Lessons:
From then on, lessons began. School was still out for another week, as they were on vacation, and so Ryan and Serena trained hard, working for several hours every day, training for several hours at a stretch. They never caught a glimpse of one another during these sessions, even though they came and went at the same time, and slowly both of them began to get to grips with their powers. As time went by, lessons became easier to understand, and quicker to master, although they began rather slowly...
*~*~*
"Right, shall we begin your first lesson?"
"Um, yeah." Serena didn't sound so sure.
"Well, we have a lot to do. Privately, we are going to work on your fighting techniques, shape shifting forms and witch powers, and I will also give you a little basic knowledge to help you out with some of your lessons in herbs, stones, magic and history. But first things first. Meditation."
"Meditation? Why?"
"Because it gives the mind discipline. It will help you focus and keep things in order, and helps you to gain control of you powers. Now, breathe in and out as I count, and try to empty your mind."
Serena sat down in the gym, and breathed with her.
*~*~*
"I know that this is hard, Ryan, and you're doing really well. Most people don't make this progress in a session, especially with something as hard as meditation."
Ryan opened his eyes. "But you said it was basic."
"It is. But that doesn't make it any easier to learn. Pulling in your power inside you is incredibly difficult to do. However, once you have mastered it, you will find it infinitely useful to help you manage your powers. Now, I think that that's enough for now. You will get better at it as time goes on. Let us start on some physical aspects of your training." He got up, and pulled two long lengths of wood from a rack behind his desk, and, leading him out into the old hall, tossed one to Ryan. "Staff fighting."
*~*~*
"We... we fight with sticks?" Serena was incredulous, holding the stick in front of her awkwardly.
"Sure. Once you've mastered it, it's easy, and good for exercise. Now, lift your stick up and hold it in front of you in a horizontal position. Good. No, move your hands down a bit more. That's it. How does that feel?"
"A bit weird."
"It will, but in time you'll get used to it. It takes time and practice, and lots of drills, just like basketball. Now, let's start with simple strikes and blocks."
*~*~*
"Good. A little bit faster, Ryan. Let's pick up the pace a little."
"Um, okay" Ryan was surprised at himself. He was actually enjoying staff fighting. After a couple of days of practice, strikes, blocks, lunges, spins and thrusts were becoming easier and more fluid. Added to the staff fighting was fist fighting and wrestling, fencing, basic sword fighting, archery and a little practice with other weapons, and he loved every bit of it. It gave him a chance to work off the excess energy he had. It was tiring, but a great workout, that was for sure.
"I'll tell you what. Why don't we have a little match. Just simple techniques, to see how well you've picked up skills. Assume the guard stance... and begin!
*~*~*
"So herbs and stones can be made into amulets and things to aid magic?"
"That's it. Each and every stone has its own properties, strengths and weaknesses, and you need to know which is which, and how to use them."
Serena felt around in the large velvet pouch Raksha had given her, feeling all the stones inside. She really enjoyed these sessions, almost as much as the fighting sessions she took. She had quickly begun to master all the physical arts, and was now also taking daily sessions in herbs and stones, to help prepare her for her witch power lessons. But the physical fighting was what she enjoyed best right now. Her stamina had slowly increased, and her agility, quick-footedness and lithe body was being improved all the time.
Raksha interrupted her thoughts. "So, can you name me some of these stones and their properties?"
"Okay. Rose Quartz, helps with love and friendship. Is a good balancing stone. Adventurine, an energetic stone, good for clear headedness. Carnelians, Purification and passion...
*~*~*
"Well done, Ryan. That's the best meditation session you've had yet. I think that you're ready to start trying to tap into your inner self. This isn't easy, but I think that you might be able to do it. I'll show you how to find your inner self, and then you'll know where it is. Remember where it is, and you'll be able to look in on yourself at any time."
"But, what is my inner self?"
