CHAPTER 7

As Mrs. Claus and Dingle the elf entered the greenhouse with the
comatose Flora, they noticed her breathing had stopped and her
heartbeat was slowing up. Her normally fleshtone skin was turning
blue and her body temperature was dropping.

"She's dying, Mrs. Claus! What are we going to do?" asked Dingle.

"Let's put her down here in this bed of poinsettias and pray for
her." answered back Mrs. Claus as he obeyed and set her down. After a
few tense moments the two noticed her skin tone slowly regaining its
true color and her breathing had resumed. Both of them gave a
collected sigh of relief.

Arcademan threw open the doors to the stables and marched right in. A
look around showed no presence of Santa, Orb-Necro, the sleigh and
the reindeer.

"Heh. Looks like they're gone for the duration." As he found a small
stool left in the corner, he sat down and gazed right at the spot
where Santa's sleigh was kept.

"All I have to do is sit here and wait for their return. I sense that
the wait will not be too long..."

Meanwhile, back in the greenhouse, Mrs. Claus was putting her shaw
back on.

"Dingle, stay here with Flora while I head on back to the workshop to
see how the rest of the elves are doing. We need to continue to make
toys when Santa returns. Christmas must be a go, without any delays."

"You sure, ma'am? After all, I am the leader. Maybe I should go
back..." Dingle's sentence was cut short by Mrs. Claus.

"When Flora comes to, I'd rather have a familiar face around. After
all, the two of you have magical backgrounds so you should be the
one. Besides, I'm still your boss!" as Mrs. Claus gave Dingle a wink
of the eye. He smiles and said "Yes, ma'am!" and she was on her way
to the workshop. Suddenly Dingle heard a gasp and he turned to see
Flora slowly waking up.

"Ohhh...where...am I...ohh...look...pretty flowers!" Flora sat up and
looked around her and saw she was sitting within a bed of flowers.
Her face immediately lit up with pleasure and happiness.

"I'm so happy to see you awake at last, Mistress Flora." Flora turned
to Dingle and gave him a big hug.

"Oh thank you, fellow elf. I can't believe there are so many flowers
and plants here within the cold. I feel so powerful, I could take on
the world!" Flora yelled as she rolled around in the flowers and
squealed with glee.

Dingle stared at the young pixie happily. "I'm glad you approve.
Knowing that you are a plant pixie, this was a logical choice. As to
why we have flowers her, it was Master Santa Claus's tribute to the
being that raised him when he was a child. She too was a pixie that
was attuned to plant life."

Of course hearing about this immediately caught Flora's attention.

"Please, Dingle...tell me more about Santa."

"Okay...a great mage by the name of The Great Akk found a baby
abandoned in the forest. He ordered a lioness named Shiegra to
protect the child and was raised by it as well as the tree elf named
Nyssil. He was taught the ways of good and was shown the ways of
mortals, which he was. Named Claus, a word meaning 'little one', he
felt a obligation to help the mortals and started the tradition of
making toys and delivering them on the night the Lord and Savior was
born. His mortal existance about to come to an end, the Great Akk and
his peers granted Santa Claus immortality so he could continue to
serve mankind every Christmas."

"Wow...I never realized...I mean I thought of him as some sort of
fairy tale...a figment of everyone's imagination. Now I knew he's for
real. And he's still in trouble! I have to go assist Arcademan."

As Dingle helped Flora up, he slipped on a coat to keep the pixie
warm. She smiled and gave him a peck on the cheek and said "Thank
you, Dingle...for all your help and for saving my life." Dingle's
face turned beet red with embarrassment.

Back in the stable as Arcademan continued to sit on the stool,
roughly 15 minutes have past since he arrived. Suddenly the stables
filled up with a bright, blinding light, then Santa's sleigh with the
eight reindeer appear within the light. As the brightness died down,
two figures stepped off the sleigh...Santa Claus and Orb-Necro.

Arcademan stood up and cracked his knuckles. "About time you showed
up, Orb-Necro. Let's party!!!"