Trials of Death. Darren Shan

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СКАЧАТЬ with a heavier rock later, but I don’t want to tire you out too much ahead of the Trial. We’ll get you accustomed to this one first, move up to a rock that’s a third your weight, then try you on the real thing for a short spell, to give you a taste of how it feels.”

      The rock wasn’t especially heavy – as a half-vampire, I was much stronger than a human – but it was a nuisance. Apart from slowing me down, it also had a nasty habit of catching on corners or in cracks, which meant I had to stop and free it. “It’s important to stop the instant you feel it snagging,” Vanez said. “Your natural instinct will be to tug on the rope and free it quickly, but more often than not that worsens the situation, and you wind up taking even longer to sort it out. Seconds are vital in the maze. It’s better to act methodically and lose four or five seconds freeing yourself, than act hastily and lose ten or twenty.”

      There were ways to stop the rock and rope from snagging so much. When I came to corners or bends, I had to seize the rope and pull the rock in close to me — that way it was less likely to get stuck. And it was helpful to give the rope a shake every few seconds — that kept it loose. “But you have to do these things automatically,” Vanez said. “You must do them without pausing to think. Your brain should be fully occupied with mapping the maze. Everything else must be done by instinct.”

      “It’s useless,” I groaned, sinking to the floor. “It’d take months to get ready for this. I haven’t a hope in hell.”

      “Of course you have!” Vanez roared. Squatting beside me, he poked me in the ribs. “Feel that?” he asked, jabbing a sharp finger into the soft flesh of my belly.

      “Ow!” I slapped his hand away. “Quit it!”

      “It’s sharp?” he asked, jabbing me again. “It hurts?”

      “Yes!”

      He grunted, jabbed me one more time, then stood. “Imagine how much sharper the stakes in the Hall of Death are,” he said.

      Sighing miserably, I hauled myself to my feet and wiped sweat from my brow. Picking up the rope, I gave it a shake, then started back through the maze, dragging the rock and mapping out the walls, as Vanez had taught me.

      Finally 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.

      CHAPTER FOUR

      I WAS so stiff when I woke that I thought I wouldn’t be able to make it to the maze, never mind find my way out of it! But after a couple of minutes of walking around, I worked off the stiffness and felt as fit as ever. I realized Vanez had pushed me exactly the right amount, and made a note not to doubt his tactics in future.

      I was hungry but Vanez had told me not to eat anything when I woke — if things were tight, a few extra pounds could mean the difference between living and dying.

      Mr Crepsley and Vanez fetched me when it was time. Both were clad in their finest clothes, Mr Crepsley resplendent in bright red robes, Vanez less flamboyant in a dull brown tunic and trousers.

      “Ready?” Vanez asked. I nodded. “Hungry?”

      “Starving!”

      “Good,” he smiled. “I’ll treat you to the finest meal of your life after the Trial. Think about that if you get into trouble — it helps to have something to look forward to.”

      We wound our way down through the torch-lit tunnels to the Aquatic Maze, Vanez walking in front of me, Mr Crepsley and Harkat just behind. Vanez carried a purple flag, the sign that he was escorting a vampire СКАЧАТЬ