赤裸裸的滑稽故事

Ashleigh rode in the back of the car. Every tiny bump or dip in the road sent an ache through her back.

"So, how sure are you that you found the way gate?" she asked, trying to distract herself from the pain.

"Well, since our trip, I have paid much more attention to all the noise around me. It's driving me a little crazy," Myka said with a soft laugh.

Ashleigh noticed the way Peter's jaw clenched. Myka was making light of the situation, but she suspected he had been struggling over the past few days.

"But I am definitely getting better at hearing and listening to specific sounds," Myka continued. "And the undeniable sound among them all is that of the ley line."

"So, you can hear it here in Winter?" Ashleigh asked.

"It's faint, but I can feel it. The pulse isn't just a sound. It's like a calling. It's telling me where it is."

"That's great," Ashleigh smiled, then immediately let out a hiss as they drove over another dip in the road.

"That is exactly why you should have stayed at the hospital," Peter commented.

Ashleigh closed her eyes, taking a deep breath to focus her mind away from the pain.

"If Myka is right, this could end the war. We need to find it."

Peter sighed but said nothing more.

Ashleigh thought back to the look on Bell's face. She had been angry, and though she had snapped at her, Ashleigh knew that Bell did understand why she had to go. She hoped that when she returned to the hospital, there would be no reason for an 'I told you so' from her friend.

"Brace yourself!" Myka shouted.

Ashleigh looked through the windshield and saw that the road ahead was not paved but gravel and potholes. She grabbed the handle above the door and braced herself for the painful journey.

After another ten minutes, Myka told Peter to pull over. Ashleigh was never so happy to exit a vehicle.

After Peter insisted on double-checking her wound, they made a short trek into the trees toward one of the mountains that also served as a border of Winter. As they got closer to the mountain, even Ashleigh could feel the pull.

"It's here…" she whispered.

"You feel it too?" Myka smiled.

"I feel nothing," Peter said, looking around.

'This is it,' Lily whispered in Ashleigh's mind.

Ashleigh grinned.

"Lily said this is it."

"So, do we blow it up?" Myka asked.

Peter quickly turned with a look of disbelief.

"Do you have some strange fetish with blowing up mountains that I need to know about?" he asked.

Myka scoffed.

"I told you, we had to blow it up! Well, them... to cut the connection to the ley line!" Myka insisted.

Ashleigh looked between them. This was not the first time they had this discussion.

"Yea, well, you just seem really eager to do it again," Peter sighed.

"It was kind of fun," Myka admitted with a playful grin.

"Internal voice, Myka…." Peter said, rolling his eyes. He took a step toward the mountain.

He could almost see a shape in the wall of the mountain, a circular marking. It was covered in dark vines and moss. But there was definitely a circle there. He looked up. The mountain was very tall. One of the largest on this side of Winter.

"Ugh, not to rain on your parade," he said. "But you can't blow this up."

"I was just kidding," Myka sighed.

Peter rolled his eyes.

"When you blew up the mound, it was deep inside the mountain. And inside that mountain was an already available opening for it to cave into. And from what you said of the Spring and Autumn way gate, it wasn't a big mountain, more of a hillside? So, I doubt it caused much of an issue."

Myka thought about it and nodded.

"But this one…." Peter continued, looking up as the mountaintop disappeared into the clouds. "If you blow this side, there will be massive consequences in the Safe Zone."

Ashleigh looked up and then out in the direction they had come from. He was right. If they blew up the mountainside, there would be, at a minimum, an avalanche. The Safe Zone was not far from the mountain. It would be destroyed.

"He's right," Ashleigh sighed. "We need to think of another way."

As they got into the car, Ashleigh looked back at the mountain. She couldn't help but feel disappointed. She thought for a moment that this might be the answer to all their problems. That she might be able to end the war, here and now, before anyone else got hurt.

'It wouldn't have worked,' Lily whispered as the car began to drive away from the mountain.

'What do you mean?' Ashleigh asked.

'You want to end the war,' Lily said. 'To stop the fighting and save everyone.'

'Of course,' Ashleigh replied.

Lily sighed.

'Destroying the connection to the ley line will prevent the Dark Queen from gaining access to the power. But it will not kill her,' Lily said. 'The war will not end so long as she lives.'

Ashleigh closed her eyes, feeling defeated.

'Your mom, the freaking Goddess, killed her a thousand years ago, and she still came back…Myka placed a bomb inside the tree she was growing out of, and she didn't die. If those didn't kill her, how am I supposed to?'

'It is not up to you alone,' Lily whispered. 'We will find a way together.'

Ashleigh sighed.

"Are you all right?" Peter asked. "Is the pain too much?"

"I'm okay," she replied. "Getting used to the ache."

"Is it Caleb?" Myka asked.

"Caleb?" Ashleigh replied. "What do you mean?"

"I mean, are you upset because you can't talk to him for like seven more days and have no idea how he's doing in the south lands since he's out of communication range?" Myka said nonchalantly.

Ashleigh stared at him with furrowed brows and a look of shock.

"What?!!" she shouted angrily.

Peter sighed.

"You know she was only awake for like five minutes before we got there, right?" he said softly to Myka.

"Okay?"

"She has no idea about Burning Ember or Caleb, you idiot," Peter growled.

Myka looked back at Ashleigh. He swallowed and smiled awkwardly.