Book number six begins with the cliffhanger left at the end of the fifth book. Darren Shan, a half-vampire on the run from a death sentence, has just fallen into a treacherous river while running, and passed up a hand to safety from Kurda Smahlt, a traitor to the clan, to protect his honor. The current of the big stream sweeps him down and out of the cavern, into the tunnels of Vampire Mountain.
Darren describes being thrown about by the current, and still sore from his journeys beforehand, he is greatly damaged by this wild ride.
To the great surprise of Darren, he makes it out alive! Though he can barely move, due to his seriously damaged arms and legs, he manages to climb out of the water at the end of the ride. Darren attempts to trudge through the snow to a forest, with nothing for drive but the thought of warmth and safety, but collapses just a hundred yards shy of the forest. As Darren is about to give up, a familiar creature suddenly approaches him; Rudi, a wolf cub who Darren traveled with to Vampire Mountain, has found Darren and wants to help him survive.
Streak, a larger wolf who also accompanied Darren, soon joins them and helps Rudi to rally Darren to continue on to the forest. When they do arrive to the forest's edge, they enter a glade where some two-dozen wolves are gathered around each other. Darren is ushered into the pack and is made to drink milk from a mother wolf. Though at first reluctant, Darren finds himself grateful for the nourishment.
Darren becomes a regular part of the pack, healing quickly. Once able to stand and move about, he helps the group during hunts and plays with the little cubs. During one particular hunt with Streak, however, Darren witnesses a group of vampires walking through the area, among them his mentor, Mr. Crepsly.
Darren wants to run up to them and show them he was alive, but Streak keeps him back, and as the group gets closer Darren sees why. Leading the brigade is the vampire traitor who is responsible for Darren's predicament, Kurda Smahlt, armed with a sword.
By eavesdropping on their conversation, Darren finds that they are set out to locate him, or his body, so that he may be cremated. He also listens as they talk of Gavner Purl, who they know to be dead, by his lack of mental signals. The group, save for Kurda, does not yet know that Kurda himself killed Gavner, to protect the vampaneze he was harboring inside the mountain. They also bring up the subject of Kurda's investiture to becoming a Vampire Prince.
Darren realizes what Kurda must be planning. Once he becomes a Prince, not only will others have to obey him, but he will also have access to the Stone of Blood and could overthrow the entire clan. Darren now tells the wolves of his intention to leave for Vampire Mountain. Streak introduces Darren to a she-wolf, whom he names Magda, who knows not only how to get to Vampire Mountain, but also how to enter it.
Magda, Darren, Streak and a couple other wolves begin the journey, reaching the base of mountain without too much trouble, though Magda is close to death. They begin the ascent and along the way reach a cavern where the wolves start barking. A Guardian of the Blood signals that they should stop and hides Darren as vampaneze pass through the room.
After they pass, Darren hurries the wolves and they begin to make their way to the Halls themselves. Magda stops and lies down to die. Darren tries to rouse her, but she is intent that she is finished. Making one last motion to a tunnel up ahead, she closes her eyes and drifts off. Darren and the rest of the group climb up the last tunnel and into a small cavern. Darren peeks through one side of the wall, easy enough to smash through, to find that he is directly outside of the Hall of Princes. This is a shock, as there is supposed to be only one way into the Hall.
Darren decides that he must confide in another vampire before making his stand, so that if he is shot on sight that his message will not be lost. He settles on the quartermaster, Seba Nile, as the ideal person to trust. So he backtracks through the underground tunnels to the storerooms and from there, sneaks to Seba's room. The quartermaster listens to Darren's story and says that he will help him.
The time of Kurda's investiture arrives, and Darren is in place to intercept the vampire's entrance to the Hall of Princes. He breaks through the thin wall, and halts the ceremony loudly screaming, "STOP!" The Princes, along with the rest of the clan, are ready to write him off and not listen to what he has to say, but when Seba speaks up for Darren, and tells the Princes that they should listen, they do.
