Gina followed Tracey, who had found his way outside into the jungle at Merlin's Island.
He stumbled through it and headed for the beach.
Gina had tried to stop him, but every time she did, Tracey always gave her the same response: "I'm going. I have to save Makenna. It's my job as Merlin's apprentice."
He carried on with his hike through the island, even though he was in so much pain. Also, because he felt a little dizzy, he swayed and almost fell into some trees, but Tracey managed to avoid them. He stepped over Kudzu vines and ensured they didn't wrap around him. In his hand, he held his ninja star.
Back in his cave, Merlin entered Tracey's room, carrying a tray with a bowl of soup on it. "I've brought you some soup, Tracey," he tiredly spoke. "Huh?" Merlin stopped. His eyes landed on his apprentice's empty bed. "Tracey? Oh no!"
Merlin's eyes widened. He set the tray down on Tracey's table, where the medicine sat. "Dang it! I knew it!" Merlin punched Tracey's bed. "I knew that fairy wouldn't listen to me! He can't even sit still for five minutes! He's gone off to find Makenna when he clearly has broken wings and is sick! What did I expect? That's what I get for training a ninja as my apprentice. Now I have to go out there and find him!" He searched the area. "Check it out! Gina's gone, too! I'm such a stupid wizard!"
A blast of wind that blew in from Tracey's jail-like, bar window blew his long white beard, and Merlin grabbed it. Suddenly, he gasped and reached for his head. "Ahh! My powers! My powers are being drained!" He fell to his knees and collapsed onto his side. "My powers!" he repeated. "Tracey! Tracey, come back!"
With his following sentence, Merlin communicated with Tracey through telepathy. "Fine! If that's the way you want to play, go ahead. Keep in mind, though, that I'm going to come for you, and I'm coming right now."
Merlin groaned and struggled to his feet; however, he didn't take his hand away from his head. He stumbled toward the exit, and his cloak and hat grew pale. "I'm not going to let you leave this island!" he yelled at his apprentice. "Mark my words!"
Tracey heard Merlin's telepathic message. "Master!" he weakly yelled, turning toward Merlin's Cave. "Oh snap, Gina, I'm doomed." He pressed his palm against his forehead.
"Go, Tracey!" Gina ordered. She gently nudged Tracey forward. "I'm right behind you." She had decided to help Tracey on his quest to rescue Makenna because she knew she would never be able to stop him. "Go!" Gina called again. "Go, ninja go! We can beat Merlin to the beach. I promise."
She and Tracey started forward, and Tracey again said, "Oh, I'm doomed." Suddenly, the ground under his boots gave way, and he and Gina peered down. Then, Tracey fell into a hole.
He yelled when he landed in a smooth, slide-like tunnel and started to slide down it on his front, his legs pointing toward the ceiling and his fingers toward the continuous tunnel. "Whoa!" Tracey shouted, cracking a small smile. "No way! It can't be! I'm in the Tunnel of Rambuka! Inconceivable!"
Merlin's apprentice glanced behind him, and his body performed a slow but comfy 360. Before he knew it, Tracey faced forward again, and his golden-brown eyes scanned every inch of Rambuka. He really was in the Tunnel of Rambuka, a secret escape route on Merlin's Island that fairies and animals could take to the beach if they didn't want to hike through the jungle, or if the jungle ever caught fire.
Gina followed Tracey into the tunnel and called out telepathically, "Tracey!" She flew to a flat, loose piece of rock hanging from the wall, which was surfboard-shaped, and pushed it with her webbed feet. The rock was released, and it crashed down on Rambuka's floor, sliding toward Tracey. "Heads up!" Gina yelled. "Watch your wings!"
The surfboard-like rock slid by Tracey, and he saw it. Clenching his teeth, he grabbed the rock and brought it to him. Ignoring the pain in his wings, he hauled himself onto it and focused forward on the continuous tunnel.
Tracey rose to his knees and announced, "All right, Tracey, you've got this. I'm coming, Makenna." After saying that, he stood on the rock and held his arms out to his sides.
Tracey steered the board forward and scaled the walls and ceiling of the tunnel, performing numerous tricks. He shouted, "Whoa! Wicked!" the entire time.
Tracey leaped into the air and twirled the rock, landing back on it. He acted out an Air Reverse and grinned. "Yoo-hoo!"
After a bit, Tracey stumbled upon a fork in the tunnel. One path went straight, while the other veered to the left. "Gina!" Tracey called. "Which way?" He examined each passageway.
Through telepathy, Gina answered, "Straight! No, left!"
