“How did I get tricked into this?” I wonder aloud. “No, seriously. How did I ever think this was a good idea?”894Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡiroh5inXsT
Klef shushes me. “You’ll be fine. Don’t worry.”894Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxfTQWxIqmj
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?”894Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPF4tTv84Tx
“Yes. But this isn’t in public,” Klef reasons.894Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡl8geXpmSlL
“I’m with Klef on this one, Reese, have some self confidence!” Geo adds.894Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFMthLHxazx
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?”894Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEe8mVyXsBR
“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.”894Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9z0qFoua1H
Flo smiles, bashful. “I really wasn’t that good at finding anything to help you, but you’re welcome regardless.”894Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2gJRloT5WO
The other werewolf clears their throat. “Am I invisible, or something?”894Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRF4pNDUoW6
“Oh! Sorry, Rythe! Everyone, this is Rythe, my mate,” Flo says with a blush.894Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3irsgaq1AN
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!”894Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVD4nLyjDQp
I nod. “I’m Rides. Nice to meet you.”894Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAXcowoxaxH
Rythe bows. “It’s an honor, my lady.”894Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡySdji0UTZe
I blush and Flo whacks Rythe upside the head. “Stop, you, you’re embarrassing her!”894Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMOJFOPq44A
Rythe grins. “But that’s what you love about me! And clearly she doesn’t see herself as some sort of royalty!”894Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJCHrA9xDlY
Flo mutters in a low voice, “She’s the Alpha’s daughter.”894Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡphceo1SBGr
Rythe straightens. “You mean the Alpha of a rival pack or The Alpha?”894Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpXpCjQJ55F
“Try the second one,” Flo mutters, embarrassed on his behalf.894Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHS5EbSiuzC
“Oh.” Rythe salutes me. “Terribly sorry, ma’am.”894Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnfd0YDdrDC
“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.”894Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTKW1ucRvpH
Rythe nods stiffly, setting the flower crown close to the brink of desruction, and leads us inside.894Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYnIY3HAOOy
“Guy or girl?” Klef whispers to Geo.894Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYet2vfZuJp
“I...don’t know? Guy, I think?”894Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSoEhs7MBjc
“No, I’d say girl,” Klef muses.894Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbdRqrbXNI4
“What are you guys talking about?” I mutter.894Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGU8fiCxOgo
“Rythe. Guy or girl, do you think?”894Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvsGmR48T4q
“Um…” I have to think about my answer. “Maybe they’re neither…”894Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzIarfxaUTg
“Neither? Is that possible?” Klef asks.894Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlRVXGYhh3T
“It would make sense,” Geo reasons.894Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLiNcq22T0g
“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.”894Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡM6wDyAvRea
“Right, because the natural neutral pronouns are it/its, but that can be seen as degrading nowadays,” Geo says.894Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5QYv6ogo2q
“It is grammatically correct, though,” Klef points out.894Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWEgtuKuLkX
“I guess you have a point, but would you be okay with being called an ‘it’?” I counter.894Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkD9gO1FUW4
“What are you guys talking about?” Flo asks.894Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFYgUDXxCDo
“Nothing much,” Geo says. “Just things back at our branch, you know?”894Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpYmPXLju8T
Rythe coughs and mutters, “They/them,” and I grin at Klef and Geo.894Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5g9VpL52gj
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.894Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEdtp6m05CJ
Rythe clears their throat. “Ladies, gentlemen, and everyone else, allow me to present Rides, the Oracle who will be informing us on her dreams!”894Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTaQVwUkpsv
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.894Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSjDyAFKjMT
“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’.”894Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFRGFuefBZO
Everyone shifts around, suddenly on edge. “And?!” a wizard with pitch black hair shouts.894Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡILohIugu2x
“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.894Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKcD7L8tX0J
“That we know of!” a gorgon yells. “We could be on a wild goose chase, lass!”894Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6p1kKi2Nxx
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.”894Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZoEm4SjKH7
The wizard who yelled out comes up to me. “Yeah, but we were expecting…”894Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1f8hOv6EBq
“More?” I supply. “Yeah, a lot of people do. Be glad I have that much, though. This is coming from 5 years of dreams.”894Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjbCSI9siW5
“Okay. I’m Ama. A necromancer,” she introduces. “I’m going to be guarding you three for your stay.”894Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBuw18LYTlz
“Make that the two of them,” Geo corrects. “I’m no one.”894Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ604xu857id
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.”894Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgMoELTIuws
The room is still silent, everyone anticipating my reply. “Excuse me,” I gasp, making a beeline for the room’s exit.894Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIHJBMBSOCd
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.894Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBGPFhX1h0F
Footsteps come up to my back. Two pairs. “Ride?” Klef asks. “You okay?”894Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡs5EbQzTcMS
I shake my head and close my eyes, resting my side against the wall. “Sick,” I mutter.894Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDpnQncws8p
