Between The Crystals

Ch 5 Troubling News

When I ported to the Oasis to pick up Grant, there were twice as many people present as before.

As I sat beside Grant, he looked at me somberly. "Avoid all Saursune fields and farms. They've been setting ambushes to catch those stealing their crops. They killed two porters and at least a dozen hunters and gatherers today, and there might be more we don't know about yet."

My breath caught in my throat. "W-who? Which villages?"

The porters were almost certainly people I knew, and I had likely met their group members during the quarterly gatherings.

"Macey from Black Swamp, and Ralph from Hinton Village," he said.

I squeezed my eyes shut and hugged my arms around myself, not hearing the names he was listing off. Macey had been one of the funniest women I knew, always dancing around with a smile on her face. She had been fun to work with whenever our villages arranged joint tasks. Her loss hit hard.

Ralph... Well, he'd been an overconfident twit, but it still hurt. Those two porters would never again feel the crystalline light shimmering through them. Never see the haze obscure their vision, then recede to reveal an entirely different location. It was a huge loss for their villages, and their fellow porters would have to work even harder to feed everyone.

Grant waited until I finally took a deep breath and let my hands fall to my lap, then he murmured, "Several porters also reported being chased back to the crystals like you were."

It took several seconds for that to sink in. "Tracking beads?"

"One," he said, confirming my vague suspicion. "Thankfully, he was smart enough to go to the scanning station. The bead is currently floating down a creek elsewhere. Maybe tracking it will keep the Saursunes busy for a few days. Don't go near Creek Pointe for a while."

Remembering my earlier close call with the Saursune, I asked, "What if they sneak up behind someone unseen? Or put a tracking bead in a carry net or bag when we're not looking?"

My mind went into overdrive as I analyzed all of our weaknesses. Would a Saursune be clever enough to stick a tracker in something we were likely to collect and leave it near a crystal? It wasn't unusual for us to leave a carry net on the ground while we gathered an armful of greens. They were definitely skilled enough to sneak that close unseen. There were other opportunities as well...

Grant looked troubled. "We might have to get everyone to visit the Guard Station for a scan before returning to the villages."

Another porter arrived with two passengers in tow, and I listened as those present repeated all of the recent news. There was no question about it. The Saursunes were definitely targeting any humans who ventured near their fields and farms, as well as showing up at various other locations.

"But why did they just chase some away if there weren't any trackers?" a woman asked, scratching a bug bite on her leg.

I frowned as her nails tore away the scab and let blood bead to the surface. That was a dangerous habit for a porter. Saursunes had excellent noses. If we hadn't been in the middle of a desert, I'd be dragging Grant to the crystal. As it was, I scanned the horizon uneasily.

An older man shrugged. "As best we can figure, they were trying to stick tracking beads on them and misjudged."

Another snorted at his reply. "More like they knew we'd avoid those spots for several weeks if someone reported a close call there."

"In other words, we have no clue," another woman summarized.

The dozen people went round and round with theories, but none had facts to support them. I soon grew tired of it.