Fox Of Greed (Greedy Fox Book 1)

~~ SIXTY EIGHT ~~

"I know... you told me... not to put you first. But... I'd never live with myself... if I didn't."

My breath came in pants, blood dripping down my face. His blood. I heard Hendrickson's hand withdraw, the squelch and suck of the hand retreating from Leraj's chest.

"Leraj?" I whispered. His full weight fell on me and we toppled.

Hendrickson stared down at us, haloed by the sun. Then, he cocked his head and stepped past, heading to Elizabeth and Meliodas.

"Leraj?" I whispered again, rolling us over so that he lay on the ground.

I lost all feeling. Leraj's chest was a gaping hole, raggedly falling, blood pulsating out. His eyes were squeezed shut, hands fumbling blindly. The acrid stench brought me back to my senses and I clamped my hands over the wound.

Like that did anything. My fingers sank into the carnage, shards of bone against my skin. The blood kept flowing like a broken faucet past my hand. My breath came in sharp gasps. He was pale as a ghost and even his tattoos and scars had lost their shimmer.

"No, no, no, this can't be happening," I moaned, grabbing the edges of his shirt and pulling it up to put pressure against the hole.

"It's... okay... Estra," he muttered, blood trickling out of his mouth and nose. His tongue came out to wet his lips and left a smear of blood.

"It's not okay!" I screamed shrilly which made him open his teary eyes a fraction wider before they drifted closed again. A freed tear rolled down his cheek. "I can stop this, I can, I can." Digging deep, I drew enough mana to cast Enflame onto my hands but the blood put it out. A choked sob came from somewhere deep in my throat but I took a deep, wavering breath and gritted my teeth. "Enflame!"

"It's...not going to work." He gave a rattling breath, more blood than air, and the sob broke free. My concentration failed and the flames went out.

"It has to. It has to," I cried, tears streaming down my face. But my heart and head knew the truth.

I abandoned the task, instead gathering him in my arms. I clutched him tight, as if my strength alone could keep him here. He reached up with a hand and drew my head down to his.

Our foreheads bumped gently, mine warm, his slick with sweat yet cold as ice.

"It's... okay, Estra. You... can let me go."

I shook my head and raised it. His hand fell down to my cheek, fingers pressing into my skin like I was an anchor to him.

"I can't do that. Please, please, don't. If I let you go, you'll- you'll-"

"Estra... look at me." With evident struggle, he opened his eyes. The amber had lost their shine, leeched of life. Blood stained his nostrils and mouth and his throat worked hard on words and air. My mouth twisted with sobs I tried to bite back.

"I'm glad... I met you... lovely fox." He coughed, bloodied spittle running down his chin. "And... I'm glad I got... to save you... one last... time."

I watched in horror as the last of his life left his face, his hand limp and falling away. The world tilted, bucking beneath my knees, as the tattoos and scars faded to white.

The first no came out without any sound.

He didn't move.

The second no came out like a squeak, barely above a whisper, as I felt the world around me stop.

His chest no longer rose.

This couldn't be happening.

"Have you never seen a demon before?"

"Destroying things is what I'm good at." He winked at me.

"Are you hurt?" was the first thing he said. Actual concern laced his voice.

"What the hell?" He rubbed his jaw and shot me a disbelieving look. "Is it really you, fox?"

Round and round and round spun all the memories of our time together, the good, the bad and the ugly. My chest tightened, the thundering of blood in my ears much more than just that. The world spun back into existence. 

A pressure built up inside of me, stronger than anything I'd ever felt. It tingled my limbs, dancing along the skin in small vibrations. Mana pooled, overflowed, scorching every vein in my body.

Rage collided with grief and fear and devoured them both. It howled inside of me.

My kneecap slid back into place silently, muscle and skin restitching with barely a tickle. The fatigue dropped off my shoulders like a heavy coat, the world clearer.

I raised myself up, watching as Hendrickson paused and turned back to me. "You don't know when to quit." He lifted a hand towards me, a single bead of black appearing at the nail.

No, not rage.

Greed.

End him. End the demon who killed Leraj. It wanted blood, it wanted carnage.

"Time to die," Hendrickson hissed. He let the attack loose. A blast of pure darkness.

I wanted to end him.

My scream set the world on fire.

A raging tornado of fire enveloped us. I held my ground, hands in fists, bent at the waist, screaming my throat raw with every emotion I'd kept bottled inside. Gusts of scalding wind whipped my hair around my face, skin blistering from the inferno.

When I finally ran out of breath, the inferno lost strength and died down to flames flickering on dead tufts of grass. Scorched earth and soot marks stretched in all directions like a mutated star under my feet. Leraj's dead body lay behind me, Cold Fire protecting my late friend.

My mouth tasted of ash but I wasn't done yet. That pressure inside throbbed, swelling once again. My hands shook from it.

Hendrickson hobbled upright. His wings were regenerating and he held a hand to his face. What remained of his mouth pulled back into a twisted snarl, blood stained teeth on show. Half of his body was stitching itself back together, sickening cracks and scratching scuttles.

"What the hell did you do?" he rapsed.

No rational thought remained in my brain. Instinct had me hissing, eyes narrowed on the demon before me. My prey. My prey. I bared my teeth, crouching onto all fours. Flames burst to life around me. Not on me, around. I felt the form they took, a fox with multiple tails, a set of large ears on my head. Fur standing on end, canines against my lips, large paws sunken in the ground.

Slaughter.

Devour.

Tear him limb from limb.

Make his blood rain.