I stretched as I walked down the cliff path in the morning. For the first time in three days, I finally felt normal. No hints of restlessness were present, although it would surely reappear as the day wore on, especially if Grant limited my ports. Although I couldn't really call it "limiting" when I was porting more than three porters combined. Sharing part of my energy with the Saursune had been worth the good night's sleep.

Merryl came out of her room ahead of me, yawning as she ignored the young girl bouncing around her.

"Hey, Callie. Are you going with your dad today?" With how tired Merryl looked, it was a given that Calum would take their daughter today.

"Grant said we could go to Willow Plain!" Callie exclaimed, spinning around and dancing.

"Willow Plain, huh? Remember to stay close to the crystal."

"I will!"

Behind me, Calum said, "We've picked the Alpine Meadows so clean we weren't even getting half a carry net each. There should be more on the plains, and we'll see the Saursunes coming in advance."

I nodded. It wasn't ideal, but it was the best we could do given the present situation. We made our way down to the crystal and joined the waiting group. Grant slowly moved through the crowd, taking longer to reach us than normal.

"Orange Flower, please," he requested. "The plants should have regrown in the two days since Janette's group was there, and most of your group goes farther afield."

"Sure." I went to the crystal as ten gathered around me. "Orange Flower."

The world hazed around us, then cleared. I stiffened at the sight of dozens of people. Was I at the wrong crystal? A quick glance around confirmed I was in the right spot, which made sense since I'd never ported to the wrong place by accident.

"I didn't think anyone else knew about this crystal," I blurted out, staring at the full carry nets already stacked up. They must have been here since the first hint of sunrise.

I recognized three porters from Keywa Village, with twice as many people as they usually transported. As much as I wanted to protest that this was "our" crystal, villages couldn't lay claim to the valuable crystalline structures, especially not when these were one of our closer allies.

Having another group here was a heavy blow; this location had been our food security, and judging by how many people were present, they were desperate for food. Would our village soon face similar conditions? Part of my mind absently noted that this village would at least harvest responsibly and not destroy entire plants.

"We were wondering who planted the shard," one of the porters said, coming over. "One of our hunters found it yesterday while following the river. You can join us if you want."

They must have come from the crystal to the south, the same place I had come from when planting the shard. The offer to join them was unusual. I scratched my head and glanced at the hunters whose hands still rested on my shoulders.

"Do you feel like hanging out here? Or do you want to try a different place?"

They considered it, and Clyde said, "As kind as the invitation is, our entire group would make things rather crowded. If you have the strength, why don't we try another location? Someplace like yesterday? The coniferous forest the other day wasn't too bad."

I recognized the reference to Pine Hills: he wanted a location near a half-grown field since people were avoiding those areas and there was likely more to forage for.

"Thanks for the offer," I told the porter, "but I'm going to bounce and hope I can find an empty crystal. Keep an eye out for Saursunes. One usually lurks around here."

"We already saw it. It keeps circling. That's why we're so close to the crystal."

Even as he said that, I caught a glimpse of brown in the distance. The fact that they stayed instead of bouncing spoke volumes on how badly they needed the food. I decided to make myself scarce in case the Saursune came over for a visit.

Taking a deep breath, I focused on a crystal in a marsh as I said, "Spruce Point."

The mismatched location name and ten passengers felt like a jolt as I kept my mind focused on Dragonfly Marsh. Had I said the real name aloud, the porters might recognize my true destination as the place where the Saursunes had built some sort of watery field nearby.

As our vision cleared, a hunter rolled her shoulders. "Okay, even I felt that. Is this the spot you were aiming for or did something else happen?"

"Oh, sorry. That was just so they didn't know we were coming here. I didn't realize passengers would feel something if I used an incorrect location name."

"If possible, let's not make a habit of that. It was like someone tried to knock the wind out of me."

The hunters stepped away and scanned the area. Wetland grasses and shrubs abounded without any visible trampling. Only a few spots of stagnant open water were visible. About five hundred paces to the east, was the "field". The gently curving rows had water in the channels as some sort of tall bamboo-like plants grew out of the water. They weren't edible, and the Saursunes didn't seem to guard them, although the rows were definitely maintained.

"Will this work?" I asked them. "Or would you prefer another location? I have a few more ports left in me if you want to try somewhere else."

"This ground ain't that solid," a hunter said, pushing down hard with his foot as the grass seemed to undulate. "I think a lot of it is floating."

"The water looks higher than usual," Clyde added. "If possible, can we try a different spot?"

"Where would you like to go?

"Since you'll be in the village, let's try Three Stone Forest."

I blinked at the name and glanced at the two who had been herded back after getting lost at that location. "Are you okay with that?"

In a dry tone, Cruz replied, "We'll pick a different direction and mark our trail better."

If they were fine with it, so was I. "Three Stone Forest."

