I ported eight to Catseye Mural and counted to thirty before returning to Irwin Village. Tiredness was beginning to invade my legs after six loaded ports and the solo return trips. There wasn't any tightness in my chest yet, but I feared it was just a matter of time. It might take a lot of porting before I hit that point, but once I did, the porting strain would progress quickly.

Most of the porters had returned home after using most of their ports, including Merryl and Roxanne. There were about eighty villagers left; possibly too many for me to port by myself, even if I went right to the point of collapse.

As soon as I had eight, I took them to safety. I fidgeted as I counted to twenty, unsure if the tiny break would help, returning to Irwin Village for another group. My next trip went just as smoothly.

When I returned to Irwin Village the next time, a man was racing down a path. The villagers milled around—all older folks since the younger ones had gone first—and pressed closer to us while leaving a ring of open space around the crystal.

The coordinator told us, "It's coming! Once you leave, don't come back unless you can bounce!"

I held out a hand to the nearest people. "Let's go! I can take eight."

I desperately wanted to take more—there were too many people left—but I knew better than to try bouncing larger groups when my legs were already feeling somewhat shaky.

As soon as eight had grabbed on, I ported. The first tinges of discomfort tightened my chest muscles, but that didn't stop me from shaking off their hands and pulling away so I didn't take any back by accident.

"Irwin Village."

The air barely cleared before hands landed on my shoulders and arms as panicking people tried to escape. Another porter also arrived, telling them she could only take three.

"Catseye Mural," I said, as discomfort spread after another back-to-back loaded port. Only seven had come with me, not the eight I had assumed.

The race against time made me bounce back to Irwin Village as soon as people were clear. My vision cleared just in time to see water cascade over the far end of the ridge. The sand-colored water kept coming, spreading along the ridge as more and more poured down. There were no sticks or grass in it since nothing grew in the desert. Just water that was foamy from sand dust.

Eighteen were left. Had I been rested, I could have pulled off such a port, but not with the strain already taxing my strength.

"Nine!" I called out. "I'll be back for the rest in a second, be ready to bounce!"

By the time I finished talking, those closest were already hanging on, and a knee-high wave of swirling water was headed right for us. It brought back unpleasant memories as I stared at it.

"Go!" The coordinator told me, his eyes locked onto the water as he remained with the last villagers.

My mind turned to their backup crystal even before the location phrase left my lips. The air hazed around us and cleared with painful slowness. My heart raced as I staggered away from the people, my hand not leaving the spire.

"Irwin Village," I gasped, my fingers tightening on the crystal as part of my mind visualized Sunrise Village in case I had to bounce. The air around me hazed over as slowly as it always did, as if I wasn't in a rush to try and save the last few people.

Even before my eyes cleared, warm water drenched my pants from the knees down. The current seemed confused and wasn't flowing as fast as I expected. Hands grabbed onto my shoulders. I blinked as my vision finally returned.

Water swirled around the crystal as I stood on the leeside. I waited just long enough to make sure everyone was hanging on before I left Irwin Village for the last time. The water dragged at me, as if trying to keep us from escaping.

I barely waited until the port finished before dropping to my knees, shaking from adrenaline, relief, and the accumulated aftereffects of twenty-four back-to-back ports, half of which had been loaded.

"Are you okay?" the coordinator asked, kneeling beside me.

"Remind me to never port while in water again," I mumbled. My chest ached as if Callie had jumped on me, my legs firmly disagreed that they were supposed to stand, and my leather pants were coated in mud residue.

But we had done it. They were safe.

~

It took far too long for the discomfort in my chest to fade. I staggered as I got to my feet.

The coordinator looked over from where he sat. "Don't push yourself too hard. You can rest here as long as you want."

"Merryl will be worrying about me, and a nap wouldn't go amiss."

I only had about an hour to rest before I had to ferry my groups to the Guard Station, so I didn't have long to nap. I stretched as I tried to convince my muscles it was time to move.

With a sigh, I put my hand on a spire and murmured, "Orange Flower."

Light shimmered along my veins in a pleasant fashion, as if I wasn't tired and hadn't ported more times than I felt like counting today. I hadn't hit a record, at least not yet, but many of them had been back-to-back, and I still hadn't gotten my hunters home.

When my sight cleared, I yawned as I trudged the few steps to the leather blanket Merryl was sitting on.

"Did they all get out?" Ariel asked, her face pinched with worry.