“I’m sorry if I upset you, but you need to get it into your head that you’re special,” Ama states.894Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfd8VxIySfN
“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.”894Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHVO8tV2uxJ
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?”894Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3EO03F7KXq
“S-sure.” I stumble on the word, because what is the correct response to someone volunteering to reanimate a corpse for you?894Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0zE5MD84T6
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.”894Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtAJZkyBXLz
“Definitely not someone I’d call a necromancer,” Klef mutters.894Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡE36tOlC7vF
I still don’t turn enough to see him properly. Ama shifts so she can face me fully. “Pet the bun,” she instructs.894Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzWzPkAQXO4
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.894Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5O8tSL8Cm8
I put a hand on her shoulder. “But you’re great at it.”894Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpPR7jtlzAP
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.”894Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsGbcWoXUXb
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.”894Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQAmW5OwPNs
“I’m fine,” I mutter as I lean against his shoulder.894Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvqXnY8zvRg
“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.”894Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJkTVZIbWxZ
I scoff. “Shut up, bird brain.”894Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfJPecirQfA
“Make me, pointy ears!” Klef challenged.894Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKLvqFLj2df
Ama looked between us. “You two are so dating.”894Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7vadPgVrFT
“No we’re not!” we deny at the same time.894Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8bpCYWt9KI
Ama laughs. “So dating.”894Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPwtTgIHuOr
“Well don’t say anything. We want to keep it on the DL, if it’s possible,” Klef requested.894Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡT3DtZTyon2
“Seriously? I’m willing to bet half the people here have started a pool on your relationship status!”894Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0XmwsoaG2e
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.”894Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZrJfNgRFy2
Klef raises an eyebrow at me. “Is that how you see yourself?”894Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLYYjts8wNg
I shrug. “Well, people mix up you and I a lot.”894Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxziyKgccU1
Klef lightly punches me. “There’s the Ride I know and love.”894Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQOo1bd7alS
Ama sighs. “I ship it,” she murmurs.894Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkB7airoenz
“There’s that word again!” I exclaim. “Why would people ‘ship’ us?”894Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡY9yXr11x1q
“It’s cute!” Ama defends.894Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4Mpz0NLIX2
“It’s weird!”894Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyyEbU6Imuk
“It’s true!”894Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqkxi8ueLIe
“It’s really really funny,” Klef interjects.894Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMoOOl1kLEb
I elbow him. “It is not,” I sigh.894Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡe5RI7GPfJV
Klef grins.894Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcetxMj1eQA
“It’s not funny!” I exclaim.894Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡadWCcPcZ28
“Whatever you say, Ride. Whatever you say,” Klef laughs.894Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAPzkKJXtps
Rythe and Flo come into view outside the conference room. “You okay?” Rythe asks.894Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwv0m11oSQN
I nod. Klef lets go of me and I nearly topple over. “Do you mind?” I growl.894Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtiXigqDM1k
He grins. “We’ll get you something to sit on until you feel better,” he assures.894Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡF14qCDSfgX
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.894Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡaRJJPbtsCl
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.894Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTmdo0eLxCo
“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.”894Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjoTNAVRO9y
I nod. “Are we sending people to check out the most probable places?”894Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVj2xr7zcB6
“Yeah, and we’re sending you and Klef to some of the less likely ones, to deal with the messages somewhere safe.”894Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3LzeW5BKgh
“Okay, I guess…I’d rather be out looking, though.”894Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡy1IjpEWLsE
“It’s for the best you don’t,” a pale human with freckles says. “Hibiscus A, they/them. Has a mild obsession with dragons.”894Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIxLVycvAIM
I smile. “Rides. My dad wants me to go by Iri. I’m old fashioned, I don’t like using my full name.”894Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡiaI5iTmqEI
Hibiscus A nodded. “I got you. Completely got you. Nice to make your acquaintance, Rides.”894Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbd6Rfrfjhg
“Likewise.”894Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3z5lpVJXgJ
Klef walks in, followed by my dad. “Still hanging around this scum, Iri?”894Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡolytcmAlWN
I laugh. “Hi, dad.”894Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7tzL2weLUT
Klef looks offended. “What am I?”894Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJm13Mbw81r
“Chopped liver,” I respond.894Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYf0uCeRkdQ
Dad laughs. “Nice one!”894Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNjCeMmmiZd
Klef holds a hand to his heart. “You wound me, Ride. You wound me.”894Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡaDfDFNcaWb
“Good. I was trying to.”894Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcoTUYBU5GC
Hibiscus A coughed. “Ship it,” they mutter.894Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIt283lrD26
I throw my hands up. “I’m done with this!” I sigh.894Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkYHZyJUTwo
Everyone laughs. “You think I’m joking?” I ask, standing up shakily. “I’ll see you all tomorrow,” I exclaim, waving.894Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEAaUlZGcbT
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