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IT WAS an age of deceit Everyone was suspicious of everyone else - and with good reason! You never knehen a trusted ally would turn, bare his fangs and rip you to pieces
The vampires and vaed upon finding and killing the Lord of the Vampaneze If the vaht would belong to their purple-skinned blood-cousins, ould drive the vampires to extinction
Three vampires were sent by Mr Desmond Tiny to hunt the Vampaneze Lord - Vancha March, Larten Crepsley and me, Darren Shan I’m a half-vampire
Mr Tiny told us that other vampires couldn’t assist us in our hunt, but non-vampires could Thus, the only one to accoh a witch known as Lady Evanna also travelled with us for a short ti the Vaers in the first of four predicted encounters, we travelled to the city of Mr Crepsley’s birth We didn’t expect to find the Lord of the Va of va huirlfriend, Debbie Hemlock, and Steve Leopard Steve used to be my best friend He said he’d become a vampaneze-hunter, and swore he’d help us put an end to the killer vampaneze Mr Crepsley was suspicious of Steve - he believed Steve had evil blood - but I persuaded hiet was an insane, hook-handed vampaneze It turned out he was another of ie Veggie, though he now claihteous Vampaneze He was once an eco-warrior, until his hands had been bitten off by the Wolf Man at the Cirque Du Freak He blamed me for the accident, and had teae
We could have killed RV , but we kneas in league with other va us to them What we didn’t knoas that ere actually the flies in the trap, not the spiders Deep beneath the streets of the city, dozens of va them stood the Lord of the Vampaneze and his protector, Gannen Harst - Vancha March’s estranged brother
In an underground cavern, Steve Leopard revealed his true colours He was a half-vampaneze and had plotted with RV and the Vampaneze Lord to lure us to our doom But Steve underestimated us, and I overcame him and would have killed him - except RV captured Debbie and threatened to murder her in retaliation
While this was happening, my allies pursued the Vaainst thehtered us all, but ould have killed many of them in the process To avoid the bloodshed, Gannen Harst let us go and gave us a fifteen-minute head start - it would be easier for the va Steve Leopard hostage, and Vancha clutching a vampet - a human who’d been trained in the ways of the va RV free to do all the terrible things he wanted to Debbie Through the tunnels we hurried, exhausted and distraught, knowing the vampaneze would soon swarht up ?
Chapter ONE
WE SCURRIED through the tunnels, Mr Crepsley leading the way, Vancha and I in theup the rear We said as little as possible, and I cuffed Steve into silence whenever he started to speak - I wasn’t in the mood to listen to his threats or insults
I didn’t have a watch, but I’d been ticking off the seconds insideWe’d moved out of the modern tunnels and were back in the warren of old, dao - plenty of time for the vampaneze to run us down
We came to a junction and Mr Crepsley took the left turn Vancha started to follow him, then stopped "Larten," he called him back When Mr Crepsley returned, Vancha crouched low He was almost invisible in the darkness of the tunnels "We have to try and shake theht for the surface, they’ll be upon us before we’re halfway there"
"But we could lose ourselves if we detour," Mr Crepsley said "We do not know this area We hed, "but it’s a chance we’ll have to take I’ll act as a decoy and go back the e came The rest of you try and find an alternative route out I’ll work my way back to you later, if the luck of the vaht about that a moment, then nodded quickly "Luck, Sire," he said, but Vancha was already gone, disappearing into the gloo with the almost perfect silence of the vaht tunnel and pressed on, Harkat now in charge of the vampet Vancha had kidnapped We ns that we’d passed this way At the end of the tunnel, we branched off, again to the right As we entered a fresh stretch of tunnel, Steve coughed loudly Mr Crepsley was on hiain and you die!" he snapped, and I sensed the blade of his knife pressing against Steve’s throat
"It was a real cough - not a signal," Steve snarled in reply
"It matters not!" Mr Crepsley hissed "The next time, I will kill you"
Steve was silent after that, as was the va the tunnels, wading through water and waste I felt terrible, tired and drawn, but I didn’t slon It round, or very close to it Our only hope was to get clear of the tunnels before the vaht should prevent the us any further
A short while later, we heard the vareat speed, not having to worry about stealth Mr Crepsley dropped back a bit, to check if they were following us, but they didn’t seeone after Vancha
We continued to cli our way closer to the surface Our pursuers kept passing in and out of earshot By the sounds theythe shortest route back, and had stopped and fanned out in search of us I guessed that ere at least half an hour froround level If they located us any tiht as they were dark - a lone, well-placed va us doith a rifle or arrow-gun
We were picking our way over a heap of rubble in a cru tunnel ere eventually spotted A vampet with a torch entered the tunnel at the far end, picked us out with a strong beaht, and roared triumphantly "I’ve found theure stepped out of the shadows behind hiht The va enough to turn off the torch, then hurried over I kneithout having to see hi," Harkat ly Prince joined us
"I’ve been shadowing you for a while," Vancha said "He’s not the first one I’ve picked off He just got a bit closer to you than the others"
"Any idea how far we are from the surface?" I asked
"No," Vancha said "I was ahead of you earlier, but I’ve been bringing up the rear for the last quarter of an hour, covering you and laying a few false trails"
"What about the vampaneze?" Mr Crepsley said "Are they close?"
"Aye," caain, to provide htly further ahead, we found ourselves in familiar tunnels We’d explored a vast slice of the city’s infrastructure when hunting for the vampaneze, and had been in this section three or four times We were no more than six or sevento Vancha The Prince swiftly joined us and we pushed on vigorously, finding a new lease of life
"There they go!"