Evercrest Vampire Truth

Suzan stood before them, looking blankly. Wondering why she had even suggested that all of this needed to be done.

She had been hiding her abilities for so long it was odd to readily present everything to others. It all seemed so sudden. But she wanted to help her family, other humans, and Ester (who was exactly like her – half human, half ancient vampire).

She cleared here throat just as she cleared all of her thoughts when she realized she was just standing there stalling.

"Ancient vampire magic and human magic are very different, just as Elsbeth said.

"But the difference is a bit more subtle. This is because human magic can have a base within the soul as well. Most ancient vampires believe that this is not possible probably because they have forgotten.

"Humans can draw in and store magical energies and this is probably the only true difference between us and the ancients. Ancient vampires, werewolves, and the ancient of Persaran do not store magical energies.

"Magic flows through them constantly rejuvenating their bodies and minds and strengthening them and the magic itself. With this there really is no need to store it.

"Humans, on the other hand, have pathways that were never meant to allow the sustained flow of magic. Human pathways have thus far evolved to pull in massive amounts of magic and expel it as soon as possible.

But Humans can utilize the heart, mind, body, and soul when using magic. Humans remember how to take magic and inject intent that can allow the magic to transcend its original meaning."

She paused in thought.

"What I am saying is the greatest difference between ancient races and Humans is the fact that humans can still directly control the intent aspect of their magic. The Ancients produce greater intent as they become stronger while humans can innately adjust their intent from the moment their magic awakens within them."

As she finished she looked at the shock in the eyes of the ancient vampires, the confusion in the eyes of most of her family members, and the contemplation in the eyes of her grandmother.

She looked to Ester.

"For the rare individuals like me combining these to methods can be detrimental to our magical abilities but also guarantees our proficiency with magic if we overcome our personal hurdles.

"I do not really understand what my hurdles were because I had a benefactor early in life. I understand Ester's those and we are correcting them now. Let me give you a visual example of how we are different. Elsbeth come back here and help me demonstrate.

"I want everyone to allow themselves to perceive magic and pay close attention to how it flows through mine and Elsbeth's bodies. Can everyone do that?"

As Elsbeth moved to stand besides her she saw that not everyone was giving her an affirmative answer. She pursed her lips.

"We will first need to teach those of you who can't perceive magic yet. We are all at a level to do this."

"I can explain this part Suzan. It is due to my negligence that the family's abilities are in decline."

Suzan looked to her grandmother, wanting to tell her not to be so hard on herself. She decided against it and began speaking to Elsbeth about how they should do the demonstration.

They decided to perform the same spell that Elsbeth used earlier but to use the same amount of magic for two casts. The first heavy handed and the second focused and precise.

When they finished speaking they looked up to see everyone nodding.

She looked to Elsbeth. "Okay let's begin." Elsbeth nodded and just like before she drew in a great quantity of magic. Suzan, on the other hand, pulled in a massive quantity but her soul and heart both lit up with a dense gold light. As the magic entered her pathways, that were denser and moved about her body in a more odd extremely complex way as compared to ancient vampires.

Looking at how magic moved through Suzan, Ester understood why her pathways were so knotted.

As the magic moved through Suzan's pathways the golden light of her heart and soul flowed to it and when they touched the magic flared with greater power.

Magic flowed from Elsbeth and Suzan at the same time. Once again a large hole was blown through Elsbeth's target while Suzan's target was completely obliterated.

Everyone stood stunned. Their eyes blinking as they stared off into the distance.

Elsbeth looked from Suzan to Dylan. Suzan frowned.

"What's wrong?"

Eslbeth shook her head. "I never realized." She looked to Ester with an expression of contemplation. "We will need to find a secure place for your training."

Suzan shrugged. "When we get there I will find a good place and build something appropriate. Don't worry. I have already been thinking about this."

The truth was Terese had been talking to her about it almost every night since they had met. When Suzan dreamed she was lectured or they sparred. She couldn't help wondering how she kept waking up fully rested.

"Maybe we don't need to do a second casting."

Elsbeth looked at the spot where a rock formation had been moments ago.

"I guess we don't."

Suzan looked to the area she had just restored and the pebbles, rocks, boulders, and sediment quickly rose in a plume of dust. When the dust cleared the rock formation was completely restored back to its exact original form.

She looked to Elsbeth staring at her in awe. She shrugged.

"I do not like changing the landscape like that."

Elsbeth nodded. "Spoken like an ancient vampire."

Suzan frowned as she turned to the large lake behind them.

"Let's go relax for a moment."

Ester quickly caught up with her.

"I think that I can help my pathways to recover. I can feel them loosening… or something. I can't explain it."

Suzan put her arm around her.

"That is how it feels when your magic can flow freely. Even I feel a change of my magic and I do not remember the time when my pathways were like yours. The more you circulate magic through your pathways the better your body will feel.

"I grew up with humans so I do not consume like you do, but I know how because I have observed ancient vampires consume. When you consume the nutrients move directly to areas that they are needed. You could not consume efficiently before because the actual mechanism that allows us to do so had atrophied. When I first realized I could consume like ancient vampires I tried to do so and discovered this within myself. It made something within me feel tight and brittle, like it would snap at any moment. As I circulated my magic and it moved passed this area it strengthened and rejuvenated with each subsequent use.

"I know that you have been diligently trying to cast all this time. Now that you are rejuvenating and strengthening essential magic organs everything seems loosened and better to you."

"So I can't restore my own pathways?"

"I would not recommend it for now. You need to learn more about them and yourself. A torn pathway is more painful than you could ever imagine."

"Have you torn a pathway before?"

"Yes. And I can't fully explain the sensation. My soul, heart, and mind all hurt as one. And it was a constant pain until I could slowly repair the damage sufficiently for magic to move through it again."

Ester nodded as she audibly swallowed.

The lake was a beautiful clear blue-green color and trees grew almost up to the water. Most of them sat in the shade of the trees as they watched others from their group swim in the cool water.

For one day everything was peaceful and they did not need to think about the perils of their world.