"What happened to your pants?" Merryl asked, frowning as her eyes quickly skimmed me up and down as she looked for injuries.

"They all got out," I assured them as I sat down with a groan. "But the water was already flowing into the village."

Ariel whistled lowly. "That must have been close."

"No kidding," I muttered, lying back on the blanket and wondered if an hour-long nap would help or just leave me feeling more tired. The internal debate was a short one.

I closed my eyes, but my mind refused to settle. It kept revisiting the hectic fifteen minutes; everything from the pressure of time, the peoples' panicked expressions and cries, and the water cascading over the top of the cliff.

Snuffling by my feet had me prying an eye open to see the brown Saursune inspecting my sandy foam-coated pant legs. She looked at me and tilted her head. It was a struggle to find enough ambition to sit up. I didn't really want to, but adult Saursunes were big. Sitting was one thing, but lying down made them seem rather intimidating even if it was a familiar one.

After another quick whiff of my pant legs, she walked a circle around the clearing while sniffing the ground. She quickly discovered my trail came from the crystal, not from the surrounding area. She returned and sat beside me as she looked between Merryl, Ariel, and me.

"How many ports do you have left?" I asked my sister.

"Only enough to get my group home," she admitted.

"I can help," Ariel offered.

The Saursune leaned over to sniff at my pant legs again, and with a faint snort, trotted into the shrubs.

Ariel stared after her. "Okay... What was that about?"

I rubbed a finger along the sand dust and scum. "Is it possible she knows this type of sand comes from the desert?"

"Water isn't exactly common in the desert," Merryl said, continuing my line of thought. "And we're both suddenly low on energy, so I guess it's logical that something unusual happened recently."

I mused, "I bet she went to find her armband and check their communication systems. Would they be able to track a storm in the desert?"

Merryl shrugged. "I don't see why they couldn't. Those airships of theirs probably go around, so they'd know where they are."

"As long as they don't show up in the village, does it really matter?" Ariel asked.

"Probably not," I murmured, "although if they knew where Irwin Village was and go check on it, all they're going to find is a really deep puddle of water." I also suspected they'd be looking high and low for those porters and group members.

Since sleep was evading me, I gave up.

"I better wash some of this off my pants," I mumbled, somehow getting to my feet again.

At one time, I had thought the creek was close by, but my legs were convinced it had moved much farther away. I sat on the bank and splashed handfuls of clean water onto my leather leggings as I tried to rub some of the filmy scum off. It clung tenaciously, and I finally resorted to using a handful of grasses to scrub most of it away.

The cool water felt nice, so I washed my arms and face while I was here. I gently wiped the salve residue off my bruise and blinked at the light brown splotches on my skin. The deep purple was gone. I gingerly poked the darkest spots, but they were only slightly sore. I had never seen a bruise heal this quickly before.

Still slightly stunned, I wandered back to where Merryl sat in a patch of sunlight on the leather blanket. Without mentioning the mostly-healed bruise, I sat beside her and leaned back to stare at the wispy clouds between the tree branches.

~

Roxanne still had eight of my group, and Ariel made an extra trip to bring six of my group, leaving me with "only" sixteen. I managed to get all of them to the Guard Station although it left a notable twinge in my chest that didn't seem to want to fade.

Roxanne only had enough energy left to take her small group the rest of the way home, which also left me the individuals she'd taken for me. If I had ever wanted a perfect storm of events to push me to my limits, I had just found them and really wished I hadn't.

I rested in the shade as I watched other porters slowly trickle in. I was hoping to convince a few from my village to take an extra passenger or two, otherwise trying to get them all home was going to flatten me, if I could even manage it.

Vic sat next to me. "I heard you helped Irwin Village evacuate?"

"They asked for help, and I couldn't say no," I told the porter from Keywa Village.

"It sounds like you got a lot of people out," he said.

I shrugged uncomfortably. "I guess? I didn't want to leave anyone behind, although it pushed me to my limits."

"That was brave, and I've always admired that about you. Do you mind if I swing by Vermilion Village to visit occasionally in the afternoons?"

The question hit me upside the head, and I just blinked blankly at him. "Ahhh..." My mind finally caught up with the turn the conversation had taken. The question also brought up all the memories of Chase that I had buried deep inside. I winced, but still tried to be polite. "Sorry, you're welcome to visit, but I'm not ready to consider another yet."

Vic nodded with sympathetic eyes. "I understand. Grief is never easy."

