Book number four begin by long-time vampire Mr. Crepsly telling his half-vampire assistant Darren Shan that they must make the trek to Vampire Mountain, to present Darren to the Council. The council, a big reunion of vampires, is held once every twelve years, and they must attend this one to initiate Darren into the clan.
Before they are able to leave, however, the horrible and evil Mr. Desmond Tiny insists that they take along two of his Little People, including the one with the limp, who Darren has nicknamed “Lefty.” The pair of vampires grudgingly accepts, unable to argue with Mr. Destiny.
They begin the journey, sleeping outside and in the occasional way station, a type of rest stop for those traveling to Vampire Mountain. Along the way, Darren and Mr. Crepsly meet back up with Gavner Purl, a Vampire General and old friend of Mr. Crepsly, who joins them on the rest of their trip to the Council. Darren also makes friends with a pack of wolves, learning that they are cousins to vampires and very friendly with them.
The group stumbles across a destroyed way station, in which they find a slaughtered vampire, still in his coffin. They do not know whether the killer is a vampaneze or just a human vampire hunter, but they continue with great care. A few days later, they find another dead body: that of a vampaneze, buried in a briar patch. But it had buried, not just left to die, meaning that the creature was traveling with someone, or something, else.
After another week or so of traveling, a gigantic bear confronts Darren. With help from the wolves, but ultimately the Little People, the bear is defeated, but not without casualty. Lefty is fine, but his companion, the other Little Person, is crushed by the bear and dies. At the end of this conflict, Lefty lifts up his mask and speaks for the first time: “Name…not Lefty. Name…Harkat…Harkat Mulds.”
It is found that the bear was infected with vampaneze blood, driving him insane and causing him to attack. As for Harkat, now that he can communicate with the group of vampires, he is interrogated. He tells the trio that his soul was trapped on Earth until Mr. Tiny made a deal with him, which allowed him to return to Earth, but without any memory, not even of the deal he made with Mr. Tiny.
In regard to Harkat’s ability to speak, he was granted the power of speech in his deal with Mr. Tiny, because he is supposed to bring a secret message to the Vampire Princes. But with a little persuasion, Harkat reveals his message: “The night of the Vampaneze Lord is at hand.” Though this doesn’t mean anything to Darren, Gavner Purl and Mr. Crepsly are greatly disturbed by this, for reasons unknown to Darren.
Without more time to ponder the strange telegram, the group arrives at the very big Vampire Mountain, whose entrance is a maze of tunnels, which have never been mapped. Luckily, Mr. Crepsly guides them through and they enter the Halls, finally completing their journey.
Once in the Halls, Mr. Crepsly reunites with a very good friend of his, and his old mentor, Seba Nile, the second oldest living vampire, and quartermaster for the Halls of Vampire Mountain. After a good night’s rest, Harkat was brought before the Princes and immediately, word spread of his message, causing uproar. Soon, Darren meets another character of a vampire: Kurda Smahlt. He is going to be made a prince, and takes a far liberal view on the vampaneze issues. He believes in settling differences and reuniting the clans before the split becomes too great and war breaks out. Because of this, he is not as fond of the vampiric tradition of pride and strength as others.
Later on, while on a tour of the Halls with Kurda, Darren encounters the Hall of Death, where vampires who are too old, sick, evil or insane, are killed. It consists of a pit of stakes below a big cage on a pulley. The vampire would be dropped from a high height in the cage and impaled to death upon the stakes below.
After visiting such a depressing room, Darren is relieved to visit the Halls of Sport, a place for athletic games and sports for vampires. Darren meets Vanez Blane, the gamekeeper of Vampire Mountain and personal trainer in combat. He also meets one of the few vampiresses of the clan: Arra Sails, a hard-hearted warrior. Upon greeting, she only shakes hands of those she respects, excluding those such as Kurda, for his pacifistic ways.
Arra’s specialty sport is one played on the bars. A type of staff is used to try and knock one’s opponents off of thin planks, which run in a grid pattern over a small area. She has not been defeated for eleven years, and so when Darren is offered the opportunity to fight her, he’s a little apprehensive, but under some cajoling from Vanez, agrees to give it a shot. He almost beats her too, making it a very close and fair fight. In the end, Darren earns Arra’s respect and her handshake, making it a personal victory for him.
Within the week, Darren and Mr. Crepsly are called to the Hall of Princes for their meeting with the three Princes attending the current Council (one always skips “in case something should happen”). The Princes’ thrones lie inside of a magical impenetrable dome, a gift from Mr. Tiny seven hundred years ago. Along with the dome, he gifted to the vampire clan the “Stone of Blood,” which, among other uses, can track any vampire anywhere. The biggest power that the Stone holds, however, is the ability to revive the vampire clan if and when the Vampaneze Lord arises and kills all of the vampires, though through unknown methods.
Finally, the duo is admitted into the dome where the Princes sat waiting for them. Paris Skyle, Mika Ver Leth and Arrow are present, while the fourth prince, Vancha March, chose to skip the present Council. They ask Mr. Crepsly, perplexed, why he chose to blood such a young human. Though he could make any excuse and be forgiven, he chooses to tell the honest truth which is that he acted on a whim, which he himself cannot explain, and that he recognizes that his actions are unacceptable. The final verdict, only because Mr. Crepsly used to be a General, and thus has a high standing among the Clan, is to put Darren to test through eh Trials of Death. If he fails the Trials, then he must be executed in the aforementioned Hall of Death, and be impaled on stakes until he dies.
CONTINUE TO BOOK V => TRIALS OF DEATH
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