The fifth book of the series picks up right where the last left off: half-vampire Darren Shan has just found out that he must pass the Trials of Death in order to become a true part of the vampire clan. The catch? If he fails, he must be executed.
It is only now that Darren learns about the trials themselves. An ancient vampiric tradition, any vampire wishing to become a Vampire General had to pass five of these Trials. They range from "fighting wild boars to climbing perilous mountains to crawling through a pit filled with snakes."
There is allowed only one day of rest and one day of preparation between each trial, but Darren's timing is lucky, as a festival will fall right in the middle of his trials, meaning that they will have to be put on hold and he will have more time to rest.
Darren reports to the Hall of Princes and is presented with his first Trial: The Aquatic Maze. This maze is composed of a stone labyrinth with a low ceiling and only four exits. Only two catches: first, a rock of half the weight of the participant has to be tied around his or her ankle. The second condition is that, from the time the Trial starts, water is continually pumped into the maze, filling it in exactly seventeen minutes. The vampire is led to the middle of the maze and the timer is started. To get out, he or she must navigate through the tunnels to one of the exits, carrying the rock, while the maze is filling with water.
Vanez Blane, the Vampire Mountain gamekeeper, leads Darren in preparing for his trials. He teaches Darren to make a mental map of the maze in his head, and most importantly - not to panic.
When the day of the first trial has arrives, Darren is brought to the Hall of Princes. From there, he is taken on a stretcher to the center of the stone labyrinth. The Trial begins and Darren starts to go through what he had practiced.
After a bit of struggle, and almost not making it in time, Darren reaches an exit and completes the trial, hitting the marker at the last moment of consciousness. Awaking fifteen hours later, Darren is ecstatic with his victory, but the celebration is short lived as other news reaches him.
The final group vampires traveling to Vampire Mountain had arrived the night before bearing ominous news; they had found vampaneze tracks themselves, along an entirely different route. This, when matched with the first vampaneze trail that Darren's group had found on their way up, make for a very dark sign which cannot be coincidence.
But Darren's Trials cannot be forgotten and so he again appears before the Princes. His second Trial is thus drawn: The Path of Needles, which is supposedly easier than the first.
The Path of Needles consists of a deep tunnel, sometimes tall but more often cramped, covered completely on the bottom and top with spikes: stalactites and stalagmites, each sharp as a needle. Darren must pass through this cave and emerge alive at the other end; that's all!
The Trials turns out to be trickier than it seems at first, but still easier than the maze. The stalagmites are very slippery and cannot trusted for a grip. Also, stalactites may fall from the ceiling if disturbed, meaning that silence and stealth are necessary. But after more training, this time with Arra Sails and Vanez, Darren is ready to take on the Trial.
Dealing with the vampaneze crisis, no Princes are able to preside over the Trial, but Darren continues anyway, and after only one near-death, he emerges at the other end of the cave tunnel with nothing too dire occurring. Two trials down.
Just as expected, the Festival of the Undead arrives, putting a halt to any and all official business, including Darren's trials. He takes this opportunity to rest and have fun, as do all of the other vampires. The most notable event is the match on the bars (as mentioned in book IV) between none other than Kurda Smahlt, the pacifist, and Arra Sails, one of the more skilled vampires in the mountain. After being roped into competing against her, Kurda actually beats the vampiress at her own game and sends her down to her first defeat in eleven years.
Darren breaks away from the fun to find Seba Nile, the quartermaster of the mountain who said that he had something to help Darren's itching from the Path of Needles. Seba takes Darren, along with Kurda and Gavner Purl, down into the tunnels of the mountain. Kurda comes along because he has been making the first ever map set of the tunnels under Vampire Mountain, and takes every opportunity to go down.
The four vampires arrive in a glowing cavern, lit by special moss. Living in this cavern crawl hundred of thousands of spiders, each yellow and furry. Their spider webs, as Seba demonstrates, have a major healing effect, especially against itching, but the quartermaster asks for the group's confidence so the caverns do not become overrun and the spiders driven out. The webs work very well for Darren, and his itching ceases dramatically.
While down in the tunnels, Darren asks to visit some of the other areas he has heard about. The group thus visits the Hall of Final Voyage, which is composed of a big room with a big stream in the middle of it. It is, or was, used for sending off dead bodies in a funeral ceremony, but is rarely in use now, due to inconveniences brought about by the tunnels.
