The Vampire Prince (Page 1)
Be careful who you trust.Even a supposedly close friend might be capable of betraying you. I found that out the hard way.
My name's Darren Shan. I'm a half-vampire. I was blooded when I was very young, and for eight years I toured the world with the Cirque Du Freak - a traveling circus of magically gifted performers. Then my mentor - Larten Crepsley - said I had to be presented to the Vampire Princes.
I passed the first three Trials, but the fourth ended disastrously - I would have been gouged to death by a wild boar if not for Harkat, who leapt into the pit and killed the boar. The problem was, his intervention broke all the rules. While the vampires debated my fate, one sneaked into my cell and led me away to safety. He was a blond, slender, peaceful, highly intelligent vampire called Kurda Smahlt, and he was shortly due to become a Prince. I believed he was my friend.
While we were escaping, Gavner caught up with us and tried talking me into going back to face the verdict of the Princes. Kurda persuaded him to let me go. But as we were closing in on freedom, we ran into a bunch of vampaneze - purple-skinned enemies of the vampires, who kill humans when they drink from them - hiding in a cave.