Landsbyen -Into the North- An Epic Poem 62

Joulupukki hesitated for a few seconds, “I know this is going to sound ridiculous, but what if we feed the magic corn to a team of deer and they pull a small sleigh across the sky rather than through the snow.” He quickly continued. “The distance would be shorter, no traversing mountains or forging rivers. The air, I would think should be less resistant to travel than snow drifts and mud. I believe you might be able to travel in hours, the distance that would take days, maybe even weeks with conventional travel.” The half elf stopped to let this sink in. He heard Gwaldon let out a chuckle, but not of derision, more, of taking the idea as a challenge. They were all silent for several minutes while they mulled over the issues that this might cause. “What do you think,” Joulupukki finally asked. Gwaldon was the first to respond, “I believe you would be right about it being much quicker than a traditional team, but what of storms? Could they fly through a storm or would they have to go to ground? How would you guide them? Would reins work with flying deer? What about the sleigh, you can't feed magic grain to the sleigh, what would keep it in the air.” “All very good questions.” Dyndoeth inserted. “I believe we should start with the obvious, lets feed a bit of grain to several of the deer and see how they react. “If you would, please, Rådyrvokter.” The Stable elf grabbed a handful of the magic grain from the bin and fed it to five of the deer, including Sprinteren who gobbled it down eagerly. Joulupukki stepped over to Sprinteren and mounted the deer, feet touching the ground and holding tightly to the deer's fur. The hreinin deer with his mostly developed antlers, the velvet recently scraped clean by the Stable Elf, turned his head and looked at the man on his back. There was only indifference in the deer's eyes as Joulupukki's feet started to rise from the earthen floor. He clung to the deer's neck as he rose into the air, glancing around him he saw the other four floating in the air as well. Sprinteren suddenly started moving his legs, almost throwing Joulupukki to the ground, and swam more than walked his way the length of the barn. Several times the King bumped his head on beams and joists before he learned to keep an eye out for them. It was a comedy of vast proportion to the elves that remained on the ground and they laughed raucously each time he hit his head. The other four deer were packed against each other in a corner near the ceiling when Sprinteren made a wide turn and started back across the stable. “Show them how it's done,” Joulupukki whispered into the deer's ear. The deer looked at Joulupukki and he repeated himself, then Sprinteren looked at the other deer and let out a deep but high pitched whistle, stretching his legs out in front of them. One of the deer was against the wall and he pushed against it with his hind legs. He went darting across the stable with his legs stretched out in front of him trying to stop himself which happened very abruptly when he reached the far wall. A doe cautiously started moving her front legs and slowly began to crawl through the air. The last two were too timid and just floated where they were. Sprinteren changed coarse very quickly and Joulupukki found himself falling through the air. Luckily for him the Stable Elf kept deep piles of fresh hay throughout the stable Dyndoeth gasped as he saw the half elf falling, Lumi giggled and Gwaldon and Rådyrvokter hid their eyes with their hands, cringing. “Oof,” came from Joulupukki as his body hit the ground, but he was up in an instant, all smiles. “What a sensation!” He exclaimed excitedly, as they all watched the deer skimming from one end of the stable to the other, as they slowly learned how to maneuver through the air. Even the two timid ones began to try when Sprinteren started nudging them away from the wall. They watched them for a long time as each deer grew in confidence and in ability.