Zale had reached the Outer Crossing before everyone else.
For once, he wished he hadn’t. ⚡
THE BOOK OF TAD
PAGE 16
ONE BURST LEFT ⚡
The darkened flare whipped past on its broken tether. TurboTAD and Glint plunged after it—and found Zale caught in the wake.
A hard curl of water had folded around him. Each time Zale fought upward, it dragged him back toward the drop at the edge of the Outer Crossing.
Glint went straight in.
The first surge threw him aside. He turned before it had passed, searching for another angle.
“Zale! Look at me!”
Zale twisted toward his voice. The next pull caught him and spun him lower.
The Builder flow key stayed tight against TurboTAD’s harness. His booster had one dependable burst left, with no promise of another.
He fired.
Green light drove him through the wake. TurboTAD reached Zale, caught his flipper and used the last of the thrust to carry them both toward Glint.
The booster coughed once and went cold.
Glint seized Zale and kept hold of him after they cleared the rough water.
“You said you’d stay above the Crossing.”
“I was above it,” Zale said. “Then the water changed its mind.”
“You also said you’d listen to my warning.”
“I lit a flare.”
“It lasted four seconds.”
“Five, surely.”
TurboTAD almost smiled, but the silent booster on his back felt heavier than it had a moment ago.
“What did you see?”
Zale’s smile faded. He pointed into the deep.
“The presence tried to turn away. Twice. The released flow rolled it back toward the Crossing. Its wake hit me first and smashed the flare against the marker.”
“So it isn’t choosing this path,” TurboTAD said.
“No. But its wake will still hit everything ahead.”
Below them, the shadow slid faster into the Crossing.
Zale looked toward a steep side-flow. “There’s a shortcut to the far side.”
Glint finally released Zale’s flipper. “I dislike your shortcuts.”
“You’ve survived every one.”
“That is not praise.”
TurboTAD glanced once at his dead booster. “Lead.”
Zale dove. Glint followed close beside him, and TurboTAD entered the side-flow under his own strength.
Far below, a chain of travel-lamps marked the busiest stretch of the Outer Crossing.
The fleeing shadow was being swept straight toward it.