Serial: The Yuletide Yak Yeti (2026) - Part 1
The Illmoor Chronicles: The Yuletide Yak Yeti, written by David Lee Stone and illustrated by Roman Dubina. Copyright: Kingsbrook Publishing, 2026.
It was the night before Yuletide and a fine blanket of snow was settling over the rooftops of Legrash. In a cottage on the edge of town, a proud mother finished depositing the last of the presents beneath the Weeklong Tree she’d finished decorating that very morning. Then she tiptoed across the rough wooden floorboards in the kitchen and crept to the bottom of the stairs, listening for any hint that the magic was about to happen.
The clock struck midnight. Somewhere in the distance, a bell rang. Then another…and another.
Something landed on the roof of the cottage. Something heavy. Something significant. The something every child in Illmoor waited for.
She closed her eyes tightly, staring up at the landing with bated breath, trying to suppress the anticipation of the joy that always followed the arrival of The Yuletide Yak Yeti.
Looking down, she quickly remembered the rules and removed her foot from the stairs: adults weren’t allowed to interfere in the traditions of the season…and a single glimpse of the creature could rob countless children of the true meaning of Yuletide. She crossed her fingers and prayed to the gods that the twins would remain asleep.
In the attic bedroom, a single gnarled finger appeared at the window and, snaking through an impossibly small gap, elongated until it was able to lift the latch. The window creaked open, and a fat gnome with ruby red eyes and a melted nose dropped to the floor, somersaulted across the room and crashed into a toy chest beside the door.
A boy sat up in bed, his expression a mask of fascinated horror.
‘A-a-are you the Yuletide Yak Yeti?’ he managed, swinging himself out of the bed as his sister yawned awake in the shadows.
The gnome sniffed and peered around, taking in the room's boundaries and trying to judge whether there was enough space to open a portal in one of the walls.
‘It’s him!’ The girl exclaimed, leaping out of bed and hurrying to stand beside her brother. ‘It’s him! It’s him! It’s REALLY him!’
‘Can I have a sword?’ The boy said, the question practically bursting out of him.
‘I want a troll with REAL hair!’ said his sister.
The gnome stared at them both, mirthlessly. ‘Where am I, exactly?’ he said. ‘What is this place?’
The children shared a glance.
‘This is Swan Cottage,’ said the girl. ‘In Legrash. I’m Molly, and this is my brother Tom. We’ve been REALLY good this year, and mummy says that if we’re REALLY good then you bring us the stuff we want…but it doesn’t look like you have anything on you.’
‘Yeah,’ the boy added. ‘Where’s your sack?’
The gnome raised a twisted hand and snapped its fingers. A bulging sack appeared beside the door.
‘Wow!’ The girl said, her eyes widening. Her brother simply gasped.
‘Right,’ said the gnome, folding its arms. ‘Listen carefully. You’ve got three chances to guess my name. If you get it in three, you get all the presents. If you don’t, I’m going to have to take something from you. Deal?’
The children just stared at him.
‘Is this normal?’ said the girl.
The gnome shrugged. ‘Compared to what?’
‘Mummy told me that-‘
‘Boris!’ said the boy, suddenly.
‘Shut up!’ his sister screamed.
The gnome shrugged. ‘That’s one guess.’
‘That’s not fair! I didn’t even-‘
‘Jack!’
‘WILL YOU BE QUIET!’
‘That’s two!’
The little girl jumped up and down on the spot. Then she clamped a hand over her brother’s mouth and squealed. ‘Timothy!’
The gnome stared at them both balefully and shook his head. ‘I’m afraid not,’ he said, unfolding his arms and cracking his knuckles. ‘Okay, okay…now it’s my turn. Let me just see here…’
He rummaged in his jerkin and removed a strange, angular knife. ‘Right, kids,’ he said, folding his arms. ‘Now, what do you want to lose: your skin, your teeth or your mother?’
