赤裸裸的滑稽故事

"That\'s still a huge risk!" Clara argued.

Ashleigh turned to Clara.

"If we don\'t get that tower back, can the gates hold against the monsters?" she asked.

Clara swallowed.

"If we get Tower Two," she said softly. "The gates can hold another hour more… but if they continue to attack the way they have been… I\'m not sure how much longer they will hold after that."

"And if we get Tower One?" Ashleigh asked.

Clara sighed and looked away.

"Tower One is our most direct connection to the gate system. We can run them without it, but if we had it back, our gates would hold."

"Seems like a poor design," Ashleigh smiled.

Clara stifled a laugh, a tear rolling down her cheek.

"I haven\'t even left yet," Ashleigh laughed.

Clara wiped her eyes and huffed.

"Ashleigh," Fiona called to her quietly. "We need to talk."

Ashleigh nodded. She turned back to Clara first.

"Prepare the tech teams. Find my soldiers. I want to head for the gates in the next twenty minutes."

Clara swallowed and nodded.

Ashleigh followed Fiona into a small conference room. The older woman closed the door behind them, and a heavy silence hung in the air.

"Ashleigh–"

"I know the risk, and I know you don\'t like it," Ashleigh interrupted. "I am not doing this to show off or because I believe myself invincible. I\'m actually quite terrified by this idea… but it is our best plan right now, and I have no intention of dying."

Fiona took a deep breath and gave her a warm smile.

"I know," she said.

"Oh," Ashleigh replied with surprise. "I thought you would try and talk me out of this. Instead, tell me I was crazy, overconfident, and putting myself and others at risk to show off when there was no guarantee anyone would make it out alive."

"Is there ever a guarantee?" Fiona asked gently.

Ashleigh took a deep breath.

"Not really."

Fiona smiled.

"Ashleigh," she began. "I was going to say that you are brave, and I appreciate what you are doing to keep the people of Summer safe."

Ashleigh swallowed.

"You have grown in many ways since we first met."

Fiona whispered with a warmth in her voice that pulled at Ashleigh\'s heart.

"I know you are trying to save as many people as possible," she continued. "But, Ashleigh, the truth is, the gates will not hold. Even if we get both towers, our forces are spread out across the territories.

"The men and women we have remaining within Summer are proud and strong, but they are children in our army. We both know that the feral wolves and those rotted bears are not the bulk of what we have coming."

Ashleigh swallowed and looked away.

"The fae," she whispered.

Fiona nodded.

"Before the communications went down," Fiona said. "Some of our men reported in. They saw fae gathering in different places, moving in one direction."

"Summer," Ashleigh sighed.

Fiona nodded again.

"The Dark Queen," Ashleigh began. "She knows that the way gate in Summer is much easier for her to access than the one in Winter. So she\'s coming here and bringing all her monsters to pull the power directly from the ley line."

Fiona took a deep breath.

"Getting the towers up is important. It will give us more time," Fiona said. "But the time for what?"

Ashleigh looked back at her mother-in-law; she now saw defeat in her eyes. The redness of hidden tears.

"You need to finish your mission, Ashleigh," Fiona said with a firmness in her voice. "You must destroy the way gate and prevent that bitch from getting what she wants."

"Destroying the gate won\'t stop the war," Ashleigh replied.

"No," Fiona replied. "But it will deny her ultimate victory. We will stand and fight against the remaining forces of her army, but she will not gain the ley lines. We might fall, but the world will survive. So you focus on your mission, I will lead the team to Tower One, and I will send someone else to Tower Two."

Ashleigh stared at Fiona in disbelief. This woman was a force. Her strength through all that she had experienced, and all that she had fought, was legendary. But here she stood, speaking as though they had already lost.

Ashleigh narrowed her eyes, wondering what had happened to lead to this. And then it struck her.

She swallowed and took a step toward Fiona.

"Fiona…" she whispered. "What happened to Caleb? To Galen?"

Fiona clenched her jaw.

Ashleigh took a deep breath. She knew it. Only the danger to her sons would cause her to falter.

Fiona took a deep breath and then sat down at the small table.

"The last communication I got from Galen\'s team…." Fiona began. "They said he went ahead of them to find the missing soldiers. We were still speaking when they reached his location. They found some of the missing soldiers, the young soldier that had gone with Galen, and a scout\'s body torn to shreds. But Galen was gone."

"What did the soldier that went with him say? What happened to him?" Ashleigh asked.

"He was very shaken up, barely able to speak," Fiona replied. "He said that Galen tried to save the scout, and in the end, the monster had dragged him into the marsh."

"Did they look for him?"

"I can only assume," Fiona sighed. "The communications were lost in the middle of the conversation."

Ashleigh sat down beside Fiona. She took a deep breath. Her heart raced as she thought of the look on Bell\'s face. How scared she was at not being able to reach Galen. He was all right. He had to be.

She took a shaky breath.

"And Caleb?" she asked.

Fiona closed her eyes.

"We haven\'t spoken to him since he entered the South Lands."

"But you know something," Ashleigh sighed.

Fiona nodded.

"We sent scouts as far south as possible without breaking communication lines. So they could track the pack\'s movements as Caleb led them further south for a while. But then, they tracked movements ahead of Caleb, Rogues… and then… behind him."

"Behind him?" Ashleigh asked. "What was it?"

"We don\'t know," Fiona sighed. "The scouts reported a large group speeding toward them. After that, we haven\'t heard anything."

Ashleigh felt a tight grip on her heart. He had to be all right. Of course, she would have felt it if he wasn\'t… but still, she couldn\'t help but worry.

\'Ashleigh…\' Lily whispered.

\'I\'m ok,\' Ashleigh replied. \'I know he\'ll be ok.\'

Lily was quiet for a moment.

\'I wanted to share something with you. An idea… to save the people of Summer.\'