Trials of Death. Darren Shan

we broke for a meal and met up with Mr Crepsley and Harkat in the Hall of Khledon Lurt. I wasn’t hungry – I felt too nervous to eat – but Vanez insisted I wolf my food down — he said I’d need every last bit of energy when it came to the Trial.

      “How is he progressing?” Mr Crepsley asked. He’d wanted to watch me train, but Vanez had told him he’d be in the way.

      “Remarkably well,” Vanez said, chewing on the bones of a skewered rat. “To be honest, though I slapped on a brave face when the Trial was picked, I thought he’d be – excuse the pun – out of his depth. The Aquatic Maze isn’t one of the more brutal Trials, but it’s one you need a lot of time to prepare for. But he’s a quick learner. We’ve still got a lot to cram in – we haven’t tried him in water yet – but I’m a lot more hopeful now than I was a handful of hours ago.”

      Harkat had brought Madam Octa – Mr Crepsley’s spider – to the Hall with him and was feeding her breadcrumbs soaked in bat broth. He’d agreed to take care of her while I was concentrating on my Trials. Moving away from the vampires, I struck up a conversation with the Little Person. “Managing her OK?” I asked.

      “Yes. She is … easy to … take care of.”

      “Just don’t let her out of her cage,” I warned. “She looks cute, but her bite is lethal.”

      “I know. I have … often watched … you and her … when you … were on stage … at the Cirque … Du Freak.”

      Harkat’s speech was improving – he slurred his words a lot less now – but he still had to take long pauses for breath in the middle of sentences.

      “Do you think … you will … be ready … for Trial?” he asked.

      I shrugged. “Right now, the Trial’s the last thing on my mind — I’m not even sure I’m going to get through the training! Vanez is working me hard. I suppose he has to, but I feel exhausted. I could slide under the table and sleep for a week.”

      “I have been … listening to … vampires talk,” Harkat said. “Many are … betting on you.”

      “Oh?” I sat up, taking an interest. “What sort of odds are they giving me?”

      “They do not … have actual … odds. They bet … clothes and … pieces of … jewellery. Most vampires … are betting … against you. Kurda and Gavner … and Arra … are accepting … most of the … bets. They … believe in you.”

      “That’s good to hear,” I smiled. “What about Mr Crepsley?”

      Harkat shook his head. “He said … he does not … bet. Especially not … on children.”

      “That’s the sort of thing the dry old buzzard would say,” I huffed, trying not to sound disappointed.

      “But I … heard him talking … to Seba Nile,” Harkat added. “He said … that if you … failed, he would … eat his cape.”

      I laughed, delighted.

      “What are you two talking about?” Mr Crepsley asked.

      “Nothing,” I said, grinning up at him.

      When we’d finished eating, Vanez and me headed back for the maze, where we practised with heavier rocks and in water. The next few hours were some of the most arduous of my life, and by the time he called it a night and sent me to my cell to rest, I was so tired that I collapsed halfway there and had to be carted back to my hammock by a couple of sympathetic guards.