Kurda now explains to Darren about how they get so much blood for the mountain, as well as what happens to dead vampires' bodies. The Guardians of the Blood live in Vampire Mountain as well, though unnoticed and separate from the vampire clan. They have their own culture, including customs and language, and by nature are saprotroughs. Kurda explains that a saprotrough is anything that feeds on the waste or bodies of dead organisms. The Guardians of the Blood are given all of the dead vampires' organs to eat, and in return, give their blood to be drunk by the living vampires. Though this seems morally objectionable to Darren, Seba insists that they are a peaceful culture, mean no harm, and are in fact vital to the vampire's society.
The Festival of the Undead eventually ends and Darren's next trial is drawn: The Hall of Flames. This is recognized as one of the hardest trials in the set, and so Vanez will have to have Arra help him teach Darren how to survive. The Hall itself is an enclosed room with pipes opening up to the floor, ceiling and all four walls. These pipes are controlled by outside vampires during the Trial, who pump flames into the room at random intervals, becoming more frequent over time. To pass the Trial, he must survive for fifteen minutes.
With little time for preparation, Darren is soon thrust into his trial. Having to dip and dodge around the flames, he becomes badly burned and almost unconscious, but makes it through the fifteen minutes alive. Darren drifts in and out of consciousness, alternating between nightmares of fire and delirious reality. Finally, he wakes up and comes to his senses.
Immediately upon awaking, Darren must appear before the Princes for his next Trial. Kurda says that he has a plan to buy time, but Darren must pretend to be all right. Darren does so, and picks the Blooded Boars. The Princes now "realize" that none of them can attend the Trial, being too busy. Having already missed one of Darren's Trials, they are made to postpone the Blooded Boars Trial three days until a Prince can attend.
Darren's extra time is spent resting. He must heal, at least partially, from his burns and wounds from the Hall of Flames, and because no practice is needed for the coming Trial, it is best that he stay in bed. The Blooded Boars is held in an arena, like a coliseum, with the Trial taker in the middle, paired with two boars infected with vampire blood, driving them insane. The combatant must simply kill the two boars by himself to complete the Trial.
The day of the fourth Trial arrives and Darren is led into the center ring of the arena. The battle commences and Darren, armed only with a club and a spear, faces off against the boars. They battle back and forth, advancing and retreating, until Darren manages to blind one. Unfortunately, it topples onto him, leaving him an easy target for the second boar, which begins to charge at Darren.
At the last moment, a blurred figure rushes from the stands and fights off the oncoming boar. The boar is shoved back and its head bashed in. It is only after the animal is dead that the figure appears as the Little Person, Harkat Mulds. Pandemonium breaks loose in the cavern as vampires shout for judgment; Darren and Harkat have broken the rules! Mika, the Prince presiding over the Trial, calls for order and dismisses everybody so that he and the other Princes may give a verdict later.
Waiting in his room for the verdict to reach him, Darren is miserable. Kurda comes to visit, and reasons with Darren, eventually convincing him to go against vampiric traditions of pride and to attempt an escape. Kurda takes Darren down into secret tunnels under the mountain, and Gavner, who followed their trail and wanted to help them, joins them. They come to a pass, and after a disagreement over which path is best to escape the mountain, Gavner's way is chosen and Kurda becomes uneasy. As they file into the next passage, Gavner hears a cough. He investigates and finds that the next cavern over has twenty or thirty of the red-faced vampaneze hiding there!
The three vampires, unnoticed by their red counterparts, make a break for the surface to report what they have seen, but Gavner and Kurda lag behind, anticipating a fight. Darren is told to continue forward, but turns back to find that Gavner and Kurda are locked in an engagement with the vampaneze. Darren continues to watch the pair fighting as Kurda makes a fatal stab, right into the chest of Gavner Purl!
Darren continues to watch as Gavner collapses and the other combatants cease their charade. Kurda notices Darren and tries to calm him, but to no avail. Darren soon begins running away, sprinting as fast as his wounded legs can take him, up tunnels and winding around until he reaches the Hall of Final Voyage. Darren tries to jump across the wide stream to the other side, but doesn't quite make it, due to his injuries. He is only able to keep hold on a rock to avoid falling down the rushing stream. Kurda makes the jump without any problems, and offers Darren a hand up, still trying to convince Darren of his innocence. Darren turns his nose up at Kurda, a traitor, and instead lets go and submits himself to the cold current of the stream.
CONTINUE TO BOOK VI = > THE VAMPIRE PRINCE
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