Between The Crystals

Ch 27 Something Old, Something New

Another mini group finally returned, this one with four people.

"Let's pack up," I said. "I can come back for the others."

I wanted to get at least half of my oversized group back in the village, where they'd be safe and sound. The Saursune still hadn't returned, and that very detail made me antsy.

"I'll remain behind in case others arrive before you return," the older hunter volunteered.

"Are you sure?" I asked with a frown.

"Yes. Just make sure you take everyone to the Guard Station. I don't trust that Saursune."

That made two of us. I quickly helped the others gather their bundles and made sure someone held onto the rope wrapped around the pile of tree limbs. It was going to drag something fierce during the port, but porting strain was the least of my worries at the moment.

Hands were on my shoulders as I reached for the crystal. "Guard Station."

The air around us hazed over, clearing to reveal the now familiar mountainside cliff. I took a deep breath of hot, dry air. The branches hadn't been nearly as bad as I expected, not even comparable to the empty wagon. I had to search for the discomfort to find it.

"What the hell?"

The startled exclamation made me look at the guard, who was staring at the scanner. Instead of the expected pea-sized red dot, it was twice as big and had weird pulsing circles.

"Dump the bags!" I quickly told them. "It must be a tracker!"

The guard snapped out of his shock and ran over as he followed the bizarre red dot with ripples rolling out from it. As he got closer, it split into two. He followed one, and I guessed which net the other might be in and dumped the contents on the ground.

A pebble fell out and bounced off a stone with a metallic click. My eyes followed the perfectly round, black ball, belatedly realizing it wasn't a pebble or an oak acorn. With a frown, I grabbed it and turned to the guard, who had found a similar object. Both pulsing red dots pointed to the trackers.

I snagged the one out of his hand and grabbed onto the crystal. "Apple Orchard!"

Time dragged as I waited for my vision to clear, quickly getting my bearings as soon as I could see the apple orchard. Like last time, I threw them away from the town's direction and quickly ported back to the Guard Station.

"Was that all of them?" I asked anxiously.

The guard spun on the spot with the scanner, which was solid green.

"Were those trackers?" another guard asked in disbelief. "They were the size of pigeon eggs!"

"I've never seen anything like that," the scanning guard said, frowning in concern. "If the Saursunes didn't know where we were before, they almost certainly do now." He turned to me. "Where did you come from?"

I blinked, partially taken aback by the accusation in his tone. "Fern Hills. It's four hours from the nearest field."

The guard frowned at the mix of meadow greens, but they were obviously wild forage, not something from a tended field. The large, haphazard pile of branches only reinforced the truth behind my claim.

"Have other groups come with trackers?" one of my companions asked.

The guard's eyes flickered to him. "Five so far, but it was just the regular tracker beads. Not whatever those things were."

"The Saursune must have snuck them in when I set the nets down at some point," one of the women mumbled.

It made no sense for someone to carry two bags all the time, so they'd set the full one down to free up their hands while they gathered greens nearby.