As Krampus registered her broken words, he saw the once innocent eyes of the young ones flicker with muderous intent as they revealed a variety of weapons. Knives, pitchforks, spiked balls and torches entered his sight when he watched eerie smiles spread across the faces of those who stood before him.

Now this is a problem. "As much as I want to play cops and robbers with you fine fellows, I must be on my way." The prince concluded that killing them would be pointless and opted to escape instead. After all, he didn't want to be the same as the greedy king that ruled with an iron fist. He didn't want to kill them. It was obvious that they were being forced to follow the king's orders. He may even be threatening them with death.

If Krampus would ever succeed with his plan, he was going to make sure that no victim got hurt in the process. They weren't directly involved; it was only Santa Claus that he had a rather sharp bone to pick with.

So he gave a little bow before running to the exit with a smirk. "Bye, bye darlings!" He teased as the snow embraced his bare feet when he opened the door.

The elf at the front groaned. "Stop in the name of the king!" She yelled at him, then turned to the elves behind her. "What're you all freezing up for? We have to kill him or else it's off with our heads!" The elves were fidgeting, none daring to look her in the eye. Impatient, she pointed her knife towards them. "Move it, now!" She ordered with a clear soprano voice that was unfit for such vulgar language.

I don't have time for this, the Prince thought when he heard them yell bloody murder, I need to confront the source. He pounded his feet, sprinting as fast as he could whilst searching for Simon. He didn't want the irrated elves to hurt the lad so he wouldn't dare call out to him. How else can I find him? He wondered with frustration until an idea came to mind. Krampus stopped moving and took a deep inhale, shifting past the diverse array of scents until he found the familiar smell of his deer friend.

To the North, the prince concluded when the screams of the savage elves that were closing in on him grew louder. With nothing to lose, he ran to where his nose took him. Once he saw the tips of antlers, Krampus moved faster, letting the snow brush against his hirsute features.

"Simon!" he hissed with urgency while running towards the large animal. The reindeer turned his head at the prince's voice, jumping at the sounds of the factory elves' monstrous squeaks. Krampus waved his hand, running through the deep snow to Simon's side.

"Simon," Krampus said once he was closer, "we need to leave."

The reindeer's eyes widened when he asked, "What happened?"

The prince chuckled a little. "I made them a little angry when I teased them. Anyways, we need to get out of here! I don't want to hurt them."

Krampus patted Simon's head before hopping onto his back. He gripped onto Simon's antlers and bent down to say into his ear, "Let's go to Toy Town."

Simon nodded before crouching. "Understood. Hold on."

Krampus tightened his hold on his friend's antlers when a question popped in his mind. "Does it hurt when I pull it?"

Simon stilled. "As long as you don't use enough force than I'm fine. Thank you for your concern."

The goat-demon never replied, instead focusing his attention on the elves that he saw far off into the distance. "Hurry. We're better off going the opposite direction. Don't want them to shoot us down with arrows," Krampus muttered with a chuckle.

Simon nodded before taking off, running against the snowy wind's current. He kicked his feet, making Krampus jump a little as they lifted off the ground.

The howls and curses of the elves below them made the goat-demon smile wickedly while he flicked his tail back and forth. "Ah, that was fun. Remind me to piss them off more often. It's cute seeing them angry."

Simon smiled. "I would rather not place you in danger, Prince Krampus."

Krampus sighed, letting the winter air fill his lungs with crystallized water. His eyes wandered from the night sky to the snowy ground when he spotted something.

Blood.

"Simon, Simon! Hold on for a moment! What's that down there? Near the junkyard?"

The reindeer glanced to where Krampus pointed, past the heaps of abandoned projects to where he spotted snow that was dyed red. He scrunched his face at the poignant smell of decomposed flesh. "I don't think that's a good idea."

Krampus scratched his companion's head. "Don't worry, I'll protect you. Hell, it can't be that bad. We'll just take a little detour, alright?" A smile that reached from ear to ear stretched across the goat-demon's face as he attempted to persuade the dutiful reindeer to investigate the area. "I swear on my nonexistent soul that if you get in trouble with that rotten king, I'll take the punishment." That seems to be what I'm always doing anyways.

Simon frowned when he stopped, turning to him. "I won't allow that. It is my duty to protect you if you're in danger. Besides, you've already protected us enough."

Krampus remembered far too well how loud he screamed at the king for abusing the reindeer during work. His throat was dry and his voice hoarse by the time he ran out the castle to assist the animals until the day of his exile. The prince grimanced at the memory.

"Look where that got us. My words travelled in one of his ear and out the other. He didn't even bother to stop and now countless elves and deer are under his control. It's disgusting," Krampus mumbled with a growl. "However, a part of me still wants to believe in him even if the time we spent together might've been a lie. I need to see the truth, and if the is the first step to get there is over there, then so be it."

Simon laughed while watching his white breath float into the sky. He then turned towards the goat-demon and smiled. "Understood."

Krampus gripped the animal's antlers once he started moving. The faint smell from before became apparent the closer they grew, making Krampus frown with distaste.

Simon lowered them to the ground. "We have arrived. If you wish, I can go ahead of you and keep watch for any intruders."

The prince shook his head. "You were never good with blood no matter how tough you acted. Judging by the stench, I can tell that you wouldn't last long here either. I'll go first and tell you if I see anything disturbing." He kicked the snow when he started walking, prepared for the worse.

Nothing was different from what he remembered; it was still an endless amount of land that was littered with broken toys.

"Ugh," Krampus sighed when his hoof touched the head of a shattered porcelain doll, "this place always gave me the creeps as a kid." Mostly because when he was little he hated the thought of abandoning something if it broke.

"Indeed."

They went silent, with the only thing they could hear being the snow that crunched under their feet. Krampus signaled for Simon to stand still. "Shh," he whispered before turning around the corner that led to the source of the miasma that blurred his vision and burned his nostrils.

What laid in front of him was even more horrifying than the elves who were chained up in cages or slaving away in the factory. No, it was much worse. His throat tightened when he noticed an abundance of bodies littered in the snow. His eyes wondered to the small, crumpled body closest to him on the ground.

Krampus took cautious steps forward as he approached it, his heavy breaths shaky. When he was close enough to see the splatters of blood that stained the white surface, he noticed the body's macabre position. Its legs and arms were twisted at angles that only the broken could pull off.

The prince glanced over the body to see dried blood on its worn out and stained work attire. When Krampus pushed his hair behind his ears to look at the pale body's face, he grimanced at the sight of its glossy, aimless eyes.

Even if the suffocating scent of iron mixed with rotting flesh made bile rise in the back of the goat-demon's throat, he swallowed it down. Krampus took a few steps back and rose his eyes to scan the area, only to find the snow over the hill ran pink from the blood and gore of countless corpses scattered about.

He could only stare at the sight before him with wide eyes. Suddenly, a ball of fur came into the corner of his vision, catching his attention. It lifted its head up to stare at him. Its mouth was covered in blood, with the remains of a corpse's mangled flesh caged between its white teeth that were blanketed red.

It licked its lips bfore darting off with blood spots clinging to its white coat. An artic fox, Krampus concluded in a daze, snapping out of his horrified trance as the animal ran in the opposite direction.

His head pounded with endless questions that were clouded by anger. Why would the king do this? Krampus's tail was swinging furiously when he slammed his hoof into ground, causing the land to tremble as toys avalanched from the towers.

"Simon," the goat-demon growled out in a hoarse voice, "take me to the ice castle."