The man fell to the ground, his momentum from the lunge carrying through. I breathed a sigh of relief, more grateful for the dry desert air than I had been in a long time.

"Are you okay?" asked the guard on shift from our village as he ran over.

"We had a small airship circling," I said, leaning over and resting my hands on my knees while trying to catch my breath.

One of the women took my arm and pretty much dragged me over to the hides to rest. I refrained from commenting on the forceful "assistance". A couple of others quickly brought the guards up to speed. The lights on the scanner remained green.

My eyes searched the empty blue sky as I did an internal status check. I was definitely tired, although my long hike and subsequent hour-long run, followed by over a dozen ports explained why my muscles wanted a break.

The porting strain was just a mild discomfort.

I quickly tallied up my trips so far. Fifteen ports, five of which had been with a group of eight. I should have been flat out on my back with that many passengers. Even a week ago, taking ten people to Orange Flower had caused unignorable discomfort and forced me to take a break. Today, I'd ported groups of eight around several times without really noticing the "weight". Admittedly, the trips had been really spread out, which would have helped.

One of the guards scratched his head. "Didn't you have a different group earlier?"

As much as I wanted to ignore his comment, the answer was obvious and would only lead to unwanted rumors, so I said, "Yeah, we figured some of the stronger porters would take two groups out, but as you just saw, the Saursunes are out in full force. Leaving a group unattended, even for half an hour, is inadvisable."

There. Grudging admission of what we had been doing, that it was a mistake, and why it was unwise for any to try it.

"You're a fool to have even tried," the guard replied with a dismissive snort.

Even as my companions bristled at the insult to their porter, I frowned at him and said, "Don't tempt me to port you to where that airship is. It'd be worth the porting strain to give you an up-close look at the lesson we just re-learned the hard way."

The guard scowled but wisely kept any further comments to himself. Corrections and feedback were a part of life, but true insults or utter contempt were different. Only the most foolish offended a porter. Unless the Saursunes attacked early in the morning while everyone was fresh, no village had enough porters to transport the entire population to safety. A full evacuation needed the assistance of other villages, and no one wanted to be on a porter's least favorite list.

An uncomfortable silence fell.

"Thanks for waiting for me," the running man quietly said as he dusted off his knees.

"It was only right," I murmured, my gaze once more scanning the horizon. "We'll leave after I rest."

They settled down to wait, far more patient than I was. Most looked around in curiosity or wandered around the small ledge since it was their first time here. The guard with the scanner was far friendlier than the person he was on shift with, and he happily showed them how the device worked.

Eventually, I stood up, making a face at how quickly my muscles were stiffening. "Ready to go?"

They were already grabbing the carry nets, so the question was a moot point. I stretched, twisting and turning as I limbered up. Fatigue lingered in my muscles from my earlier hike. I'd have to be careful not to stiffen up too much, or Grant might think I'd reached my porting limits.

By the time I reached the crystal, the group was waiting for me.

"Home," I murmured, resting my hand on the crystal. Part of my mind lingered on the abandoned Sunrise Village in case I had to bounce.

The haze shrouded our view, and I felt a few hands tighten on my shoulders. As our sight cleared to reveal familiar cliffs, more than a couple sighs of relief came from those around me. The porting strain finally strengthened enough that I winced. It felt absurd to be relieved by the presence of porting strain, but I was bizarrely glad of its reappearance.

Several villagers immediately converged on us and helped carry away the day's haul. I glanced around, noticing a prominent feature was absent.

"Grant went to the Oasis," a hunter told me as he came over. "He says you're supposed to sit and rest."

I grinned at Liam, who was only three years older than I was. "You need to add a bit more force to match his tone."

He merely raised an amused eyebrow; both of us knew he was strong enough to carry me away from the crystal by force if he thought my safety was in jeopardy. Like Grant and most hunters, he was far more tolerant and accustomed to my sense of humor than the onlookers who were frowning at my reply.

As I obediently sat on the hides, I commented, "Just wait until Grant hears about the airship."

Liam gave me a long look and sat on a nearby rock. "Please tell me that's a joke."

I made a face. "I wish. One of the gatherers was so far out, I almost had to leave him behind."

As I explained what had happened and how close the airship had come, he and several others listened intently. The eight I'd just brought back had already scattered to tell family and friends their red-hot gossip. When I finished, most murmured uneasily among themselves about both groups experiencing close calls.

One of the aunties said, "As much as I don't want anyone left behind, you shouldn't have let an airship get that close."

Part of me immediately rebelled, refusing to leave someone in my group behind when they were so close. Without me, they were trapped. The other part of me winced, knowing I'd broken a few safety rules.

"This airship didn't have any of those big blaster cannons," I mumbled. "And he was so close."

The aunt wasn't convinced. "If an airship is that close, it's better to lose one and check back later instead of risking eight and yourself."

