Chapter 1

TO BEE, OR HOT TO BEE! MINEERIFT STONESHORD SACR

PROLOGUE Harper didn't want to hurt the bees. They weren't making it easy for her, though. They were buzzing all around her. One of them broke loose from the swarm, diving at her. It aimed its stinger right at her face. She lifted her shield just in time, batting it away. But she knew it would try again. A hissing sounded at her back. She spun around as a spider lunged at her.

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"Bad spider!" she said, swatting at it with her empty hand. That knocked it back, giving her some room. Maybe she could escape…. But more buzzing forced her to whirl around again. Another bee struck her shield. And then another. And another. The spider hissed behind her. She could sense its approach. She turned… And again… And again… She couldn't keep this up for long. It was a battle of the bugs. And both sides wanted to destroy her. And the worst part was this: if she fought back, she and her friends—and maybe the entire Overworld— were doomed.

Chapter 1 TO BEE, OR NOT TO BEE MARKED ABSENT IS NOT A GOOD QUESTION TO ASK THIS EARLY IN THE MORNING. Woodsword Middle School was abuzz with excitement. Harper Houston had never really understood that expression before today. But as she stood on the front lawn of the school, surrounded by her classmates, she could hear it. It was the sound of dozens of students whispering at once. Their voices were too low—and too numerous—for Harper to make out any individual words. But those voices, overlapping and reverberating across the lawn? Together, they sounded distinctly like a buzz. Harper's entire grade had been instructed to meet their homeroom group on the lawn. Now her

homeroom teacher, Ms. Minerva, was attempting to take attendance while a hundred kids chattered and squirmed with excitement. She seemed a little flustered. Her hair was extra frizzy, and her eyes were a little intense. She took a long sip of her coffee, followed by a deep breath. "Theo?" she said, raising her voice to be heard over the racket. "Is Theo Grayson here?" "Present!" said Theo, and he cut through the crowd, waving his hand in the air. "I wasn't late, honest! I just got a little lost." Ms. Minerva checked off his name on her clipboard. "Harper Houston?" she said.