Many thankyous to everyone who reviewed.

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- D – I know that Saskatchewan province is in reality literally flatter than a pancake, that's why I chose it. The mountains never actually wore away; they were just picked up and removed from the world by the founders of Akren.

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Chapter 7

Rahkesh left his friends in the dining hall and, following the directions Namach had given him, found the ancient vampire's office. It was not hard to find, it was right next door to the set of chambers set aside for those practicing blood magic. Which made sense since Tristan Namach had more experience in using bloodmagic than almost any other living creature. If anyone got into trouble he'd know what to do, though Rahkesh wasn't sure if there was anything anyone could do for a person who had messed up a bloodmagic ritual. The reason there weren't any other vampires Tristan Namach's age who were adept in bloodmagic was because they had all died.

The door had a picture of a set of bloodmagic knives on it, against a background of glowing runes. Before Rahkesh could knock the door swung open on its own.

"Come in. Watch out for the lizard will you? He's in an awful temper." Professor Namach called from a room further in. The door closed behind Rahkesh on its own. He was inside a small entranceway that widened out into a larger room further in. Stepping forward Rahkesh stopped and stared.

Wow was Rahkesh's first impression. Tristan Namach had, according to Silas, been second in command of the vampires of the city of Rome at one point. Living in hidden magical splendor that outdid even the Emperor's palaces. Even after thousands of years Tristan Namach lived like it was still the height of the Roman Empire. The walls were stone. The floor was marble. The chairs were solid wood with designs in bits of tigers eye and silver. Gold torch brackets with chips of turquoise and obsidian in them were attached to stone columns. Stone mosaics wound between the columns. At the tops of the columns far above there were planters attached, with very powerful magical plants trailing down from them. Some of the leafy bright green and red vines were ten feet long, and still they barely came to the top of Rahkesh's head. The flowers were ones that glowed in the dark with an eerie blue light. Rahkesh didn't remember what they were called. Suits of armor, some of Roman origin some from much, much, earlier stood against the walls in the entranceway. The office, to his right, had an elegant wooden desk and chair with a rug that had to be thousands of years old below them. A pair of fox-fur slippers sat beside the chair glinting with pearls. Wooden bookshelves lined the walls of the office. To his left there were a few steps down into a high-ceilinged sitting room with a low marble and colored glass table. There were two couches, a few small stools, and an armchair made of solid marble. The couches were covered with thick velvet and silk throws. The marble armchair's seat and back was covered in two thick velvet cushions. The floor under the table was an ancient mosaic of colored glass and stones. The ceiling was painted with figures of handsome dark angles, black winged men and women swooping down on the people sitting below. The wall had a series of massive bookshelves made of thin marble. Above them hung a silk tapestry of griffins. Candleholders of twisting, curling black iron hung with strings of beads and jewels were scattered about.

One doorway straight ahead led out between massive stone columns onto a large balcony. Another door on his right past the office area probably led to a bedroom. He couldn't see for sure, strings of glass beads hung across the entrance. A third door on the left behind a couch opened into a very large room that Rahkesh guessed was used for dueling or bloodmagic…or maybe for housing the massive reptile on the floor in front of him. Namach said to watch out for the lizard. It was at least as long as he was tall, nose to tail tip, colored green, black, gold and purple. It looked a little like an iguana, but there was a large frill around its neck and when it saw him that frill expanded outward, showing it to be bright orange and red inside. It hissed threateningly at him and Rahkesh backed away. The lizard's black eyes watched him and its bright purple tongue flicked at the air. That tail has spines on it, and the reptile's claws were huge.

"That isn't a regular frill-necked-lizard is it?" Rahkesh called, rather hoping the vampire would calm the lizard down since he wasn't looking forward to trying to get around it. Professor Namach appeared in the doorway that led to the bedroom holding a crystal glass of what was probably blood. He leaned against the door and watched, amused, as Rahkesh slowly moved away from the irritated lizard. Which was crouching like it was about to lunge.

