There was a heavy pounding on the roof of my coffin. I'd slept like the dead, pun intended. There were no dreams, only the comfort of complete oblivion. I slowly peeked through the crack to see who had been summoning me only to find the stitched together face of Harkat Mulds, little person and my newest friend.

"'What 'Sup…" I said groggily. Harkat stretched his wide mouth into a smile.

"It's…..time to...wake up." He wheezed. "The next….task is…..coming up." I groaned and scratched my head in dismay. The trials….right.

"Where is everyone?" I yawned and got up to find my clothes. I felt well rested, with the exception of a pounding headache. Crying yourself to sleep has a tendency to wear out your eyeballs like nothing else.

"Gavner...Crepsley….and Seba….are waiting in the hall…"

"What, no Kurda this time?" Harkat simply shook his head, I could tell taking was taking a lot of energy for him. "He's up to something… I can smell it." I growled.

"Why not….follow him?" Harkat suggested. Excellent idea, too bad I was preoccupied at the moment.

"When? I don't have the time to tail him and find out what he's up to." I mumbled unhappily. Then, like the flip of a switch, a brilliant idea filtered into my mind. "But someone else might be up to it…" I peered down at the little person.

"If….you want….I could.." Harkart gave me a conspiratorial grin and I was practically rubbing my hands together like a villain as we discussed our plan.

I didn't think it was possible, but even more vampires crowded into the hall of princes to hear the dictation of my next trial. There were so many attendees that I had to squeeze past them in order to make my way to the front. My friends settled off somewhere on their own, the only one who followed to stand by my side was my mentor.

When Crepsley and I arrived to the front of the crowd, Arrow silenced all of the chatter flowing around. My first task was pretty tame considering some of the horror stories Vanez had told me of people drowning or getting burned to death, it only made me even more anxious to see what else lay in store.

Mika was the one to pick the trial this time, after the bag had thoroughly inspected. The dark haired prince withdrew a green stone and said firmly, "Number 17, the blind maze."

Vanez found me pretty quickly after the meeting had disbanded. Apparently, there was no time to waste. The blind maze was a huge pain in the ass. Not only did I have to navigate a tricky maze blindfolded, I had to do some while avoiding explosions along the way. Great.

The first and most important thing my trainer could do was introduce me to the smell of the explosive material that would be used in the maze. My mentor used a torn piece of burlap to take away my vision, then him and Vanez took the chance to place small bits of the material around the room.

"The bombs are connected to detonators on the walls. During the blast, bits of rubble and debris can also fly and trigger other traps set up around you. The key to this trial is caution. In every new area you should identify every possible set up before taking a single step, " Vanez said. I could tell from the way his voice echoed slightly that he was far away on the other side of the room.

"Now, tell us, where have we set up the traps?"

I raddled off a list of where I could detect a bit of the smelly substance. My trainer seemed pleased by my answers.

"Next, I want you to let out a loud yell. Doing so will allow the sound to bounce off the walls and let you know your proximity to the possible triggers. It won't always help, in some points of the maze the path will become extremely narrow, you'll have to tread cautiously and test your proximity before entering these areas."

"What happens if one of the traps go off?" I said loudly, testing the reverberation of the room. I felt the sound waves bounce back and in ring in my ears.

"Drop to the ground as quick as you can. You make still sustain some impact, but it will lessen the damage."

We ran through the different stages again. Despite not being able to see, I could feel the way they changed the room through the bouncing of sound waves off the different obstacles. I was tentatively taking a few steps forward by sweeting my foot forward to test the ground, when a large bang went off to my upper right. I swiftly dropped onto the ground until the smell of smoke had passed.

Over the course of several hours I'd learned to duck, roll, and stay out of the way of heavy blasts. By the time I was finally ready to drop from exhaustion I was painted with burns and bruises. I practically crawled back to my coffin when Vanez finally dismissed me for the day. The trail would be the biggest challenge I'd faced yet. I still hd a hard time identifying the different traps, and there was no telling how they would smell on the maze. Even with my eye sight this would be tricky.

Day morphed into night and I found myself outside another unmarked. Harkat made his way up to me before the princes got to me, promising that if I made it out of this alive he had some interesting news to share with me.

"Are you ready, Miss Shan?" Kurda asked. He was stepping in for the princes today since they had business to attend to. Traditionally, one prince must always preside over the trial. I could have made a bigger deal about it and possibly stalled the trail more but I was eager to get this over with.

