Welcome to Chapter 18 of Night is Long.

Author's Note

I'm starting this chapter immediately after having finished and posted Chapter 17. I hope y'all liked that last chapter and I hope y'all like this one. Again, I've finalized more of the plot than I had before so it makes it easier to write now. Some good world building for vampire society and culture for anyone interested in this chapter.

I do not think that I will be writing many, or probably any, very graphic sex scenes for this story. That very well might change in the future, though. This is a very informational chapter with little dialogue and little action. Just a little warning.

Read and leave a review saying what you think about this chapter or the story as a whole. Feel free to give some constructive criticism.

Markus's Room, After Dinner

Markus,

Time is short, so I will be brief. Tensions are rising among the vampire Clans and Houses. I expect warfare, at least covert warfare, within the year. This conflict with Voldemort and the tensions rising in North America have made our enemies bold. A large faction of younger Clans and Houses have banded together, and I have evidence that a number of vampires currently at the Academy are planning on joining or even leading some of the Clans and Houses against me and my allies. Lord Ivanov is informing Corvus and Evelyn of this as well. I expect you three to work together and root out these vampires. I am working on tracking Voldemort's horcruxes, but it is taking longer than I anticipated.

Lord Drakul

Markus set the letter down on his desk as he stroked Cygnus's head. The serpent hissed in pleasure and the two quietly conversed in Parseltongue while Markus waited for what he was sure was coming. Sure enough within five minutes Markus could sense that Corvus and Evelyn were approaching his room, and from what he could sense they were on edge. Standing and opening the door just as they got there he ushered them inside, shutting and charming the door behind them.

"You two got the same letter I did, then?"

Corvus nodded just as Evelyn burst out, "It's ridiculous! The younger vampires don't stand a chance against the Ancients."

Markus did not know enough about the subject, and decided to just let Evelyn go.

"But they do. They have the extreme numbers and now they might have the support of Voldemort and his forces."

"That still can't stand up to the Ancients!" Evelyn was confident in the strength of the Ancient Vampires such as her grandfather Alexander and Markus's sire, Felix.

"But with the whole magical world embroiled in war the Ancients will be too preoccupied to fight them efficiently. Think about it, if the Ancients are all trying to keep the magical world hidden while multiple wars rage they won't be able to defend themselves."

Markus spoke up now, nearly interrupting Corvus. "Are you saying it's these new Clans and Houses that are responsible for the tensions and fighting around the world?"

Corvus burst out, "I'm saying they're not helping! Some of them are probably backing Voldemort directly, too."

"And they're here, too. We've got to root them out."

"But how do we do that? We're first year students, and any older vampires than us would wipe the floor with us."

Corvus responded to Markus, "I'm not so sure about that, Markus."

"What do you mean?"

"There's a ritual we could do. Grandfather mention it once."

"Corvus, you know that's too dangerous for us. It's too advanced."

"No, not with Markus's bloodmagic skills. He could work it out."

The twins conversation degraded into bickering and arguing and Markus still did not know what they were arguing about.

"Wait, wait, wait. What ritual? What are you talking about?"

The twins stopped and Corvus answered, "There's an ancient ritual, an almost forgotten vampire ritual, where a vampire can drain the magical core of a magical being, absorbing up to about half of it's power for himself."

"But it's incredibly dangerous!" Evelyn chimed in.

"Only if you screw up. It's mainly a bloodmagic ritual, but it needs four beings per ritual."

Markus was intrigued. Absorbing even half the magical core of four beings would give him a total of a 200% increase in power. He would have three times as much power as he did now. It was an alluring opportunity to say the least.

"Four beings? Any magical beings?"

Corvus nodded, and spoke, "And I think you and I know where we could find some."

Evelyn now looked confused as Markus and Corvus shared a grin between the two of them. "What are you talking about? Where would you get twelve magical beings to sacrifice?"

"The Forest, of course." Markus said as he scratched Cygnus on the top of his head.

"They do have to be alive, or very freshly dead, for the ritual to work."

"Doesn't matter. I think we could make it work, as long as you two know how to do it."