"No of course not. It's the magical cousin of the frill-neck. Very rare, very difficult to manage. But they are highly intelligent and they do make good pets. He's in a bit of bad mood right now. I stepped on his tail again you see, and when he jumped away he wound up in his water bowl, very undignified." Namach explained, winking, and then calmly stepped over the hissing lizard and down into the sitting room. It snapped at his foot but the vampire jerked away too quickly and rapped it sharply over the nose in reprimand. The seething animal let out a roar and spat at him. Namach pulled a large glass container from somewhere and collected the spit in it.

"It spits venom, like a cobra does, aims for the eyes. Very useful stuff. Now stop that Eli, we have a guest. There's a good reptile." The lizard did not appreciate being called reptile. And it didn't seem to care that there was company, it hissed and rattled its frill angrily. Namach turned away and beckoned Rahkesh after him. Rahkesh followed, keeping an eye on the animal's sharp teeth. Professor Namach sat down on one of the couches and gestured for Rahkesh to sit on one of the stools.

"You said you had completed three pieces of stage one bloodmagic? Or was that just what you were willing to tell the class?"

"No, only three. I am trying to work on one to make my body use oxygen more efficiently so high altitudes won't bother me but-"

"Don't." The professor interrupted him. "Don't try that kind of stuff yet. Stamina, strength, and reflexive speed are all things your body can get better at naturally given the right training. The bloodmagic will make it easier and quicker. If you want to start on the runes for improving the way the human body works I suggest you get to at least the third stage of the stamina set, you'll need its help to complete something as advanced as oxygen usage. That set of runes is much more complex than the others and it requires physical training at high altitudes before you can manage it. You also have to do the actual ritual at somewhere between twelve thousand and fifteen thousand feet above sea level if you want it to actually work." Rahkesh nodded. He was almost ready for the second stage of the stamina blood magic. With luck he'd be ready for the altitude one in about eight to ten months.

"Did you have any trouble with the three sets you have?"

"I'm not sure I'd know if I did."

"Dizziness for a few days afterward is common of bloodmagic that didn't set into the body right. Nose bleeds, blurred vision, headaches, feeling the need for much more sleep than you would otherwise need. Difficulty with simple spells?" Namach suggested. Rahkesh shook his head.

"No, actually I felt better after the rituals than before. No problems at all." Then he remembered and corrected that, "well, actually, my sense of balance was a little off. But I thought that was from the runes on my heels and ankles." Namach blinked and put down his glass.

"Your heels and ankles?"

"Well yes, the runes for the stamina one…" Rahkesh saw that Namach was still staring at him. "They're not supposed to be one the heels and ankles?"

"No. Not normally. Not until the third stage." His teacher replied, "let me see." Rahkesh shrugged and took off his boots, he was sure he hadn't messed up. The runes felt natural and the placements of the runes on his feet were the ones he felt the surest of. Namach took his foot and began to examine the runes.

"Let me guess, the other foot is exactly symmetrical?" he finally said, dropping Rahkesh's foot back to the floor.

"Yes." Rahkesh answered, wondering how Namach had known that. Bloodmagic runes were almost never symmetrical on different limbs. Namach must have sensed Rahkesh's confusion because he answered before Rahkesh could ask.

"It's common for unusually placed runes to be symmetrical. Do you have another set on your back?"

"Yeah. Again it's a little different." Rahkesh said, knowing that the runes on his neck and back were actually very different from anything the book had shown. Professor Namach gestured for him to turn around and take off his shirt, which Rahkesh did.

"You said they were a little different. That set on your neck would normally be on the shoulders." Rahkesh shrugged.

"It felt right this way. I tried other designs but they didn't work so well. I didn't feel I could channel them properly." Professor Namach rose and began examining the set of runes across his back. That particular set had been very difficult; he'd had to levitate the knife wandlessly to manage them. The runes were a series of large circles that covered most of his back, with smaller circles inside, with several sets of runes inside them. His bloodmagic runes were not so very different from what most people had. The differences were small enough that few people would really notice them.

"The circle patterns would usually be lined up with the vertebrae." But Tristan Namach would of course notice every difference. Rahkesh wondered exactly how much could be told just from irregularities in bloodmagic runes. "They're fine the way they are, every individual has a slightly different way of balancing the runes. But when you begin your second set make sure that they cross every vertebrae. It will center the magic within you and keep the whole piece tied together. " The professor stepped back and handed him his shirt.

