赤裸裸的滑稽故事

As Myka predicted, reaching the lake took the rest of the day. By the time camp was set up and they had gotten dinner started, the sun had given way to the night sky.

Ashleigh had done a sweep of the area. She returned to the group when she was satisfied that there was no sign of fae, new or old.

Myka and Sadie were preparing the meal while the others kept the fire fed and chatted amongst themselves.

They were all excited for the next day. Fishing, foraging, every part of it delighted the children. Ashleigh smiled as she recalled her days as a pup being trained for when she would receive her wolf.

She also enjoyed her survival classes. Though none of them had prepared her for the blizzard she faced on her first shift, the things she had learned had saved her life more than once before.

As the children chatted, Ashleigh listened and eventually joined the conversation. She told them of some of the things she had done, the places she had been. Told stories of camping in the mountains between the territories and of the hidden caves of Winter.

Without realizing it, Ashleigh had spent hours talking with the children. Laughing, listening, sharing. It wasn’t until she saw the sleepiness in their eyes that she noticed. She then glanced up to see that the sky had advanced late into the night.

As the children bid her goodnight and crawled into their tents, Myka offered her a cup of warm liquid, a tea of some sort. He sat down on the ground close to her.

“You are good with them,” he said, sipping from his cup.

“They are easily impressed,” she scoffed, a soft smile lingering on her lips.

“Maybe,” Myka chuckled. “But your willingness to talk to them, to share with them. That is the part that means the most to them.”

Ashleigh looked down at Myka suspiciously.

“Why do I feel as though you are about to try to sell me something…?” she asked.

Myka looked up at her with a mischievous grin.

“I was thinking,” he said. “That you might be interested in making this more than a one-time thing.”

Ashleigh furrowed her brow.

“What do you mean?” she asked.

Myka sat up, looking her in the eyes. She could see excitement and hopefulness looking back at her.

“I mean, help me with my troop,” he said. “Not just these guys, the others too. Help me guide and teach all these children who haven’t been given a chance to learn the things that their packs or families should have been able to teach them.”

Ashleigh’s eyes widened.

“Me?” she asked, stunned by his request. “You want me… to….”

“They need someone they can trust. Someone that they rely on,” he said. “Why not you?”

Ashleigh lowered her gaze to her cup. Her heart felt a painful weight on it.

It was clear these children were looking for guidance. They had spent their lives trapped in a lab. The whole world was new to them. But was she someone that had a right to guide anyone?

She knew that they saw her as a hero.

From their perspective, Ashleigh had been the one that rescued them from the lab. But it wasn’t her plan. She didn’t even know the children were there when she followed Alice into the lab that day. All she had done was lead them out of the building.

Anyone would have done the same.

‘If I wanted a grunt, I would have grabbed any able-bodied fighter.’

Ashleigh swallowed as she heard Alice’s words and remembered that Alice hadn’t taken just any able-bodied fighter. She had come to Ashleigh for a reason.

She closed her eyes and clenched her jaw. She took a slow deep breath through her nose. Her heart was pumping harder now, fighting against the painful grip she felt squeezing around it.

“Ashleigh…?”

Her eyes shot open. He was closer than he had been. Down on one knee before her, Myka stared up with concern.

Ashleigh turned away. She took a deep breath as she pushed back against the heaviness in her chest and the memories that shook her resolve.

“I’m okay,” she said softly.

“I didn’t mean to pressure you,” Myka sighed. He moved back to sit on the ground where he had previously been. “I just thought… it seemed you had fun with them today. Like you were able to relax a little.”

She looked back at the tents. He was right.

At the start of the day, Ashleigh’s focus had still been on reaching the village, on searching for the answers she needed. But after talking with Stefan, something felt different.

It wasn’t that she had forgotten about her mission or that she had changed her mind. But as they hiked up the mountain, she listened to Myka’s lessons about the plants they passed. As the children laughed and asked questions. She found herself able to breathe a little easier.

For a moment, the pain in her heart had softened.

Around the campfire, she had felt at ease with them. Sharing her stories and listening to their questions and comments. They had laughed and looked at her with sincere and honest faith. It didn’t matter what she said. They believed her.

Ashleigh looked at Myka. They all believed her.

Her chest was tight again. She tried to breathe, but her throat felt like it was shrinking, preventing her from taking in the air she needed. She looked away from Myka.

‘I chose you because I knew you would put the safety of those children above anything else. I chose you because, like your father and brother, you are a hero.’

Ashleigh clenched her jaw and tried to swallow. The painful grip around her heart returned suddenly as though summoned by the memory of Alice’s words.

Why did it feel like the trees were closing in on her? Why couldn’t she get enough air into her desperate lungs? Why did her chest burn?

She stood from her seat, turning toward the trees.

“Ashleigh?” Myka called.

Ashleigh didn’t answer as her pace moved from a quick walk to a jog.

She ran into the trees, taking hungry, greedy breaths as she did. She needed air. She needed to breathe. Every breath was too short, too small.

As she ran, Ashleigh saw that moment in the lab. As Alice stared at Ashleigh while Holden stood between them.

‘No matter what, remember?’ Alice had demanded.

Alice was prepared to die to get those children out of that lab. To give them a chance to live.

Ashleigh tripped over a root, her mind was disoriented, and she couldn’t keep her balance. She fell to the ground, slamming her shoulder against a rock.

She rolled onto her back, still gasping for air. Uncontrolled tears streamed down her face as she squeezed her eyes shut tight.

‘Your father saved my life,’ Stefan’s voice whispered. ‘He was a great man; without him, none of us would have gotten out of Autumn that night.’

Her father had died saving those children.

Ashleigh let out a sob and brought her fist to hit hard against her chest repeatedly. Trying to make the pain stop.

Her breaths were quick and short. She couldn’t get it under control. She couldn’t stop the pain. Why wouldn’t it stop?

‘I have to join the fight,’ Caleb’s voice whispered. ‘No matter how much I want to stay by your side and see this thing through… I can’t ignore what is happening out there.’

Suddenly it all stopped. The pain. The weight in her chest. Ashleigh took slow, heavy breaths as her mind began to clear with one of the last conversations she had with Caleb.

‘You brought Burning Ember into this alliance with one promise….’ She had smiled at him, knowing his reason for leaving.

Caleb nodded, returning the same smile.

‘To keep her people safe,’ he said.

Caleb had left that night, and she hadn’t seen him again until just before they went into the portal. Just before she lost him again.

He made a promise to keep the people of Burning Ember safe, and he had kept that promise. He had risked his life to keep it. Even knowing they might never see each other again.

That’s who he was. That’s who they both were. Who they had always been. But now….

She saw the smiles of the children around the campfire and heard their laughter.

“What am I doing…?” she whispered mournfully.

Ashleigh took in a shaky breath. She closed her eyes as the sobs she had held back for the last two months overwhelmed her.