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A/N: Who was the second Little Person on the trek to Vampire Mountain? I don’t own CDF or its characters.
He was a relatively new Little Person. He remembered Mr. Tiny fishing his soul from the damned Lake. He remembered being stitched together. But most importantly, he remembered who he was. He had been a vampire before he died. Not an important one, merely a guard, though he was high-ranking in his career. His mentor had been like a father to him, the same way that the tall orange-haired vampire was like a father to the small half-vampire boy at the Cirque du Freak. The other vampire was both the reason he was dead and the reason Mr. Tiny had turned him into a Little Person.
Wester Flack had gone to the Lake of Souls for betraying his brother, for killing the innocent woman he loved in an attempt to start a war. He often spent these nights watching his old friend. He desperately wanted Larten to know who he was, but Wester could not speak. None of the Little People could as far as he was aware. He had been surprised to find that Larten had taken an assistant-and a young boy at that! He had always said he would never take an assistant. Despite that, it was clear that Larten had a knack for teaching.
As for the assistant, Darren Shan was stubborn and foolhardy. He reminded Wester strongly of Larten when they had first began their studies under Seba Nile. In fact, if he hadn’t known better, he would have said that the boy was Larten’s own flesh and blood! Though the pair had gotten off to a rocky start Wester knew that Larten thought of Darren as his son and that Darren thought of Larten of at least family, if not as his father by now. Much the same he and Larten had thought of Seba Nile as their father and the other as their brother.
He was overjoyed when Mr. Tiny assigned himself and another Little Person, one with a limp, whom Darren had nick-named Lefty, to travel with the pair to Vampire Mountain. The Mountain! Wester longed to see his mentor again and the Halls he had guarded-even if no one would know who he was. But of course Destiny had other plans for him.
On the road, while Larten and Wester’s old friend/nephew Gavner Purl had gone hunting with a pack of wolves. He had opted to stay with Darren to look after the boy. The other Little Person joined him, as did the little wolf cub travelling with them. Sure enough, a large rabid grizzly, furious and foaming at the mouth, had attacked their party. A mixture of hope and fear swelled in his chest. He feared for the boy, but he knew that this was his chance to make it up to Larten. He would redeem himself to his brother, even if he never knew. He shoved his nephew hard to the side as the grizzly charged. He tried to move, but Wester never had been overly brilliant in a fight. He felt the immense weight of the bear fall on top of him and then he knew no more.
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The last thing Larten remembered was the sharp pain of the stakes hitting his back and the burning as the flames ate away at his flesh. He no longer felt any pain. Glancing down uncertainly at his hands he found his flesh was neither sunburnt nor charred. Then he felt arms wrap around him tightly. He automatically returned the favour, tucking his head into the woman’s neck.
“You kept your promise.” Arra Sails whispered, drawing away from him.
“Arra.” He greeted, and then quickly pressed his lips to hers. “I should have done that the last time you asked.”
“It’s okay.” She laughed. Then she took his hand and led him away. “Come on, everyone’s been waiting for you.”
She led him to an open field, where he was greeted by a most welcome sight. Paris Skyle and Gavner Purl were having an intense discussion from the look of it. But when Gavner noticed him he tapped Paris on the shoulder and they both greeted him with broad smiles. “Larten!” Gavner roared gleefully and nearly tackled him to the ground in a hug.
The Prince was more reserved. He looked younger, closer to the way he had looked when Larten had first met him. “Hello my boy.” He too embraced the orange-haired vampire. “How is our cub Prince?” He asked eyebrows raised.
“He has grown into a fine young vampire, as I suspected he would.” He grinned, “I am very proud of him.”
“So you should be.” Paris said in a matter-of-fact way. “But I fear he will take your death hard.”
Larten’s smile faltered, “I know he will.” He sighed, “I simply hope that Darren learns to move on better than I ever did.”
“We could hardly believe it when Paris told us he’d been made a Prince.” Arra exclaimed, tactfully changing the mood of the conversation.
Larten laughed, “Neither could he or I.”
“No,” Paris said eyes twinkling, “I recall Larten saying that every vampire in the mountain would have to go through him if they wanted to lay a finger on Darren.”
Gavner and Arra roared in laughter as Larten turned a deep shade of red. “Yes, well…” he mumbled off.
“Figures.” Another voice said behind the group. Larten turned slowly. He was met with a familiar face, even though he hadn’t seen it in over fifty years.
“Wester?” Larten gasped. Gavner nudged Arra’s shoulder and nodded off to the side. He clapped Larten’s back as he left the field with Paris and Arra to give the brothers some privacy.
“Hello brother.” Wester said, hands stuffed in his pockets, he couldn’t quite meet Larten’s eye. He was surprised when Larten embraced him tightly.
“I am sorry.” Larten managed through a sob.
Wester awkwardly patted his back. “Nothing to be sorry for, what I did was unforgivable.”
“I do not dispute that, but I still should not have killed you.”
“It’s okay Larten, I made it up to you already, though you may not have realized at the time.” His brother regarded him with a look of utter confusion. “I couldn’t go to Paradise when I died, so I struck a deal with Tiny.”
“You were a Little Person?” Larten asked.
Wester gasped, “How did you know?”
“A Little Person made the trek to Vampire Mountain with us, one who could speak. He told us how he struck a deal with Desmond Tiny.”
Wester let out a loud guffaw, “I didn’t realise any of them could speak! As it happens, I was the other Little Person sent on that quest, but well, I didn’t exactly make it to the mountain.”
“The other…” Larten trailed off, the image of a crushed pile of bones and a dead grizzly coming to the forefront of his memory. “You were…”
“Squashed flat?” Wester suggested and they both began to laugh again. “How did your boy fare after?”
Larten smirked, “I believe he used your leg bone to kill the bear in the end.” He chuckled and then sobered. He gripped his brother’s forearms tightly, “I have missed you.”
“I’ve missed you too.”
Wester slung an arm across Larten’s shoulders as they went in search of their friends. Reunited at last. Brothers to the death.