I felt like I was going crazy. Grant had tallied my ports yesterday—which came to forty-two! An insane number. Admittedly, thirty-six of them had been solo ports, but still! That was double my long-standing record!—and had understandably mistaken my restlessness as me feeling burnt out and over-pressured, and thus, he had only let me check on my group three times today.

It was almost as if I had accidentally been given a concentrated dose of the doctor's alertness tea. I felt wound up and could barely sit down. My mind spun in circles, refusing to slow down or let me relax. I was too distracted to play games, despite attempting a few rounds of stone hop with Grant. Sleep had been elusive last night, leaving me agitated and a touch on the cranky side.

I paced to the upper cliffs and back several times, but it didn't help. I yawned, feeling tired, but was unable to rest. To avoid bothering people with my mood, I sat on a rock on the top ledge.

My eyes kept straying to the crystal, which glittered tantalizingly in the sun, and I longed to feel the shimmering in my veins. I even missed the tiredness that came after a hard port, which was similar to the faint ache in your muscles after a good workout.

No airships appeared, for which I was grateful, but if Grant was going to keep me here for the next few weeks, we needed to have a heart-to-heart discussion. My mind battled between the need for sleep and having too much energy to actually rest. I knew which kind of exercise I needed, but my porting was being restricted.

"Natalie! You can take your groups to the Guard Station," Grant hollered.

Finally! I leapt to my feet and jogged down the trail. I didn't even use the location name, hoping it would use more strength. My hunters must not have shared my impatience since none of the wandering ones had returned.

Leaving a note in the dirt, I took the ten who hung around the crystal to the Guard Station. The heavy port took the edge off my restlessness, but it still remained. I forced myself to wait at the scanning location for a while, pretending I wasn't itching to leave. Now that I knew no one was waiting by the crystal and hoping for rescue, I had other plans.

Resting my hand on a spire, I focused on the Sunrise crystal even though I said, "Storm Blast."

Instead of appearing in the regrowing forest, I stood in the abandoned village. Unsupervised at last. I sighed in relief.

I knew Grant meant well, and in past times, his restrictions had been very much needed with my tendency to overextend myself, but today had felt stifling. I loved him as a father, and as such, I didn't want to disobey him. He just didn't know how fast things had changed, and his "restrictions" amounted to more ports than any other porter could manage.

I'd have to tell him if I could catch him alone. Maybe offer to take him to Oasis Springs and make a detour on the way. Satisfied with that plan, I ported to six abandoned villages, which finally reduced the restlessness to the point where I didn't feel like spinning in circles.

I didn't want to tire myself out in case airships showed up. The Saursunes were smart enough to have realized that not many escaped if they attacked in the evening. I'd never forgive myself if I ran out of strength because I'd spent it frivolously.

Porters spent their entire lives counting how many ports we had left and making sure they were used wisely. Simply porting for no reason went against that lifelong habit, not to mention being utterly wasteful. I could always take the water cart, or if all else failed, wait until I went to visit the cat and port just enough that I'd be able to sleep.

I went to check on my hunters. Twelve had arrived in my short absence, and I took ten. The Guard Station had way more people than when I'd left. Andre waved cheerfully, and I went to sit by him.

"Anything yet?" I asked one of the guards.

"Nothing. Haven't seen a tracker here in days, although other scanning locations are constantly finding both the regular and intermittent ones."

"Raiding groups?" I guessed.

He gave a firm nod. "Every single one. And your village isn't the only one to see an airship in the distance."

I pursed my lips. "That's not good news. Could they be mapping out each location for a mass attack?"

Every evacuation left the porters exhausted, including those from other villages who came to help. If airships showed up at every village... I shook my head to dispel that bleak picture.

"Let's hope not," the guard said grimly. "They've never set up such extensive plans before, although I wouldn't put it past them."

A hunter commented, "If you're looking for good news, only two porters were caught by Saursunes today. The rest either bounced or got close enough to the crystal that the lizards gave up."

