When the pond floor rose, TurboTAD expected an attack.
What broke through the silt was trying to escape. 🌊
THE BOOK OF TAD
PAGE 14
THE CURRENT THAT BROKE FREE 🌊
The hollow heaved. TurboTAD fired his booster and shot clear as a broad, ridged back tore through the silt. It twisted across the channel, fighting the force that had driven it there.
Its weight struck a buried shelf. Stone cracked, releasing the current trapped behind it.
“Pressure’s coming off!” Marno called.
He kept both flippers against the leaning support until it dropped into a stone joint. Then he waited for the next shudder.
None came.
“Support’s safe,” he said. “Your route isn’t.”
Nibble nearly lost his detector as every light flared. “Wait.” He turned it sideways, watching the violet signals stream into the break. “Same pulse at both ends. There weren’t two warnings—just one trapped flow.”
The current caught the ridged shape and dragged it away. The trail made sense now: the broken river had pushed whatever was below straight towards them.
The key thumped against TurboTAD’s harness. He pulled it free. One point faced Marno and Nibble, another the widening break. The third shivered towards the open Pond.
No map followed.
He had enough boost to get back, or to keep pace until the route closed. He could not do both.
“Marno?”
“We’re secure.” Marno looked past him at the break. “You won’t be for long.”
TurboTAD turned to Nibble. “Bring a scout. Someone who knows the outer routes. Follow as soon as Marno can leave the support.”
Nibble stared. “You’re actually going after it?”
“I’m going after whatever moved the river.”
He turned before Nibble could argue and let the surge carry him.
A slab sheared from the shelf, dropping between them. Marno and Nibble vanished behind silt.
By the time TurboTAD broke clear, the familiar roots were gone. Far below the open water ahead, the hidden presence moved deeper into the Endless Pond.
A warning flare burned in the distance.
Someone else had seen it coming.