A hand grabbed him and dragged him limp across the floor. "You're worthless, Kirbite," a cold voice whispered in his ear. "Get up and meet your death." The hand let him go. He lay still for a few seconds, then weakly tried to stand. He collapsed, then tried again. He thought that he wouldn't be able to stand, but somehow managed it.
"Good, good. You'll put up a fight yet," the voice said. He looked up at the tall man looming over him, and what he saw chilled his blood. He found himself looking into the face of hatred. The man had a pale, almost delicate face, his smile showing perfect white teeth. The eyes, clear and colorless, held all the contempt in the world. The man seemed to be satisfied that he was almost five feet taller than his prey. The smile widened, obviously seeing the fear in the Kirbite's eyes. It took all of his will to return the cold gaze as the man stood there for some time, scrutinizing him.
The man spoke again. "As I thought. Your will is too strong for me to turn you into a demon beast. You'll just have to help me test my newest creation instead." The Kirbite could feel his heart pound even harder in his chest, for he knew now who this man was. Nightmare!
Nightmare cocked his head like a questioning dog, smiling evilly. He suddenly lashed out and knocked the poor Kirbite down, forcing him to stand up again. The Kirbite looked up with hatred, but shuddered when Nightmare merely laughed.
"I'd love to stay, but I have other business to attend to. Make sure he puts his armor on, then take him to the arena." Nightmare turned and began to walk out, then stopped and spoke to the Kirbite. " I'm sure you'll make a nice snack for 56934TWG17."
As soon as Nightmare had gone, a demon beast guard stepped forward and put down the Kirbite's armor on the floor in front of him. "Put it on!" it commanded. The Kirbite obliged, even though all the bending and twisting was causing him a lot of pain. He did it slowly, mentally prepping himself for his own death.
When he was done, the demon beast guards tied his hands together behind his back, then grabbed his shoulders and led him out the door. The hallway was dimly lit, the floors dirty and littered with trash. Blood had stained the walls. The Kirbite walked slowly, trying not to wince whenever one of the demon beasts jostled him. After what felt like an eternity, they had reached a large set of double doors. A demon beast standing guard there let them through.
The Kirbite blinked and squinted against the harsh light. His ears were suddenly bombarded by the roars of the thousands of demon beasts that had come to watch the fight. Once they were out in the open, the guards untied his hands. One of them pushed him to the ground and cruelly ripped the dirty bandage off of his back. He couldn't help but cry out. His pain was met with nothing but snickers and gleeful laughs. He forced himself to get up. He was handed his sword; he felt the adrenaline begin to pump at the feel of his familiar blade.
He looked around, trying to estimate the number of demon beasts in the room. There were too many to count, seated on benches that went all around the arena. Higher up, on a gilded throne, sat Nightmare. He eyed the Kirbite, then stood up and announced to the entire arena, "It is now time for today's fight." He was met by cheering. "Today we test 56934TWG17's abilities against this insignificant little ball of space dust. Come out now, 56934TWG17! Come defeat your first knight!"
The double doors on the other side of the arena opened. The Kirbite tightened his grip on the sword as he stared into the beast's yellow eyes.