"Good question. It's difficult to explain exactly what your inner self is... you'll understand it when I show you yours, but basically, it's you- the core of your being and the strongest ties to your magic. Looking in on yourself, you will see your magical reserve, and be able to call on very large or minute amounts of power. It gives you control on your magic, but it takes determination, meditation and concentration to do it. I can't really explain it any better than that, but let's begin, and you'll see what I mean. Now sit down and breathe in and out. That's it, relax."
*~*~*
"Right, Serena, I'm putting my hands on your temples, and I'm going to meditate for a moment. When we're both deep into it, I will guide your mind, change how it looks at you, to allow you to see your inner core, so just trust me. If anything happens, the protective circle will protect us. Good, breathe in... and out... and in... and out..."
Serena was lost, deep in the meditation. She found that she felt oddly detached from her body, as if it wasn't her body, but someone else that she was just watching. It was an odd feeling. But she discarded that thought away as she tried to empty her mind.
Stranger still was the presence of someone else in her head. She couldn't describe it, but it felt like Raksha, her... essence. It was as if she had entered her mind, and could see what was in it. She suddenly felt a slight urge to hide her thoughts, of fear and invasion of privacy, but the thought was detached, and it didn't seem to matter much. The force wasn't interested in her thoughts, though. It just took her mind, hand in hand, and led it deeper into itself, to her very core. "Look down" the Raksha's voice said in her mind. "Deeper inside yourself". Eyes shut tight, Serena looked.
*~*~*
It was like nothing Ryan had ever seen. Somewhere at the back of his mind, he could feel that Kherron had left his mind, but his inner eyes were fixed on what was in front of him, and he didn't notice it. Now he knew what Kherron had meant. Inside his mind, he was surrounded by darkness, it was pitch black, but his peripherical vision showed him his inner core, glittering and burning fiercely, like a noiseless, heatless fire. It looked like four long thin hexagonal prisms of fire, tessellated together, although he knew, somehow that each was separate in its own right. One of them was emerald green, like his eyes, laced with white. It glittered and glistened before him, and as he looked at it, he felt his inner self falling, down into it, becoming a part of it.
Looking out from inside of the prism, he felt a jolt within him, and he just knew, somehow, that this was tied to his shape-shifter heritage. Reaching out he touched a virtual wall, and his hand passed through it, and with a quick pull, he was out of it, and looking at the prisms again. The others looked almost exactly the same as the first, only one was sapphire blue, laced with black fire, and another was deep purple with dark sparkles, while another was a regal shade of red, with white sparkles interwoven with it. Falling into each of the prisms, one by one, he found that the blue one had a link to his vampire side, but he couldn't work out the other two. He knew that there was something magical about them, but what it was, he had absolutely no idea. Calling to his power with his mind, he soon found that he could tease out small tendrils or large cords of his power at any one time, and he spent a few minutes trying to get as much control over his power as possible.
Some time later, he reluctantly extracted himself from his inner self, and found himself in the real world, with Kherron watching him intently. He met his trainer's eyes and for the first time in a long time, he was felt hopeful for the future.
*~*~*
Serena was mesmerised at the sight before her. There were so many prisms... all different colours and ...wow. She was struck speechless. Counting them, she found that she had thirteen different prisms, all tessellated together in a pattern of rings. The one in the middle was black, with dark glitter woven into it, but she couldn't work out what it was for. It was some kind of magic, she knew, but that was it. In the next ring around the black prism were three white prisms, one for her shape shifting, one for her witch powers, and one for something else. Only these prisms weren't white exactly. They were a... magical colour, for want of another word. They were all the same colour- glittering white and ivory and a little bit of the palest shades of pink, blue, yellow and green mixed in too. Only the colours didn't mix together, but stayed separate, like coloured oil and water. It was like looking at a pearl, the most beautiful colour she'd ever seen. Also in the second ring were three coloured prisms- an aquamarine one, a lilac coloured one, and a pale blue. In the next ring out, there were the last six, of red, pale pink, orange, yellow, pale green and dark green. All of the prism glittered, with white fire, but she didn't know what any of the coloured ones were.
Coming out of herself, she asked Raksha to explain.
