Flight Rising Discussion

@MMM Arcane Daily Lore

The world is dark, save for the lantern Kai holds aloft. Unfortunately, instead of making the forest feel safer, it only adds to the unnerving nature of the Shrieking Wilds. The flickering light causes the trees to appear twisted and gnarled, misshapen. In the darkness, the forest is awash with the sounds of motion. Eyes peer from behind bushes and branches. Every crack and groan of the trees warns of imminent demise as all kinds of creatures scuttle above and below the canopy, each and every one searching hungrily for the next meal.

In short, Kai has never been more terrified in his life. Even Mihm’s normally excitable (and very loud) behavior has been subdued.

“Hey Kai, doesn’t this feel… weird to you?” Mihm whispers, huddling close to their friend and the theoretical safety of the light.

“Let's just hurry up, find the meteorite, and get out of here.” Kai says as the pair continue to walk the winding path.

Up ahead, a soft glow emanates from behind the trees.

“Look, Kai, light!” Mihm exclaims as she runs ahead, leaving both path and friend behind. Kai startles, looking around wildly before mentally catching up to the current situation.

“Hey, wait for me!” Kai shouts after Mihm, “I told you already, the fastest way to get lost in a forest is to leave the path!”

Despite this statement, Kai follows close behind. The pair continue to run, chasing after a light that never seems to get closer until they arrive in the clearing.

Upon stepping into the circle of trees, the source of the glow becomes immediately clear. A never-before-seen flower species rests throughout the clearing. Every time one takes their eyes off one such flower, it appears to teleport to a new location, creating the illusion of ever-shifting terrain. The petals are painted with the colors of a starry sky and their stems are a deep black. A strong and ever-changing scent wafts through the air surrounding the flowers. One second, it's sweet as a cupcake and just as inviting. The next, it's as crisp as fresh mountain air. Each new scent serves to entice unsuspecting creatures into its tiny jaws.

Dispersed between the oil slick colored grass and flowers that flicker from one place to another, tiny mushrooms push themselves out of the dirt. They are no less odd than the other surrounding flora. Where the flowers emit the soft blue glow often found in the Shadowbinder’s domains, the mushrooms seem to warp the light around them in a way not often found on Sorneith's surface. Instead, they mimic the way black holes would greedily pull light past their event horizon, never to escape again. The result makes it truly difficult to see, as the grass around them seems to be pulled towards their strange gravity.

In the middle of the clearing crouches a multi-gazed aberration dressed in purple with hints of cyan, a student of the Runesworn house.

“Well, how was I supposed to know it was going to bite me!” one head snaps.

“Basic common sense!” the other retorts.

“IT'S A FLOWER!”

“IT'S A MAGICAL FLOWER WITH TEETH!”

“SO?”

“It's a magical flower that seems like it was mutated by a -”

“HELLO! You're Cedar, right?” Mihm shouts as they bound into the clearing. The aberration falls over at the sudden noise before frantically getting up and hiding something from view.

“Uhhh. Yes, yes I am. You're Mihm, right?” Cedar replies.

“Yep! And this is my friend Kai!”

“Ah… Hello Kai.”

The three dragons awkwardly stare at each other for a few seconds.

“So! What are you doing in the Shrieking WIlds? Is it a new experiment?” Mihm excitedly asks.

“NOTHING!” Cedar shouts with both heads, “I AM DOING ABSOLUTELY NOTHING AT ALL! DON’T WORRY ABOUT IT AND JUST KEEP GOING ALONG WITH YOUR BUSINESS!”

Cedar then coughs a bit. “Ahem, sorry about that. Please do not worry about me. Everything here is perfectly under control.” As she says this, a glowing squirrel crawls up their back. Cedar doesn’t seem to notice.

“... Should we be concerned?” Kai asks, looking at Mihm in confusion.

Mihm shakes their head before leaning over and whispering, “Cedar does this all the time, don’t worry about it.”

“What, why?”

“Well. They are part of the Runesworn house and so tend to … break the rules a lot. The thing is, he is not nearly as sneaky about it as the other Runesworn students.”

“I can see that.”

“Yeah, at this point, everyone has given up reporting her because by the time the report has gone through, someone from the faculty is already on site.” Mihm looks back at Cedar and says “Anyway’s have you seen a -”

“I haven’t seen anything at all!” one of Cedar’s heads quickly says.

“Nope, nothing!” the other agrees.