"We can find out if we visit home. The next break is in a few months. That gives us time to set everything up."

Evelyn still did not seem to enjoy the idea very much, but Markus and Corvus could tell that the chance to triple her power was alluring as well. Corvus seemed fully onboard.

"But how do we root out these vampires? And what do we tell everyone else?" Markus asked.

"We'll need everyone's help to root them out, I think." Corvus said and Evelyn nodded in agreement, "But I think we'll just need to scope out the vampires and see where they all stand."

Evelyn spoke, "We'll tell them tomorrow." as she lead her brother out of Markus's room and Markus sensed them go down the hallway, losing them as they made their way to their own rooms.

Cracking open a book on protective wards and charms Markus settled in to read for a while. Classes would be starting at sunrise and it was just now sunset. He currently felt energized but knew that within a few hours he would begin to feel the exhaustion of the day and it's hike from the Forest and would be asleep.

Combat Class, Next Morning

The beginners combat class had had another early morning workout, and after finishing the conditioning and strength training the class had moved on to spell work and magical combat for the rest of the lesson. Markus was paired with Lumuro as his dueling partner, an interesting combination that was rather well-matched.

Bringing a quick shield to life to block another of Lumuro's curses Markus dropped to one knee for a split second. The shield was not a full body shield and would not cover his lower legs or feet if he remained standing. Crouching over and going into a tight roll from his kneeling position he fired off a curse of his own, which Lumuro nearly dodged, instead his thick arm muscle was nicked and began leaking blood. This was another of dozens of small cuts or slices that the pair had accumulated over the past half hour of dueling each other.

Lumuro tucked his wand deftly into a wrist holster in one fluid motion and charged Markus with a shout. It was very similar to how the Knight had charged him two nights earlier, and Markus tucked his own wand into his wrist holster and went to meet the barreling orc. What would have been a quick victory for Lumuro had Markus still been a human quickly turned into a grappling match. The two stood, locked in a fierce fight to shove the other off balance. Markus's foot slipped and he lost traction on the grass, sliding backwards as he fell with Lumuro landing on top of him, raining down blows that were lighter than his full strength.

Just as Markus fell he caught a glimpse of another vampire, a second year student at the Academy, who was dueling a werewolf. The vampire was watching Markus intently and a moment later Markus saw why. A Bashing Curse sailed directly into the spot that Markus had occupied an instant before, and the ground flew upwards in great chunks. The vampire quickly looked away, and seemed to try and play it off as a spell that had simply flown wide and missed it's mark, which was not uncommon during sparring exercises, but it was still too much of a coincidence for Markus to dismiss.

He did his best to study the face of the vampire, until he was interrupted by Lumuro's fist crashing down on his temple, causing even his hardened vampire body to shudder and his vision to swim.

Lumuro got up, and helped Markus up. Markus was still dazed and took a moment to regain himself enough to rejoin the spar with Lumuro, now keeping a watchful eye on the second year vampire. The vampire did not try anything else, and actually steadfastly ignored looking at Markus for the rest of the class.

The rest of the classes went by and before Markus knew it he was in the Great Hall having lunch with his friends. Corvus, Evelyn, and himself were telling their friends about the letters they had received and were asking in strict confidence that they assist them. Shadowknife, Warren, Alarise, and Lumuro had all agreed to help the vampires, because they knew that the vampires would do the same for them if they needed help, and that it was a good opportunity to earn a favor from them.

The flurry and buzz of activity and gossip from the dinner the night before was mostly gone, but now was replaced with a slightly tense feeling across the Great Hall. It was a large school with many many students, and it was undoubted that some of these students would fall in line with Voldemort's views and some would fall in opposition. But the Academy was no stranger to tension and conflict, it had weathered through it for years and it would weather through for years more to come.

