Cipher Code {complete}

Chapter Thirty Six: A Fight To Forget •EDITED•

Esau didn't know what to do first. Get Alun's crushing fingers off his sister's neck or get Edythe's dagger out of his friend's thigh.

At the rate they were going someone was going to die, and that wasn't something he wanted to happen especially now of all times.

It wasn't like he had expected the fog to clear at the exact moment he and Alun found Edythe seating at the base of the tree he and she had climbed to escape the stampede. Who would have thought that the two of them would attack each other before Esau could begin his well thought explanation?

The nine year old felt the urge to curse the moon. Why had it gotten so bright all of a sudden? If the forest was still bathed in darkness everybody would be alright. None of this would have happened.

Still, Esau had never imagined that he would be faced with two Edythes. But here he was. It felt surreal, dreamlike.

For a moment he just stood there, frozen as he watched them. The fact that Alun was still wearing his sister's face didn't help things. Maybe that was why Edythe was so upset.

Esau watched with a frown as she kicked the serpentine boy away from her and pulled out yet another dagger from somewhere. He didn't miss the way she swayed despite her efforts to conceal it.

He knew that she was injured.

"Alright!" He jumped in between the two the moment they were about to lunge at each other. "That's enough."

Edythe hissed and sheathed her knife, her glare fixed on her twin. "While I was fighting for my life you were out making friends, right?"

Alun hissed back and pulled out the blade in his leg, brandishing it like he was eager to slit her throat. "Where is my master?"

"Dead." the girl answered without a change in expression and Esau winced. He understood that look in her eye.

"Dead?" Aleron Alun looked around, his face heavy with distraught and desperation.

"I don't believe you." He threw the weapon down to the ground and ran to the tree—towards Edythe.

Before anyone started arguing again, Esau cleared his throat, held out his hands and grabbed his friend. "He is dead."

"He can't be!"

"He is."

Edythe crossed her arms while watching the exchange. "And how would you know that?"

Alun brushed Esau's hands off him and climbed up the tree in a flash. "I'll go see for myself."

Edythe turned her back her brother and had her hands curled into fists but Esau noticed her pale complexion long before he saw the blood on her hands and neck.

His breathing halted, caught in his chest as he thought about what to say, how to apologize for leaving her. Even making peace with Alun seemed to be a mistake now.

In the end he said nothing, because sometimes silence was much better than sound.

Esau knew that Edythe was upset so he didn't try to reply the unease that oozed off her, somehow he knew that his voice would only make things worse. But Edythe didn't seem to want to let it go, she walked up to him and looked him in the eye.

"Say it. What are you hiding from me?" The tone in her voice meant that there was no room for excuses and Esau had to rack his brain to figure out what she meant.

He took a step forward, until their faces almost touching, and glared back. "I'm not hiding anything."

"You're lying," Edythe stated through gritted teeth and Esau paled, their complexions now matching as he realized how angry his sister really was.