“I’m blind actually!” both confidently state at once. At that statement, both Mihm and Kai look at Cedar’s many eyes in disbelief. Cedar flushes with embarrassment before muttering, “Okay, maybe I’m not blind, but I still haven't seen what you are looking for.”

“But! This is the area where the teachers think the next —” Mihm begins to argue, before being cut-off once more.

“Nope! Nothing is here.”

“You didn’t even hear the full question,” Kai starts, while trying to look behind Cedar.

“I don’t need to hear the question because nothing is going on here! Whatever you are looking for you will not find it here. This is a completely normal and definitely not magically contaminated clearing.” Cedar firmly states, blocking Kai’s view.

“Definitely not what.” Kai exclaims in fear.

“You know, we can see the bioluminescent flowers behind you and the glowing squirrel on your back,” Mihm says.

“THE WHAT?” Cedar turns their heads around widely, and immediately starts screaming, frantically trying to shake off the squirrel. After successfully doing so, he turns back to the pair and calmly states, “You saw nothing.”

Mihm and Kai stare as Cedar begins to prattle on and on about how everything is totally fine and they shouldn’t worry about it. She eventually begins to both repeat and contradict herself, sometimes even in the same sentence.

After a bit, Cedar says, “You know what? The two of you should go. The experiment I am definitely not doing is very uhh…” Cedar flounders for a bit, trying to come up with a believable excuse but unable to do so. Eventually, Cedar just resorts to force and begins to shove the other two out of the clearing all while stating, “Actually, it's getting dark and you both don’t want to get lost. Don’t worry about me, I know this forest like the back of my claws!”

“But it's noon?” Mihm weakly asks while trying unsuccessfully to resist the shove. Kai fares no better.

“It’s the Shrieking Wilds, it's always dark. Anyways, goodbye and have a nice day!” Cedar states as she finishes pushing Kai and Mihm out of the clearing. Then both the clearing and Cedar disappear. Kai and Mihm stand and stare in silence for a bit.

“Do… you think he was studying those weird flowers?” Mihm slowly asks Kai.

“Maybe. Do you think he’s going to be alright?” Kai returns

“Yeah…. She’s a Runesworn, they’ve been in more dangerous situations before, probably.”

Kai digests this statement before deciding to remove the last few hours from his memory to retain his sanity. “Shall we continue, I guess? We still have a job to do,” Kai asks, beginning to stumble along the path.

“Oh yeah! Those leylines won’t explore themselves!”

“And we still need to check on the last meteorite.”

“Right. …Hey Kai, was the path this close to the clearing before?”

“No, it was not. …I don’t like this place, let’s just go.”

@MMM Arcane Daily Lore

“It’s… tiny.”

Mihm stands at the edge of the crater—well, crater is being generous. Kai is right, it’s more like a pothole in the ground, if she’s being honest.

Kai sits on his haunches and, noticing his friend’s silence, starts to correct himself. “But I mean—it’s—it’s not that small—”

“It doesn’t make sense,” she mutters under her breath. Mihm starts to walk around the edge of the cavity, keen eyes studying the markings in the soil and the faintly glowing specks of meteorite dust mixed within. “We saw it when it was coming down, there’s no way this is all of it.”

“Yeah,” Kai agrees, lowering his head to inspect a flower growing at his feet. It glows with the same soft light that the meteorite dust has, and leans toward him minutely, as if sensing his presence. “There’s something else on the leyline, I can feel it.” He lifts his head, glancing up at the sky. “But we need to head back to the Wild Sanctum, they’ll be wondering where we are.”

Mihm huffs, clearly disappointed by their findings here. There isn’t even an intact meteorite, just bits and pieces of one. It must have broken apart upon impact. She doesn’t dwell on it, though—or she tries not to. It’s hard not to get bummed out when the thing you’ve been excited about is actually a huge letdown.

And despite the incredibly depressing meteor site, the rest of the Shatterspell students seem thrilled. Elated, even. The camp is positively humming with the excited babble of students and teachers alike, all delighted at the prospect of studying something that came hurtling down at Sornieth from space. Mihm nearly steps on a pansy that’s sprouted legs as it scurries beneath her talon, closely pursued by a particularly frazzled Skydancer with a clipboard. It seems as though some of the local flora have reacted spectacularly with the magic from the meteorite—a fact that’s caused quite the hubbub in the encampment.