That was good news, but it made another concern arise. If the Saursunes were letting groups escape alive because they could steal some porting energy, would they change their minds if porters constantly evaded them? It was another thought I really didn't want to contemplate.

I got to my feet. "I should see if the last of the hunters are back and head home. The villagers get really worried when all the porters are gone."

Andre flicked a stone at my feet. "Can't blame them. If that airship saw the ravine, they would have guessed that something was hidden there."

The hunter scanned the horizon. "Moving would be wise. More than a few villagers wanted to evacuate yesterday, but like Grant and the patriarchs pointed out, we don't know for certain if they noticed the ravine. Moving is also risky since it'll leave all the porters too exhausted to take groups out to collect food."

With a sigh, Andre said, "True, and three of our backup locations would be found if those airships circled the area. Any type of hiding place big enough for a village is easily spotted from the air. The Sirius Crystal was our best bet, but that's out now."

I twisted my lips. The hunter had made sure the crystal was hidden from the sky, and yet, in an ironic twist of fate, the Saursunes had found it first. It wasn't easy to hide an entire village in the rolling desert, and those airships just had to fly around and check the sparse rocky areas and ravines big enough to provide sufficient shade. The vast expanse of the desert was the only thing saving us. It was too large to easily search, hence why they kept using tracking beads.

The depressing thoughts followed me back to Storm Blast, where six hunters had gathered. They hadn't found as much as I hoped, much less than what would have been average a month ago. But with what everyone else had found tonight, no one would go hungry.

That thought consoled me as I bounced to the village and sat on a rock to give the last few hunters time to reach the crystal.

~

This was getting ridiculous. It was all I could do to sit and not pace this evening, and it got harder with each hour. Now that I thought about it, I hadn't done any strenuous porting in the last three days—even though I'd hit a new record yesterday due to solo ports—nor had I been cornered by a Saursune. It left me so restless that I was at my wits end. And it was only my second day of being cooped up in the village.

To make matters worse, nothing seemed to be working in my favor. Various porters thought they were being helpful and brought half of my hunters back from the Guard Station. Merryl had taken Grant to the Oasis in my absence, and the water cart found Roxanne before I spotted them.

"Are those rabbit guts still in a bucket of water?" I asked Grant.

"Should be," he absently replied.

"I'll go feed the cat and check on that shard," I murmured as I got up. He didn't need to know I was going to be doing a ton of porting before I returned. This could become a nightly ritual since it was the best time to burn off energy if I wanted a decent sleep. It would be a race against time; if I was too slow, someone might decide to check on me.

"Do you mind collecting a few more coneflowers at Orange Tree Valley?" Grant asked. "The doctor was hoping for four or five leaves. I don't believe any groups stay out this late, so they should be gone by now."

"Sure." Perfect. I had another excuse to delay my return. Maintaining my leisurely pace, I collected the small bucket and went over to the crystal.

"Golden Oak," I said, mostly for the benefit of the two people close enough to hear me.

The cat was already waiting by the crystal with a small rat.

"Good girl, Cleo!"

I kneeled in the trampled grass as she made a beeline for the bucket. She stood on her hind legs and accidentally knocked it over, jumping back as the water flowed out. She immediately returned for the treat, not caring about wet feet.

I petted her while she ate. Her purr was a light rhum-rhum as she rubbed against me, enjoying the attention. After a while, I stood up.

"Sorry, but I have to get going."

She meowed plaintively at me, and I gave her a few final pets. I dropped the rat in the bucket and returned to the crystal. I checked the crystal with the crack, but although the fissure had lengthened, the shard hadn't dropped yet.

I bounced between a few abandoned villages, although the solo ports weren't doing much. I was running out of time. A heavier port was what I needed, but there wasn't anything sizable near the crystals for me to port. A small log would work perfectly, if I could find one.

With that in mind, I ported to Orange Flower. The fallen tree by the creek was too large for me to carry to the crystal by myself. Where else could I go? Any place near a field was out of the question since rumor said the raiding villages were moving their thefts to different times to avoid the Saursunes.

