Bright, early morning sunshine shone down on Merlin's Island. While the Atlantic Ocean remained rough, the day was warm.
Makenna, resting on her back on the sand, stirred. She coughed and slowly opened her eyes. However, the sunlight blinded her, and she closed them again.
Eventually, Makenna reopened her eyes, and they adjusted to the sunlight. "Ugh," she said. Makenna ached all over. She struggled to a sitting position, taking a minute or two to recognize her surroundings. When she did, she whispered, "Merlin's Island. We made it. We actually made it." Makenna shook her head. "Wait, is it already Thursday?"
She soon heard a squawk. Gina fluttered to Makenna and landed beside her, seeming to smile slightly. She folded her wings and looked Makenna in the eyes.
"Gina," Makenna muttered. "We made it. Somehow, we made it to Merlin's Island." She next reached for her bare neck and gasped when she realized that she no longer had her necklace. Makenna looked down, and her eyes widened. "My necklace! What happened to my necklace?"
It took her a while to remember exactly what had happened. However, eventually, Makenna remembered the storm, the Octopus Man, and letting her necklace go because she had to save Tracey. At the thought of him, she turned blue. "Tracey!" Makenna leaped to her feet. "Oh no! Where is he?"
Gina flapped her wings and hovered. She and Makenna searched the beach, but there was no sign of Merlin's apprentice.
"Please!" Makenna begged, reaching for her lips. "Don't tell me he's gone! Don't tell me he's turned into ash!"
"Calm down," Gina said telepathically. "I'm sure he's here. Let's just look for him."
Gulping, Makenna shakily said, "O-Okay. Le-Lead the way, Gi-Gina."
Gina flew down the beach, and Makenna followed, except that she walked because her wings were exhausted. While she followed the bird, she begged, "P-Please don't be dead, Tracey."
Gina remained calm. She led Makenna down the sandy beach and called for Tracey, although she received no answer.
Makenna soon stopped because she saw something up ahead. She rubbed her eyes and looked more thoroughly. "Tracey!" Immediately, she flapped her wings, lifted into the sky, and hurried down the beach.
Indeed, it was Tracey she had seen. He rested unconscious on his side, his right arm bent and his head tilted down. His wings were on top of one another, but they were a mess. He was missing half his left wing, and a giant tear was in his right one. Also, small bones that once held the wings together were visible.
Makenna flew closer to Tracey and again yelled, "Tracey!" She soon reached him and landed, kneeling. "Tracey." Makenna grasped his shoulder and shook it. "Wake up. Wake up, please."
Tracey didn't. He was as still as a rock. He was almost entirely white again.
Gina soon landed beside Makenna's ankle and seemed to whimper.
Makenna sighed with relief when she saw that Tracey was still breathing. "He's still breathing. Thank God. Oh." She squeezed Tracey's shoulder and peered back at his broken wings. "His wings. I have to get Merlin. Gina, please. Let me get him. You watch over Tracey."
Gina nodded. "I will, Makenna. I'll keep him company. You've got to hurry, though! His wings are broken!"
"I know!" Makenna whimpered. Tears rolled down her cheeks. "Oh, this is all my fault! Tracey loves his wings! I don't know if he'll ever be able to fly again! Merlin said that there is no cure for broken wings! Oh, I might as well just commit suicide."
"Don't, Makenna," Gina told her. "Don't commit suicide, please. We can help him. You just need to get Merlin."
Makenna nodded. She patted Gina's head and muttered, "Thank you, Gina." Next, she patted Tracey's shoulder. "I'll be right back." Makenna stood and turned toward the island's jungle. Opening her massive wings, she flapped them and lifted into the sky, hurrying into the jungle.
Behind, Gina called, "I'll just wait here!" through tern squawks.
***
Makenna zoomed through the jungle and frantically searched the area. "Merlin? Merlin, where are you?" she called. "Tracey needs help!" There was no answer. Makenna didn't even remember where Merlin's Cave was. She was already lost on this godforsaken island! She flew toward a few clusters of trees and cursed under her breath. "Merlin! Merlin!" she shouted over and over again.
Finally, Makenna found Merlin's Cave. Merlin the Great himself stood before it, looking worn out.
Seeing him, Makenna said, "Oh, thank God! Merlin!" She landed before him and tried to remain calm, but it was impossible. "Merlin, I need your help! It's Tracey!"
Merlin finally noticed her and jumped. "Makenna Delling! You're back! Whoa!" He scanned Makenna's new fairy form up and down. "Congratulations, my dear, you're now a Soon to Be a Crystal Metamorphic Fairy! I thought you would be one when you came back, and I was right!"
