"Are you really sure you want to be doing this?"

"I don't really had a choice, Leraj," I muttered, weighing up the two rocks. The one on the left was heavier but it was said that the properties were almost as strong as diamond and could deflect physical blows without much damage to the wearer. Whereas the one on the right was lighter but not as durable. It did have the added advantage of being able to deflect magic attacks though.

Both were fire resistant but for how hot a fire?

"Are you okay there?" I snapped at Leraj as he grounded his chin into my shoulder. He'd been pouting all day since I told him the news.

"I don't want you to go," he huffed into my neck, rubbing his nose along the skin. A shiver ran from head to toe but I shrugged him off.

It was already hot enough as it was standing at the blacksmith's; his abnormally warm body pressed against my back and his arms around my waist were not helping matters.

"Like I said, clingy, I don't have a choice. Hendrickson has assigned me a mission so I have to go."

He growled under his breath and moved away. I bit my lip, concerned. He never acted like this when I went on other missions. Was it because we were a couple now? Or something more?

"Have you made a choice?" the blacksmith asked, reappearing from the back room. His face was black with soot.

"Get in a fight back there?" I asked, laughing.

"Damn frying pans. I swear if Gildred asks me one more time to make her pans, I'll eat horse crap," he muttered, rubbing at his face and making things worse. Now his skin matched the same colour as his tied up hair.

"Jonn," I gave him an exasperated look. "Every time I'm here you say the same thing. Why don't you just tell her you like her instead of whining about fixing her pots and pans which you accept anyway?"

Jonn crossed his muscular arms across his chest in a threatening stance but his cheeks were dusted pink. "It's not that easy," he said then cleared his throat. "Anyway, today's never about me. Have you decided on one?"

I rolled my eyes but let it drop. Getting Jonn to express his love for the castle chef's daughter was like asking a pig to get out of the mud. "They're both quality ore – kudos by the way for finding them – but how fire resistant are they? What heat can they withstand?"

Jonn scratched at the stubble on his chin. "Well, I had them sitting in the furnace the other day. Built it up real big till me and the boys were swimming in sweat. They didn't crack or melt like I expected. But the one in your left hand, it started shimmering real quick. That's usually a sign that it won't hold up for long after we hammer it out flat. But the durability of the one in your right hand is reduced when it comes to physical attacks so it all depends on your mission this time."

"I don't do much blow deflecting with my forearms and I don't think I will for the mission so the right one it is," I handed both chunks of ore back. "What's the cost for it?"

"I'll just add it to your ever increasing tab. You don't want to know the price at the moment. You definitely won't be able to pay it. I'll send Franx up to your room with them when they're completed." He disappeared into the back room and I gave a heavy sigh.

I'd really need to start earning more gold if I was to pay for all these armour upgrades. My vambraces were the most important piece to be fixed. I couldn't have them squeezing the life out of my arms should I need to be continuously flamed up.

"That didn't look like enough ore for your pauldron or greaves," Leraj commented, finished with his silent tantrum. His eyes still looked hardened though.

"Because I'm not wearing them." I dared not look at him; I could already imagine his bewildered stare. "I'm adjusting my lightweight armour for this mission. I need all the mobility I can get."

"Mobility? What about protection?"

I waved him off and walked down the street, headed for the bar. "I'm paying. You coming?" I asked him.

His jaw twitched and I could see the muscles in his neck working. Angry didn't describe what he was feeling but I knew he wouldn't pass up the offer of food. It did, however, leave him open to berate me as we went together.

And berate me he did.

"Some days I wonder if you believe yourself to be invincible. Every single fight we get into, you dive in without a care. And that includes your choices of armour too."

"Look, Hendrickson gave me a run down of the mission. I just don't see the need for so much armour especially when I've got the other Holy Knights around me and the fact that Hendrickson wants me to sit on the sidelines."

"Oh yeah, like Guila is going to keep your back after you thrashed her star pupil in combat last week. And since when have you ever, ever listened on the missions? Remember the other week, you know, against those giant trolls?"

Eyes half lidded, I gave him a glare. "Since when did you become my father?"

"I became your boyfriend. It gives me more right to give you lip about stupid decisions."

"You never made a peep when I wore my lightweight armour differently those other times."

"That's because I was with you!" he shouted and stopped. The people around us moved away. "I was there to protect you."

I pinched the bridge of my nose. "Leraj, I don't need protecting. Why else would I have trained so much?"

"You know as well as I do why you've been training so much," his voice flat when he stated it.

"So that's what this is really about. Do you really want to go down that path on our first row as a couple? Because I can assure you, you won't win."

