"What's happening?"
"Weather magic.She's using the migration as cover, stirring up the herds."His expression was furious."Making it worse than it would naturally be."
"My farm!"
"I know."He looked at her, and she saw the conflict in his eyes.He wanted to comfort her, but couldn't.Not with his mother down the hall, his family watching."We'll check as soon as it's safe.I promise."
The storm raged all day.Violent, unnatural, clearly targeted to cause maximum chaos.
That night, Wren barely slept.
***
THE MIGRATION BEGANto thin on day six.The main herds had passed, leaving only stragglers.
Jin left at dawn the next day with a patrol to assess damage.
Wren waited and paced.Tried to eat breakfast but couldn't.Sat in the guest room and stared at her journal full of plant notes.
Please let it be standing.Please.
Jin returned at midday.
His expression told her everything before he said a word.
"The house is standing," he said quietly."But Wren...there's significant damage."
"How bad?"
"Come with me.You should see it yourself."
The ride to her farm felt endless.
As they crested the hill and her property came into view, Wren's breath caught.The treehouse stood, that much was true.But barely.
The door was broken, hanging from one hinge, and windows had shattered.The roof was partially caved in, and there were gouges in the walls from claws and horns.
And the land...
Every tree was gone.Trampled, uprooted, destroyed.The breadfruit tree, the silk tree, the milkweed, the tea trees.Everything she'd grown so carefully over the past month, just gone.
The pond was a churned, muddy pit.The stream had been diverted into a stagnant pool.Every last plant was crushed flat.
The shield pillars stood, but one was cracked nearly in half.
"The shield failed during the storm," Jin said grimly."We found evidence of tampering on the pillars.Subtle damage that looked like wear, but...it was deliberate."
Wren climbed down from her horse on shaking legs.She walked through the destruction, trying to process it.A month of work.Gone.
"I'm sorry," Jin said."We'll investigate, but..."
"You can't prove it was Lyra.I know."Her voice sounded distant, even to herself.She knelt in the mud where her kitchen garden had been.Reached down and touched the torn earth.
Then she stood up."I need to start rebuilding."
Jin stared at her."Wren—"
"I started from nothing before.I can do it again."She turned to face him, and something fierce burned in her chest."This time I'll be smarter.Better defenses.Stronger shields.I'll rebuild everything, and it'll be even better than before."
