Page 172 of A Soul to Touch

They were stating what she already knew.

Her plan had been to run from the Duskwalker that was about to go nuts. She wasn’t going to fight so close to where he could accidentally make her his prey, but he turned to look at her standing at the top of the steps.

Then he walked towards the Demonslayers in the middle of the clearing.

“Faunus?” she asked his back.

“I will protect you for as long as I can.”

His mind isn’t turning over.That was odd.

Whatever, it didn’t matter. He was on her side, and she really fucking needed that right now. Especially when she heard the roar of three more humans entering from the forest with swords raised.

Great! More Demonslayers.She mentally threw her hands up as she dodged another arrow that came from the forest. She ran down the stairs with her sword raised.

She couldn’t leave Faunus out there by himself.

“Duck!” she shouted.

Faunus lowered, but he didn’t know it was so she could literally step on his back and use him as a bouncing pad. She wasn’t going to have him at the frontline – not if she could help it. He could protect her from behind.

With her sword raised above her, she came down silently on Cordon. He lifted his sword and redirected her while stepping to the side.

She crouched down to avoid an oncoming sword from the side. Then she squealed in surprise and had to pivot to her toes to avoid an arrow lodging into her arse!

A clash of different swords rang out beyond her peripheral gaze. Mayumi expected that she and Faunus would be surrounded with weapons pointed at them by now, but that never happened.

“What are Colt’s Outpost soldiers doing here?” someone yelled.

Just as she went to investigate the newcomers, Faunus grabbed the hood of her jacket and yanked her back. A whip end struck the air right where she’d been standing.

“Thanks,” Mayumi mumbled to Faunus.

He snorted a huff in response, which sprayed a small mist of purple blood through the bandage covering his nose hole.

“Mayumi!” a familiar voice yelled.

She turned to Henry, finding Klaus and Yoshida were with him. They had already taken up arms against the Demonslayers, seeing she needed the assistance.

She noted only Klaus and Henry were wearing armour.Did they abandon their posts to come here?Why?

Yoshida was in his everyday leather, and his hand held his scabbard, using it as a shield, with his sword in his other hand. He had no weapons belt, and she figured he’d probably been off-duty.

Since Faunus stepped in their direction, she got between him and them by placing her back against his big shoulder and chest. He’d morphed into his more monstrous form at some point and was leaning on his hands.

It was easier for her to talk to him since their heads were near a similar height.

“They’re my friends,” she told him as she assessed the battling field with her head turning one way and then the other. Enemies were approaching, and Mayumi was deciding who to strike against first. “I don’t know why, but they’re here to help.”

Mayumi wondered if they’d been hiding in the forest and watching to see what would happen before running out.

“I figured they were on your side when they started attacking the Demonslayers,”he answered plainly.

Faunus wasn’t attacking. He hadn’t made a single move to confront a Demonslayer after killing the first one. Faunus was choosing to be her shield rather than her weapon, and her heart tightened.

He knows he shouldn’t fight.

Mayumi was about to correct him that they were ontheirside, but Yoshida, the brave, stupid bastard, proved Faunus right. With a roaring battle cry, he sprinted at Faunus with his sword raised to attack the most frightening and freakish thing in the clearing.

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