The Christmas Dragon

Here you go, darling.

But where are yours?

The magic of Christmas is a child's making a wish,

and it coming true.

Go ahead, Ayden.

We'll share whatever it is, all right?

All right.

For a kite!

Thank you, thank you!

Well don't thank us. Thank Father Christmas.

Thank you.

There he is.

Gazared.

Born tall.

Taxes.

I seem to recall after giving you last year's payment

not all of it reached Lord Rockfort.

And I had men even more foul than you show at my door.

I'm not to blame, you can imagine.

Do you still from every person you collect, or just us?

Are you going to give me the payment or do you need persuading?

I'm not giving you anything.

I shall deliver my payment to Lord Rockfort himself.

I don't think our lord visits many men in the dungeon.

Arrest him!

No!

All right!

All right.

Enough.

I'll get the money.

Just don't hurt her.

I wouldn't dream of hurting her.

Not when I can get such a fair price for another child in the mines.

Get them in the wagon.

No! No!

Ayden, run!

Stop fighting.

Run!

Into the wagon.

Forget the girl.

We'll make 10 times as much from just one of these dragon eggs.

You, girl. Give us the eggs.

No! I won't!

Come on, girl.

D-d-d-d-dragon!

Ayden!

Get down!

Ayden!

Gazared! Set us free.

Gazared, don't be a coward!

Ayden!

Let's go!

Watch it, watch it!

No! No!

Get away!

Ayden!

No.

She's safe.

I'll get your fresh pickled ginger.

Thank you.

He brandished his sword to face the ferocious dragon.

The battle was fierce, sword was...

And they battled from sunup until sundown until finally the dragon fell.

The knight was victorious.

The villagers cheered, "We love you!"

You'll be safe here.

I brought you some worms, too, for your wrist.

Stay off of that one until you feel better.

Where did you learn to do that?

My mother taught me when I was about your age.

What is it?

Dragons.

No, Come on, we need to go.

Come on, come on.

Wait, wait, wait for us! We're here.

We're here.

Hurry. Hurry!

I would expect you to take the warning bells

a little more seriously, Ayden.

Especially with what happened to your parents.

I'm sorry, Sister Lenora.

Now go find the twins and make sure they're shuttering

the windows properly instead of hanging out of them.

And bring them down for supper.

- Can you see anything? - No, I can't.

- Where is it? - I don't know.

- Scoot over! - No, you! I can't see.

Would you two knock it off and close that thing before you get us all cooked?

You're not the boss of us.

Yeah?

Hey!

You could have killed us!

Prepare to die!

Don't be silly, Ayden. You're safe here.

Talking to yourself again?

No...

I was...

Shouldn't be such a It's very...

Roslyn!

- You were saying? - Garret.

Don't pick on Ayden.

Sister Lenora says supper's ready.

Hey!

- Oh... - That is not fair.

The smell is awful!

Finn! Hoyt! What are you doing?

Nothing?

We're just cleaning up for supper.

It's ready.

What is it, Ayden?

Oh. Just your stocking hanging on the fireplace.

It reminded me of Father Christmas.

Who?

Who's Father Christmas?

- No one but a fairytale. - That's not true.

He's real, and he's wonderful.

Ayden's right.

Well, at least partially.

Many years ago, even before Sister Lenora was born,

there was a man named Nicholas who lived in a village not far from here.

When his neighbors needed money for their daughter's wedding,

he gifted it to them by dropping it down their chimney.

So no one would know it was him.

I remember this story.

After seeing how happy his neighbors were,

he decided that was the way he wanted to live his life.

Bringing joy to the lives of other people.

He spent his nights making secret deliveries to those in need.

And even though helping grownups was good,

what made Nicholas happiest was seeing the smiles

on the children's faces when their wishes came true.

But how did he become Father Christmas?

Well he started making a list

of all the children that were good and deserved a present.

Not just in his town,

but in every town he visited. And soon, the list got so long,

that it took a whole year to make all the gifts.

And then he chose a special night to deliver them on.

Christmas.

That sounds familiar.

Is Christmas real?

When is it?

It's real. It's less than a week away.

And now his list includes every child in the whole world!

So you'd better be good.

And just how does he travel around the whole entire world

and visit every child in one night?

He uses magic.

Really.

Well he must have lost it, then.

There haven't been presents in any stockings for years now.

Isn't that right, Finn?

Why hasn't Father Christmas been seen in years?

Why haven't we ever had a Christmas here?

Well maybe it's because we don't believe.

We need to believe that he'll come.

Make a wish in your heart for him to answer.

I think it's cruel that you're getting their hopes up.

I don't want any part of it.

Don't worry. I'll talk to her.

We wish for a...

Make it silent. So only he can hear it.

We need to show Father Christmas that we believe.

You don't have to. He can see it in your heart.

What if we made him something?

We should make him a wreath.

We can hang it on the door,

and that way he'll know that he's welcome.

Here. You keep gathering firewood,

and I'm going to look for some leaves and holly berries.

Hello?

Hello?

Hello?

What are you looking for?

Oh only holly berries and leaves.

Holly berries are poisonous.

They're not for eating.

We're making a wreath. For Father Christmas.

There is not going to be a Christmas, child.

Not this year. Perhaps never again.

How would you know?

Can't you feel it?

It's gone.

What's gone?

The magic.

It's gone out of us.

And all good things are turning bad.

Yes.

I know.

I'm not pretty.

But I once was.

You're... you're an elf?

What happened to you?

There's a darkness in the north. Father Christmas is dying.

He sent us to find the magic.

But he didn't realize how quickly the elves were turning...

I only made it this far because of this.

What is that?

It's a way-stone.

A compass.