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MR CREPSLEY AND GAVNER wouldn’t explain the ht away - they were too stunned to speak - and the story only trickled out over the next three or four nights,fro Mr Tiny told the vao, when the va had died down, he visited the Princes at Vampire Mountain and told them that the vampaneze were not "hierarchically structured" (Mr Crepsley’s phrase), which ave orders or bossed the others around

"That was one of the reasons they broke away," Gavner said "They didn’t like the way things worked with vaht it was unfair that ordinary vampires had to answer to the Generals, and the Generals to the Princes"

Lowering his voice so that Mr Crepsley couldn’t hear, he said, "To be honest, I agree with soe The vampire system has worked for hundreds of years, but that doesn’tyou’d rather be a vampaneze?" I asked, shocked

"Of course not!" He laughed "They kill, and allow h to run around and do as they please It’s far better to be a vampire But that doesn’ton board

"Not flitting on the way to Vampire Mountain, for exaed by the Princes, who don’t have to change anything they don’t want to, regardless of what the rest of us think Generals have to do everything the Princes say, and ordinary vah the vampaneze didn’t believe in leaders, Mr Tiny said that one night a champion would step forward He would be known as the Vampaneze Lord and the va he said

"What’s so bad about that?" I asked

"Wait till you hear the next part," Gavner said gravely Apparently, not long after the Vampaneze Lord caainst the vampires It was a war, Mr Tiny warned, that the vampires couldn’t win They would be wiped out

"Is that true?" I asked, appalled

Gavner shrugged "We’ve been asking ourselves that for seven hundred years Nobody doubts Mr Tiny’s powers - he’s proved before that he can see into the future - but sometimes he tells lies He’s an evil little woro after the vampaneze and kill them all?" I asked

"Mr Tiny said that some vampaneze would survive and the Vampaneze Lord would co too heavy a toll Huht have made an end of us It was best to declare a truce and let matters lie"

"Is there no way the vampires could beat the vampaneze?" I asked

"I’ his head "There areas they are, so I can’t see e shouldn’t be able to get the better of them But Mr Tiny said numbers wouldn’t matter

"There’s one hope," he added "The Stone of Blood"

"What’s that?"

"You’ll see e get to Vaic icon, sacred to us Mr Tiny said that if we prevented it fro after the battle has been fought and lost, there’s a chance that vaain"

"How?" I asked, frowning

Gavner s as it’s been asked Let ure it out," he said with a wink, and drew the conversation to a troubling close

A week later, we arrived at Vahest ion, but it was steep and rocky, and looked like it would be almost impossible to cli up at the snowy peak, which seemed to point directly at the three-quarter moon overhead