Raksha hesitated. "I'm... not sure exactly, but even if I knew, I couldn't tell you. I think that they're to do with the different realms that I told you about once earlier... I dunno. You'll find out soon, I'm sure, but these things take time. You're moving very fast, but you'll need to take some time when it comes to your magic, or it could break away from you. You have the most magic I've ever seen in a person, but for now, I think you're going to have your hands full with what you've got. You'll pick up the rest in time. Now, Staff fighting practice..."
*~*~*
And so the lessons continued. Privately, Serena and Ryan soon became the best fighters in their groups, quickly mastering difficult fighting arts and working hard to learn all that they had to learn. They were quick and keen, and spent hours practicing alone when they could, surprising even their trainers with their dedication to their work. They enjoyed their lessons very much indeed, and moved quickly, improving in leaps and bounds. But the most difficult lessons were still to come, before they could learn to work in pairs.
*~*~*
"Serena, I'd like you to meet someone." Serena looked up at the person that Raksha was showing through the door. She was a small, slender young woman, about the same age as Raksha, with waist length fine white-blond hair and piercing violet eyes. "This is Iliana Harman. She's a witch," Raksha continued. "Iliana delivered you as a baby, and that's how you got most of her powers. She's here to train you in your witch heritage, as I can't. I have some other work to do now, so I'll leave you two to it. Work hard." And with that, Raksha was gone.
Iliana smiled at her, "Hi."
"Hi."
"Well, as you know, I'm here to teach you about your witch powers. Seeing as most of them are similar to mine, I can train you enough so that you will be able to train yourself in your other witch powers afterwards. But first things first. Have you meditated?"
"Yes. Raksha taught me how, and I do it every day."
"Oh, good. That's one thing I don't have to teach you then. So, we'll jump right in then. Calling up witch fire. It's the most basic power, but one that you need to master, and it is a difficult one to do. Watch me carefully, and see how I do it, before you try it." Serena watched. "See how I cup my hands one over the other, to create a sort of sphere with it? Well, your power will probably emerge as a glowing ball of magic, and that's how I will contain the ball. Then, you concentrate, hard. You have to think of your magic, and will it to come out, and slowly, your magic will emerge. See?" As Serena watched with amazement, a small ball of white- blue fire formed in her cupped palms. "Now you try."
Serena cupped her hands, as she had seen Iliana do, and she concentrated. Breathing carefully, she reached inside herself, and teased out a small fibre of power from her witch prism, and concentrated on sending it to her palms. A second later, there was a small explosion. The power just jumped into her hands, the small fibre producing a large fireball so hot and intense that Iliana jumped back, and Serena had to move her hands apart to prevent them from getting burnt. Bearing down on it with her mind, she forced it to shrink. Pushing it until she could control it, and a few moments later, she had a small ball of white glittering fire, the same colour as the white prisms, in her hands.
Looking up at Iliana, she saw that the older woman looked a little pale, and was clearly shocked and speechless, staring at the fireball she held. Extinguishing the fire, she asked her, "What is it? Did I do something wrong? I only used a little bit of my magic, the tiniest thread, but it kinda exploded. I don't know why, but at least I managed to get it under control afterwards." When Iliana didn't respond, she asked again. "Um, did I get something wrong?"
"No. No, you didn't. It's just.... Most beginners can't produce a spark for several days into their training, and I've never seen a fully powered witch produce a ball that... intense. You said that it was just a bit of your power?" Serena nodded. "Well you're one of the strongest witches I know, then. We'll just need to work on your control a little, and then we can move on to more complicated things."
*~*~*
"Okay, Ryan. We're going to start with the most basic of vampire abilities- changing into a vampire, and doing things in that form. A lot of vampires can only do this when they are exposed to something, like blood or the opportunity of a meal, or when they are really angry. However, some of the stronger vampires can change back and forth at will, easily. It's not that hard to master. Just connect with your inner self, and will the change to happen. Like this." And in that instant, as Ryan watched, he saw Kherron's teeth extend to fine canine points that just indented his lower lip. His eyes took on a silvery blue shine, and his whole body became more tense and compact. "Now you try it." His voice sounded slightly distorted, but he spoke easily around his extended teeth.
