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As soon as Nimum, Elva and Sophie arrived at their destination, the rest of the class came running to pull them into a massive group hug, with Fiff and Rok leading the pack. The rest of the class had been incredibly worried. They told the new arrivals about how terrified they'd been, watching Sophie and Elva disappear down into the darkness of the chasm and Fenrir following after them. The only thing that had given them some hope was that they knew that Sophie and Elva had been wearing their amulets of protection. Shortly after, they had run into Nimum, who hurried on down to help.

Sophie couldn't help but notice how surprised Elva seemed at the cheerful welcome. She got the sense that Elva hadn't expected a particularly warm reception. Perhaps she even thought that they'd be disappointed to see her. As Rok embraced both of them in a crushing hug, Sophie thought that she could see a happy tear streaming down Elva's cheek.

As Rok embraced both of them in a crushing hug, Sophie thought that she could see a happy tear streaming down Elva's cheek [https://img.wattpad.com/60048fccf5c47adfc290f4c1bd9ad6758fac1280/68747470733a2f2f73332e616d617a6f6e6177732e636f6d2f776174747061642d6d656469612d736572766963652f53746f7279496d6167652f643363536154533970514d7248413d3d2d313235363530313732392e313730633236396361636234326662343637323237343239343034312e706e67?s=fit&w=1280&h=1280]

When the rest of the class was done hugging Elva, she wanted to make an announcement. She wanted to apologize to the rest of them for having called them improper. The rest of the students could barely believe what they were hearing.

"Hey, Sophie, did Elva hit her head on the way down that hole?" Trom asked.

"Be nice, Trom," Fiff said, punching his shoulder lightly. The rest of the class accepted Elva's apology without any further snide comments.

Next, they had to take care of the lightning bird. It was unquestionably the biggest bird that Sophie had ever seen – it was at least as big as one of the school buses. The bird had black feathers with blue inscriptions on its back, and small bursts of lightning sparkled from its eyes. The rest of the class had already bandaged the bird's wounds and helped it deal with the worst of its pain. Once Nimum was there to help, it didn't take long before the bird was back on its feet.

As she worked, Nimum explained how it was Fenrir who had attacked the lightning bird, taken control of Drim and even caused the animals in the area surrounding the school to disappear. Up above them, the kids could see the sun shining in from the fissure that the bird had fallen through.

When Nimum had finished healing the lightning bird's wounds, it was once again able to spread out its wings. But before it flew off, Nimum had a small request.

Sophie listened as Nimum explained to the massive bird that if they walked back to the school, they wouldn't get there before late evening. The lightning bird bowed its head, allowing Nimum and the students to climb onto its back.

The bird expanded its wings. "Hold on," it said – Sophie wasn't even surprised to learn that it could talk at this point – and then flew up into the sky on its mighty wings.

"Hold on," it said – Sophie wasn't even surprised to learn that it could talk at this point – and then flew up into the sky on its mighty wings [https://img.wattpad.com/0685c70a9c037c65ad6bd746db679fd0b14b5556/68747470733a2f2f73332e616d617a6f6e6177732e636f6d2f776174747061642d6d656469612d736572766963652f53746f7279496d6167652f355a4e6b555f6936396479755a673d3d2d313235363530313732392e313730633236613236303561303033323331303133383639383934372e706e67?s=fit&w=1280&h=1280]

Most of the students had a hard time holding onto the back of the lighting bird. Several of them clung to Rok instead, since his rocky features were easier to hold onto than the bird's feathers. Vix didn't manage to grab on in time and went flying backwards, but Nimum grabbed him with one of her roots.

This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience.

When the lightning-bird finally started gliding more calmly in the air, the entire class was gasping for breath.

"I thought I was going to die!" Beto declared dramatically.

The other students just glared at him. If Beto had fallen off, he could have just turned into a bat, unlike the rest of them. Once the initial shock had passed, the kids gradually started to calm down and enjoy the view.

Sophie thought back to the start of the day, when she had arrived with the flying bus. Back then she had been all alone in a strange world.

