I spent the rest of the evening circling the area, expanding my search parameters looking for something that was out of place or shouldn't be there. It was difficult, made more so from the obvious trampling and searching the people from the farm had already done. Nothing obvious or glaring stood out, and I wasn't trained well enough in the fauna of the area to know the life cycle of plants and what would or wouldn't be normal. My knowledge of plants was solely concentrated on those that could be used in Pill formation.

In truth, I was just wasting time, hoping to find a track that might let me identify what animal I might be dealing with. I still wasn't convinced a Velociraptor was involved in the raids, but I had done research that identified their dietary habits, attack patterns, and the three-clawed scratching's that they leave behind as tracks.

From the description of events, I wasn't sure it was an animal at all. I could think of no animal that could bypass a defensive array without destroying it. From what Matriarch Helena had described, the array was deactivated and restored after their flock was raided. It seemed more likely that the young master from Cleave had instructed his hired thugs to increase their actions from ambushing to raiding.

Sophie did share the young man's name and Clan. Elios of Clan Hui was the third son of the Clan's Head. Not the youngest of the family's direct descendants, his sister claimed that spot, still a spoiled son of the house. It was this sister that brought Sophie to his attention. The two had begun to socialize, and he had stumbled across them when they had been enjoying tea.

He had been smitten, normally, the two families would have reached an accord and a marriage might be arranged, but Clan Hui had already signed marriage agreements for Elios, agreements that could not be broken without major penalties. The best Elios was able to offer Sophie was a position as a lesser wife.

A position that the Delard Clan found offensive since Sophie was the only girl-child of her generation.

This assault on the farm may be a way to pressure the family. If the farm's finances took a large enough toll, the community might band together and demand the family move. Additionally, tempers were bound to flair, as people became frightened as the raids continued. Fears and anger that might be directed at Sophie.

By removing her support system, it might leave them with no alternative but to give in and accept the young master's proposition. I thought it more likely they would heal whatever breach existed between them and the main Clan and move back to Cleave and the protection the Clan offered.

Matriarch Helena offered me a room once night had fallen, but I politely declined. I planned on cultivating all night and needed to be in an out of the way place that would allow me some privacy, but leave me in Qi perception range of the Pterosaurs.

The barn they had built to store feed and house a pair of Bison that had been domesticated and used to pull plows, harvesters, and reapers was nearby as well as a small blacksmith forge used to maintain and repair farm equipment. A well-maintained forge that was employed by even an apprentice blacksmith would allow the community to expand the amount of land they could farm over time.

The farm equipment was something a farmer pre-industrial revolution might use. Mechanical devices that used and translated the motion the bison provided into the energy needed to perform tasks. I wondered why arrays hadn't been expanded to create vehicles or inscribed in the farming equipment to make tasks easier.

Homes had lights, heating, cooling, and running water. What happened that caused industrialization to stop when it came to vehicles? It probably had to do with native wildlife. There was no point in spending money on a car or tractor that was only going to be destroyed during the first beast tide.

Or when a T-Rex decided it looked tasty.

Once I was out of sight of the families, the sounds of a community going to bed, those settling in for the night, I jumped to the roof of the barn. I hadn't discounted the idea that someone, a member of the homestead was involved in whatever was going on. If that were the case, whoever was conducting the raids was probably already informed of my arrival. It was bad enough they could send a message if they were involved, I didn't want to make things easier for them by making my movements known.

The night was uneventful, no strange sounds and my Qi perception never detected any motion other than the animals that had been penned. Thinking my stakeout had been a bust, I jumped down from the barn's roof to begin my morning's training. Even if Elder Shadow weren't there to remind me, I knew that I could not afford to slack when it came to training.

As I stretched, releasing the small tension and kinks in my back and legs that I gained sitting in a lotus position, I noticed an orange light in the east. Mistaking this for the rising sun, I ignored it for a few moments as I opened my Hunter's pack to grab some jerky and fruit for breakfast.

