Apprentice of Darkness

1. Apprentice of Darkness

"CD." I had been sitting cross-legged on a chair reading a book by the light cast from the torch on the wall beside me. Outside of the torch's limited space of light, the room was pitch dark. But when I heard my Mentor call me, I looked up instantly to see her appearing out of the shadows. "You have a contract."

Those words made me smile. They brought a joy to my heart, a joy that could only be outmatched by fulfilling the contract itself.

I nodded to my Mentor, and she nodded in return before exiting the living quarters through those large, wooden double doors. They swung open, their iron hinges creaking slightly before they slammed shut with a dull "thud." I realized she must have used the tunnel entrance to get here in the first place, as I had not heard the doors when she entered. Her appearance, though unexpected, was not surprising. She was a master of moving silently... as were we all.

My Mentor, Nix, would send a Novice to give me more information on my contract. Who it was, where to go, and how to accomplish my bonus.

The rest of the information - how to kill my contract, the perfect time to do so, the best place to remain undetected, and how to obtain my bonus - I would have to figure out on my own.

I closed my book, setting it back to its rightful space on the shelf. I paused a moment, listening to see if anyone else was in the room. I heard nothing, though that was expected. Still, I sensed no one else nearby, so I got up from my comfortable seat and headed for the training room.

Though the halls of our underground Sanctuary were full of inky blackness at this time of the morning, as most of my fellow members still slept, I knew every corner by heart. The walls, the texture of the floors, the dark tapestries, all were clear in my mind as if I could see them in this darkness.

I had grown up here, after all. This was my home. My Mentor, and all who also called this Sanctuary home, they were my family.

Family... The word echoed in my thoughts until I was recalling a memory, one my Mentor had told me of so many times.

Eighteen years ago. Myself, an infant baby girl, left out in the icy rain of the autumn season. Wrapped in nothing but a blanket, set in a rough-woven basket in the middle of the night. I remembered that night, somehow. All I could feel was cold. The dark hands of numbness had long since held me in their embrace, and I cried out pitifully.

That is, until my Mentor had come along. As she told me, she was on her way back to the Sanctuary after completing a contract when she heard my wailing. She had been curious more than anything, and had come to investigate.

I remember seeing her face that night. Her green eyes glowed out of the shadow cast by her hood. I quieted as she stared into my amber eyes, and we simply looked at each other for a few moments as the rain soaked us even more.

Now, recalling the memory, I realized she had needed me. She had needed me just as much as I needed her. She was a young, brash new recruit, perhaps the age of 20 at the time. She was careless, cold,  and needed to learn responsibility not only during missions, but in life.

She had told me that her heart of stone melted a bit, looking at me then. She was curious as to why I had stopped crying upon sighting her, why I stared up at her with round eyes already filling with trust.

"I am Nix." Her voice reached my ears and I had smiled as she reached for me, picking me up and holding me in her warm arms. "Mika Nix. You don't have a name, do you, little one? ...I will name you. Castealia. Castealia Daedra."

Mentor had brought me to the Sanctuary that night. Her Mentor at the time gave her the task of taking care of me, molding me into a future member of our family.

Which she had done. Though none of us were related by blood, we all shared a bond like family. Mentor had saved me that night, and I loved her like I assumed a child would love their mother. And she, in turn, loved me like her own child.

My name is Castealia Daedra... CD. I'm 18 years old. I am a Dark Assassin.

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(Note: The cover of the book is CD, and the picture to the side is Nix.)