Tracey nodded and steered the rock to the left. He entered the passageway and now shred backward, but was unaware that he was approaching a sudden hill that went almost straight down.
Gina saw the drop, and her eyes widened. "Tracey! Look out!"
"What's wrong, Gina?" Tracey turned the rock again, now facing forward. At the sight of the drop, he said, "Oh, snap! No, no, no!" Before he knew it, he hit the drop and plummeted, heading for a crash landing below. "Go left?" Tracey snapped at Gina. "You're crazy, woman! What should I do? I do not want to hurt my wings again. Argh, I wish I could fly!"
"Quick, Tracey! Perform the Shrinking Spell!" Gina ordered.
"The Shrinking Spell?" asked Tracey. "Why?"
"Just do it!"
Tracey jumped. "Yes, ma'am." He cleared his mind and thought about being small. Tracey soon shrank down to two inches tall and yelled as he fell from his rock, starting to plummet toward the crash landing.
Above, Gina folded her wings and stooped. She caught Tracey on her back, and his mouth fell open. Gina turned her body and soared out of the way of the rock.
It smashed into the ground, and pieces of rock flew in all directions.
Gina dodged every one of them. "Lift!" she yelled. "I need lift! Sorry, Tracey, but I've never been in this tunnel before, either. I know that left is usually the best path to take, though."
Tracey fell onto her back and hugged her. "We'll make it out of this, Makenna," he painfully spoke. "I promise. Gina and I will not let your life end. Gina!" He closed his eyes. "My wings! My wings are starting to hurt again."
"Hang on, we're almost there." Gina flew faster. "Heave, heave! Toot, toot!" She soared her fastest through the Tunnel of Rambuka. Before she knew it, she stumbled upon another fork in the path and took the passageway that went straight.
After flying for a little longer, Gina saw a bright light before her—the tunnel's exit. "The exit!" Gina shouted. "I see the exit!" She hurried toward it, and in three, two, one—!
Gina popped out of the tunnel, and she and Tracey were thrown forward. They landed face-first in the sand on Merlin's Island's Beach, not far from Makenna's surfboard. Bright sunshine shone down on them, and the Tunnel of Rambuka's exit slipped back in the sand and vanished. Sand piled on top of it.
Tracey returned to his normal height and groaned.
Gina soon stood and shook sand off her feathers. "Whew," she said, grooming her wings. "Well, that's one way to get to the beach. Yowch." She shook her head. "Are you all right, Trace?"
Tracey didn't answer. He rested on his front, his arms at his sides, eyes closed.
Gina fluttered to him and landed. "Catch your breath, Trace; you're just a little shaken up."
"Sensei's going to kill me," mumbled Tracey. "I'm going to spend the next month in the Box of Despair." With his eyes still closed, he lifted his head and propped up on his elbow.
Gina rubbed against him, but then her eyes landed on Makenna's surfboard, and her beak dropped open. "No way." She approached it. "Remarkable. It's the unusual object from before."
"Unusual object?" asked Tracey. "What unusual object, Gina?" He opened his eyes and turned his head, seeing the surfboard. "What the—? Is that a surfboard?" Tracey rose to his feet but reached for his head. He shook it out and dropped his hand. His eyes again landed on the surfboard, and he came within reach of it.
"How strange," Gina told Tracey. "I don't see things like this washed up on Merlin's Island often."
"I wonder who it belongs to," said Tracey. "Buddy, stay calm. I'm just trying to figure out who your owner is." He kneeled to the surfboard and grasped it, flipping it over.
Gina landed on his head and examined it with him. Her eyes landed on the surfboard's three fins, and she asked, "What are those?"
"They're fins," Tracey answered. "Gina, this is a surfboard."
"Surfboard? What's a surfboard?"
"It's a board surfers use to shred waves out in the ocean," explained Tracey. "The rock you gave me in the Tunnel of Rambuka resembled a surfboard. Let's see, who is its owner?" Tracey continued to examine the board. He flipped it back over and ran his hand across its surface. His eyes then landed on a name carved in small letters at the surfboard's front. "Makenna Delling," Tracey read. He gasped. "Wait a minute, this is Makenna's?"
Eyes widening, Gina repeated, "How strange. How did it get here?"
"I'm not sure," slowly answered Tracey, "but we can't just leave it here. We have to return it to Makenna. I know how much she loves to surf. She's probably wondering where her surfboard is."
"Well, if we're going to go to Seabrook Island, then we have to go right now," Gina voiced.
"Yes, Gina, we do. We're wasting time." Tracey struggled to his feet again and picked up the surfboard, tucking it under his arm.
Gina continued to stand on his head.
