Lost love

Malora fought. She fought so hard. A fully blooded Vampire couldn't have done better. But it wasn't enough. There were too many of them.

Malora had known that she couldn't defeat them all but she fought anyway. She knew that she would almost certainly die but that didn't stop her. She fought to protect the orange haired Vampire she had fallen in love with.

At some point in the fight – Malora couldn't remember when – she had been deprived of her knife. But still she fought using her bare hands to smash noses, break limbs and snap necks. Larten had taught her how to fight both with and without weapons and the young woman did everything she could to stop the bloodthirsty mob from getting into the unconscious Vampire's cabin.

The mob overwhelmed her. Despite her skill, strength and courage she simply could not defeat so many foes. Hands grabbed her and forced her down. She felt her wrists being tied. And still she fought, kicking and struggling like a wildcat. Even with her hands tied she put up a tremendous fight and it took three men to lift her away from the door of Larten's cabin.

Malora thought of Larten unconscious in the cabin. She was his only defence; if the mob got inside there was nothing she could do to protect him. But right now they seemed more interested in her. She noticed Daniel Abrams among them yelling about demons and devils and all sorts of monsters. Daniel used to have a crush on Malora but had lost all feelings for her when he found out she was the associate of a Vampire. Malora was furious with the little traitor; she had liked Daniel and thought they were friends. Yet he was the one who had confirmed that Larten was a Vampire. Malora wished she had gotten a chance to snap the boy's neck.

Malora felt herself being thrown over someone's shoulder as they climbed the rigging. Turning her head she saw that it was the captain. She kicked and struggled heedless of the fact that if he dropped her she would fall to her death; she wanted to take at least one more person down with her.

When they reached the top of the mast Malora was horrified to see another sailor tying a knot in a noose hanging from one of the poles. The captain set her down on the mast and looped the noose around her neck. Malora felt tears stinging her eyes but she furiously fought them back; she would not cry in front of these savages. She tried to balance on the thick wooden beam that held the sails which was difficult with her hands tied behind her back. She realised that if she fell she could not do anything to stop the noose from choking her to death.

"Ye could 'ave avoided this," the captain told her with a hint of regret, "if ye had stood aside we woulda let ye live."

"I won't let you kill the man I love," Malora said defiantly.

"There's not much you can do about it now," said the other man. Malora realised that he was within range of her feet which were untied. She might be able to take one last man down with her after all.

"He'd not a monster," Malora said softly, "Vampires are not demons."

"He were drinking an innocent woman's blood," snarled the captain.

"And you're about to hang another innocent woman," Malora retorted. The captain snorted.

"No ally of demons is innocent," he said. "And besides ye killed or wounded many good men while we was subduing you."

"I had to," Malora said quietly, "I couldn't let you kill him."

"Ye're a demon just like him!" the captain roared, "Ye're beyond redemption! And so ye'll die!"

"I know," Malora said. The fear that had filled her when she first saw the noose was gone. Now she felt calm and had accepted her fate. Larten might be killed without her to protect him but at least she'd die knowing she'd done everything she could to defend him. She spoke her last words in a loud, clear voice, "Even in death may I be triumphant!" With that she lashed out with her left leg hitting the other sailor on the shin. In doing so she lost her balance but just before she fell she saw the sailor topple from the mast and fall headfirst to the ship's deck below. Malora barely had time to feel satisfaction before the rope was pulled tight around her throat. Her last thought was, Goodbye my love, as an image of Larten Crepsley filled her mind.

Then Malora died.

The massacre was over. Larten Crepsley walked through the mess of corpses, blood and guts that littered the ship. He looked up at the mast Malora was hanging from. Then the Vampire climbed up and used his nails to slice the rope that had killed her. He carried the dead girl over his shoulder to the deck and found the least bloody spot he could before laying her down.

The noose had cut into Malora's throat and she was covered in scratches and bruises but if not for those injuries one might think she was sleeping. Her face was calm and serene and her eyes were closed. Larten was glad about that; he hated the thought that those eyes that had once been so full of life were now dull and empty. He thought back to the time when she told him she loved him and when she'd said that someday he would love her too.

Larten felt tears sting his eyes. He hadn't cried in a long time but he cried now. Malora had been right. He loved her. He loved her and he never told her. They'd never even shared a kiss. She'd been so loyal, spirited, strong willed and beautiful and he had no doubt that she had fought with everything she had to protect him. He wished he'd told her how he felt about her; he had planned to. But destiny – or as Seba Nile would say, Des Tiny – had been cruel and ripped her from him long before her time. Of course it was possible she would die long before him anyway considering she had no interest in becoming a Vampire. But this was far too soon. She could have lived many years, grown old with him and maybe one day he might have persuaded her to allow him to blood her. Now, after only sixteen years of life, she was gone.

Larten didn't fight the tears. During the massacre he hadn't felt anything except a terrible rage which had obliterated all other emotions. But now, for the first time, the full weight of what had happened crashed down on him. Malora had been murdered; until now he hadn't truly believed it but as he stared down at her lifeless body he knew that she was gone. He hugged the corpse of the girl he loved and wept uncontrollably. He had only felt this much grief once before in his life; the day when his beloved cousin, Vur Horston, had been killed.

"I am sorry Malora," he whispered even though he knew that her soul had already flown to Paradise. He did not believe that Malora's soul would remain trapped on Earth; she was too good for that. But although Malora was now in Paradise that did not make Larten's grief any easier to endure because she wasn't here. She wasn't with him bossing him about, teasing him about being stupid and being the best thing in his life since he'd left Seba Nile and Wester Flack in Vampire Mountain.

And even when he died there was a chance he would never see her again; he had slaughtered almost every living creature on this ship. He might be forced to remain on Earth after he died, trapped forever with the other evil beings that hadn't made it to Paradise. The thought that he wouldn't see her even after he died was too terrible to contemplate. He shoved it from his mind and leaned down pressing his lips onto Malora's forehead and putting all his love and grief into the kiss.

"I love you Malora," he said hoping that, wherever she was, Malora would hear him, "And I always will."

I cried while I was writing this. Though she was only in one book, and was introduced over half way through, I liked Malora and her death shocked me, despite the fact that I should be used to Darren Shan killing off his characters by now. Having read the whole of the Saga of Darren Shan, as well as the Demonata and The Thin Executioner, I know that Shan is perfectly capable of killing off important and likeable characters but even so Malora's death hit me hard.

I wrote this because Shan didn't describe what Larten was feeling about her death; he went on a killing spree but Shan did not give us any description of the grief he must have been feeling. When he first saw her body, Larten was filled with a calm rage but at some point after that he must have felt grief too.

I know that Larten later falls in love with Arra Sails but he can still have room in his heart for Malora too.

Just out of interest, is anyone planning to put up a section for The Thin Executioner? I don't have a clue how to do that but the internet doesn't start sections or sites by itself; someone has to put them in. Oh and another thing; Malora's name is not in the characters sections. It should be since less important characters are included in those sections. I would put her name in myself except I have no idea how to do it.