Page 1 (1/2)
PROLOGUE
IF PEOPLE ever tell you vampires aren’t real - don’t believe the, cross-fearing creatures like in the legends, but honorable, long-living, extrastrong beings who need to drink blood to survive They interfere as little as possible in the affairs of humans and never kill those they drink from
Hidden away in some snowy, barely accessible corner of the world stands Vampire Mountain, where vampires meet every twelve years The Council (as they call it) is controlled by the Vampire Princes - who are obeyed by all vampires - and most of those in attendance are Va undead
In order to presentto Vampire Mountain and the Council Mr Crepsley’s a vampire I’m his assistant, a half-va, hard journey We traveled with a friend of ours, Gavner Purl, four wolves, and two Little People, strange creatures ork for a mysterious master by the name of Mr Tiny One of the Little People was killed on the way by a mad bear that had drunk the blood of a dead vampaneze (they’re like vampires, except they have purple skin and red eyes, nails, and hair - and they always kill when they feed) The other then spoke - the first time ever that a Little Person had communicated with anyone - and told us his nae from Mr Tiny: a Vampaneze Lord would come into power soon and lead the purple-skinned killers into war against the vampires - and win!
Finally we arrived at Vampire Mountain, where the vae caves There ISeba Nile, who’d been Mr Crepsley’s teacher when he was younger; Arra Sails, one of the few fea to become a Prince soon
The Princes and most of the Generals weren’t i to be a vaa half-vampire, I had to undertake the Trials of Initiation, a series of tough tests usually reserved for budding Generals When I was e, they told me that if I passed, I’d be accepted into the valected to tell me until afterward (when it was too late to back out) was that if I failed - I’d be killed!
Chapter ONE
THE HUGE CAVERN known as the Hall of Khledon Lurt was al at my table - Gavner, Kurda, and Harkat - there was only one other vauard who sat by hi tunelessly
About four hours had passed since I learned I was going to be judged in the Trials of Initiation I still didn’t know very loomy faces of my companions, and by what had been said in the Hall of Princes, I figuredvictorious were, at best, slim
While Kurda and Gavner muttered on about my Trials, I studied Harkat, who I hadn’t seen much of recently (he’d been cooped up in the Hall of Princes, answering questions) He was dressed in his traditional blue robes, although he noore his hood down, no longer bothering to hide his grey, scarred, stitched-together face Harkat didn’t have a nose, and his ears were sewn underneath the skin of his skull He had a pair of large, round green eyes, set near the top of his head His ed and full of sharp teeth Normal air was poisonous to him - ten or twelve hours of it would kill him - so he wore a special mask that kept hi or eating and back up to cover his mouth when he wasn’t Harkat had once been hu a deal with Mr Tiny He couldn’t remember who he’d been or what sort of a deal he’d struck
Harkat had carried a ht of the Vaure whose arrival would supposedly signal the start of a war between the va to Mr Tiny - the va out the va my eye, Harkat lowered his mask and said, "Have you seen much of the Halls?"
"A little of them," I replied
"You must take me on a tour"
"Darren won’t have hed miserably "Not with the Trials to prepare for"
"Tell me more about these Trials," I said
"The Trials are part of our va as any vampire can remember," Gavner told me Gavner Purl was a Vampire General He was very burly, with short brown hair, and he had a scarred, beaten face Mr Crepsley teased hihts they were held at every Council," Gavner continued, "and every vampire had to endure them, even if they’d passed a dozen tio, the Trials were restructured This was about the ti Before that, there were just Princes and ordinary vampires Under the new terms, only those ished to be Generals needed to undertake the Trials A lot of ordinary vampires take the Trials even if they don’t want to be a General - a vampire usually has to pass the Trials of Initiation to earn the respect of his peers - but they aren’t required to"
"I don’t understand," I said "I thought if you passed the Trials, you automatically beca a hand through his blond hair Kurda Smahlt wasn’t as muscular as most vampires - he believed in brains over brawn - and he had less scar tissue than h he had three small red permanent scratches on his left cheek, marks of the vampaneze (Kurda’s dream was to reunite the vampires and va peace treaties with the murderous outcasts) "The Trials are only the first test for would-be Generals There are other tests of strength, endurance, and wisdo the Trials justwas a phrase I’d heard many times Respect and honor were extreood standing, it ues "What happens in the Trials?" I asked "There are ain from Kurda "You have to complete five of them They’ll be picked at rando wild boars to clih a pit filled with snakes"
"Snakes?" I asked, alarmed My best friend at the Cirque Du Freak - Evra Von - kept a huge snake, which I’d grown accustoave me the creeps
"There won’t be any snakes in Darren’s Trials," Kurda said "Our last snake keeper died nine years ago and hasn’t been replaced We still have a few snakes but not enough to fill a tub, never ht after another," Gavner said "A day’s rest is all you’re allowed in between So you have to be especially careful at the start - if you get injured early on, you won’t have et lucky there," Kurda mused "The Festival of the Undead is almost upon us"
"What’s that?" I asked
"We celebrate with a huge feast when every va to Council has arrived," Kurda explained "We used the Stone of Blood to search for latecoo, and only three more are on their way When the last arrives, the Festival starts, and no official business ht," Gavner said "If the Festival starts during your Trials, you’ll have a three-night break That would be a great bonus"
"If the latecoloomily
Kurda seemed to think I didn’t stand a chance in the Trials "Why are you so sure I’ll fail?" I asked
"It’s not that I think poorly of you," Kurda said "You’re just too young and inexperienced Apart from the fact that you’re physically unprepared, you haven’t had time to assess the different tasks and practice for the thrown in at the deep end, and it isn’t fair"
"Still whining about fairness?" someone commented behind us - Mr Crepsley Seba Nile, the quarterreeted us with silent nods
"You were very quick to agree to the Trials, Larten," Kurda said disapprovingly "Don’t you think you should have explained the rules to Darren hly? He didn’t even know that failure to complete the Trials means certain death!"