l drew my hand, and a half sword, and saluted the creature, the creature saluted me in kind, but with a cane. No not the support apparatus which older people use to get around, this thing was four and a half feet long, about an inch and a half thick, split down the middle, and tapered to a round end. Some times it's called a switch though I was always under the impression that a switch was cut by the offending child.

I grinned, and the creature let out a monstrous roar, which sounded like a goats billy but much deeper, and louder, and in a twinkling of an eye the creature appeared before me, and I felt his horns crash into my chest plate. I then flew through the air at an astounding rate, crashed through the doors of the main keep which was two inches of solid, magically reinforced, iron banded oak splintering it, and into the opposite wall, pulverizing several stones. I'm pretty sure a few internal organs got rearranged upon landing.

The jolly, elvish gentleman had reappeared inside the keep before I smashed the door. He has time to take a seat, produce a crystal goblet that was decorated in gold, silver, and red, and green gems, fill it with milk, and was dipping a cookie in it an amused smile crossing his face. He decided to take the time to talk to me "You know it's an interesting thought that has crossed the minds of the entire world, that my companion, and I are enemies." He let out another bellow of laughter "HOHOOOOOO! Far from it in fact, oh we are on different sides of the same coin, but we are on the same coin."

In another flash the goat like entity reappeared, and in a drumming rhythm ~bumpbumpbump bap~ delivered about a dozen blows into my stomach, capping the combination off by giving me a hard cross into my jaw sending my bouncing off the wall, and skipping across the floor like a stone on the surface of a pond. By some miracle I had kept my sword in hand.

The jolly old man was grinning at the show, chewing the milk drenched cookie, as he continued talking "children need discipline. When they do wrong, they need punished for it. That is where my friend comes in. Now he doesn't take any pleasure in causing a child harm, and he doesn't do it out of malice, but he does what is necessary to discipline a child."

I spit out some teeth, and stood up, the creature gave off another monstrous roar from where ever it disappeared to, and I felt its cloven foot drill into my chest plate again....it was dented. I intentionally dropped my sword as I flew through the air, my head clipped the seal, and I cartwheeled through it landing in the courtyard rolling with a grunt, but I noticed that the creature had a tell. It would roar before it would attack the bastard was intentionally giving me a hint.

By the time I finished my roll, the gift giver had moved him self, the table of stone, the rock used for a chair, and of course the milk, and cookies all into the courtyard as well. I started laughing, and he asked "what do you think is so funny?"

I decided to be honest with the guy who knows when you are sleeping, and when you are awake "He's got a tell!!"