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TIME PASSED slohile I was confined tolotions intothe wounds,sure infection didn’t set in They often coe was permanent, except s were OK, s considered, I was in great shape and should thank my lucky stars

But I didn’t feel like I was in great shape I was in pain the whole tirew unbearable when II could fall asleep and not wake until the pain had passed, but even in sleep I was tortured by the aftereffects of the fire, terrorized by nighte away from wakefulness

I had plenty of visitors, who helped distract me frome Toastie, because he said I looked like a slice of burnt toast And he offered to find a charred torch stub and draw fake ashen eyebrows onwith my head of hair I told him where he could stick his torch stub - and the rest of the torch as well!

I asked Seba if he had any special cures for burns, hoping the old vampire would know of sonorant of "Alas, no," he said, "but when your wounds have healed, we shall make another trip to the caves of Ba’Halen’s spiders and find cobwebs to prevent further itching"

Arra often ca with Mr Crepsley than to hts and their life together when they wereif the pair ain and how that would affect my relationship with the vahed with embarrassment and snapped that I shouldn’t bother hiood friends

"Of course you are" I chuckled, giving hiet down to see me a couple of times Now that the Festival of the Undead was out of the way, there was a lot of business for the vampires to discuss, much of it connected to the vampaneze As a senior General and va hours in s and conferences

Arra ith me on one of the rare occasions when Kurda came She stiffened when she saw him, and he started to withdraw, to avoid a confrontation "Wait," she called him back "I want to thank you for what you did for Darren"

"It was nothing" He sreed "Many of us care about Darren, but only you had sense enough to steer him to safety in his hour of need The rest of us would have stood by and watched hiree with your ways - there’s a thin line between diplomacy and cowardice - but sometimes they do work better than our own"

Arra left, and Kurda shtly "Do you know," he re she likes me"

Kurda fed me some water - I was on a liquids-only diet - and toldwhile I was out of action A cos of the vaence of a Vampaneze Lord "For the first ti peace with the vampaneze," he said

"That hed "If this had happened a few years ago, I’d have been whooping with glee But ti to take more than a mere committee to unite the tribes and coht you didn’t believe in the Vaed "Officially, I don’t Between you and ht of him scares me silly"

"You think he’s real?" I asked

"If Mr Tiny says so - yes Whatever else I believe or don’t believe in, there’s no doubting the powers of Mr Tiny Unless we act quickly to prevent the possibility of a Va hiets started may involve a terrible sacrifice, but if that’s the price of averting a war, so be it"

It was odd to hear Kurdasuch a confession If he - friend to the vampaneze - orried, the other va a lot of attention to talk of the Vampaneze Lord, but I made up my mind to listen ht - the last before the start ofwith Vanez Blane Harkat was already by my hammock The Little Person had spent more time with s with Vanez," Mr Crepsley said, "and we both agree that you would be better served in preparing for your next Trial by rest rather than practice There are no special skills required in the Trial of the Blooded Boars You simply have to face and kill two boars that have been infected with vaht to the death"

"If I can beat a wild bear, I can beat a couple of boars" I grinned, trying to sound upbeat - I’d killed a savage bear during our trek to Vampire Mountain

"Most certainly you can," Mr Crepsley agreed "Were it not for your wounds, I would even hazard a guess that you could do it with one arhed I’d been coughing a lot since the Hall of Flames It was a natural reaction to all the ss hadn’t suffered any serious da should stop in another couple of days Mr Crepsley handed lass of water, and I sipped from it slowly I was able to feed myself now and had enjoyed ht I was still in pretty bad shape, but thanks toquickly

"Do you feel ready for the Trial?" Mr Crepsley asked

"I’d like another twenty-four hours," I sighed, "but I think I’ll be OK I walked around for fifteen s and feet hold, I should be fine - fingers crossed"

"I have been talking to Seba Nile," Mr Crepsley said, switching subjects "He tellsonce Council has ended He feels he has served long enough as the quartermaster of Vampire Mountain He wants to see the world one last time before he dies"

"Maybe he can coested

"Actually," Mr Crepsley said, watching closely forto the Cirque Du Freak"