I finished the last of my soup—everyone had gotten a full bowl tonight—and asked Merryl, "Do you mind if I take the big cart?"

I felt Grant's gaze on me as Merryl shrugged. "You can if you want. I don't mind doing it."

"It's been a while since I did it," I said. "You could take the smaller cart since Ariel isn't up to it tonight."

"That could work," she murmured as she watched Callie kicking a leather ball with a few other kids.

"Don't wear yourself out," Grant commented. "I'm hoping you'll have enough energy to locate a few crystals tomorrow morning before following the hunters to the new crystal."

I groaned. "Another hike? I barely survived the last one!"

"This one isn't as far. It's probably only a four-hour hike."

I had my doubts and gave him a dubious look. "Is this porter speed, hunter speed, or Tib-speed?"

He smirked. "Something between porter speed and hunter speed."

"I think we're making the pace something a porter can handle, even if it takes us an extra hour," I muttered.

With a shrug, he replied, "That's fine by me. There really isn't a rush now that the Saursunes aren't killing every human they come across."

That comment gave me pause. It was true. There was no dire reason to rush. Not like in the past where every minute away from the crystal was a deadly gamble.

I shook my head. "I still won't be wasting time. If a Saursune finds me too quickly, it could take me all day to make that trip. The farther I get before they show up, the better. It's a small miracle they didn't find us on our last trip."

He nodded and turned his head as Callie came running over to him. "Come on, Grandpa! Let's play!"

With a fond smile, he got to his feet and went to join the game. I took his empty bowl and mine to a dozen seniors who were happily chattering while scrubbing the dishes in a bucket of water, scouring them with sand, and giving them a final rinse before setting them onto a flat stone to dry.

A handful of people were already gathering near the cart to push it over to the crystal. This was the easiest way to burn energy and stretch my abilities, and with that in mind, I went in search of some hunters. Any of them would help, but I wanted at least two who'd want to bounce as soon as they saw a Saursune. An extra trip with the cart and passengers would do more than a dozen solo ports.

I spotted two hunters who were known to be skittish and wandered over. "Mind coming with the water cart and helping stand guard?"

They got up as one replied, "Sure."

A small group of hunters and gatherers were nearby, and I grinned at them. "Anyone else feel like coming? It's been a slow day, and I have enough energy to port seven."

Liam was the first to stand up. "I can come."

"I can help carry water," a female hunter offered.

"I can come as well," Nolani volunteered, standing up from a bench behind a boulder where I hadn't seen her.

Irritation rose before I squashed it. She might not be my choice of person to hang out with lately, but we had been decent friends in the past, and she was known for helping with anything she could. And she'd definitely insist we bounce as soon as we saw a Saursune.

All five came with me and waited by the crystal as the water cart arrived. The two hunters-in-training with buckets looked relieved to see such a large group waiting.

I knelt by the crystal with one hand on it and the other on the cart. "Ready?"

Once I had seven confirmations, I silently ported to Orange Flower. One of the other hunters snagged an extra bucket for herself, and all three of them jogged to the creek while the rest of us kept watch. I wasn't sure if the brown Saursune would return after her prolonged absence all afternoon.

The cart was about three-quarters full when someone said, "Saursune to the east."

The three water carriers began running back as I turned to face that way, asking, "The same brown one that's always here?"

"It was brown, and about three hundred paces away."

The brown female trotted out of the shrubs with a basket hanging from her jaws. Small round objects glistened in the basket as if wet. Without thinking, I craned my neck and took a step forward, trying to see if they were really clams.

A hand grabbed my wrist and yanked me back as Nolani demanded, "What are you doing?"

Liam was immediately by my side and ripped Nolani's hand off me. I skipped back, rubbing my wrist as the two hunters glared at each other. The Saursune paused and narrowed her eyes at how I massaged my wrist, her gaze drifting to Nolani in a manner that sent chills down my spine.

With a regretful look at the Saursune, I knelt by the crystal. She slowly sat on her haunches, still watching with narrowed eyes. Five hunters were already hanging on, and a few long seconds later, Liam and Nolani broke their staring match long enough to grab onto the cart.

Light shimmered through my veins as I silently ported away. The emerald greens shifted to lighter blues and slate greys of the upper alpine slope.

"What were you doing?" Nolani shouted at me again, ignoring how Liam continued to glare at her.

I frowned at her, my temper rising, but a bit shaken by how roughly she had grabbed my wrist. It was already starting to throb. "Why did you grab me like that?"

It was one thing for a hunter to remove a porter from a situation if our lives were in danger, but there had been at least two hundred paces between us and the Saursune. That kind of distance hadn't required such a violent intervention. Her actions didn't line up with my past close calls when hunters had helped me a bit forcefully.

"You were about to walk right up to a flippin' Saursune!" she exclaimed as if I were an idiot. "It could have killed you!"

"Cool down," Liam told her, stepping between us. "The Saursune was bringing food as payment for their earlier trip when it caught Ariel. You could have hurt Natalie by yanking her around like that."

"You're defending it? If it didn't kill her, it would have drained her!"

The others stared at the two hunters glaring at each other. It was going to break into a wrestling match or possibly even a fight at any moment.

"Stop fighting," I said, trying my best to imitate the firmness Grant could manage, although I lacked his deep voice and years of experience. "The Saursune could have drained my energy." Nolani smirked at Liam and opened her mouth, but before she could speak, I cut her off. "But she wouldn't have hurt me. I took a step forward to see what she was carrying—I wasn't going over. There was no need to grab me that hard—that hurt. Next time, block the porter's path if you object instead of injuring them."

