Between The Crystals

Ch 48 Tipping Point

I felt like I was going crazy. Grant had tallied my ports yesterday—which came to forty-two! An insane number. Admittedly, thirty-six of them had been solo ports, but still! That was double my long-standing record!—and had understandably mistaken my restlessness as me feeling burnt out and over-pressured, and thus, he had only let me check on my group three times today.

It was almost as if I had accidentally been given a concentrated dose of the doctor's alertness tea. I felt wound up and could barely sit down. My mind spun in circles, refusing to slow down or let me relax. I was too distracted to play games, despite attempting a few rounds of stone hop with Grant. Sleep had been elusive last night, leaving me agitated and a touch on the cranky side.

I paced to the upper cliffs and back several times, but it didn't help. I yawned, feeling tired, but was unable to rest. To avoid bothering people with my mood, I sat on a rock on the top ledge.

My eyes kept straying to the crystal, which glittered tantalizingly in the sun, and I longed to feel the shimmering in my veins. I even missed the tiredness that came after a hard port, which was similar to the faint ache in your muscles after a good workout.

No airships appeared, for which I was grateful, but if Grant was going to keep me here for the next few weeks, we needed to have a heart-to-heart discussion. My mind battled between the need for sleep and having too much energy to actually rest. I knew which kind of exercise I needed, but my porting was being restricted.

"Natalie! You can take your groups to the Guard Station," Grant hollered.

Finally! I leapt to my feet and jogged down the trail. I didn't even use the location name, hoping it would use more strength. My hunters must not have shared my impatience since none of the wandering ones had returned.

Leaving a note in the dirt, I took the ten who hung around the crystal to the Guard Station. The heavy port took the edge off my restlessness, but it still remained. I forced myself to wait at the scanning location for a while, pretending I wasn't itching to leave. Now that I knew no one was waiting by the crystal and hoping for rescue, I had other plans.

Resting my hand on a spire, I focused on the Sunrise crystal even though I said, "Storm Blast."

Instead of appearing in the regrowing forest, I stood in the abandoned village. Unsupervised at last. I sighed in relief.

I knew Grant meant well, and in past times, his restrictions had been very much needed with my tendency to overextend myself, but today had felt stifling. I loved him as a father, and as such, I didn't want to disobey him. He just didn't know how fast things had changed, and his "restrictions" amounted to more ports than any other porter could manage.

I'd have to tell him if I could catch him alone. Maybe offer to take him to Oasis Springs and make a detour on the way. Satisfied with that plan, I ported to six abandoned villages, which finally reduced the restlessness to the point where I didn't feel like spinning in circles.

I didn't want to tire myself out in case airships showed up. The Saursunes were smart enough to have realized that not many escaped if they attacked in the evening. I'd never forgive myself if I ran out of strength because I'd spent it frivolously.

Porters spent their entire lives counting how many ports we had left and making sure they were used wisely. Simply porting for no reason went against that lifelong habit, not to mention being utterly wasteful. I could always take the water cart, or if all else failed, wait until I went to visit the cat and port just enough that I'd be able to sleep.

I went to check on my hunters. Twelve had arrived in my short absence, and I took ten. The Guard Station had way more people than when I'd left. Andre waved cheerfully, and I went to sit by him.