ITOOK MY SHOES OFF and mounted the bars. I spent a minute or two getting used to them, shuffling around, focusing on my balance. It was easy without the staff - vampires have a great sense of balance - but awkward with it. I took a few practice swipes and almost fell off right away.

"Short jabs!" Vanez snapped, darting forward to steady me. "Broad swings will be the end of you."

I did as Vanez instructed and soon had the hang of it. A couple more minutes hopping from one bar to another, crouching and jumping, and I was ready.

We met in the middle of the bars and knocked our staffs together in salute. Arra was smiling - she obviously didn't think much of my chances. We nudged away from each other and Vanez clapped his hands to signal the start of the fight.

Arra attacked immediately and jabbed at my stomach with the end of her staff. As I pulled out of her way, she swept her staff around in a vicious circle and brought it down on top of me - a skull-cracker! I managed to raise my staff in time to divert the blow, but the jolt of the contact ran through the staff and my fingers to the rest of my body, and forced me to my knees. My grasp on the staff slipped, but I caught it before it fell.

"Are you out to kill him?" Kurda shouted angrily.

"The bars are no place for little boys who can't protect themselves," Arra sneered.

"I'm calling an end to this," Kurda huffed, striding toward me.

"As you wish," Arra said, lowering her staff and turning her back on me.

"No!" I grunted, getting to my feet and raising my staff.

Kurda stopped short. "Darren, you don't have to -" he began.

"I want to," I interrupted. Then, to Arra, "Come on - I'm ready."

Arra smiled as she faced me, but now it was an admiring smile, not a mocking one. "The half-vampire has spirit. It's good to know that the young aren't entirely spineless. Now let's see what it takes to drive the spirit out of you."

She attacked again, short, chopping swipes, switching from left to right without warning. I blocked the blows as best I could, although I had to take some on my arms and shoulders. I retreated to the end of the plank, slowly, guarding myself, then leaped out of her way as she took a wide swing at my legs.

Arra hadn't anticipated the jump and was thrown off balance. I used the moment to launch my first blow of the contest and hit her firmly on her left thigh. It didn't seem to hurt her much, but she hadn't been expecting it and let out a roar of surprise.

"A point to Darren!" Kurda whooped.

"We don't score this on points," Arra snarled.

"You'd better watch yourself, Arra." Vanez chuckled, his single eye gleaming. "I think the boy can beat you. You'll never be able to show your face in the Halls again if a teenage half-vampire bests you on the bars."

"The night I'm bested by the likes of him is the night you can strap me into a cage in the Hall of Death and drop me on the stakes," Arra growled. She was angry now - she didn't like being baited by those on the ground - and when next she faced me, her smile had disappeared.

I moved cautiously. I knew that one good strike meant nothing. If I grew cocky and dropped my guard, she'd finish me off in no time. As she stepped across to face me, I edged backward. I let her advance a couple of feet, then leaped to another bar. After a few retreating steps, I jumped to another bar, then another.

I was hoping to frustrate Arra. If I could drag the contest out, she might lose her temper and do something silly. But a vampire's patience is legendary, and Arra was no exception. She trailed me like a cat after a bird, ignoring the jeers of those who'd gathered around the bars to observe the fight, taking her time, letting me play my evasive games, waiting for the right moment to strike.

Eventually she maneuvered me into a corner and I had to fight. I got in a couple of low blows - hitting her toes and knees like Vanez had suggested - but there was no power in my shots, and she took them without blinking. As I stooped to hit her toes again, she leaped to an adjoining bar and brought the flat of her staff down over my back. I roared with pain and dropped onto my belly. My staff fell to the floor.

"Darren!" Kurda shouted, rushing forward.

"Leave him!" Vanez snapped, holding the General back.

"But he's hurt!"

"He'll live. Don't disgrace him in front of all these vampires. Let him fight."

Kurda didn't like it, but he did as Vanez said.

Arra, meanwhile, had decided I was finished. Rather than strike me with her staff, she eased one of the rounded ends under my belly and tried rolling me off the bar. She was smiling again. I let my body roll, but held on tight to the bar with my hands and feet, so I didn't fall off. I swung all the way around, until I was hanging on upside down, snatched my staff off the ground, and jabbed it between Arra's calves. With a sharp twist, I sent her sprawling. She shrieked, and for a split second I was sure I'd knocked her off and won, but she grabbed for the bar on her way down and held on, as I was doing. Her staff, however, struck the floor and spun away.

The vampires who'd gathered to watch - there were twenty or thirty around the bars now - clapped loudly as we hauled ourselves back to our feet and eyed each other warily. I lifted my staff and smiled. "Seems like I have the advantage now," I noted cockily.

"Not for long," Arra said. "I'm going to rip that staff out of your hands and smash your head in with it!"

