"Any nightmares?" I asked Belle as we gathered near the crystal for our morning assignments, wondering how she had slept after yesterday's events.

"Nothing, thankfully. You?"

"I slept like a log." The small water cart had left me so exhausted that I couldn't even remember which hunter had helped me up the pathway to my room.

Grant cleared his throat. "Okay people, listen up. Saursunes might be out and about like they were yesterday. Remember, if one appears, drop anything that looks like a weapon," he said, making eye contact with all of us before continuing. "Bounce if possible, and make sure you get scanned for trackers after."

"Not like we can fight the lizards with a bow or knife anyway," a hunter muttered.

Grant glanced in his direction. "Fighting back has never ended well, hence why I've always told people to run. I'm not sure why the Saursunes are acting strange lately, but so far, anyone who dropped their weapons has escaped with just bruises and scrapes. The only exceptions were those raiding a field or farm."

No one here had to be told to avoid the farms and fields. Our village had realized the danger long before I was born and never set foot in them, nor did we forage in the forests bordering the fields when they were ready to be harvested. That was just asking for trouble.

"Stay alert," Calum advised us calmly. "The Saursunes and airships stalking the man with the tracker will soon realize it's in the latrine. They'll be looking for new targets."

I made a face. The man had seen airships circling the abandoned village at a distance, and he found fresh tracks in the morning. The aliens hadn't entered the cave, and were possibly trying spook him into fleeing back to the "safety" of the village.

Grant worked his way through the crowd of porters, hunters, and gatherers as he gave people their assignments for the day. When Andre got his location, someone volunteered to port him out, so I remained near the back of the group.

Merryl yawned, and when I glanced at her, she said, "I didn't sleep well last night. Calum is taking Callie today, so I'll have plenty of time to rest by the crystal." Instead of morning sickness, she was usually plagued with sleepless nights. As much as some people wanted her to stay in the village on such days, we needed all the porters we had.

When Grant reached us, he didn't even bat an eye at how Callie held her father's hand and watched with wide, excited eyes. "The upper alpine fields are pretty much picked clean. Your hunters can try catching some rabbits in the berry batches by Mud Puddle Meadow."

Calum nodded in recognition. We had never seen a Saursune in that area, so it was a good choice with Callie in tow, assuming no one else beat us to it. A gatherer and three hunters quickly attached themselves to the duo.

"Merryl, do you want Natalie to give you a lift to one of the lower mountain valleys?"

I smirked as my older sister rolled her eyes. Despite being preoccupied, Grant hadn't missed her yawn. Merryl could normally port eight or nine times throughout the day so I suspected the question was to appease several aunties and grandmas who were lingering nearby and listening to the assignments. To give Merryl credit, she politely declined before covering another yawn with her hand.

Grant flipped through a few more pages. "Natalie, can you take six to Baxton Hill? A Saursune was seen there last week, but at least they can't sneak up on people. There were some good patches of greens near the boggy area."

I nodded and headed to the crystal as two gatherers and four hunters separated from the group. Calum and Merryl disappeared before we reached the spires.

"Baxton Hill."

The haze cleared to reveal a grassy hill with scattered small shrubs—and several humans. The porter had a gathering basket and was closest to the crystal. The three in his group were near the muddy watering hole.

The porter gave a friendly wave. I waved in reply, feeling more chagrin than annoyance at another group having beat us to a decent location. When the porter began walking toward us, I sighed and put a smile on my face as I prepared for five minutes of small talk while I "recharged".

"How is it going?" I asked when he got close enough. The name of the fifty-some-year-old man was eluding me at the moment, but I knew which village he belonged to.

"Fairly well," he said as he came over. "This is the third place I've tried today. Lots of groups went out early. Avoid that African river spot—a pride of lions has been there for weeks trying to ambush whoever comes through. They've figured out it's easy pickings."

I shuddered. "Thanks for that warning. I'll let Grant know. We sent someone there last week, and the lions were sleeping, so they bounced."

"They're lucky. Nida Village lost two hunters there yesterday."

We chatted a while longer before he went back to scouring the nearby grass for edible plants that had been missed by others.

A hunter, Brielle, suggested, "Why don't we try the bamboo forest with the banana plants? I saw some small animals a couple of weeks ago. If we're lucky, we'll get some bananas or even a papaya."

"If nothing else," a gatherer murmured, "there are always bamboo shoots. They fill a stew pot even if they're tough to cut."

I nodded. "That works for me, but if an elephant charges us again, I'm blaming you."

"Then we get to test your bouncing skills," the hunter replied with a grin, nocking an arrow onto her bow in case a distraction was needed.

"Those skills have already gotten too many workouts this week," I muttered as I rested my hand on the crystal. "Elephant Charge."

The crystal had no other name in my mind after how we'd once appeared in the middle of a herd of elephants who reacted poorly to the surprise. I'd bounced us all out safely, but the memory remained.

As the haze cleared, the hunters scanned the area with their bows before lowering the weapons and fanning out.

"Hey, look! Some bananas are ready!" A gatherer took off running toward the banana tree whose yellow fruit was visible from the crystal.

After carefully examining the area, I went to help carry the bananas back. I was quite surprised that no one else had collected them yet, especially when most would have taken the green fruit back to the village to ripen.

The gatherer shimmied up the tree to break off off bunches of fruit for us to catch. He paused and pointed. "The main grove has some as well!"

Standing on my tip toes, I craned my head and spotted more dots of yellow among the numerous bamboo trees. It didn't take the gatherer long to free the handful of bundles and slide down.

"I can carry the bananas back to the crystal later," I told them.

We left the fruit on the ground and headed to the eight trees, four of which had at least one cluster of yellow bananas.

"I've never seen this many bananas ripe at the same time," a gatherer commented, tilting her head. "How many other villages know about this crystal?"

"Six, I think? Other than the fruit trees and bamboo shoots, there isn't much else here, so it's not a popular spot." I sent a pointed glance at the towering bamboo stalks around us. A handful of papaya trees and a dozen banana trees were scattered throughout the area, but there wasn't much undergrowth apart from a few bushes and shrubs.

"The bamboo has definitely grown in." A hunter nodded at the stalks that grew so closely together they practically formed a wall on either side of us. "We'll have to bring axes next time and clear them away from fruit trees again."

Four people jogged ahead to climb up the banana trees. I wandered to the side and scuffed the loose dirt at the base of the bamboo stalks with my thin leather shoe.

"A herd of pigs must have come through recently," I commented. It had been a while since our hunters had caught a pig, but the smaller species around here had a nasty habit of swarming attackers instead of running away. They must have dug up the soil enough to disturb the roots since the leaves looked somewhat wilted.

"This is a weird bamboo stalk."

I turned around to see two hunters examining a tall bamboo cane in front of the banana trees. At first glance, I saw nothing wrong. But then I realized the stalk was perfectly straight and only had a few leaves on top.

The air echoed with a crack akin to lightning as something erupted from the sides of the strange bamboo stalk. I staggered back as dark lines blurred past me. The huge net anchored itself into another perfectly straight bamboo stalk. With a vibrating twang, the mesh pulled tight.

I skipped away and was about to run to the crystal when I noticed my companions were trapped behind the nets. A hunter tried lifting the bottom edge, but it was too tight. The others ran alongside the net to the bamboo trees. My breath caught in my throat when I noticed the bamboo stalks circling the fruit grove were too close together for even the thinnest person to squeeze between.

The turned-up soil, the wilted leaves, the almost perfect spacing—the bamboo stalks had been driven into the dirt to form a camouflaged wall.

A trap.

Only my preoccupation with the soil had prevented me from getting caught in it.