The blonde vampire led the way into the room. He tied a thick cloth over my eyes and then left, locking the door behind him. As soon as I was alone in the chilly stone chamber, I let out a loud yell. Judging by the breaks in the sound waves, the first room of the journey had two exits, a left and a right. I choose the go left. But only after taking a strong breath in and not detecting any of the explosive substance.

I carefully slid my bare foot forward, feeling the cool stone press against me. The left exit led to one of the narrow corridors Vanez had warned me about. I had to careful in closed areas like this, there was hardly any room for me, as small as I was, and the lightest touch could set off the trigger.

At the mouth of the path it led to another small area, this one the ground was littered with sharp rocks, and large stones just waiting to trip me. I carefully caught myself as I fell over one of the rocks, it was just out of the mental vision I;d made of the room. I blindly reached on it the darkness, a wrong move. As soon as my hands felt the surface of the wall in front of me, I noticed a small wire running up the side. I quickly rolled away as fire burned in the air and a loud noise exploded near me. The raining rumble bit into my skin and set off another bomb on the other side of the room. Two more went off and I waited a good five minutes in case any others had went off.

I'd forgotten to use y nose to check and it had cost me. After mentally berating myself I quickly located an exit which led to another pathway, thankfully this one was wider and I didn't have to be quite as carefully. When I reached the next room I slid my foot forward and quickly took a step back as my flesh met the open air. A dead end. If I hadn't been checking I would have gone right over the edge. I swallowed back a lump in my throat and quickly backtracked to next path.

I used my voice to check the area quickly and found the sound distorted in a way I wasn't used to. Tempting fate, I touched one side to find smooth stone, and the other was coated in jagged stalagmites with razor sharp edges. The large scattered edges of the rocks was the lesser of two evils to cozy up to. A few cuts was better than being blown to bits, after all.

It took me several minutes to tangle with the sharp stalagmites. In that time I'd bumped against the wall twice and set off the same amount of traps. One of the sharp rocks hd broken off in the blast and razed the tender skin on my shoulder. The ash was deep, but it was manageable. When I came across the next room, something was wrong.

I could smell a heavy amount of the powder in the air. The scent burned as

I breathed it it. Not only were the explosives on the walls, they were on the ground as well.

Vanez caution to tread carefully never felt more important. I took a slow step forward. My toes came in contact with a wire and I immediately moved to the right, running smack into the wall. The blast was a smaller one, but was loud and burned right long my left calf as I struggled to get away. Where was the exit? I let out a scream as a series of blasts came in quick succession from the ground. I jumped as I felt fire at my heels and sprinted in the direction of the opening, and consequently right near one of the bigger traps. The sound was so loud it caused permanent ringing in my left ear. I felt something trickling down my face and reached for my left ear, a steady stream of blood was pouring out. I doubted I'fd ever be able to hear out of that ear. I had fallen but tried standing, only to sway off balance. Another hot blast came from above, knocking my to the ground again. My head felt like it's split into. I knew I wouldn't be getting up anytime soon, so I forced myself to crawl toward the exit with all my remaining strength. My legs was practically on fire and my lungs were burning from the fumes around me.

I thought the room would led to another corridor, but as I came face to face with a door I breathed a heavy sigh of relief. Finally! I shot my arm up with my my strength and wretched the handle downward. The mental swung outwards and I was met with cheers galore. Someone ripped the blindfold off me and I squinted in the now too bright light surrounding me. A shit eating grin stole its way onto my face as I saw Gavner and Seba push their way to the front of the crowd, Crepsley not too far behind them. My mentor took one look at me and bellowed for a medic.

At least, I think he had yelled. I couldn't hear him that clearly over the ringing in my ears from the blast. I tried standing and walking toward him, but my legs felt like they belonged to a baby deer and not a vampire. I swayed around desperately trying to keep my balance.

"Hey I did it!" I said. I was probably shouting, but I couldn't tell. Not that I'd cared. I'd cleared that obstacle and that was all that mattered now. Gavner and Crepsley hooked their arms under mine and helped me walk back to my room, where a medic would be waiting to dress my wounds. I took one look down at my legs and nearly screamed. The usually pale skin was a bright, angry red, and even charred in some places. My arms weren't in any better shape. I quickly squeezed my eyes shut and tried not to think about it, going into shock was the last thing I needed right now!

