赤裸裸的滑稽故事

Caleb fought through the beasts. All different shapes, sizes, and species.

He recognized some of these creatures from the books he had read on the Fae. Others looked like they had been pulled from the imagination of Mary Shelley.

Most of them were straightforward to take down, but they were aggressive, brutal attackers. You could easily be surprised and injured or even killed if you didn’t pay attention.

It was the Treants that were the main problem. There were too many of them. They had spread out to serve as shielding for the smaller creatures from the arrows meant to take them down at range. And the roots of the Treants kept the wolves from being able to launch a direct assault.

Caleb and four of his wolves had joined the Cold Warrior’s fight in the North East Zone. There was no sign of Ashleigh yet, but he wasn’t done looking.

“We need to take down the Treants!” Caleb shouted.

His men saluted him and then moved away towards the closest Treant. Two of the men began to attack the roots on either side of the beast, stepping in and out of range to keep the focus on themselves. The third ran down the center, drawing the attention of the smaller beasts that hid among the roots. Although they immediately attacked him, he quickly shifted, being more agile and defensible in his wolf form.

The fourth man and Caleb used the distraction to run straight at the Treant’s back, avoiding its deadly jaws. The beast screamed as Caleb hacked away one of its roots. The severing of the root allowed one of the wolves to switch focus. He moved from distracting the Treant to aiding the wolf being attacked by the smaller beasts.

It took effort and a lot of jumping in and out of range of both the Treant and the smaller beasts. But working together, Caleb and his team could kill it without injury to themselves. Then, they could quickly shift focus to tear down the remaining smaller beasts once it was done.

A small group of Cold Warriors was huddled near a large rock, taking a breath where they could. They observed the scene with shock. They had already lost several skilled fighters trying to do what these wolves did in a matter of minutes.

Caleb saw the look on their faces.

“You need to work as a team,” he said. “The North is so wide you are all used to managing independently. But these monsters require teamwork.”

“That was what Berserker Ashleigh told us,” one of the men sitting down commented sadly. “Before she was dragged away by one of the roots.”

Caleb felt the blood draining from his entire body.

“What?” Caleb demanded. “What happened to her?”

“She was here, and then she wasn’t,” the man replied, “we didn’t see it coming. The root made its way to her in the snow… she was guiding us, telling us where to go, how to hit it. She told us to work as a team, and then… it wrapped around her leg and yanked her to the ground.”_.

He stood up, moving to Caleb.

“This is all we have left of our lady.”

He placed a knife in Caleb’s hand. A small, curved blade with a handle small enough to fit inside the palm.

Caleb had designed this karambit specifically for Ashleigh.

A scream echoed through the trees. Another Cold Warrior had been killed by the beasts.

All the warriors gathered by the rocks, Summer and Winter alike, turned their eyes to the field. The monsters were coming.

“There is no more time for rest,” Caleb said, “we need to end this.”

The wolves of Summer and Winter charged into battle, side by side.

***

After three hours of fighting and more reports of injuries and casualties than Corrine had ever seen in her time as Luna, then, finally, the ‘All Clear’ reports began to come in.

The South East Zone had the least damages, especially after the Summer wolves’ arrival.

The Center Lane took heavy causalities, unsurprising given the size of the force that attacked. More than half of Caleb’s wolves had been sent to support Wyatt and Saul.

The North East Zone had lost many, and many more were injured.

Many were unaccounted for in the Center Lane and the North East Zone. Now that the threat had passed, it was time to collect the bodies and look for the missing.

Ashleigh was on that list.

Caleb sent his wolves to aid the injured in whatever way they could. While he stayed behind to walk the field of bodies.

He didn’t believe she was dead; he would have felt it. It didn’t matter that he was not her true mate. He felt their bond one way or another. He would know if she were dead.

As he walked between the bodies, he listened for the sounds of anyone calling for help or groaning. But it was eerily quiet. The trees in this area were particularly dense, making it harder for sound to travel.

He saw a small figure lying face down in the snow. A woman with blond hair. He rushed to her side and turned her over. It wasn’t Ashleigh.

