I'd never been so happy to see an airship. The reddish Saursune stepped to the side as Jasper trotted ahead. He disappeared inside with the big cushion still dangling from his jaws.

Citrine followed him, ducking her head as she went through the doorway. She went directly to our regular cushion and set me down, promptly circling behind me and curling up. I breathed a sigh of relief. As much as I didn't like the method, we had made it back.

Jasper closed the door, and for once, I had zero objections. Despite how much I wanted to lean back against Citrine, I'd probably fall asleep, so I sat upright as exhaustion tugged at me. Jasper disappeared into the control room, only to come out shortly after.

He set the small woven airship and three pieces of paper in front of me. I blinked at the magazine-like pictures. One showed Orange Flower with at least thirty people from Keywa Village planting gardens, the second showed the Beyond The Marsh crystal with Merryl, Roxanne, Andre, Ariel, and some of my group. The third picture showed the Olive Hill crystal with no one there.

The details were so clear it was as if I was looking right at them. I could easily identify each individual. It was no wonder the Saursunes were able to tell us apart even if they hadn't seen us before.

Jasper placed the pictures in a row and held the woven airship out to me. It took me a second to realize he was asking me to pick where I wanted to go. The porters would bounce if an airship landed nearby, and even if they didn't, I didn't want them to see me coming out of it in this state. There was only one choice.

I took the airship, set it on the Olive Hill picture, and bowed my head, saying, "Thank you."

He nodded, collected the items, and disappeared back into the control room. The door closed behind him, and moments later, the walls outside the window began moving as the airship backed out.

Sunlight shone through the window, and as our airship turned away, I could see the side of the one we had visited. I gawked at it—it was massive! I couldn't see the top or bottom; it was much taller than the cliffs in our home village. Perhaps it was a good thing I hadn't seen it when we first flew inside...

Our view continued turning as we rose up, and soon, all I could see was sky. I gazed at the lovely blue shade, appreciating it far more than before I went inside that big airship.

Today's trip had made one thing abundantly clear: if the Saursunes said they would take me back, they'd make sure I got there, even if one of them had to carry me.

~

A firm nudge against my shoulder made me blink groggily. I'd almost drifted to sleep. Citrine stood up as Jasper opened the door and went outside. The crystal was visible from where I sat, only about ten paces away.

Citrine tilted her head as she watched me, possibly debating if I could walk that far on my own. Not much time had passed since we left, so I wasn't sure of the answer either. After a brief stretch, I shifted to my knees, then stood up.

I wouldn't be able to run, but I had rested long enough to stumble that far. Citrine offered her shoulder, and I leaned on her as I shuffled out the door.

Jasper busily ferried the trade items over to the crystal before I got that far. I examined the sacks and tools, my mind automatically working out the best way to transport everything in one trip. Thankfully, he placed it all beside the crystal.

My legs were getting notably shaky as I tucked the three shells of healing salve into my belt pouch. I pulled the two sack handles together so I could grab them with one hand and balanced the axes on top. Reaching for the five spears was harder than I expected while the Saursunes were watching me. My fingers shook, and I really hoped this wasn't a test or a trap.

Moving carefully, I put them on top of the sacks, making sure the ends never pointed toward my observers. The handles were the same stuff the shovels had been made out of, and it still boggled my mind that they had given us weapons. Sure, they were meant for fishing and hunting, but if the wrong people got ahold of these, they would do much more damage than our fire-hardened wooden spears or flint knives. I draped the coils of strange grey rope over the handles to keep them from rolling off.

With a hand grasping the two sacks, I turned to the Saursunes and bowed my head as far as I dared in my balance-challenged state. "Thank you."

Both replied with a hurr. As much as I wanted to go to Sunrise Village for a long nap, I didn't dare leave this stuff beside the crystal unattended, and I didn't have enough strength left to drag the valuable food into my napping spot.

I silently directed my mind to Beyond The Marsh. I felt the energy draining out of me, and I had to brace my legs as the porting strain informed me that I was nearing the end of my limits. Even the shimmering seemed muted.

Hiding my exhaustion as best I could, I put on a cheerful smile as the haze cleared. To my relief, Roxanne, Ariel, and Andre were sleeping and none of my older ten were close enough to talk without waking them.

Merryl glanced over from where she sat nearby and stared at the weapons. The blue Saursune lifted his head and blinked lazily at me, apparently unconcerned by what I had just brought.

My sister whispered, "Where did you get those?"

I kept my voice low to avoid waking the sleeping porters and to hide the exhaustion in my voice. "The Saursunes traded for them. They're for hunting and chopping wood."

Her gaze moved to me, and she blinked, obviously seeing through my facade. Past her, the blue Saursune peered at me and sat up with a distinct look of sudden concern. Apparently I wasn't fooling him either.

"Porting strain," I quietly told her. "I'll be back later. I'm going for a nap."

With how I was about to crash, there were only two places I felt comfortable going. One was in the privacy of my room, but I wouldn't be able to get up the path, and the other was my napping spot in Sunrise Village. It was tempting to stay here with friends and a Saursune guardian, but I didn't want to worry my sister and companions when I was about to sleep like the dead.

Before she could reply, I silently ported to Sunrise Village, leaving the sacks and weapons behind. The bounce sent me to my knees and left my head spinning with a peculiar lightheadedness I hadn't felt in many years. I knew that if I ported again, it would knock me out cold.

My vision slowly cleared as I rested on the desert sand for a few minutes. I stared tiredly at the fallen house, trying to find enough ambition to reach my resting spot. The sun beat down on me from directly overhead, and I finally gave in and crawled over like I had several times in the past.

I removed the rock slab door and crawled inside. The stone somehow felt far heavier as I wrestled it back into place. I rolled onto my back, utterly exhausted. The second I closed my eyes, sleep overtook me.