Obediently, Ryan reached inside himself. He made a connection to his inner self, and called a thread from the blue prism of vampire power inside of him. As he drew it out, he thought of how Kherron's teeth had changed, and felt the change begin in his own body. His teeth and jaws ached for a moment, until he felt the release of his teeth extending into fangs. Closing his mouth, he saw that he couldn't shut it completely, and even so, his teeth lightly indented his lower lip. Raising a finger to feel his new fangs, he pricked a finger tip on the point of a fang. It was sharp. Slowly, as if compelled, he licked the drop of blood off his finger. Strangely enough, he wasn't disgusted by it at all. It felt... natural. Looking at the mirror in the old hall, he saw that his eyes were glowing. They were changing colour, from purple to ice blue to green to black to brown... it was endless, they were continiously changing. And all the while, they had a constant silver sheen over them that made him look... dangerous was the only word for it. "Will my eyes change all the time" His mouth formed the words with a little difficulty, as the teeth were hard to talk with.
"Yes." Kherron had changed back into his human form. "It's because of your mother. As a Redfern, you have inherited the family trait of eyes that change colour. They will definitely change colour when you're in this form, but if you want, for now, we can spell them so that they stay mostly one colour when you're in human form." Ryan shrugged. "Anyway, we can deal with that later. Now, you will find that as a vampire, you are stronger than before." He lifted a chair up and twisted its legs out of position as easily as if it were a coat hanger, and then, twisting the legs back again, put it down. "Now that you've shifted once into a vampire, you will find that your powers as a vampire will transfer into your human form too, so you can use them in your human form as well, although, of course, you can't feed. As a vampire, you are resistant to most kinds of injury, except for those by wood. Wood can cut us and kill us, so you must be wary of it. We'll go through more of the vampire tricks tomorrow, but I'll only keep you a little longer today. You start school tomorrow, don't you?" Ryan nodded. "Well then, lets just have a staff combat in vampire form to finish for today, ok? And... begin!"
From then on, lessons began. School was still out for another week, as they were on vacation, and so Ryan and Serena trained hard, working for several hours every day, training for several hours at a stretch. They never caught a glimpse of one another during these sessions, even though they came and went at the same time, and slowly both of them began to get to grips with their powers. As time went by, lessons became easier to understand, and quicker to master, although they began rather slowly...
*~*~*
"Right, shall we begin your first lesson?"
"Um, yeah." Serena didn't sound so sure.
"Well, we have a lot to do. Privately, we are going to work on your fighting techniques, shape shifting forms and witch powers, and I will also give you a little basic knowledge to help you out with some of your lessons in herbs, stones, magic and history. But first things first. Meditation."
"Meditation? Why?"
"Because it gives the mind discipline. It will help you focus and keep things in order, and helps you to gain control of you powers. Now, breathe in and out as I count, and try to empty your mind."
Serena sat down in the gym, and breathed with her.
*~*~*
"I know that this is hard, Ryan, and you're doing really well. Most people don't make this progress in a session, especially with something as hard as meditation."
Ryan opened his eyes. "But you said it was basic."
"It is. But that doesn't make it any easier to learn. Pulling in your power inside you is incredibly difficult to do. However, once you have mastered it, you will find it infinitely useful to help you manage your powers. Now, I think that that's enough for now. You will get better at it as time goes on. Let us start on some physical aspects of your training." He got up, and pulled two long lengths of wood from a rack behind his desk, and, leading him out into the old hall, tossed one to Ryan. "Staff fighting."
*~*~*
"We... we fight with sticks?" Serena was incredulous, holding the stick in front of her awkwardly.
"Sure. Once you've mastered it, it's easy, and good for exercise. Now, lift your stick up and hold it in front of you in a horizontal position. Good. No, move your hands down a bit more. That's it. How does that feel?"
"A bit weird."
"It will, but in time you'll get used to it. It takes time and practice, and lots of drills, just like basketball. Now, let's start with simple strikes and blocks."