"I have to go down that path because you won't, Estra. Common sense exists for a reason but it doesn't seem to in your head. You know as well as I do that your magic at the moment won't be enough against him."

That stung. Even for him that was a low blow. Eyes burning, I stalked away from him. "Buy your own lunch, asshole!" I called back.

He didn't follow.

Why did that hurt even more?

I headed for another bar, palming hot tears away as I went. It wasn't until I was some distance away that I realised he was, in fact, right. When Hendrickson told me the mission was to face the Seven Deadly Sins, I'd jumped at the chance without a second thought.

My only thought was on battling him.

The man that took everything from me. The man that I could still see the silhouette of every time I thought about the day everything changed for me.

Common sense or revenge? Which would I listen to, which would I give in to?

The food at the bar had no taste and I ate bitterly, a battle raging within me. By the time I returned to my room, the sun was beginning to set, painting the world in golden rays. He wasn't in there and I frowned before face planting into the bed.

Why was it all so hard?

There came a knock at the door and I rushed at it, throwing it open to see...

Franx. Just Franx.

"Oh." I deflated somewhat.

"Wow, okay, that's a new way to be greeted," he said with wide eyes. He feigned a stab wound to the chest and knelt on the ground. "How dare thee wound me with such a word?"

I grinned and pulled him up by the shoulders. "Okay, hand them over. I need to see what they feel like."

Franx, with his shaggy brown hair and large green eyes, was about as much a blacksmith as a sheep was a wolf. But while he didn't have the same strength or abilities as his father, he had a voice that could make men weep and a way with words that would trick even a King.

He held out the brown package to me and I cradled it to my chest. "Thanks. Let your father know I'll be round when I get back to tell him how they go."

He gave me a salute and ran off, followed by my laughter. I headed back inside and almost leapt out of my skin.

"Leraj?! Did you climb through my window?" I screeched, glaring at him.

He lounged on my bed, face blank. "How else would I have made it in if you were blocking the door?"

I grounded my teeth together and lobbed the vambraces at him. He caught them against his stomach.

"You have some nerve, showing up here," I growled, walking over to my bed.

He moved the vambraces out of the way and sat up. "Don't pretend that you didn't want me to."

"After what you said to me, you bet your ass that I wanted you here just so I could scream at you again for how- how completely and utterly dumb you are being."

I glared at him from above, he glared up. For a few tense seconds this continued before he stood and cupped my face and ran a thumb along my lips.

"You have to understand, Estra. I'm not saying these things to keep you from getting revenge. I just... I don't want you to get hurt."

I dropped my head onto his shoulder. "I know," I murmured, giving him a playful nip at his neck.

"Promise me. Promise me you won't do anything reckless. That you'll come back to me."

"I promise," I whispered. I sealed the deal with a kiss, my fingers feather light on his neck. He gathered me into his arms, kissing me long and hard, both gentle and rough.

He held me tight all night, one hand over my waist, the other holding tight my left hand, foreheads touching. He always looked so peaceful when he slept and I left feather kisses on his nose and lips. He barely even stirred and the faintest smile graced my lips.

I was lucky to have him. Luckier than I should be. Friends for nigh on five years now, it was him that kept me going through all this. When at last my eyelids fluttered shut, it was to drag me into my one living hell.

"Mum! Dad!" I screamed, tripping and stumbling through what remained of the courtyard. Water sploshed through my boots, water tainted red from the broken bodies lying face down.

I tightened my grip on my small sword, heart beating faster. The houses around me were burning, the world was burning. It was so hot I couldn't breathe, the smoke taking away all my oxygen.

They couldn't be dead. They just couldn't.

I shouldn't have left this morning to train. I should have stayed home.

I rounded the corner and stopped short. My eyes widened and a tortured scream left my throat. The sword slipped through my fingers before my knees hit the ground.

A roaring inferno engulfed the house, the wood black as the darkest night. Framed by those flames stood a man with a broken sword in hand. He took a few steps back then turned to face me.

I woke gasping, my hand clutching at my chest. My heart fluttered quickly before reverting back to a normal, fast paced rhythm. Hands clutched me and I sunk into his arms. Leraj held tight, soothing me with soft murmurs and kisses.

I sobbed into his chest, holding at tight as possible.

It had been some time since that nightmare. I'd stopped having it the day we set foot within the academy grounds and I'd sworn to destroy the sins.

For even though I could not remember his face, I could remember the tattoo on his shoulder. The dragon eating its own tail.

The Dragon's Sin of Wrath. 

A/N: Hey guys, we are gearing up for the showdown between Estra and the sins so stay tuned for the chapters to come! 

Let me know your thoughts below on the chapter - I appreciate everything you have to say about it.