Anna loved to fly. Only she'd never have guessed how literally she would one day be able to do just that.

Her story began in the Kutabuta Jungle.

"I told you we should have brought a spare set of batteries for our torches." Trish, Anna's Swedish university friend, had been nagging for hours straight.

"And I told you that they are lithium based and we could only bring so many," Anna explained for the hundredth time, all while navigating her way through the dense flora that she had been studying for five years now. She knew Trish had a point; there wasn't much they could do in the middle of the night with no flashlight. Of course the clouds had to choose exactly this summer night to cast a thick layer over the moon and stars, their only other possible light source. "Besides, our backpacks already weigh more than they should. Remember my excursion-PowerPoint?"

"We should rest, wait until morning before we go deeper into the jungle," Trish complained in that very specific way of hers.

"I'm not opposed to that idea," Jack called from some metres behind them.

"Of course," Anna said, while looking half-apologetically at their third PhD research partner. She had completely forgotten that he had sprained his ankle only an hour ago.

The Poulapu finally came into view; a beautiful mountain, perfectly camouflaged with the same vegetation that grew in its surrounding jungle. Yet, for Anna, Trish and Jack, its magnificence stood out against anything they had ever encountered. All three of them fell silent for a moment at the sight of the marvellous piece of nature that had fascinated them for so long. It looked exactly like in her dreams.

It made Anna even a bit nostalgic to the good old days, when there were four of them laughing and dreaming together until deep into the night. She could still see them sitting around that round, oak table at the Irish Pub in the centre of Brussels. Ridiculous of course, because they served more Belgian than Irish beer. How all four of them had laughed around that table, and how they had all dreamed about this expedition.

With their destination in sight, Trish's mood must have changed as well, because she laid her hand on Anna's shoulder and softly said, "If only the professor could have seen this."

Tears popped into her eyes, which she immediately wiped away. "You're right," she said softly, "let's set up camp here tonight. Jack shouldn't overdo it with his ankle."

All three fell into a silent routine; Jack handled the tent, Trish looked after the food and Anna scouted the area. She almost didn't believe they were actually going to do this, that they were finally going to climb the mountain and study the gems from up close.

Tomorrow would be the day that would change everything for Anna – this trip had always been most important for her. When she had sufficiently surveyed the surroundings and the sweet smell of Trish's pop-up cooking was guiding her back to the group, an almost noiseless sound caught her attention.

Anna loved animals, but that didn't mean she aced that subject at university, and now she really regretted not studying that little bit harder. She could go back, leaving the mysteries of the fauna to the more experienced of the group, but since that would be Trish, Anna wouldn't hear the end of it. So, she pulled herself together, took a nasty looking piece of wood and pushed aside the giant leaves of the most rare plants on the planet. At any other time, she would be thrilled to touch these beautiful plants, were it not for the dazzling, gleaming piece of rock that was humming a soft tone between the leaves.

Was this what had scared her before? A relieved giggle escaped her lips. Rocks were more her field of expertise. After all, she had taken the professor's course on geology. But that was also why her relief turned sore after she'd taken a closer look. She knew for a fact that this glimmering, purple stone was not supposed to be this far from the gem source of the Poulapu.

Not knowing what else to do, she searched for a soft, yet firm leaf and wrapped the glowing rock in it.

When she got back to camp, Trish and Jack were almost done eating.

"What took you so long?" Trish asked, still chewing on her piece of dried beef.

"You guys are not going to believe this," Anna said, as she went to sit between them and unwrapped the leaf bundle with the gem stone in it.

The stone illuminated the small camp site, and to everyone's surprise it hummed softly. It didn't really harmonise with the sounds of the jungle, and yet the soft strumming complemented the cracking branches and hooting nightbirds, the sounds of the night.

Jack reached towards the stone, but before he could touch it, Anna hit his fingers with full force. "Really," she shouted, "where were you during all my PowerPoint presentations about the dangers of being exposed to what future historians might call the first discovery of magic?!"