Our view hazed over and turned darker green. When it cleared, I felt like groaning at the sight of four people. I should have known someone would be here after I let the name slip at the Guard Station, especially when none of my group had been harmed during our day-long stay. Apparently other villages were desperate enough to harvest within a ten-minute walk of a field.

Clyde leaned over and whispered into my ear, "What about the crystal you found not far from here?"

I nodded and with a wave at the porter, who waved back, I said, "Cranberry Bush Crystal."

No one would know my term since only our village had been there. The air hazed around us again. At least I was burning off some porting energy, but I shuddered to think of how many porters ran out of ports before finding an empty crystal.

My jaw dropped when I saw roughly fourteen people and three porters. The huge gatherings must be what villages were doing if a porter didn't find a location right away; they just joined someone who had secured a spot. The larger group also made it harder for Saursunes to catch a porter.

I recognized the porters as being from the same village as the ones at Three Stone Forest, so one of their hunters must have also found this crystal a while ago. If these places were full, any other remote locations would also be claimed. That left places that were either severely overharvested or spots right beside fields.

I pursed my lips and silently directed my mind to Hawthorn Valley. The lack of the location name pulled at me, and to my surprise, a twinge appeared in my chest, although I should have expected it after five back-to-back ports with ten passengers.

Hawthorn bushes and other shrubs covered the ground, leaving just enough grassy areas to walk between clumps. A handful of trees grew in scattered clusters in the distance. To our right, only a few hundred paces away, was a field with knee-high bushes with red flowers.

"Watch out for the harvesters," I told them. "Some sort of mechanical unit roams up and down the rows as it picks flowers once or twice a day. It's not quiet, so you'll hear it working."

"We can stay low and out of sight when it's around," a hunter reassured me.

Clyde went to a nearby Hawthorn bush and pulled a handful of red berries off. He tossed a few to me. I caught two, but the third dropped into the grass.

As I retrieved it, he said, "No one has been here in a while. The gatherers will be busy, and there should be quite a few rabbits and quail around as well."

"Give me five minutes to recharge."

Two remained nearby while the rest disappeared among the various shrubs. The twinge in my chest soon faded, so I returned to the village. The solo port didn't cause any noticeable stain.

As soon as the cliffs appeared, I called, "Hey, Grant."

Alerted by my tone, he immediately stood up and jogged over. "What's wrong?"

My remaining groups came my way, and various bystanders all sat up.

"A hunter from Keywa village found the Orange Flower crystal. There's a huge group there now. And someone else found the Cranberry Crystal."

His face fell. "Oh no. Those were our best untouched locations."

"If you want some good news, Hawthorn Valley was empty, and it doesn't look like anyone has been there for a while. The hawthorns are loaded with ripe fruit."

"Aren't there several huge fields there?" He quickly grabbed a book and flipped through the pages to double-check.

"The harvesters are just some sort of machine, I think, and the hunters will avoid those spots. Plenty of shrubs to hide behind."

"You can hide all you want, but if a Saursune is around, they'll sniff you out right quick. Ah, here's my notes. Massive field to the west, one farther south. Lots of hawthorns, various plants, and certain medicinal herbs. Rabbits and quail are present, but Saursunes lurk among the shrubs, ambushing and killing hunters at least once a year."

"Oh, I didn't know about the ambushing part." My worry grew. "Do you think that still holds true with their new behavior? Eight hunters will already be too far away to call back. I'd rather not be Saursune bait, but if having some energy drained is what it takes to keep them safe—"

"No," Grant said, interrupting me. "We haven't lost any of our hunters lately, and we don't need to risk one of our porters. If the rest of your group would rather go elsewhere, they can."

We glanced at the twenty people standing nearby.

One of the younger hunters scratched their head. "We've always run the risk of being ambushed, and once or twice a year doesn't seem that common, especially if it's relatively untouched."

"The Saursunes could have wiped most of us out by now if they wanted," someone else muttered.

At the same time, a gatherer commented, "If there are berries right by the crystal, it sounds promising."

Others slowly chimed in, many were optimistic, some were worried but willing. No one asked to go elsewhere.

I tilted my head. "Have any of you found crystals while wandering around? With so many hunters wandering, I'm surprised we haven't found any, especially when others have found our locations."

Surprisingly, it was Grant who said, "There's probably dozens around the farms, but you haven't been going there. Only a few villages planted shards in remote areas, so there's not many."

A hunter added, "An untouched crystal is often hidden in dense underbrush, so we rarely spot them. When we do find a crystal, we clear back the undergrowth so we can see the Saursunes coming. It's also not uncommon for other hunters to find our trails and markers."

I groaned. "So it's much easier to find our crystals instead of locating a new one."

"We'll keep our eyes open," another said. "There might be more near the fields. So far, all the ones I've seen are ones our village knows about, and most of those had a group there."

At this rate, visiting crystals near fields could become the norm. I just hoped the Saursunes didn't react negatively to having so many humans near their crops.