Between The Crystals

Ch 36 New Records

I ported the last nine hunters to Mesquite Plains to join the previous group. Other than one hunter, who was waiting for her partner for today's excursion, the rest were already specks in the distance.

As all eighteen jogged away, I silently wished them luck. Grant had honored my request for an area where we had never seen Saursunes, but this was a hot, dry landscape with little cover, no visible water, and not much worth gathering.

I scanned the rather bare scrubland—semi-desert?—with its scattered mesquite trees and patches of shrubs. There were no pods on the two trees growing on either side of the crystal, but I was grateful for the shade they'd provide later today.

We'd likely be bringing back just a few carry nets with things like mesquite pods, prickly pears, and possibly a rattlesnake or two. I was honestly confused why Grant sent us here when there were other locations without Saursune sightings.

I wandered around and stopped in front of a still-seeping base of an agave plant. The four large agave plants that had been here were gone, likely cut down to harvest the core for syrup instead of taking older leaves for wound treatment. I frowned, troubled that someone had taken not just one, but all four community plants.

They hadn't even left a single leaf behind to try propagating more. Shading my eyes, I scanned the area without seeing a single agave plant even though I vaguely recalled several dozen dotting the landscape.

I was glad everyone in my group had gotten a small bowl of greens for breakfast because there wasn't much in sight. I began searching the area, but the rocky soil didn't favor plant life and whoever had been here had taken everything they could get their hands on.

After searching for an hour and finding nothing, I knew it was going to be a long day.

~

I sat with my back against a mesquite tree as the midafternoon rolled around. I was bored. Very, very bored. Hunger was setting in, although it was just an annoyance at this point since I'd had some greens for breakfast. I was hot, and my waterskin had run out an hour ago.

As much as I wanted to pace, it was too warm for such activities. A paltry knee-high pile of grass and twigs sat beside the crystal since there was literally nothing besides thorny bushes within four hundred paces.

With a grumble, I stood up. No one was in sight, nor due back for several hours. I might not be allowed to go to other crystals and forage while waiting, but I could go to an abandoned village and get more water. I scratched a note in the packed dirt just in case someone returned early.

"Sunrise Village."

The heat was replaced with a drier heat as I appeared in the abandoned village. After a quick glance around, I went to the well and located my hidden bucket. I soaked my hair to help cool down and rested in the shade. This village was on the north side of a cliff, so the sun never touched the rocks in its sheltering shadows, but the warm wind countered some of the shade's coolness.

Water sprayed around me as I shook my head. I wiped the strands out of my eyes, feeling better now. I filled my water skin, and on a whim, crawled into the collapsed house I occasionally napped in. As I had guessed, the ground down here was cooler and a welcome relief. I had at least three hours until I'd be missed, so I closed my eyes for a short nap.

When I woke, I returned to the Mesquite Plains. It was just as hot as before, and no one was in sight. The sun hadn't moved far, so I hadn't been gone long.

It wasn't long before I was bored. And restless. I couldn't sit still even though the heat was too oppressive to move much. Leaving the note in the sand as my excuse, I decided to check a few abandoned villages for shards.