Vancha and Mr. Crepsley exchanged uneasy looks.

"You have never travelled with vampires before, Lady," Mr. Crepsley said.

Evanna laughed. "I know how important I am to your people, and for that reason I've avoided too much contact with the children of the night — I tire of vampires pleading with me to mate with them and have their babies."

"Then why come with us now?" Vancha asked bluntly.

"There's someone I wish to meet," she answered. "I could seek him alone, but I prefer not to. My reasons will become clear in time."

"Witches are so bloody secretive," Vancha grumbled, but Evanna didn't rise to the bait.

"If you prefer to travel without me, you may," she said. "I will not impose my presence upon you."

"We would be honoured to have you as an escort, Lady Evanna," Mr. Crepsley assured her. "And please do not take offence if we appear suspicious or unwelcoming — these are troublesome, confusing times, and we bark where sometimes we should whisper."

"Well put, Larten," she smiled. "If that's settled, I'll pack my things and we'll take to the road."

"So soon?" Mr. Crepsley blinked.

"Now is as good a time as ever."

"I hope the frogs aren't coming," Vancha huffed.

"I wasn't going to bring them," Evanna said, "but now that you mention it…" She laughed at his expression. "Don't worry — my frogs will stay and keep things tidy for when I return." She started to leave, paused, turned slowly and squatted. "One more thing," she said, and by her serious expression we knew something bad was coming. "Desmond should have told you this, but he obviously chose not to — playing mind games, no doubt."

"What is it, Lady?" Vancha asked when she paused.

"It concerns the hunt for the Vampaneze Lord. I don't know whether you'll succeed or fail, but I have seen into the future of each possible outcome and gleaned some facts of what lies in store.

"I will not speak of the future where you succeed — it is not for me to comment on that — but if you fail…" Again she stalled. Reaching out, she took both of Vancha's hands in her left — it seemed to have grown incredibly large — and Mr. Crepsley's in her right. While she held hands with them, she locked gazes with me, and spoke. "I tell you this because I think you should know. I don't say it to frighten you, but to prepare you, should matters come to the worst.

"Four times your paths are fated to cross with that of the Vampaneze Lord. If they do cross, on each occasion you will have it within your power to make an end of him. If you fail, the vampaneze are destined to win the War of the Scars. This you already know.

"But what Desmond didn't tell you is — by the end of the hunt, if you have faced the Vampaneze Lord four times and failed to kill him, only one of you will be alive to witness the fall of the vampire clan." Lowering her gaze and removing her hands from Mr. Crepsley's and Vancha's, she said in something less than a whisper, "The other two will be dead.»

CHAPTER FIFTEEN

WE SOLEMNLY filed out of Evanna's cave and circled the pond, each of us brooding about the witch's prophecy. We'd known from the start that this would be a peril-filled quest, with death never far from our heels. But it's one thing to anticipate your possible end, quite another to be told it's a certainty if you fail.

We followed no particular direction that first night, only walked aimlessly through the darkness, saying nothing, barely taking note of our surroundings. Harkat hadn't been included in Evanna's prophecy — he wasn't one of the hunters — but was as disturbed as the rest of us.

Towards dawn, as we were making camp, Vancha suddenly burst out laughing. "Look at us!" he hooted, as we stared at him uncertainly. "We've been moping all night like four sad souls at a funeral. What idiots we've been!"

"You think it amusing to have a death sentence imposed on us, Sire?" Mr. Crepsley asked archly.

"Charna's guts!" Vancha cursed. "The sentence has been there since the start — all that's changed is that we know about it!"

"A little knowledge is a… dangerous thing," Harkat muttered.

"That's a human way of thinking," Vancha chided him. "I'd rather know what lies ahead, good or bad. Evanna has done us a favour by telling us."

"How do you figure that?" I asked.

"She confirmed that we'll have four chances to kill the Vampaneze Lord. Think about it — four times his life will be ours to take. Four times we'll face him and do battle. He might get the better of us once. Perhaps twice. But do you really think he'll evade us four times in a row?"

"He will not be alone," Mr. Crepsley said. "He travels with guards, and all vampaneze in the area will rush to his aid."

"What makes you think that?" Vancha challenged him.

"He is their Lord. They will sacrifice their lives to protect him."

"Will our fellow vampires back us up if we run into trouble?" Vancha responded.

"No, but that is because…" Mr. Crepsley stopped.

"… Mr. Tiny's told them not to," Vancha grinned. "And if he's picked just three vampires to go head to head with the Vampaneze Lord, maybe—"

"— he has only picked three vampaneze to help their Lord!" Mr. Crepsley finished, excited.

"Right," Vancha beamed. "So the odds against us besting him are, in my view, better than even. Do you agree?" All three of us nodded thoughtfully. "Now," he continued, "let's say we make a pig's ear of it. We face him four times, we blow it, and our chance to defeat him passes. What happens then?"

"He leads the vampaneze into war against the vampires and wins," I said.

"Exactly." Vancha's smile faded. "By the way, I don't believe that. I don't care how powerful their Lord is, or what Des Tiny says — in a war with the vampaneze, I'm certain we'll win. But if we don't, I'd rather die beforehand, fighting for our future, than be there to watch the walls of our world come crashing down."

"Brave words," I grunted sourly.

"The truth," Vancha insisted. "Would you prefer to die at the hands of the Vampaneze Lord, when hope is still on our side, or survive and bear witness to the downfall of the clan?" I didn't reply, so Vancha went on. "If the predictions are true, and we fail, I don't want to be around for the end. It would be a terrible tragedy, and would madden anyone who saw it.

"Believe me," Vancha said, "the two who die in that eventuality will be fortunate. We shouldn't worry about dying — it's living we have to fear if we fail!"

I didn't get much sleep that day, thinking about what Vancha had said. I doubt if any of us slept much, except Evanna, who snored even louder than the Prince.

Vancha was right. If we failed, the one who survived would have the worst time of all. He'd have to watch the vampires perish, and bear the burden of blame. If we were to fail, death along the way was the best any of us could hope for.

Our spirits had lifted when we rose that evening. We were no longer afraid of what lay ahead, and instead of talking negatively, we discussed our route. "Mr. Tiny said to follow our hearts," Mr. Crepsley reminded us. "He said fate would lead us if we placed ourselves in its hands."

"You don't think we should try tracking down the Vampaneze Lord?" Vancha asked.

"Our people have spent six years seeking him, without success," Mr. Crepsley said. "Of course we must keep our eyes peeled, but otherwise I believe we should go about our business as if he did not exist."

"I don't like it," Vancha grumbled. "Fate's a cruel mistress. What if destiny doesn't lead us to him? Do you want to report back in a year and say, 'Sorry, we didn't run into the blighter, bad luck, what?»

"Mr. Tiny said to follow our hearts," Mr. Crepsley repeated stubbornly.