Licing Armor Boyfriend: Epoch (special preview)

The North Pole, nestled between the Kringle Mountains, is a cold place. But it is filled with warmth and joy. Thanks to the twin dormant volcanos, the kingdom is livable even in such horrible cold. The heat that rises from under the ground allows the people to live their daily lives. Although, the North Pole is not always so perfect. The kingdom is ruled over by the Saint Nicolas family, who are all, if one is to be believed, demigods. Fathered by the one known as Father Klaus, each child possesses certain powers which allows them to rule the North Pole.

My mother, Holly Saint Nicolas, is one such child, but I have not spoken to her in years. To be blunt, most of the Saint Nicolas clan has the same predictions as Father Klaus, which is to say they all have libidos that could reawaken the Kringle Peaks. Each have several children on their own, multiple partners, husbands, wives. My mother is no different, I have two other sisters I know of from two different fathers. The three of us are often always together, and I prefer being with them more than anything. My father, poor thing, still resides in Holly’s Keep as her top husband. For years I have been trying to find a way to free him.

Thanks to my sisters, I may have finally found a way to rescue my father and set him free from my mother. Winifred, the eldest of us, was lucky to be born to a scholar and magic user. Her father had a massive library, which we poured through since we were children. Lydia, the youngest, has a wonderful ability to translate and know any written language by looking at it. It is as if her eyes are wired differently. Thanks to Winifred’s books and Lydia’s sight, we’ve found a conjuring spell to summon beings of power to fight against Holly Saint Nicolas.

“We should go somewhere outside the house,” Winifred suggests. “Just in case our fathers should see or get hurt.”

“We’re all adults,” Lydia argues. “We don’t need to be afraid of our dads and getting into trouble, Winnie.”

“We don’t need to be arguing about this! Winnie is right, we should go somewhere else to summon these things. What if something goes wrong?” I argue.

“But where should we go, Edith?” Lydia looks at me with those big, bright eyes of hers. They shimmer differently than normal eyes, they look like silver bells.

I think for a moment. “The Armored Court,” I say decisively. “All that’s there is those suits of armor from the Jingle Wars. No one goes there.”

The three of us gather up and leave, heading towards the Armor Court. It’s a small monument just below the village where a long staircase takes us into a pavilion lined with different suits of armor used in the Jingle Wars. The floor and ceiling are carved with depictions of battles while the pillars are scoured with the names of the fallen.

We set up the ritual right away, putting down candles and tossing powdered charcoal onto the floor with cinnamon sticks, sprigs of peppermint, and chunks of dark chocolate. Lydia opens the spell book so she can read it and begin the chanting spell. Her eyes change, becoming almost completely silver, even her long lashes appear different.

“I summon these spirits of antiquity, teachers of history and harbingers of futures. Come to us this night, be told by mouths with revenge so cold. Offer your bounty. Prepare thy might. Look forward now until the all saint’s night!”

Everything is still aside from a cold wind. We wait with baited breath for something to happen.

“I said it all, right?” Lydia lifts up the book and turns the pages. “That’s the only spell to summon these guys, right?” As she looks at us, the book spews forth with smoke. “Holy shit!” Lydia screams and tosses it into the center of the pavilion. The smoke swirls and voices bellow from within. All the black billowing mass collects at the top of the pavilion then flows down, circling three suits of armor before vanishing inside them.

We’re all still again, watching the book then looking towards those suits of armor. Nothing happens again, everything is still and cold.

“You saw that, right?” Lydia squeaks. “I’m not crazy, am I?”