*~*~*
"Good. A little bit faster, Ryan. Let's pick up the pace a little."
"Um, okay" Ryan was surprised at himself. He was actually enjoying staff fighting. After a couple of days of practice, strikes, blocks, lunges, spins and thrusts were becoming easier and more fluid. Added to the staff fighting was fist fighting and wrestling, fencing, basic sword fighting, archery and a little practice with other weapons, and he loved every bit of it. It gave him a chance to work off the excess energy he had. It was tiring, but a great workout, that was for sure.
"I'll tell you what. Why don't we have a little match. Just simple techniques, to see how well you've picked up skills. Assume the guard stance... and begin!
*~*~*
"So herbs and stones can be made into amulets and things to aid magic?"
"That's it. Each and every stone has its own properties, strengths and weaknesses, and you need to know which is which, and how to use them."
Serena felt around in the large velvet pouch Raksha had given her, feeling all the stones inside. She really enjoyed these sessions, almost as much as the fighting sessions she took. She had quickly begun to master all the physical arts, and was now also taking daily sessions in herbs and stones, to help prepare her for her witch power lessons. But the physical fighting was what she enjoyed best right now. Her stamina had slowly increased, and her agility, quick-footedness and lithe body was being improved all the time.
Raksha interrupted her thoughts. "So, can you name me some of these stones and their properties?"
"Okay. Rose Quartz, helps with love and friendship. Is a good balancing stone. Adventurine, an energetic stone, good for clear headedness. Carnelians, Purification and passion...
*~*~*
"Well done, Ryan. That's the best meditation session you've had yet. I think that you're ready to start trying to tap into your inner self. This isn't easy, but I think that you might be able to do it. I'll show you how to find your inner self, and then you'll know where it is. Remember where it is, and you'll be able to look in on yourself at any time."
"But, what is my inner self?"
"Good question. It's difficult to explain exactly what your inner self is... you'll understand it when I show you yours, but basically, it's you- the core of your being and the strongest ties to your magic. Looking in on yourself, you will see your magical reserve, and be able to call on very large or minute amounts of power. It gives you control on your magic, but it takes determination, meditation and concentration to do it. I can't really explain it any better than that, but let's begin, and you'll see what I mean. Now sit down and breathe in and out. That's it, relax."
*~*~*
"Right, Serena, I'm putting my hands on your temples, and I'm going to meditate for a moment. When we're both deep into it, I will guide your mind, change how it looks at you, to allow you to see your inner core, so just trust me. If anything happens, the protective circle will protect us. Good, breathe in... and out... and in... and out..."
Serena was lost, deep in the meditation. She found that she felt oddly detached from her body, as if it wasn't her body, but someone else that she was just watching. It was an odd feeling. But she discarded that thought away as she tried to empty her mind.
Stranger still was the presence of someone else in her head. She couldn't describe it, but it felt like Raksha, her... essence. It was as if she had entered her mind, and could see what was in it. She suddenly felt a slight urge to hide her thoughts, of fear and invasion of privacy, but the thought was detached, and it didn't seem to matter much. The force wasn't interested in her thoughts, though. It just took her mind, hand in hand, and led it deeper into itself, to her very core. "Look down" the Raksha's voice said in her mind. "Deeper inside yourself". Eyes shut tight, Serena looked.
*~*~*
It was like nothing Ryan had ever seen. Somewhere at the back of his mind, he could feel that Kherron had left his mind, but his inner eyes were fixed on what was in front of him, and he didn't notice it. Now he knew what Kherron had meant. Inside his mind, he was surrounded by darkness, it was pitch black, but his peripherical vision showed him his inner core, glittering and burning fiercely, like a noiseless, heatless fire. It looked like four long thin hexagonal prisms of fire, tessellated together, although he knew, somehow that each was separate in its own right. One of them was emerald green, like his eyes, laced with white. It glittered and glistened before him, and as he looked at it, he felt his inner self falling, down into it, becoming a part of it.
