“How did I get tricked into this?” I wonder aloud. “No, seriously. How did I ever think this was a good idea?”835Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVuGcvF2ibS
Klef shushes me. “You’ll be fine. Don’t worry.”835Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdqAduzRo8m
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?”835Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡItbg2abgAi
“Yes. But this isn’t in public,” Klef reasons.835Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡe1dVzhHjH0
“I’m with Klef on this one, Reese, have some self confidence!” Geo adds.835Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDskc0aNev8
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?”835Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5rNMETFmn8
“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.”835Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzSr1g8onOp
Flo smiles, bashful. “I really wasn’t that good at finding anything to help you, but you’re welcome regardless.”835Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡB2DJHqnbdD
The other werewolf clears their throat. “Am I invisible, or something?”835Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡk9AbaadL0h
“Oh! Sorry, Rythe! Everyone, this is Rythe, my mate,” Flo says with a blush.835Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ825hvjH2UO
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!”835Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEDagFmBF04
I nod. “I’m Rides. Nice to meet you.”835Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEu5QZ2XFfS
Rythe bows. “It’s an honor, my lady.”835Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXbSsG1ViI1
I blush and Flo whacks Rythe upside the head. “Stop, you, you’re embarrassing her!”835Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkXZaCgiPnW
Rythe grins. “But that’s what you love about me! And clearly she doesn’t see herself as some sort of royalty!”835Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwRHQ9bEjQv
Flo mutters in a low voice, “She’s the Alpha’s daughter.”835Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBVDlT1QLxS
Rythe straightens. “You mean the Alpha of a rival pack or The Alpha?”835Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBcMAWmgrMx
“Try the second one,” Flo mutters, embarrassed on his behalf.835Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRN2M6lQX6Q
“Oh.” Rythe salutes me. “Terribly sorry, ma’am.”835Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡv5H2Pwgoql
“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.”835Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVQBaXEM9UI
Rythe nods stiffly, setting the flower crown close to the brink of desruction, and leads us inside.835Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhoKnmqBr6S
“Guy or girl?” Klef whispers to Geo.835Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzBzuWx6XUp
“I...don’t know? Guy, I think?”835Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwFMjc9TQz2
“No, I’d say girl,” Klef muses.835Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmPpLDaSM0G
“What are you guys talking about?” I mutter.835Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLRXMO9JhMb
“Rythe. Guy or girl, do you think?”835Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlKDBbs8Igm
“Um…” I have to think about my answer. “Maybe they’re neither…”835Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡx5Tk8vfyFw
“Neither? Is that possible?” Klef asks.835Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJiQooWxVRP
“It would make sense,” Geo reasons.835Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvJq3v8BjyE
“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.”835Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSmxO0pV2ZE
“Right, because the natural neutral pronouns are it/its, but that can be seen as degrading nowadays,” Geo says.835Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡuTsnLzECp3
“It is grammatically correct, though,” Klef points out.835Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOHvjVjFrNK
“I guess you have a point, but would you be okay with being called an ‘it’?” I counter.835Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCMc31aAIRw
“What are you guys talking about?” Flo asks.835Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡn7L4svuzPm
“Nothing much,” Geo says. “Just things back at our branch, you know?”835Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡO9lHXI6Hic
Rythe coughs and mutters, “They/them,” and I grin at Klef and Geo.835Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIPQrQqnP8l
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.835Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKjGIU3qayE
Rythe clears their throat. “Ladies, gentlemen, and everyone else, allow me to present Rides, the Oracle who will be informing us on her dreams!”835Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTgXKIKWXLE
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.835Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAJHpclyPhh
“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’.”835Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡiHhfRvpswN
Everyone shifts around, suddenly on edge. “And?!” a wizard with pitch black hair shouts.835Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡH2Nevyx3wb
“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.835Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBGUtlxnYag
“That we know of!” a gorgon yells. “We could be on a wild goose chase, lass!”835Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡD05gyijtvo
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.”835Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5ng6fCaPPb
The wizard who yelled out comes up to me. “Yeah, but we were expecting…”835Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡroGSuOTYmr
“More?” I supply. “Yeah, a lot of people do. Be glad I have that much, though. This is coming from 5 years of dreams.”835Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡS432AAKloq
“Okay. I’m Ama. A necromancer,” she introduces. “I’m going to be guarding you three for your stay.”835Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQm23HeEXSf
“Make that the two of them,” Geo corrects. “I’m no one.”835Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡamedQfwjkj
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.”835Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLAHmujH0Pz
The room is still silent, everyone anticipating my reply. “Excuse me,” I gasp, making a beeline for the room’s exit.835Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5wFeAnI7ht
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.835Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJOBF52hvF3
Footsteps come up to my back. Two pairs. “Ride?” Klef asks. “You okay?”835Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPARo5imVab
I shake my head and close my eyes, resting my side against the wall. “Sick,” I mutter.835Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJrOHecpKPm
