“How did I get tricked into this?” I wonder aloud. “No, seriously. How did I ever think this was a good idea?”982Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMtYGAUv30P
Klef shushes me. “You’ll be fine. Don’t worry.”982Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKBB7SkfuGd
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?”982Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrwwvvstMmE
“Yes. But this isn’t in public,” Klef reasons.982Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWdec3qKfYO
“I’m with Klef on this one, Reese, have some self confidence!” Geo adds.982Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyXqcDxVcda
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?”982Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBdrmsJwCQB
“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.”982Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡaaaiFaFSde
Flo smiles, bashful. “I really wasn’t that good at finding anything to help you, but you’re welcome regardless.”982Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdLkm5LGG8p
The other werewolf clears their throat. “Am I invisible, or something?”982Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOKGT1IoyGX
“Oh! Sorry, Rythe! Everyone, this is Rythe, my mate,” Flo says with a blush.982Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsTSCBHnjHl
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!”982Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡz1Xk3DILa9
I nod. “I’m Rides. Nice to meet you.”982Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmuEE0YsMb0
Rythe bows. “It’s an honor, my lady.”982Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXrjp0KknxE
I blush and Flo whacks Rythe upside the head. “Stop, you, you’re embarrassing her!”982Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtDx8wHiuFk
Rythe grins. “But that’s what you love about me! And clearly she doesn’t see herself as some sort of royalty!”982Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡP2DYxkgg8Y
Flo mutters in a low voice, “She’s the Alpha’s daughter.”982Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEbgm6SfRoP
Rythe straightens. “You mean the Alpha of a rival pack or The Alpha?”982Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSfX2q1wRFK
“Try the second one,” Flo mutters, embarrassed on his behalf.982Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdd4HAJczB2
“Oh.” Rythe salutes me. “Terribly sorry, ma’am.”982Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJd2738VQTy
“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.”982Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYz9hFvLVGe
Rythe nods stiffly, setting the flower crown close to the brink of desruction, and leads us inside.982Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrVYvanLvAK
“Guy or girl?” Klef whispers to Geo.982Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqPKRvgJNRo
“I...don’t know? Guy, I think?”982Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡb1L2f6EQBe
“No, I’d say girl,” Klef muses.982Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9iuT3pDLWu
“What are you guys talking about?” I mutter.982Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEJqCbveIPM
“Rythe. Guy or girl, do you think?”982Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ27HUSKOE93
“Um…” I have to think about my answer. “Maybe they’re neither…”982Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAICNDeCix5
“Neither? Is that possible?” Klef asks.982Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzrbmF6yzsa
“It would make sense,” Geo reasons.982Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAJeb4lU8H3
“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.”982Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEctzNlz2EF
“Right, because the natural neutral pronouns are it/its, but that can be seen as degrading nowadays,” Geo says.982Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ80nRFJ1UHI
“It is grammatically correct, though,” Klef points out.982Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgYWOOsg8Cp
“I guess you have a point, but would you be okay with being called an ‘it’?” I counter.982Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡK7RcExVHdl
“What are you guys talking about?” Flo asks.982Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1MPJJB3Ywz
“Nothing much,” Geo says. “Just things back at our branch, you know?”982Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9mgstGJ2C1
Rythe coughs and mutters, “They/them,” and I grin at Klef and Geo.982Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdY7i4UnvgS
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.982Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlg6T8kzCUW
Rythe clears their throat. “Ladies, gentlemen, and everyone else, allow me to present Rides, the Oracle who will be informing us on her dreams!”982Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJCanESbCMF
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.982Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2LsGD17YjV
“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’.”982Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWwc77GxmDw
Everyone shifts around, suddenly on edge. “And?!” a wizard with pitch black hair shouts.982Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNASmMy0P77
“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.982Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTz2ObBThiD
“That we know of!” a gorgon yells. “We could be on a wild goose chase, lass!”982Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJoX2yi0jRO
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.”982Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡuiuEhAC90S
The wizard who yelled out comes up to me. “Yeah, but we were expecting…”982Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡL78FyTihxa
“More?” I supply. “Yeah, a lot of people do. Be glad I have that much, though. This is coming from 5 years of dreams.”982Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡL7YZKpeU7S
“Okay. I’m Ama. A necromancer,” she introduces. “I’m going to be guarding you three for your stay.”982Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡv63jiCHDxj
“Make that the two of them,” Geo corrects. “I’m no one.”982Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKuBLqg11cS
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.”982Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3ARbOnhwEI
The room is still silent, everyone anticipating my reply. “Excuse me,” I gasp, making a beeline for the room’s exit.982Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡInGo7lhtGm
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.982Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHSUqRWJ4am
Footsteps come up to my back. Two pairs. “Ride?” Klef asks. “You okay?”982Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsmQWtuG2E3
I shake my head and close my eyes, resting my side against the wall. “Sick,” I mutter.982Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtdUsLvpuhR
“I’m sorry if I upset you, but you need to get it into your head that you’re special,” Ama states.982Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡaZ7YfemriE
“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.”982Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAMijwr3czQ
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?”982Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdP03yd5cJr
“S-sure.” I stumble on the word, because what is the correct response to someone volunteering to reanimate a corpse for you?982Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5ENPCNWQM1
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.”982Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsBcSZ47gEg
“Definitely not someone I’d call a necromancer,” Klef mutters.982Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrgIjqYuSqv
I still don’t turn enough to see him properly. Ama shifts so she can face me fully. “Pet the bun,” she instructs.982Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYI9vRFtAUg
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.982Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfQG1qvW9pI
I put a hand on her shoulder. “But you’re great at it.”982Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡovpQJeBolD
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.”982Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡK79NNQVToT
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.”982Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzT1AiXOFZa
“I’m fine,” I mutter as I lean against his shoulder.982Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkZdhnvmiVz
“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.”982Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5bGHKg94G8
I scoff. “Shut up, bird brain.”982Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpmm9FgIPN0
“Make me, pointy ears!” Klef challenged.982Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2CwJD0h5AL
Ama looked between us. “You two are so dating.”982Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZ92IHNTeun
“No we’re not!” we deny at the same time.982Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ07tZrzJkiP
Ama laughs. “So dating.”982Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmjQVrWPzZo
“Well don’t say anything. We want to keep it on the DL, if it’s possible,” Klef requested.982Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOW1FdoP34D
“Seriously? I’m willing to bet half the people here have started a pool on your relationship status!”982Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGQ509FA1le
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.”982Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcXGnofAvCs
Klef raises an eyebrow at me. “Is that how you see yourself?”982Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPyW9IlLVUH
I shrug. “Well, people mix up you and I a lot.”982Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0jVYuNtIEd
Klef lightly punches me. “There’s the Ride I know and love.”982Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5LHl2D2Avd
Ama sighs. “I ship it,” she murmurs.982Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5UiLmqIot8
“There’s that word again!” I exclaim. “Why would people ‘ship’ us?”982Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNPbPNtsILZ
“It’s cute!” Ama defends.982Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0ifdl6R6ZW
“It’s weird!”982Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZsItsQK6TA
“It’s true!”982Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpP6Qy6qchA
“It’s really really funny,” Klef interjects.982Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCIPhsZr7nm
I elbow him. “It is not,” I sigh.982Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡaijZ6U4I9U
Klef grins.982Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6F9wuf4KHT
“It’s not funny!” I exclaim.982Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡP39OymerPe
“Whatever you say, Ride. Whatever you say,” Klef laughs.982Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡU9Xr98hndr
Rythe and Flo come into view outside the conference room. “You okay?” Rythe asks.982Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ78HKBGqtqJ
I nod. Klef lets go of me and I nearly topple over. “Do you mind?” I growl.982Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡp3MbwEkgUX
He grins. “We’ll get you something to sit on until you feel better,” he assures.982Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzR9r3W4cnZ
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.982Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHjFUOcFugy
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.982Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbAsz1vr9V0
“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.”982Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrHx0lBltGf
I nod. “Are we sending people to check out the most probable places?”982Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWIm87z76XU
“Yeah, and we’re sending you and Klef to some of the less likely ones, to deal with the messages somewhere safe.”982Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyB98oDJEuE
“Okay, I guess…I’d rather be out looking, though.”982Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLKcN8rgj3M
“It’s for the best you don’t,” a pale human with freckles says. “Hibiscus A, they/them. Has a mild obsession with dragons.”982Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVqUUapWDTH
I smile. “Rides. My dad wants me to go by Iri. I’m old fashioned, I don’t like using my full name.”982Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNHoj4JY9XL
Hibiscus A nodded. “I got you. Completely got you. Nice to make your acquaintance, Rides.”982Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBhDLYgcnO2
“Likewise.”982Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡI6qPG9h1VS
Klef walks in, followed by my dad. “Still hanging around this scum, Iri?”982Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLOpdPhSRPV
I laugh. “Hi, dad.”982Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkEbmR5X4ou
Klef looks offended. “What am I?”982Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsaQcKI1Q5R
“Chopped liver,” I respond.982Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBCDX1ekfrh
Dad laughs. “Nice one!”982Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡacuLWal7cd
Klef holds a hand to his heart. “You wound me, Ride. You wound me.”982Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZiHbxLaxyZ
“Good. I was trying to.”982Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmf69WFAnV3
Hibiscus A coughed. “Ship it,” they mutter.982Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpJLZJGcMnU
I throw my hands up. “I’m done with this!” I sigh.982Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgSKkr6MsUj
Everyone laughs. “You think I’m joking?” I ask, standing up shakily. “I’ll see you all tomorrow,” I exclaim, waving.982Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡp2oQU8qy2b
Penana
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