The hunters and gatherers remained silent, probably wondering if they might end up in that exact situation and possibly be left behind when there was a chance they'd make it in time.

"Something about this troubles me," Liam finally said, changing the topic. "Over a dozen groups from various villages encountered at least one Saursune today, and that's just what we've heard about so far. Grant will undoubtedly learn of more."

"Was anyone injured?" I asked, looking up at him in concern.

"No." He met my gaze somberly. "But they seem to be targeting porters. I've spoken with others who have been pinned or seen others pinned, and upon reflection, they noticed the same thing."

Goosebumps ran down my spine. The hunter's comments echoed my earlier discussion with Mark's group.

"That...is not reassuring," I finally said. "Any idea why?"

"They know porters are our weak point," Liam said simply. "Why put a tracker on a hunter who cannot port?" His frown returned as his gaze moved to the crystal. "Yet, not all who are pinned have trackers. Something more is afoot, but I cannot fathom what it might be."

I'd forgotten how sharp our hunters were. Their hyper-honed awareness locked onto anything amiss or unusual. I fervently wished one of them had been at the porter's circle the day I made the energy comment. They had an outside view and always kept a close eye on the porters—they would know if my guess had merit.

I glanced around, but there were too many ears nearby, and I didn't want to start a panic. In a quiet voice, I murmured, "Meet me on the top ridge in ten minutes. I want to run a theory past you."

He nodded slightly, not looking away from the crystal. To pass the time, I told him about the cat bringing me a rat and about my visit with Mark's group. I didn't mention what we had discussed, but the hunter would suspect my theory came from them.

After I'd sat long enough to satisfy those waiting for more porters to return, I got up and meandered up the path to my room. I stopped just long enough to change into cooler linen clothing and continued to the top ridge.

The caves up here were empty and none of them had a pale grey "occupied" stone in front of the hide covering the opening. With so many people in a small area, this section gave individuals a quiet place to escape the crowds or a spot to wait out a hot temper. It would be safe to talk up here.

I tied back a door covering and settled on a bench in the shade. I fidgeted as I waited. In order to get Liam's insight, I was going to have to be completely honest about my porting skills. My attempts to downplay my abilities were mostly done when people from other villages were around, but I suspected Grant and my sister were the only ones who really knew what I was capable of.

The hunters were observant though, and they probably had a good idea of when I was faking my limits. I exhaled slowly. Out of all the hunters in the village, Liam was one of three I trusted enough to keep it a secret.

It didn't take Liam long to show up. The brown-haired hunter leaned against the wall across from me, waiting patiently.

"So, I think I'm seeing a trend, but it's hard to say since my observation skills are a bit lackluster when I'm snoring on the resting hides. I don't want rumors spreading, so please don't repeat anything I might say."

When he nodded, I started from the beginning, mentioning events, my real porting limits, the unusual exhaustion, and how everything seemed to be related. I included the energy theory and mentioned my discussion with Mark's group. The hunter closed his eyes, thinking hard.

He eventually opened his eyes. "Your theory fits perfectly, and it explains everything we've seen. If catching a porter lets the Saursunes steal enough energy for even one of those power-ups, it's no wonder they are hunting porters, yet leaving them unharmed."

"I was hoping you'd point out the flaws in my theory, not completely agree with me," I informed him dryly, adding a smirk to balance out my tone.

The hunter regarded me. "I can't find any flaws, apart from the fact that we haven't seen them do a power-up yet. But if they're somehow taking your porting energy, it makes perfect sense."

I shrugged. "I can't think of any other reasons, and it's rare for me to hit my limits with Grant supervising."

"The porters who were pinned were more tired than we've ever seen them. We'd assumed it was the stress at the time, but looking back, it was different. We know you can port twenty times with light loads; yet, each time the Saursune came into contact with you, you dropped faster than Andre after a bounce."

I wrinkled my nose at that comparison. Had I really looked that tired? I must have for him to make such a comment. Sometimes asking an observant person for details brought things to light that weren't always the most flattering, but his comment matched what I'd seen and confirmed that the hunters had a decent idea of what my limits were.

"I'll try mentioning it at the porter's circle tonight, but they shot down the idea pretty fast last time. They just don't seem to think the porting energy is partially separate from their physical endurance."

"Nor did I until you laid it out in such a fashion. Try telling them again but don't fret if they won't listen. Knowing won't change what the Saursunes are doing."

The truth of his words hit like a bucket of cold water. Nothing had changed just because we figured out what they were doing. We might have a bit more reassurance that porters wouldn't be killed, but there was no guarantee. All it would take was one upset farmer lashing out after a bad day, and they were actively killing those raiding their crops.

I rested my forehead on my knees. "When did life become so complicated?"

"It always was," Liam quietly replied. "We just notice it more when something changes."

I wasn't sure the word "change" adequately conveyed the headache all these new stresses were giving me.