“How did I get tricked into this?” I wonder aloud. “No, seriously. How did I ever think this was a good idea?”895Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhHbWTZHNSv
Klef shushes me. “You’ll be fine. Don’t worry.”895Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3Iz9KtHuzc
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?”895Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡREelD2Jhut
“Yes. But this isn’t in public,” Klef reasons.895Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZqREZOYRaq
“I’m with Klef on this one, Reese, have some self confidence!” Geo adds.895Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxXXYydD86w
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?”895Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6fIG7Lh4OA
“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.”895Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMfAqqmycFX
Flo smiles, bashful. “I really wasn’t that good at finding anything to help you, but you’re welcome regardless.”895Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwYh7Djez2g
The other werewolf clears their throat. “Am I invisible, or something?”895Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2yh4jIQ9a9
“Oh! Sorry, Rythe! Everyone, this is Rythe, my mate,” Flo says with a blush.895Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡe8n5sxJjbZ
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!”895Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOvslT92wn1
I nod. “I’m Rides. Nice to meet you.”895Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwQVaC1jDlc
Rythe bows. “It’s an honor, my lady.”895Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVnM8PaNEEs
I blush and Flo whacks Rythe upside the head. “Stop, you, you’re embarrassing her!”895Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJdSUOnzBLi
Rythe grins. “But that’s what you love about me! And clearly she doesn’t see herself as some sort of royalty!”895Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUH0vcdXUhV
Flo mutters in a low voice, “She’s the Alpha’s daughter.”895Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDuLnfGDuB3
Rythe straightens. “You mean the Alpha of a rival pack or The Alpha?”895Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOj81HRcR6k
“Try the second one,” Flo mutters, embarrassed on his behalf.895Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHOPEamUhFy
“Oh.” Rythe salutes me. “Terribly sorry, ma’am.”895Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsvy3fPDN7N
“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.”895Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIC1QMemJJn
Rythe nods stiffly, setting the flower crown close to the brink of desruction, and leads us inside.895Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6R2VfOOl4g
“Guy or girl?” Klef whispers to Geo.895Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0dYVGSLuyy
“I...don’t know? Guy, I think?”895Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9xy5SZt97O
“No, I’d say girl,” Klef muses.895Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8OdBsNIslV
“What are you guys talking about?” I mutter.895Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfinE5XDnOr
“Rythe. Guy or girl, do you think?”895Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGBT490VvOh
“Um…” I have to think about my answer. “Maybe they’re neither…”895Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡa5gu9EtMko
“Neither? Is that possible?” Klef asks.895Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWVZdyjjQdB
“It would make sense,” Geo reasons.895Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEzTdjdFXA7
“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.”895Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡa1wQLQS762
“Right, because the natural neutral pronouns are it/its, but that can be seen as degrading nowadays,” Geo says.895Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9mStgDqcyb
“It is grammatically correct, though,” Klef points out.895Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPBVLB1qOCW
“I guess you have a point, but would you be okay with being called an ‘it’?” I counter.895Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡk1W2OdJoWp
“What are you guys talking about?” Flo asks.895Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqK55cny5Zb
“Nothing much,” Geo says. “Just things back at our branch, you know?”895Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyd0QFeyDfO
Rythe coughs and mutters, “They/them,” and I grin at Klef and Geo.895Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡaydHrMWKr8
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.895Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvfh9EIZcvE
Rythe clears their throat. “Ladies, gentlemen, and everyone else, allow me to present Rides, the Oracle who will be informing us on her dreams!”895Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡShSoX8wp6A
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.895Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡScOvnMuAVE
“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’.”895Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgIy0cSrrhB
Everyone shifts around, suddenly on edge. “And?!” a wizard with pitch black hair shouts.895Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5elvbAbRcS
“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.895Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6KHxYoQfk3
“That we know of!” a gorgon yells. “We could be on a wild goose chase, lass!”895Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4FKGY99Cz4
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.”895Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡz1lIAJE0nD
The wizard who yelled out comes up to me. “Yeah, but we were expecting…”895Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsK2DHUtUHz
“More?” I supply. “Yeah, a lot of people do. Be glad I have that much, though. This is coming from 5 years of dreams.”895Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡewtMgMn5cH
“Okay. I’m Ama. A necromancer,” she introduces. “I’m going to be guarding you three for your stay.”895Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOmVK2lNESv
“Make that the two of them,” Geo corrects. “I’m no one.”895Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtqrXemnXRq
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.”895Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpKnfbUnaZP
The room is still silent, everyone anticipating my reply. “Excuse me,” I gasp, making a beeline for the room’s exit.895Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPr3LbWL6VP
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.895Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡoeA2iDhwRS
Footsteps come up to my back. Two pairs. “Ride?” Klef asks. “You okay?”895Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIsFwMSuHAj
I shake my head and close my eyes, resting my side against the wall. “Sick,” I mutter.895Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGEQDBVleav
