Kraved by Krampus (Yule Be Mine Monster)

18. Clara

Chapter eighteen

Clara

C old seeps through my sweater as the creature drags me deeper into the dark forest. The fog has thinned a bit so I can see, but my feet barely touch the ground, the entity’s grip like bands of iron around my chest. Each desperate attempt to break free only makes it hold tighter.

What was I thinking coming out here alone?

Branches whip past my face. The shadows between the trees seem alive, writhing and dancing in ways that can’t be natural. The temperature plummets with each passing moment, my breath forming crystals in the air.

A low growl echoes through the trees, and the creature holding me freezes. The sound isn’t like anything I’ve ever heard before - primal and filled with rage.

Krampus.

The entity’s grip tightens painfully, drawing a gasp from my lips. It moves faster now, practically flying between the trees. My head spins as we twist and turn, the world becoming a blur of darkness and snow.

Another growl, closer this time. The shadows around us pulse with red light.

“Let. Her. Go.” His voice rumbles through the forest like thunder.

The creature hisses, a sound like breaking glass. Its grip shifts, and suddenly I’m pressed against what feels like ice, something sharp pressing against my throat.

My heart nearly stops. Through the darkness and mist, a massive figure emerges. This isn’t the sophisticated being I’ve grown used to seeing around the cabin. This is something else entirely—ancient and terrifying.

Krampus towers before us, completely transformed, his obsidian horns gleaming in the moonlight, stretching toward the sky like deadly spears. His fur-trimmed cloak writhes with living shadows, moving as if caught in a wind I can’t feel. Chains wrapped around his massive frame chime with an otherworldly resonance, each note vibrating through my bones. The sound isn’t random - it’s a harmony that makes the air thick with magic.

Oh god, he’s huge.

He must be over eight feet tall. His muscled form is covered in armor that seems to absorb what little light remains. The obsidian plates shift like liquid darkness as he moves, and my writer’s mind struggles to process the impossible way they flow.

His legs are different too—powerful and covered in thick, dark fur, ending in hooved feet that leave smoking impressions in the snow. But it’s his hands that make my breath catch. Those elegant claw-tipped fingers I’ve watched hold teacups and turn pages have transformed into deadly weapons, with claws longer than any I’ve ever seen.

This is what he truly is. This is what he’s been hiding.

The raw power emanating from him makes my knees weak, even as the creature’s grip keeps me upright.

“I said.” His voice is deeper, more guttural than I’ve ever heard it. “Let. Her. Go.”

The creature makes that glass-breaking sound again, pressing whatever’s at my throat harder. I try not to swallow, feeling it bite into my skin.

“You dare touch what’s mine?” Smoke and shadows spread from where his feet touch the ground.

Krampus takes a step forward, and I feel the entity retreat backward, dragging me with it. We’re moving toward something - I can feel a presence behind us, something powerful. The massive, ancient tree we visited before looms in the darkness, its branches reaching toward the starless sky.

The entity’s grip tightens as Krampus’s power builds. The air crackles with electricity, making my skin tingle and the fine hairs on my arms stand up. The temperature plummets further, frost crystallizing on my eyelashes.

Krampus raises one massive clawed hand, and the ground beneath us trembles. Dark energy pulses from him in waves, each one making my breath catch. His eyes blaze like burning coals, fixed on the creature holding me.

This is what true power looks like.

Obsidian chains burst from the frozen earth, writhing like serpents. They whip through the air with deadly precision, their links gleaming with otherworldly symbols that pulse with red light. The sound they make is beautiful and haunting, a symphony of winter storms and ancient magic.

“You dare challenge me here?” His voice resonates through my chest. “In my domain?”

The chains strike like vipers, wrapping around the entity. It screams, a sound that makes my teeth ache, and its grip on me loosens. Another chain snakes between us, forcing the creature back while pulling me forward.

I stumble, my legs weak, but before I can fall, shadows catch me. They’re surprisingly warm, cradling me like silk as they draw me away from danger. The moment I’m clear, Krampus’s attack intensifies.

More chains erupt from the ground, each one carved with glowing runes. They weave together in an intricate dance, forming a web that constrains the creature. It thrashes and howls, but each movement only tightens its bonds.

“Witness what happens to those who threaten what’s mine.”

The chains constrict further, forcing the entity to its knees. Frost spreads from where each chain touches it, creating elaborate patterns across its shadowy form. The magic in the air is so thick I can taste it—sharp and cold like mint, with an underlying darkness that reminds me of bitter chocolate.

He’s magnificent.

I can’t look away from him. This display of raw power should terrify me, but instead, it awakens something primal inside me. My heart races not from fear, but from... something else. Something that recognizes and responds to his dominance.

The creature thrashes against its bonds, its form shifting and twisting in impossible ways. A sound like shattering mirrors fills the clearing as it makes one last desperate attempt to break free.

Krampus’s massive form grows even larger, his presence filling the entire clearing. His cloak of shadows whips around him as he raises his clawed hand, fingers spread wide.

This is what the stories warn about. This is the being parents threaten their children with.

The air crackles with power, making my skin tingle and my teeth ache

“To the depths with you.” His voice resonates through my bones.

He clenches his fist.

The ground splits open with a sound like breaking ice. Darkness pours from the fissure, darker than anything I’ve ever seen. It’s not just the absence of light—it’s something older, something hungry.

The creature screams as the chains drag it toward the opening. Its form distorts, stretching and compressing as it fights against the pull. But there’s no escape. The darkness reaches up with tendril-like fingers, wrapping around the entity.

Oh god, I’m watching someone being dragged to hell.

In one fluid motion, the chains yank the creature down. The darkness swallows it whole, its last scream cut off mid-shriek. The ground seals itself with a thunderous crack, leaving nothing but a light dusting of frost where the fissure had been.

The forest falls silent. No wind, no animal sounds, nothing but the fading echo of power.

Krampus stands motionless, his massive form silhouetted against the night sky. The chains around him still chime softly, a haunting melody that makes my soul ache. His eyes burn like embers as he stares at the spot where the creature vanished.

This is the being who’s been making me tea. Who chuckles at my terrible jokes. Who...

My mind flashes to all those old woodcuts and illustrations—Krampus dragging the wicked to hell, Krampus punishing the unworthy.

The stories weren’t exaggerations. If anything, they fell short.

The shadows still holding me pulse gently, as if sensing my thoughts. They’re warm and surprisingly gentle, cradling me like silk. Such a stark contrast to the raw power I just witnessed.

Both sides are real. Both sides are him.