After a quick glance around to make sure no Saursunes were present, I ran back to the net and pulled out a small knife. I tried to saw through the mesh but only a few threads parted. My knife wasn't going to work.

"Climb over it!" I exclaimed. The gaps in the mesh were bigger than my hand—perfect for footholds.

The hunters immediately started scaling the netting, only to stop when yellow sparks crackled between beads on the top cable.

I backed up in alarm. There were such cables around some fields and orchards, and there were far too many stories of people who had trouble walking for hours after touching or brushing against them.

A hunter dropped down, pointing at something behind me. I spun around to see two heavily armored Saursunes walking down the path on their hind legs. The bamboo fence extended toward them and formed a perfect bottleneck. My companions weren't the only ones who were trapped.

I dropped my knife and backed against the central post, which was as far as I could get from the two advancing down the path. My companions gathered as close as they could, even though they could have retreated to the far side of their cage.

The hunters quickly threw their bows and knives over the bamboo fence. I fervently hoped it would be enough. I shivered in fear, and I could feel the vibrations of at least two others trembling as they leaned against the netting.

The Saursunes stopped and continued to regard us from where they stood. One looked at the other, and its quiet rumbles and hisses were barely audible. The other replied in their bizarre language and lifted a clawed hand to the armband on its upper arm.

The far ends of the net walls dropped from their anchor points, and I staggered back as the loose netting no longer held me up. The hunters—quick of thought as always—immediately reacted. Two ushered me into the middle of the group, moving to stand between me and the Saursunes. The other two made sure the gatherers weren't left behind as everyone shuffled away.

We desperately scanned the fence for a gap we could squeeze through. There was nothing.

We huddled against the far wall, unable to get any farther away. Two hunters began pushing and pulling on the bamboo stalks, but they had been driven too deep into the soil to budge. They gave up and gathered with us to await our fate.

As the Saursunes slowly advanced, weapons in hand, the four hunters pressed us against the bamboo stalks, standing in front of us. Their rapid breathing betrayed their fear, but they remained between us and danger, ready to sacrifice themselves in case there was a chance of anyone escaping.

"Don't fight," I whispered. "Just run when you get the chance. They need us alive if they want to put trackers on us. I'll check back here later today if you don't reach the crystal in time."

None replied. They knew our odds of survival were slim. Two armed Saursune against seven humans trying to cross four hundred paces? We weren't getting out of here unless they let us, which wasn't likely with a trap this sophisticated. A month ago, I would have had zero hope of surviving a situation like this, but with their determination to track humans the last few days, we had a chance, and that was what I was focusing on.

I peered between the gatherers and hunters crowded in front of me. The Saursunes had stopped and were talking to each other again. Their almost bored stance was unusual; they didn't seem hostile or even overly concerned about our presence. They kept glancing at us, and I had the unsettling feeling that their eyes locked onto mine more than the others.

With an annoyed snort, one raised the weapon in his hand. My heart stopped. A green ball of light blasted into the bamboo stalks fifty paces to the side. Splinters flew as half a dozen stems toppled over, leaving a large hole in the wall. We stared at the opening in shock for several seconds.

"Run!" a hunter hissed, quickly pushing people toward the opening.

I didn't need a second invitation. My fight or flight instincts now had an outlet, and we darted out the hole. The hunters restricted themselves to the pace the gatherers and I were running. We weaved through the bamboo in a wide circle leading back to the crystal, our only escape route.

Without slowing my pace, I glanced back again. "Where are they?"

The Saursunes hadn't followed.

"Probably by the crystal to cut us off." The hunter in front slowed slightly, scanning the area alertly.

We reached the clearing with the crystal, which was illuminated by the sun shining overhead. We warily approached it, but there was still no sign of the Saursunes. After hesitation, we darted across the open ground.

The gatherers stooped down to grab an armful of bananas when we passed the first tree, as did one hunter. The others didn't let their attention wander from the seemingly empty forest. They held onto my shoulders or arms as I reached for the crystal.

"Guard Station."

Bird song faded out as the forest hazed away and was replaced by a desert cliff. We all heaved a sigh of relief.

"Are you okay?" a hunter asked, focusing on me.

"Just scared out of my wits. What kind of trap was that?"

"Trap?" one of the guards asked, already bringing the scanner over.

The hunter shook his head. "Nothing I've seen or heard of before. A net fence shot out of what looked like a weird bamboo stalk and attached itself to other stalks, trapping us in a circular clearing."

The green light on the scanner was reassuring. The guard walked around our group, then came closer for a second scan. As a hunter told our story, the elderly porter in the corner rocked in his rocking chair, deep in thought.

