The Destiny Games -Darren Shan Fanfiction [ON HOLD]

Chapter 7-Teamwork

Mr. Crepsley led us to a field of clouds. I couldn't make out anything, all I saw was clouds. Mr. Crepsley must have been tired; he had already flitted 3 times within the last few hours. He was panting heavily. Darius had flitted with me a few times, but never so many at once.

"Mr. Crepsley? Will you be alright?" I asked, concerned. He was the only one I had here in the Games, and Darius once said to me, everyone had to look out for each other. Mr. Crepsley, hands on his knees, wheezed: "Yes, I'll be…okay….just give me a minute…" I crouched down next to him and waited, watching out for any intruding threats. A while later, Mr. Crepsley sat down too. He seemed to be okay, just worn out.

Knowing Mr. Tiny, nowhere in this barren land was safe. I wondered where the other competitors were. As we were sitting there, a few balloons began falling from the sky. One of them, a red one, fell towards us. Warily, we watched it until it reached the ground, and lay there. At the end of the string of the balloon was a folded up piece of paper. Mr. Crepsley pulled the balloon towards him, and untied the paper from the balloon.

He passed the paper to me, and told me to read it out loud. I wondered why he didn't simply just read the paper, considering he got to it first. Then I remembered: Most vampires were illiterate! I unfolded the paper and read it quickly. Then, I read it aloud to Mr. Crepsley.

"Hello, dear friends. In case you already haven't guessed, this is your gracious host, Mr. Tiny speaking here," I could already hear his voice droning in my ears, his evil smile. "After watching you all in this barren land, alone, separated, I had a change of heart. If you look at your maps again, you will see that it has changed a bit. Well, it's had more land added to it. There is a castle in the south east. I have a surprise for you all there. Well, I'll be awaiting your replies. Good luck!"

I laid down the piece of paper as Mr. Crepsley pondered over the message. "Mr. Crepsley, Mr. Tiny said the map…..?" I interrupted his train of thoughts. "Oh, of course." Mr. Crepsley said, back to reality, as he fumbled for the map. He took it out, unfolded it and laid it in front of us. The map was certainly bigger now, with an outer exterior. As Mr. Tiny said, there was a miniature drawing of a castle in the south east. It was the kind you'd expect to see in a horror movie, like Dracula's castle.

Mr. Crepsley was frowning, muttering to himself as he looked at the map. Finally, he lifted his gaze at me. "Do you think we should go?" I asked. "I am not sure yet," he sighed, folding the map back up. "I am positive we will have more breakthroughs there, but I am sure Mr. Tiny had set something up. Also, the other teams will probably be there too." He put the map back into his pocket. "But we have to survive for 2 weeks here, right? We can't just sit here and hide away. We'll have no food, and like Mr. Tiny said, he'll set something after us."

Mr. Crepsley ran a hand through his hair, thinking. After a few minutes, he made his decision. "Fine, we will go." He said, as he took the map back out again. " East is the land of fire, it seems, but if we follow back south and only go east when we have gotten past the ring of fire, we should approach the castle." I pondered over the map. "But will you have enough energy to flit?" I asked, eyes on the map. "Nay, I will not flit. We will walk, as the others will be doing. But firstly, we should get some rest." He said, as he leaned back. I agreed, and we stared at the sky, savouring the time now, preparing for what dangers we might face later.