what about Bella

"Saint Nicholas" mother elf, spoke with a choked voice and hugged the man with all her might.

"Don't cry child, don't cry. You did good, you handled everything perfectly." he soothed the crying girl in his arms by patting her head.

It took a few minutes for the mother elf to stop crying as her wails turned into small sobs. She finally left the man go as she wiped her eyes.

"I am sorry Saint Nicholas, I am still not strong enough to handle perfectly." she apologised keeping her head low and rubbed her hand to wipe all the tears off her face.

"No my child, you did well, see you killed all the demons before Christmas," he replied with a kind smile pointing at the scene.

The fire was still burning at some bodies, while others were turned into a cloud of black smoke, soot and ashes were all around. There were still poodles of blood. A foul smell was in the air. As the trees were also damaged and burnt, creating a warm atmosphere in the cold night of December.

"I am ashamed to say that but I was not able to handle everything alone, father, a demon helped me," she replied shaking her head as the memory of Bella hit her she felt like crying again.

She was strong till she was alone. Now that she knew that she had someone to lean on. Her stance was weakening. It was the first time she was feeling bad about the death of a demon.

"A demon, oh my" the man came close to him and touched her forehead.

She closed her eyes and rewind the scene to the day Bella came running to the abode of elves and asked for help.

From that scene, like a movie, all the scenes started playing in her subconsciousness. As she and Bella met, she threatened her, the way everyone loved Bella, she dragged Bella here to kill her, how other demons attacked, the way Bella saved mother elf again and again, and at last her death.

Each scene was rolled on creating a vivid image in front of Saint Nicholas. As a movie, he could see and feel their emotions.

At the end when the movie ended, he took his hand back. Mother elf opened her eyes and looked at the ever so smiling lord Nicholas.

She had never seen him worried or tensed. There was always a smile and calmness on his face. Nothing could ever disrupt it.

"You suffered a lot, my child, are you okay?" he asked, kindly patting her shoulder.

"I am okay father, but I am not able to close the hell pit," she replied downcast pointing at the pit, which was further increased from before.

Saint Nicholas followed her line of sight and saw the pit filled with lava, as its waves were trying to hit the surface of the earth. If it stayed open, many demons would come on the surface by crawling their way up.

Thousands of people could be swallowed by it at once. He closed his eyes looking at the big hole and smiled.

"Dear, you are way too sad over things. You are forgetting the basic rule" he replied with a gentle laugh.

Mother elf's brows furrowed as she rubbed her chin, "what am I forgetting father?"

Saint Nicholas shook his head, as he said, "hell is developed by wrath and hatred dear, and you can not win against hate by hate. When you were trying to close the pit, you were filled with wrath over the death of the demon, what was her name, aah, Bella. Right?

Your wrath only gave more energy to feed on to the hell, that was the reason why it grew so large.

You must control your hatred and wrath dear, you are mother elf. All the elves look up to you. Hope you are understanding my child." although he was pointing out her errors, his voice was still gentle and calm.

One which could help you in feeling relaxed, and make you calm too.

But mother elf did not feel calm, she felt ashamed. She could not believe that she was filled with so much hatred that hell was able to feed on her powers.

Even after living for an innumerable time, she did not have control over her emotions. She only dragged the name of mother elf. She was not able to live up to her expectations. How could she feel proud than on her capabilities which she always had? Closing her eyes, she controlled the urge to cry more or run away.

As an adult, she should have the courage to face her faults, with that thought she opened her eyes again.

"I am sorry, Saint Nicholas. I will do it right this time," she replied, though her apology was not filled with garnered words, her emotions were well explained just by her eyes which were filled with determination.

"It's okay my child, I understand your condition. Due to my work, you had stayed all your life alone. Feeling attached to someone who genuinely cared for you after caring about others all your life is something which makes you a person with emotions. There is no need to apologise.

Now sit here and rest. I will close the pit. Alright?" he explained to her as he smiled and patted her head again.

She wanted to deny him. She wanted to close the pit herself. But looking at his kind face she did not have the heart to deny the kind man.

Saint Nicholas was like her father. The one who had taken care of her since she was a child. He taught her everything she knew. He had given her the power she used. Whenever she had gotten hopeless, he was the one who encouraged her to move forward.

So she bit her lips and nodded, "as you deem fit, Saint Nicholas."

The man nodded and moved forward when she spoke again.

"Father, what about Bella?"