“I’m sorry if I upset you, but you need to get it into your head that you’re special,” Ama states.835Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQGBGZY5ynZ
“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.”835Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZZTijzCE1D
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?”835Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWJuq0C2SsF
“S-sure.” I stumble on the word, because what is the correct response to someone volunteering to reanimate a corpse for you?835Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5s3mQCXJRq
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.”835Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxSi9Jj784y
“Definitely not someone I’d call a necromancer,” Klef mutters.835Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCjMSbV96z4
I still don’t turn enough to see him properly. Ama shifts so she can face me fully. “Pet the bun,” she instructs.835Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡREGPLWizpU
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.835Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3COYz6XtT6
I put a hand on her shoulder. “But you’re great at it.”835Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdHfe44znrn
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.”835Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8k0vvVVhCL
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.”835Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6xOXmgWH9T
“I’m fine,” I mutter as I lean against his shoulder.835Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvD92qPBUTX
“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.”835Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkyzsHoRWUP
I scoff. “Shut up, bird brain.”835Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7VFX4SEks8
“Make me, pointy ears!” Klef challenged.835Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCVRbMWccb6
Ama looked between us. “You two are so dating.”835Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡexJoUREyJH
“No we’re not!” we deny at the same time.835Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmOldDlFoDz
Ama laughs. “So dating.”835Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ76gzQxzz0w
“Well don’t say anything. We want to keep it on the DL, if it’s possible,” Klef requested.835Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZLPQh36bKW
“Seriously? I’m willing to bet half the people here have started a pool on your relationship status!”835Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNvY2cPzWSc
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.”835Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6fJZR3JsWB
Klef raises an eyebrow at me. “Is that how you see yourself?”835Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1rB9EDj1iG
I shrug. “Well, people mix up you and I a lot.”835Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡiK6k3NgEHr
Klef lightly punches me. “There’s the Ride I know and love.”835Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡeyNUj4dMFl
Ama sighs. “I ship it,” she murmurs.835Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡG1JU9WtIXb
“There’s that word again!” I exclaim. “Why would people ‘ship’ us?”835Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡomsv9gKdkV
“It’s cute!” Ama defends.835Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMetM2sbEss
“It’s weird!”835Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡy3C5eUCGja
“It’s true!”835Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLgmQMccw4k
“It’s really really funny,” Klef interjects.835Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtjTtkReXhY
I elbow him. “It is not,” I sigh.835Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0UmcK4HNhL
Klef grins.835Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2lLZ5Lavfa
“It’s not funny!” I exclaim.835Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡoWGR978dIE
“Whatever you say, Ride. Whatever you say,” Klef laughs.835Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJh4TRJDCmt
Rythe and Flo come into view outside the conference room. “You okay?” Rythe asks.835Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbXGRdMjZqN
I nod. Klef lets go of me and I nearly topple over. “Do you mind?” I growl.835Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡz3EVfDPq2x
He grins. “We’ll get you something to sit on until you feel better,” he assures.835Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWNgMuV27Dn
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.835Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡiddL5zqZV8
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.835Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmens3gb81f
“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.”835Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAiPDBXltGP
I nod. “Are we sending people to check out the most probable places?”835Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0xWlfIiLyx
“Yeah, and we’re sending you and Klef to some of the less likely ones, to deal with the messages somewhere safe.”835Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRgT32FMQ7E
“Okay, I guess…I’d rather be out looking, though.”835Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrir5lwGJVi
“It’s for the best you don’t,” a pale human with freckles says. “Hibiscus A, they/them. Has a mild obsession with dragons.”835Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡq7WwAwZJLw
I smile. “Rides. My dad wants me to go by Iri. I’m old fashioned, I don’t like using my full name.”835Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ10uhY0MtgG
Hibiscus A nodded. “I got you. Completely got you. Nice to make your acquaintance, Rides.”835Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8FPKPzfp00
“Likewise.”835Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYGQrO6JjHI
Klef walks in, followed by my dad. “Still hanging around this scum, Iri?”835Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQa5tui8m8l
I laugh. “Hi, dad.”835Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTiiSCEsq5s
Klef looks offended. “What am I?”835Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxpiOUXfFj3
“Chopped liver,” I respond.835Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡeT2qPPJfl7
Dad laughs. “Nice one!”835Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWy0eS4O8uD
Klef holds a hand to his heart. “You wound me, Ride. You wound me.”835Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡa0DPcS42wb
“Good. I was trying to.”835Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkB3ddyikXP
Hibiscus A coughed. “Ship it,” they mutter.835Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRMmmvmPbxH
I throw my hands up. “I’m done with this!” I sigh.835Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8SytW8BLlI
Everyone laughs. “You think I’m joking?” I ask, standing up shakily. “I’ll see you all tomorrow,” I exclaim, waving.835Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYLQCfoQHbC
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