That had all changed, thanks to her classmates. Now there she was, sitting on the back of a lightning bird and feeling for the first time that she had found somewhere she fit in.

Up ahead they saw the school and the school buses arriving. Without warning, the lightning bird dove towards the school. Once again, the students clung to the back of the bird, and a moment later they had landed.

They climbed dizzily off the bird's back. Vix, Trom and Beto weren't feeling great after the sudden dive and had to take some moments to collect themselves, but at least they'd made it on time. The school bell rang, signaling the end of the day.

The lightning bird bowed gratefully and then flew off. Sophie followed it with her eyes as it flew away.

"Is every day gonna be this wild?" she wondered out loud to herself.

"Of course! Isn't it great?" Fiff said excitedly.

"Except for the bit with F-F-Fenrir," Vix said.

"And when Elva apologized. That was pretty weird too," Trom added.

Pretty soon they were all waving goodbye to each other and heading off to their own busses. It really seemed like today had been a pretty normal day for everyone else. Before Elva left to catch her own bus, she hugged Sophie and thanked her.

By now everyone had said goodbye and gotten aboard their own busses. All except Sophie. She turned towards Nimum.

"Nimum, can I ask you something?"

"Of course, Soph," Nimum said cheerfully. "But you might wanna hurry. I don't think your bus driver loves waiting around."

Sophie looked over at the bus and saw the bus driver waiting impatiently in the driver's seat. She turned back to face Nimum.

"Did you really go to school with my parents?"

"Oh yeah, for sure! Me and your parents were great friends. We still are!"

This made even more questions pop into Sophie's head. In fact, she had so many things to ask that they all came bursting out at the same time.

"But then how come I've never seen you before? Don't you visit them anymore? Or can't you? And when did my parents go to this school? And what does it mean to be the Seventh Daughter of Mother Earth? And how did you know what we were gonna need from your backpack? And how did you become an adventuring teacher?"

Sophie had to catch her breath after all those questions. Nimum laughed out loud. Sophie's curiosity brought back memories for her.

"Oh man, you're just like your mom and dad. Asking a thousand questions before I can even answer the first one."

Nimum crouched down so that she could look Sophie straight in the eyes.

"But there'll be plenty of time to answer those questions later. Right now, I'm sure your parents are waiting at home with a thousand questions of their own about your first day of school."

Sophie was a bit disappointed by that answer and she cast down her eyes, but Nimum lifted up her face with a finger.

"Just remember, tomorrow's another day and this is just the beginning. So just you get on your bus, because there's a lot more for you and those amazing eyes of yours to see."

That cheered Sophie up again, and she gave Nimum a wide smile before getting on her bus [https://img.wattpad.com/d6cc5ed29ac03fd5dc3210a5f489175aa1275927/68747470733a2f2f73332e616d617a6f6e6177732e636f6d2f776174747061642d6d656469612d736572766963652f53746f7279496d6167652f624f6c53464e365a6c426d7166673d3d2d313235363530313732392e313730633236616465633530316566623737353530323134393030392e706e67?s=fit&w=1280&h=1280]

That cheered Sophie up again, and she gave Nimum a wide smile before getting on her bus.

"Are you ready to go home, then?" the bus driver grunted.

Sophie nodded. She was ready. She couldn't help but smile. Her mother had been right. This school had been exactly right for her. It was more different and bizarre than any other school she had ever attended, and yet she'd never felt more at home.

Sophie stepped into the bus, and the bus driver shut the door and started the engine. She watched the school disappear behind her as they flew off. Already she was starting to look forward to the next day and wondering what kinds of adventures lay ahead.

Already she was starting to look forward to the next day and wondering what kinds of adventures lay ahead [https://img.wattpad.com/49dc21690f1f24bee7d2546e776bb7db298b3b9d/68747470733a2f2f73332e616d617a6f6e6177732e636f6d2f776174747061642d6d656469612d736572766963652f53746f7279496d6167652f5170443364663669546f373339673d3d2d313235363530313732392e313730633236616564646239316134353636363635373830343634392e706e67?s=fit&w=1280&h=1280]