"Your runes are very odd. Are you planning on pursuing a career in soul magic?" He asked. Rahkesh froze, he hadn't been aware you could tell that just from a bunch of slightly off runes.

"Yes. I'd like to get a mastery in soul magic as well as blood magic." He answered finally.

"Because you find it interesting? Or because of necessity?" Namach asked. Rahkesh wondered if he already knew the answer.

"A bit of both. I have a strong interest in blood and soul magic. And because I have a lot of friends who are not entirely human. I don't like hearing people refer to them as if they didn't have souls and are worthless just because of what species they are. I'd like to be able to explore differences in the souls of different species, if there are any. And I find soul magic to be really interesting. Blood magic I like because of what it can do and because I think it should be more widely taught. It is possibly the most powerful form of magic usage ever created." Rahkesh said. Professor Namach seemed to accept his explanation, which was mostly true. The only thing he'd left out was the hope that bloodmagic and soul magic could give him an edge against Voldemort.

"You have a great capacity for blood magic. And the fact that your stamina runes directed you to place them on your feet indicates that you have the ability to at least begin work in soul magic. The blood magic used in soul magic encompass the entirety of both feet several times over. Why exactly no one knows, but the runes you already have should stop the soul magic from ever overwhelming the bloodmagic. That is a real risk you know." Rahkesh did know, his books on bloodmagic had mentioned what had happened to hundreds of people who attempted soul magic. Only to find that their bloodmagic wasn't capable of blending with it. None of them survived. Namach paused and took a drink from his glass, forehead creased as he thought. "You haven't done enough bloodmagic to tell for sure yet, but most of your magic is centered around survival and fighting. However I find it very interesting that the runes on your back indicate that you also could be very good at large-scale nonviolent magical undertakings. Like the type of wards and enchantments that protect and created Akren. Combining the two will be difficult. But if you do have that capability then the rues you use will continue to move farther and farther away from the normal sets."

"Why is that?" Rahkesh asked.

"Because most people use bloodmagic to achieve one thing at a time. They can't do broader pieces of magic. They want to increase only stamina and do that. They look only to improving themselves, rather than improving the way they interact with their magic.

It is always a fight with their magic. Their ability to mesh their will with the way that their magic works within them is minimal. Your ability to do so is massive. You improve yourself and reach a greater connection with your magic at the same time. You can meld the way your magic works with your purpose. You don't fight your magic, as most people do, forcing it to do work. You open yourself to the magic and let it do the work the way it can, rather than the way you want it to. That is what gives the possibility of both fighting runes and those needed for larger feats of magic." Namach paused again to think.

"People pay to much attention to what is normal. Not everyone can use the same wand movements. Some people can't use them at all, but they are taught that they need those wand movements. And so they force their magic into those movements, thereby weakening the effect. Bloodmagic will often work much the same way. The same runes work for most people, but often people forget to rely on instinct and instead try to do things the same way others do. You do whatever feels natural and necessary without bother to care about whether or not it is normal." He paused again.

"And of course people often try to make runes that cool rather than runes that work." He added finally with a snort and a shake of his head. Rahkesh realized he'd never even thought of that. After a pause Namach rose and walked back across the room towards his balcony. Rahkesh, sensing their meeting was over, rose and went towards the door. Side stepping the lizard curled up on the floor.

"Let me know when you are ready to try the next set of your stamina runes." Professor Namach said.

"Sure, and thanks professor." Namach just nodded and went outside. Rahkesh left. It was getting late and he was sure the others would be waiting for him.

He entered his room and saw at once that he had been right. Ally was in his armchair while the two vampires were on the couch. Nuri the panther cub stretched out across their laps. Rahkesh glanced quickly at Sygra's cage, wondering if perhaps he should have placed charms on it so that the young panther culdn't smell her. Sygra was watching his guests warily

I wasn't sure if you wanted them here. But there are four of them so I thought I'd wait rather than attack. The snake hissed softly.

"Well? How'd it go?" Ally asked immediately. Rahkesh shrugged and took one of the small toy-sized armchairs off the shelf over his desk. Placing it on the floor he enlarged it and sat down. It was a good system for storing furniture.

