We hashed out ideas for quite some time, but despite our best efforts, the discussion only came up with a few options, mostly because the Saursunes had wiped out a few villages recently. We had no proof that they might not change tactics and either kidnap the porters or expand the attacks.

I groaned. "Ugh. And anything we suggest would be overturned if the patriarchs call for a vote. The villagers will undoubtedly remember the past culls and agree to their caution, even if it means hunger."

"If I hadn't seen these changes firsthand, I would have made the same decision," Clyde commented with a shrug.

Ever since I started porting, I spent most of the day outside of the village and missed most of these discussions. The only thing the patriarchs and villagers hadn't touched was what the porters and groups did—which had been solely Grant's realm until now.

With a sigh, I gazed around the group. "From what I'm hearing, the best I can do is leave most of my group with Roxanne, Ariel, or Janette for the day? And I can't tell the patriarchs to take a hike in case the villagers actually believe we'd intentionally endanger the village?"

Clyde nodded, looking wearier than usual. "At the present time, this is the best we can manage in this particular situation. It'll keep the village fed and buy us time to see what else the Saursunes do. Like I said before, I think it's safe to assume more changes are coming."

After yesterday's revelation, all I could do was nod in agreement. Clyde's comments also reminded me of what the elderly porter had said, and when two experienced people—who had lived longer than most—made similar remarks, it was hard to doubt them. This was also why it was hard for the villagers to doubt the patriarchs. They saw the years and experience that had survived the test of time.

Merryl rubbed her chin and told me, "I know you aren't scared of the Saursunes, but it might be best to avoid getting caught every day. Just so the patriarchs don't get suspicious."

I hesitated, then quietly admitted, "That might be problematic since I can only go two or three days before my porting energy builds up too much."

My sister, Ariel, and the five hunters all looked at me.

Merryl furrowed her eyebrows. "Even with all those heavy ports you do?"

I nodded solemnly. "Grant and I think that once a Saursune drains our energy, it removes whatever limited the growth of our porting ability. Lately, if I try to push myself to burn off the energy, my limits increase and cause more problems later."

Clyde tilted his head. "What happens if you don't burn it off?"

I made a face. "It's like a hunter being forced to sit in one spot for five days. I get restless, feel cooped up, and can't sleep. If a Saursune takes the excess energy, it doesn't seem to increase our limits, but if we strain ourselves bringing our group back after, that pushes our limits as well." I omitted the energy sharing part since no one had mentioned feeling the porting energy as being separate from their regular strength.

With a confused expression, Ariel said, "But apart from the last three days, you weren't caught for almost a week."

My shoulders slumped as I trusted the group with another one of my secrets. "If the energy gets too high, I go to a different location after checking on the cat. A Saursune hangs out there in the evenings. Remember the deer and some of those really big food gifts? Those were the mornings after such visits."

Her jaw dropped. "Is that why they brought the deer?" She paused, then asked, "But how did you know those spots would be open the next morning?"

"I didn't. The Saursunes seem to have figured out who my usual group members are and give it to them even if I'm not there."

They were all silent as they absorbed that.

"Does Grant know?" Merryl finally asked.

"The energy part, yes. I told him about that. I'm pretty sure he knows I occasionally let the Saursune find me in the evening, although I'm not sure if he's made the connection with the gifts the next day."

"This explains why most porters have seen their porting abilities grow while mine haven't," Merryl murmured. "The Saursunes still haven't tried taking my energy. Come to think of it, those who haven't been caught yet haven't gotten any stronger either."

I ran a hand through my hair. "The best I can do is try to hide how many times I've actually been caught. If Ariel never noticed, then I'm doing better than I thought. A nap helps me recover to the point where the average person would assume it's just porting strain."

Ariel still looked stunned by the discussion. "How many times have you been caught?"

Air puffed up my cheeks as I exhaled slowly in thought. "At least ten times?" The real number was closer to thirteen or fourteen, and over half of those occasions had been intentional energy shares.

Clyde closed his eyes, deep in thought. "Are the Saursune visits something you could stop if you wanted to?"

"If I'm careful with my ports and what I do, the energy buildup is manageable without the Saursunes. But it's hard to plan when you never know what the day is going to hold." Quietly, I murmured, "And sharing energy with the Saursunes means they'll bring more food than I could have collected, even before most spots were overharvested."

"This...I hadn't realized this was why you kept trying to do so much in the evenings," Clyde said, opening his eyes to gaze down at where I sat.

I nodded. "It's been a big headache to cover up, and I'm pretty sure more than a few villagers would panic if I was honest and told the truth."

"Many would be frantic," he agreed. "Until the last three weeks, the Saursunes spent centuries hunting us relentlessly. Most villagers still think the Saursunes are actually catching porters against their will despite the comments from the Oasis."

"I suspect being on friendly terms with the enemy wouldn't be accepted?" I guessed.

"You'd be correct," he replied. "Too many have lost relatives and friends to their race, and most of them won't forgive that lightly, even with the recent changes and gifts."

"Can I ask for your personal opinion on it?" I carefully inquired. He'd had several close calls over the years and had lost quite a few friends to the Saursunes since his youth.

He was silent for so long that I almost retracted my question. He finally said, "On one hand, they killed my brother and part of me is never going to forgive that. But I'm getting old and tired, and I just want the deaths to stop. For the first time in my life, there's a chance this centuries-long war might actually end, but only if both sides are willing to make changes."

He paused, clearly struggling to find words to express his feelings and thoughts. The rest of us waited silently.

