05 Crag Beetles

CHAPTER 5 CRAG BEETLES "What was that?" Skyla squealed as something ran over her foot. "Peep!" Blaze called. She shook her feathers until they got brighter. Tag moved back against the tunnel wall and leaned down for a closer look.

第五章岩甲虫“那是什么？”有什么东西从斯凯拉的脚上碾过，她尖叫起来。 “偷看!”大火。她抖动着羽毛，直到它们变亮。 泰格向后靠在隧道的墙上，俯下身仔细看了看。

Hundreds of shiny black beetles crawled out of gaps in the walls and ground. "Crag beetles," Tag whispered. "They live inside cracks in rock and stone. Their shells are super-hard." Skyla loaded her slingshot. "They might be Thorn's spies," she whispered. "Check their eyes." Tag looked for the orange eyes that all of Thorn's spies had. But the beetles' eyes were hidden beneath their hooded shells. "The beetles are small," Tag said. "Maybe they'll let us pass?" SCRITCH! SCRATCH! Blaze stamped her feet as a couple of beetles moved closer.

数百只闪亮的黑色甲虫从墙壁和地面的缝隙中爬了出来。 “岩甲虫，”泰格低声说。 “它们生活在岩石和石头的裂缝里。 它们的壳超级硬。” 斯凯拉把弹弓装上子弹。 “他们可能是索恩的密探。”她低声说。 “检查他们的眼睛。”泰格在寻找索恩所有间谍都有的橙色眼睛。 但是甲虫的眼睛隐藏在它们带帽的外壳下面。 “甲虫很小，”泰格说。 “也许他们会让我们过去？”地!划痕!当两只甲虫靠近时，火焰跺着脚。

"The prickle ants were small, too," Skyla reminded her friends. "But they bit—hard!" "We have to keep moving," Tag whispered. "Just try not to make any noise." Tag tiptoed forward, slowly stepping over and around the crag beetles. He pointed his dagger at any that came too close. Tag could see a faint light at the end of the tunnel. "Almost there," he said. Suddenly, one of the beetles dropped onto Tag's shoulder. Tag jumped and his dagger fell to the ground with a loud CLATTER!

“刺蚁也很小，”斯凯拉提醒她的朋友们。 “但他们咬得很狠！”“我们必须继续前进，”泰格低声说。 “尽量不要发出任何声音。” 泰格踮着脚尖往前走，慢慢地绕过岩甲虫。 他用匕首指着任何靠得太近的人。 泰格看到隧道尽头有一束微弱的光。 “快到了，”他说。突然，一只甲虫落在泰格的肩膀上。 泰格跳了起来，他的匕首哗啦一声掉在地上！

The beetles froze. They turned and looked up at Tag and his friends. A thousand glowing orange eyes stared up at them as they raised their razor-sharp horns.

甲虫冻住了。他们转过身来，抬头看着泰格和他的朋友们。 一千只发光的橙色眼睛抬头盯着它们，它们举起了锋利的角。

"They are working for Thorn!" Tag gasped. He snatched up his dagger. "Peep! Peep! Peep!" Blaze cried, her feathers shaking. The crag beetles quickly flowed past the friends' feet like a thick, black river. "What are they doing?" Skyla asked. The beetles climbed on top of each other—one by one, until there were no longer hundreds of beetles but one gigantic, mega beetle!

“他们在为索恩工作！”泰格气喘吁吁地说。 他抓起匕首。 “偷看!偷看!偷看!”烈焰叫道，她的羽毛在颤抖。 岩甲虫迅速地从朋友们的脚边流过，像一条又黑又厚的河。 “他们在干什么？”Skyla问道。 甲虫一个接一个地爬到另一个的上面，直到不再有数百只甲虫，而是一只巨大的巨型甲虫！