Page 70 of A Soul to Touch

“He cried,”the raven-skulled one said, as he lowered himself.

The bat-skulled one lowered as well.“He has never done that before.”

Ignoring them for the moment, Faunus stood on three limbs and steadied himself as he checked his skull. By running his fingers tips over the crack, and the additional throb he had, he knew the crack had extended – although only minutely.

White grew in his orbs before he turned to them.

“I said I didn’t wish to play today!”he roared, his heart thumping chaotically in his chest.

Fuck!They’d ensured he was closer to the end!

Like they shared the same damn, useless brain, their orbs grew bright red in unison as they snarled. Like all Mavka, they were quick to anger.

Faunus knew he must have pushed back his hood slightly when both came to the same realisation, and their orbs turned white.

“His skull is cracked,”the bat-skulled one said as he stepped back with what could only be uncertainty.

The raven-skulled one came closer to his twin. He seemed to have needed comforting, physical contact between them, since he leaned his shoulder against him.“This is not good.”

Fixing his hood to make sure it covered his face, Faunus couldn’t help thinking that they’d stated the obvious.

“Yes,”Faunus sighed, before taking a step to the side so he could be just that bit closer to the border of the Veil. To freedom, to safety.“I have cracked my skull, which is why I cannot play, and now you have injured me further.”

Their orbs turned a deep blue.

“We are sorry.”

“We did not know.”

“We would never wish to harm you on purpose.”

“You are friend.”

He didn’t know who spoke since when they were standing beside each other, their voices were near identical.

We are more than friends,Faunus thought sadly. But he knew these two wouldn’t understand the concept of family, of brothers and what that meant.

“It’s fine,”Faunus answered. Although he was seething with rage, there was no point in taking it out on them. He needed to get out of the Veil before it was too late, and now his time with Mayumi had grown shorter.“I must leave the Veil. It’s no longer safe for me here. Let me pass freely.”

He started to leave, finding his feet moving of their own accord at just the thought of his fiery little hunter.

He’d been close to the border, had almost escaped all this. He couldn’t help his own orbs turning a deep, pitiful colour of blue, so dark that it drowned out any sort of light. Even the dreary world of the Veil seemed colder, and it caused a shiver to tremble through him.

Faunus looked over his shoulder when he knew they were following him by their pawsteps. Their heads tilted in opposite directions, away from each other, when they noticed his sight on them.

“Why are you following me?”he asked before turning to forward.“I want to escape undetected.”

If he hadn’t been detected already because of them, that is.

All was silent, and he couldn’t smell any Demons nearby, but their collective, crunching footsteps may be heard. The sound of dead, dry leaves echoed, as did the snapping of twigs and branches under their heavy bodies.

There was no snow, as there rarely was in the Veil, but the wind was strong and cold. Would their collective scents draw Demons closer or cause them to scatter?

“We are trailing you in order to protect you.”

“You are safer with us.”

A small sense of ease brushed through him. They were right. He was safer with them nearby even though he’d been trying to do this by himself and had succeeded over the course of many days.

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