Between The Crystals

Ch 73 A Stolen Map is a Shared Map

The Saursune's back-and-forth pacing had dwindled to him simply walking in front of us with frequent glances back to make sure we were following. Cruz now carried two rabbits that had made the mistake of crossing the trail in front of us during the last two hours.

With an excited hum, the Saursune bounded forward and used his body to shove a tall shrub to the side.

"It's a crystal," I murmured in shock.

"This must be the one we couldn't find," Cruz said, checking his map as we followed the Saursune over to the fully grown crystal.

The Saursune pranced around the crystal with his mouth agape in what I could only call a pleased grin. A very toothy grin. With fangs. On a creature that weighed more than all four of us.

It was a daunting sight and had me approaching rather cautiously. Immediately noticing my hesitation, the Saursune trotted over and nudged me toward the crystal. With permission very clearly granted, I familiarized myself with the crystal and used another twig to write in the dirt. Lost Crystal. Very uninventive, as per my lousy naming skills, but at least it wasn't "Hidden Behind Shrubs" or "Guided By A Saursune".

I stood up and bowed my head. "Thank you."

Our new guide probably didn't realize what a gift he had given us. Or maybe he did. The Saursunes had likely noticed how far the hunters were traveling to collect food.

He hummed deeply as he trotted around us, then deftly stole Cruz's map from his hands. Dropping it on the grass, he tilted his head as he examined it. He tapped a claw on the sketch of the Blackbird Marsh crystal, then on the crystal Cruz had found, and then on an open spot that would be roughly where we were now.

He looked at us, and with a soft keen, he tapped his claw on two other spots. Picking up the map, he handed it back to Cruz, who gingerly took it. With another keen, he trotted toward a different animal trail and paused, looking back at us.

"Well, we came this far, do we keep going?" I asked the hunters.

Cruz examined the map and the faint marks left by the Saursune's claw taps. "If he understands maps and distances, each one is only an additional two or three hours."

"Two more crystals would be invaluable," Brielle murmured.

Without any further discussion, we followed our guide.

~

"Grant is probably having a panic attack by now," I commented as we continued to follow the blue Saursune.

The sound of my voice, or possibly my huffing and puffing, had the Saursune slowing down and glancing back at us yet again. The hunters were easily keeping up, but I wasn't used to tramping through a forest from sun up to sun down, and it was already past the time we usually ported home. We had taken a few breaks, moreso for me, but the restlessness was getting strong enough that I couldn't sit for long.

Tib inspected the ground. "It can't be far. Look at all these footprints."

"I don't recognize this area," Cruz said. "Of course, all these tracks mean another village knows about this crystal. The others were untouched."

We rounded a bend and saw a half-grown crystal ahead. No one was here, so they must have already headed home. The Saursune bounded forward and trotted around the crystal several times before sitting beside it, looking between it and us.

I bowed my head. "Thank you."

The hunters hung back as I ran my hands along the crystal and committed its "feel" to memory. I tried to scribble a location phrase in the thick grass without success. The Saursune's hands suddenly appeared by my feet, and he clawed the grass back, leaving rutted dirt for me to write.