"Is that so?" I grinned. "Come on then - let's see you try!"

Arra spread her hands and closed in on me. I hadn't really expected her to attack without her staff and wasn't sure what to do. I didn't like the idea of striking an unarmed opponent, especially a woman.

"You can pick your staff up if you want," I offered.

"Leaving the bars isn't allowed," she replied.

"Get someone to bring it to you then."

"That's not allowed either."

I retreated. "I don't want to hit you when you have nothing to defend yourself with," I said. "How about I throw away my staff as well and we fight hand to hand?"

"A vampire who abandons his weapon is a fool," Arra said. "If you throw the staff away, I'll ram it down your throat to teach you a lesson when we're through up here on the bars."

"Okay!" I snapped irritably. "Have it your own way." I stopped retreating, raised my staff, and laid into her.

Arra was hunched over - she had a lower center of gravity that way and would be harder to knock off - so I was able to aim at her head. I jabbed at her face with the end of my staff. She avoided the first couple of blows, but I struck her cheek with the third. It didn't draw blood but left a nasty welt.

Arra was retreating now. She gave ground grudgingly, standing up to my lesser strikes, taking them on her arms and hands, only backing up to avoid the heavier blows. Despite my earlier warning to myself, I became overconfident. I thought I had her where I wanted. Instead of taking my time and finishing her off slowly, I went for the quick kill, and that proved my undoing.

I flicked the end of my staff toward the side of her head, planning to sting her ear. It was a casual swipe, neither as sharp nor as fast as it needed to be. I connected with her ear, but there was no power in the shot. Before I could draw back for my next, Arra's hands sprang into action.

Her right hand grasped the end of my staff and held it tight. Her left hand balled up into a fist and smashed into my jaw. She hit me again and I saw stars. As she drew back her fist for a third punch, I reacted automatically and stepped clear of her reach, which was when she gave a quick wrench and ripped my staff away from me.

"Now!" she hooted triumphantly, twirling the staff over her head. "Now who has the advantage?"

"Take it easy, Arra," I said nervously, backing away from her like crazy. "I offered to give you your staff back, remember?"

"And I refused," she said angrily.

"Let him have a staff, Arra," Kurda said. "You can't expect him to defend himself with his bare hands. It isn't fair."

"How about it, boy?" she asked. "I'll let you call for a replacement staff if you wish." By her tone, I knew she wouldn't think much of me if I did.

I shook my head. I'd have traded anything I owned for a staff, but I wasn't about to ask for special favors, not when Arra hadn't. "That's okay," I said. "I'll fight on like I am."

"Darren!" Kurda howled. "Don't be stupid. Call it off if you don't want another staff. You've fought bravely and proved your courage."

"There would be no shame in quitting now," Vanez agreed.

I stared into Arra's eyes, saw that she expected me to resign, and stopped. "No," I said. "No quitting. I won't get off these bars till I'm knocked off." I started forward, hunched over like Arra had been.

Arra blinked, surprised, then raised her staff and set about ending the contest. It didn't take long. I blocked her first jab with my left hand, took her second in the belly, ducked out of the way of her third, and slapped away her fourth with my right hand. But I was caught square around the back of my head by her fifth. I dropped to my knees, groggy. There was the sound of rushing air, then the round end of Arra's staff connected cleanly with the left side of my face, and I went crashing to the ground.

The next thing I knew, I was staring up at the roof, surrounded by concerned vampires. "Darren?" Kurda asked, worry in his voice. "Are you all right?"

"What... happened?" I wheezed.

"She knocked you out," he said. "You've been unconscious for five or six minutes. We were about to send for help."

I sat up, wincing at the pain. "Why's the room spinning?" I groaned.

Vanez laughed and helped me to my feet. "He'll be fine," the games master said. "A little concussion never killed a vampire. A good day's sleep and he'll be right as night."

"How much farther is it to Vampire Mountain?" I asked weakly.

"The poor child doesn't know whether he's coming or going!" Kurda snapped, and started to lead me away.

"Wait!" I shouted, my head clearing a bit. I looked for Arra Sails and spotted her sitting on one of the bars, applying a cream to her bruised cheek. Shaking free of Kurda, I stumbled across to the vampiress and stood as firmly as I could before her.

"Yes?" she asked, eyeing me guardedly.

I stuck out a hand and said, "Shake."

Arra stared at the hand, then into my unfocused eyes. "One good fight doesn't make you a warrior," she said.

"Shake!" I repeated angrily.

"And if I don't? "she asked.

"I'll get back up on the bars and fight you till you do," I growled.

Arra studied me at length, then nodded and took my hand. "Power to you, Darren Shan," she said gruffly.

"Power," I repeated weakly, then fainted into her arms and stayed unconscious till I came to in my hammock the next night.