DARREN SHAN - Shan, Darren - Cirque Du Freak 08 - Allies Of The Night

Gannen Harst stepped up behind the four vampaneze who were converging on me. He clicked his tongue against the roof of his mouth and the vampaneze came to a standstill. Harst looked into my eyes, then made the death's touch sign by pressing his middle finger to the centre of his forehead, the two adjacent fingers over his eyes, and spreading his thumb and little finger out wide. "Even in death, may you be triumphant," he said.

I glanced around swiftly, taking in the state of play. Close to my right, the battle still raged. Mr Crepsley, Vancha and Harkat were cut in many places, bleeding liberally, yet none had sustained fatal wounds. They were on their feet, weapons in hand � except Vancha, whose weaponswere his hands � keeping the circle of vampaneze and vampets at bay.

I couldn't understand it. Given our foes' superior numbers, they should have overwhelmed and dispatched the trio by now. The longer the fighting progressed, the more damage we were inflicting � at least six vampets and three vampaneze were dead, and several more nursed life-threatening injuries. Yet still they fought warily, judging their blows with care, almost as though they didn't want to kill us.

I reached a snap decision and knew what I had to do. I faced Gannen Harst and screamed, "I'll be triumphant in life!" in defiance, then whipped out a knife and launched it at the vampaneze, throwing it deliberately high. As the five vampaneze ahead of me ducked to avoid the knife, I swivelled and swung with my sword at the vampaneze and vampets packed tightly around Mr Crepsley, Vancha and Harkat. Now that the Lord of the Vampaneze was beyond reach, I was free to help or perish with my friends. A few moments earlier, we'd surely have perished, but the pendulum had swung round slightly in our favour. The pack had been whittled down by half a dozen members � two had left with their Lord, and four more were standing with Gannen Harst. The remaining vampaneze and vampets had spread themselves out to cover for their missing clansmen.

My sword connected with the vampaneze to my right, and narrowly missed the throat of a vampet to my left. The vampaneze and vampet both stepped aside at the same moment, instinctively, in opposite directions, creating a gap. "To me!" I cried at the trio trapped in the middle of the mayhem.

Before the gap could be filled, Harkat burst through, chopping with his axe. More vampaneze and vampets drew back, and Mr Crepsley and Vancha hurried after Harkat, fanning out around him, turning so that they were all facing the same way, instead of having to fight back to back.

We retreated swiftly towards the tunnel leading out of the cavern.

"Quick � block the exit!" one of the four vampaneze with Gannen Harst yelled, moving forward to bar our way.

"Hold," Gannen Harst responded quietly and the vampaneze stopped. He looked back at Harst, puzzled, but Harst only shook his head grimly.

I wasn't sure why Harst had prevented his men from blocking our one route of escape, but I didn't stop to ponder it. As we backed up towards the exit, lashing out at the vampaneze and vampets who pushed forward after us, we passed Steve. He was regaining his senses and was half sitting up. I paused as we came abreast of him, grabbed him by his hair and hauled him to his feet. He yelped and struggled, but then I stuck the edge of my sword to his throat and he went quiet. "You're coming with us!" I hissed in his ear. "If we die, so do you." I'd have killed him then and there, except I remembered what R.V. had said � if I killed Steve, he'd kill Debbie.

As we came to the mouth of the tunnel, a vampet swung a short length of chain at Vancha. The vampire grabbed the chain, yanked the vampet in, caught him by the head, and made to twist it sharply to the right, meaning to snap his neck and kill him.

"Enough!" Gannen Harst bellowed and the vampaneze and vampets closing upon us instantly stopped fighting and dropped back two paces.

Vancha relaxed his lock, but didn't release the vampet, and glared around suspiciously. "What now?" he muttered.

"I do not know," Mr Crepsley said, wiping sweat and blood from his brow. "But they fight most bizarrely. Nothing they do would surprise me."

Gannen Harst pushed through the vampaneze until he was standing in front of his brother. The two didn't look alike � where Vancha was burly, gruff and rough, Gannen was slim, cultured and smooth � but there was a certain way they had of standing and inclining their heads that was very similar.

"Vancha," Gannen greeted his estranged brother.

"Gannen," Vancha replied, not letting go of the vampet, watching the other vampaneze like a hawk in case they made any sudden moves.

Gannen looked at Mr Crepsley, Harkat and me. "We meet again," he said, "as was destined. Last time, you had the beating of me. Now the tables have turned." He paused and gazed around the room at the silent vampaneze and vampets, then at their dead and dying colleagues. Then he glanced at the tunnel behind us. "We could kill you here, in this tunnel, but you would take many of us with you," he sighed. "I tire of needless bloodshed. Shall we strike a deal?"

"What sort of a deal?" Vancha grunted, trying to hide his bewilderment.

"It would be easier for us to slaughter you in the larger tunnels beyond this one. We could pick you off, in our own time, possibly without losing more of our men."

" You want us to make your job easier for you?" Vancha laughed.

"Let me finish," Gannen continued. "As things stand, you have no hope of making it back to the surface alive. If we attack you here, our losses will be great, but all four of you will certainly die. If, on the other hand, we were to give you a head start �" He trailed off into silence, then spoke again. "Fifteen minutes, Vancha. Leave your hostages � you can move more quickly without them � and flee. For fifteen minutes, nobody will follow. You have my word."

"This is a trick," Vancha snarled. "You wouldn't let us go, not like this."

"I don't lie," Gannen said stiffly. "The odds are still in our favour � we know these tunnels better than you do, and will probably catch you before you make it to freedom. But this way you have hope � and I won't have to bury any more of my friends."

Vancha exchanged a furtive glance with Mr Crepsley.

"What about Debbie?" I shouted before either vampire could speak. "I want to take her too!"

Gannen Harst shook his head. "I command those in this room," he said, "but not he of the hooks. She is his now."

"Not good enough," I snorted. "If Debbie doesn't leave, I don't either. I'll stay here and kill as many of you as I can."

"Darren�" Vancha began to protest.

"Do not argue," Mr Crepsley intervened. "I know Darren � your words would be wasted. He will not leave without her. And if he will not leave, nor will I."

Vancha cursed, then looked his brother clean in the eye. "There you have it. If they won't go, I won't either."

Harkat cleared his throat. "These fools don't speak � for me.I'll go." Then he smiled to show he was joking.

Gannen spat between his feet, disgusted. In my arms, Steve stirred and groaned. Gannen studied him for a moment, then looked at his brother again. "Let's try this then," Gannen said. "R.V. and Steve Leonard are close friends. Leonard designed R.V.'s hooks and persuaded us to blood him. I don't think R.V. would kill the woman if it meant Leonard's death, despite his threats. When you leave, you can take Leonard with you. If you escape, perhaps you'll be able to use him to bargain for the woman's life at a later time." He squinted at me warningly. "That is the best I can do � and it's more than you have a right to expect."

I thought it over, realized this was Debbie's only real hope, and nodded imperceptibly.

"Is that a yes?" Gannen asked.