"Thank you, Merlin," Makenna said, "but I'm not interested in my new transformation. I need your help! It's Tracey! On our way here, we were attacked by the Octopus Man, and he—"
"You look beautiful as a Level 2 Metamorphic Fairy, Makenna," Merlin interrupted, grasping her shoulders. "Let me get you inside so I can make you a cup of hot tea. You look stressed." Removing his hands, he grabbed Makenna's wrist and started pulling her into the cave.
Makenna fought him and yelled, "No, Merlin, you're going the wrong way! Tracey's hurt! He's also really sick! I'm way beyond stressed!"
Merlin continued to drag her.
Makenna's stress went up another level. She finally shouted, "Let go!" and lifted her free hand, slapping Merlin across the cheek.
He immediately let go and stumbled backward, reaching for his cheek.
Makenna leaned against the cave's wall and took deep breaths.
Merlin glared at her and snapped, "How dare you slap the most powerful wizard in the world! You're going to pay for my new face! You're—"
"Shut up!" Makenna barked. She sounded like Jack and Rose in Titanic when they yelled, "Shut up!" at the man in the hallway after barely escaping from the freezing water.
Merlin jumped at Makenna's remark and backed away from her.
Makenna soon yelled, "Merlin, Tracey's wings are broken!"
"Broken?" Merlin yelped. "What do you mean by 'broken'? What have you done to my apprentice, Makenna?"
"I'm an amateur!" Makenna admitted in a choked voice. "An amateur! I failed to protect him! On our way here, we were attacked by the Octopus Man, and a giant wave crashed down on Tracey's wings and broke them! He's unconscious! He's also really sick! He's been stripped of too much magic! The Octopus Man has cursed him!"
"Cursed him?" Merlin's eyes widened. "Broken wings? We've got to hurry, Makenna! Broken wings are a fairy emergency! They're very, very painful, and if not treated right away, the fairy could die! Broken wings are the worst thing that can happen to a fairy. Tracey's mom died of broken wings. We're not going to lose him, too. Stay here, Makenna, and I'm going to get the stretcher. When I come back, you're going to lead me to him, right?"
"Right," Makenna whimpered. She watched as Merlin turned on his heel and hurried down the corridor. When he disappeared, she yelled and closed her eyes. Makenna fell to her knees and shouted, "I hate myself!" as loudly as she could. "I'm so stupid! And it's all because I'm crazy about Peter Nelson!" Makenna covered her face with her hands and fell onto her front, and her fingernails turned a lighter shade of blue.
***
On Merlin's Island's beach, Gina patiently waited for Makenna. Her eyes caught a shimmer of something unusual toward the end of it. Gina narrowed her eyes and stared at it. She thought about investigating, but then she glanced at Tracey. Should Gina investigate the shine, or should she stay there with her friend? She wouldn't be gone for long.
Suddenly, from the shine, Gina thought she saw a flash of light. What is that? she thought to herself. Gina finally couldn't help herself. She had to find out what that shine was!
Turning to Tracey, she told him, "I'll be right back." With a flap of her wings, Gina lifted off the ground and flew toward the shine. She soon reached it, and her mouth dropped open. Believe it or not, she was looking down at Makenna's surfboard. Gina landed and slowly approached the board, sniffing it up and down. "What's this?" she asked herself. Chuckling, she hopped to each side of the board and pecked it.
"Coming in hot!" a sudden voice soon shouted from the sky. "What are you doing stealing my treasure? I found it first!"
Gina peered into the sky, and her eyes widened when she saw Raeven, the same young bat who had freaked Makenna out and slept beside her that night she and Tracey dragged Merlin out of the depths of the cave. "Uh, uh," she stammered when she saw that, yes, he was coming in hot.
Gina turned to fly away, but Raeven shouted, "Look out!" in his lingo before switching to English. "Ah! I just saw the most horrific thing!"
Gina lifted into the sky, but it was too late. Raeven crashed into her, and both avian creatures toppled to the ground. Gina slid face-first in the sand, and Raeven crashed into the side of Makena's surfboard, upside-down, and fell. His head was buried in the sand.
For a moment, the two didn't move. Then, Gina stood and shook the sand off her feathers. She shivered and turned to Raeven, shouting, "Raeven!" in tern squawks. Gina hurried to where he was buried and grabbed his neck. She tugged it, and Raeven's head emerged from the sand.
