Sahra stuck to the path the Masters had set her, wincing a little at the sharp bits she couldn’t work loose and into her cart. There...

Sahra stuck to the path the Masters had set her, wincing a little at the sharp bits she couldn’t work loose and into her cart. There was no light. Sahra expected none and was more than used to finding her way around by feel.

The inside of this tunnel was sharp and crumbly. It hurt her fingers to scrabble it loose on the floor, but it was better than hurting her knees and legs crawling over it. It smelled of old fire and didn’t echo at all. Not even when she gave a whoop to see if anyone else was near.

The answering whoops were small and far off.

Sahra yelped and crashed halfway down a slope that the masters had not put on their map. She spent a heart-stopping minute sorting out which bits were tangled in what before managing to crawl up the gritty, stinging slide.

Some of her finds were falling out her cart. Damn it. But she didn’t want to go fetching if they had half a chance of falling back out again and the masters wanted this done quick.

She’d come back on a free-range day. Yeah. And take her time. And beg for knee pads.

Sahra froze. Something outside the sloping tube was making a noise. Not like water pouring. Like… sand and scrattle and someone making bubbles in their drink… all mixed up. And something knocking. In a pattern Sahra didn’t understand.

Her heart tried to leap out of her chest as she realized she was alone in the dark with something on the outside of her hidden place trying to get in. Something neither human nor master.

This Halloween… send someone you love Hevun’s Rebel. Available soon in all good eBook stores everywhere.