A guard raised a disbelieving eyebrow once the hunter finished. "They just blasted a hole in the fence and let you run?"

The hunter shrugged. "We didn't stop to ask why, and I'm not about to complain about escaping."

A shimmer by the crystal had us turning our heads as a group of four people appeared with several carry nets of papayas.

"Look what we got!" one exclaimed, laughing.

The red dots that appeared on the guard's scanner had several people gasping. The guard jogged over, following one dot until her scanner was right in front of one of the carry nets.

"Open them," she demanded. "We need to figure out which ones have trackers in them."

Their smiles dropped as they hurriedly upended the carry nets, spilling the fruit across the ground. She moved the scanner until the red light pinpointed a certain fruit. She tossed it on the other side of the crystal and rapidly tracked the other red dots.

"Do you have enough energy left to port those and bounce?" I asked the porter urgently as thirteen more papayas joined the pile.

He shook his head mutely, his eyes wide with growing fear as he watched the scanner point to the pile of fruit that another guard was hastily loading into a carry net for easy transport.

"That's it," the guard with the scanner said, standing between the tainted fruit and the group. All the red dots pointed to one side.

"Let me get those out of here, and I'll bounce back." I grabbed the bag and promptly ported to a crystal near a farm.

I dropped the net and quickly stomped on the fruit a few times as a warning to others, then ported back. Two of my hunters guided me to a bench away from the other group. Despite my worry, I feigned being tired. The guard was rechecking the others and their remaining papayas.

"Where did you get those?" another guard asked, frowning at the piles of perfectly ripe fruit.

The porter hunched his shoulders; neither he nor his companions replied, making the answer far too obvious. Hinton Village's habit of occasionally raiding the fields had just backfired on them.

"Will the Saursunes show up here?" I asked, nervously checking the horizon like many were doing. "Did I get the trackers away fast enough?"

The trackers had been here less than a minute. I really didn't want to lose this scanning station. Most of the other stations had a higher risk of being found due to how many villages liked the easy pickings found in the fields. Apart from Hinton Village, no one using this particular place engaged in such activities. I had no desire to port into the middle of a Saursune fighter group.

"No way to tell unless an airship shows up in the next couple days," another guard gruffly replied, examining the watery stem of a papaya. "This is the first time we've seen them hide trackers inside fruit that was still on the tree."

The guard with the scanner frowned at the remaining fruit, but her machine only showed green lights. "The seeds would be almost the same size as the tracker beads. Anyone eating them would have assumed it was just a hard seed and swallowed it whole. You're lucky you stopped here first."

I shivered at the implications. If they had gone straight to their village, they would have eaten the fruit without realizing the danger. The Saursunes could have easily tracked their movements for several days before checking each spot.

The guard turned her frown on the porter. "Stop raiding. Or you have to use a different scanning location."

"But we don't have agreements to use other scanning stations!" the man protested.

"That's not my problem, and I don't want your actions bringing trouble to four innocent villages."

He opened his mouth but paused when the guard from his village nodded in agreement with the woman. The porter gritted his teeth, silently fuming. His successful raiding celebration had not turned out as planned. At least his village was safe.

"Where did you leave the fruit?" one of the guards asked me.

"Near a farm. I stomped on it so it wasn't quite as tempting. If they hadn't been suspicious before, that should be a clear enough warning."

The elderly porter, Weylan, in the rocking chair commented, "When one farm sets a trap, several others do the same thing at the same time. I hope anyone stealing today is smart enough to visit their scanning stations first."

"If they were truly wise, they would avoid the fields and orchards altogether," a guard muttered, sending another frown at the delinquent porter.

"All right, all right. You can quit harping," the porter snapped, getting to his feet. To his group, who had just finished putting the fruit back in carry nets, he said, "Let's go."

His three companions scrambled to grab all the carry net handles as he stormed over to the crystal. One almost didn't grab onto his shoulder before they disappeared.

"Did he almost leave the man on the left behind?" one of my hunters quietly asked.

The guard from the porter's village snorted in derision. "He only ports three because no more will volunteer to go with him. It's not due to a lack of power." His frown deepened. "He's left more than a few people behind over the years."

Those in my group exchanged disbelieving looks. Even though we only worked together once every week or so, I had still turned back for them when they were trapped, and they'd gathered near me even though they could have moved farther away from the Saursunes. We trusted and depended on one another, but that clearly wasn't the case in all villages.

It was hard to imagine the distrust and betrayal that would result from a porter leaving group members behind. Seeing it almost happen at the Guard Station—with no threat present—left a bad taste in my mouth.