“How did I get tricked into this?” I wonder aloud. “No, seriously. How did I ever think this was a good idea?”893Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEY0ywGmaWG
Klef shushes me. “You’ll be fine. Don’t worry.”893Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJAqu4SyyAA
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?”893Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYzmW1ZMU6x
“Yes. But this isn’t in public,” Klef reasons.893Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡODvVNS9Kx2
“I’m with Klef on this one, Reese, have some self confidence!” Geo adds.893Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdv2LIdtX8E
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?”893Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCcPzrfFlJa
“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.”893Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZ3aouy5tGq
Flo smiles, bashful. “I really wasn’t that good at finding anything to help you, but you’re welcome regardless.”893Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡae2sbULUvI
The other werewolf clears their throat. “Am I invisible, or something?”893Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3hRdVtRkgG
“Oh! Sorry, Rythe! Everyone, this is Rythe, my mate,” Flo says with a blush.893Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgYWMhbqpM4
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!”893Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOSrHSHCR14
I nod. “I’m Rides. Nice to meet you.”893Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡeuaGEjtIIM
Rythe bows. “It’s an honor, my lady.”893Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNpy4egYrGW
I blush and Flo whacks Rythe upside the head. “Stop, you, you’re embarrassing her!”893Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSuONzStHB5
Rythe grins. “But that’s what you love about me! And clearly she doesn’t see herself as some sort of royalty!”893Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBj2XDfR5c2
Flo mutters in a low voice, “She’s the Alpha’s daughter.”893Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjk8wKXv8Rl
Rythe straightens. “You mean the Alpha of a rival pack or The Alpha?”893Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡt4X1muyYpu
“Try the second one,” Flo mutters, embarrassed on his behalf.893Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8k2KbdpEZM
“Oh.” Rythe salutes me. “Terribly sorry, ma’am.”893Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTiH6gQ1Vay
“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.”893Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGlqZr03ZIm
Rythe nods stiffly, setting the flower crown close to the brink of desruction, and leads us inside.893Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfPtfd0F3wp
“Guy or girl?” Klef whispers to Geo.893Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4IaTZTrDcR
“I...don’t know? Guy, I think?”893Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjFi5W64cFE
“No, I’d say girl,” Klef muses.893Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8ljHTOHZwY
“What are you guys talking about?” I mutter.893Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXa4htgFIaj
“Rythe. Guy or girl, do you think?”893Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYPfqmqbZrG
“Um…” I have to think about my answer. “Maybe they’re neither…”893Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTgj1YCnC6W
“Neither? Is that possible?” Klef asks.893Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkedk3b1EXX
“It would make sense,” Geo reasons.893Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡx6zew6YQyX
“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.”893Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAD56momiNl
“Right, because the natural neutral pronouns are it/its, but that can be seen as degrading nowadays,” Geo says.893Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmr1D4WGY4F
“It is grammatically correct, though,” Klef points out.893Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEOL51p5sFK
“I guess you have a point, but would you be okay with being called an ‘it’?” I counter.893Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQPUk1dg7eL
“What are you guys talking about?” Flo asks.893Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNsBkJkQ2jx
“Nothing much,” Geo says. “Just things back at our branch, you know?”893Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPSjJdngg9u
Rythe coughs and mutters, “They/them,” and I grin at Klef and Geo.893Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvMpxkFN5WG
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.893Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlKDBZgqGim
Rythe clears their throat. “Ladies, gentlemen, and everyone else, allow me to present Rides, the Oracle who will be informing us on her dreams!”893Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡiDWmnriJTm
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.893Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJJFiRAXu1l
“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’.”893Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDwxbOlLKm1
Everyone shifts around, suddenly on edge. “And?!” a wizard with pitch black hair shouts.893Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2A6AaunMTf
“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.893Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSWDid54UPK
“That we know of!” a gorgon yells. “We could be on a wild goose chase, lass!”893Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgk4Ilg8RyN
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.”893Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnNT8xFcQgS
The wizard who yelled out comes up to me. “Yeah, but we were expecting…”893Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbtB4GuEa85
“More?” I supply. “Yeah, a lot of people do. Be glad I have that much, though. This is coming from 5 years of dreams.”893Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUCZeX4DwSi
“Okay. I’m Ama. A necromancer,” she introduces. “I’m going to be guarding you three for your stay.”893Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtctYSNlNsN
“Make that the two of them,” Geo corrects. “I’m no one.”893Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡuGNs8vA4iG
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.”893Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHXVWZVrbLY
The room is still silent, everyone anticipating my reply. “Excuse me,” I gasp, making a beeline for the room’s exit.893Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3iewHyQlOt
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.893Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgvRmXvXCJb
Footsteps come up to my back. Two pairs. “Ride?” Klef asks. “You okay?”893Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6Phdil3Udq
I shake my head and close my eyes, resting my side against the wall. “Sick,” I mutter.893Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQUOAxLCFOg
“I’m sorry if I upset you, but you need to get it into your head that you’re special,” Ama states.893Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvQys3cpK9N
“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.”893Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYyg1XRLbMt
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?”893Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsdo0yIsWdL
“S-sure.” I stumble on the word, because what is the correct response to someone volunteering to reanimate a corpse for you?893Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkPUPNPSOZc
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.”893Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFY1o0pIh7E
“Definitely not someone I’d call a necromancer,” Klef mutters.893Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqH7Z6hbsIE
I still don’t turn enough to see him properly. Ama shifts so she can face me fully. “Pet the bun,” she instructs.893Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpENcSXtAVH
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.893Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡiPouBEydus
I put a hand on her shoulder. “But you’re great at it.”893Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfytDOrX2Kw
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.”893Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1C7KOXpP1R
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.”893Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLPG68yW1sd
“I’m fine,” I mutter as I lean against his shoulder.893Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡoOc7Pf8xf0
“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.”893Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZqKEzsqo6k
I scoff. “Shut up, bird brain.”893Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdOdgjaRYwg
“Make me, pointy ears!” Klef challenged.893Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡh9qeOniReO
Ama looked between us. “You two are so dating.”893Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡN6Z3b4AzVd
“No we’re not!” we deny at the same time.893Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWdYCiODpa9
Ama laughs. “So dating.”893Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNKfijdUdSx
“Well don’t say anything. We want to keep it on the DL, if it’s possible,” Klef requested.893Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTdv5LQaIIn
“Seriously? I’m willing to bet half the people here have started a pool on your relationship status!”893Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjtM2DKZNnM
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.”893Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdqMB2p6Ugz
Klef raises an eyebrow at me. “Is that how you see yourself?”893Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUpZpnHrQxY
I shrug. “Well, people mix up you and I a lot.”893Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡF5JaJbE2nA
Klef lightly punches me. “There’s the Ride I know and love.”893Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHvysqio1OX
Ama sighs. “I ship it,” she murmurs.893Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2Tsck3jHsB
“There’s that word again!” I exclaim. “Why would people ‘ship’ us?”893Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKqgUU1Zkro
“It’s cute!” Ama defends.893Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ74f7gexOYY
“It’s weird!”893Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2DLAUEZITa
“It’s true!”893Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡoP2RJHVILn
“It’s really really funny,” Klef interjects.893Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpJkAkJHBQG
I elbow him. “It is not,” I sigh.893Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡM5W4ZlF6Qv
Klef grins.893Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6bWOcgeLX7
“It’s not funny!” I exclaim.893Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ47ilKGMHlZ
“Whatever you say, Ride. Whatever you say,” Klef laughs.893Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXNvMgy91OC
Rythe and Flo come into view outside the conference room. “You okay?” Rythe asks.893Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzpsCXx6m7C
I nod. Klef lets go of me and I nearly topple over. “Do you mind?” I growl.893Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPqIIqKdttf
He grins. “We’ll get you something to sit on until you feel better,” he assures.893Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXwNV7FEM8y
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.893Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqcfHzUbU0d
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.893Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡaSixS6OIqa
“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.”893Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRYhGn3RZGX
I nod. “Are we sending people to check out the most probable places?”893Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDaqF1kQaSf
“Yeah, and we’re sending you and Klef to some of the less likely ones, to deal with the messages somewhere safe.”893Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXJzd2vdb5l
“Okay, I guess…I’d rather be out looking, though.”893Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRY1QEDcfbI
“It’s for the best you don’t,” a pale human with freckles says. “Hibiscus A, they/them. Has a mild obsession with dragons.”893Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡl61KURm0Vf
I smile. “Rides. My dad wants me to go by Iri. I’m old fashioned, I don’t like using my full name.”893Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxS2alVrV6q
Hibiscus A nodded. “I got you. Completely got you. Nice to make your acquaintance, Rides.”893Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ71jcL3pqOs
“Likewise.”893Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAa97yNHVfi
Klef walks in, followed by my dad. “Still hanging around this scum, Iri?”893Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfVPELwClRR
I laugh. “Hi, dad.”893Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEhoL7K2The
Klef looks offended. “What am I?”893Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7RWHWJuKAG
“Chopped liver,” I respond.893Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPesKjvl4xk
Dad laughs. “Nice one!”893Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9n94JBFuk2
Klef holds a hand to his heart. “You wound me, Ride. You wound me.”893Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡncAS52Hle0
“Good. I was trying to.”893Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWFMcrvjPPD
Hibiscus A coughed. “Ship it,” they mutter.893Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVxTiIBfGDB
I throw my hands up. “I’m done with this!” I sigh.893Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡt1zYhAezV4
Everyone laughs. “You think I’m joking?” I ask, standing up shakily. “I’ll see you all tomorrow,” I exclaim, waving.893Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlvM1BjJHNX
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