"It never is..." I murmured as my gaze drifted to the desert. The ledge gave us an excellent view of the endlessly blowing sand.

The porter got up and quietly left me to my thoughts. I stared at the ripples in the sand as I tried to stuff the memories back into a corner in the back of my mind. I'd have to deal with them one day, but this was neither the place nor the time. I knew they wouldn't just disappear. Grief didn't work like that.

Andre arrived and agreed to make a second trip to take back some of my group. A few others volunteered to take an extra passenger, but they had burned their extra ports helping Irwin Village.

I found it ironic that they still considered their old porting limits to be their current ones and carefully counted each of their ports so they didn't hit their limits. But it kept them from being stuck somewhere or unable to bring their groups back, which was a problem I was wrestling with right now.

It was almost just as amusing that I had decided to push my limits, and life immediately threw several curveballs at me.

I stood up and told my group, "Let's try eight. That will leave two groups of six for later."

"I can take four for you if you need it," Mark offered.

"Thanks. I'll see what I feel like after the next trip. I'm hoping I don't have to impose upon you. Home," I murmured.

The air hazed over as I took eight hunters and almost two dozen carry nets of greens back home. The discomfort in my chest immediately returned, although not truly a painful ache. That would certainly change by the time I brought the next group back.

My legs weren't as shaky as before. My walk to the resting hides must have been convincing since Grant only gave me a long look before returning his attention to the crystal. Several other porters returned with their groups and likewise sat or sprawled out on the hides. Andre wiped an arm across his forehead as he strolled over to a bench, a far cry from the past when his group had to help him walk after his last port of the day.

After a while, I returned for the second group. When I brought them home, the porting strain spread into a deep ache that refused to fade. My limits hadn't increased quite as much as I originally thought, and the aftereffects were stacking up rather quickly.

I scratched my head. "Hey, Merryl. Do you mind feeding the cat tonight? If I bring back those last six, I'm not going to be fit to leave the village."

She looked over. "Sure. I can take Callie."

Taking a deep breath, I got to my feet again. "Guard Station."

The porting strain barely took note of the solo port, but my legs didn't feel particularly steady. It was too risky for me to go to a forest crystal and feed a cat when predators could be lurking around.

I sat heavily on a hide near the last six hunters. "I need at least fifteen minutes or someone will be carrying me. I've pretty much hit my limits."

It was galling to admit it, especially when I wouldn't set a new daily porting record. But I had set a new record for the number of loaded back-to-back ports, which I counted as an acceptable consolation prize. At the same time, I remembered that most porters could only manage about six ports a day, and I had done over thirty.

"We're not in a rush," Brielle reassured me.

Cruz chuckled. "We could carry you over to the resting hides when we get back. It's not often we get the opportunity."

A grin slowly spread across my lips. "You know what? Just for entertainment's sake and the look on Grant's face, let's do it."

Despite waiting twenty minutes, the tightness in my chest still refused to leave. I was tired of waiting, and the anticipation gave me a bit of extra energy. Other groups watched with smirks and smiles as Tib and Cruz linked hands and picked me up.

The others rested their hands on my shoulders as I stretched my arm out to reach the crystal. "Home."

As the air hazed around us, we seemed to sway, possibly because I wasn't in contact with the ground. The porting strain snaked down my arms and legs, and if the hunters hadn't been carrying me, my legs would have given out.

The world steadied as our view cleared. Without any discussion, Tib and Cruz promptly carried me over to the hides while I fought to hide a grin, subtly trying to crane my neck to spot Grant. More than a few heads turned our way. As expected, Grant immediately ran over. More surprisingly, Liam beat him, then smirked when he got a better look at me.

"Is she okay?" Grant asked, coming around the hunters.

"They're just shouting in alarm, aren't they?" I asked him, unable to hold back my grin any longer.

The hunters set me on a knee-high rock as Grant stopped in front of me and looked me up and down. "They might not be shouting in alarm, but I suspect if you try porting again, I'll finally be able to use that lecture I've been accumulating."

I chuckled. "I'm done for the day. Merryl will feed Cleo, and someone else gets the cart."

After how we all struggled to get everyone home, I doubted either cart would be moving tonight. The villagers would have to conserve every drop of well water until tomorrow.

He nodded and drifted away to wait for others to return. I slid off the rock and onto a pile of furs. There was no way I'd be able to walk up that path anytime soon, so I might as well take a nap.