~

My mind drifted into awareness with the sluggishness that came after a hard, exhausted sleep. After so long on the cool sand, my arms and legs were stiff, and my tongue stuck to the roof of my mouth. I pulled my water skin off my belt, but I hadn't refilled it after my savannah hike.

Sunlight streamed through a few cracks to the side, and I guessed it was late afternoon from the angle. As much as I wanted to go back to sleep, I was thirsty, and it was time to get moving. With a groan, I rolled onto my knees and pushed the rock slab away from the entrance.

I crawled out of the small opening and stood up, not stopping to stretch as I staggered to the well on stiff legs. My bucket was still in its hiding spot, and my arms loosened up as I lowered it into the depths and pulled it back up.

I sat on a rock and guzzled the cool liquid, letting it ease my parched throat. When I finished half, I took a deep breath and gazed across the blowing sand as I let the water settle. I felt far better now than I had earlier, but I knew from my teenage years that I was going to have to be careful with how much I ported after hitting my limits like that.

My mind cleared as I sat there and sipped the rest of the water. I refilled my waterskin and put the bucket back in its hiding spot. With a sigh, I finally got to my feet and went to the crystal.

"Beyond The Marsh," I murmured.

The haze clouded my sight, and to my relief, the porting strain didn't reappear. My legs remained steady as the haze cleared. Everyone was awake, and the trade items I'd brought were in the same place I'd left them. The pile of plant-filled carry nets had grown in my absence.

"Aunt Natalie!" Callie exclaimed as she ran over for a hug.

The blue Saursune lifted his head and examined me as I slid my hands under the child's arms and twirled her around before setting her down.

"Hey, Trouble. What have you been up to?"

"I'm not Trouble!" she giggled.

I chuckled and sat between Ariel and Merryl, and the child promptly squeezed into a gap beside me.

With a big smile, she offered me a handful of edible greens. "This spot even had enough plants to pick!"

I took the handful with a forced smile, pained by her excitement of being able to find enough greens to eat this close to the crystal.

While nibbling on the plants, I asked the others, "How did things go here?"

Ariel nodded at two large sacks, a dead boar, and a few rabbits to the side. "The Saursune showed up right after you left this morning, and we slept most of the day. I assume your trip to Olive Hill went well? Were my sketches good enough?"

"They worked perfectly," I told her. "The Saursune guided me to one crystal, and believe it or not, that brown Saursune from Orange Flower showed up and took me to three more crystals." I wasn't ready to admit how she took me there—or took me back—so I kept it vague. Nor did I plan to tell anyone about the big airship for quite some time. At least not until others started to learn to share energy.

"Nice!"

Still examining me, Merryl commented, "You looked really tired when you left."

I made a face. "Remember how I said it was hard to tell how much energy you share? Well, I overshared and went for a long nap."

I wasn't looking forward to getting my groups to the Guard Station and then back home. It would push me right to my limits again, and depending on how many others got caught by the Saursunes, I could be taking other groups back as well. I really hoped the other porters would take some of my group like they often tried to, otherwise I'd be going to bed right after dinner. I was on borrowed strength and I knew it.

Glancing at the spears, Ariel murmured, "I still can't believe they gave us weapons."

I nodded. "Me too. I was nervous touching them. They were meant for fishing or boar hunting, but I bet they'll let us catch those big crocodiles on the jungle sandbar. Imagine if we can catch one or two of those! There would be so much meat we'd be able to dry some."

"If you leave early tomorrow morning, your group can claim the Jungle Sandbar," Ariel said. "Merryl can join us here since Orange Flower is pretty much picked clean." She wrinkled her nose. "I highly doubt the patriarchs will complain if we send you to a remote sandbar where we've never seen Saursunes before. They probably forgot it existed."

Her comments created a dilemma, and I asked, "Would it be better for me to take a couple of groups to the sandbar to hunt crocs or should I go to Orange Flower, water the seeds, and trade my energy for more food?"

Both options would help feed the village. Even if I took a group croc hunting, I could find a Saursune later that evening, although it felt kind of rude to make them track my group down the next day since I wouldn't be able to stay long.

Merryl and Ariel looked at each other as they considered my question.

"Weight-wise, you'll get more from a couple of crocodiles," Andre pointed out. "And the hunters will probably enjoy the challenge."

"Meat would be welcome," I agreed. "A day away from the Saursunes will also be a nice break."

Merryl rolled her eyes. "I bet the Saursunes will show up."

"I guess that's one way to check if the weapons have trackers," I said, glancing at the items still balanced on top of the bags.

Roxanne added, "If you're hunting crocs, you might want to take the fastest hunters. I'm more than happy to have your older ones helping me out, but you're going to need someone light on their feet when hunting something like that."

She was right. Over half of my group was comprised of volunteers who were older, slower, or had a physical limitation. Their help was well-suited to collecting greens or hunting squirrels. But hunting a croc and trying to drag it away from the water's edge? Not so much.

For something like that, I needed hunters at the top of their game, with lightning reflexes and agile bodies.

"I'll have to ask Grant how he wants to do this," I finally said, pausing to yawn. "If we decided to clean the carcasses and cut them up there, we'll need more people than if I port the croc home to be butchered."

We began idly speculating how many crocodiles we might be able to catch. Even one of the huge beasts would put meat in all the soup pots and would be well worth an entire group's time. Two would be a dream and fill the drying racks.

Dare we hope for three? Perhaps it would be best to leave that for another day. The likelihood of another group getting hunting weapons and deciding to hunt crocs at that location was quite low, at least for now. Two would rebuild our reserves to a comfortable level.

Presuming everything went according to plan, of course.