“I’m sorry if I upset you, but you need to get it into your head that you’re special,” Ama states.895Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡU2ZkG6esCy
“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.”895Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZmz7ouLG2u
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?”895Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkGTg7LrDlN
“S-sure.” I stumble on the word, because what is the correct response to someone volunteering to reanimate a corpse for you?895Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlG9JYmVCO7
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.”895Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5XGcyLgnQS
“Definitely not someone I’d call a necromancer,” Klef mutters.895Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡoQXXpYHKbj
I still don’t turn enough to see him properly. Ama shifts so she can face me fully. “Pet the bun,” she instructs.895Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡd3XGZlT9eu
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.895Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1ob4kwkktI
I put a hand on her shoulder. “But you’re great at it.”895Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡErGnrAUFoa
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.”895Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGTkj6xIG8G
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.”895Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPqaUVfO80P
“I’m fine,” I mutter as I lean against his shoulder.895Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdbzZIhtNhI
“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.”895Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFzPsPmDXQd
I scoff. “Shut up, bird brain.”895Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZTaTUzkNId
“Make me, pointy ears!” Klef challenged.895Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfzR8IAyRPi
Ama looked between us. “You two are so dating.”895Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdSa8mB74FW
“No we’re not!” we deny at the same time.895Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKoEu9Y3PhT
Ama laughs. “So dating.”895Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡU4nyiVSkRQ
“Well don’t say anything. We want to keep it on the DL, if it’s possible,” Klef requested.895Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡidMXe1jzcG
“Seriously? I’m willing to bet half the people here have started a pool on your relationship status!”895Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQgmyk6Y4vl
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.”895Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqiUpC85x6u
Klef raises an eyebrow at me. “Is that how you see yourself?”895Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWyQMuhxjB2
I shrug. “Well, people mix up you and I a lot.”895Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡikPpiw8sjm
Klef lightly punches me. “There’s the Ride I know and love.”895Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfUsZHukc4k
Ama sighs. “I ship it,” she murmurs.895Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkwLMW2WDbO
“There’s that word again!” I exclaim. “Why would people ‘ship’ us?”895Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwxT6sajEs1
“It’s cute!” Ama defends.895Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpZOMuAtKlq
“It’s weird!”895Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJB90xbImBK
“It’s true!”895Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡM4TJXCTFad
“It’s really really funny,” Klef interjects.895Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPM1J9GCoJA
I elbow him. “It is not,” I sigh.895Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡD3QTy54Tc5
Klef grins.895Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡaysq0CvyTb
“It’s not funny!” I exclaim.895Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvGTg3q8kzs
“Whatever you say, Ride. Whatever you say,” Klef laughs.895Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJCQZJJSckk
Rythe and Flo come into view outside the conference room. “You okay?” Rythe asks.895Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡloGWUOlmQs
I nod. Klef lets go of me and I nearly topple over. “Do you mind?” I growl.895Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6lKDlFnfZQ
He grins. “We’ll get you something to sit on until you feel better,” he assures.895Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHUnNaM1vIm
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.895Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjxgC90pYZf
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.895Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNvolZ12lka
“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.”895Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBt9Z2jOeMx
I nod. “Are we sending people to check out the most probable places?”895Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkeiAPSJaMi
“Yeah, and we’re sending you and Klef to some of the less likely ones, to deal with the messages somewhere safe.”895Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ27zZZanlFp
“Okay, I guess…I’d rather be out looking, though.”895Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡw4BkkfOyrt
“It’s for the best you don’t,” a pale human with freckles says. “Hibiscus A, they/them. Has a mild obsession with dragons.”895Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXQju8uSF17
I smile. “Rides. My dad wants me to go by Iri. I’m old fashioned, I don’t like using my full name.”895Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKMugoGFsBM
Hibiscus A nodded. “I got you. Completely got you. Nice to make your acquaintance, Rides.”895Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ00tODGOwLQ
“Likewise.”895Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡr4d6WOzUhY
Klef walks in, followed by my dad. “Still hanging around this scum, Iri?”895Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXdaOLAfLsN
I laugh. “Hi, dad.”895Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡluvTtTGXkM
Klef looks offended. “What am I?”895Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡN3psMqIzE9
“Chopped liver,” I respond.895Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBT0DM3MI3g
Dad laughs. “Nice one!”895Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDV9adVRZBz
Klef holds a hand to his heart. “You wound me, Ride. You wound me.”895Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡF4F9mfVXRl
“Good. I was trying to.”895Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJimeOjTJIM
Hibiscus A coughed. “Ship it,” they mutter.895Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUbuVsLjdVh
I throw my hands up. “I’m done with this!” I sigh.895Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpdrJPXl8vn
Everyone laughs. “You think I’m joking?” I ask, standing up shakily. “I’ll see you all tomorrow,” I exclaim, waving.895Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXFkK2xvVmH
8964 copyright protection891ＰＥＮＡＮＡj8UwkbEG4m 維尼

13.59.182.74