Between The Crystals

Ch 3 The Town

The four porters and six hunters gathered around me to catch a lift to Orange Flower. The porters pressed close while the hunters encircled us. Four hunters couldn't reach my shoulders or arms, so they held onto someone else in order to remain connected.

Several hunters leveled their fishing spears outward. It was a wise precaution when five porters were in one group. Even if Saursune fighters had found my scent trails and were waiting in ambush at the location, at least some of us would escape.

There was no winning this centuries-long war—we were simply doing anything we could to minimize our losses and flee before they killed all of us. With that grim thought floating through my mind, I touched the village crystal and murmured the location code while reaching for the Orange Flower stone with my mind.

Ripples like gentle sunlight flickered along my veins, and I felt the strain deep inside from transporting ten people at once. The air hazed around us for four long seconds that felt more like four hours.

I rapidly blinked my eyes as the haze finally cleared, trying to make sure the area was safe. No one let go of my shoulder or arm yet, but neither did any call out a warning. We slowly relaxed—not entirely, since we were in an unfamiliar forest that might hold Saursunes or other predators—but at least we weren't in immediate danger.

One hunter stepped away from the group, bow still at the ready. "It looks clear, but let's be careful until we explore further."

The hunters—men and women—cautiously dispersed into the area while the porters examined the crystal and committed the location to memory. I rolled my shoulders to try and loosen the tightness and discomfort in my chest. It wasn't truly painful, not yet, but porting strain added up quickly, so I'd have to watch how many ports I did and how many passengers I took the rest of the day.

"Are you okay?" Ariel quietly asked.

"Just porting strain. I'm glad you can port out of here on your own power. I think it's harder to port ten people than to make two round trips with five." If trouble had been lurking, I could have ported the entire group out, but I would have flopped on the resting hides like Andre had last night. We never risked a trip if we weren't certain we had enough energy to immediately port to safety.

"The most I've ever ported is six, and that hurt."

I nodded sympathetically. Most porters only took four or five passengers, and even then, it limited how many times we could port in a day. The more passengers, the fewer ports we could manage.

"I can stay with the hunters if you're ready to leave," Ariel said.

Calum glanced around the area one last time, making sure he had committed it to memory and could return in the future, then told Derek and Belle, "I can port you back to the village to pick up your groups. No sense in all of us wasting a port."

They held onto his shoulders as he murmured, "Home."

Their bodies blurred for a moment, then they were gone. It wouldn't take them long to collect their hunting and gathering groups and head out to whatever location Grant suggested they try today.

I held up a fishing net and asked Ariel, "Feel like doing a bit of fishing? As much as I want to check the apple orchard, I should let the porting strain fade before I try porting there."

Her gaze flickered to the creek thirty paces away, where two hunters were already searching the waters for fish. "Sure."

We kept a sharp eye on our surroundings as we worked. The net proved its worth in the deeper parts of the creek; almost every tenth cast brought up a fish. We might even catch enough to dry and add to our reserves, which would be a huge accomplishment.