Cipher Code {complete}

Chapter Fifty Nine: Their Last Stand.

The man in white was slung over Isaac's back as their small group moved as quickly as they could towards the center of the forest. Edythe had argued that Philip was more suited to carrying the extra load but the captain was having none of it.

Esau remembered the look on the soldiers' faces when they saw the man. He had almost laughed, seeing them gawk at the tree as though it would swallow them.

Things had moved along pretty well after Edythe explained the deal in the shortest way possible. Alun's master was now their hostage and he was a valuable piece of Intel, that fact alone was enough to get them a safe stay in the capital as legal borders.

Now they had been walking for thirty minutes and things were progressing smoothly, too smoothly. It was as though all the creeping things in the forest were making way for them, eagerly carving out the path to their destruction.

The fog was too thin, moon too bright. The conditions were too ideal for an escape as impromptu as theirs.

Esau's reverie was broken as Edythe held up her hand; they all stopped and waited. A few minutes later she gave the signal to continue and they did, sprinting along the dry grasses and crushing them to dust.

There was no talking, only hand signals and the occasional howl of a beast. Esau found it boring.

Life here had raised his expectation of danger to a level where he was not comfortable without it. He knew Edythe felt the same. He saw it in the way her hand brushed against her daggers with each step she took.

Somehow she seemed not as bloodthirsty as he was but he could understand. This was their ticket to happiness or as close to it as they could get. They could go to school, make friends. They could be normal, for once.

Normal orphans. At the thought, Esau grunted and picked up his pace, leaping over an undergrowth to charge past his sister and lead the pace of the group.

The moonlight was about to fade and it was his job to light the path. With each step he took there was a small trail of orange that followed.

Though the plan to leave tonight was abrupt, he and Edythe had toyed with how they would do it several times and so were prepared for tonight.

The moon wasn't at it's highest and the beast weren't all drawn to the town. But it was okay. They had guns now.

They had soldiers.

†

It was right there, their house, or what remained of it at least. It was right in front of them. Just a few more metres and they would have reached it.

Esau could barely stand straight, his heart hammering and face dripping as he took in the sight in front of him. It had taken two hours of cautious jogging to reach here, and though nothing attacked them they were still beyond exhausted. The fear and sense of danger had kept them permanently on their toes, stopping in their tracks at every sound they heard and waiting a precautionary five minutes before continuing.

Philip had taken over carrying their hostage for the later part of the run, but that didn't make things easier. There had been several times they had run into a pack of beast and had to retreat into the bushes and hide.

So right now they were far from peak condition.

"What the hell is this?" Philip was the first to break the silence, his voice only low enough not to get them discovered.

Issac was leaning on a tree, his hair wet from perspiration and clinging to his damp mask. "I knew something was wrong." His hand fell to his rifle. "I don't know the exact number of shots I have left. . . but it's far from enough."

It had been too easy. Esau clenched his fists. Why didn't I say anything?

He turned to Edythe and she shook her head. They couldn't turn back, not when they were this close.

Their house was right there, right in front of them. But they couldn't touch it, not when it was surrounded by all the beasts that were supposed to be in the forest.

Esau stared down the golden eyes. They were mocking him, mocking all the planning he and Edythe did all this time. The beasts weren't brainless, they could think, plan, strategize.

Any sort of plan they could have come up with was automatically ruined by that fact.

This mission had been doomed to fail from the beginning but right here and now, they were going to make their last stand.

They would either make it now or die later. It was just a matter of choice.

The twins shared a nod, Esau holding out his bow and picking out an arrow, and Edythe taking out her daggers. "We're fighting."

Death was something Esau had not forgotten about, it had claimed his sister once but it would never do so again. And if Edythe lived, so did he.

If they both died, then it was over. But right now they had a chance, however slim it was they were going to take it.

When they reached the capital he would tell Edythe everything he knew, but if they didn't then it didn't matter. Their last moment would be together. . . he wouldn't leave her behind like last time.

The siblings locked gazes and Edythe smiled. "We'll make it." Her eyes were filled with warmth and the usual blue was specked with gold.

It was a promise.

Esau smiled back about to remind her that he still hadn't kept his promise when Issac cleared his throat behind them.

"We're fighting too."

"Yeah, it's not like I have a choice," Philip scratched the back of his neck sheepishly, "if you guys die then my life is an automatic forfeit."

Without looking in his direction, Issac hit the messenger on the arm with the butt of his gun. "I still haven't thank you two for saving this idiot's life, so how about I make up for it now?"

"Of course I can't watch two kids die so pitifully. . ." Philip added and lifted his own rifle. "With a little bit of luck," he let loose a savage grin, "we'll survive this with most of our limbs intact."

Esau paused, a smile playing on his lips as he used his arrow to point at the lump on the floor. "What about him?"

Issac shrugged while Philip thought of an answer. "If he stays alive long enough, we'll use him as a shield."

"Well-"

A hearty laugh rang out into the night, stopping the conversation. Esau turned to Edythe in shock, surprised to see her wild grin and golden eyes. "Esau, burn them to the ground. I'm ready to kill."

At her words and a moment later, Esau let his arrow fly, watching it soar straight and true into the soil behind the first layer of beasts. The first thing he saw was the trickling smoke, and then the spark.

The fire started quickly and spread even faster. Soon a whirlwind of flames had consumed the beasts in front of them, grieved howls piercing into the night as the beasts trampled each other in panic to get away from the blaze.

Weakness number one: Under certain conditions the fog can be ignited.

Weakness number two: The beasts can't take the heat.

In his mind Esau could see the notes he and Edythe had taken painstakingly through their months alone as all five of them-unconscious hostage included-charged into the horde.

Maybe, just maybe, they could win this.

Happiness had never seemed any closer.

†