Stopping the Machine

The current raged, a furious, unseen hand shoving them deeper into the underwater gloom. Nalu’s sleek body strained against the relentless pull, his breath coming in ragged bursts. Beside him, Kiko’s smaller form was a blur of panicked movement, his whistles a desperate plea lost in the churning water. Oru, the wise old turtle, was nowhere to be seen, swept away by the same malevolent force that threatened to tear them apart. Nalu’s heart hammered against his ribs, a frantic drumbeat against the roar of the water. He had seen the machine, a monstrous tangle of metal and pipes spewing filth into their world, and now it was actively fighting them.

“Nalu!” Kiko’s voice, thin and reedy, cut through the chaos. “Where are we going?”

Nalu, fighting to keep his direction, saw it then. A large opening, a gaping maw in the seabed, just beyond the churning vortex of the machine. It was their only chance. “Behind it, Kiko! We have to get behind it!”