EDIT: I don't know why but all my words are joining again. If you're reading this, can you please point out any I've missed? I'm going through now to fix some but I'll most likely miss some.

A/N: I've returned! Now that NaNo is over again I can turn my focus back on this book. The end is nearing so I hope you guys have your seat belts on!

Here's a little break in POV to show a little more of Leraj's backstory. His character has come a very long way from just the random demon teaching Estra how to fight. He wasn't actually supposed to have such a big roll - he wasn't even supposed to have his own POVs!! Funny how characters start writing their own stories after a while.

ENJOY!

Leraj's POV

Every muscle in my body was clenched tight to stop me from wheeling my horse around and following her and Heido. I didn't want to leave her alone but I had to, not just to keep those on our tail at bay but because it was too hard.

I'd sworn not to lose my heart on this mortal plane and she'd thoroughly screwed that up. Taken my heart and kept it for herself. Seeing the crashing sea of emotions in her eyes reminded me of how much of a bastard I was to her.

I sighed then unwrapped my arm from my waist. Cramping in my abdomen caused me to hiss, crippling pain barely restrained by a taunt spell. Any moment it would shatter now and I had to make sure I was far enough away so that she couldn't see.

The moment I'd helped Estra escape, I had felt it creeping up over me like a fever. It was like I was being poisoned from the inside, creeping, excruciating. I hadn't completely broken the contract therefore the countermeasures in place where slowly leeching me, hovering nearby for when I broke it. And by helping Estra escape, I'd broken a main point on that contract.

Fuck, this was going to cane. I dropped the spell I'd fashioned to hold it away, to no longer delay the inevitable. Better now that in the midst of a fight. Pain flared before a recoiling shock lashed my gut. A low groan let my lips and I coughed up blood. Another shock and I accidentally kicked Butch. He pigrooted as the third shock cracked against me and I fell out of the saddle.

I rolled then curled in the foetal position. My body trembled and I was coughing so hard that I vomited. The bile was black as tar.

It wasn't common knowledge to the humans but higher class demons had more than one heart. Before I was banished, I'd been one of the elite, a personal soldier for the Demon King. With a clawed hand, I punched through my chest and grabbed three shrivelled organs and ripped them from my chest. They no longer pulsed and the blood oozingfrom the severed veins and arteries was ashy sludge.

I cauterised the vessels and the gaping hole in my chest before I passed out. The bone shuddering pain was replaced with a simple ache. With each heartbeat, I returned to my senses, felt the cooling breeze on my flush skin.

Two hearts left. I'm getting too reckless.

Minutes passed before I had the strength to uncurl myself. I hauled myself up onto my feet, bleary-eyed, offending organs still in my hand. A single thought and word set them aflame, the rancid scent of burning flesh fouling the night. Butch was cropping grass further along and I shushed him as I neared, running my clean hand over his coat. He shivered at my touch and his ears pulled back but he allowed me to mount him.

I took the reins in hand, steered him back along the path to Liones. My ears strained to hear the sounds of the demons now, my powers weak, heart fluttering in my veins. The kernel of magic I possessed was nothing more than a grain of sand now so I drew my sword and laid it on my lap. I'd always have the strength to wield a sword.

Moonlight spilled over the land and it was the calm before the storm. My lips twitched as I remembered the last time I'd waiting with sword in hand in an open plain. A memory older than time but I could still smell the scent of fear and pure rage clouding the human army ahead.

"They resist even though they know they'll lose," I had said, not turning my head, knowing he stood there.

"Probably the only thing memorable of humans – they don't know when to give up."

A piercing shriek sounded ahead and fractured the memory. I urged Butch faster. Dispatching the demons would be easier than fighting humans. The lower class had taken it upon themselves to hunt me.

Let the prey become the predator.

I touched my lips still feeling the tingle from her's, a good luck charm and a promise. "Don't worry, Estra," I whispered to myself, curling my bloodied hand around the sword hilt. "I'll make sure you get your revenge."

The first demon materialised and with practice ease, I lunged forward in the saddle, skewered it through the head. Just as I was flicking the gunk from my sword, the second appeared, snarling and spitting. My blood rose at the thought of battle.

Just like the good ol' days.