Looking out from inside of the prism, he felt a jolt within him, and he just knew, somehow, that this was tied to his shape-shifter heritage. Reaching out he touched a virtual wall, and his hand passed through it, and with a quick pull, he was out of it, and looking at the prisms again. The others looked almost exactly the same as the first, only one was sapphire blue, laced with black fire, and another was deep purple with dark sparkles, while another was a regal shade of red, with white sparkles interwoven with it. Falling into each of the prisms, one by one, he found that the blue one had a link to his vampire side, but he couldn't work out the other two. He knew that there was something magical about them, but what it was, he had absolutely no idea. Calling to his power with his mind, he soon found that he could tease out small tendrils or large cords of his power at any one time, and he spent a few minutes trying to get as much control over his power as possible.
Some time later, he reluctantly extracted himself from his inner self, and found himself in the real world, with Kherron watching him intently. He met his trainer's eyes and for the first time in a long time, he was felt hopeful for the future.
*~*~*
Serena was mesmerised at the sight before her. There were so many prisms... all different colours and ...wow. She was struck speechless. Counting them, she found that she had thirteen different prisms, all tessellated together in a pattern of rings. The one in the middle was black, with dark glitter woven into it, but she couldn't work out what it was for. It was some kind of magic, she knew, but that was it. In the next ring around the black prism were three white prisms, one for her shape shifting, one for her witch powers, and one for something else. Only these prisms weren't white exactly. They were a... magical colour, for want of another word. They were all the same colour- glittering white and ivory and a little bit of the palest shades of pink, blue, yellow and green mixed in too. Only the colours didn't mix together, but stayed separate, like coloured oil and water. It was like looking at a pearl, the most beautiful colour she'd ever seen. Also in the second ring were three coloured prisms- an aquamarine one, a lilac coloured one, and a pale blue. In the next ring out, there were the last six, of red, pale pink, orange, yellow, pale green and dark green. All of the prism glittered, with white fire, but she didn't know what any of the coloured ones were.
Coming out of herself, she asked Raksha to explain.
Raksha hesitated. "I'm... not sure exactly, but even if I knew, I couldn't tell you. I think that they're to do with the different realms that I told you about once earlier... I dunno. You'll find out soon, I'm sure, but these things take time. You're moving very fast, but you'll need to take some time when it comes to your magic, or it could break away from you. You have the most magic I've ever seen in a person, but for now, I think you're going to have your hands full with what you've got. You'll pick up the rest in time. Now, Staff fighting practice..."
*~*~*
And so the lessons continued. Privately, Serena and Ryan soon became the best fighters in their groups, quickly mastering difficult fighting arts and working hard to learn all that they had to learn. They were quick and keen, and spent hours practicing alone when they could, surprising even their trainers with their dedication to their work. They enjoyed their lessons very much indeed, and moved quickly, improving in leaps and bounds. But the most difficult lessons were still to come, before they could learn to work in pairs.
*~*~*
"Serena, I'd like you to meet someone." Serena looked up at the person that Raksha was showing through the door. She was a small, slender young woman, about the same age as Raksha, with waist length fine white-blond hair and piercing violet eyes. "This is Iliana Harman. She's a witch," Raksha continued. "Iliana delivered you as a baby, and that's how you got most of her powers. She's here to train you in your witch heritage, as I can't. I have some other work to do now, so I'll leave you two to it. Work hard." And with that, Raksha was gone.
Iliana smiled at her, "Hi."
"Hi."
"Well, as you know, I'm here to teach you about your witch powers. Seeing as most of them are similar to mine, I can train you enough so that you will be able to train yourself in your other witch powers afterwards. But first things first. Have you meditated?"
"Yes. Raksha taught me how, and I do it every day."
"Oh, good. That's one thing I don't have to teach you then. So, we'll jump right in then. Calling up witch fire. It's the most basic power, but one that you need to master, and it is a difficult one to do. Watch me carefully, and see how I do it, before you try it." Serena watched. "See how I cup my hands one over the other, to create a sort of sphere with it? Well, your power will probably emerge as a glowing ball of magic, and that's how I will contain the ball. Then, you concentrate, hard. You have to think of your magic, and will it to come out, and slowly, your magic will emerge. See?" As Serena watched with amazement, a small ball of white- blue fire formed in her cupped palms. "Now you try."
