“How did I get tricked into this?” I wonder aloud. “No, seriously. How did I ever think this was a good idea?”790Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKaJ16PQxqp
Klef shushes me. “You’ll be fine. Don’t worry.”790Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡltiXM5WhRS
The Crusader’s base is in sight, and I’m having more than a few second thoughts about this whole experience. “Have you ever seen me try to speak in public?”790Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡi2nXSrS2iI
“Yes. But this isn’t in public,” Klef reasons.790Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvRLL23fES4
“I’m with Klef on this one, Reese, have some self confidence!” Geo adds.790Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgQyMyNTr3k
As we’re walking toward the Crusader’s base, Flo walks out with a werewolf who I’m assuming is her mate. They have flowers in their short cropped hair but despite the typically “feminine” accessory has a somewhat-masculine build. Both of them walk out to greet us. “Oh, so nice to see you three! Geo, Iri, and...sorry, was it Klept?”790Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzsLHh5SD8A
“Klef, nice to meet you,” Klef says, shaking Flo’s hand. “I understand you’re the one who helped me when I had food poisoning 5 years ago. Thank you for that.”790Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡicWNDmNl7s
Flo smiles, bashful. “I really wasn’t that good at finding anything to help you, but you’re welcome regardless.”790Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXytPJ192gv
The other werewolf clears their throat. “Am I invisible, or something?”790Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqlYg6VnjSl
“Oh! Sorry, Rythe! Everyone, this is Rythe, my mate,” Flo says with a blush.790Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0WehUCiWcR
Rythe shakes Klef and Geo’s hands, and then comes to me, examining my eyes. “And you must be the Oracle I’m hearing so much about!”790Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4hR2mMTJnU
I nod. “I’m Rides. Nice to meet you.”790Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDwQjZ4SL7n
Rythe bows. “It’s an honor, my lady.”790Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFeVsEC2mze
I blush and Flo whacks Rythe upside the head. “Stop, you, you’re embarrassing her!”790Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2sVJG00FiI
Rythe grins. “But that’s what you love about me! And clearly she doesn’t see herself as some sort of royalty!”790Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLgEss0TuSn
Flo mutters in a low voice, “She’s the Alpha’s daughter.”790Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtVONvCNAS2
Rythe straightens. “You mean the Alpha of a rival pack or The Alpha?”790Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7DKsr2QxAu
“Try the second one,” Flo mutters, embarrassed on his behalf.790Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwAsgvSlNGQ
“Oh.” Rythe salutes me. “Terribly sorry, ma’am.”790Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfvfTqazFrj
“That’s not necessary, Rythe,” I laugh. “I’m perfectly fine with being called Rides, or even Iri, if my dad insists on calling me that all the time.”790Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjZa4AnfohF
Rythe nods stiffly, setting the flower crown close to the brink of desruction, and leads us inside.790Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡm3g2KcuUab
“Guy or girl?” Klef whispers to Geo.790Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡiuW7hyxDhx
“I...don’t know? Guy, I think?”790Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDwBfGYFdy0
“No, I’d say girl,” Klef muses.790Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLy7LS4PuVn
“What are you guys talking about?” I mutter.790Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGpGRir13KF
“Rythe. Guy or girl, do you think?”790Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQv5v73GIqJ
“Um…” I have to think about my answer. “Maybe they’re neither…”790Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPLYaF3ZB6m
“Neither? Is that possible?” Klef asks.790Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡr1TIz7e427
“It would make sense,” Geo reasons.790Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZrgRh2n4sT
“I’m going to stick to using first names around those two,” I say, holding to the werewolf couple holding hands. “Just to stay in the clear.”790Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6x0bTXBG6M
“Right, because the natural neutral pronouns are it/its, but that can be seen as degrading nowadays,” Geo says.790Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxjuoT9S1Jm
“It is grammatically correct, though,” Klef points out.790Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtHuJ0d2l7P
“I guess you have a point, but would you be okay with being called an ‘it’?” I counter.790Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgPS6sh0KLI
“What are you guys talking about?” Flo asks.790Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2RETAIlAGW
“Nothing much,” Geo says. “Just things back at our branch, you know?”790Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEUdrQP3boe
Rythe coughs and mutters, “They/them,” and I grin at Klef and Geo.790Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUPf2q0n4lX
Flo ushers us into a giant room filled with desks where people are talking on phones, documenting things with pictures and surrounding a map, adjusting plastic pieces and discussing strategy. There are many species I recognize and some I don’t. This speech is not going to be easy.790Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmyIGmvTgnJ
Rythe clears their throat. “Ladies, gentlemen, and everyone else, allow me to present Rides, the Oracle who will be informing us on her dreams!”790Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrJtLuUk8Px