But this is the last meteor that she and Kai will see. She purposefully chose to save this site for last, because it’s the site assigned to her House, so of course it was supposed to be the one. It was supposed to be the best, you always save the best for last! But every time she looks at the remnants of the meteorite, all she feels is frustration.

So she doesn’t complain about Kai’s suggestion of returning to the Wild Sanctum. With a nod of her head, she turns and starts to follow the path with her friend in tow.

As she’s shuffling along, Mihm catches a glimpse of something. Something glowing, just like the meteorite dust and the plants surrounding it. Could it be..? Her feet carry her into a gallop, and she only half listens to Kai’s voice calling out behind her.

She ducks through the brush, vines and leaves whipping at her face as she darts under branches and clambers over roots. The glow gets brighter and brighter, and she nearly barrels snout-first into the source—only after skidding to a halt right in front of it does she realize what it is: another meteorite.

There’s a rustling in the thicket behind her, and a moment later, Kai appears at her side. “What is it?” he pants, trying his best to catch his breath.

“It’s… another one,” Mihm breathes, and her eyes wander past their newfound discovery. She sees deep grooves in the ground, upturned soil, and disturbed foliage leading deeper into the woods. “Come on, I think there might be more.”

The pair pick their way through the underbrush. Many of the plants here are uprooted or destroyed in some way, and up ahead, Mihm can see a tree that has been snapped in half.

“Do you think…?” Kai trails off, ducking under a broken branch. His left wing hooks on a large leaf above him, and the water it had held moments before now comes pouring out, positively soaking him. “Oh, come on,” he grumbles, shaking out his wings.

“That the meteorite broke into pieces right as it was about to land?” Mihm finishes for him. “Yeah, I do.” She yelps when he shakes himself, shielding herself with her wing. “Hey, stop that! You’re wetting me!”

Mihm hops over a huge log to escape, talons leaving scratches in the wood as she pushes herself over the top of it. She lands on the other side with a grunt, and her claws sink deep into the ground.

It takes her a moment to realize what’s in front of her.

“Uh, Kai?” she calls. “I think I found the rest of it.”

It’s another meteorite, exponentially larger than the first two. And this one seems to have affected the surrounding area more than the others. Mihm watches as a sapling very quickly doubles, triples in height, growing right before her eyes. It opens up into a fully-grown tree seconds later, and more saplings sprout at its roots.

Kai lands with a huff next to her, most of the water shaken from his scales. “Oh,” he marvels, green eyes flitting over the scene before them. He watches as birds flutter between the twisted branches above their heads, with wings like flower petals and tail feathers like leaves. He closes his eyes, and feels the sheer amount of magic seeping into the leyline beneath their feet. “This is it. This is what we were looking for.”

“You don’t need to tell me twice!” Mihm exclaims once she snaps out of her astonished stupor, bounding across the small clearing to get a closer look. She nearly squeals with excitement, unable to contain herself as she plops down and opens up her satchel. Oh, she can’t wait to take note of all this! Everything is so magical and wonderful and weird, she can’t believe they almost missed this entirely.

“Look at what the magic is doing to the plants here,” Kai muses, taking careful steps over to a tree on the edge of the clearing. It’s a fruit tree, but the fruits are huge—he isn’t even sure he could lift one. And they’re an odd color, too: bright blue, with a gentle glow that pulses at a leisurely tempo. He’s never seen fruits like these before, and he’s lived in the Viridian Labyrinth his entire life. “There’s nothing like this back at camp.”

Mihm glances up from her notes, and her quill halts its scrawling across the page.

“Oh!” she gasps, not bothering to put away her writing supplies, just standing on her hind legs and precariously making her way over tangled roots and around beautiful flowers. She sits next to Kai and begins to scribble more notes into her journal.

Kai glances down at Mihm’s notes, and watches as she starts to sketch the odd fruits on the next blank page, annotating different parts of them with arrows. She doesn’t seem to react to his presence at all, perfectly absorbed in her notetaking, humming quietly to herself.

She’s always been like this, he thinks. They’ve known each other for years, and she’s always been curious and, dare he say, a little reckless. He finds himself appreciating her enthusiasm more and more as time goes on.

“What do you think we should name it?”

Kai blinks. “The fruit?”

Mihm grins up at him. “Duh, what else?” She thrusts her journal and quill into his talons and climbs up the trunk of the fruit tree, looking over her shoulder at the closest hanging fruit.

