he could be the most helpful.

*****

"Oh, what the hell was I hit with," Reilly muttered as he slowly opened his eyes.

"There's my beautiful mate," Nicky cooed.

Stella walked into the room with cups of steaming cider. "Our hero fairy boy's awake, I see," she said before kissing the bedridden male's cheek.

"Mama, I don't know about here, but calling a gay person a fairy boy is a slur."

"Love, calm down, and look in this mirror. Mom didn't mean the comment to be negative, just truthful."

Reilly's eyes were big as saucers, and his mouth gaped open when he saw his reflection.

"So, the workshop, the gruesome dog thingy with teeth almost as big as me, and healing Papa wasn't a dream?"

"No, sweetie, it wasn't. You, Nicky, and Leland were heroes today."

Before anything else could be said, a flash of light illuminated the room, and a tall, barefoot, blonde-haired man in a plaid shirt, blue jean overalls, and a straw hat suddenly appeared. "Hooowwwddddy! I's jus' so proud ta' be here," he excitedly exclaimed.

Reilly blinked his eyes and grinned. "I take it you're Bubba."

"Right-cha-are, youngin'. An' I'm-a-guessin' yer that Sparkle Fairy critter that's got the entire Pole-a-gossipin'. Well, welcome home, your Majesty."

"Your Majesty," Reilly, Nicky, and Stella hollered.

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