Grant had barely woken up before I went to check on Cleo. As my vision hazed into the early morning dusk, I looked around, unable to see anything cat-sized with the numerous shadows. I set a pottery bowl with water down and stepped forward.

"Cleo?" I quietly called.

A meow from by the log pile was followed by the rustle of grasses, and soon, a sand-colored feline rubbed against my legs in a greeting. I showered her with pets and praises, telling her what a good kitty she had been for staying close to the crystal.

She trotted back into the foliage, and soon returned with a very plump mouse. With a smile at how much she detested eating fur, I pulled out my small pottery knife and skinned it for her. She gobbled down her breakfast as I gave her a few more pets. I stood up and moved her water bowl farther away from the crystal.

"I'll be back tonight," I told her as I returned to the crystal.

With a goodbye wave, I ported back home. My view hazed over, but even as it cleared, Grant's annoyed voice made me narrow my eyes. Surely it couldn't be something I did—I hadn't even been here!

For him to be irritated this early in the morning was a rather remarkable feat with the patience he had gained while surviving my teenage years.

"—I support the croc hunting, but sending her on a desert journey makes little sense to me." Grant had his arms crossed and sported a frown that should have had the five patriarchs rethinking whatever they had suggested.

All heads turned to me as they realized I had returned.

I raised an eyebrow. "Is this about me?"

Crocs had been mentioned, and apart from Janette, I doubted anyone else would port those spears around. Having Saursunes in the vicinity was one thing, but to carry weapons while they were around?

The axes had been a big enough risk, and now that the Saursunes knew where we usually went with them, they'd certainly appear much sooner, although I wasn't entirely certain if the patriarchs were aware of that particular detail.

Barrett turned to me with a smile that was probably supposed to be disarming, but it just reminded me of a possum baring its teeth. "Ah, Natalie. We were hoping you'd be willing to take some hunters to the sandbar to hunt crocodiles this morning."

I shrugged slightly, still somewhat confused. "Sure. That's easy enough."

Tieber added, "This evening, we'd like you to walk through the desert to the shard the hunters planted among some boulders a while back."

Orson's faintly disgruntled expression made me suspect he wasn't exactly in favor of this, and it also made me wary of this suggestion.

I furrowed my eyebrows. "South of Boulder Plain? That crystal was only planted a year ago. It won't be big enough to port back from."

"Not that one, the one south of our village," Tieber said.

I stared at him. "The other ravine? Wait"—I glanced at Grant—"wasn't that a four-day walk?"

He nodded sharply, not impressed with what they were suggesting.

I gave Tieber a dumbfounded look. "Sorry, what? Why me? Why not someone who doesn't have a thirty-group?"

An early rising villager piped up from nearby. "Yeah. Why her? Natalie is our strongest porter. Derek walked to our last backup crystal, and she ported his group along and hers while he was gone."

Tieber ground his teeth but didn't reply. They must have assumed that trying to force their changes at this early hour would go unnoticed by the villagers. Only one villager was down here this early, but I was more than ready to accept his unwitting help.

Barrett inclined his head genially at the villager. "Derek was limping the other day, and Natalie has walked to many other crystals lately. She has safely traversed the distance every time. Other porters might not be so successful. If the other porters make an extra trip or take one or two of her members, all of the hunters and gatherers will be able to go out like they normally do, and the village won't go short."

His smooth words and apparent logic had the villager's pinched expression relaxing. "Oh, that makes sense. Thank you."

Why that conniving— My thoughts went incoherent as I mentally chewed out the patriarch for having so much sway over the villagers. I tried to think of some way to punch a hole in their "logic" but couldn't come up with anything solid.

My best argument seemed insufficient even before I voiced it. "There aren't any Saursunes in the desert—not like in the forests—so there's almost no danger. I still think it would be better to send someone else so we don't strain all of the other porters. If an airship showed up...it wouldn't be good."

Orson nodded, and hesitation and doubt appeared on another patriarch's face, but the other three remained resolute. The villager glanced at me, then at the patriarchs, suddenly rethinking the plan. But his delayed second-guessing wasn't enough.

Barrett cooly replied, "Airships haven't shown up so far. You have the most experience in locating new crystals in unknown terrain, so we still believe you are the best one for this particular task."

The villager took a step toward the group. "Are you sure? If the porters take extra passengers, they'll be too tired for an evac."

"We're quite sure," the patriarch told the man, this time with an edge to his voice.

The villager blinked, noticing the shift in tone and somewhat taken aback by it. I could almost see some dawn of realization in his expression.

Barrett set his gaze on me without noticing the villager's reaction. "Will you go secure the backup crystal for the village?"

His less-than-pleased tone made me set my jaw, yet Grant's uncharacteristic silence made me hesitate. I wanted to argue more—try and make them see reason, especially since Orson was clearly on my side—but there was an unusual tension in the air, like something was about to explode. A tiny voice deep down warned me not to fight this particular battle, and for once, I decided to heed it.

Grant and I needed to have a serious talk about this—he clearly knew something I didn't if he wasn't telling the patriarchs where to stuff this idea.

I retorted, "Fine. I'll go, but I still think this is a poor decision. If anything happens to the village or any of my group in my absence, I'm holding you responsible."

There. My reply wasn't much—nowhere near as much as I wanted to say!—but I had agreed to their idea while telling them I didn't trust their judgment. Part of it was the old habit of keeping the village peace, but something else was afoot.

