I walked around the three piles of meat, making sure everything was on the hides. The hunters would have already double-checked, but the inspection gave me an idea of the load and let Citrine and Jasper know that I was about to depart.

Each of the four crocs probably weighed almost as much as six hunters combined, and having the meat on the ground was going to drag something fierce, especially if they linked hands to reach the hide it was piled on.

I scratched my head as I tried to calculate the weight, drag, linking effects, and porting strain. "Let's try four hunters and two of those piles. That will let me determine if it's going to take two or three trips to get the rest of this back. I'll leave the cart and weapons for my next trip."

If I guessed right, this was going to be like that heavy log all over again, and I hoped my abilities had strengthened enough to handle it more gracefully. The nearest pile was just out of my reach, so the four hunters linked hands so they could reach two piles, gripping a corner with a tight fist. Tib's hand rested on my shoulder, neither overly heavy nor so lightly that I was concerned.

The linking gave me some misgivings but I didn't want to ask the hunters to unload and reload the entire pile. "Hang on. Home."

Just like with the heavy log, there was a lurching sensation as our view hazed over. Energy rushed out of me as the pile dragged through their linked hands. My abilities had definitely strengthened since the log event, but I could tell I'd donated a lot of energy a couple of hours ago. A twinge in my chest surprised me. It had been so long since I felt the effects of a heavy port that it seemed like a lifetime ago.

It intensified to a faint, nagging discomfort as our sight finally cleared. My legs also told me just how heavy those hides had been. I walked over to the hides and sat heavily on a stone bench. Perhaps I should have only tried one pile.

Tib wandered over to check on me. "It's been a while since I felt a port jostle me around like that. What happened? That was worse than using the wrong location name."

"Sorry. That port was heavier than I expected. I keep underestimating the effects the hand-linking has. I think I need to tie a rope onto a corner in the future."

"That's worth testing, although it doesn't have to be today. I'm going to wash up, and I recommend trying to nap this afternoon, otherwise it's going to be a long night."

"I will as soon as I get everyone home. I had planned on bouncing right back to the sandbar, but I need five minutes," I admitted sheepishly.

So much for me feeling proud of bouncing a cart with twelve passengers this morning without any discomfort. Then again, this port had probably been the equivalent of twenty passengers, not counting the drag and linked hands.

Tib nodded and left as Grant came down a cliff path.

He eyed up the piles of meat and headed over to me. "I only see four hunters. How much more is left?"

"One more pile and the cart. Two trips."

He turned to look at the meat again, which the villagers were swarming with excitement. "There's quite a bit there."

"Tell me about it," I grumbled. "One was out of my reach too. I'm going to try tying a rope to the last pile and see if that helps reduce the drag. The hand linking works, but the drag is nasty if there's a heavy weight at the end."

He nodded absently. "I'm surprised the port didn't abort due to the weight alone, although you're usually stubborn enough to drag it with you, even if it knocks you out cold."

"Believe me, I felt that one. The other trips will be lighter."

"Don't strain yourself," he murmured, resting a hand on my shoulder before going to help organize the villagers, who were far busier talking about the meat than moving it away from the crystal.

I waited until my legs felt normal, which took more than the five minutes I'd planned. In the meantime, the villagers formed a long chain and were passing chunks of meat to each other.

As I walked over, I cautioned some nearby children. "I'll be back soon. Please don't run so close to the crystal in case the cart appears in front of you."

Porting wasn't an exact art. We simply appeared somewhere beside the crystal, almost always in an empty spot, but our porting abilities never seemed to take movement into consideration. I'd appeared in the middle of a moving group more than a few times.

Sometimes they stumbled into us or we tripped over each other. There was a possibility that the cart would appear right in front of a running child. It was one reason why the villagers usually never went near the crystals. It was also why porters and groups never moved fast when we got close, just in case someone appeared in front of us.

As the children ran farther up the ravine for their game of tag, I told Grant, "I'll be back soon."

He nodded as he kept pulling meat off the pile and passing it to the villagers, taking the spot closest to the crystal. I rested my hand on a spire and directed my mind back to the jungle sandbar. My view hazed over, then cleared as the hunters waited patiently nearby. Jasper must have given up tormenting the crocs at the far end of the sandbar during my absence, but those on the sides were still fair game since he was currently annoying two of them. Citrine sat patiently to the side, perking up when I appeared.

