赤裸裸的滑稽故事

"Caleb!"

He didn't hear the familiar voice shouting at him from the battlefield.

After he had seen the creature made of roots moving into the forest, he could not focus on anything else. Ashleigh had said that the Dark Queen used roots just like the treants. She had fused herself with the sacred tree. Wasn't it possible that the creature he had seen was her?

He couldn't take the risk that she would find Ashleigh. He needed to get there first. But first, he needed to cut down all these beasts that blocked his path.

Caleb growled and gritted his teeth, pulling on the power that lived deep inside of him. He moved through the creatures, slicing and stabbing through them quickly until he felt the tight grip on his heart and lungs. The slithering sensation on his skin.

He paused, looking up into the trees. His silver eyes could almost see her. Ashleigh was in trouble.

***

Ashleigh fought against the roots, trying desperately to free herself from their tightening hold over her body.

The Dark Queen stared down at Ashleigh, seemingly observing her.

Ashleigh tried not to focus on her or the twisting roots squirming from her back.

The last time Ashleigh had seen The Dark Queen, she was a part of the tree in the mound. Then, her body was rooted to the ground, with only her torso able to move. But now, she could move.

The Dark Queen appeared made of roots, twisting and tangling in on each other. Her face was like an evil wooden mask, with only a slight hint of life as her smile widened. The Queen leaned closer, and Ashleigh's heart pumped wildly.

"How good of you to open the way gate for me," The Dark Queen smiled, her voice rasped and echoed in soft layers. "Here I thought I would need to sacrifice countless minions to even get a glimpse inside…."

Ashleigh growled as she tugged and pulled at the roots.

The Dark Queen looked up the hill where the gate waited. She closed her eyes, smiling.

"So much power…." She whispered. Her blackened tongue traced over the wooden lips. "What a delicious meal it will be…."

"I won't let you consume the power of the ley lines!" Ashleigh snarled.

The Dark Queen turned back to Ashleigh, and an amused expression shifted onto the wooden face.

"Consume the power of the ley lines?" she asked, tilting her head. "Even I could not hope to survive that."

Ashleigh furrowed her brows.

The Dark Queen grinned.

"The power of the ley lines is primal, chaotic…. I planned to let that power spill out in all its destructive glory. Tearing this world apart and leaving nothing but death and chaos in its wake."

Ashleigh growled.

"But…now," The Dark Queen grinned. "I think I will let this world continue."

The Dark Queen leaned in close to Ashleigh's face.

"But not your wolves…." She whispered. "They will die…. Horribly."

Ashleigh snarled and fought against the roots.

"You struggle so hard, to no avail," The Dark Queen said in a soft voice and a sigh. "If only you hadn't separated yourselves… you both might have had a chance."

Ashleigh stopped moving as a cold slowly moved down her spine.

Lily's voice called to her from the past. Pieces of conversation, moments that suddenly revealed something horrifying.

'…I believe that her soul was consumed. Made into energy to fuel the monster….'

Ashleigh's heart was frantic in her chest.

'…he would fatally wound them and then… absorb their souls into himself…. He tried to do it to me….'

Her eyes widened as the revelation burrowed into her heart painfully.

"I think…." The Dark Queen smiled. "You just realized what I plan to do…."

"You…. Can't!" Ashleigh cried out.

"I couldn't," The Dark Queen corrected. "While in the land of death, she was out of reach. While she lived inside of you, still she was just a little too far…."

The Dark Queen stood, staring down at Ashleigh.

"But you two separated yourselves… and I can feel her energy coming off the portal… it's intoxicating. One thousand years of pure spiritual energy. Nothing borrowed or lost. All her, not even the wolf remains. Just pure fae."

The Dark Queen lay her head back and groaned with anticipation.

"Such a delicious meal she will make for me…. And then, I will make my way to the other side of the gate to join Roman in the destruction of Winter."

Ashleigh thrashed at the roots that held her down, letting out a growl and a scream.

"Save your energy," The Dark Queen whispered. "You still share a connection…. You will feel it as I drink every last drop of her life force."

Two more vines sprung from the ground, wrapping at Ashleigh's waist as she struggled.

"Goodbye, Princess," The Dark Queen laughed as she slithered away through the trees toward the gate.

One of the roots moved up around Ashleigh's arm as she struggled, her shoulders were getting loose, and she thought that if she could move a little more, she might be able to get free.

Just as she thought she could do it, she screamed in agony as the root moving up her arm stabbed into her flesh and continued to move through her arm and back into the ground. Then, before she had a chance to recover from the shock, another root did the same at her thigh.

Ashleigh cried out; her mind was in chaos. She had made a mistake; she should have stayed at the gate. She could have seen the Queen coming and closed the gate immediately.

Now she was stuck. Lily and the civilians were in danger. She hadn't even been able to save the soldiers.

Another root slithered across her lips, squeezing tightly against her mouth until she tasted the blood from where her tooth cut into her lip. She cried, but her sounds were muffled by the root.

She took in shuddering, weak breaths through her nose as the root at her chest continued to constrict around her, making her wonder if she would die from the crushing or lack of oxygen first.

Ashleigh tried again to move but quickly found that the roots were no longer willing to allow her attempts to escape as another plunged into her arm. She tried to cry out, but the attempt restricted her airflow even more.

She was exhausted. Each time she struggled against the roots, she was wearing herself down. Now that three of them had punctured her body, she felt it all. Her pain and exhaustion.