“How did I get tricked into this?” I wonder aloud. “No, seriously. How did I ever think this was a good idea?”923Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcVd6fz3UHX
Klef shushes me. “You’ll be fine. Don’t worry.”923Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdDZNCtJh0Q
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?”923Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQZMd72JWbl
“Yes. But this isn’t in public,” Klef reasons.923Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxMUhePhIEi
“I’m with Klef on this one, Reese, have some self confidence!” Geo adds.923Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVP43YetFnE
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?”923Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcJsPSA9kHg
“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.”923Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡG9Qwjvoc5c
Flo smiles, bashful. “I really wasn’t that good at finding anything to help you, but you’re welcome regardless.”923Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvRaG1ZlyLu
The other werewolf clears their throat. “Am I invisible, or something?”923Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlywjk4g4wI
“Oh! Sorry, Rythe! Everyone, this is Rythe, my mate,” Flo says with a blush.923Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrubvZKsTam
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!”923Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8lCES9VQ2G
I nod. “I’m Rides. Nice to meet you.”923Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5goVkcgpWn
Rythe bows. “It’s an honor, my lady.”923Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡC3jdcsn4NS
I blush and Flo whacks Rythe upside the head. “Stop, you, you’re embarrassing her!”923Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWZfwiHXwzW
Rythe grins. “But that’s what you love about me! And clearly she doesn’t see herself as some sort of royalty!”923Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYwBPs1VEw8
Flo mutters in a low voice, “She’s the Alpha’s daughter.”923Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhrMaGxDPE7
Rythe straightens. “You mean the Alpha of a rival pack or The Alpha?”923Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8IVS297wxh
“Try the second one,” Flo mutters, embarrassed on his behalf.923Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4RVpTCjCmv
“Oh.” Rythe salutes me. “Terribly sorry, ma’am.”923Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2KmrXKRzL3
“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.”923Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡY3Ah527veM
Rythe nods stiffly, setting the flower crown close to the brink of desruction, and leads us inside.923Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZEFm1JI05y
“Guy or girl?” Klef whispers to Geo.923Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡg68OWTXEZl
“I...don’t know? Guy, I think?”923Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnDf7DG34nx
“No, I’d say girl,” Klef muses.923Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdjrZSa9M82
“What are you guys talking about?” I mutter.923Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡavc5O0pF7u
“Rythe. Guy or girl, do you think?”923Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxTVWHJgcUe
“Um…” I have to think about my answer. “Maybe they’re neither…”923Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcAqVzKF2iY
“Neither? Is that possible?” Klef asks.923Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡaq3MgttEJb
“It would make sense,” Geo reasons.923Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5iN0UKdzYG
“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.”923Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLVlgAtCeFR
“Right, because the natural neutral pronouns are it/its, but that can be seen as degrading nowadays,” Geo says.923Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡj07jQk2pk8
“It is grammatically correct, though,” Klef points out.923Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvQA8FeVqSj
“I guess you have a point, but would you be okay with being called an ‘it’?” I counter.923Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdAfcFqiJBR
“What are you guys talking about?” Flo asks.923Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6VZDwhluKK
“Nothing much,” Geo says. “Just things back at our branch, you know?”923Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEUGC0VKMkk
Rythe coughs and mutters, “They/them,” and I grin at Klef and Geo.923Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAx8Xua79ZY
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.923Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrAzfvMVFWT
Rythe clears their throat. “Ladies, gentlemen, and everyone else, allow me to present Rides, the Oracle who will be informing us on her dreams!”923Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡevv7WbM7dq
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.923Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdnF1NUQcZW
“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’.”923Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9ubkQ91jcs
Everyone shifts around, suddenly on edge. “And?!” a wizard with pitch black hair shouts.923Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTABuPqNa4X
“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.923Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxDlkBuaUZ1
“That we know of!” a gorgon yells. “We could be on a wild goose chase, lass!”923Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLGH36AtaAd
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.”923Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2tHRmdidTk
The wizard who yelled out comes up to me. “Yeah, but we were expecting…”923Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4sGlrekgPp
“More?” I supply. “Yeah, a lot of people do. Be glad I have that much, though. This is coming from 5 years of dreams.”923Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡObHJ9cxxYM
“Okay. I’m Ama. A necromancer,” she introduces. “I’m going to be guarding you three for your stay.”923Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9yAmlWTlp9
“Make that the two of them,” Geo corrects. “I’m no one.”923Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFohYKjXinw
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.”923Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡX8ha4Q0YXg
The room is still silent, everyone anticipating my reply. “Excuse me,” I gasp, making a beeline for the room’s exit.923Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCGq07XAejj
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.923Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5jDnHaQbr9
Footsteps come up to my back. Two pairs. “Ride?” Klef asks. “You okay?”923Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNOXuqj2cyk
I shake my head and close my eyes, resting my side against the wall. “Sick,” I mutter.923Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXy7OpEVdmr
