Silence hangs over the sand Arena.

Then the restless demon, whose small Master tries to keep him moving makes another growling sound.

“Ah, Kara, can you please make your Demon shut up?”,

Our teacher, who apparently finally has found his voice again, intervenes, then looks over to our father.

“How nice of you to pay us a little visit. We are in the middle of an introduction, so maybe -”

“Benjamin!”, interrupts him the little master who is barely holding onto his demon. “Benjamin, stop it!”

I look over to my Father. The entire group has stopped now, standing there, staring at me and my demon. They all seem confused and excited. Only one person isn´t busy staring at Sarazeel, and mine meet my father´s cold eyes.

My heart jumps. I know he despises me for never following his orders, and the meeting the other day still leaves a sour taste in my mouth.

His lips silently form two words.

“You disappointment.”

I feel incredible discomfort, mostly because I am not used to this level of attention. But Sarazeel, who had kept his stand half behind me, waiting, glaring at the others, tenses up even more now.

“What a commotion.”, he whispers into my ear again, “I´ve never seen so many ridiculous demons at once.”

That was one word too many. The other demon ignores his master and stomps towards us.

The students, that had been sitting on the floor finally jump up and make their way to the other side of the field. Only Peter and our teacher remain, shivering. And I don´t feel all that safe anymore either, seeing the gigantic demon charging towards me.

“Kara! Make your demon shut up. I am so sorry, we never intended to insult-"

“No.”, interrupts my Father our teacher.

“Let´s give the two of them a try.”

I glance up at Sarazeel who smiles coldly but triumphantly. He meets my gaze and his eyes show unshuttered confidence. He bends down to me, and for the first time whispers so quietly that only I can hear it: “ The faster you learn that you´ll need only me to survive, the faster we can get out of here.”

My throat tightens. So all of this; all of his provocation was on purpose? Just to make me watch him defeat one of those other demons?

“Everybody leaves the sand- Pit. Father has demanded a battle!”; my teacher yells at the other students, who assemble themselves around the Square, now excited about the spectacle.

Peter pulls me away from my demon, who keeps standing opposite from his growling opponent.

Our Father waves me over to his side, where he waits at the entry of the pit with the other master.

“You both need to state your intentions for their fighting, before they can follow your order.”, he explains nonchalantly.

I feel the wind pulling on my hair, and an anxious feeling spreads through my stomach. The other Master seems to now be excited and gives me a belittling glance.

“I hope you´re ready to lose your little Pet.”, he exclaims, then screams to his bull like Demon:

“Don´t go easy on him, Benjamin. Kill him. Let´s teach them a lesson they won´t forget.”

The demon lets out a roaring shriek and I am honestly terrified, looking at the gigantic Monster full of muscle, opposing my demon who looks skinny compared to him.

But I had no other options left. If he believed in his strength, I had to, too.

“Don´t kill him, Sarazeel. Just defeat him.”, I state more confident than I feel.

They remain almost like statues for a few seconds, then the enemy starts circling Sarazeel.