"Oh, Sam heck," he dizzily spoke. "What a nightmare, Gina. I thought I just saw Merlin's apprentice with broken wings."
Gina gulped and didn't speak.
Raeven's vision started to clear, and his eyes landed on unconscious Tracey further down the beach. "Ah!" he shouted, ferociously flapping his long, black wings. "I did! Oh, this is awful, terrible, horrifying! Young Tracey loves his wings!"
"Raeven, calm down," Gina telepathically begged. "Yeah, Tracey's wings are broken, but don't worry. Makenna Delling went to get Merlin. She should be back soon."
"Makenna Delling?" Raeven gasped and reached for his heart. "Oh, my heart. Cupid has struck a bullseye." He fell onto Makenna's surfboard. "I knew that fairy was a kind-hearted soul. She's so beautiful—I can't go on."
Gina focused back on Makenna's surfboard and asked Raeven, "What do you think this unusual object is? Perhaps the Octopus Man sent it here?" She slowly approached the surfboard. "Do you think it's edible?"
"Oh, absolutely." Seeming to smile, Raeven slid off Makenna's surfboard. "I'm sure it tastes just like chicken. Watch this."
Gina did.
Raeven turned to Makenna's surfboard and licked his lips. Then, opening his mouth, he leaped into the sky and bit down on Makenna's surfboard with his small, sharp teeth. Immediately, he flinched. "Ahh!" Raeven shouted. He quickly took his teeth away from the board. "This stupid object is as hard as a rock!"
Something gurgled in Gina's throat.
Over the sound of the wind, she heard, "Gina!" and saw that Merlin and Makenna had reached the beach.
"Merlin?" asked the tern.
"Gina!" repeated Merlin.
From where he stood, Raeven shook as if from fear. "Oh snap! It's him! It's Merlin the Great! Please!" His claws grabbed the side of Makenna's surfboard, and Raeven dangled, wings down. "Spare me! I've done nothing wrong!" He wrapped his wings around his body and became as still as a rock.
Standing on the outside, Gina knocked on his wings. "Don't worry, Raeven, Merlin's not coming for you. He's coming for Tracey."
"Uh-huh," Raeven sarcastically spoke. "Yeah, right." He did not come out from behind his wings.
"Trust me," was Gina's following line. She turned and opened her wings. "I have to go now, Raeven, but I'll see you soon, okay?"
"Whatever you say, Miss Tern."
"Merlin!" Gina called. She lifted into the air and returned to Tracey, landing beside him. "Here! Here!" Gina faced the jungle and flapped her wings. "We're here!"
Makenna was the first to emerge from the jungle. She pulled apart ferns and peered out at the beach. Her blue eyes widened when she saw Gina screeching beside Tracey. "Here, Merlin!" she yelled, waving into the jungle. "They're right here!" Makenna flapped her wings and flew out of the ferns. She soon hovered over the beach and again studied the jungle.
Merlin appeared from behind another line of ferns, rolling a stretcher that he always kept in his cave, just in case there was an emergency.
Where Raeven hung, he peeked out from behind his wings, and his eyes landed on Merlin. "A stretcher," he said to himself. "How convenient. I wonder if he'll bring it here so I can give him a good beating on his head." Shutting up, Raeven hid in his wings again.
Makenna soon reached Tracey and whispered, "Don't worry, Tracey, Merlin's here. You're going back to his cave. You're going to be okay."
Gina stared at her out of the corners of her eyes. Did Makenna care about Tracey? She thought she didn't, but now, she wasn't sure. She still had her doubts about her, especially since she betrayed her friend.
"Is that Makenna Delling?" Raeven asked when he heard her voice. He sneaked a peek outside his cave, and at the sight of Makenna, he blushed. "It is!" Raeven pulled his wings close to him.
Merlin reached Makenna and Gina, and his eyes widened when he saw Tracey's wings. "Oh, my gosh," he whimpered. "That's serious. Makenna, you need to help me out here."
"Yes, sir," Makenna said in a tired voice. For some reason, she felt exhausted. However, she helped Merlin.
With Makenna's help and a little bit of magic, Merlin dragged Tracey off the beach and lugged him onto the stretcher without bumping his wings too much. He placed another fairy oxygen mask over his nose and mouth. Once Merlin had Tracey on the stretcher, he told Makenna to grab the other end, and she did. He then pulled up the wheels.
Merlin peered into Makenna's flushed face and said, "Let's move him." He pulled on the stretcher's head and headed toward the jungle, followed closely by Makenna. It wasn't long until he, she, and Gina disappeared into the woods.