Time Skip: 1 Week

The week had gone by rather quickly for Markus. He and the Ivanov twins, along with Shadowknife, had begun to create a list of all vampire students, which was a very difficult task in itself. The list was already multiple dozens of names long and they had not quite cleared their class, the first years. Already a couple were under suspicion of going against the Ancients, something that was incredibly taboo and downright stupid in vampire society. It was stupid because the Ancients, of course, were able to wipe the floor with any younger vampire without any exertion at all. But now that the Ancients would be forced to either be distracted by trying to hide the magical world's conflicts from the muggle world, or to protect themselves and allow the muggle world at large to discover the magical world, the younger vampires might stand a chance.

It was a slim chance, but the storm was looking to be just right to catch the Ancients on the backpedal. Markus and the twins were determined to not allow that to happen and to do their part to keep the hierarchy and society as it was.

As it was, Markus had learned, was that Ancients were at the top of the vampire societal hierarchy. An Ancient was any vampire that was about 3,000 years or older. This group, essentially the ruling class, was made up of Felix, Alexander Ivanov, and several other Clan or House leaders around the world. They numbered very few, but each wielded such massive power that they were most likely the most powerful and skilled group in the entire world. They also wielded great influence and power through their Clans and Houses. All vampires are supposed to respect and honor the Ancients totally.

Under the Ancients came the Elders. The Elders were vampires that were over 2,000 years old and younger than 3,000. These were more common than the Ancients, but were still not very common. Many of them were leaders of their own Clans or Houses. They are also powerful, but do not really compare on an individual level to the Ancients. They command respect from vampires under them.

Markus had learned that those were the top two classes in the vampire hierarchy, but that several more existed. The next lower class, the Old Ones, were the vampires above 1,000 years old but still below 2,000. These vampires were somewhat common, many leading their own smaller Houses or Clans, occasionally their own coven. They are still much stronger than younger vampires, but they are kept in line by the Elders and Ancients above them. Old Ones are more numerous than either the Ancients or Elders, but their power and influence does not match up. They command a decent level of respect from the vampires beneath them.

The only class of vampires left were simply called vampires. They were not old enough nor powerful enough to have earned any sort of special recognition or title. These were the vampires that made up the vast masses and majority of the total vampire population. Many of these younger vampires were rebellious in their young years before settling into respecting and following the hierarchy. Many would turn muggles and wizard teenagers who were caught up in the romanticism of becoming a vampire. When a vampire would gather several of these freshly turned and untrained vampire that was typically called a coven.

A coven was, as just stated, a group of newly turned and largely untrained vampires that were inexperienced and would likely be wiped out by an Elder or even an Old One. The most successful covens would slowly gather enough power and influence to become a small Clan. A Clan was a step up from a coven and was a more solidified organization. Many vampires and Old Ones would be part of Clans, which were usually controlled and run by an Elder or sometimes an Old One. The Clans that lasted through the various wars and conflicts it would undoubtedly face became more and more powerful, gaining more and more members, until it became recognized by the Ancients as a House. It could take millennia for a Clan to become recognized as a House, and the vast majority of Clans failed at some point along the way. To be part of the ruling family of a House, even if the vampire is much younger, is a position of power and respect among vampire society. This was the position that Markus and the Ivanov twins enjoyed. They were the creations of Ancient vampires who were the heads of their House. A House was typically led by an Ancient, although occasionally an Elder would be required to lead for whatever reason. The Houses usually had large standing armies and a vast pool of resources to call upon. The same was true for the Clans, except on a smaller scale. The covens would usually only have what resources the members would and could come up with, and their armies were typically only their members.

It was a common occurrence for the Ancients and their Houses and the Elders and their Clans to somewhat routinely go through the population of young vampires and wipe out the majority of them. Essentially all of the covens would be wiped out and destroyed and even some of the younger Clans would be as well. Typically the only young vampires to survive these purges were the scions of the Houses or the older Clans. It was necessary to perform these purges in order to keep the vampire population down. With an immortal population that does not shrink from natural causes it becomes necessary to regulate through other means. When too many young vampires are around it is harder for the Ancients to conceal the presence and existence of the magical world and it is a drain on the blood supply and resources.