"How did you get in here? The door was locked." Rahkesh asked. He was sure he'd locked the door.

"The balcony." Silas said, grinning. Rahkesh glanced over to the open windows and realized he hadn't put any locks on them. He'd have to do that soon. "Vampires can jump between these balconies, though a mortal would have difficulty. We just levitated Ally over.

"Well? What's he say?" Ally asked again.

"He said there was nothing wrong with the bloodmagic I had done. And suggested I take the soul magic classes once I've finished the required bloodmagic classes."

"Soul magic. You want to try for a mastery in that?" Silas asked.

"Sure. Why not?"

"Are you aware of the death rate for mortals who attempt that?" The vampire replied. Rahkesh shook his head. "Only one in a hundred and forty mortals manage it. Most of them have to become vampires to be capable of the magic required for mastery."

"Well he didn't mention that." Rahkesh said.

"Let us know if you decide to change." Daray said. "We'd be happy to turn you."

"I think I'd rather stay a mortal thanks." Rahkesh replied, Ally laughed at the vampire's disappointed looks.

"Bloodsucking fiends." Neither vampire appeared at all insulted.

"Proud of that too." Silas said, grinning, consciously enlarging one fang to show off. Rahkesh had been surprised to learn that vampires could hide their teeth, and that the fangs were not consistent with a mortal's canines, but were instead the teeth in front of the canines. When not in use they appeared perfectly normal.

"Uh, Daray, is that yours?" Rahkesh asked, just noticing the creature lying on the back of the couch behind the vampire's head.

"Oh, you haven't met him yet. Rahkesh, meet Satan, he's a magical vampire bat." Daray said, picking up the foot long creature. It was a massive vampire bat. Bright red eyes, white fangs, silver claws, and leathery skin blacker than the inside of a cave. How typical. Rahkesh thought.

"Why Satan?"

"Well I had to name him something. You can't have a pet and not name it." Daray said.

"But why Satan?"

"It fits him doesn't it?"

"Satan?" Daray finally noticed Rahkesh's skeptical look.

"He breathes fire."

"Oh."

"He'll grow a few more inches yet. They're usually about a foot and a half long. Gorgeous isn't he?'

"Uh, sure." Rahkesh said. Personally he thought that, moving on its feet and wingtips across the couch, it looked a bit like Norbert, crossed with something vaguely furry and dark colored, like a spider. Even if he hadn't known it drank blood it would still appear threatening. Trust Daray, the quintessential vampire if there ever was one, to have a blood drinking magical bat for a pet. And to name it after the devil. The bat made a sound between a hiss and a chirp and Daray picked it up again.

"He hasn't eaten yet, and I'm not letting him out until he's full grown. Goodnight" He said, and left the room, cooing at the creature. Rahkesh couldn't hear, but he could have sworn he heard Daray say something about getting Satan some nice Fire Horse blood.

"He really has memorized the vampire guidebook hasn't he?" Rahkesh said, nodding to the wall separating their rooms once he heard the door to Daray's room close. Ally snickered and Silas grinned and nodded.

"The worst part is that it comes naturally to him." He agreed. "And he has no idea just how cliché he his."

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"Crap!" Rhakesh said, glaring at the mess of threads on the table. Thread magic class taught by professor Stiali was rapidly becoming his least favorite subject. Actually it already was. One month into the class he had yet to do the tiniest bit of magic.

They had started off with the simplest things. Two heavy chains hanging from the ceiling and two pieces of thread. They were supposed to tie the two chains together by tying the threads together. The rest of the class was showing a good deal of success. Rianae had gotten to four chains and was tying intricate Celtic knots with her four pieces of thread, the chains perfectly mirroring everything she did.

Rahkesh's chains unraveled as quickly as the series of knots had done and were now swinging. At least they hadn't broken again. The only thing magical he'd managed so far was to break six sets of chains. Caused by putting too much magic into the threads, and concentrating the magic in one spot rather than over the entire length of the thread. The uneven buildup made them brittle and the amount of power he could focus into the spell had been enough to shatter the heavy chains like dry leaves. Professor Stiali found this very amusing, and perplexing. Rahkesh had both the talent and the skill and understanding of magic to be able to do thread magic, it just wasn't happening.

