The first place Tracey escorted Makenna to was a large, rocky hill leading to a cliff. He soared up the face of it, arms out to his sides.

Makenna slipped after him, but Tracey caught her before she fell. Makenna thanked him and continued her climb. When she eventually reached the top of the hill, she joined Tracey at the cliff's edge and glanced at him.

He nodded and grasped her temples, turning her head.

Makenna gasped when she saw that she and Tracey stood over a beautiful cove—and there was the ocean. "Wow," she whispered. She stepped forward, and her eyes focused on the rays of the sun scanning the ocean's surface.

Tracey gripped her shoulder and winked. "This place is called Coveline Cliff."

"Coveline Cliff," Makenna repeated.

Tracey let go of her shoulder and inhaled, dropping backward.

Makenna kneeled. Her fingers gripped the cliff's edge, and she watched him fall. "Oh goodness, Tracey."

Just before the young ninja hit the cove's sand, he flapped his wings and turned his body, shooting toward the ocean. As he flew, sand blew up under him.

From the cliff, Makenna jumped and yelped, "Yikes!" However, as she watched Tracey zoom all over the place, her smile gradually turned into a grin. Wow, he did love flying. Just watching him gave her the urge to try it, but she backed out when she saw how long the drop was.

When Tracey finished his flight, he shot back up to the cliff and landed beside Makenna. The second he did, he laughed and spun in a circle. After twirling, he focused on Makenna's face. "Well, are you ready to try it, Makenna?"

"No!" she shouted. "Please don't drop me!"

"Don't worry," said Tracey. "I'm not going to force you to drop again, Makenna. How about this? You tell me when you're ready to give it a go."

"Okay," Makenna nervously said. "I will, Tracey. For now, can we find my brother?"

"Certainly," said the young ninja. "Let's go." With that line, they continued their journey. Tracey helped Makenna back down the hill, and they took off when they reached its base.

The next place Tracey took Makenna to was a small lake in the heart of Merlin's Island, where a small island rested in the center.

At the sight of it, Makenna's eyes sparkled. She put her hands together and said, "It's beautiful, Tracey."

Tracey smiled. He peered down at his feet and kneeled, picking up a few flat stones.

Makenna watched him carefully.

Tracey stood back up and showed her one of the stones. "Makenna, do you know how to skip rocks?"

"I do, Tracey," Makenna said with a nod. "Why?"

"Well," Tracey added, "have you ever skipped rainbow rocks?"

Makenna stared at him confusingly. Then, shaking her head, she answered, "No. What the heck are rainbow rocks?"

"I'll show you," Tracey said. "Feast your eyes." He turned to the lake. With one of the stones in his right hand, he brought back his arm.

Gina, who spied on them from behind a medium-sized rock resting on the ground, turned red.

When Tracey was ready, he said, "Fire!" and tossed the stone. It hit the water and started to skip.

Makenna gasped. Whenever the stone hit a section of the water, that section glowed rainbow. The color vanished when it moved to a new section, and the pattern continued.

Tracey's stone skipped seven times before it hit the water and sank.

"Holy smokes!" Makenna said. "Amazing!"

"Now you try," Tracey told her. He offered her a stone.

Smiling, Makenna accepted it. Tracey stepped back and watched as she tossed the stone forward. It hit the water and created the rainbow color. Makenna excitedly lifted her hands and cheered, "Yoo-hoo!"

Her stone skipped six times before it sunk.

"Not bad," Tracey said, handing her another stone. They tossed their stones forward and watched together as the water came to life with rainbow colors. "This place is called Rainbow Waters," Tracey explained. "This is one of my favorite places to come whenever I have free time."

"I can see why," said Makenna.

Tracey chuckled, but suddenly, his smile vanished, and he lowered his head. His wings dropped.

Makenna noticed his sudden shift in attitude. "Huh? Hey, what's wrong, Tracey?"

"Makenna," he upsettingly said, "I'm sorry I pushed you before."

"Do what?" she asked.

Tracey continued: "If you didn't knock me out of the sky, I definitely would have crashed into that wall. Please forgive me."

"Aw, don't feel bad," Makenna said. "I'm sorry I hurt you. I don't know what came over me."

"It may be because we're still young fairies," said Tracey. "Sensei told me once that a fairy's brain isn't fully mature until they reach the age of twenty-eight or thirty. He said that it's common for an underage fairy to make a mistake and not even know why they made that mistake."

"Wow," Makenna said. "So fairies age slower than humans?"

"They do," said Tracey. "In fairy years, a fairy isn't an adult fairy until age twenty-one, which in fairy years is the age of majority. Any fairy under twenty-one is considered an 'underage fairy'. Underage fairies aren't allowed to use adult fairy magic because it can hurt them. So, you see, Makenna, Merlin's taught me a lot but hasn't taught me everything."

"Because you're underage," she guessed.

Tracey nodded. "That is correct. And you are, too, Makenna."

"Wow," Makenna said. "That's so cool. I like this world of fairies, Tracey." She cleared her throat. "What place are we visiting next?" She was dying to see the rest of Merlin's Island. Who knew, while exploring, they may get lucky and find "Where the water meets your wings."

Tracey's smile returned. "Follow me." The next place he took Makenna to was a meadow behind the beach.

As Makenna ran through the flower-covered meadow, Tracey flew before her. She acted out a twirl and announced, "Amazing! I feel like I'm in Narnia!" Makenna flopped onto her back, and her eyes landed on cumulus clouds drifting across the sky.