When a couple of the patriarchs smiled in satisfaction, I huffed and went into Grant's office so I didn't have to see their smug expressions. Perhaps some of the villagers on the paths would notice my actions and ask them uncomfortable questions. I might have to find Orson later, although I already knew he'd been outvoted in the group.

Grant followed me inside the dark cave, also giving the patriarchs the cold shoulder. I sat on the dusty floor along the back wall, and he sat beside me.

"I'm sorry," he quietly said. "I tried arguing, but just before you arrived, I realized that Barrett and Tieber are trying to remove me from my role as a porter coordinator. When Jeob accepted their explanation so easily, I knew they'd override anything I said or put it to a vote to make me look incompetent and advance their removal plans. This isn't going to be an easy fight."

I muttered some unflattering words about the elderly pains-in-the-butt then said, "Well, I agreed, so you have some time to figure out how to keep your position. Was this their way of buying time, getting me away from the Saursunes for a while, or removing me from the group supporting you?"

"All three, as far as I can tell."

"Can Orson do anything? He didn't seem to be in favor of sending me."

"With the other four supporting the idea, there's likely not much he can do. I plan to have a quiet discussion with him later today."

I pursed my lips as I considered an unpleasant option. "As much as I don't want to think about it, at what point do we seriously start considering transferring to another village?"

I didn't want to move. I knew everyone here. I knew their likes, dislikes, who they were related to, who was trustworthy, and who'd gossip about something told in confidentiality.

To go elsewhere... They'd all be strangers, and I'd only see my friends and relatives during gatherings. I'd be an outsider—even more so than I was here since everyone was used to my overpowered abilities. On top of that, Grant would still lose his coordinator role. None of those details were appealing—none of them were us winning, if I could call it winning.

The part that annoyed me most was that the patriarchs—including Barrett—were truly and honestly worried about a kidnapping attempt and were doing everything they could to protect the porters and the village. It was enough to make me want to yank my hair in frustration.

The shadowy outline of his head turned my way, although he was silent for some time. "If you or Merryl leave, so will I. But I'd prefer to avoid that if possible. Jeob just noticed that the patriarchs have a hidden agenda, and the other villagers will realize it shortly. I've seen power struggles like this before, and the situation should flare up within a few weeks and then settle. We're just caught in the middle at the moment."

I grumbled, "If they think they can replace you, they're idiots. No one knows half of what you do."

"I think that's what's slowing them down. If Barrett and Tieber come right up and try to take over, the porters and their groups will call for a vote and the village will back me up. They have to work slowly and subtly—and they know it. I think sending you after that crystal is mostly to buy them more time."

Frowning at that reminder, I said, "This is probably the worst task they could have come up with for me. Someone is bound to question their decision, and I hope it causes the patriarchs some difficulties. I'm also very glad that this is the only mature shard we haven't gone to yet so they can't send me on future errands."

This shard was so far out that none of the porters had made the trip since we were all busy taking groups out to collect much-needed food. We couldn't afford to lose a porter for four days just to reclaim a backup crystal. The younger backup shards were at least a year away from being big enough to port to.

"That's a long walk," he murmured. "With the number of ports you usually make, are you going to be okay without porting for that long?"

That was a good question. Could I make it four days without porting? I already knew I'd be restless, sleepless, and cranky within three days, but would there be any other side effects? Or would this be the test that proved it?

I considered it carefully. "Assuming I port a lot before leaving, it shouldn't be too unbearable. The restlessness and lack of sleep are the worst parts, and the last time they took almost two days to become problematic. I'll be the crankiest thing in existence by the time we reach that crystal though. On my way home, I'll have to detour and leave the hunters at Sunrise Village for a few minutes while I port a heavy log around to burn off some energy. It would be best to send someone like Tib or Brielle with me."

"Tib planted the crystal, so that's easy enough. I can send Brielle as well. Two hunters should be able to keep you out of mischief."

That got a chuckle out of me. "I can't get into much mischief in the middle of the desert. There aren't even any jackals or vultures around here."

"Like that's going to stop you. I recommend sleeping most of this afternoon so you'll be rested for tonight. I'll wake you up an hour before sunset so you have time to port a log around and have a short rest."

We'd have to travel at night since the desert was too hot during the day. Shade was going to be pretty much non-existent, and we'd be struggling to find a decent spot to spend the day without overheating.

I sighed. "I'm not happy with this, and you better figure out something while I'm gone because I'm about ready to start raising a stink, even if it makes me look like a porter who's gotten too entitled."

That was one of the tricky parts about being a porter: we got perks that others didn't, simply because of our special teleportation abilities. But such treatment also made it far too easy for jealousy to rear its ugly head. Porters had to be particularly mindful when "maintaining the peace".

As a porter, I got more food than any villager, patriarch, or child. Barrett could, unfortunately, twist it around to sound like I was being lazy or aloof because I had more food security, which would make it look like I was the one trying to short them. This was my home, and most of the villagers were my friends or relatives. I didn't need over a hundred people mistakenly mad at me.

Grant said, "I should have a better idea of their plans by the time you return, and in the meantime, I'll see what I can do to subtly make the villagers question some of their explanations."

With a sigh, I got up and held out my hand to Grant. "Come on. The others will be showing up shortly, and if I'm not allowed to sit in here and sulk all day, you aren't either."

He took my hand as I helped pull him to his feet, and we went into the morning sunshine to face whatever the day was about to throw at us.