Allies of the Night
Darren Shan
The quest for the Vampaneze Lord continues for the hunters of the dusk. Darren gets an unwelcome taste of reality when he is forced to go back to school and his past catches up with him.Maturing at one fifth the rate of a normal human, Darren has the looks of a fifteen year old, even though he is very much older. Vampire Prince and vampaneze killer he may be, but someone has shopped him to the authorities and it’s time for Darren to go back to school.But school is not the only thing Darren has to come to terms with: faces from the past, the death of a clan member, a clash with a vampire hunter and blood-thirsty vampaneze mean Darren’s past is catching up with him – fast. It’s time for the allies of the night to join forces. The hunt is on…
ALLIES OF THE NIGHT
THE SAGA OF DARREN SHAN
BOOK 8
ALLIES OF THE NIGHT
THE SAGA OF DARREN SHAN
BOOK 8
Hunt for Darren Shan on the web at
www.darrenshan.com
For:
Bas – my Debbie Hemlock
OBE
(Order of the Bloody Entrails) to:
Davina “bonnie” McKay
Quality Control:
Gillie Russell & Zoë Clarke
Party Animals:
The Christopher Little Clan
Contents
Prologue
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Chapter Thirteen
Chapter Fourteen
Chapter Fifteen
Chapter Sixteen
Chapter Seventeen
Chapter Eighteen
Chapter Nineteen
Chapter Twenty
Chapter Twenty-One
Other Books in the Series The Saga of Darren Shan
Copyright
About the Publisher
PROLOGUE
IT WAS an age of war. After six hundred years of peace, the vampires and vampaneze had taken up arms against each other in a brutal, bloody battle to the death. The War of the Scars began with the coming of the Lord of the Vampaneze. He was destined to lead his people to total, all-conquering victory — unless killed before he was fully blooded.
According to the mysterious and powerful Mr Tiny, only three vampires stood a chance of stopping the Vampaneze Lord. They were the Prince, Vancha March; the one-time General, Larten Crepsley; and a half-vampire, me — Darren Shan.
It was predicted by Mr Tiny that our path would cross four times with that of the Vampaneze Lord, and each time the destiny of the vampires would be ours for the making. If we killed him, we’d win the War of the Scars. If not, the vampaneze would cruise to savage victory and wipe our entire clan from the face of the earth.
Mr Tiny said we couldn’t call upon other vampires for help during the quest, but we could accept the aid of non-vampires. Thus, when Mr Crepsley and me left Vampire Mountain (Vancha joined us later), the only one to come with us was Harkat Mulds, a stunted, grey-skinned Little Person.