One
Mavyn – August 5
How old are vampires. . . well, let’s get one thing straight. There’s a difference between vampIRESand vampYR. Vampires are created and vampyr are born. Yes! I said it! The non-aging, bloodsucking, sun-fearing,Dracula-ishcreatures can be birthed.
I will not go into detail about how that happens because it’s the same way humans conceive. If you want a detailed description ofthat, go find Ms. Elaycia. She knows all about – to put it bluntly – sex. I’d be surprised if she didn’t since she is a succubus.
As far as my previous question. . . vampires can be any age. Much like the vampyr, once turned their aging slows. It doesn’t stop all together because of celestials and tied fates and mortality and all that, but it does slow to a near stop.
The oldest recorded vampire lived over ten thousand years. Though in recent times most die off well before they hit a thousand. Especially in this age and realm.
Vampyr are a bit different. For one, only a vampyr can create a vampire, vampires cannot create more vampires. Next, they technically cannot die naturally, however some do age at different rates. All vampyr are born as humans – and most other beings – are. Babies. Unable to protect themselves and dependent on another.
They’re weak, powerless, helpless, useless, insufficient, and ineffective.
At least, that’s what most of the Mage Board Councilmen will tell you, and mages as a race. In truth, the baby vampyr are actually more dangerous. Just like scorpions. In addition to most of the stereotypes humans have for regular vampires, vampyr also have inherent magic. Something most of the Mage Board loathes.
And with only just being born and needing to mature, baby vampyr do not have the capacity to regulate their abilities.
All vampyr are born with a natural gift. That’s their magic. Usually it’s some form of an elemental power. Something of natural origins that you cannot learn.
Then they have the capabilities of an inherent learned magic. Something that is destined for them that they must hone, an ability they only receive after some divine altercation – or something like that.
And lastly, there’s a given or tied magic. Something they can receive if they blood bond themselves to someone else.
It’s all quite intriguing when you think about it. And that’s just the vampyr. You still have mages, shifters, fae, witches, and all the subgroups within them.
It’s all facts I was forced to cram into my mind. So many details to remember because without them I would have failed the entrance exam. And I needed to pass that damned exam.
Six hundred and forty-seven questions, two half page responses, and one three page-long essay.
It took me twenty-two hours. A test that not only questions you on the six beings of moral, but also tests your intelligence and academics.
Considering I never went to school you would think I should have failed that part. But the vampire who fed me the blood and injected me with the venom of a vampyr also transferred a bit of knowledge.
Not that I was ever dumb. I spent the majority of my life in libraries. I’ve taught myself sciences, mathematics, philosophy, literature, arts, politics. But my knowledge held nothing to what was within that test.
I didn’t have much of a choice in the matter. It was either take the test and try to pass or die. I was stamped an illegal vampire, and unless you have the paperwork you’re dead.
I don’t know why the vampire fed me that blood and venom, or which vampyr it belonged to, or why he wanted me to pass this test and attend this university, but here I am.
Before me looms the great Syngenia University. Which I feel like is a playoff of ‘syngèneia’ which means ‘blood’ in Greek. Or something along those lines, and I only know that becausethat’s all the vampire would say after he shoved the few drops of blood down my throat.
Why exactly it’s called that? I don’t really know. What I do know is that Syngenia University does not exist on Earth. It is on a world called Miy that exists in an entirely different universe to Earth.
Students mill around, some of them carrying boxes and bins, others leading as other people do. It’s move in day for the accepted. Move in day for me.
According to the professors and graders who were overseeing the test, no vampire has ever completed the test, let alone passed it. And not only did I pass it, but I did so without missing a single question. Which with my status and lack of money, I was granted the only scholarship this school offers.
This is how I gain my so-called ‘citizenship’. How I’m stamped a legal vampire. I need to graduate.
Such bullshit.
Gripping my umbrella tighter, I scan the yard again through my tinted sunglasses. There’s a slight overcast today, but even that wouldn’t protect a normal vampire. So I play along with what the Mage Board believes and start walking towards one of the tables where schedules and tablets are handed out.
There’s four tables in total, each one organized by race. There’s one for the mages, the shifters, the fae, and the vampyr. Walking towards the vampyr table, I ignore the shifting eyes and not very subtle whispers.
Another differentiating thing about vampires and vampyr, the vampyrcango out in the sun. So, technically they’re not necessarilysun-fearing.
