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UNDER ORDERS from Evanna - she threatened to blind and deafen us if we disobeyed - we buried the dead varaves and placing the towards the sky and Paradise, before covering them over

Vancha was inconsolable On our return to the Cirque Du Freak, he demanded a bottle of brandy, then locked himself away in a small trailer and refused to answer our calls He blamed himself for the escape of the Vampaneze Lord If he’d tackled his brother, the Vampaneze Lord would have been at our mercy It was the first of our four proine a si into our laps

Mr Tall already knehat had happened He’d been expecting the confrontation and told us that the va the Cirque Du Freak for ?" I asked

"No," he said "They were following us for other reasons"

"But you kneere coed him

Mr Tall nodded sadly "I’d have warned you, but the consequences would have been dire Those with insight into the future are forbidden to influence it Only Desmond Tiny, can meddle directly in the affairs of tione," Mr Crepsley asked, "or e are due to clash with theain?"

"No," Mr Tall said "I could find out, but I read the future as little as possible What I can tell you is that Gannen Harst is prime protector of the Lord of the Vauards who can be replaced Harst is the key guardian Where the Lord goes, he goes too Had he been killed, the odds of future success would have weighed heavily on your side"

"If only I had gone after Harst instead of Vancha," Mr Crepsley sighed

Evanna, who’d said nothing since we returned, shook her head "Don’t waste ti lost chances," she said "You weren’t destined to face Gannen Harst at this stage of the hunt Vancha was It was fate"

"Let’s be positive," I said "We noho the Va with We can spread Gannen Harst’s description and tell our people to look out for hiain - next time we’ll be ready and knoho to look for"

"This is true," Mr Crepsley agreed "Plus we have suffered no losses We are as strong as ere at the start of our quest, we are wiser, and we still have three chances to kill hilumly

"Failure is always a bitter pill to s," Mr Crepsley said

We saw to our wounds after that Harkat’s ar, and Mr Crepsley said it would be fine in a couple of nights My right thuly colour, but Mr Tall said it wasn’t infected and would be OK if I rested it

We were preparing for sleep e heard angry bellows Hurrying through the camp - Mr Crepsley with a heavy cloak tossed over his head to protect hi sun - we found Vancha on the outskirts, tearing off his clothes, an e at the sun "Roast ed it "I don’t care! Do your worst! See if I give a-"

"Vancha!" Mr Crepsley snapped "What are you doing?"

Vancha whirled, snatched up the bottle and pointed it at Mr Crepsley as though it was a knife "Stay away!" he hissed "I’ll kill you if you try to stop me!"

Mr Crepsley came to a halt He knew better than to mess with a drunken vampire, especially one of Vancha’s powers "This is stupid, Sire," he said "Come inside We will find another bottle of brandy and help you drink-"

"- to the health of the Vampaneze Lord!" Vancha shrieked crazily

"Sire, this is reed in a sadder, sober tone "But this is a mad world, Larten Because I spared the life of reatest enemy has escaped and our people face defeat What sort of a world is it where evil is born of an act of goodness?"

Mr Crepsley had no answer for that

"Dying will not help, Vancha," Harkat said "I should know"

"It won’t help," Vancha agreed, "but it will punish, and I deserve to be punished How could I face my fellow Princes and Generals after this? My chance to kill the Lord of the Vaer and sha the sun kill you?" I asked

"Aye," he chuckled