The room goes silent and every eye is on me as I take a deep breath. “Well...first of all, thanks for paying attention, I know a large room full of people who wouldn’t be willing to do that. Second of all,” I look around the room. “Why are you guys paying attention?! I have no clue what I’m doing, and I’m willing to bet every other person in this room has a better idea about how to handle this problem than I do. I am young, inexperienced, and I have recurring nightmares, so I don’t get a lot of sleep to think clearly.” Everyone looks at one another, shifting and murmuring. “My point being,” I yell over the murmuring, and everything goes dead silent again, “That no matter what you think of me, I’m like anyone else. I have my strengths and my weaknesses, just as everyone else in this room has to deal with. I’m not some super-impressive goddess who can do anything I want. I’m weak at almost everything here. I’m just Rides, the girl who dunked her boyfriend in ice cold water to try and help speed up his molting. But you need information, and fortunately, that’s one of my strengths.790Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbA3i5IcaIS
“All of my dreams are pretty much the same. I’m being led to some machine of mass destruction by someone--I don’t know who. I’m on some island, or place surrounded by water, at least. There’s mermaids, fairies, zombies, ghosts, you name a species, it’s probably there, except there are never any humans. When I’m strapped to it something happens and it takes my Sight. It revs up and Klef is asking whoever the leader is why they’re doing this. To summarize, they say it’s to ‘destroy all humans’.”790Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQ01eROff10
Everyone shifts around, suddenly on edge. “And?!” a wizard with pitch black hair shouts.790Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡP4SQ1Yr32h
“And that’s it. I can say it’s more likely that we’re on an island than a continent, and there aren’t as many islands in this world to check out…” I say.790Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRUaLZd6dF1
“That we know of!” a gorgon yells. “We could be on a wild goose chase, lass!”790Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡk6mG8mqfie
Klef bristles next to me and I hold him back with a hand. “You called me here,” I explain, “You wanted to know what I knew. There you have it.”790Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJh2V2jgddS
The wizard who yelled out comes up to me. “Yeah, but we were expecting…”790Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjIqyeUH1CX
“More?” I supply. “Yeah, a lot of people do. Be glad I have that much, though. This is coming from 5 years of dreams.”790Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡh3iedlY43m
“Okay. I’m Ama. A necromancer,” she introduces. “I’m going to be guarding you three for your stay.”790Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyZTOoyOoFK
“Make that the two of them,” Geo corrects. “I’m no one.”790Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrSgZqiXDbI
I start to protest but Ama cuts me off. “He has a good point, Oracle. You and your partner are the highest priority here. The less people to protect, the safer you’ll be.”790Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡi2UxcCURtB
The room is still silent, everyone anticipating my reply. “Excuse me,” I gasp, making a beeline for the room’s exit.790Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfWAsyPHHUG
I wander the halls, looking for a restroom. I know I’m about to be sick. I heave in the middle of the hallway and shudder as nothing comes up but a little bile. I was too nervous to eat lunch earlier, but now I’m glad I insisted that I wasn’t hungry. After a few more dry heaves, I slide down the colorless wall to the right of me to the ground. Now that I’ve stopped puking, all I really want to do is cry. I’m really not important. They just need my gift, and anyone could get that. To say others’ lives, their family and friends, my family and friends, are nothing next to me...it has to be utterly ridiculous. There’s no way. I no more important than anyone else. No one should die on my behalf.790Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjWanvG7OqX
Footsteps come up to my back. Two pairs. “Ride?” Klef asks. “You okay?”790Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4TC2hHFgNi
I shake my head and close my eyes, resting my side against the wall. “Sick,” I mutter.790Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzjTbmMOdFB
“I’m sorry if I upset you, but you need to get it into your head that you’re special,” Ama states.790Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7EHDEbY8pv
“You don’t seem to be the type to be a necromancer,” I say. “Since you seem to care about people and their health so much.”790Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡucV2w7Xbli
Ama laughs. “You haven’t seen me mad.” I turn to get a good look at her. She does have a black air about her, but it’s small and watery at the moment. She has black ringlets that go below her shoulders and clear, milky skin. She also has one green and one blue eye. She notices me looking at her eyes and grins. “Yeah, I have the Sight too. It makes my magic strong enough to animate corpses. Wanna see?”790Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAH6Ywrv8eI
“S-sure.” I stumble on the word, because what is the correct response to someone volunteering to reanimate a corpse for you?790Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtDKxdlBjWP
Ama mutters something and a tiny skeleton of a rabbit forms out of bones in a pocket Ama has on her clothes. “I like bunnies,” Ama explains. “Once I made an entire fluffle of skeleton bunnies follow me.”790Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ50cTAGrqtX
“Definitely not someone I’d call a necromancer,” Klef mutters.790Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtxkSWU1zXM
I still don’t turn enough to see him properly. Ama shifts so she can face me fully. “Pet the bun,” she instructs.790Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwUWsJtwhPT
My hand reaches for the bunny with hesitation and it lifts its head up to meet my fingers, relishing every single stroke. I smile, and Ama smiles at me. The bunny falls into a pile of bones and Ama shakily returns the bones to her pockets. “Always drains me,” she admits.790Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2WPnBayRwF
I put a hand on her shoulder. “But you’re great at it.”790Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡeEzZcboP7g
Ama grins, a blush creeping over her from ear to ear as she stands up. “Come on. Everyone is waiting for you, to make sure you’re all right.”790Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjwzB7EOVzi