One of the final pieces of vampire culture that Markus had learned from Corvus and Evelyn and various other vampire teachers and instructors over the past week had been why the Ancients were so preoccupied with hiding the magical world. It seemed to Markus, and it appeared at first glance, that the Ancients would be able to rule the muggle population as they ruled the vampire population because of their immense power. And pretty much the best answer or reasoning that Markus had heard was that simply the Ancients had at some point agreed to keep the two worlds separate, for whatever reason, and that they were just acting out and enforcing that agreement when it came up. Why this had been decided Markus did not know. Nor did Corvus or Evelyn, but they knew that it had been that way for centuries, if not millennia.

Markus was in his room once again, speaking with Corvus. They were reviewing what Markus had learned of vampire culture and society and the hierarchy.

"So right now the young vampires are able to rise up because the Ancients will be distracted?"

Corvus looked up from his book. He had taken to reading while offhandedly reviewing with Markus. "Yes. Everything is just right right now, all the conditions are perfect, for a rebellion of young vampires."

"And so they'll try and take out the Elders and the Ancients."

"Yes. It might even work if they can get enough of the Old Ones on board."

"And the young vampires will want us gone because of the Houses we're part of."

"Mhmm." Corvus did not seem to be worried at all about the possible impending civil war among the vampires. But then again Markus had felt Felix's power, had sensed just a portion of his hidden power. And Markus was just unsure of anything that could top that, no matter the numbers.

Cygnus slithered up and coiled around Markus, hissing softly his report. He had been scouting out the Academy and tailing various vampires for Markus and the twins. No one ever noticed Cygnus when he wished to be sneaky and unseen, and he was a fantastic little spy. With Shadowknife's growing network of intelligence it seemed like a list of possible young vampire revolutionaries would be possible to create.

Markus began marking down and writing what Cygnus had to report as Corvus got up and said his farewell and goodnight. It was still early, but Markus knew that Corvus was planning a new bloodmagic piece to perform soon. Speaking of bloodmagic Markus had also planned his next piece and had scheduled to use the room in two day's time. This piece would link his bloodmagic core more strongly to his vampiric core, exactly how he had done a piece that linked his primary core and bloodmagic core more tightly, this would link his other two. It would allow for a greater control and combination of bloodmagic with his vampiric magic.

All in all it had been a busy week for Markus. Evelyn had stayed over again one night, teaching Markus what he would need to know about the intimate sides of being a vampire. She had both times brought a small rock and set it down before they had begun exploring each other. She had given vague hints as to what the rock was, and just that it was absorbing and gathering latent sexual magic for some purpose. Markus did not really care about that though, he had never quite realized what a relief and release sex could be. He had never gone anywhere with Ginny nor anyone else while at Hogwarts and what he was doing with Evelyn was completely new to him. Afterwards each time he felt satisfied and content, much like he felt after he fed his fill of blood. It was a very pleasant feeling, and Markus enjoyed it heavily.

She had explained to Markus that all sorts of different magics were floating and drifting through the earth. They could be harvested in tiny amounts over long periods of time if the right methods were used, storing these magics into sort of 'magical batteries' that would store the magic until it was used for whatever purpose. This could be done with all sorts of magic. Often times small rocks, once properly enchanted, could be hidden in graveyards or morgues to absorb death magic. It was common in times of great conflict to plant these rocks on the sites of great battles where many people died. Sexual magic could be absorbed through well-placed rocks in brothels and whore houses throughout the world. Latent, all purpose, magic could be absorbed just about anywhere on the globe, but the most could be harvested from the Ley Lines and where they intersected. Ley Lines were similar to magical winds or rivers that coursed all across the globe in a grid pattern. Sometimes these Lines shifted and intersections moved to different locations, but some were steady. Stonehenge was built on one such intersection, a particularly powerful one. Hogwarts and the Academy were both built on remarkably steady and powerful Ley Line intersections.

All of these were things that Markus had learned in the past week or just from his time at the Academy so far. He was realizing it was much different than Hogwarts and the education was much superior. He was learning useful magic and skills, and not just in class. He was learning much from the Forest Patrol and hoped to put the basic skills he had learned to the test soon. He and the twins were still planning on performing the ritual to enhance and increase their power, but it would still be a few months before it could be performed.