Kai takes a step back, holding Mihm’s book to his chest. “Uh, Mihm? What are you doing? Shouldn’t we tell the rest of the camp about this?”ll I’m gettingt of the group about this?”

“I’m getting a closer look,” she grunts, reaching back with one talon to try and cut the stem holding the fruit to the branch with her claws. “For science! I want to make a diagram of the inside.”

“Are you sure that’s a good id—” He squawks as the fruit is cut loose from the branch and lands on the ground with a thud loud enough that he feels the vibrations run all through him. “—ea…”

Mihm laughs triumphantly. She makes her way back down the trunk, walking a circle around the fruit before sitting back down next to Kai again. She pauses. “Kai?”

“Yeah?”

“How are we going to get this back to camp?”

@MMM Arcane Daily Lore

The Wild Sanctum had enjoyed the short time spent back to the normal activity and noises that were common for the area, but that was not to last for a while, not yet. Dozens of rustles echoed through the air as the four Houses of Arcane and their Nature companions returned to the Wild Sanctum. It was time to reconvene and share results, but not until after a quick meal.

“Mihm is going to have a field day with me. I can just feel it,” Antares said glumly, looking at her food.

“No time to sit around a dawdle, though. We’ve got results to share!” a Nature classmate said excitedly.

And it was true, everyone there was eager to tell the others what they had found. As everyone gathered in a seating arrangement that resembled lecture hall seating, Galdur of House Dreamstrider took to the podium first to speak to everyone.

“The search through the Worldedge Wetlands proved to be rather fruitful. And eventful, too,” they added, recalling their time trying to keep their students under control. “The area saw a confirmed impact structure, and we found a genuine meteorite. We took samples and brought them back here for further testing.”

In the middle of Galdur’s speech, Antares groaned.

“We saw dozens of cases of plants developing new carnivorous tendencies, as well as many new fruits being grown,” Galdur continued. “We elected not to eat any of them, for safety reasons.” Galdur’s speech was finished off by several more whines from their students about not being allowed to eat the fruit. “Muzzle it. All of you. I’m at my wit’s end, and I will not hesitate to discipline you when we return to the Starfall Isles.” This was enough to quiet them.

The next House to speak about their findings was Runesworn. To the surprise of everyone, Cedar took the position at the podium. “We found lots at the Shrieking Wilds site. Another verified impact structure with a true meteorite within. The grass below had turned black, and the ground seemed to constantly be shifting. Many of the flora and fauna developed bioluminescence as well, with some species of flora taking on many properties of fauna and vice versa,” the Aberration said rapidly, before taking off from the podium, carrying his notes with him.

His speech was met with several murmurs of disbelief. Something about Cedar’s words felt too rehearsed, even with the notes they may have had. Nothing about any experiments that they may have had? It was honestly rather hard to believe. Then, some papers Cedar had fell out of her claws, but she didn’t seem to notice. One teacher walked over and picked up the sheets, turned them over, and started reading carefully.

“Cedar!” the teacher shouted. “What is this!?”

The Aberration made no response, electing instead to bolt away from the rest of the crowd with the teacher chasing after them. Many of the students laughed, satisfied that Cedar was indeed acting within their normal behavior. She’d be caught and brought back to the rest of them, eventually.

The next House to speak was Shatterspell. Initially, it didn’t seem that anyone wanted to speak on the topic. Eventually, a rather disappointed Fathom walked up to the podium to speak to the rest of the students. “The impact site at the Gladeveins proved little of major note. There was a confirmed impact site, with a few samples brought back. However, the effects of the meteor proved to be minimal. It did seem that the wildlife was reacting, but there was too little to make detailed observations,” the Fathom finished, before silently walking away from the podium.

The last House to speak was Starseeker. Antares was very reluctant to speak on the podium in front of everyone else given what she had said before the whole ordeal had begun, but she was one of the best students of her house, and she ended up being told by her teachers that she would be speaking.

Antares tried to ignore the few stifled laughs as she walked up to the podium. She wasn’t looking forward to adding this memory to her pearl. “The site at the Everbloom Gardens had dozens of anomalies to report,” she paused. “With a confirmed impact site from a meteor, and samples brought back for further analysis. We also noted several instances of the effects the meteors seemed to have on the local insect populations. We observed butterflies with vibrant and fast-changing color patterns, or those who could merge with plants entirely.” Antares finished, finally able to stop moving her jaw as though the words were being forcibly pulled out of her.

