“How did I get tricked into this?” I wonder aloud. “No, seriously. How did I ever think this was a good idea?”317Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9IXzhSNKLO
Klef shushes me. “You’ll be fine. Don’t worry.”317Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQmSK0vkfSU
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?”317Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡE5XsZKF0fh
“Yes. But this isn’t in public,” Klef reasons.317Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYm4WvD1Lrv
“I’m with Klef on this one, Reese, have some self confidence!” Geo adds.317Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡljXcMrox5r
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?”317Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgYf8mwGfl6
“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.”317Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnd38qcQkHc
Flo smiles, bashful. “I really wasn’t that good at finding anything to help you, but you’re welcome regardless.”317Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡn3QBWAeSYy
The other werewolf clears their throat. “Am I invisible, or something?”317Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJNnmudec9R
“Oh! Sorry, Rythe! Everyone, this is Rythe, my mate,” Flo says with a blush.317Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLufUmBBa3x
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!”317Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡm3vzolUhYA
I nod. “I’m Rides. Nice to meet you.”317Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1TghqKMChy
Rythe bows. “It’s an honor, my lady.”317Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡupW4FOaWsq
I blush and Flo whacks Rythe upside the head. “Stop, you, you’re embarrassing her!”317Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡe0uvrYZmZM
Rythe grins. “But that’s what you love about me! And clearly she doesn’t see herself as some sort of royalty!”317Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡB24nDLV3y9
Flo mutters in a low voice, “She’s the Alpha’s daughter.”317Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrl18mwNdaW
Rythe straightens. “You mean the Alpha of a rival pack or The Alpha?”317Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUzGtrpdlcx
“Try the second one,” Flo mutters, embarrassed on his behalf.317Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDwrUHCTQ1W
“Oh.” Rythe salutes me. “Terribly sorry, ma’am.”317Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbBV8QwUvUA
“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.”317Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡiaFPAq68W8
Rythe nods stiffly, setting the flower crown close to the brink of desruction, and leads us inside.317Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡubW5jZj7Zh
“Guy or girl?” Klef whispers to Geo.317Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXIYBzpdMok
“I...don’t know? Guy, I think?”317Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMEe6QkuRd2
“No, I’d say girl,” Klef muses.317Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlCt77FTC0r
“What are you guys talking about?” I mutter.317Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXpipqyka4v
“Rythe. Guy or girl, do you think?”317Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTGTzRw8Geu
“Um…” I have to think about my answer. “Maybe they’re neither…”317Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtEgEqBeCDW
“Neither? Is that possible?” Klef asks.317Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1Hms8cN6Qq
“It would make sense,” Geo reasons.317Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡosPuz74ocj
“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.”317Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEiZLpS7wcS
“Right, because the natural neutral pronouns are it/its, but that can be seen as degrading nowadays,” Geo says.317Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZ3ZUWuvsTi
“It is grammatically correct, though,” Klef points out.317Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlD6epJcVoJ
“I guess you have a point, but would you be okay with being called an ‘it’?” I counter.317Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYaTtD6D0nj
“What are you guys talking about?” Flo asks.317Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSwdL3WsSJa
“Nothing much,” Geo says. “Just things back at our branch, you know?”317Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3tVZg08FqG
Rythe coughs and mutters, “They/them,” and I grin at Klef and Geo.317Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSEfZJ1oi4y
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.317Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSmOYaZoAmv
Rythe clears their throat. “Ladies, gentlemen, and everyone else, allow me to present Rides, the Oracle who will be informing us on her dreams!”317Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ675YAmpSQB
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.317Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXekUYKzzp0
“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’.”317Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡaZtQWJtb6J
Everyone shifts around, suddenly on edge. “And?!” a wizard with pitch black hair shouts.317Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvHAgXuwJ06
“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.317Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVdNscoiPxn
“That we know of!” a gorgon yells. “We could be on a wild goose chase, lass!”317Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTSjgxbvr9D
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.”317Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgFtVZGpS8U
The wizard who yelled out comes up to me. “Yeah, but we were expecting…”317Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxwWOpLDIHk
“More?” I supply. “Yeah, a lot of people do. Be glad I have that much, though. This is coming from 5 years of dreams.”317Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHWG7Lj1865
“Okay. I’m Ama. A necromancer,” she introduces. “I’m going to be guarding you three for your stay.”317Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfoAmygrR4k
“Make that the two of them,” Geo corrects. “I’m no one.”317Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ36alKcsne8
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.”317Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsfIJuqQV5x
The room is still silent, everyone anticipating my reply. “Excuse me,” I gasp, making a beeline for the room’s exit.317Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ345gFl6MFL
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.317Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1jr7cY6Cfb
Footsteps come up to my back. Two pairs. “Ride?” Klef asks. “You okay?”317Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5zacWJLptQ
I shake my head and close my eyes, resting my side against the wall. “Sick,” I mutter.317Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFnA83qrOBr