Darren tells his story: how Kurda killed Gavner Purl after leading the vampaneze to the Mountain, along with his own theory about seizing control of the Stone of Blood. The Princes believe him, and Kurda does not deny any of these accusations. All of the vampires, save for Darren, the Princes, Seba, Arra and Mr. Crepsly are sent from the Hall of Princes, as they formulate a plan to eradicate their vampaneze visitors.
Interrupting the planning session, Seba points out Darren's state of hunger and exhaustion, and is allowed to take him to eat. While eating, Harkat arrives and fills Darren in on what happened while he was away. They discuss how Darren has made it this far, and about fate versus luck. Harkat, at one point says: "The hands of fate keep time on a heart-shaped watch," assumedly a reference to Mr. Des Tiny.
At last, a tracking squad locates the vampaneze, and Darren has a rush of inspiration as "Operation Arachnid" is underway. The plan is that Darren, Mr. Crepsly and Seba will each control an army of spiders, through mental communication, and lead them to disorient the vampaneze before the vampires step in to attack.
The plan works perfectly, as Darren's spiders arrive in first from the outside entrance, then Mr. Crepsly's from the inside entrance, and finally Seba's team, which enters through the cracks in the walls and ceiling. The vampaneze are very much surprised and the fights start.
The battle is a fearsome brawl. The vampires enter the cave and immediately assault the vampaneze, who are totally caught off guard. Everyone, including Darren, joins in the fight. Vampires and vampaneze alike are slain at each other's hands. The gamekeeper Vanez Blane loses his second eyes to a painful stab, rendering him totally blind. Arra Sails, in particular, is a major combatant during the battle. It is not until she fights against Glalda, a vampaneze close to Kurda, that she finds her defeat. He stabs her deep in the belly and kills the vampiress.
The rest of the vampaneze are taken care of and killed off, and post-conflict, the only person on Darren's and Mr. Crepsly's mind is Arra. Arra used to be Mr. Crepsly's mate, which is a sort of temporary marriage. They were still in love, and may have mated again, though that possibility is now extinguished. Because of this, Mr. Crepsly becomes very depressed.
But business has to move on, and so Kurda's trial is next on the agenda. Through questioning, Kurda reveals the full complexity of his plan. He was going to wait until the Ceremony of Conclusion, where he would present the three Princes with poisoned drinks to kill them. Then he would dominate the now empty Hall of Princes and take control of the Stone of Blood with his vampaneze army at his disposal.
Kurda's motives are questioned, and he explains how the Vampaneze Lord has been found and, though not yet blooded, will lead the vampaneze to war with the vampires and win. Kurda's was a preemptive, less painful attempt to unite the two clans of the night, and though by force, would result in fewer casualties.
He also tells the clan of the Coffin of Fire, which revealed the Vampaneze Lord to his clan. It is a coffin in which anyone can lay, though when the lid closes, a fire will rush through it and only the Vampaneze Lord can exit it unscathed and alive. This person has been found and is with the vampaneze.
After he says his share, Kurda is, as expected, sent to the Hall of Death for execution, though the rest of the clan now understands him, and his intentions are known to have been good.
Next up are the cremations of vampires lost in battle. Gavner's is first, and the cremation turns out to be much more pleasant than Darren expected. The body is laid on a bed of flammable twigs, a few words are said about his soul and Paradise, and then the twigs are set afire and the body is engulfed in flames. After three other cremations, Arra Sails' body is burned in the same fashion.
Darren's trial arrives, and though the Princes have never revoked a death sentence before, many are hopeful that Darren may be pardoned. The Princes maintain that they could not bring themselves to break any laws, meaning that they would not let Darren "escape" a second time, nor would they simply pardon him. Instead, they would have to put him above the laws, and make him a Vampire Prince!
The lengthy ceremony for Darren's investiture is put on hold under the circumstances, and instead he is brought up to the Stone of Blood right then and there to become a Prince. After a quick exchange of blood to affirm his status and give him control of the doors to the Hall of Princes, Darren is hailed by his people as their prince and ruler.
LOOK FOR BOOK VII => HUNTERS OF THE DUSK
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