As soon as I left the first group in the village, I bounced back to Orange Flower. The tiredness was definitely present, but despite how much I wanted a nap, there still wasn't any strain. That wasn't going to last long.

To my relief, four people were already here. They picked more greens while waiting for me and their companions to arrive. A dozen carry nets sat beside the crystal, half of them containing plants. Even as I wandered over to chat and help them gather greens, two more returned.

"Did any Saursunes show up?" one asked. "We had a green one stalking us for a while."

I blinked. "Actually, yes. A brown one appeared just a couple hours after you left. Yours was green?"

"Yeah. It never came close, but it was definitely trailing us. We'll have to keep an eye out—"

He broke off, eyes widening as he stared at something behind us. The rest of us spun around to see a dark brown Saursune standing by the crystal with a huge fish in her jaws.

She set the fish on top of the carry nets and lifted her head, looking directly at me even as the hunters quickly gathered in front of me, blocking my view. I leaned to the side and peered between two of them as she swished her tail, then turned and bounded into the forest. As she disappeared, I noticed she wore an armband, which definitely hadn't been present earlier.

The hunters shifted uneasily as they lost sight of the Saursune, and they spread in a circle around me in case an ambush came from a different direction.

"That's the same one that cornered me earlier," I quietly told them. "She keeps appearing and leaving. At least I think it's the same one—she wasn't wearing an armband earlier though."

As I told them the same story I had given the last group, we warily approached the crystal. The fish was longer than my entire arm—the biggest I'd ever seen. It wasn't a species I recognized, although it was rare for me to be near a body of water big enough to support fish, so my knowledge was quite limited.

A hunter—one of the experienced ones—poked the fish with a stick. "Anyone feel like betting there's a tracking bead in this thing?"

"Wouldn't surprise me," one of the new volunteers commented. "Why else would the Saursune leave it here?"

"The lizards have started leaving food near the crystals whenever they corner a porter," the experienced hunter absently said, now scanning our surroundings. "That's why Belle's group brought back a rabbit yesterday even though she had no hunters with her. There's a tracker about half the time."

"Do we risk taking it with us?" the volunteer asked.

"Too much meat to leave it behind, and it isn't the first tracking bead to reach the scanning station. I'll have my knife out and ready to gut it if the scanner says there's something inside." He picked up the fish and examined both sides, looking for any cuts or evidence of where they might have put the tracker. He peered into its mouth.

"Why not gut it now?" I asked. "Just save the organs."

"Good idea." He took the fish to the side and sliced its belly open. Ingenious as most hunters were, he used nearby grasses to tie small pieces of driftwood together to create a makeshift raft. He dumped the guts on top and gave it a gentle push so it would float down the creek.

No one strayed far as they picked more plants and smoothed the trail between the crystal and the creek for whoever would be hauling water later.

It wasn't long before more people trickled in. We brought them up to speed on the recent gossip, and once ten were present, I left two behind to wait for the others while I ported eight to the Guard Station.

As the haze cleared, the tiredness returned and deepened, along with the faint ache of porting strain. I leaned against the crystal, seriously wondering if I'd be able to get the last group back home.

"You look like you're tiring," the guard with the scanner commented. The device in his hands had a steady green light across the front section.

"I could regret attempting this many ports," I admitted with a wry smile.

"Make sure you rest well between trips," he said kindly.

"Thanks. I'll try—" A red dot flashed on the scanner twice, then disappeared. I blinked. "What was that?"

The guard and several others likewise stared at the screen, having seen the flash. Frowning, he turned it off, then back on. The light remained green.

He continued frowning at it. Everyone else watched as well. I checked the horizon just in case. Nothing. The sky was clear, and the scanner remained green.

"Could a tracker only be sending out a signal intermittently?" the guard mumbled, sounding like he was talking to himself. Turning to us, he said, "Spread your stuff and yourselves in a circle."

His eyes never left the device in his hands as my eight companions flew into a sudden flurry of activity. The guard walked into the middle as we waited. The fish had a lot of room on either side of it, and I was halfway tempted to port it out of here right now.

We waited, and waited some more. A red dot flashed twice, pointing to the right. The guard quickly turned the device, but the dots had already disappeared. Only two hunters and three carry nets were in the direction he now faced. The fish was proven innocent from my internal accusations.

As quick of thought as always, the experienced hunters took the suspicious objects and spread them in another circle, moving the "safe" items away. The guard moved into the middle of the new circle. Minutes slowly passed by as we watched the green light.

"I'm not sure what kind of tracker this is," he quietly said, "but I don't like it."

"Have you seen anything like this before?" I asked.

"No," he said shortly, still focused on the scanner.

We fell silent as he waited for the brief flash of whatever strange tracking bead the Saursunes were using this time.

Almost five suspense-filled minutes later, it flashed again, pointing at a squirrel. A hunter immediately snatched it up and tossed it to me.

I caught it and grabbed onto a spire. "Jungle Sandbar!"

The air hazed around me, and even as it cleared, I threw the dead rodent toward the shore. The sunbathing crocodiles remained motionless, waiting to see if I was foolish enough to venture closer.

A large black bird took immediate advantage of the opportunity and swooped down to grab the carcass. With other scavenging birds in hot pursuit, it quickly flew away with its prize. If we were lucky, it would take it far away. Or better yet, they'd eat the tracker and lead the Saursunes on a splendid chase.

I took a few deep breaths before bouncing back. The small delay didn't prevent the porting strain from deepening. The tiredness weighed down my limbs, and I sat on the resting hides while the guard remained in the circle, watching the scanner. I really hoped there weren't more trackers.

"Who caught that squirrel?" I asked as several hunters spaced out the dead critters.

"I did," a man said, the same one who'd seen the green Saursune, "but the carry net was beside me the entire time! We made sure not to leave anything out of arm's reach after we spotted that lizard trailing us."

Another hunter asked, "Was the squirrel acting strange or sluggish? Could they have put the tracker in it before you caught it?"

The man frowned and exchanged a look with the woman he had gone hunting with. She furrowed her eyebrows, then her eyes went wide.

"There was a squirrel that couldn't seem to climb. We found it shortly before the Saursune stopped following us."

A hunter asked me, "Did you stay here at least five minutes with the last group? And was the scanner turned on the entire time?"

"I was here for about fifteen minutes," I replied. "I think the scanner was on?"

"It was," the guard confirmed. "I'm not sure how many new tricks the lizards are working on, but I really don't like this one."

"I bet that's how the lizards found Citadel Village," another guard commented. "They have a couple of strong porters who would have bounced after a quick scan, and if the tracking bead wasn't sending a signal while they were there..." he trailed off.

"I'll make sure Grant takes this information to the Oasis," I said.

"What happens if they increase the tracker's silent time to an hour or even a day?" one of my volunteers asked.

Everyone exchanged silent looks. Porters couldn't wait an entire day at a scanning station, and the guards couldn't easily locate such a tracker among thirty or forty groups. The Saursunes would surely discover our hidden villages in such a situation.

Porters were busy most of the day, and we were pretty much tapped out by evening. Unless the airships arrived during the early hours or we had sufficient notice at night, most of the village would be lost.

If the tracker's signal had been more spaced out, we would have taken the squirrel back to our village. A chill crept down my spine. Would the Saursunes have attacked or just taken note of our location? Had it just been my recent experience with the dark brown Saursune, I would have said the village might be safe, but that was just one event throughout a long history with a very different story.

I would definitely be warier when porting back home in case unwelcome company arrived while I was absent.