"Try again." Stiali instructed, and watched as Rahkesh began again. Slowly tying the threads together as he concentrated on making what the threads did become reality in the chains. Minutes later he had shattered his seventh set of chains and the threads, fueled by his annoyance, proceeded to burst into flames. The chains, despite being metal, followed suit and were reduced to ash in seconds.

"Sorry." Rahkesh said, conjuring up another set of chains. Stiali shook his head and grinned.

"You are very odd Rahkesh Asmodaeus. Plenty of power skill and ability. There is no reason why this shouldn't be working for you. If it doesn't improve soon I would suggest you switch classes. There's no point in spending half a year on something if you're just incapable of doing it. Try something else and maybe come back to thread magic in a few years. Or it may be that you just can't do it. Some people can't, though I've never seen someone with you abilities who couldn't." The professor suggested. Rahkesh nodded, he ad been thinking about that himself. Wandless magic class was looking better and better.

Beside him Rianae stopped using chains and began levitating a chair with a piece of thread. Rahkesh scowled. Rianae had offered to help him but after an hour or so they had come to the conclusion that Rahkesh was doing the exact same thing she was, and it wasn't working for him. Rahkesh decided he would find out what time the beginner-level wandless magic classes were that evening after dinner. This was a waste of time.

Aside from thread magic all of his classes were going very well. Rahkesh was well ahead of everyone else, except for Daray and Silas who had some training already and were finished with all the theory parts of blood magic and had already proved to Namach that they could find their magic and bring it into a ritual.

The martial arts/muggle weapon course easily the most physically demanding thing Rahkesh had ever done. They wouldn't start on the weapons until halfway through the year. The first half was focused on hand to hand fighting and getting in shape. It was repetitive, endless series of punches and kicks. But the occasional sparring was fun. Rahkesh was sure that, since few of them had ever fought before, they probably looked completely ridiculous. He gave thanks every day for having the forethought to learn and practice fighting while living in the Room of Requirement. And for his bloodmagics. The class was divided so that the stronger, faster, more resilient vampires and werewolves didn't accidentally harm mortal students. But Rahkesh often wound up with the vampires and werewolves when there was an uneven number of students. While not having the speed or the strength to really compete with them he could be assured of not taking any extreme injuries accidentally. And with some of the tricks he'd learned during his time in the Room of Requirement he could often hold his own against the vampires who hadn't had any training yet.

Veela students were taught in their own group, since Veela of both genders had a tendency to transform when fighting. Most of their lessons concentrated around not doing that, or controlling the transformation so that only the claws showed. There were a surprising number of Veela, but even more surprising were the four goblins. They were a year older, but when Akren said everyone was welcome, they meant it.

The physical exercise was designed to get them fit for full-scale mock battles through the forests around the school. Running obstacles courses filled with things they had to jump, ropes to climb, cliffs to scramble up, walls to climb over, magical plants lashing out at them that they had to dodge. And the occasional teacher hurling fireballs and lightning bolts, all while being timed. Rahkesh liked being outdoors, and Akren valley was beautiful, if they had to do this sort of thing there were definitely worse places to do it. It was hard and exhausting, but Rahkesh didn't mind it much, he was pretty good at this sort of thing, he'd had plenty of practice. Mad-Eye Moody would have liked it. It was all to easy to fall into a trance-like state while running the longer stretches that had no obstacles, and to miss the little warnings that there was something up ahead around the next bend. Like the time one of the Veela students had missed the fresh bear tracks and scat and run smack into a grisly. Constant Vigilance and a healthy amount of paranoia about just what might be lurking in between the thick trees quickly became a state of mind.

Silas and Daray, both of whom had been moved up into a more advanced group for the martial arts classes, offered to tutor Ally and Rahkesh in the evenings after they had all finished their homework. Once it became known that they were practicing in the indoor gym in the evenings other students started showing up to join in and within a few weeks there was an informal club of sorts gathering four or five nights a week.

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Well? Tell me what you think. Original enough? Tristan Namach a little too odd? Should Rahkesh ever get more pets than just Sygra?