The cavern shook with the screeches of the two giant scorpions. Kai’s chest heaved as he ducked behind a rock, narrowly dodging a snapping claw. Aiko slid to his side, eyes sharp and breathing hard.

  “This isn’t working!” Kai gasped. “They’re not slowing down!”

  Aiko slashed at the closest scorpion, but its armor deflected her kunai with a harsh . She cursed under her breath. “They’re too well-protected… we can’t win this.”

  Kai glanced wildly around. “What do we do?!”

  Behind them, the carved stone monster’s mouth gaped wide, the tunnel within glowing faintly with an eerie blue light. The only other way out was back — and the scorpions were already blocking that.

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  Aiko’s eyes flicked to the stone mouth.

  “No way…” Kai whispered, following her gaze. “You’re not seriously—”

  “We jump,” Aiko said firmly.

  Kai’s mouth dropped open. “WHAT?! Into that thing?!”

  “Better than being skewered here!” she snapped. A scorpion’s tail slammed into the rock near them, shattering it and showering them with sharp fragments.

  Kai let out a panicked laugh. “Okay! Okay! Point taken!”

  With no time to waste, Aiko grabbed Kai’s wrist and yanked him to his feet. Together, they sprinted toward the stone monster’s mouth, the ground trembling as the scorpions barreled after them.

  They reached the edge.

  Kai looked down into the tunnel, heart hammering. The glowing passage twisted down into darkness, the bottom unseen.

  Aiko squeezed his hand. “Trust me.”

  Kai’s breath caught — then he nodded.

  With a single leap, the siblings threw themselves into the mouth of the stone beast just as the scorpions lunged.

  The world tilted.

  The glow swallowed them whole.

  And the last sound before everything went black was the angry screeching of the creatures they left behind.

  Author’s Note

  so much more to discover in this world—and trust me, every step counts.