Jack grinned guiltily, awkwardly going through his dark blonde curls with his hand.

"I thought they could only glow when being near the Poulapu source," Trish said, not being able to hide the sense of wonder in her tone.

"They should, but something is off." Anna shook her head, while she mentally skipped through all her courses. "I knew I should have brought my carry-on microscope."

"Because that wouldn't have gone over our weight limit," Trish mumbled. Anna ignored her comment.

"Not to sound stupid, but Anna, what is going on, because your concern makes me feel itchy," Jack asked. Although he was a few years younger than Anna and Trish, six years of doing intensive research together, had created quite a bond. They could read each other very well.

Anna looked into Jack's warm brown eyes and felt obligated to share her concern with him. "Our whole research so far was based on the fact that the rocks' vibrations in this environment somehow communicated with the plants and animals, to the extent that we might even call it magical. But what if it goes even further? What if it's growing, perhaps even evolving or reaching out? Who's to say it's not intelligent?"

"Intelligent? It's a stone, not a living organism," Trish shook her head, "we've already been over this, Anna."

"No, you have been over it," Anna countered, "I have never ruled out the possibility."

"Fine, if you are so certain that it is a magical, living organism, then Jack's MED-device should tingle, right?" Trish already fished for the little tablet-like device in Jack's travel bag.

"My magical energy detection device," Jack snapped while taking the piece of electronics out of Trish's hands, "does not tingle. It just says whenever the energy surrounding something isn't based on any scientific theory known thus far. My algorithm is only based on existing theories and scientifically proven energy waves, so please don't oversimplify my part of this expedition by saying my Lenora will tingle in the presence of magic." Jack huffed, while he stroked the side of the MED-device.

"Hey, Tingle, have you noticed that Lenora has been giving unidentifiable waves for the whole time I've been holding this little beauty in my hand." Anna smiled, bringing the others back to the seriousness – and awesomeness – of their discovery.

Jack had his attention on the little screen, while he tapped away on all kinds of buttons that opened back screens with unreadable data – or at least unreadable for Anna. For Jack it looked as natural as Māori, his mother tongue. As he scanned the data, he gradually started smiling more and more, making Anna and Trish almost explode from curiosity.

"Damnit Jack, just tell us what it says!" Trish leaned forward.

"Only one similar wave in the data history," he started, making them now both come closer, "an old reading from professor Janssens's archive entitled sopranaturale."

Both looked at each other in excitement – their previous quarrels forgotten. How many times had their beloved mentor told them there were so many more wonders beyond the natural, and how many sceptical comments had he endured to stand by his belief, even until his death? Now, were there similar readings? Here? With this stone? As if adding to their enthusiasm, the gem made one loud final hum, before falling silent, still glowing, but dimmer, asleep.

"Look, Trish, I know you're not a big believer in magic, but this is something," Anna tried again, "and we have to keep our minds open enough, or we will walk right past the biggest discovery humanity has ever made."

Trish rolled her eyes, not being able to hide her excitement anymore either.

"So, what's next?" Jack asked, his usual energetic self resurfacing after the ankle incident.

"I suppose we follow the example of our new magic friend here," Anna said, giving a challenging smile at Trish, "and go to sleep. Tomorrow we will climb the Poulapu."

Trish kept her eyes fixed on Anna, not willing to give the other girl the satisfaction of being right.

"Again, not opposed to the sleeping part," Jack disturbed their staring contest and climbed into the tent. "I'm going to put some of your self brewed ointment on my ankle, Anna, and then I'm taking the best side of the tent since I'm most in need of a good night's sleep."

"Yeah right!" Trish called, dropping her staring contest and running towards the tent, dragging her bag over the ground behind her.

Anna smiled and – knowing well that she wouldn't be able to sleep – wrapped the gem into the strong leaf again and crawled into the tent between her two friends, taking the firmest spot of the tent, but not being bothered at all. At least she would be warm.