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so.’ Jasper looked at Boris. He was a bit worried that Boris’s monster side would get the better of him and he’d completely freak out. Jasper at least had some practice in controlling his whispering, but Boris didn’t. There was a good chance his whispering would lead him straight into the path of the monsters. ‘If you hear me say run, then run.’
    Boris smiled. ‘No worries.’
    â€˜Break a leg,’ Saffy said, shoving Jasper down the hallway.
    Jasper and Boris jogged down the corridor. They had no idea how close they had to be for the monsters’ antennae to sense them. Jasper hoped the plan worked. Otherwise, they were total goners.
    They stopped at the door to the Trail of Terror. A sign on the door read, ‘Do not enter. Class 2B test.’
    Jasper crouched, ready to run at the slightest sign.
    He closed his eyes and listened. At first there was nothing. But then the whisper started racing through his head. The words were so quick that Jasper couldn’t catch them. Jasper tried to stay calm as they became louder and louder. He pictured a blank piece of paper in his mind and tried to see the words on it.
    KLUUSS ... NAAOOO. KLUUSS ... NAAOOO. NAAOOOO. NAO!
    Close now! Jasper jumped up. ‘RUN!’ he yelled, dragging Boris to his feet. Jasper couldn’t hear any buzzing, but he knew it wouldn’t take long. They raced down the hallway. A bang from behind made Jasper glance over his shoulder. The drones had burst through the door.
    Then Jasper heard the buzzing. Four seconds. They were almost at the end of the corridor. Jasper could feel the wind from the drones’ wings as they sped towards him. He got to the corner and dived around it. Boris flew on top of Jasper, knocking the wind out of him.
    From underneath Boris, Jasper saw the drones freeze mid-flight and collapse on the ground.
    There was muffled cheering and Boris clambered off Jasper, who tried to suck some air into his lungs. If Boris had stayed on top of him for much longer, Jasper was sure he would have suffocated.
    â€˜One, two, three, four, five!’ Felix crowed as he counted the frozen drones.
    â€˜That was awesome!’ Saffy exclaimed. ‘This dog drool stuff is great. If only all monsters had this as their weakness, Hunts would be a cinch!’
    â€˜Easy for you to say,’ Jasper wheezed. ‘You just have to spray ’em.’
    â€˜Not quite,’ Saffy replied. ‘That was the easy bit. Now comes the hard part. The Trail of Terror.’



‘You should be all right, seeing as you’re the one with all the cancel cards. You mustn’t have screamed at your worst fear,’ Felix pointed out.
    â€˜Mmm,’ Saffy said airily.
    â€˜So, you’re sure there won’t be any more drones?’ Jasper said.
    Felix shrugged, ‘Yeah, I’m sure. Well, pretty sure. At least, I think so.’
    â€˜Great, that makes me feel so much better,’ Jasper mumbled, checking his flask of dog drool. ‘There’s not much left. Do you guys have any?’
    â€˜Nah, we've just used most of it,’ said Felix. ‘But don’t worry, the queen doesn’t have a stinger, so she’s harmless.’
    â€˜And we’ve got your back,’ said Saffy. ‘You’ll be fine.’
    They walked slowly towards the Trail of Terror. The door was hanging open, and the path inside was dark and narrow. It twisted around corners, so it was impossible to know what was around the next bend.
    Felix started shaking beside Jasper, and Saffy’s breathing had become shorter. But there was no choice. They had to find the queen. And she was in there somewhere. She had to be.
    â€˜Well, there’s only one way to find out,’ Jasper muttered, and stepped into the room.

15
    Jasper waited in the darkness. He could hear Saffy, Felix and Boris breathing quietly behind him. The door to the room swung shut with a loud creeeeaaaak.
    â€˜Please