After rubbing a hand across his face, he continued, "The last three weeks have been hard. We've seen them wipe out several villages who constantly steal from them. Yet, on the same days, they brought food if they got energy from a porter. The Saursunes even helped some of the hunters, like with that tiger ambush. It's clear they realized humans aren't all the same, and they're treating each group according to how they act. Yet, personally, I struggle to see them as individuals who might not have agreed with my brother's death." His shoulders slumped. "But I want the killings to end and for there to finally be peace, at least between our village and the Saursunes we've encountered lately. I want my grandchildren to have a better future."

I quietly asked, "Do you think peace is really possible?"

I had just been relieved that I no longer had to race for a crystal whenever I thought I saw a flash of scales. The trading theory was new, and I had mostly considered it as one option to keep the village fed. The idea of peace hadn't even occurred to me.

He tiredly gestured to the side. "She seems to think so."

I had been so distracted that I hadn't noticed the brown Saursune's arrival. She was sitting a mere thirty paces to the side as if politely waiting for our discussion to end. By her feet were two rabbits.

When we all looked at her, she picked up both rabbits in her mouth and walked over. Her path curved behind two hunters as she set the animals beside Merryl and nuzzled her arm. When the Saursune's gaze lingered on Ariel, she hunched her shoulders and leaned away. The brown female's head turned to me and tilted in an almost inquiring fashion.

"Your thoughts?" I quietly asked Clyde. If I let her take my energy, would he take it as an insult to his fallen brother after what he'd just told us?

After a few seconds, he said, "I'd like for there to be peace. She seems to be open to it, but I have nothing to offer in exchange."

"In that case, do you mind if I work toward such a thing?" I asked. Offending one's hunters wasn't wise, and I respected the aged hunter. I could always continue my evening visits if needed, where he wouldn't have it rubbed in his face.

He slowly nodded. "Perhaps that will be enough."

None of those present asked me to reconsider, so I held out my hand to the Saursune. She came over to me and rubbed her nose against my fingers. She was too tall to pet while I was sitting, but even as I wondered if I should rest my hand against her neck or scratch behind her horns, she sidled her body behind me and lay down.

Merryl tensed as the Saursune scooted against our backs with her tail curling in front of us. The brown female hummed and nudged my hand. I stroked her neck, feeling a bit self-conscious as my energy shifted.

She sniffed the dark bruise around my other wrist and lifted her head to examine the hunters who were still standing where they had been during our discussion. Clyde inclined his head and sat down. The others followed suit. Her gaze scanned the forest as if accepting that the hunters were peaceful.

"Is she taking your energy too?" I asked Merryl.

"Not as far as I can tell," she replied uneasily.

Callie came running over. "I wanna cuddle too!"

The five-year-old promptly squirmed into the gap between Merryl and me. She cuddled against her mother as the Saursune's hum deepened into something like a cat's thrum, only much louder. It wasn't the same tone the farmer had used, but it was a comforting sound nonetheless. The Saursune lowered her head into my lap, then inched it closer to the child, who stared back in fascination.

"Can I pet her again?"

I glanced at Merryl, who shrugged. I gently set my hand on the Saursune's neck. "If you want. Like this." I was suddenly very glad the child was years away from porting. There was plenty of time for her to grow, understand what was going on, and decide if she wanted to share her energy with the alien race.

Callie leaned over to put her hand beside mine—bringing her head very close to the Saursune's—as she copied the soft strokes. The warm scales under my hand shifted as the brown female slowly stretched forward to touch the side of her muzzle to Callie's cheek. Her head then lowered into my lap, her eyes half-closed as Callie stroked her forehead.

The Saursune's nostrils flared, and she lifted her head as she looked around alertly. Getting to her feet, she bowed her head in my direction before trotting into the forest.

Taking a deep breath, I stretched my arms. "I'm not sure what she smelled, but she didn't take enough energy for me to feel overly tired."

"We'll keep an eye out," Clyde said, "but I suspect she'll run off most predators."

I got to my feet and pulled my leg up behind me in another stretch. My muscles might have been a bit tired, but it was barely noticeable. "In that case, I'll take the other group to Roxanne and inform her of our plans. With luck, I'll be back shortly." I reached for the crystal. "Home."

The remaining eight were sitting on the nearby rocks and benches. One gestured to the resting hide while their other hand pointed subtly over their shoulder, their body blocking the motion from Barrett, who was sitting on a bench I'd never seen him use before.

The strangeness of his presence only made me realize how little I saw most of the patriarchs when I was in the village. I took the hunter's hint and plodded over to plop onto the furs covering the packed dirt.

Crossing my legs, I said, "I should be good to go in a couple of minutes."

"Take at least five." Grant's voice echoed out of his office cave.

After a quick check to ensure no villagers were close enough to hear me, I asked the dark cave opening, "Why are you still in there?"

Grant finally emerged with a dour expression and an armful of notebooks under his arm. "Because I'm annoyed with Barrett and Tieber's latest poorly thought-out idea. Shelly was kind enough to volunteer to remain in the village in case airships appeared, but they tried asking her to port them to the Oasis and come back in an hour."

I furrowed my eyebrows. "But she can only manage about four ports in a day. She'd have nothing left after two round trips."

"That's what I told those two. People are better off waiting until the evening when Merryl or Roxanne take me. They didn't want to wait that long, but when they tried to tell me how to do my job, I pointed out that it would leave the village vulnerable. Only then did they give up."

I groaned and laid back on the furs. The village used to be fairly peaceful, and I didn't like the conflicts and possible power struggles that had started to arise. When we had all been unified by fear of the Saursunes, we'd all had the same goals and methods for reaching them.

But the situation seemed to have changed. Our ideas for the best path forward were different and sometimes completely different. Yes, I might be mistaken for letting the Saursunes so close, but there was no way to tell yet. No one seemed willing to compromise or be open to the idea that long-held beliefs might need to be reexamined, and it was creating unpleasant divisions that seemed insurmountable.

With a sigh, I closed my eyes. Why was life so complicated?