Tracey headed toward the ocean, but just before he reached the shoreline, a splash of water erupted from the sea, and a shadow appeared over him and Gina. Tracey yelled, Gina, too.
At the same time, they shouted, "Ahh! It's Merlin!"
Gina dropped from Tracey's head, and he fell onto the sand beside her. He and she focused on the waterfall-like wall of water.
Merlin emerged from it, fifteen feet tall, his eyes full of anger. "You fool!" he yelled at Tracey. "How dare you disobey me!"
Tracey shivered, and Gina glanced at him before playing along with Merlin. "Yeah, Tracey! I told you not to leave! Bad Tracey!" Lifting into the air, she flew to Tracey's head and pecked it.
"Ow!" he yelped. "Merlin, please!" Tracey grabbed Gina and pulled her out of the sky. He stroked her head and focused back on Merlin. "I have to go. If I don't, Makenna's going to die. Besides, I have to return this surfboard. It's hers." Tracey removed one hand from Gina and patted Makenna's surfboard. Stroking Gina again, he added, "I know you're worried about me, but I promise that when I return from helping Makenna, I'll take it easy. We're good friends, and good friends never leave each other hanging. Please let me go, Sensei."
Merlin did not speak. He merely stared at his desperate apprentice. Finally, he sighed, and Gina and Tracey watched as he shrank back down to his regular height and landed before them. "I understand your concern, son," he spoke, "but the thing is, your wings are broken. I don't want them to get even more hurt than they already are. Besides, you gave Gina and me quite a scare yesterday. You literally almost died. I don't want to lose you. You're my son."
"Don't worry, Master." Tracey set Gina down on his wristband. "As long as Gina's with me, I'll be okay. I also have a feeling that Makenna's going to become a Crystal Metamorphic Fairy soon, so I want to help her. Once she becomes one, she'll be able to save you and the world of fairies. Everything will be balanced after a seven-year wait. You'll be known as Merlin the Great again."
Right after he said that, Merlin's face turned blue. Like before, he sank to the ground and curled into a ball, his back facing Tracey.
"Merlin?" asked his apprentice. "Aw man, I forgot."
Gina hopped off his wristband and approached Merlin's back. With her wing, she comfortably rubbed his pale, blue cloak.
From where he sat, Tracey inhaled. Closing his eyes, he lowered his head and begged, "Please, Master. Please let me go. Makenna needs me. Ugh." Moving around a lot had made him dizzy again. Bending his knees, Tracey buried his face in his arms, and the exposed bones of his wings skimmed the sand.
After a few more moments, Merlin got up on his hands and knees, and he and Gina studied Tracey.
Merlin shivered. "I don't know, son. I just don't know. You still don't feel good. I'll be honest, what happened last night with you was just as scary as what happened to Anne on that tragic night. I don't feel comfortable about you leaving."
"Please let him go, Master Merlin," Gina told the old wizard. She met his eyes. "I promise I'll take care of him. He just wants to help his friend. Even though she is sometimes a jerk, I do, too. We're begging you."
Merlin took a deep breath. There was silence, and then he nodded. "Very well, Gina. You and Tracey can go to Makenna."
"Seriously?" Tracey dizzily asked. He lifted his head and gazed upon Gina and Merlin.
"Can you not go right this second now, though?" asked Merlin. He stood and approached Tracey, kneeling. Taking his shoulder, he added, "Can you rest for at least an hour, Tracey? Then I'll let you go."
Tracey cracked a small smile. "Sure, Master."
Merlin also smiled. He helped Tracey down on the sand and glanced at Gina. "Gina, can you do me a favor and fly back to the cave? We need to give Tracey the medicine. I don't want him to return to Seabrook Island if he's in a lot of pain."
"Yes, sir," Gina said. "I'll go right now. I don't want him to be hurting either." She flapped her wings, and Merlin watched as she soared back into the jungle.
Then, focusing on Tracey, he asked, "How did you guys get here? I didn't see you when I was coming to the beach."
"Sensei," Tracey weakly spoke, looking at Merlin, "you won't believe it, but Gina and I took the Tunnel of Rambuka."
"Tunnel of Rambuka?" Merlin asked. "Really?"
Tracey nodded. "Yes, sir. You were right. It really does exist. Not that we meant to take it. We just fell into it."
"Remarkable," Merlin spoke. "Absolutely remarkable. Tracey, I have to admit, you're an amazing fairy. I'm proud to call you my apprentice."
Tracey's eyes drooped. "Thank you," he softly said. "And I'm proud to call you my sensei." With that, he closed his eyes and fell asleep.
End of Act III: Broken Wings
Current Word Count: 133,797