Bec

Bec is a book by Darren Shan in The Demonata series. It is the fourth book released of the series, but so far it will be first chronologically. The protagonist of the book is the central character Bec McConn. It takes place in Ireland around 1600 years ago.

Plot Summary
Bec is a young orphan living in a small ring fort in Celtic Ireland who is studying to be a priestess. She's not especially powerful, but she has an extraordinary memory, as she can remember her own birth. Her teacher, Banba, believes she can one day prove herself useful to the clan they live with. It is a time of great change -- Christians have arrived at the island and many clans have already converted to the new religion. Bec's clan still clings to the old ways, but they know they cannot stand against the tide of Christianity for much longer. Bec is worried -- where will a priestess of ancient magic like her fit into the new world? But then her people are faced with a far greater threat -- demons invade and take over much of the island. Night becomes a time of fighting and bloodshed. The world seems poised to fall to the demon invaders. When a "simple child" named Bran who can run incredibly fast comes to Bec's rath, she and a small consignment of warriors go with him, including the chief's son, Connla, who is "largely untested" in battle, Goll an old warrior, Lorcan and Ronan; two teenage twins, Fiachna the blacksmith, and Orna a female warrior. He leads them to a crannog, where everyone is dead except a druid, Drust. The druid tells them about a tunnel to the demon's world, and how he aims to destroy it. They go with him.

During their journey, they encounter many demons, including when Bec battles Lord Loss. She appears to absorb power from him, and after the encounter begins to learn magic at a phenomenal rate. Drust gets worried, and asks her for permission to go into her mind (like Dervish Grady asks Grubbs in Slawter). It then turns out that Lord Loss had given her part of his power, opening up her magical side, though no one knows for what purposes.

Eventually they arrive at a village, where Bec learns about her heritage and that she is part of those prone to lycanthropy (This is a link to the Garadexes, Grubbs' ancestors). After a long journey, they arrive at the cliffs. Lord Loss appears, intrigued by a chessboard Drust got from the Elders. He is then thrown out magically, and places a geis (a demon curse) on them. Bec and Drust use magic to go down into an underwater cave, and they meet the Old Creatures, who tell them where the tunnel is and how to destroy it. It emerges that a druid or priestess must be sacrificed, with reveals why Drust needs Bec. Back on dry land, while Bec and Drust are talking about the sacrifice, Bran overhears and tries to help.

When they arrive at the tunnel, Connla betrays the group, revealing he was working for Lord Loss all along and it was he who caused all the deaths of the others who were once part of their party. Bec pushes him under a waterfall, breaking his protective spell of demonic blood and allowing the demons to slaughter him. When Bec is about to be sacrificed, Drust is knifed in the back by Bran and Bec realizes Bran wouldn't let her die. Drust tells her to use him as the sacrifice, as he is about to die anyway. When the tunnel is destroyed, Brude's mouth starts to close. They appear to be able to make for the exit initially, but Vein (one of Lord Loss' familiar) catches onto her leg. She fights her off, but too slowly. They lost their chance to make it out of the tunnel in time. As the tunnel starts to close, Bec uses her magic to force Bran to use his running skills to escape. The tunnel closes and Lord Loss appears to her, revealing that closing the tunnel makes no difference, and that he has been walking the earth for hundreds of years before this tunnel was opened. He then apologizes to Bec, but says he must go through with the geis he placed on them, and walks off with Drust's chessboard (possibly to be seen in Demon Thief later). In the last sentences of the book she is seen fighting desperately to the death with the demons, trapped in the tunnel. Presumably, the only survivor of the group of warriors is Bran.