Antares walked off the podium without a word, but she found her exit much more silent than she expected. Where’s Mihm? And that Nocturne? she wondered, scanning the crowd but not seeing either of the two.

Murmurs went through the crowd. Many of them also knew about Mihm’s grudge against Antares. Even the Nature dragons had some idea after what happened last night. The crowd grew louder as everyone began wondering out loud where Mihm and Kai were. As people talked, they soon realized no one had seen either of them since the pair had visited their camps. Roll call was taken, and it was quickly confirmed: Mihm and Kai were not at the Wild Sanctum, they were somewhere else in the Viridian Labyrinth.

“I hope they’re both alright, they don’t deserve this,” Antares said, worried. She knew Mihm held a grudge against her, but she just kept her distance from the Aether and didn’t see any reason to argue back. She certainly didn’t want her to be lost in the wild. Teachers began asking around, trying to figure out when Mihm and Kai visited each camp. It was eventually found that the two were last seen at the Shatterspell camp in the Gladeveins, so they must be somewhere between there and the Wild Sanctum. With no time to waste, many of the dragons set out to find them, including Antares.

The sun was getting low in the sky and the jungle was darkening quickly, but the search party was finding no signs of Mihm or Kai. That was until a few of them felt a magical disturbance away from the path. The party ventured through the dense jungle until they heard two faint voices, one of them very excited. Everyone rushed ahead towards the sounds before finding a massive rock, clearly a meteor, firmly planted in the surrounding ground, the wildlife around it shifting and growing at incredibly fast paces.

A head poked around from behind the massive rock. It was Mihm, alive and well.

“Oh, hey guys! Check this out! You see this here?” She beckoned for the others to approach. “This, this is… amazing feels like an understatement. This is the best I’ve ever felt. I’d love to see the look on Antares’ face. She’s been like, ‘Oh yeah, we need proof for all this,’ WELL HOW’S THIS FOR YOU, YOU LITTLE-”

“I’m here, Mihm,” Antares interrupted, unamused.

“And watch your language,” Galdur warned.

“I’m just glad you’re alright. You gave us all a scare when neither of you showed up at the Wild Sanctum,” Antares said.

“I thought about trying to tell her we should head back, but I figured I wouldn’t be able to persuade her,” Kai said wryly.

“How can you expect me to walk away from this?” Antares wondered aloud.

“It is rather impressive,” Cedar said.

“And the way the wildlife is reacting, and so drastically,” Antares noted.

“Oh, yeah, you guys have all found that, haven’t you? What else has there been?” Mihm asked.

They quickly recounted the details from each of the other impact sites to the Aether and Nocturne.

“Wow, today’s been absolutely amazing, hasn’t it?” Kai pointed out.

“Okay, but what’s the point of all of this? I mean- let me finish,” Antares said, noting the shocked looks at her initial question. “What I mean by that is, is there any connection between these or are they just run-of-the-mill meteor impacts like we have back in the Starfall Isles?”

“That’s… that’s actually an excellent point, I have to admit,” Mihm conceded.

“Well, when we saw these four come down through the atmosphere, they all appeared pretty much simultaneously,” Cedar noted.

“Yes, and from the looks of it, all four impact sites have had, well, a serious impact on the wildlife,” Galdur pointed out.

“If that’s all that there is…” Mihm began, trying to push out her growing disappointment.

“It’s a bit of a long shot, but meteors break up, don’t they?” Kai asked. “What if these were all part of the same rock that broke up?”

Stunned silence fell soon afterward as Kai brought up the possibility. It was promising and exciting for certain, but something was still nagging at everyone.

“I hate to be like this, again, but I want to point out that every impact site has had its wildlife differently. And again, we have no way to prove that these were the same rock, although I won’t doubt it,” Antares said.

“Actually, we might be able to do that. Quickly, even,” Cedar piped up. “Does every house have samples with them?””

The members of each House produced smaller bits of the meteors as Cedar began asking for a few new vials from his Runesworn teachers.

“This will take a few minutes, but it should answer our question,” Cedar said excitedly.

“What are you planning?” Galdur asked suspiciously.

“Spectroscopic solution. You know how it works,” Cedar responded. Galdur’s eyes lit up at what Cedar was proposing.

“Spectro-what-now?” Kai asked, baffled.