She stared at me in shock, and I met her gaze firmly so she knew she had crossed the line of what was acceptable. Porters didn't have a hunter's set of muscles, and while we sometimes got bruises when our groups helped us to the crystal during an emergency, she had used far more force than was needed.

Her jaw clenched, but she nodded firmly once. Crossing her arms, she turned away from me with a scowl. Her gaze raked across our audience, and the three with buckets suddenly remembered the jars weren't full.

They ran to the murky trickle of water as the rest of us waited in an uncomfortable silence. It took far too long to fill the last few jars, and I was already regretting my offer to take this cart.

Finally, the jars were full, and once I made sure everyone was hanging on, I silently ported back home. A twinge appeared in my chest with this port, although I ignored it, still too worked up over what had happened.

Nolani stormed off, and Liam watched her go, quietly commenting to me, "She shouldn't have grabbed you so hard."

"No, she shouldn't have. Although I shouldn't have gone forward either." Especially not with this group, some of whom I'd known were scared of Saursunes. That one-second, one-step slip had cost me.

Liam shook his head and turned to me; he lifted my arm and examined my wrist where a red mark was already forming. "You weren't in any true danger. Anyone could see that. You were only one pace away from the crystal, and I could have easily stepped in front of you if the Saursune charged. This is already bruising. What was Nolani thinking?" His frown deepened.

"She was probably thinking about the dangers Saursunes posed in the past," I grudgingly admitted, having already realized that the hunter had reacted instinctively with good intentions, even if she had gone overboard. "I don't think she's ever gone to Orange Flower before. But I'm definitely going to ask Grant to make sure she isn't at the same crystal I get assigned to, not as often as the Saursunes show up." I pulled my hand back.

Liam nodded, and his eyes looked into mine as if searching for something. "That would be wise."

"Mind telling Grant what happened while I take the meat scraps to the cat?'

Grant's voice came from somewhere behind me. "Something happened?"

With a weak smirk at Liam, I chuckled and slipped away. I was able to get the bucket with the handful of scraps and reach the other crystal without spotting Nolani or Grant.

The air hazed around me and cleared as I ported to Golden Oak. Just like the last few times, Cleo immediately bounded forward with something in her mouth.

"Good girl!" I told her as I knelt to pet her and take the rat, whose insides she had already eaten.

She purred and walked a few circles around me before sniffing at the bucket. I sat in the grass and pet her while feeding her tidbits. It was so much more peaceful petting a cat out here than it would have been back in the village.

Time was slipping by though. If I wanted to push myself and raise my limits, I had to get going. After saying farewell to Cleo, which took about eight tries before she finally sat down so I could reach the crystal without her rubbing against my legs, I ported to Sunrise Village.

The old problem of having nothing heavy to port became an immediate annoyance yet again. I frowned at the blowing sand as a strand of hair blew into my face. As I tucked it behind my ear, it snagged on a hangnail. I paused as an idea occurred to me, then ran to the well where I hid the bucket. I untied the braided leather cord and ran back to the crystal.

I ported to Fern Hills and was relieved to discover no one was here this late, which was to be expected. The tree the hunters had left just out of my reach was still here. With a cautious eye on my surroundings, I tied one end of the rope onto a branch and held onto the other end firmly. I reached for the crystal as my mind focused on Sunrise Village, hoping it would work.

The port dragged almost as much as the empty water cart, but when my vision cleared in the abandoned village, the log was still tethered to the rope. Perfect.

A grin appeared on my face as I promptly ported to another abandoned village, then another. The fourth port had me leaning on the crystal for a moment. The ache had reappeared as it always did with repeated weighted ports.

I gave the ache a few minutes to settle. Repeating the process, I bounced between the abandoned villages until porting strain radiated down my arms and legs.

I sat on the log to let the pain fade. It had been so long since I'd encountered porting strain that I'd forgotten how the discomfort and pain knotted up inside my chest. If this didn't give my abilities a boost, it wasn't for my lack of trying.

Just to prevent Nolani from trying to claim I'd gone back to Orange Flower and got caught, I rested for at least ten minutes so I didn't look quite so tired. I hid the rope by the bucket and left the log where it was.

The strain was still present—the level I hit needed at least half an hour or so to fade—but someone would start worrying soon. I ported back home; the solo port didn't even cause the strain to twinge.

Grant appeared before I even took five steps. "Let me see your wrist. You were gone longer than I expected."

With a sigh, I held it up. The red mark had deepened, and some spots were already turning purple. I put on a bored expression so he wouldn't notice my legs were close to shaking.

"I needed a break and petting a cat was rather relaxing. And yes, I was within arm's reach of the crystal the entire time. I went to Sunrise Village to rinse the bucket out after."

I didn't mention the extra ports, although he would have guessed I'd burned off some extra ports during my prolonged absence.

He let go of my arm with a frown. "Please don't stay out so long again. More than a few people were worrying."

"I'll try to be quicker." Now that I had a log, it would be easier. In a quieter voice, I added, "Also I'd rather not be at the same crystal as Nolani."

Grant nodded and replied just as quietly, "As long as you can find at least two crystals, that can be arranged."

"I'll do my best." With a grin, I changed the topic and said, "Let's go play a game of stone hop and see how long it takes Callie to notice."

He smiled, and we went in search of the pebbles he had managed to locate last week. Not only was it a fun game, but I knew we'd only get one or two games in before Callie saw us. Then I could go sit on the upper ledge where no one other than Liam or a few trusted hunters would notice me yawning.