The creature staggered back, looking down at the blade, and it began to laugh. I got a sickening feeling in my gut, which got even worse when it gripped the blade of my sword with its bare hand crushing it like a sheet of paper, and began pulling it out blade first through itself with sickening crunching sounds as the hilt passed through its bones. It transferred the sword from one hand to the other, gripping it from the hilt. It looked at it, and then with a flick of its wrist, a simple toss really, he threw the sword at me.

I heard four separate whip cracks as the sword broke the sound barrier four separate times before it reached me. The sword passed through the front of my armor, my ribs, the meat surrounding my ribs, by back ribs, the meat surrounding my back ribs, and the back of my armor like a hot knife through butter. When the hilt met my armor it buckled, and I flew across the courtyard, and the sword impaled itself against another stone wall, pinning me against it. The creature was on top of me before I could register my impact.

It punched my face caving it in, it punched it again smashing my head through the stone wall. Things went a little blurry. It leaped up into the air. performing a flip, and dropped on what was left of my jaw snapping my head back.

Some how, by some very real miracle I was not dead. I woke up sometime after. The creature sitting next to the jolly elf eating the remainder of the cookies none the worse for wear. To my astonishment neither was I at the table, that was originally a chunk of stone was a third gold, and silver decorated glass filled with cold, frothy milk, and a chair obviously meant for me.

The Krampus spoke, in its undecipherable language, and Santa translated "he says that you done well, and looks forward to see how much you improve over the year. I look forward to another fine showing as well. You will find that your body, armor, and arms are good as new. Now I have only a small amount of time to return North, so I wish you a Merry Christmas!" He, and his companion left the table, and entered the sleigh, and as they flew off I heard a hardy "HO! HO! HOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!" Before they winked out of existence.