“Spectroscopic solution, often a liquid, is a very reactive substance, and the color of the reaction depends on whatever is put in it. What that means for us is that if the reactions in different solutions are the same color, that means that whatever’s in them is the same thing, so we can prove that the meteors are the same material,” Antares explained, as the samples were given to Cedar to add to the vials. “The one thing I’m still unsure about is that if these were the same meteor initially, how come their reactions are so different?”

“I think it may have just been their unique locations,” Kai answered. “The local wildlife in the Everbloom Gardens differs from the Shrieking Wilds, which differs from the Worldedge Wetlands, which differs from the Gladeveins. Each of them has their own set of life, which will react differently.”

“Well, guess what?” Cedar interrupted, drawing all faces to them. “The regions may have reacted differently, but all four samples are reacting the same. You know what that means!”

Faces all over lit up at what Cedar was saying. It was true. The meteors were all from the same rock. The Arcane crowd erupted into cheers. Confirmation of a discovery as monumental as this one was cause for celebration. Everyone rushed back to the Wild Sanctum to prepare both festivities and a report, the Nature dragons following behind. The night buzzed with talk and excitement as everyone exchanged the events of the day. Despite it all, some of the Nature officials were still concerned.

If you were an Arcane dragon, your mind was likely focused on “I can’t wait to see the report!”

But if you were a Nature dragon, you were probably still worried, thinking “What are we supposed to do with these new plants?”

@MMM Arcane Daily Lore

Gwydion lifted his massive head as another pair of students whizzed past him. He watched them go fondly, something in his old heart gladdened to see Nature full of life and laughter. This exchange with Arcane was good for both Flights. Especially in such trying times. Gwydion’s pleased expression faltered as he let out a heaving sigh. They’d been late to this one, too. When they looked up from their great tomes and books and scrolls, they’d only done so because an odd pink flower was scooting across the grass in front of him, pulled along by its blue, spiny tongue. Or an arm? He wasn’t sure if the opening was a mouth or not. A Wildclaw wearing the flowing robes of Arcane’s House Dreamstrider was following it, scrambling to get it back in a glass box. Gwydion had stopped her once her task was complete to find out what was happening, and the answers to his questions only gave more questions.

Which led them here, feeling the sun on their face and the wind in their beard, smelling the fizzle-pop of potent Arcane magics in the air as lively students and tired teachers and many little seedlings made… a greenhouse. Many greenhouses, in fact. One of a kind, every one of them.



“No, I promise, they don’t bite,” Gabriel whispered to the two Nature Skydancers next to him.

He couldn’t fault them for their nerves; it hadn’t taken a lot of effort at all to get all these butterflies into their open-air pen, and for some reason, that made him a bit… nervous. But observation is why they were doing this whole thing, and observation would get him his answers. In the meantime, he couldn’t show his hesitation in front of the Skydancers. They were supposed to be the primary caretakers of this enclosed habitat they had set up for the butterflies, after all!

“Now, these butterflies have mimicked the Black and White Contrast Butterfly, commonly seen in the Everbloom Gardens,” he explained, “A fact discovered by one of our best students, a member of Starseeker House like myself –”

A sudden burst of activity from the entrance to the habitat interrupted Gabriel’s lecture. A group of students in the black, navy and magenta robes of House Starseeker tumbled in. They were babbling to one another in excitement as they rushed to the top of one of the soft hillocks. He heard something about, “Antares is missing out!”

There was nothing he could do: Gabriel watched in passive bemusement as the young Starseeker students rolled down the slope into the field of butterflies, scattering them to the winds until they hit the gentle barrier he’d set up… and his face.

Well, at least the Skydancers were laughing now as the ever-shifting wings of the butterflies darted around them.



House Dreamstrider’s greenhouses were humid, partially flooded to provide pools and streams, and etched with many protective runes. Galdur went up to the group of students he had tasked with organising the key information about the wildlife onto a large display board just inside.

“Now, class, are you sure you included all the safety notes –”

“Yes, professor,” Circe sighed, rolling her eyes and then smirking as one of the kelp-creature fronds bent down and started exploring her teacher’s feathered crest. They flinched away from the curious attention, batting at the creature.

“You know,” said one of the Fae close by, “They really are friendly, professor, and hardly dangerous at all.”

Galdur eyed the kelp suspiciously, but after a moment, and a suspicious look at their class, they reached out and tentatively petted one leaf. The whole stem shivered, the many eyes on its leaves closing happily as they stretched towards Galdur’s hands for more attention. The kelp-creature started purring!