“I’m sorry if I upset you, but you need to get it into your head that you’re special,” Ama states.317Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfu4MbSQ2qX
“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.”317Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTbSL4XfFsQ
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?”317Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5WMmLI9Pi8
“S-sure.” I stumble on the word, because what is the correct response to someone volunteering to reanimate a corpse for you?317Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSFutFZzg1D
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.”317Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYeUV85dknz
“Definitely not someone I’d call a necromancer,” Klef mutters.317Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVtwLdyI4UV
I still don’t turn enough to see him properly. Ama shifts so she can face me fully. “Pet the bun,” she instructs.317Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdbYHDOPbHO
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.317Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOlgmlD6M4m
I put a hand on her shoulder. “But you’re great at it.”317Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUVrcsbvGJJ
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.”317Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxIkpoNmDa3
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.”317Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡX0DFCLaVH5
“I’m fine,” I mutter as I lean against his shoulder.317Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfD87j8suTh
“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.”317Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKaOLim4eN0
I scoff. “Shut up, bird brain.”317Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBdM9Kiw4yK
“Make me, pointy ears!” Klef challenged.317Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡX7l1iy1z4n
Ama looked between us. “You two are so dating.”317Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhZXGesbpd4
“No we’re not!” we deny at the same time.317Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbNUguPZtvq
Ama laughs. “So dating.”317Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLrKl4tdwFH
“Well don’t say anything. We want to keep it on the DL, if it’s possible,” Klef requested.317Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUCmMJ7pwnn
“Seriously? I’m willing to bet half the people here have started a pool on your relationship status!”317Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8ri55BEJri
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.”317Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡss5HBsiObL
Klef raises an eyebrow at me. “Is that how you see yourself?”317Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIJ3V4UGkUX
I shrug. “Well, people mix up you and I a lot.”317Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsCaIhaYRrS
Klef lightly punches me. “There’s the Ride I know and love.”317Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYyLHISnmO9
Ama sighs. “I ship it,” she murmurs.317Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡG47RqKp11t
“There’s that word again!” I exclaim. “Why would people ‘ship’ us?”317Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEagsgdxQ9p
“It’s cute!” Ama defends.317Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4RM9315bUI
“It’s weird!”317Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPjpKIeuDen
“It’s true!”317Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡg0sPKD8acp
“It’s really really funny,” Klef interjects.317Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡs69D3n4Vlv
I elbow him. “It is not,” I sigh.317Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWDvybrEvYj
Klef grins.317Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwTaX2jmgaJ
“It’s not funny!” I exclaim.317Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3GwJGGZCzQ
“Whatever you say, Ride. Whatever you say,” Klef laughs.317Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡReLUFJl1Nq
Rythe and Flo come into view outside the conference room. “You okay?” Rythe asks.317Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡILrD7GiolA
I nod. Klef lets go of me and I nearly topple over. “Do you mind?” I growl.317Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHGwdePu3Vy
He grins. “We’ll get you something to sit on until you feel better,” he assures.317Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡejBaYJ4xJS
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.317Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqhkNuf2XIz
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.317Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEqS0traTXO
“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.”317Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡo9wjTA9R06
I nod. “Are we sending people to check out the most probable places?”317Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡG2yZaqEsBG
“Yeah, and we’re sending you and Klef to some of the less likely ones, to deal with the messages somewhere safe.”317Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYmZ5AsKcFd
“Okay, I guess…I’d rather be out looking, though.”317Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVWJIrtXr24
“It’s for the best you don’t,” a pale human with freckles says. “Hibiscus A, they/them. Has a mild obsession with dragons.”317Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwOdn2Df9XP
I smile. “Rides. My dad wants me to go by Iri. I’m old fashioned, I don’t like using my full name.”317Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXnd3JYxv71
Hibiscus A nodded. “I got you. Completely got you. Nice to make your acquaintance, Rides.”317Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnvEwNT0wW2
“Likewise.”317Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRz53ObdsFf
Klef walks in, followed by my dad. “Still hanging around this scum, Iri?”317Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQhf3wA2uOo
I laugh. “Hi, dad.”317Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡj17k5nxsFD
Klef looks offended. “What am I?”317Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8fe56WSI6v
“Chopped liver,” I respond.317Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7QP2wIxg1t
Dad laughs. “Nice one!”317Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6gvhkZjkM6
Klef holds a hand to his heart. “You wound me, Ride. You wound me.”317Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8y0YXkPonF
“Good. I was trying to.”317Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡN2YdIYnR3d
Hibiscus A coughed. “Ship it,” they mutter.317Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbNkkqnzNYT
I throw my hands up. “I’m done with this!” I sigh.317Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1mTjWWtkbl
Everyone laughs. “You think I’m joking?” I ask, standing up shakily. “I’ll see you all tomorrow,” I exclaim, waving.317Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡORckiEpGVu
copyright protection313ＰＥＮＡＮＡo8wrJwPNAZ

3.232.96.22