I wracked my brain. Which location had logs close enough for me to reach? I couldn't remember any. Maybe I could find something at Orange Tree Valley while collecting the coneflowers.

I ported there and jogged down the path. To my dismay, all of the coneflowers were gone. I had only collected a quarter of the stems to leave some for the future and others, as well as to avoid killing the plant. But someone had chopped the entire plant down to the root, and several holes showed that someone had even dug that up.

This sort of destruction was unsustainable and could only be caused by one of the raiding villages who didn't think they'd need to forage for much longer. I'd have to mention it to Grant when I got back.

A quick search revealed no logs I could move, nor any saplings spindly enough for me to push over. Dejectedly, I wandered back to the crystal with nothing to show for my hunt besides lost time. I would have to hope a dozen or so back-to-back ports would amplify the strain enough for me to sleep tonight. I doubted it would be enough. Solo ports just didn't seem to cut it anymore.

As I rested my hand on the crystal, a glimpse of dark blue made me look up as a Saursune emerged from the undergrowth ahead. I tensed when I saw the armor, belt with weapons, and arm band; at the same time, I recognized the fighter I'd met here last time.

He stood on all fours, regarding me. My hand was on the crystal; I was a mere thought away from safety. Yet, he could be the key to me actually sleeping tonight. I hesitated as old habits battled against my current thoughts. I closed my eyes for a second—was I really considering this just to get rid of the restlessness?

My desperation for sleep finally won out. Maybe it would even earn us some leniency in the future. Setting the bucket down, I took a wary step forward. The Saursune seemed to take that as permission and walked closer.

My nerves were high strung as I reached out a hand, letting my fingers brush against his neck as he came closer. He tilted his head as he examined me and started circling around me. My hand trailed along his hide and armored shoulders, but I pulled back as I neared the belt.

The Saursune took several steps to the side and unclipped his belt, setting it in the grass, before returning. I relaxed a fraction and touched his neck again. His scales heated up as I felt my energy shift and the restlessness begin to fade. The effect faded notably when my fingers ran across the armor covering his shoulders and chest. It strengthened when I reached a section of unprotected hide along his back.

For some reason, this fighter either wasn't good at draining energy or he was purposefully taking it slowly. My time was running out, and I didn't dare get caught petting a Saursune this close to a crystal.

He circled me twice more before I built up my courage. This time, I didn't encounter any resistance when I pushed some energy through my hands. Controlling the flow was just as difficult as it had been last time.

The first "slosh" made faint patterns of light dance across the Saursune's hide, wherever it wasn't hidden by the armor. He glanced at me with a startled blink and stopped moving.

This was much faster than porting.

The restlessness and pent-up feeling disappeared like they'd never existed. Even having a Saursune standing in front of me wasn't enough to make me second guess my decision right now. His scales cooled down as he let me share instead of siphoning it away.

Standing gave me a better idea of how much energy I was losing, and I stopped just as I began to feel like sitting. There was still a chance I'd have to help with an evac, and I was pretty sure I'd be able to sleep at this point. I didn't want to push my limits, lest they increase.

I blinked and rubbed my head as a slight wave of disorientation hit, likely from the rapid loss of energy. The Saursune rubbed his head against my arm with a deep hum. He peered into the bucket then wandered back to where he'd left his belt. I took a step back, picked up the bucket, and rested my hand on the crystal. The Saursune paused, tilting his head as if confused.

I bowed my head. "Thank you."

In the distance, howls rose and fell in an eerie chorus, the sharper sound likely coming from feral dogs. I glanced at the setting sun. My time was up.

My mind reached for Sunrise Village just in case the fighter swung his tail around and hitched a ride. The world around me hazed over, then cleared. I stretched and relaxed in the abandoned village. The restlessness was gone. Like having an itch disappear, the relief I felt couldn't be described in words.

I ported home in a much better frame of mind.