THE BOOK OF TAD
PAGE 12
THE CURRENT THROUGH THE ROOTS 🌊
The shadow vanished beneath the basin. Stone cracked.
“Move!”
Freshwater tore through the grass as the deep cut split wider. TurboTAD fired his booster and pushed Nibble clear. Marno caught a thick root before the collapsing edge dragged him down.
“The shelf’s going!” Marno called. “Pressure underneath!”
Nibble’s detector flashed violet. “The signals are moving up!”
The lights shot through the darkness. The river followed.
TurboTAD held the key tight. “Stay together. Into the safer current.”
They swept between enormous roots while the basin gave way behind them. Dark stone disappeared, opening into a wide channel of reeds, lily stems and startled silver minnows. Blue-green light reached them through living Pond water.
Roots threaded the old Builder stones along the channel.
“Still heading for the nursery,” Nibble said, checking his detector.
TurboTAD looked upstream. “Then we keep it moving.”
Marno pointed at a broken stone support caught beneath the roots. “If that gives way, it blocks the channel.”
The key warmed sharply. One point faced the nursery, another the hidden river, and the third a wall of reeds ahead.
Violet lights appeared between the stems, one after another, moving away.
“Same signals,” Nibble said as his detector chimed.
TurboTAD went first. “Follow them. We still choose where we swim.”
The reeds parted into brighter water beneath the lily pads. Across the silt, an enormous fresh trail led towards the nursery.