Sin Of Greed (Greedy Fox Book 2)

~~ FOUR ~~

The lightning blast sent the air back under me and I was thrown away. I landed on all fours, a fine layer of dust now sticking to the demon blood. The air settled. The demon, head cocked back with a roar, trembled as it raised its arms.

An alarming spike in demonic power drained the feeling from my limbs. There was nowhere to hide, nowhere to escape to. In desperation, I cast Cold Fire on a stack of rubble. I'd never used it before on an inanimate object and I worried the blue flames dancing on brick would do nothing to protect me as I skidded behind it.

The demon threw its arms wide a split second later, a pulse of death destroying everything in its path. The flames flashed bright and a half-sphere of blue flames curled around my hiding spot with a hum.

Nothing remained of the village in a large radius around us. Had Cold Fire not worked, I'd be pulverised dust, without even a molecule of me remaining.

My legs trembled with fatigue once I cancelled my protective magic. Perhaps Cold Fire on an inanimate object did have a downside I didn't know about. Scrunching my toes, I cast Kitsune and the mana was trickling cold water over my skin.

No more big attacks. I'd have to rely on my tail. I swished it, the flames spluttering and whipping about like a candle in the wind.

The fight had continued. Gilthunder and Howzer stood close by behind along shield that looked a lot like Griamore's magic. A fourth individual had gone for the demon.

He slashed at the demon's wrist and drew blood, then hurriedly dodged the demon's retaliation. With sheer force on its side, the demon clipped him with his hand and sent him flying.

The man smelt familiar but I didn't have time to figure out why. He had a sword which meant he was a Holy Knight too so I couldn't very well let him be killed. Would look bad when I returned home.

I dashed up behind the demon's injured leg, pivoted and with a mighty roar, smashed my Enflamed tail into the wound I'd made earlier. It careened forward onto a knee as I landed, only to have to jump aside as it kicked out with its other leg.

The man with the sword darted forward, carving a deep grove into the demon's wrist. It howled and got back to its feet, eyes darting between the two of us. I snarled, hackles raised, multi-coloured sparks dancing around me.

We traded blows, the demon attempting to squash us, me landing crushing blows on the demon's ankles and backs of knees and the Holy Knight delivering strikes to its unprotected arms.

At one point, the knight and I crossed paths, the smell of him niggling at my memories. But I had no time to look or linger as the demon brought its fists down onto the ground. The shockwave threw us both off our feet.

I recovered fast.

The man reacted too slowly. 

Time slowed. The demon's fist unfurled to a flat hand. The man staggered to his feet, trying to raise up his sword with his injured arm. 

I bunny-kicked the man out of the way. The demon's palm smacked into me like a horse and cart.

I was stronger than your average fox as we all know but it seemed I didn't quite have the same level of supernatural strength as earlier. Being smashed into the ground had the same effect as it did for anyone human. Bones shattered on impact and I rolled head over heels until the world spun.

Pain! So much pain!

I whimpered in a crumpled heap. Dust tickled my lungs but my chest hurt too much to cough. The demon's face loomed over me, haloed by the sun.

My end. And I could do nothing except stare my second death in the face.

I haven't warned the others yet.

A lightning bolt to its side knocked the demon away from me. A shaky, short breath left my nose in relief as it granted me a moment's respite.

I willed the mana in me and from the earth into healing my bones. The world went fuzzy at the edges, black and red sparkles in my vision. Pretty sure I stopped breathing when bone connected back to bone and muscle connected back to bone. The muffled sounds of battle raged around me as I swam between consciousness and sleep.

Only when my tail bones reconnected to my spine did I gasp in a lungful of dusty, dank air. My vision sharpened again, just in time for the man I'd saved to land atop the demon's face.

"Purge!"

The demon fell over with a heavy thump. I rose on shaky legs, the ache in my body crippling. No matter though, I'd live to fight another day.

Griamore, Gilthunder and Howzer were all staring up at the man still on the demon corpse. Now that the chaos was over, I got a good look at him.

His face glistened with sweat that he swiped with a forearm, turquoise eyes sharp and bright as he looked around. His silver hair was dusty and he shook his head to try and dislodge some. Then his eyes fell on me.

The world narrowed on the singular person who'd ruined my entire life.

Snarling and spitting, I barrelled towards him. The stabbing ache in all my bones was nothing compared to the torturous grief and the all-consuming rage that swelled in my veins.

I watched him jump down, his hand tightening on his blade as he angled his body towards mine. My muscles bunched and coiled as I prepared to launch at his throat.

"Estra?" 

A/N: if anyone finds joined words, let me know with inline comments