My eyes never left the distant airship gradually curving toward us as it came closer. "We have company."

Clyde shaded his eyes as he followed my gaze. "We haven't even been here fifteen minutes. They must have been waiting for the axes or spears to move."

Cruz glanced over his shoulder. "For anyone chopping, try to keep your back to them so they don't mistake our work as a threat."

"Are you sure you want to try this?" I asked, gazing down at the man. I'd feel terrible if any of them got hurt, and I'd never forgive myself if someone was killed.

"If this is the same two, they know us. We should be fine as long as we're careful."

"They gave these to us to chop wood," Liam pointed out, sounding more confident than his uneasy glance at the airship.

I nodded slowly. "The tile did show the axes chopping into wood, so it shouldn't surprise them."

With a hard swing, Cruz's axe bit into a log just above where it rested on another log, and with the crackling of wood, the end propped in the air dropped down.

"Good timing," Clyde said. "Let's see if we can get this into the cart so it's clear what we're doing."

The four without axes began dragging the cut section. The back wall on the cart had been left in the village since the logs would be too long to fit inside. It took them some wrestling to get it onto the cart, although so much stuck off the end that it kept wanting to teeter-totter.

Liam examined the unbalanced log and looked up at me on my perch. "If it touches the ground, it'll still port with the cart, right?"

"Yes," I replied absently, most of my attention on the airship that was getting much closer. It was flying sideways, somewhat curving its approach. As if the lack of a head-on direct approach might not be sufficient, the door opened and a dark brown Saursune stuck her head out.

"They're definitely trying not to scare us off," Clyde said as he paused to watch the airship fly lower and slower.

Still facing away from the airship while chopping a log, Tib commented, "Scaring Natalie into a bounce is kind of counterproductive."

"True. Now we just have to see if they mind us working this close or if we have to move farther away. We can always chop the trees into movable pieces and carry them later."

I remained perched on the log pile as the airship settled into the grass about eighty paces away. Citrine stepped out and wandered this way, lightly jumping over logs with an unusually slow approach. She barely even glanced at the woodchoppers, so it wasn't the axes that concerned her.

I tilted my head as I tried to figure out what was causing the slight change in behavior. It was almost like...like she was trying to avoid scaring me. But that didn't make much sense since she'd trotted over far more readily yesterday, even after startling me into bouncing half my group away. She stopped about halfway and simply looked at me.

Clyde quietly called up to me. "Try coming down. I'm not sure if they can't climb well or if it's because you're in a sentry position, but something about you being up there seems to be making her reluctant."

I sent him a surprised glance but began descending. I hadn't even gotten halfway down before Citrine trotted forward in her usual fashion. On the ground, I was somewhat surprised to discover that her swift approach only made me vaguely uneasy. Citrine hummed a greeting and bumped her nose against my shoulder.

I stroked her neck. "Hello."

Her hum deepened in reply before she looked around. The woodchoppers were only about thirty paces away, and I watched worriedly, but her gaze skimmed over them, apparently unconcerned by the sharp tools. The tension in my chest dissipated. Cruz had been right: she knew us and seemed to trust us enough that she wasn't worried about an attack.

The tree Tib had been working on crackled as the middle sagged. Citrine watched with interest as those without axes converged on it and tried dragging it, but it was too heavy. Tib passed the axe to Brielle, who set about chopping the top half into two sections.

Tib stretched his arms. "These axes work very well. Far better than the stone ones. It would have taken me at least an hour to chop that much."

"Do you want me to try trading for more axes if the option is available?" I asked.

He considered it then shook his head. "Not right now. We're the only ones willing to risk the tracking beads or using them around the Saursunes."

Movement had me turning my head as Jasper emerged from the airship with two bags slung across his back. He came over, apparently just as unconcerned about the axes as Citrine had been.

My heart sank when he pulled a map out of the bag. Stepping inside a stationary airship was one thing, but I doubted the hunters would be in favor of me flying away in it. Still, I waited as he set up the map board, immediately noticing a second crystal on the other side of a river.

He began moving the figures. Leaving the hunters here, he put the porter and two Saursunes into the airship, then lifted it and moved it to the second crystal. The porter was placed beside the crystal, then back in the airship and brought back. The tile for energy sharing with the airship crystal was set down, followed by the indoor fur mat one, and five braided trade circles. Three for the sharing, two for resting on the cushion inside. Liam passed his axe to someone and came over as a few others edged closer to look.

"They...they want to fly me to a crystal," I mumbled, unsure how the hunters would react.

"That river is impassable," Tib observed, inspecting the map. "It's surrounded by soft mud that sucks you in. I got stuck waist-deep in it once and had a difficult time getting out. We can't get you there on foot, if that's what you were wondering, but we also have no guarantee they'll bring you back."

"It doesn't feel right to leave you alone either." Glancing at Citrine, I gestured to my hunters, looking between them and her as I tried my best to look torn. Were such expressions universal? I wasn't sure.

She nodded as if she had expected such a reaction and glanced at the ship as a rather deep rumble vibrated the air. Two dog-sized Saursunes bounded through the door with squeaky hisses. The youngsters from Orange Flower promptly clambered to the top of the log pile I'd been sitting on earlier. So much for thinking the lizard-like aliens weren't able to climb.

Jasper pulled out two small Saursune straw figures and set them beside the hunters. His gaze moved to me. My jaw dropped. Were...were they really going to leave the youngsters here while they took me? The kind of trust that implied left me astounded.

Liam stepped closer and asked me, "Is this something you want to do?"