I stand up, my muscles screaming at me every inch. My legs shake and my head is spinning as I finally look at Klef. His face is etched in concern and he takes the few slow steps to me as if he’s walking across a minefield. He wraps an arm around my shoulder and says, “You look like you’re about to keel over. Let me help.”790Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbRZgCKVrLa
“I’m fine,” I mutter as I lean against his shoulder.790Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKg0ghriQAM
“Of course you are, you’re great,” he snarks as he leads me back the way we came. “That’s why you puked and collapsed.”790Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOxyLsz50OK
I scoff. “Shut up, bird brain.”790Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIUY7qpAhKX
“Make me, pointy ears!” Klef challenged.790Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9QcJ24JcxR
Ama looked between us. “You two are so dating.”790Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6WYT10SjXg
“No we’re not!” we deny at the same time.790Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbbf2wjS1Lv
Ama laughs. “So dating.”790Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdnC7055xrl
“Well don’t say anything. We want to keep it on the DL, if it’s possible,” Klef requested.790Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡS4staRXXgq
“Seriously? I’m willing to bet half the people here have started a pool on your relationship status!”790Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡu1KPbb0tMS
I groan. “Great. Just what I need. First I’m more important than others, and now I’m going to be seen as a desperate lovestruck teenager.”790Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ01rTESieAj
Klef raises an eyebrow at me. “Is that how you see yourself?”790Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEdBwb1WAOw
I shrug. “Well, people mix up you and I a lot.”790Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvue6Wy4MMb
Klef lightly punches me. “There’s the Ride I know and love.”790Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡm71MpfE4zA
Ama sighs. “I ship it,” she murmurs.790Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUfxaJbQ9UP
“There’s that word again!” I exclaim. “Why would people ‘ship’ us?”790Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡn4pBJ5XD2Z
“It’s cute!” Ama defends.790Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4ZiooTHhZu
“It’s weird!”790Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhcfN09Mtuy
“It’s true!”790Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjCP7tAFem3
“It’s really really funny,” Klef interjects.790Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡuD4jKLqdm6
I elbow him. “It is not,” I sigh.790Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUtx5gBdsBX
Klef grins.790Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIw8dcBrArR
“It’s not funny!” I exclaim.790Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUqWmCS6jF8
“Whatever you say, Ride. Whatever you say,” Klef laughs.790Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUeQgsbu34T
Rythe and Flo come into view outside the conference room. “You okay?” Rythe asks.790Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrXqZnSvLmW
I nod. Klef lets go of me and I nearly topple over. “Do you mind?” I growl.790Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcLvUVqCeie
He grins. “We’ll get you something to sit on until you feel better,” he assures.790Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkEqafiMej3
I mimic him. He punches me, nearly sending me careening into a wall. Rythe picks me up. “I can take you to a wheelchair, don’t worry,” they say.790Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdshFlRRvcU
I’m carried to a wheelchair next to a table with a globe on it. Little red flags litter the globe. “What are those flags for?” I ask.790Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1ZG1RxMEMd
“Those are possible places your dreams could have taken place. Now, the list has decreased significantly with your information,” Rythe pulled out land-based flags. “Because you said you were on a peninsula or an island. Now, in addition to the Islands of the Mermaids, there are a bunch of unmapped islands all around the globe. And there’s on in the middle of a lake in the Untamed Lands that’s suspicious.”790Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHiRJSCLEnN
I nod. “Are we sending people to check out the most probable places?”790Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡR9WUbvVgCk
“Yeah, and we’re sending you and Klef to some of the less likely ones, to deal with the messages somewhere safe.”790Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEkVcRi6BbS
“Okay, I guess…I’d rather be out looking, though.”790Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡuouwkmKu25
“It’s for the best you don’t,” a pale human with freckles says. “Hibiscus A, they/them. Has a mild obsession with dragons.”790Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5DO4ISCGJV
I smile. “Rides. My dad wants me to go by Iri. I’m old fashioned, I don’t like using my full name.”790Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEGe43qVq8s
Hibiscus A nodded. “I got you. Completely got you. Nice to make your acquaintance, Rides.”790Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2JB7AQJEgn
“Likewise.”790Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYigw77j8CM
Klef walks in, followed by my dad. “Still hanging around this scum, Iri?”790Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPRsvvaXe9X
I laugh. “Hi, dad.”790Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvXoBuhiTRX
Klef looks offended. “What am I?”790Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtLFghS21Kj
“Chopped liver,” I respond.790Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBCnfKHramV
Dad laughs. “Nice one!”790Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqRNDXuXz8u
Klef holds a hand to his heart. “You wound me, Ride. You wound me.”790Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcEC0tHpf6x
“Good. I was trying to.”790Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDR1W67CLFl
Hibiscus A coughed. “Ship it,” they mutter.790Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVU32SXmZyo
I throw my hands up. “I’m done with this!” I sigh.790Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSWG05IdSL1
Everyone laughs. “You think I’m joking?” I ask, standing up shakily. “I’ll see you all tomorrow,” I exclaim, waving.790Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbW8oO0OZZO
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