Tracey soon joined her. He, too, flopped down. The top of his head touched Makenna's.

The two teens closed their eyes, placed their hands on their chests, and let the warm air wash over them. It was like Makenna was in a dream world.

She sighed, and Tracey did, too. "Feel that zephyr," she told him. "Isn't it wonderful?"

"It is, Makenna," agreed Tracey. "It's wonderful and somewhat hypnotic."

"Mmm," Makenna said. "If only every day were like this."

She and Tracey stayed in the meadow for a little longer before continuing their journey.

***

Tracey led Makenna to a white, sandy beach. They dove into the warm water and began playing. They splashed each other and laughed.

Gina, tired of following them, watched from a log and yawned.

Makenna splashed Tracey one last time before losing her smile and peering at the ocean.

"What's up, Makenna?" Tracey asked.

"Shh!" Makenna said, placing her index finger to her lips. "Did you hear something, Tracey?"

"Hear something?" asked Tracey. "What are you talking about?"

"Well," Makenna said, "I thought I just heard laughter. Deep, evil laughter."

"Evil laughter?" Tracey asked. "You were probably imagining it, Makenna." However, then he, too, heard something. It was faint, and yes, it did sound like laughter. "Huh?" asked the young ninja.

He and Makenna turned, and Makenna inquired, "Now, do you believe me, Tracey?"

Tracey nodded. Lifting into the sky, he hovered over the water. "Something's out there, Makenna, but what?"

The laughter was heard again but louder that time. Something was coming toward the two young fairies—something big.

Gina, who had heard the laughter, lifted her head. She gasped at what she saw.

Further out in the ocean, a swirl of dark blue water that almost looked like a whirlpool headed for Tracey.

Gina gasped again.

"Hey, check that out, Makenna," Tracey told Makenna. He pointed at the approaching swirl of water. "It almost looks like a whirlpool." He put down his foot. "I'm going to check it out. Merlin's Island usually doesn't experience a phenomenon like this."

Makenna heard the laughing again. She then realized what the whirlpool was and whispered, "The Octopus Man. Oh no." She glanced at Tracey. "Tracey, wait! Don't go near that whirlpool!" Jumping, she grabbed Tracey and again knocked him out of the sky.

The two fairies crashed into the ocean with a heavy splash.

Makenna stood on Tracey's back and yelled at the approaching whirlpool, "Octopus Man, leave us alone! Go away!"

Gina flapped her wings and hurried toward her.

Makenna felt movement under her and gasped when she realized she had pinned Tracey underwater. She quickly got off him, reached under, and grabbed his hand, pulling him to the surface.

The second his head broke out of the water, he coughed and inhaled breaths of air. "Makenna!" he shouted. "What's going on?"

Gina reached Makenna and squawked.

Hearing her, Makenna turned. "Gina! Thank goodness you're here! Quick, we have to get Tracey out of the ocean!"

Gina nodded, and her claws grabbed another one of Tracey's tufts. She started to pull.

The current picked up, and Makenna yelled, "No!" She tightened her grip on Tracey's hand.

The current tried pulling him away from her and toward the whirlpool instead. Makenna and Gina did not give up. They were getting closer to shore. The closer they got, though, the more the current pulled them.

Makenna turned to the whirlpool and announced, "Ha! Ha! Take this, Octopus Man!" She reached out her left hand to shoot a spell, but the only thing that escaped her palm was a blast of smoke. "Aw, come on," Makenna said.

Gina snorted. Then she squawked when she saw that an enormous, fifteen-foot wave appeared from nowhere and was approaching them.

Makenna and Tracey soon saw it and yelled.

Gina let go of Tracey's tuft and exited the wave's path.

It crashed down on the two fairies, and they were thrown underwater.

Makenna lost Tracey's hand. Underwater, she shouted, "Tracey!"

Tracey was thrown toward the whirlpool, spinning all over the place, but he stopped suddenly. He opened his eyes and gasped at what he saw.

Directly before him was the shadowy figure of a large, fifty-foot-tall man. Instead of pupils and irises, his eyes were nothing except terrifying, glowing blue scleras. He had eight massive, Kraken-like arms and tentacles with spikes on them. He held an enormous, golden trident.

Tracey had never seen something as scary as him. He screamed and turned. He tried to swim away, but the shadowy figure pointed his trident at him. From the trident's points, strings of gold lights escaped and circled the young apprentice, catching him by the wrists, legs, and ankles. Tracey struggled to release himself, but he was running out of air.

At the ocean's surface, Makenna swam toward the whirlpool, yelling, "Tracey!" She coughed, and ocean water sprayed on her face. She searched for Tracey.

Underwater, Tracey yelled, and his entire body glowed green. Like with the Kudzu vines, a great blast of magic escaped his hands and smashed into the Octopus Man.

The Octopus Man stumbled backward, giving Tracey time to release himself and swim to the surface. He flapped his wings and leaped out of the ocean, coughing. He closed his eyes and fell back toward the ocean headfirst. A black pattern of the Octopus Man's trident appeared on his upper left arm. Then, just as quickly as it appeared, it disappeared.

Makenna saw the young apprentice falling and shouted, "Tracey!" catching him. The second she did, another wave crashed on them. That one threw them out of the ocean, and the two fairies hurtled toward the beach.

They crashed onto the warm, fluffy sand, and the ocean calmed as soon as they did. The Octopus Man's whirlpool vanished. Tracey had scared him away, but as the Octopus Man left, Makenna heard him laugh one last time.

End of Act I: Seabrook Island!

Current Word Count: 42,324