The light fox dissipated. I tapped my finger on my chin. "So I shouldn't have even been able to use it, is what you're saying?"

"Yes. The last one wasn't anywhere near as strong as what you seem to be. I waited until you'd appear to show me just how pathetic the foxes had become."

I glared at her for that comment. "I have an ancient book that told the story of the original seven. It says Greed has control over the elements."

"Indeed. That's the power I covert, the three remaining elements. I left fire behind because I knew if they had that, they'd be complacent. Fire is important, along with water. Back then, they were precious resources, more important than the other two. Had I left air or earth, they'd have been suspicious. But I wasn't daft enough to leave them all of Fire. I still hold some of it."

I looked at her long and hard, skin prickling. She had the other elements. Hunger gnawed at me. The words slipped out of me before I could measure the consequences.

"Then give them to me. You have no need what with being trapped in this cave. I have a need."

She whirled on me, her tails sharp and whipping around her. The cave was plunged into a sickly purple light as the flames overhead burst into indigo. She bared her teeth, razor sharp fangs that glistened in the fire.

"You think I'd share? This is my power to command! Before those pathetic deities trapped me, I ruled as Queen."

I stood my ground as the golden rings on her tails shattered into shards. Her figure grew until she towered, a blazing force of pure power breathing down on me.

Inside me, something curdled. An instinct, but not to run.

To fight.

"What makes you think you of all people deserves it? I've lost count of the ones before you who had come to slake their thirst with this power, to steal it from me because I am as ancient as the hills and trees? I tore them to shreds before they even landed a hit!"

Wind howled around us, the walls cracking and shuddering. The firelight sputtered then surged, licking towards her outstretched tails. Her fur rippled as lightning zinged across it and bursts of static crackled against her teeth. Such raw strength.

My lips peeled back, the feel of incisors growing. Within, a fire burst to life. Flames travelled my veins. My skin was a network of dark red. I dared not move even as the ground rocked beneath my feet. Instead, I stared her down.

"You either give me that power or I'll rip it from your cold, dead body." My flames exploded free and twisted around me until I stood in a fox made of infernos that rivalled her size.

The heat of my flames scorched the back of my throat and I could feel my skin bubbling from the intensity; but I cared not. I wanted this power more than anything in this world. I craved it, hungered for it, couldn't live without it. The very thought of it being almost within my grasp stole my breath away.

But more than that, I needed it. This power was not for myself. With that power, I'd be able to hold my own against those demons. I'd be able to protect my friends and family like I never could before.

She cocked her head to the side and I braced for an attack that never came. She slowly shrank down to her normal size. Her tails return to their usual fluffy state and she sat back on her haunches. The soft glow returned to the cave as everything quietened down.

I didn't relax. She grinned, fangs back to normal, and with a flick of her paw dispelled my flames.

I kept my shock inside. All along she could have disabled me.

"Of all who have come into my lair, there have only been two who have stood before me unwavering. There is no Greed without want. That was the problem with the others. They wanted power but they did not crave it. They didn't need it like it was clean oxygen or fresh water."

"So now what?" I questioned.

"Now I will give it to you."

It seriously can't be that easy. "Are you actually going to give me the remainder of Greed?"

"I actually have no choice. I was forced into a blood pact with the original druid who guarded me that stated that I must give my blessing to those I found worthy. It's complicated, messy magic with a thousand loopholes and this druid must have known I hadn't given up all of Greed. So he made Greed my blessing."

She padded over to me and motioned for me to kneel before her. "I see myself in you, little fox," was all she said before she pressed her nose to my forehead.

An instant chill ran through me, then deliciously powerful magic sang in my bones. I gasped, my eyes unseeing. It pounded in my veins, my heart and soul. I could feel myself shuddering but couldn't seem to stop myself. I felt alive, more alive than ever before. I felt like I could do anything in the world and win.

The magic beckoned me closer and I dove in head first, wild and free.

She pulled back and I noted that my vision was sharper. I cocked a head, listening to the sounds around us with awe, the smells around me intoxicating.

"It's... It's amazing," I breathed. "I feel invincible."

"It does, doesn't it?" There was a fondness in her eyes that she didn't have before. "Go ahead, show me your Fire again, Estra, and do not hold it back."

Before, holding onto it had been like grasping a slippery fish. Now the power surged with ferocity as it filled my entire being. The fox made of infernos burst to life again and I breathed in deep, the air crisp on my throat.

It didn't hurt.

I delved deeper into my Mana. The inferno roared as it grew, snuffing the firelight from the chandelier by devouring it whole. The marble foxes began to melt around me – no, even the ground began to melt.

Greed remained unscathed, her eyes narrowed from the heat, tsking. "Try not destroying my hard work."

The fire receded until they were nothing more than quivers of flame running up and down my arms.

"All those things you could do before will be easy as pie now."

"What about my other power Thief?"

"Oh, that's what you call it? Yes, that will be easy as pie too. Who can stand against you if you can literally drain them of their power for your own disposal?"

I was beginning to understand how Greed was one of the top 3 back in the day. This much power to command, I'd have been unstoppable back in Liones.

I cancelled the flames completely. "How do I use the other elements?"

"You'll have to discover them yourself. Every fox of greed has a greater affinity for one over the others and thus that's why fire was easier in your case. However, the other three won't be so easy. It may take days, weeks or months, years even to tap into the full strength of Greed. Just understand however that Greed was introduced into your body. The first time you awaken a new element, you will most likely lose control."

I can be unstoppable. I clenched my hand into a fist. I will be unstoppable.

"But if you want Greed to work well and not be a waste of my precious time, you need to use Instinct."

"Instinct? What's that, another power?"

"No, you daft fool. Instinct is instinct. You've spent so long gallivanting across the countryside as a human that you've totally disregarded what you truly are. A fox."

"Well that couldn't be helped. I wasn't exactly in a position to interchange between the two."

She snarled. "Stop making excuses for something you can easily do. Stop thinking and acting like a human when you're clearly not one. You're a fox, act like it! We are cunning, stealthy, quick and agile. We fight tooth and nail, not with steel and shields. Greed is only as good as its wielder and if you want to become the best then you need to start reacting like a fox."

"I don't understand how I'm supposed to do that if I've been a fox this entire time." I could change my outside but I knew what I was inside of this form. "You're not making any sense."

"Then let me simplify things. Had you really been yourself, you wouldn't have died in Liones."

A/N: might have chapter 9 and 9.5 posted sometime soon. I'm on a bit of a roll lately.