Between The Crystals

Ch 61 Hope Rekindled

It took fourteen ports to find five open crystals and report back to Grant.

"—and two of them are within a fifteen-minute walk of a farm. One of those is untouched, and the other has a decent amount left."

Grant sighed. "We'll have to double up the porters at crystals. They might not collect as much as they would by themselves, but they'll be safer and some of the hunters can wander farther." He sent a stern look at all the groups and porters listening in. "And no going anywhere near the farms, pastures, livestock, or fields. It'd be best to avoid the fringes as well."

The hunters and foragers all nodded firmly. No one wanted to risk an attack, and many had seen Saursunes watching, but so far there hadn't even been any injuries, let alone deaths. It was a stark contrast to the past histories that seemed more and more distant all the time.

Merryl spoke up. "If...if Natalie leaves her group with me, we can go near one of the farms."

I regarded my sister uneasily. What was she thinking? This was a farm, not a field, and certainly not a remote place with no recent Saursune sightings.

Grant shook his head. "You wouldn't be able to port all of them to safety if those farmers took exception to that many humans near their buildings. Natalie, which crystal besides those two had the most?"

"Bluebird Clearing. The field is just sprouting." Would the Saursunes be able to find my group there? Hawthorn Valley—the spot the fighter had found my group last time—had already been claimed by another village.

Grant waved Merryl and me toward the crystal as he began asking the other porters if any of them wanted to risk going near the farm. My older group gathered around me, and we left before Merryl did.

The air cleared as sparse, slender trees appeared around us. There wasn't much undergrowth, and the trees only had branches near the top, so visibility was quite good. Despite that, I suspected a certain Saursune would be able to sneak much closer than any of them anticipated.

A shimmer heralded the arrival of Merryl's group. She looked around. "There's more here than I expected. Where's the field?"

"Just over there. It's actually planted between the trees, behind those shrubs, so it's hard to spot."

She turned to her daughter. "Don't go in that direction, okay? And stay within sight of the crystal."

"Okay!" My niece agreed readily, already picking some greens for her delayed breakfast.

I ferried the rest of my group to the clearing and headed back to the village. I leaned against a rock on the resting hides and relaxed, no longer terrified of falling asleep. So what if the restlessness built up? I now had a very appreciative "person" I could give it to.

I idly wondered if it was possible to share this energy with others, but it wasn't just energy they were lacking—the porting strain was also a major factor. Nor had I ever felt something when touching them, not like I did with Saursunes or a crystal.

Boredom was bound to set in sooner rather than later, but I planned to enjoy the leisure while I could. I wasn't fretting over how I could burn off energy in the evening, and I had so much energy that I didn't have to hold back while helping the village either. It was oddly freeing.

It didn't bother me if I had to visit the fighter every second day. Or even every day. Well, maybe not that often—I wasn't that relaxed around Saursunes. But I trusted that one more than I ever thought I'd trust one of the alien invaders.

A shimmer by the crystal had me lifting my head. I scrambled to my feet at the sight of the elderly porter from the Guard Station. There was only one reason Weylan could be here—the airships must have finally shown up.