"I guess?" It was so rare for me to think about if I personally wanted to do something that the question itself seemed strange. Most of the trades had been accepted because we needed the food, and...well, it had always been hard for me to say no when someone asked me to help with something. And that apparently included aliens.

Taking a step closer, Liam slowly reached for the map with one eye on Jasper, who tilted his head slightly, regarding the hunter. Liam picked up one of the grass-woven hunters and placed it beside the porter, then moved both of them into the airship. He then replicated the series of actions Jasper had shown, only with the hunter beside the porter the entire time.

Jasper glanced at me, and I nodded, still surprised by Liam's "offer". The green Saursune shifted the two tiles, five wood-carved braids, and an entire assortment of trade tokens to our side of the map.

I leaned over the board, murmuring, "The three on the left are for the energy sharing, but the two on the right look like we have to rest on the furs inside after. Two additional trade items would probably be worth a few extra minutes spent inside."

"I'll leave that decision to you," Liam said, examining the tokens. "They sure give you a lot of options."

"This is the most I've seen, and it's harder to pick when there are so many choices." I reached for a large box of melons and set it in the first trade circle. "This will give the villagers some fruit. Any recommendations?"

"You can never go wrong with grain," he suggested.

Tib added, "We're not going after more crocs until the day after tomorrow, so meat would be welcome."

Neither of them reached for the tokens, but it sounded like food was our main priority as always, so I picked a sack of grain whose stalk looked the closest to wheat. The corn was easy to identify and was my next choice.

Why were there two tokens for chickens? One was a faded picture of just the birds with a red drop of blood beside them, and the other was colorful, showing them walking on grass and pecking at things. The blood drop was new, but all the other animal tokens had it as well now. Did that mean one set was for dead chickens and one was for live ones? That was my best guess, but we really didn't have the resources to keep more chickens right now.

There were so many new tokens, and I took a second to look them over. There were knives, cooking pots, a dozen types of vegetables, fruits, grains, more crates of larger food items like squash and potatoes, fish, and all sorts of animals with a blood drop beside them. There were even three bows and quivers of arrows, although I was not about to touch a long-range weapon.

As best I could tell, the largest "meat object" was a cow, so I chose that. Did they really have a dead cow in the cargo space? If so, that left me with almost as many questions than if they didn't. For a lack of better ideas, I picked a sack of carrots for the final item. Jasper nodded and slid the tiles and tokens back into the bag.

I glanced at the youngsters, who were on top of the log pile and looking around vigilantly. They had armbands, but I was still stunned that Citrine and Jasper were willing to leave them alone with the hunters, mere paces from a crystal.

That reminded me of another danger, and I glanced at Tib, "You'll have to watch for any visitors. Someone is bound to swing by at some point, and I'm not sure how they'll react to the youngsters. I don't think we'll be gone long."

He nodded and sent a frown at the crystal. Citrine walked around the hunters and came up beside me as Jasper trotted back to the airship.

I rested my hand on her shoulder as I told Liam, "Here we go..."

His muscles were tense as he walked on my other side, keeping close. At the first log, Citrine paused and glanced back, possibly unsure of how I was going to get over the nearly waist-high obstacle. I removed my hand and climbed up. Liam vaulted over, his feet hitting the ground before mine did as he turned and offered me a hand.

I took it and jumped down, letting him slow my fall and steady me. He released my hand as his gaze returned to the airship and the handful of logs we wouldn't be able to walk around. I forced myself to be mindful of the fact that even if I wasn't terrified of the airship anymore, the others hadn't been close to one yet, let alone have stepped inside.

The trip to the airship felt too long, and yet seemed to take no time at all. Liam remained by my side, although the sharpness of his gaze and motions betrayed how the stress had put him into a state of hyperawareness. Hunters were brave—they had to be to venture so far from the crystals—but approaching an airship must seem suicidal to the razor-sharp instincts they spent their lives honing.

"Let me know if you want to stop for a moment," I murmured as we stepped over the last log.

His eyes flickered to me, but he didn't reply. My footsteps slowed as we got closer, and I paused just outside the door to peer in. The interior hadn't changed. I only felt mild unease, although Liam practically vibrated with tightly contained nerves. Citrine waited, as patient as ever.

Taking a deep breath, I stepped inside and glanced back at Liam, although he was already following. His eyes raked across everything while standing so close that our arms brushed. Citrine ambled over to the cushion and lay down like she usually did. She tapped the open spot near her side and then the cushion beside her.

I stepped forward. "I can sit against her. Saursunes seem to like curling up around me. I guess you can pick any other cushion or fur."

"You've clearly done this before. I assume you rode in an airship to reach all those crystals the other day?"

I winced. I kept forgetting how clever the hunters were, but there was no point in denying it. "Yes, although I haven't told anyone."

He cautiously sat on the cushion beside Citrine as I took my usual position. She hummed encouragingly as she glanced between us. Jasper appeared in the doorway, and after a quick check to ensure we were sitting, he closed the door.

Liam exhaled slowly, his eyes locked onto the door in a fashion I recalled far too well. I wished I could hold his hand to reassure him, but he was too far away, and there was no way to edge closer since Citrine was already curling tighter around me.

"If it's like last time, it won't take long to get there," I murmured.

"As long as we get there and back safely, that's what matters," he quietly replied.

Jasper disappeared into the control room and closed that door so quickly I barely caught a glimpse of the intriguing controls. Soon, the hum increased, and the sky shifted beyond the windows.

Our trip had begun.