After rubbing me down with a truly awful smelling salve and wrapping me in more bandages than a mummy, I was finally able to lie down in my coffin as the medic and my mentor engaged in a heated argument.

"I hate to be the one to say this," The heavy built, scarred medicine man scowled, "But I do see her hearing returning in her left ear any time soon. The concussion is mild, although someone should watch her while she rests just in case. But there's nothing I can do. Her eardrum is ruptured ."

The red headed vampire growled in frustration and dismissed the medic. The ringing had finally stopped by my balance was still suffering. I'd been told after a few days walking around I'd be okay, but i'd also be kind of unsteady on my feet. The idea didn't really bother me too much. I'd rather lose my hearing than my life any day!

"Dont worry. I'd say I'm pretty lucky. A few nasty burns and a hearing loss are better than a pit full of stakes," I laughed. The action caused a little bit of discomfort since my lungs had taken in a lot of smoke.

The vampire snorted derisively and sat down in one of the chairs. Harkat slowly opened the door with his short arms and gave me a meaningful look.

"Uh…" I quickly sat up. "You can go if you want. I bet you're hungry, you haven't eaten in awhile." I said to the vampire. "In fact, could you bring something back for me?" I gave him my best pleading look.

"Alright, try not to rest until I return." the vampire commanded before setting off to procure some food. Harkat shuffled out of his way and acting as inconspicuously as possible. As soon as the door shut the little person hurried over to me.

"Alright, spill it." I pressed. Harkat took in a few deep breaths, preparing to talk. I was itching to find out what Kurda had been up too, but the little person had been doing me a favor.

"The vampire….went down...the the caves….three times." Harkats breathing was labored, but he was getting better at speaking. "Each time….he brought supplied with him…."

I scowled, "What kind of supplied?"

The little person gave a small laugh, if you could call those quick gasps a laugh. "You...look like...Crepsley when you….make that face." I smiled and let on a huff or air at him comment. "Kurda...took food….and blankets with him."

I highly doubt the prince to be was camping all the way down in the depths of the mountain. Which led me to the conclusion that the stuff wasn't for him. It was for someone else.

"Thanks Harkat. Would you mind keeping track of him just for a bit longer? Once these horrid trials are over I can do my own conscience."

"My pleasure…."

"You know, I never asked…" I started awkwardly. "But that time you saved me from the bear, you said something about Mr. Tiny." All joking was gone from the little person's eyes.

"Mr. Tiny...said I have to….stay with you….he said if I protected you….I'd begin to learn who I…..was once."

Now that was alarming. I definitely did not want that creepy man involved in my life at all. But I didn't hold it against Harkat. So far he'd been super loyal to me, and he only wanted to find out who he was. I couldn't blame or take it out on him.

"Did he say why?" I pressed. The little person shook his head. It seemed we'd reached an impasse of sorts. It was good that we concluded the conversation when we did because not three seconds later did my mentor come in with a steaming bowl of bat broth and a mug of blood.

"Drink up, you'll need your strength going forward."

Being around the vampire did nothing to quell the emotional storm brewing inside me. I couldn't forget the way him and Arra looked at each other. Or the way my heart felt like shattered ice in my chest when I learned they been practically married at some point. I didn't say anything as I took the offered food from my mentor. His hands brushed against mine in the faintest touch of contact. My heart picked up speed.

"Are you alright? Your hearts beating awful fast….should I send for the medic?" The vampire pressed a hand to my forehead to inspect for a fever. I could feel myself heating up at the proximity of our faces.

"I-I'm fine." I said shortly. But the vampire didn't move an inch. His brow furrowed with concern. "If you keep staring at me I won't be able to eat…"

"R-Right…" The vampire reclaimed his seat. I breathed a small sigh of relieve and tucked into my meal. The broth and blood made me feel alot better. I hadn't realized how tired I was until I set my now empty cup on the ground. I laid down and tried to get comfortable but it was difficult since I couldn't move easy with such tight wrapping. I struggled to get my blanket up and suddenly found it pulled up to my chin by a pair of familiar pale hands.

"Sleep tight, Samantha." The vampire said with a small smile. Was it me or was it harder to breath now?

"Thanks…." I mumbled and tried to hide my blushing face under the blanket. With the vampire so close I fell into the most peaceful sleep I'd had since arriving on the mountain in months.