Markus laid back on his bed and rested his eyes. Much was changing and happening in the world, and it was all happening at a rapid pace. He almost didn't want to go to sleep because he knew the world would be different the next day when he woke up, and he also knew that it would not be a better place. Voldemort was moving his forces into France farther and farther every day. It was rumored that unless Germany and Spain intervened that France would fall within the month. And neither Germany nor Spain had enough spare resources to help. Voldemort had already conquered the rest of the British Isles, Scotland, Wales, and Ireland all falling under his iron grip. Markus often thought of the three remaining horcruxes and where they could be. The more he thought about it the more he suspected that one of the horcruxes could have been hidden at Hogwarts, but now that Hogwarts had fallen Markus was sure that it had been moved somewhere. Probably wherever the Dark Lord, as he called himself, called home.

Felix had also been silent for the past week, which was unsurprising. He did not have a history of correspondence with Markus, and that was unlikely to change. He was an incredibly busy man and frankly he did not know if Markus would survive long enough to keep around and possibly become attached to.

For now Markus was content with working to make progress on the power ritual, keeping up with his bloodmagic pieces, keeping up with his classwork and Forest Patrol, and working on dealing with the vampire revolutionaries.

Feeling sleep come over him Markus drew a deep breath into his useless lungs. Old habits were hard to break.

Breakfast. Next Day.

"Markus!" Warren shouted, greeting his friend as he walked into the Great Hall.

"Hey, Warren. What's going on?" Markus asked as he took his seat and filled his plate, grabbing a bottle of blood as well. He had had no morning classes or exercises that morning, which had been a pleasant relief.

Warren began rambling on about his old werewolf pack back home, he had received some sort of good news from them, and it was evident in his behavior. Werewolves were very emotional creatures and their moods and behaviours were tied intensely with their emotions, even more so than regular humans.

Markus nodded and responded, engaging Warren in conversation about his old pack. It was nice to see him happy. For the past week he had been moody and brooding while something had apparently been happening with his pack back home.

Sipping his blood as Warren took a break to eat Markus felt the blood enter his system and if he focused hard enough he could feel a very faint sensation of the blood being transformed inside of himself into vampiric magic and energy that sustained him. It was an odd feeling, but it was good. It meant that his core was making significant progress in playing catch-up. He was still behind his vampire peers, which was looking like it could cause a problem if it came to violence, but would soon be caught up. And if the ritual went as planned he would surpass his peers, or at least surpass the first, second and probably most of the third years. But it was hard to tell.

As the rest of their friends arrived Markus and Warren engaged them in discussion, mostly about Warren's pack news, and once the morning mail arrived the discussion once again shifted to current events and politics.

Alarise was speaking to Lumuro, "Lumuro, I'm telling you, the Forest Elves in South America won't stand for it much longer. The muggles are destroying their territory everyday."

Lumuro grunted an answer. Orcs and elves were not famous for getting along, but Lumuro tolerated Alarise. It was true, however, that the South American Forest Elves were becoming increasingly upset over the deforestation of the Amazon. So far they had not lashed out, but it was only a matter of time before they did.

Corvus, Shadowknife, and Markus were having their own conversation on Voldemort's latest territory gains in France.

"They say he's gotten a lot of support from the French aristocracy. The Purebloods." Shadowknife was saying.

Markus responded, "Doesn't surprise me. He's big in the Pureblood crowds."

Corvus nodded and spoke, "Which is worrying because the Pureblood class still has almost total authority in Wizarding Easter Europe. If he brokers a deal with them then all of Europe could collapse."

"But that won't happen if the Ancients can hold it together, right?"

"Right, but I don't know if they'll be able to hold it all together."

Markus voiced a question to the group, "What do you think happens if the muggles find out about us all?"

The group grew rather quiet, even Warren piping down and thinking. Corvus was the only one to answer, "Nothing good. Nothing good at all."

That was Chapter 18. I'm shooting for about this length for each chapter now. Some might be more.

Thank y'all for the reviews and the comments. I'll probably be posting this chapter on Thursday evening or Friday at some point, it depends. I hope y'all are liking this story and the way that it's going.