Sorry about the wait, I've just been really caught up with school, then vacations, then family, then housework... okay, I know I'm making up excuses but hey, at least I got the chapter up.

Disclaimer; I do not own Darren Shan it belongs to Darren Shan (That is still weird to say.)

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It was around dusk when my companions and I decided to join the conscious. Mr. Crepsley and Arra had to share a coffin because Mr. Tall didn't have another coffin and neither one of them wanted to sleep on the floor or in the hammock. Truthfully, I didn't know what their problems were; hammocks were quite comfortable.

Tommy had slept the day away with us. This surprised me and Steve because he was human. But when it came down to it we decided not to make a big deal out of it. After all, it was good for our group to be awake around the same times.

I sat up in my bed watching the last of days light disappear behind the hills. On the hammock beside me Steve stirred and yawned. Tommy looked over at us from his hammock and gave us a weak smile.

"Good evening." He said lightly. I smiled and Steve looked over at him. "No good night?"

"If I said that you might fall asleep." Tommy said grinning. Steve snorted.

We got up and stretched before heading out of our tent. The camp was full of activity as the actors got ready for that nights show. I walked through the havoc to the area with the campfire before telling Steve and Tommy I would join them later and walking over to Mr. Crepsley's tent. Entering, I walked over to the coffin in the corner and tapped lightly on the top. There was a sigh and the lid shifted off.

"Good morning." I said cheerfully. Arra and Mr. Crepsley yawned and climbed out of the coffin,

Mr. Crepsley doing the now so normal routine that I hid a smile. Arra left saying something about breakfast, but I stayed as Mr. Crepsley got into his usual red attire.

When he finished adjusting his neck line he turned toward me. "What is it you wish to ask me?"

I was startled out of my thoughts. How did he always know?

"Um, I was just thinking about a dream I had, that's all."

Mr. Crepsley closed the lid of his coffin and sat on top of it. "What sort of dream?"

I leaned against the coffin and ran a hand through my blue-black hair. "I'm not really sure." I began slowly. "But it felt sort of... real. I know it's a strange thing to say but it really felt like I was in that cavern."

"Cavern?"

"That's where the dream took place. I was in this cavern and there was a giant crystal in the center of it. At first I thought it was empty then this cold voice spoke. And the weird part is it came from the crystal."

"This... crystal, what did it look like?"

"Well it was... huge and was glowing a deep reddish color. That and strangely it looked like it was... pulsing."

"Go on." Mr. Crepsley said, obviously deep in thought.

"Anyway, the cold voice said something about time running out and then a man stepped out of the shadows and answered something like 'good things come to those who wait.'."

I paused and looked at Mr. Crepsley. He seemed deep in thought. "Did you hear anything else of their conversation?"

"I can't remember all of it but I do remember the orb saying that they're tired of waiting and he called the man Dark Fire. Then the man said something like 'you'll be pleased to know that the Lord of Shadows has awoken'. Then they said something about Tiny's power corrupting him and removing Ravenlovft from the picture. Oh, and they also mentioned something about an heir. And then this... thing entered the room and said they're ready for something. The man said 'good, be ready to leave'. When the creature left the man said to the crystal 'Ready yourself to leave Faynorie; it will not be long now.' And the thing in the crystal said 'yes My Lord'. Then the crystal turned this bright red shade and the man started to walk away. That was when I noticed this wrenching feeling in my chest, as if I was being pulled away to somewhere. I looked around me but there was nothing there. When I looked back up I noticed the man had stopped walking and was turning toward me when everything went black and I woke up in my tent."

"Is that all you can remember?"

"Yes, unfortunately."

Mr. Crepsley nodded slowly and stood. "Come, you must be famished."

I nodded and without argument followed him out of the tent and into the compound. Spotting Tommy and Steve I over by the fire I waved and walked over to them.

"Look who finally decided to join the living." said Steve as I joined them and Mr. Cresley joined Arra, Evanna, and Mr. Tall on the other side of the fire.

"Why bother when the dead is such good and quiet company." I retorted. Tommy choked on his cereal and Steve smiled.

"I suppose."

I couldn't help but smile. Sitting back I half listened to the conversation they were having about soccer teams and viewed our company. Across from us Mr. Crepsley and Mr. Tall were talking rapidly in low whispers. By them Evanna and Arra were talking surprisingly about frogs and poisons. And by Evanna, to my astonishment, sat Mr. Tiny, whom for once was silent while leaning against a wall, ankles crossed and eyes closed.