“Well,” Galdur admitted as they slowly stroked the leaves, trying to make sure they paid attention to everyone they could reach, “Maybe they’re not so bad after all …”

“I’m sure Nature’s going to have fun looking after this lot,” Circe smiled, and winked at her friends. The alien creatures they had found in the Worldedge Wetlands were certainly some of the friendliest, and she couldn’t wait to introduce them to their Nature caretakers … once they’d finished labelling them.



Cedar held her eyes as wide open as they could get, her tails out and her body stretched to give her maximum visibility. The Runesworn students had been trying to get the starry siren flowers — which teleported when no one was looking at them — into the greenhouse for the past hour, with no luck. Every time, someone blinked at the wrong moment, and when one plant jumped into position, it was incredibly difficult not to get distracted and lose track of the rest!

“Eyedrops, Hexa!” Cedar cried as they shuffled along at the center of the group. He was under a whole heap of pressure not to blink! He was their backup: every Runesworn student holding a plant had their eyes fixed on it, and was being led by another student, but Cedar was in the middle of them all at a backup — their many eyes able to fix more of the plants in place.

“On it!” Hexa, the Starseeker Fae, was perched on Cedar’s back with an eyedropper, and it was her job to keep Cedar from blinking. Teamwork to make the dream work!

“Almost there,” said one of the Runesworn students, his eyes fixed on the plant in front of him.

“This enchantment on the glass had better work,” muttered the dragon, leading him.

“It’ll work!” Cedar assured them. It was his magic, after all: he had to defend it! Besides, she was confident that her experiments had borne fruit. “Let’s just get inside!”

The group shuffled awkwardly through the entrance to the greenhouse, and one professor finally slammed the door behind them, sealing them into the dim interior that mimicked the Shrieking Wilds. A flicker of blue flame danced along all the joints between the panes of arcglass, sealing the charm that should stop the starry siren flowers from teleporting beyond the bounds of the greenhouse.

“There!” Hexa cried, jumping up and down. “We did it!”

With a groan of relief, Cedar closed all of their many eyes in sequence, the blink rippling from their head to the tip of their tail. “Ohhh, that’s better!”

Then he actually looked around—and cheered alongside his classmates. The starry siren flowers were flickering from place to place, but all staying within the bounds of the greenhouse, alongside the weird black hole mushrooms! Now they just had to make sure they prepped Nature to ensure none of them escaped…



House Shatterspell might have been the most excited of all to set up their greenhouse, given that they hadn’t had much chance to explore their actual meteorite crash site. The task of transferring the strange gigantic fruits and vegetables to a more suitable location had been assigned to Mihm and Kai.

They were lucky to have plenty of help from Shatterspell’s larger dragons, in both making the enormous arboretum required to house them and in physically getting the plants in position.

Now, as her House put the finishing touches to the greenhouse, Mihm flopped down onto an oversized fuzzy leaf and plucked an enormous raspberry from to munch on. As she watched, the fruit instantly started to re-grow before her eyes. They took a bite and offered it to Kai. “I think we’ve earned a break.”

“Yeah,” he replied, wiping his forehead. He took the fruit and nibbled on it. The flavour was incredible: so much stronger than any other raspberry he’d ever tasted before! He stared at the fruit in wonder. “You know, we still have so much more to learn about these alien plants …”

“And Nature’s going to be leading the way on that,” Mihm said, nudging him with her elbow as she took the fruit between another pair of hands. “I can’t wait to see all the reports that get sent to the Oculus of the Eleven. You’re going to have so much fun.”

However, the mention of reports being sent back to Arcane reminded both of them that soon it would be time for her to head back home to the Starfall Isles. They both looked around at the Nature and Arcane dragons working together to re-plant the specimens collected. It had been a wonderful opportunity to work together, and it was clear that all the dragons involved from both Flights had become friends in the process of researching these strange plants and creatures.

Kai shook off the brief flare of melancholy. “We are. And you’ll have to come back soon to see how we get on! I’m sure we’ll need some advice from Arcane every so often.”

Mihm grinned at him. “Yeah! We’ll find more excuses for me to visit, right?”

“Of course,” Kai said, and leaned back onto the leaf with his friend to plot their next trip to Nature even before they left.

@Draco981 @GoodRageSky @Ocernia @TwilightRising @Vaszarraena Thank you all so much for helping to tell the story of Magical Meteorite Mayhem! I love our characters so much, and you all came up with some amazing alien plants and creatures for them to discover ...!