Nostrils flared, every muscle in my body tensed as he spat out bloodied saliva again. He wiped the corner of his mouth and rose, the same sharpness to his form that I'd seen in the doorway of the tattoo parlour. Something inside me niggled for attention, a haze of scattered memories drowned out by white noise.

"Look, I know how this looks but rest assured you're safe now," he said, hands out, placating.

A sword rested against his thigh. Instinct jumped to life in me and I lunged forward, ripping it free faster than he could react. I was momentarily stunned by my speed and the effortless in which I held the blade, like it belonged in my hand.

Leraj took his chance, knocking the blade from my numb grasp. My body thrummed with a burst of adrenaline; I kneed him in the gut. He flew back and landed heavily, a crumpled ball wheezing in the dirt.

"Should have seen that coming," he muttered then groaned as he rose to his feet. His shoulders were slumped, eyes haggard and it was now that I noticed the dark circles under his eyes and the pallor of the tattoos and scars that usually shone bright.

A part of me fought to rush to his side, to hold him tight and comfort him. My grip tightened on the blade in repulsion and, to hide the warring battle within, I raised the tip so it quivered in his direction.

"Start talking," I spat.

He sighed and gestured to a set of bags on the ground and two horses watching with bright eyes and tuned ears. "We may as well sit, this will be long. You can put the blade down, Estra. I'm not going to do much in this state." He hobbled to the bags and sank to the ground on top of one. He patted the ground beside him.

"I think I'll stand." But I let the blade fall to my side, the weight an eerie comfort.

"You sure? Because what I'm about to say will... will startle you."

"Speak! Tell me what you did. How did we end up here? Where even is here? Why can't I remember anything after the parlour?"

"After... after I found you in the tattoo parlour, you were transported to Liones. Estra, you've been living as a Holy Knight under Hendrickson's tutelage."

I crumbled, crosslegged, onto the ground. The blade fell free of my fingers. The world spun, black and white and red, and I was finding it difficult to breathe past the lump in my throat. "What?" I wanted to say more, ask more but it was the only word that forced itself out.

"You were a Holy Knight."

The memories flickered by again, stronger this time, persistent to show me. Show it all to me until I was drowning in scenes that couldn't have been me but there I was, my voice, my hands, my reflection in a mirror. It all came rushing back and when my eyes refocused on Leraj, something bubbled within me.

At first, I thought it was fear and shock mixed into an ugly cocktail. But no, what brewed was obsidian and angry, coiling deep in my heart and pumping strength into my limbs.

My hands latched onto his throat, embers and flames scattering as I dove through the fire. A ghastly screech – halfway between a roar and a scream – emitted from my mouth as I curled my fingers tighter, watching the panic play out on his face.

"You monster!" I screamed, spittle flying, as he scrabbled in the dirt. He got his heels planted, arms on my waist, and flipped us. My back hit the ground hard, my ragged breaths stolen on impact. My hands relaxed and he tore them from his throat, forcing them to the ground overhead with one forearm and the other hand in the centre of my chest keeping me pinned.

I shook, legs flailing but he was positioned on my hips, holding me down with gritted teeth. Then he barked something in a foreign language and I froze, a coldness seeping into me.

"What did you do?" I hissed, barely able to open my mouth. Panic clutched me but was instantly smothered by the wrath inside.

"Calm down! Hendrickson still has people looking for us so stop fighting and just listen, please!"

Stop fighting? Stop fighting?! The last time I'd stopped fighting was when you'd walked through the door with a Holy Knight in tow.

"I had no choice," he admitted. He'd heard me and I watched his colour of his eyes soften to honey gold.

A single, burning image flared to life. "Enflame!"

Ears ringing, I sat up holding my head. Blood covered my fingers and when I touched my nose, there was a river running down over my mouth. The bags had been thrown and the horses were straining against their bonds, snorting and huffing, eyes rolling.

"Fuck! Again?" Leraj was peeling himself off the ground for the second time.

I narrowed my eyes at him then something much more important came to attention. My arms were on fire. Not my hands or my upper arm nor anywhere else on my body, just from elbows to wrists, red and orange flames flickering like a guttering fire-pit.

I yelped, scrambling to my feet at the same time I stretched my arms as far away from my clothing and torso as possible. "How do I put it out?" I screeched. Forget our feud, figuring out how to not catch the rest of me on fire was the first priority!

"You have to cancel the Mana," he said as if it was common knowledge.

I stared at him questioningly. "How?"

He came to me with cautious steps then reached out for my hands. His approach made the flames dance higher and I lunged forward to grasp his fingers without a second thought. The flames sizzled away and I was left holding his cold hands.

Heart in my ears, I could barely hear myself speak. "How did you do that? How did I do that? I don't know magic. I'm a fox. I've never learnt magic. You said it was Mana, do Holy Knights have Mana? How do I have Mana?"

His chuckle broke the torrent of my ramblings. An endearing smile spread across his face and warmth spread through my torso. I yanked my hands from his, stepped back to put more space between us.

"Don't give me that smile," I said sharply.

He shook his head, still laughing. "Sorry but right then, you reminded me so much of the Estra I first met."

I pursed my lips and looked around the camp site. The shock of my own self-combustion had cleared my head. Leraj told me I've been a Holy Knight and I had the memories to prove it but it still felt like a horrible dream that didn't happen to me. I never would have willingly become a Holy Knight hence why Leraj was charged with retrieving me. It didn't explain why he hung around with me all those times, why he played along with everything, why he cared.

"Where do you sit in all this?" I asked. "We – You worked for Hendrickson in Liones. Do your loyalties lie with him?" A sudden notion dawned on me. "Did your loyalties always lie with him?"

His face lost its humour, a pained expression creasing the edges of his eyes. "I didn't want them to but yes, my loyalties did lie with Hendrickson. We made a deal but me being a cocky ass when I first arrived in Liones led to a contract which I can't break without serious penalties."

"So why haven't I been hauled back to Liones yet?"

"Because my loyalty has changed. I'm on your side, Estra. I- You may not believe this, but I've been on your side for a while now. Just... biding my time. Demon blood is dangerous to play with and coupled with memory altering abilities, there was a chance you'd go mad. I had to wait until the two were at their weakest. Your recent encounter with your old team mates helped."

My eyes widened. "Oh dear god, I fought them." The fights played out in my mind's eye (the fact I'd been winning at some points didn't pass my attention either). "I don't know where Ban and King came from but I don't think they'll be too happy when we meet again."

He nodded. "Hopefully that won't be too far away."

"I'm going back to them?"

"Yes, Estra. The whole point of all this was to get you back to your friends." He gave me a look like I should have seen that coming and I bared my teeth, a growl behind them. "I'm glad that you're back to your old self again."

Was I really? I felt pinched, too hot, too big to fit in this human body anymore. The double set of memories, two sides of the same coin – one of the Seven Deadly Sins and one of the enemy's. Coupled with that, something fizzled inside my body, crackling. The same thing that had formed a fiery explosion from a single word.

"Come on," Leraj said, soft and warm. His hand grabbed my elbow, pulling the hand I hadn't put into my hair away from ripping it out from my skull. "I think you need some tea." 

Hey, I'm back! I'm hoping to work on this a little more now that it's nearing its conclusion. I'm estimating about another ten chapters to come (not including any other POVs I might decide to throw in) before the Epilogue of the novel.

o_o 

Anyhoo! Any comments are greatly appreciated :)