“How did I get tricked into this?” I wonder aloud. “No, seriously. How did I ever think this was a good idea?”977Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2y5GTwXygF
Klef shushes me. “You’ll be fine. Don’t worry.”977Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡei0akt5MgB
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?”977Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIJa9cCErBQ
“Yes. But this isn’t in public,” Klef reasons.977Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡeCTsChudbA
“I’m with Klef on this one, Reese, have some self confidence!” Geo adds.977Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCQPgDwrUcd
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?”977Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWSehMTbGWa
“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.”977Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwG8R0Ni9s6
Flo smiles, bashful. “I really wasn’t that good at finding anything to help you, but you’re welcome regardless.”977Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqeq4SAxGSr
The other werewolf clears their throat. “Am I invisible, or something?”977Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBX2gDvxmqI
“Oh! Sorry, Rythe! Everyone, this is Rythe, my mate,” Flo says with a blush.977Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAk4DKAtDzh
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!”977Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1PhsYewxZh
I nod. “I’m Rides. Nice to meet you.”977Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡiE0mlbSMZE
Rythe bows. “It’s an honor, my lady.”977Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOz5vrtf3wZ
I blush and Flo whacks Rythe upside the head. “Stop, you, you’re embarrassing her!”977Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBeEgkuWSKj
Rythe grins. “But that’s what you love about me! And clearly she doesn’t see herself as some sort of royalty!”977Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡeXXfgJGnWU
Flo mutters in a low voice, “She’s the Alpha’s daughter.”977Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡn5iQuESOLg
Rythe straightens. “You mean the Alpha of a rival pack or The Alpha?”977Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHUPqjowzeH
“Try the second one,” Flo mutters, embarrassed on his behalf.977Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFhUc3mFrT9
“Oh.” Rythe salutes me. “Terribly sorry, ma’am.”977Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2GJ64t2Dyv
“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.”977Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHyPdPNMmu9
Rythe nods stiffly, setting the flower crown close to the brink of desruction, and leads us inside.977Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEDsJdMaURd
“Guy or girl?” Klef whispers to Geo.977Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlYvlVSCye8
“I...don’t know? Guy, I think?”977Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPD30vkk7Bp
“No, I’d say girl,” Klef muses.977Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDLDvGzTO9V
“What are you guys talking about?” I mutter.977Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡL35aCyGtzv
“Rythe. Guy or girl, do you think?”977Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡaRnmXCYLgE
“Um…” I have to think about my answer. “Maybe they’re neither…”977Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVEO9z2ldkg
“Neither? Is that possible?” Klef asks.977Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFuAcDpzySM
“It would make sense,” Geo reasons.977Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡi8ki0DqBfk
“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.”977Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡV8aTXzbHII
“Right, because the natural neutral pronouns are it/its, but that can be seen as degrading nowadays,” Geo says.977Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ16L3VK9paj
“It is grammatically correct, though,” Klef points out.977Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡB8hRQxFCO4
“I guess you have a point, but would you be okay with being called an ‘it’?” I counter.977Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6XF6u9iDvN
“What are you guys talking about?” Flo asks.977Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡthsHFVNpAr
“Nothing much,” Geo says. “Just things back at our branch, you know?”977Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzRDWFMEr1r
Rythe coughs and mutters, “They/them,” and I grin at Klef and Geo.977Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQtJ1ZOzjs0
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.977Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXFKzOE7Wf5
Rythe clears their throat. “Ladies, gentlemen, and everyone else, allow me to present Rides, the Oracle who will be informing us on her dreams!”977Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJ3ZJub3dEm
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.977Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6JIPkdOa2D
“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’.”977Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdSVyNV27zq
Everyone shifts around, suddenly on edge. “And?!” a wizard with pitch black hair shouts.977Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡoaBePzxvBc
“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.977Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ42mqfurp5A
“That we know of!” a gorgon yells. “We could be on a wild goose chase, lass!”977Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡoRhgBYHI0W
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.”977Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡry1zoNzBfH
The wizard who yelled out comes up to me. “Yeah, but we were expecting…”977Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4CSbBzydkg
“More?” I supply. “Yeah, a lot of people do. Be glad I have that much, though. This is coming from 5 years of dreams.”977Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8sq0T34Oh0
“Okay. I’m Ama. A necromancer,” she introduces. “I’m going to be guarding you three for your stay.”977Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡExRnYKR9A0
“Make that the two of them,” Geo corrects. “I’m no one.”977Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡT1rj2j88AU
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.”977Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLXiJc9km2Q
The room is still silent, everyone anticipating my reply. “Excuse me,” I gasp, making a beeline for the room’s exit.977Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMJTNpoR2WJ
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.977Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSevmcx7Emy
Footsteps come up to my back. Two pairs. “Ride?” Klef asks. “You okay?”977Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKv9b1dtQav
I shake my head and close my eyes, resting my side against the wall. “Sick,” I mutter.977Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡM8nvT9msmW
