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.

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.

"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!

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.

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"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!