赤裸裸的滑稽故事

Ashleigh was suddenly floating, falling, flying. They were weightless and drifting.

All around them, the golden walls fell, giving way to a bright blue, cloudy bubble surrounding them. Just past it, Ashleigh could see red, orange, and yellow mixing into a brilliant fiery glow that danced along the bubble\'s surface.

Ashleigh turned, and far off in the distance, she saw cloudy shapes of different colors surrounded by pitch blackness.

Her eyes widened as she took in the sight, as her mind filtered through memories of books and videos of space, stars dying, and nebulas.

There was a tug in her body, a pull in one direction.

‘The gate,’ Lily whispered in her mind. ‘You are still in the gate. My mother’s design will force you to the other end. Grab Caleb, and don’t fight it. Let it take you home.’

‘Are we... in space?’ Ashleigh asked.

‘Not exactly,’ Lily replied. ‘There isn’t time to explain. The ley line is a cosmic force. There are lots of things that you can see if you spend enough time here.’

‘What is happening?’ Ashleigh asked.

‘I collapsed the tunnel,� Lily said. ‘The charges that we set in Summer have gone off. As a result, there is an explosion traveling between the gates. If I had kept the tunnel open, it would have moved faster and killed you. Instead, you and Caleb are safe within this space. This is the bubble that Lian and Solana created.’

Ashleigh looked out again. The blue haze around them stuck out to her.

‘Didn’t there used to be lights?’

‘The space is thinning as their power wanes. It won’t be long now,’ Lily replied. ‘It doesn’t matter. What matters is that you and Caleb get back to the Winter gate.’

‘Caleb... where is Caleb?’ Ashleigh asked, looking around her.

‘Right beside you,’ Lily whispered. ‘I told you before. Things move differently here. I came to you at the moment between moments to tell you to hurry. Accept the pull of the gate and follow it. You need to hurry. There is no time.’

Ashleigh felt her body moving. She looked around and saw that Lily was right. Caleb was right beside her. But his eyes were closed.

“Caleb!� she shouted to him.

‘He’s all right,’ Lily whispered. ‘He’ll wake up in a moment. His body was shocked by the shift.’

Ashleigh felt a change around her, and somehow she knew Lily was no longer beside her.

Just as Lily had said, Caleb began to stir, his eyes opened, and he looked around in confusion.

“Whaâ€"?â€� he began to ask.

“Take my hand!� Ashleigh called to him. He furrowed his brow but quickly took her hand as she said.

“The gate is pulling us to Winter,� Ashleigh said. “Lily collapsed the tunnel to keep us from getting caught up in the explosion, but we must hurry.�

“How?� Caleb said, “I can’t move....�

“It’s okay,� Ashleigh smiled. “Just don’t let go of my hand, the gate is pulling me, and I know how to follow it.�

Caleb nodded and squeezed her hand. They smiled at each other, and then he looked around them.

“Is this...?�

“The Ley Line,� Ashleigh nodded.

“Are we in space?� he asked.

Ashleigh laughed.

“Apparently, no, but yes? Or maybe?�

Caleb chuckled, looking around again, his jaw clenched.

“What about the Dark Queen?� he asked. “Where is she?�

Ashleigh swallowed, looking around. But she didn’t see anyone or anything else.

“I don’t know...� she whispered.

“Is she dead?� Caleb asked. “Did you kill her?�

Ashleigh shook her head and squeezed Caleb’s hand.

“I don’t know....�

***

“AAARGHH!!�

The Dark Queen roared in her anger. She was slamming her roots and vines against the golden walls that had appeared around her.

“You cannot keep me here forever!� she shouted angrily.

Once again, she slammed her vines against the walls. Gritting her teeth as the pain spread.

She looked down at the wound where Ashleigh had stabbed her with the obsidian blade. It was a blackened hole in her mass. Her vines and roots were not growing back. In fact, it appeared as though the wound itself was growing--slowly consuming more and more of her body.

‘I don’t need to keep you forever,’ Lily’s voice replied.

The Dark Queen gritted her teeth and looked around.

‘Just long enough for them to escape,� Lily continued. ‘Then I can let you go, let you fall into the ley line, where you will finally die and stay dead.’

The Dark Queen listened to Lily’s words with anger, but in doing so, she heard something in her voice. A soft quiver. A strain.

“Oh, little Lost Princess... it seems you are wearing yourself thin....� The Dark Queen grinned. “Did I take too much from you? Will you even be able to hold me long enough? Will you fail again!?�

Lily did not respond, but the walls around the Dark Queen thinned enough for her to see through them for just a moment. She smiled, looking around again until she found exactly what she was looking for.

“I see....� she rasped, moving toward her goal. “It wasn’t me that took too much from you....�

She leaned forward, close to one of the walls. Smiling as she stared at the tiny tear in the wall with black edges, watching as the blackness slowly spread.

The Dark Queen remembered now. When Ashleigh had driven the sword in through her back, she had pushed until it stopped, until it pierced the golden wall.

“Does the great Winter Princess know that she killed you?�

‘I was already dead...’ Lily replied softly, weakly. ‘But I will happily use what I have left in me to keep you from hurting her.’

“How noble!� the Dark Queen laughed.

The walls around her shuddered once more. This time the translucence lasted longer. Long enough for her to find what she was looking for. A malicious grin crossed over her wooden mask.

“Let’s see how strong you really are....� She whispered.

The Dark Queen extended her hand toward the wall. The tendrils wrapped around each other as they grew and grew. When they reached the wall, they slithered against it until they found their goal.

The tendrils stretched and pulled, probing the tear until it started to give way.