Serena cupped her hands, as she had seen Iliana do, and she concentrated. Breathing carefully, she reached inside herself, and teased out a small fibre of power from her witch prism, and concentrated on sending it to her palms. A second later, there was a small explosion. The power just jumped into her hands, the small fibre producing a large fireball so hot and intense that Iliana jumped back, and Serena had to move her hands apart to prevent them from getting burnt. Bearing down on it with her mind, she forced it to shrink. Pushing it until she could control it, and a few moments later, she had a small ball of white glittering fire, the same colour as the white prisms, in her hands.
Looking up at Iliana, she saw that the older woman looked a little pale, and was clearly shocked and speechless, staring at the fireball she held. Extinguishing the fire, she asked her, "What is it? Did I do something wrong? I only used a little bit of my magic, the tiniest thread, but it kinda exploded. I don't know why, but at least I managed to get it under control afterwards." When Iliana didn't respond, she asked again. "Um, did I get something wrong?"
"No. No, you didn't. It's just.... Most beginners can't produce a spark for several days into their training, and I've never seen a fully powered witch produce a ball that... intense. You said that it was just a bit of your power?" Serena nodded. "Well you're one of the strongest witches I know, then. We'll just need to work on your control a little, and then we can move on to more complicated things."
*~*~*
"Okay, Ryan. We're going to start with the most basic of vampire abilities- changing into a vampire, and doing things in that form. A lot of vampires can only do this when they are exposed to something, like blood or the opportunity of a meal, or when they are really angry. However, some of the stronger vampires can change back and forth at will, easily. It's not that hard to master. Just connect with your inner self, and will the change to happen. Like this." And in that instant, as Ryan watched, he saw Kherron's teeth extend to fine canine points that just indented his lower lip. His eyes took on a silvery blue shine, and his whole body became more tense and compact. "Now you try it." His voice sounded slightly distorted, but he spoke easily around his extended teeth.
Obediently, Ryan reached inside himself. He made a connection to his inner self, and called a thread from the blue prism of vampire power inside of him. As he drew it out, he thought of how Kherron's teeth had changed, and felt the change begin in his own body. His teeth and jaws ached for a moment, until he felt the release of his teeth extending into fangs. Closing his mouth, he saw that he couldn't shut it completely, and even so, his teeth lightly indented his lower lip. Raising a finger to feel his new fangs, he pricked a finger tip on the point of a fang. It was sharp. Slowly, as if compelled, he licked the drop of blood off his finger. Strangely enough, he wasn't disgusted by it at all. It felt... natural. Looking at the mirror in the old hall, he saw that his eyes were glowing. They were changing colour, from purple to ice blue to green to black to brown... it was endless, they were continiously changing. And all the while, they had a constant silver sheen over them that made him look... dangerous was the only word for it. "Will my eyes change all the time" His mouth formed the words with a little difficulty, as the teeth were hard to talk with.
"Yes." Kherron had changed back into his human form. "It's because of your mother. As a Redfern, you have inherited the family trait of eyes that change colour. They will definitely change colour when you're in this form, but if you want, for now, we can spell them so that they stay mostly one colour when you're in human form." Ryan shrugged. "Anyway, we can deal with that later. Now, you will find that as a vampire, you are stronger than before." He lifted a chair up and twisted its legs out of position as easily as if it were a coat hanger, and then, twisting the legs back again, put it down. "Now that you've shifted once into a vampire, you will find that your powers as a vampire will transfer into your human form too, so you can use them in your human form as well, although, of course, you can't feed. As a vampire, you are resistant to most kinds of injury, except for those by wood. Wood can cut us and kill us, so you must be wary of it. We'll go through more of the vampire tricks tomorrow, but I'll only keep you a little longer today. You start school tomorrow, don't you?" Ryan nodded. "Well then, lets just have a staff combat in vampire form to finish for today, ok? And... begin!"