I stretched even though the solo port didn't seem to have any impact. "I'll have to make two more trips. I can take the cart and four people to the Guard Station to drop off those weapons. While I'm gone, can someone tie a rope onto the corner of the leather? I want to see if that reduces the drag."

Someone pulled a coil of rope out of the wagon and tossed it to Cruz, who bent down to tie it onto the leather corner closest to the crystal. I held onto the side of the wagon as four hunters reached for my shoulders instead of just hanging onto the cart. They must have realized the last port was on the heavy side due to my delayed return, and they were equally aware that direct contact with the porter caused less strain. It was an unspoken courtesy as they tried to help as best they could.

"Guard Station," I murmured, both confirming our destination and using the words to lighten the port.

My view disappeared again, and the cart felt heavier than usual after my last port but being able to hold onto it kept it from dragging as much as the two piles. A desert cliff soon blocked half our sight. As the hunters took our weapons to our storage corner, I peeked into the cart, finally spotting the trade goods hidden in the corners. Excellent. They were less noticeable there, which was a good precaution in case certain patriarchs were watching. The villagers would likely put them into the soup pots or reserve piles without thinking to count or record them.

"It looks like you had a decent hunt," Weylan commented from his rocking chair.

I grinned at the two sheep by his chair. "You've been busy as well."

The corners of his eyes crinkled as he smiled. "The village isn't exactly happy with me, but they certainly weren't about to let me take the sheep away once I brought them. They didn't even tell me to never do it again, probably because I'm quite old and my absence won't harm the village, or possibly because it's hard to turn down food when you're nearly starving. Regardless of the reasons, they're tolerating my planned trades and just made me promise to keep the sheep here at least half a day in case of a tracker."

"I'm glad it worked out so well for you," I told him sincerely.

Now if only the patriarchs would take lessons from Keywa Village in the tolerance department and accept the food with just a few extra precautions. Actually, suggesting that I leave it at the Guard Station for half a day might not be a bad thing. The compromise might mollify them. Or maybe offering to take the food back to the crystal and leave it might shake Barrett to his senses. It was too bad he didn't join a porting group and have a first-hand reminder of how hard it was to find and pick enough greens to feed several people.

"Thank you," Weylan said.

The hunters gathered around me, and with a nod to the guard whose scanner was still green, I said, "Home."

The cart hadn't gotten any lighter, and I could feel the back-to-back heavy ports wearing on me. Discomfort reappeared in my chest—not truly painful yet, but close enough that I knew my future ports would be.

Villagers converged on the cart as I got out of the way. The hunters helped them push it toward the butchering station, which was already overflowing from what I'd previously brought.

Barrett and another patriarch were watching from on a higher ledge; their calm demeanor meant they couldn't see the sacks of grain from up there. I trudged to the nearby furs and sat down, stretching my legs out in front of me and lightly rubbing the spot above my heart.

Grant came to stand nearby. "I think you're about to hit your limits."

I made a face. "The weight adds up quickly. I've only ported eight times today, but almost all of them were very heavy loads. There's no pain yet, just discomfort, but it's a good thing I only have one more trip and can come straight home." My eyes pointedly looked at the villagers pushing the cart, whose presence kept me from mentioning the Saursunes and energy sharing. The hunters would probably tell him later.

He followed my gaze with a thoughtful look, then went to help push the cart. I smirked before flopping back on the furs, knowing he'd spot the five treasures and connect the dots.

I lay there for so long that I probably made the hunters and Saursunes wonder if I'd gotten lost. The discomfort finally faded. With a groan, I pushed myself to my elbows and then to my feet. Some days, porting felt more like punishment than work.

"You had a pretty good haul," Grant commented from a nearby bench as he made notes on his slate board.

I covered a yawn, not surprised at his subtle way of saying he'd seen the sacks of food. "How long have you been sitting there?"

"Long enough to wonder if I had to wake you up to fetch your last group. Had they been at the Guard Station, I wouldn't have cared, but they are on a croc-infested sandbar in the jungle."

After a quick check to make sure no one was around, I said, "I'm sure Citrine and Jasper are keeping an eye on them, but I should get going. The villagers might panic if the Saursunes decided to help by dropping them off here."

"I'd prefer to avoid that."

With a chuckle and a wave, I made my way to the crystal and rested my hand on it. The air hazed around me and eventually cleared without the solo port reviving any traces of discomfort. The hunters glanced my way without gathering, which was their way of letting me have a few minutes to rest after my delayed return.