“I’m sorry if I upset you, but you need to get it into your head that you’re special,” Ama states.923Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmvjgdgO7I6
“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.”923Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzSyUxMFeOd
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?”923Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLelYMqSOT3
“S-sure.” I stumble on the word, because what is the correct response to someone volunteering to reanimate a corpse for you?923Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUElI3y7cFM
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.”923Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡoBe5v8lplt
“Definitely not someone I’d call a necromancer,” Klef mutters.923Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfZbGItnsda
I still don’t turn enough to see him properly. Ama shifts so she can face me fully. “Pet the bun,” she instructs.923Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyi3EmjCKgw
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.923Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡD8uyYQuJtr
I put a hand on her shoulder. “But you’re great at it.”923Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfVa8AxVcWD
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.”923Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcVRKuqR1Mi
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.”923Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzZN3PmiJy4
“I’m fine,” I mutter as I lean against his shoulder.923Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVQFrdjnfUY
“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.”923Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSHC1DAoAfQ
I scoff. “Shut up, bird brain.”923Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlOzz2luY5G
“Make me, pointy ears!” Klef challenged.923Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCyXoISWGgo
Ama looked between us. “You two are so dating.”923Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡuobU4vIkzf
“No we’re not!” we deny at the same time.923Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPIrdp786M8
Ama laughs. “So dating.”923Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzXCwc6oMjE
“Well don’t say anything. We want to keep it on the DL, if it’s possible,” Klef requested.923Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡa8kYEt1RDg
“Seriously? I’m willing to bet half the people here have started a pool on your relationship status!”923Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIpucP2NEaT
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.”923Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQQ3GnBNHbt
Klef raises an eyebrow at me. “Is that how you see yourself?”923Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdzJGHVF9kF
I shrug. “Well, people mix up you and I a lot.”923Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxbqMBfaJAk
Klef lightly punches me. “There’s the Ride I know and love.”923Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtIWLzh0r3U
Ama sighs. “I ship it,” she murmurs.923Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡksP2FEkBIc
“There’s that word again!” I exclaim. “Why would people ‘ship’ us?”923Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIR24HNU7Yg
“It’s cute!” Ama defends.923Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡttsxOspeRt
“It’s weird!”923Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡl1RnqA4rjS
“It’s true!”923Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5SRuDkhMaT
“It’s really really funny,” Klef interjects.923Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡX71A5PzWpX
I elbow him. “It is not,” I sigh.923Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNLDcZ4KGbc
Klef grins.923Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIKhUNEnaO9
“It’s not funny!” I exclaim.923Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrm2lGHvokF
“Whatever you say, Ride. Whatever you say,” Klef laughs.923Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGVBx6r2lfD
Rythe and Flo come into view outside the conference room. “You okay?” Rythe asks.923Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUtuB6r2eDe
I nod. Klef lets go of me and I nearly topple over. “Do you mind?” I growl.923Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡslEwjnyk9F
He grins. “We’ll get you something to sit on until you feel better,” he assures.923Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmgTbgu9D1c
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.923Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWafm4Ee6RK
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.923Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhXBPKdvKP5
“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.”923Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡiBx3hXCc9O
I nod. “Are we sending people to check out the most probable places?”923Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnOkHeVp8M1
“Yeah, and we’re sending you and Klef to some of the less likely ones, to deal with the messages somewhere safe.”923Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSPgaUIUqe9
“Okay, I guess…I’d rather be out looking, though.”923Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLKJ92tSYre
“It’s for the best you don’t,” a pale human with freckles says. “Hibiscus A, they/them. Has a mild obsession with dragons.”923Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMDssNGZ63v
I smile. “Rides. My dad wants me to go by Iri. I’m old fashioned, I don’t like using my full name.”923Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNePLheLRwJ
Hibiscus A nodded. “I got you. Completely got you. Nice to make your acquaintance, Rides.”923Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHDglhRh29B
“Likewise.”923Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkXTlv6fqqA
Klef walks in, followed by my dad. “Still hanging around this scum, Iri?”923Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2UfODvBzwR
I laugh. “Hi, dad.”923Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZKeP22L2sK
Klef looks offended. “What am I?”923Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNF8LUMx1yA
“Chopped liver,” I respond.923Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7WvwbzZQ3G
Dad laughs. “Nice one!”923Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFXjFhwBtBo
Klef holds a hand to his heart. “You wound me, Ride. You wound me.”923Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPfydSh9AI4
“Good. I was trying to.”923Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOC9NpGBUEB
Hibiscus A coughed. “Ship it,” they mutter.923Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0S6yYlkXEJ
I throw my hands up. “I’m done with this!” I sigh.923Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAiKewBccIY
Everyone laughs. “You think I’m joking?” I ask, standing up shakily. “I’ll see you all tomorrow,” I exclaim, waving.923Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTDNS0CNbi1
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