Farrion pulled the door open and Vidya, Willow, Lobey, Lily and a whole bunch of bruised and dirty Fae kids fell through the door.
“Oh, mother earth!” came a cry.
“You won’t believe it!” said another.
Farrion pulled Vidya to her feet. “What’s going on Vidya?”
“We fixed it!” cried Lobey, jumping up in the air. The other kids cheered and ran into the room looking for their parents. There were cries and happy tears. Daisy showed her parents one of her cakes, and Toad passed baby Mahiya back over to the Queen. Lotus hugged Willow and Lily, grumbling how he’d missed everything. Vidya grabbed Pancake and swung him through the air.
“It’s over, father!” she laughed. She set Pancake on her shoulder and rubbed her eyes, explaining how she and Willow re-energised the Flower of Awakening and restored the Fae magic. Lobey explained how just as the Bunyips were about to win the battle, everything changed.
“And then the Bunyips just… stopped!” exclaimed Lobey, who was hugging her parents and sisters. “They stopped attacking us and just stared around like they were confused by the whole thing. And the Bunyip King said to me, ‘I’m sorry.’ Can you imagine? The Bunyip King said that to me!”
Vidya laughed as she went over to hug her mother. “Looks like the Flower of Awakening evolves creatures. It makes them wiser. So, when we gave the Flower a boost of power, the Bunyips got a boost of the magic as well. And now, they don’t want war with us. They just…. well… I’ll let you see for yourself.”
King Farrion and Queen Salote exchanged a look.
“Where is your Nani?” asked the Queen.
“She’s already out inspecting the grounds,” said Lobey, disentangling herself from her mother. “There are a lot of Devil’s Finger trees that are injured from the battle. She and I will have to work to patch them up.” The adults gave her a quizzical look, which Lobey had been waiting for. “Oh,” she shrugged. “They’re my guardian plant.” Her parents exclaimed, and the adults shook their heads and smiled, but then Lobey gasped in remembrance. “But you’ll never guess what Vidya’s guardian plant is!”
The Queen laughed and hugged Vidya tightly. “I’m so happy for you Vidya! What is it?”
Vidya looked around at the Fae kids. The Flower of Awakening had been a myth just a couple of days ago. “I think it’s best I show you instead. And Bunyips are gathered on the front lawn,” Vidya grinned at Willow. “They’re a little confused by the whole thing. We should go speak to them.”
They left the hidey house as a big group and made their way back up to the palace. They passed Nani directing Devil’s Finger trees to walk in single file back to their greenhouse. She came over to join them as they passed and put her arms around Vidya’s shoulders.
“I’m so proud you figured it out,” she said happily. “It’s such a shame I wasn’t there to see it!”
“Lucky I came across that paper in your hand, Nani,” said Vidya. “It was a close one, that’s for sure.”
On the way to the palace, the Queen did a tally of who was present. Everyone had been accounted for except Uncle Billy, the King’s bachelor brother, who had been known to go adventuring into the Fae forest alone.
“We’ll find him, Vidya,” said her father reassuringly. “He’s probably lost in the forest somewhere.”
Vidya nodded tiredly and everyone, the triplets, Daisy, Lotus, Lily, and Willow, all with their parents, gathered on the front lawn just outside the palace entrance, watching the scene before them. Vidya’s parents moved to the front of the group.
The Bunyips sat in a great huddle on the front lawn, the Flower of Awakening sat in their centre. They all gazed toward the great golden flower, who now shone with such brilliant gold light that it was impossible to look at her directly for too long. The Bunyips were muttering to one another, discussing the night’s events. Vidya explained that their arrows had done little to permanently injure any of the Bunyips, the brown snake venom and the stink flower sap had very temporary effects on the tough creatures.
King Farrion surveyed them from the side. The Bunyip King, feeling that he was being watched, looked up to meet the eyes of the Fae king. He rose from his seated position and strode through his people over to the King.
“Fae King,” rumbled the Bunyip King.
“Bunyip King,” said King Farrion.
“I believe I owe you an apology. I will prepare a formal speech to apologise to your people.”
King Farrion was not entirely sure what to say to this, but he was King after all, so he went for honesty instead.
“This is most unexpected.”
The Bunyip King cocked his head. “It is,” he agreed lightly.
The sky brightened in the east, and the two Kings looked over at the canopy of the Fae forest. Pink and orange streaks of light spread across the sky, followed by the tip of the orb that was the dawn sun. The light hit the palace wall first, and as the sun rose into the sky, the light fell upon the palace grounds. Sparks flew from all around them as the magic of the Fae shot out of the trees, the bushes, the plants and even the grass. The sun fell upon the Flower of Awakening sitting in the centre of the group of Bunyips and the closest gasped as a beam of light shot out of the centre of the golden flower. A magic wind whipped through the lawn, and the plants bounced and flurried, leaves rustled in a dancing display of