Deciding no to comment I turned away and was going to ask Steve a question when Mr. Crepsley interrupted.

"Darren, can you tell them what you told me about your dream?"

"Okay," I said and started talking about the cavern. When I got to the crystal I noticed that I had the whole groups attention. Even Mr. Tiny had opened his eyes halfway.

I told them about the conversation between the two beings but when I mentioned the man being called Dark Fire I paused and looked over at Evanna and Mr. Tall.

"Does it ring a bell?"

Evanna paused for a moment, considering. "It does in a way, but I can not remember how." Mr. Tall nodded in agreement.

"The man, this Dark Fire, did you see what he looked like?" Arra asked. I shook my head.

"Not really. I was too dark, even for me, and the crystal wasn't much help because it pretty much only lit up the area closely around it. But I could tell he was tall and kind of muscular. And when he tilted his head back I caught sight of his eyes. They were red, kind of like a blood red but more of a crimson. That and they glowed."

"Do you think it was a Vampaneze?" Mr. Crepsley asked.

I shook my head. "I don't think so. Vampaneze feel kind of like Vampires maybe a little different but not by much. This...being felt impossibly yet completely dark and... well evil."

Mr. Tall exchanged glances with Evanna before turning back to me. "Please continue."

I continued telling them about the conversation, purposely leaving out the part about Mr. Tiny, which Mr. Crepsley apparently disapproved about according to the glances he continuously sent me. Yet when I got to the part of Dark Fire sending the creature away and telling Faynorie to get ready Mr. Tiny actually sat straight up and gave my his full attention.

"Are you sure the name of the entity in the crystal was Faynorie?" He asked suddenly, surprising not only me but the rest of our companions.

"Positive. I remember that part clearly." I answered snapping out of my daze.

Mr. Tiny nodded and sat back slightly. "Then it is time."

"Time for what?" Steve said finally speaking since the story began. Mr. Tiny glanced at him before returning his gaze to me.

"Faynorie was imprisoned hundreds of years ago, with a few others, by myself, Ravenlovft, and our other two kin. It seems that they may have found a way to get out."

I opened my mouth to speak then suddenly looked at Evanna and closed it. A memory flashed into my mind and I focused on it.

Flaskback

Looking down into a dark tunnel I turned toward Evanna, whom was beside me holding a ball of light.

"Stay by my side down there. Don't stray." Evanna told me seriously. I looked back down at the cave.

"Will Mr. Tiny get me if I do?" I asked.

"Believe it or not there are worse monsters then our father," Evanna said."We will be passing some of them. If they get their hands on you,your millennia of torment in the Lake of Souls will seem like a pleasant hour spent on the beach."

I doubted it but the threat was strong enough that I stayed close. The floors and walls of the tunnel were smooth and made of what looked like solid rock. But there were shapes moving with in the rock, twisted, inhuman, elongated shapes, all shadows, claws, teeth, and tendrils. The walls bulged outwards as we passed- the things trapped within were reaching for us. But none could break through.

"What are they?" I croaked, sweating from fear as well as the dry heat on the tunnel.

"Creatures of universal chaos," Evanna answered. " I told you about them before- They're the monsters I spoke of. They are kin to our father, though he is not as powerful as them. They are imprisoned by a series of temporal and spatial laws- the laws of the universe that our father and I live by. If we ever break the laws these creatures will be freed. They will turn the universe into the hell of their own making. All will fall beneath them. They'll invade every time zone and torture every mortal being ever born- forever."

"That's why you were angry when you found out I was Mr. Tiny's son," I said. "You thought he'd broken the laws."

"Yes. I was wrong, but it was a close-run thing. I doubt if even he was sure of his plans success. When he gave birth to Hibernius and me, we knew of all the laws, and we obeyed them. If he was wrong about you- if he'd given you more power then he meant to- you could have unknowingly broken the laws and brought about the ruin of everything we know and love." She looked back at me and grinned."I bet you never guessed you were that important to the world!"

"No," I said sickly. "And I never wanted to be."

End of Flashback

I sat up straight suddenly, my full attention on Mr. Tiny. "So your telling me that Faynorie, the same Faynorie in the crystal in my dream is... is..."

"Yes," Mr. Tiny said looking straight at me. "The Faynorie in your dream, one of the ones that this Dark Fire is trying to release, is my brother."