As he stood up, he thought he heard something. He moved just in time to avoid the arrow hitting his shoulder. Rolling away behind a tree for cover.

He glanced around the tree, searching for the archer, as another arrow sped at him. But, again, he moved barely in time.

Caleb heard footsteps running between the trees.

“Corrine,” Caleb whispered.

After a moment, he heard her voice.

“Alpha Caleb?”

“Are there any active warriors left in the North East Zone?”

“No, they have all been taken to the hospital or come back to the base for rest. We are sending civilian patrols to gather the dead.”

“Hold off on that,” Caleb said, “there is someone out here still. But it’s not one of the creatures from before. And my men know better than to shoot at me.”

“Someone is shooting at you? I will send you a team right away!”

Caleb couldn’t hear the footsteps anymore. He took the chance to move to another tree, just as he had expected, arrows landed all around him as he ran.

He transferred from tree to tree. Trying to draw the archer out.

A burning in his back shocked him, and he stumbled to the ground. Caleb righted himself quickly and scrambled behind a large outcropping of rock.

He reached his arm around and grabbed the arrow, pulling it out with a grunt.

‘Galen’s gonna give me shit for that,’ he laughed.

He took a deep breath, calming his nerves. Trying to focus.

Another arrow came flying toward him, but he was protected. He looked back and realized the arrow had come out of the tree.

‘Cheap move shooting from higher ground.’

Suddenly Caleb began to feel feverish, weak. His breathing was more difficult.

“Poison?” he asked himself.

Caleb had a moment of clarity, and he chuckled.

“It must be you!” he shouted. “Who else in Winter would be so pathetic that they would hide and use poison while trying to kill an unarmed man!”

Four arrows came flying, one right after the other.

Caleb laughed.

“Come on out, Granger!” he growled.

No more arrows. Silence. And then the sound of someone landing in the snow.

Footsteps came toward the rocks. Soon enough, Caleb’s suspicions were confirmed, as Granger, with an arrow already drawn, smiled down at him.

“So,” Caleb asked calmly, “what’s in my back?”

“Nothing too bad,” Granger replied. “It’s just a little wolfsbane.”

Caleb smiled and nodded.

“I’d expect no less from you,” Caleb growled.

“You shouldn’t have come here, Caleb. I might have let you live if you had just stayed away,” Granger growled.

“Nah…” Caleb replied. “You got a taste of blood already, right?”

Granger’s eyes widened and then relaxed.

“Guess Axel made it home,” he said nonchalantly.

Caleb licked his lips, which were feeling very dry.

“I think we both know you’re not the type to just stop at one,” Caleb said.

Granger snickered.

“Probably not.”

Granger relaxed the bow, lowering it as he looked down at Caleb.

“How are you feeling, Caleb?” Granger asked with a dark smile.

Caleb swallowed; he was getting weaker. The wolfsbane was in his spine now. He couldn’t move anymore.

“Pretty good. This is nice,” Caleb smiled, “I needed a little rest.”

Granger’s eyes darkened, and he chuckled.

“Yea?” he said. “You’ve done so much for me over the past few months.”

Granger hunched down onto his heels, where he could sit eye to eye with Caleb as he spoke.

“You tried to steal my mate, made me look like a fool, acted like you were better than me– you’re not.”

He tilted his head to the side as though he saw Caleb for the first time.

“This is a good way for you to die,” he said, “alone, helpless, slow.”

Granger stood back up.

“No one will miss you.”

Caleb was thirsty. He was tired.

“Ashleigh will miss me,” Caleb smiled.

Granger turned around with a snarl. He grabbed the knife strapped to his shoulder and dove at Caleb’s heart.

Caleb waited for the impact. Instead, a white blur blocked his vision for a moment, and then Granger was gone.

He couldn’t move his body, but there was just enough left to turn his head in the direction the blur had moved.

A beautiful pure white wolf stood with bloody jaws staring back at him. Granger lay seemingly lifeless below it, blood soaking his neck and shoulder.

The wolf stepped towards Caleb and then began to shift, her warm hazel eyes stared back at him, and he smiled.

“Caleb…” Ashleigh whispered as she touched his cheek, just before his mind faded.