Fox Of Greed (Greedy Fox Book 1)

~~ TWENTY NINE ~~

"Spirit Spear Chastiefol!" The bear morphed back into his signature spear and he swung it like a baseball bat, knocking me from the sky the same way he did to Jericho.

I landed on the balls of my feet, sword drawn out to the side. I swung it so the tip pointed forward, all while shouting, "Firework!" The air around King rippled then exploded in a multitude of sparks and colours. It was similar to Guila's Chain Reaction but had the added advantage of blinding the target.

Little blades came whistling down. Flames wrapped around my left hand and I used Enflame to blast them away from me. They regroup back into the sword. King floated down slowly, blinking furiously.

Seeing my chance, I held up my arm again, fingers clawed. "Thi-"

He held up two fingers then swung the hand in a complex manoeuvre. His spirit spear obeyed, slashing at me in all directions. I parried the blows with lightning reflexes then caught the jab he sent to my face by the crossguard of his spear. My breath fogged the steel.

"Stop it, King! She's one of us!" called a voice.

"Princess Elizabeth?" I muttered then with a surge of strength, beat the spear back and backhanded it. It twirled away and arced back towards King. He levelled the tip to me again.

I wouldn't have enough time to cast Thief before the blade got me. He seemed...aware of my power when he shouldn't have known. Not many know I share this trait with the Fox's Sin of Greed.

"How can you say that? She's siding with Guila and Jericho. And you said it yourself, Hawk, she doesn't remember you or any of us," King replied, his eyes never leaving me.

"Of course I don't remember any of you! Why would I? The only person I know is the Captain of the Seven Deadly Sins, Meliodas. He's the only one I even care about because it was his wrath that burned my village to the ground. My parents," I choked back tears but enough was said.

"That's not true!" piped Elizabeth. My eyes zeroed in on her voice – she was tiny! And she sat on the back of the pig. "Estra, you're a fox. You're the Fox of Greed. You told us that yourself."

"Shut up!" I roared. "Shut up, shut up, shut up!" I dropped my sword and cradled my head in my hands. Violent shudders ran through me. "I'm not your goddamn friend!" But the words were bitter in my mouth.

I chomped on my tongue, tasted blood, but it anchored me enough to regrip my sword. "I'm done playing games." I stood tall, spat out a wad of bloody saliva. "My objective is to get to Meliodas. If I have to carve my way through you, so be it."

King's feet hit the ground. "Then do it. That way, I won't have to hold back."

I quickly closed the distance between us in a few short steps. He raised his blade and snapped his fingers. I dropped low, sliding. The blade sailed harmless overhead; my feet connected with King's ankles. He fell down and I jumped to my feet, blade raised overhead. Hawk and Elizabeth were screaming behind me.

"One down," I said through gritted teeth, the bubbling anger towards these foul knights erupting. I stabbed downwards.

A hundred pound walking ham side-tackled me. A cacophony of cracks sounded. I landed heavily, gasping for air, curled in on myself. Four cracks. Four broken ribs. Damn, stupid pig. I raised my head, strands of hair falling down over my face, searching for the enemy. My sword laid a good metre away. Something heavy landed on me, smothering my face in fat, plushie paws.

I growled – King's stupid guardian again! Would he never give up? It raised me up then held me under the armpits to restrain me. I kicked at it but it didn't budge. I clenched fists and orangey-gold flames fanned from fist to elbow on both sides. King stood before me, a hard look in his eyes.