Between The Crystals

Ch 33 A Different Tracker

As soon as I left the first group in the village, I bounced back to Orange Flower. The tiredness was definitely present, but despite how much I wanted a nap, there still wasn't any strain. That wasn't going to last long.

To my relief, four people were already here. They picked more greens while waiting for me and their companions to arrive. A dozen carry nets sat beside the crystal, half of them containing plants. Even as I wandered over to chat and help them gather greens, two more returned.

"Did any Saursunes show up?" one asked. "We had a green one stalking us for a while."

I blinked. "Actually, yes. A brown one appeared just a couple hours after you left. Yours was green?"

"Yeah. It never came close, but it was definitely trailing us. We'll have to keep an eye out—"

He broke off, eyes widening as he stared at something behind us. The rest of us spun around to see a dark brown Saursune standing by the crystal with a huge fish in her jaws.

She set the fish on top of the carry nets and lifted her head, looking directly at me even as the hunters quickly gathered in front of me, blocking my view. I leaned to the side and peered between two of them as she swished her tail, then turned and bounded into the forest. As she disappeared, I noticed she wore an armband, which definitely hadn't been present earlier.

The hunters shifted uneasily as they lost sight of the Saursune, and they spread in a circle around me in case an ambush came from a different direction.

"That's the same one that cornered me earlier," I quietly told them. "She keeps appearing and leaving. At least I think it's the same one—she wasn't wearing an armband earlier though."

As I told them the same story I had given the last group, we warily approached the crystal. The fish was longer than my entire arm—the biggest I'd ever seen. It wasn't a species I recognized, although it was rare for me to be near a body of water big enough to support fish, so my knowledge was quite limited.

A hunter—one of the experienced ones—poked the fish with a stick. "Anyone feel like betting there's a tracking bead in this thing?"

"Wouldn't surprise me," one of the new volunteers commented. "Why else would the Saursune leave it here?"

"The lizards have started leaving food near the crystals whenever they corner a porter," the experienced hunter absently said, now scanning our surroundings. "That's why Belle's group brought back a rabbit yesterday even though she had no hunters with her. There's a tracker about half the time."

"Do we risk taking it with us?" the volunteer asked.

"Too much meat to leave it behind, and it isn't the first tracking bead to reach the scanning station. I'll have my knife out and ready to gut it if the scanner says there's something inside." He picked up the fish and examined both sides, looking for any cuts or evidence of where they might have put the tracker. He peered into its mouth.

"Why not gut it now?" I asked. "Just save the organs."

"Good idea." He took the fish to the side and sliced its belly open. Ingenious as most hunters were, he used nearby grasses to tie small pieces of driftwood together to create a makeshift raft. He dumped the guts on top and gave it a gentle push so it would float down the creek.

No one strayed far as they picked more plants and smoothed the trail between the crystal and the creek for whoever would be hauling water later.

It wasn't long before more people trickled in. We brought them up to speed on the recent gossip, and once ten were present, I left two behind to wait for the others while I ported eight to the Guard Station.