“I’m sorry if I upset you, but you need to get it into your head that you’re special,” Ama states.977Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7i26HAvQCi
“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.”977Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5Zyqi7EtM2
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?”977Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLJ9UKEAXgi
“S-sure.” I stumble on the word, because what is the correct response to someone volunteering to reanimate a corpse for you?977Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPNoWMKWCEH
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.”977Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8b04iDTj7T
“Definitely not someone I’d call a necromancer,” Klef mutters.977Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdAxWjiCHRZ
I still don’t turn enough to see him properly. Ama shifts so she can face me fully. “Pet the bun,” she instructs.977Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQfUgXuGgQ0
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.977Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡziHWa5HFOp
I put a hand on her shoulder. “But you’re great at it.”977Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUm7HA5I1x2
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.”977Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSttfJxA1uM
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.”977Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡF0IXUK2UOl
“I’m fine,” I mutter as I lean against his shoulder.977Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7hJuVo8bHr
“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.”977Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡo6t7ABnkor
I scoff. “Shut up, bird brain.”977Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7Xxz1a67an
“Make me, pointy ears!” Klef challenged.977Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfiw2qjr21X
Ama looked between us. “You two are so dating.”977Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKyD3isTWkX
“No we’re not!” we deny at the same time.977Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡch1VWg9V4Q
Ama laughs. “So dating.”977Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqRWIMORhqz
“Well don’t say anything. We want to keep it on the DL, if it’s possible,” Klef requested.977Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfuHswwby74
“Seriously? I’m willing to bet half the people here have started a pool on your relationship status!”977Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxqfkEUHj8J
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.”977Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡx0FRpLpNDl
Klef raises an eyebrow at me. “Is that how you see yourself?”977Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbmLOzpl6cb
I shrug. “Well, people mix up you and I a lot.”977Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsykgZ1PtlH
Klef lightly punches me. “There’s the Ride I know and love.”977Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpLDYQkU5G3
Ama sighs. “I ship it,” she murmurs.977Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7sQp4ykRfZ
“There’s that word again!” I exclaim. “Why would people ‘ship’ us?”977Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡif2y2jv5XV
“It’s cute!” Ama defends.977Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdwwaLd4q3Z
“It’s weird!”977Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4RJEsuFEQ9
“It’s true!”977Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKJ3Th6o1Cp
“It’s really really funny,” Klef interjects.977Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9zW5mWkkAy
I elbow him. “It is not,” I sigh.977Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGIJkRlgKxb
Klef grins.977Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpiueMpLoVt
“It’s not funny!” I exclaim.977Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRcgR7sl2aR
“Whatever you say, Ride. Whatever you say,” Klef laughs.977Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOSg4Vv82wU
Rythe and Flo come into view outside the conference room. “You okay?” Rythe asks.977Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsVXn3ecqMS
I nod. Klef lets go of me and I nearly topple over. “Do you mind?” I growl.977Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8Zdnaa8URN
He grins. “We’ll get you something to sit on until you feel better,” he assures.977Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHffTNc7qF1
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.977Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCwa8unNyHF
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.977Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡht9CuOC5Vy
“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.”977Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqUK891MNNS
I nod. “Are we sending people to check out the most probable places?”977Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjloBRLOhbL
“Yeah, and we’re sending you and Klef to some of the less likely ones, to deal with the messages somewhere safe.”977Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡaefzFiTkmi
“Okay, I guess…I’d rather be out looking, though.”977Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFzbkh7C9lv
“It’s for the best you don’t,” a pale human with freckles says. “Hibiscus A, they/them. Has a mild obsession with dragons.”977Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNwXe4KeGb6
I smile. “Rides. My dad wants me to go by Iri. I’m old fashioned, I don’t like using my full name.”977Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVoUNw43KZ1
Hibiscus A nodded. “I got you. Completely got you. Nice to make your acquaintance, Rides.”977Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡaHeh3Fuufn
“Likewise.”977Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlvG5j3BVr2
Klef walks in, followed by my dad. “Still hanging around this scum, Iri?”977Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3g1aSd73Oo
I laugh. “Hi, dad.”977Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡU4yHzPV6J3
Klef looks offended. “What am I?”977Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡiN5Q6uBP9q
“Chopped liver,” I respond.977Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDWEFohUXV2
Dad laughs. “Nice one!”977Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡl2pmczDQ9x
Klef holds a hand to his heart. “You wound me, Ride. You wound me.”977Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbwMmpPq0EA
“Good. I was trying to.”977Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡW7PVBDIYNP
Hibiscus A coughed. “Ship it,” they mutter.977Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5Elit5cBHy
I throw my hands up. “I’m done with this!” I sigh.977Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡN2vID6q0YR
Everyone laughs. “You think I’m joking?” I ask, standing up shakily. “I’ll see you all tomorrow,” I exclaim, waving.977Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjeSDRo4gKo
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