The subtle smell of smoke alerted me to something wrong. The valley was protected from most harsh weather; the mountains providing a natural wind buff, but there were still breezes that circulated the air and controlled humidity. One of these small breezes brought with it the smell of smoke. The intensity of the smell increasing as I began searching to locate and identify the source.

Glancing towards the sunrise, I realized that light was not the coming of dawn; it was at least an hour too early. The light was fields of crops inundated with fire, an entire wall of flames that grew, the plants fueling the flames, destroying the farmers' hard work.

"Fire!" I began yelling, moving to wake the residents of the community. The river would serve as a barrier to keep the homestead from burning, the fire on the other side, but the loss of income or winter stores from this blaze might be devastating, especially if it was too late in the season to replant.

I began pounding on doors, moving from one to the next when I detected movement inside. My yells of fire finally rousting the sleeping families, as men and women poured out into the center courtyard to answer my summons.

"Can the flames be contained?" Matriarch Helena asked the first to recognize the danger and the consequences if the fields were allowed to burn.

"We can save what hasn't caught," one of the farmers replied, "It will mean diverting the river and flooding the rice fields early. We won't get as large of a harvest, but it might be enough to allow us to survive the winter."

"It's too late to replant?" I asked.

"Not for a winter crop, but we don't have the funds for that. It wasn't something we had planned," the farmer answered.

"Get the fire out now," Matriarch Helena ordered, "we can worry about what comes next after we've saved what we can."

He marshaled the rest of the men and ran to a couple of sluices that had been strategically placed. A system of opening and closing passages that allowed for normal irrigation when needed. Today it would serve to save a community.

I was only a second stage middle-tiered Body Refinement Realm, a more powerful cultivator could have done more. With my affinities for water and air, I would have been well suited to fight that fire without the need to flood fields. But that was years in the future.

For now, I took up a position behind those who knew what they were doing and watch as the men and women worked to save what they could. Once they had opened the sluice that controlled the river's direction and diverted the water towards the burning field, I was able to offer some help.

Brandishing my Tessen, I used [Lightning's Rush] and [Dancing Wind and Rain] allowing my Qi to absorb and divert the water, funneling it into a contained rainstorm. I couldn't create a Qi storm capable of covering the entire fire, but I was able to beat back the leading edge, allowing the spirit rice fields to be saturated.

Once I was satisfied there was no longer any danger to the fields, I used the Air elemental and powered the Qi through to gently move the storm I had created, moving it in small increments until I was certain there were no burning embers left to spark and rekindle the flames.

"It seems whoever is behind the Pterosaur raids has decided to escalate," Matriarch Helena said offhandedly when I rejoined her, her focus not wavering as she watched the smoke from the last areas of fire extinguished.

I agreed and thought it best I inform the Sect what was happening, removing a scribe table from my spatial ring, I began writing a message to Contribution Hall. I would do my best, but I thought it possible with the new facts and expanded information I had collected that the mission might be canceled.

As I detailed the information the farming community had failed to supply, information about the young master, the wealth and connections of one of the families, the only woman of her generation determined to stay single and ignoring the press of suitors, and the escalation by someone from raid to fire, I thought it likely Contribution Hall would replace me. This mission was more likely a level two, possibly three Missive, something far beyond the abilities of a cultivator at my stage.

Someone had targeted this community, someone powerful enough to influence the town of Cleave. I didn't want to be replaced, but I wasn't certain an early stage cultivator was powerful enough to survive the forces that could be brought to bear.

Letter written, I folded it into the shape of a paper airplane, my origami skills lacking because I had neither the time nor the inclination to learn how to create something more intricate. When sending messages; shape, and form did matter, but as long as I created an object that was capable of flight, it would serve its purpose. A quick toss and the plane sailed higher and higher until it had gained enough height to over-fly the mountain.

A quick blip of speed, a nudge with from my air element, and the letter was sent. I had no idea what Contribution Hall would decide, but I would do my best and work under the assumption that the Missive would stand as written.