赤裸裸的滑稽故事

The pull of the gate was gentle, almost soothing. It suddenly struck Ashleigh that the feeling was familiar.

"Do you know what this reminds me of?"

Caleb looked around them, once more noting that it appeared as though they were floating through a technicolor adventure in space.

"I could not possibly begin to guess what this could remind you of," he laughed.

Ashleigh chuckled.

"Our honeymoon," she smiled, glancing back at him.

Caleb returned the smile.

"One of the few times we actually left our room," Ashleigh grinned, raising her brow at him.

Caleb shrugged.

"I regret and apologize for nothing," Caleb shrugged.

Ashleigh shook her head, still smiling.

"There were those lounging floats at the end of our deck. I remember lying back on it and closing my eyes. The feeling of the water moving below, the soft ripples and waves gently rolling underneath. It was a lot like this."

Caleb nodded.

"I can see that," he said softly. Observing the gentle smile on her lips as she allowed the pull of the gate to move her along.

It was strange to feel so at ease while they were between points of danger, but it was nice. It was unusual.

How long had he been living in preparation for the next awful thing to happen? How long had she? He never minded before, never really noticed. But now, as he looked at her and felt the love in their bond and the desire to build from that, he wondered if there wasn't something more he wanted from his life. From their life.

But what about her? She had been a warrior all her life, perhaps even more so than he. And she was still so young. Would she want anything else?

Caleb licked his lips and swallowed down the lump in his throat. The only way he would ever know is by asking her. The timing wasn't ideal, but he feared something else would get in the way later if he didn't ask now.

"Ashleigh…" he called to her softly.

"There it is!" she said excitedly over him as she pointed forward.

Caleb looked past her, and not far from where they were, he saw a large blue circle, a portal.

"That's the Winter gate!" Ashleigh laughed.

Ashleigh felt her heart thrumming in her ears. It was so close; they were finally there. Once they crossed the gate, it would close behind them. Whether the Dark Queen still lived wouldn't matter because she would be trapped inside. And once the bubble fell, the ley line would tear her apart.

The war would be over. All they had to do was cross the gate.

Ashleigh focused entirely on the gate. All she was concerned with was pushing them forward and crossing that final threshold.

But Caleb felt a prickling on his skin, that sense of danger he had honed since childhood. He turned to look behind them, his eyes widened, and he looked back at the gate. They were close, but not close enough.

He looked at Ashleigh and then down at their interlocked hands. The tether that held them together and kept him floating behind her. He clenched his jaw and took a deep breath.

Caleb let go of Ashleigh's hand.

Ashleigh felt him let go.

"Caleb?" she whispered.

She looked back just as his fingertips grazed hers, and she tried to grab hold of him. Her eyes widened, and she lifted her gaze to his.

"I love you, always," he whispered as four long vines flew up from behind him, surrounding him and wrapping around his body.

"Caleb!" she screamed as he was yanked back into the darkness, fading from her view.

She tried to turn back, to go after him. But she was too close to the gate. The pull was too strong. The light surrounded her as she crossed through the portal, falling back and landing painfully on the ground as all the wounds gifted to her by the Dark Queen suddenly made themselves known.

Ashleigh let out a soft whimper and then lifted her head to look back at the portal, watching as it closed and the mountain sealed around it. Trapping Caleb and sealing off their bond at the same time.

Her heart stopped.

The world stopped.

The cold wind gathered and circled all around her until her entire body felt frozen.

She breathed, her lungs filling with an icy cold that hurt.

"Noooo!!!!!" she screeched as she flew forward at the mountain.

Once more, she attempted to call on the rage inside of her. But she was too low on energy, too weak to summon the power.

She hit and scratched at the mountainside without the rage, without the Valkyrie.

Ashleigh could hear muffled sounds around her and vaguely felt hands at her shoulders and arms trying to pull her back. But all she cared about, all she could think of, was getting back to Caleb.

She screamed and cried as she continued to strike at the rock before her. As her nails and fingers became wet and red with her own blood.

Ashleigh was pulled back, arms wrapping around her shoulders and waist, dragging her from the mountain as they screamed her name. But she fought against them, knocking them away and running back to the mountain.

Again she was pulled back, but this time she was wrestled into the snow and held as she screamed and cried.

"Ashleigh!" a familiar voice finally broke through.

Myka stared down at her with eyes of concern.

"Myka…." Ashleigh whispered. She sat forward and stared at him. Then, she began sputtering and grabbing at Myka's jacket. "You… you can hear the ley line... maybe you can open it? Maybe you can pull him out!"

"Ashleigh!" Myka shouted, grabbing her shoulders. "You aren't making any sense! Please slow down."

Ashleigh clenched her jaw. She closed her eyes, trying to focus on her words, pushing past the fear and panic overwhelming her system.

"Caleb…" she whispered. "Caleb… is… he was right behind me... and then she grabbed him. She pulled him back… Caleb is trapped inside!"

Her voice broke as she pointed to the mountain. She let out a sob and then looked back up at Myka desperately. Finally, she got to her feet and grabbed his arms.

"But you can hear him, right? So we can go back inside and find him because you can hear the ley lines, right?"

Myka lowered his gaze sadly. He clenched his jaw and breathed deeply before looking at her again.

"Ashleigh…" he whispered. "I'm sorry… but I don't hear anything…."

Ashleigh stared at him, unmoving.

"The ley line… the connection is gone. Just like after we destroyed the mound…" he continued. "Right after the portal closed… it stopped."

Ashleigh shook her head as the tears fell. Her body felt weak, tired, and empty. She looked back at the mountainside. The only signs of the portal were bloody marks left by her fingers.

The ley line was gone. Lily was gone. Caleb was gone.

"No…." Ashleigh whispered as the hollow feeling in her chest spread over her body.

"Ashleigh, I'm so sor–Ashleigh!" Myka shouted, barely catching her in his arms as she collapsed.