Shan, Darren - Cirque Du Freak 06 - Vampire Prince

"I say it was fate," Seba murmured. "Had he not fled, we would never have been alerted to Kurda's treacherous nature or the presence of the vampaneze."

"The hands of... fate keep time... on a heart-shaped... watch," Harkat said, and we all turned to stare at him.

"What does that mean?" I asked.

He shrugged. "I'm not sure. It just... popped into my... head. It's something Mr.... Tiny used to say."

We looked at each other uneasily, thinking about Mr. Tiny and the heart-shaped watch he was so fond of playing with.

"You think Desmond Tiny could have had something to do with this?" Seba asked.

"I do not see how," Mr. Crepsley said. "I believe Darren had the natural luck of the vampires on his side. On the other hand, where that dark horse Tiny is concerned — who knows?"

While we sat puzzling it over — the meddling fingers of fate, or sheer good fortune? — a messenger from the Princes arrived, and I was escorted through the lower Halls and tunnels to join the trackers and set off in search of the vampaneze.

* * *

Vanez Blane — who'd trained me for my Trials — was among the five chosen trackers. The one-eyed games master took my hands in his and squeezed hard by way of greeting. "I knew you would not desert us," he said. "Others cursed you, but I was sure you'd return once you had time to think things through. I told them it was a poor decision made in haste, which you'd soon correct."

"I bet you didn'tbet on me returning." I grinned.

"Now that you mention it — no, I didn't," he laughed. Vanez examined my feet to make sure my padding was adequate. All the trackers were wearing soft shoes. He offered to find a pair for me, but I said I'd stick with the pieces of sack.

"We must proceed with utmost caution," he warned. "No sudden movements, no lights, and no talking. Communicate by hand signals. And take this." He gave me a long, sharp knife. "If you have to use it, don't hesitate."

"I won't," I swore, thinking about the knife that had savagely cut short the life of my friend Gavner Purl.

Down we went, as silently as we could. I'm not sure I could have found the way back to the cave on my own — I hadn't been paying attention to the route that night — but the trackers had followed the trail I'd left when they came looking for me and knew which way to go.

We crawled through the tunnel under the stream. It wasn't as frightening this time, not after all I'd been through since I last passed this way. As we stood, I pointed wordlessly to the tunnel that connected the small cave to the larger one. Two of the trackers advanced and checked on the cave beyond. I listened intently for sounds of a struggle, but there weren't any. Moments later, one of the trackers returned and shook his head. The rest of us trailed after him into the bigger cave.

My insides tightened when I saw that the cave was deserted. It looked as if it had been empty since the beginning of time. I had a bad feeling that we'd be unable to find the vampaneze and I'd be called a liar. Vanez, sensing this, nudged me gently and winked. "It'll be OK," he mouthed, then joined the others, who were exploring the cave cautiously.

"It didn't take the trackers long to uncover evidence of the vampaneze and calm my fears. One found a scrap of cloth, another a fragment from a broken bowl, another a small pool of spit where a vampaneze had cleared his throat. When they'd gathered enough evidence, we returned to the smaller cave, where we held a quiet conversation, safe in the knowledge that the roar of the stream would cover our voices.

"It was vampaneze all right," one of the trackers said. "A couple of dozen at least."

"They covered their tracks admirably," another grunted. "We only unearthed them because we knew what to look for. We'd never have noticed if we'd been giving the cave a quick once-over."

"Where do you think they are now?" I asked.

"Hard to say," Vanez mused, scratching the lid of his blind eye. "There aren't a lot of caves nearby where that many vampaneze could hide comfortably. But they may have split into smaller groups and scattered."

"I doubt it," one of the others remarked. "If I was in charge of them, I'd want everyone to stick close together, in case we were discovered. I think we'll find them bunched up, possibly close to an exit point, ready to fight or fleeen masse. "

"Let's hope so," Vanez said. "It could take ages to locate them all if they've split up. Can you find your way back to the Halls?" he asked me.

"Yes," I said, "but I want to come with you."

He shook his head. "We brought you down to show us the cave. Now that you've done that, there's no place for you here. We can move more quickly without you. Return to the Halls and tell the others what we found. We'll be back when we find the vampaneze."