Citrine trotted over and snuffled my feet, working her way up to my shoulders before pulling back and tilting her head at me.

"I'm okay," I reassured her.

Her continued stare—which wasn't really focused on me, but at me, as if she was looking at something else—expressed her reservations or possibly that she could tell the porting strain was accumulating to levels that would shortly become painful. Well, she was right. I expected this port to turn the discomfort into pain.

Ruefully, I tried to remember the last time the porting strain had actually caused me pain—something that had been an almost daily occurrence in the past—and I had to think back almost a week to when I'd managed fifty-four ports and had ported the heavy log around several times in an attempt to build up my abilities.

Apparently, I could share lots of energy or manage many heavy ports, but not both, at least not gracefully or without edging closer to my limits than I preferred to do lately.

This port was probably ill-advised, but Roxanne and Merryl were already using extra ports to take the rest of my group with them, and porting a heavy load six paces away was likely beyond their current abilities.

Cruz wandered around the last pile of meat. "Would it be easier to wait for the cart to be emptied so we can push it closer?"

"I'm already here, and it's my last trip. I'm hoping the rope trick works."

Heavy objects were normally moved within a porter's reach. Most porters were only able to port four or five people, so I was the first one to edge into the unknown territories of using linked hands to move loads far heavier than my group. If I made a blunder, Grant would finally get to use that lecture he was saving up.

"We can hope." Cruz continued to regard the pile dubiously. The rope had been tied onto the leather, wrapped around the crystal, then looped back and around the meat as if trying to provide additional anchoring points. It had also been tied onto the other corners with the end of the rope resting near the crystal. The hunters had clearly used their waiting time productively.

"Just give me a few minutes to rest, and we can head home," I said as I leaned against the crystal, not looking forward to this last port.

Citrine circled around us as if making her own inspection. Jasper was still entertaining himself by keeping crocs off the closest sections of the shoreline. The crocs either didn't understand the new rules or didn't care, since they kept climbing out of the water to sunbathe on the sandbar. They were retreating into the water far more readily when Jasper came near, but they returned just as quickly.

After about five minutes, I stretched and said, "Let's go home."

I picked up both sections of rope within reach and rested a hand on the crystal as the four hunters held onto my shoulders without touching the ropes. Citrine sat five paces away, watching. Even Jasper abandoned his efforts to observe my final port.

I inclined my head at them. "Thank you. Have a good day. Home."

We were about to see what was easier—linked hands or a direct rope connection.

The porting strain immediately returned even though the pile was lighter than the cart. There was definitely drag, although there wasn't as much as when the hunters had linked hands. The discomfort in my chest built to painful levels. As the haze started to clear, an idea occurred to me, and I let go of the ropes.

Like dropping a heavy backpack, the difference was immediately noticeable. There was a faint lurch, which I hoped didn't shake up the hunters too much. A mere second later, the haze around us cleared before I had time to worry about it.

Grant regarded the pile of meat, where various pieces were rolling down the sides as if they had physically fallen. "Did you drop it? It materialized very suddenly, a second before you did."

"The rope trick worked well, although dropping it past the halfway point didn't relieve as much of the strain as I was hoping." I glanced at the hunters as I leaned on the crystal, trying to wait out the pain in my chest. "I hope that didn't shake you up."

I'd never tried dropping objects to lighten a load before, although occasionally something fell out of the carry nets by accident. The ports usually only took four or five seconds, so there wasn't much point in honing that skill since dropping it too early would have the item returning to the originating crystal, and if we waited until we were far enough into the port, we might as well endure the last second or two. Besides, the heaviest part of our load was normally our group—and dropping them or having the connection broken would knock them unconscious. Not something we wanted to do.

Cruz rolled his neck as he stepped away. "It was a bit like a small earthquake. Not exactly pleasant but nothing harmful."

"It didn't help much, so I don't plan on trying it again. There's also too much risk of it dropping back on the other side if I misjudge the time by a second."

Grant nodded. "Thanks. I was about to request that we not repeat that."

I yawned, resisting the urge to try rubbing the pain in my chest away, lest Grant keep me down here where he could keep an eye on me. "I'm heading to bed. Wake me an hour before we have to leave."

After a long look, possibly making sure I could walk up the path without resting first, Grant nodded. I began trudging up to my room. If nothing else, I'd have no problems falling asleep.