I gazed out the window as I fiddled with the hem of my shirt in boredom. Mountaintops emerged so slowly that it took me a bit to register their appearance. I toyed with the idea of getting up to look out the window, but decided against it. It would probably scare me so badly I'd never step foot inside an airship again.

The windows across from me suddenly showed a hillside with scattered pine trees. When a pine tree appeared, I knew we were landing. I sat straighter but waited until Citrine stood up before getting to my feet.

Now able to see outside the windows properly, I could see we were in the rolling hills with mountains in the distance. This terrain was similar to Pine Hills, only not as dry.

Jasper came out of the control room and opened the outside door. Citrine positioned herself at my right hand again. As we followed him out of the airship, I glanced into the control room. The glowing map showed several small red dots, one of which was just outside the door, and something that occasionally flickered blue.

The green Saursune snapped a long, dead branch off a pine tree and trotted ahead of us. He stopped and held out the stick as the rattling of a rattlesnake made me pause. Using the branch, he lifted the slithering reptile and carried it ten paces away before setting it down.

I eyed up the grass around us as I kept my hand on Citrine's shoulder, letting her guide me along the path that Jasper was clearing. That was roughly where one of the red dots had been on the map. Had all those dots been snakes? If I brought a group here, I'd have to warn them to put on snake guards.

It wasn't until Citrine led me behind some tall shrubs that I spotted the crystal. After checking the grass, I knelt beside the half-grown spires. It was big enough to port to, maybe a year older than Orange Flower.

Had another village planted it and been unable to find it? Or were the Saursunes responsible? Either way, the grass was untouched and I was here now, so I carefully memorized the young crystal and scratched a location phrase into the dusty dirt. Rattlesnake Pines seemed like a very fitting name.

When we went back into the airship, I glanced into the control room, intrigued by the glowing map thing and all the stuff. Another small blue flicker on the map confirmed my guess that the growing crystals were doing something that made them easier for the Saursunes to detect. The bigger crystals must also have some value, or the Saursunes would have destroyed them long ago to keep humans away from their fields.

Citrine and I sat down as Jasper went back into the control room and closed the door. I pulled my knees against my chest, dreading our next destination. They'd taken me to three crystals, and now it was my turn to share energy with a bigger airship.

This airship suddenly seemed downright cozy when faced with the idea of having to go inside a larger, unknown one. Hopefully it wouldn't be too bad. How different could the other airship be?

~

Citrine began making a purring hum, and I glanced at her since I'd been staring blankly at a window for quite some time. A sudden dimming of the light had my eyes darting back to the frontmost windows, and I tensed at the sight of flat grey walls.

Unlike the trees that had risen up as we dropped down, the walls swallowed us from the front like we were entering a huge cave. Light came from odd glowing panels on the airship's ceiling as well as from several spots on the wall outside.

My hand dropped onto Citrine's arm like it had whenever the airship had shuddered. The walls outside slowed and came to a stop. We sank down a bit, and the deep ship hum faded into silence. Well, we were here. I really, really hoped the other airship wasn't too far away.

Citrine stood up and stretched like at our previous stops, although I wasn't so optimistic. Having Jasper come out of the control room didn't help my feelings of unease. They hummed and hissed at each other before Jasper opened the side door and went outside.

I peered through the doorway; the cave walls and floor were a greyish-blue color I had never seen before. The eight-sided ovalish cave had nothing and no one else in it. Light streamed through the entrance, but a brown mountainside was the only thing I saw through it.

With an encouraging hum from Citrine, who was halfway through the doorway, I stepped out of the airship. My hand drifted to Citrine's shoulder as she guided me behind Jasper. The clicking of their nails echoed off the walls.

I gazed around uneasily; other than the cave entrance, there wasn't anything in this room. Where was the other airship? And why were we inside a bizarre cave?

Jasper waited for us to catch up and touched the wall. An invisible door slid open, revealing a wide bluish-grey corridor illuminated by rectangular panels that emitted soft light. With my hand on Citrine's shoulder, I kept pace with her and almost skipped backward when the floor felt different. Instead of being hard as rock, it sunk the tiniest amount under my feet. The clicking of my companions' claws also disappeared.

My heart beat faster with the latest unexpected discovery, and I glanced around in growing worry, still not understanding what we were doing here. Jasper didn't speed ahead like he usually did. His pace matched Citrine's, and his back legs were beside me, almost like I was being protected or boxed in by the two of them.

My eyes darted around, although there was nothing to be seen. Just a perfectly straight tunnel with a curving ceiling. Jasper paused and touched his hand against the wall, making another door open. It was another corridor, just like the last one.

Two Saursunes stood halfway down it as if talking with one another. Stood. Seeing them on their hind legs with belts loaded with devices made me hesitate.

Citrine glanced back at me and hummed. Swallowing hard, I stepped closer to her, once more following her lead. The two strangers turned their heads to look at us, or rather, at me. My heart sped up and my feet slowed, the urge to run away growing stronger, although there was nowhere to go. Even if the doors behind us were open, the airship wasn't the beacon of safety it had been in a dangerous forest.

Jasper made a series of hisses and hums, and both strangers dropped to all fours. I kept close to Citrine as we went past, the hairs on my neck lifting and my muscles feeling jittery. Ahead, a door opened as four Saursunes walked out on their hind legs, chatting among themselves almost exactly like the hunters relaxing in the village.

Their heads turned my way, lifting or tilting with interest. One pulled a device off his belt, and as he started to point it at me, I cringed against Citrine, who hissed fiercely at him. This hiss wasn't a mild part of their speech, and the warning clearly rang through the tone. The Saursune put the device back on his belt, dipping his head.

My heart raced, and I was unable to tear my eyes away from the Saursunes. Citrine glanced at me, then hummed at the four in front of us, who dropped to all fours. A quick check behind us confirmed that the door had closed. Two strangers behind, four in front. There were just too many Saursunes.

My muscles shook with adrenaline, feeling the need to run, but there was nowhere to run to. I felt trapped. Citrine seemed to realize it. She spoke to those in front, who ambled back through the door they had come through. A quick hiss at Jasper had him loping down the hallway, occasionally tapping the wall as he went.

She hummed and rubbed her head against my shoulder, although it didn't do anything to slow my racing heart. She took a step forward, forcing me to follow if I didn't want to be left behind. It wasn't even an option. I wasn't about to leave her side while we were in this place.

I stuck close to Citrine as she walked down the hallway. I watched the walls uneasily, unable to tell when or where Saursunes might appear. When I glanced back, I saw the four Saursunes had simply waited until we went past and were now conversing with the other two. I forced myself to analyze their body language, only now realizing that none of them had so much as narrowed their eyes or bared their teeth at me. The device probably hadn't been a weapon, although I had no way of confirming that.

I shivered and glanced ahead again, my heart still beating far too fast. Jasper had disappeared from sight, and I distinctly missed the presence of the semi-familiar Saursune. Citrine continued guiding me down the hallway and through a few more doors. Whether by a small miracle or something Jasper was doing, we didn't encounter any more Saursunes.

My heartbeat gradually slowed, although I remained jumpy, flinching at any noise. Where were we going? I had agreed to share energy with an airship crystal, not walk through seemingly endless hallways.

Citrine stopped, and with a reassuring hum, she touched the wall to open another door. In the middle of the dome-like room was an eight-spired crystal that was taller than I was; an impossibly huge size. I stared at it, barely noticing Jasper and three Saursunes sitting nearby.

Then it dawned on me. If the crystal was here, then we had been inside the airship for the entire walk.