A First Apprentice

My name is Nathan de Kato, and I live in Onyx, which is a large, bustling port city that sits in the shadows of Onyx Castle. I live with my father and my sister on a small plot of land overlooking the sea, broken away from the main city.
My father's name is Roath de Kato, and he is a Necromancer in Onyx Castle, which makes him Numbered. He isn't very powerful in comparison to the other Numbered; he is only 890. That is why we live outside of the castle walls, and not inside.
My sister's name is Elocin, and she is a priestess to the god Milthrane, the god of fire. Elocin is apprenticed to the great priest Mikhail na Comto. She is only 21 years old. 4 years older than me, but already is showing great potential with clerical powers. She will undoubtedly become a strong Numbered, and have allowance to live inside the walls.
I, too, am apprenticed, but not to anyone as important as Mikhail. His name is Rico, and he is a minor Numbered general. I am hoping I can win the favor of our leader, who, of course, is Number 1. If I can, I will become a great general, and become Numbered.
As for now, though, I have to content myself with helping Rico train new recruits in the arts of sword fighting. I am usually inside the fortress, if not the actual castle.
Today is October 27th, year 3124, and Stephanie, our leader, has called a meeting of all her experienced soldiers. All generals, knights, first apprentices, and second apprentices are invited.
I wake up early so I can get to the castle before everyone else. I look in the mirror above the sink, and tug hard at my shaggy black hair. My eyes are also black, and seem hard because of the slight frown that always plays on my pale lips.
Elocin's hairbrush is sitting in the middle of the floor of her room, where she threw it after last night's bedtime brush. I decide that she won't wake up if I just take the brush and leave. Creeping stealthily past Elocin's bed, I reached out and grasped the handle.
"Nathan," I heard in a low, angry voice from behind. I lifted my head slowly, and dared to peek around. Elocin's gray eyes were shooting daggers into my back.
"Look," I held up my hands defensively, "I just wanted to borrow your hairbrush. I can't let Stephanie see me like this!"
Elocin winced; sometimes I can be loud almost to a point of being obnoxious. She, Elocin, says it contrasts with my movement, which is quick and quiet, making it easy for me to sneak up on people. Of course, she had said that right after I had scared her into dropping a potato she was peeling into the drain, so it might've been anger talking.
I pointed at my head, and smiled what I thought was my most winning smile. Elocin grinned knowingly at me, and nodded her head.
"Thanks, Sis," I jumped up and took the acquired brush into my room. I yanked it through the tangled mass that I call my hair. When it was decent, I glanced at the faery clock sitting on the windowsill. Damn, there was only an hour 'til the meeting started, and I really wanted to speak with Stephanie.
I strapped on my scabbard, and rushed outside. The morning frost still glistened on the crops in front of my house. Sprinting past them, I ran up the road to the fortress gates. Banging on the small window where the guard sat, I leaned my elbows on my knees, and tried to catch my breath.
The small door was slammed open quickly, and someone said roughly, "Eh, what is it? Who's there?"
"Nathan de Kato, first apprentice, here for the meeting."
The gruff face of a weathered knight appeared. He eyed me, his upper lip curled into a sneer.
"A little early, ain'cha?"
"I intend to speak with Her Ladyship beforehand."
"Ah, whatever."
I heard him pull the lever that would open the gates. But it stopped at the height of my shoulders. Shrugging, I ducked underneath, and glared at the doorman. He seemed taken about by my malevolence. He retreated into the small guardhouse, and shut the door in my face. The sound of the bolt-lock reverberated through the door.
I proceeded to make my way to the entrance of the castle. Placing my right hand on a smooth square in the middle of the ornately carved front door, I could feel the magic that would check my DNA thrum through it. I fidgeted slightly; I've always had the fear that I would be denied entrance, and hexed. That fear was unfounded, though, and the door swung open to me.
The floors were carpeted in antique Angelic rugs. Stephanie hated them; she claimed they reminded her of her people's imprisonment. My footsteps barely made a sound through the thickness of them.
I turned left, and jogged down the long corridor to a metal gate that looked like it belonged outside in the courtyard. It swung open silently, and I entered a small round room. In the middle of it was a metal spiral staircase that if you peered up, you couldn't see the end. It connected the whole castle, and was a hell of a long way up.
I only had to go to the third floor, though, so I wasn't even tired when I reached that landing. I left through another small metal gate that matched the first and went straight. I walked for a couple of minutes, until I reached the first door on my left.
I rummaged through a pouch that was attached to my breeches until I found a key labeled "storage." The lock clicked, and the door opened silently. I slowly entered a very large, but very cluttered room. All different kinds of swords and knives, magical and not, were piled on the floor. There didn't seem to be any type of method to the madness, but I knew better. Stephanie had a system, and it was better left to her mind than mine.
The door at the other side of the room led to where the actual sword training was held. I went through it, and was instantly relaxed. The huge room was as familiar to me as my own house, as I spent most of my time training recruits in this art.
A sparkle of bright light from the far side of the room caught my eye. Stephanie had Isturil off the Forbidden Wall, and was practicing her thrusts on a dummy that was set up for that express purpose. I watched her for a while, her mid-back length red-gold hair up in two knots on the side of her head. She had bangs, though, that barely brushed her chin and framed her face. They were always down.
Stephanie was clad in leather practice armor, and her arms and most of her legs were bare. Her skin was white with a hint of olive, and completely unblemished.
I strolled complacently toward her, and plucked my sword off its place on the wall. Playfully swinging it around in a wide arc, I approached her lean figure. Coming up behind her, I skillfully parried one of her killer blows.
Stephanie spun around skillfully, and blocked my arc. Grinning, she swirled behind me, forcing me to pause in my attack. I backed up, and we circled each other warily. I waited patiently, and then, when I thought she was slightly distracted (I saw her eyes flicker), I thrusted towards her throat. But I had underestimated her skill, and she parried, knocking me off balance. Another quick stroke with the flat of her blade against the back of my calves knocked me flat on my back. The tip of Isturil left a slight indentation on the inside of my chin.
Smiling at me from above, Stephanie withdrew her blade, and proffered her right hand to me. I accepted it humbly, and stood up. She was a good eight inches shorter than I; so I had to look down to see her face.
"You must be Rico's first apprentice," her voice had a silky quality, and it seemed to glide over my entire being.
"Uh, yeah, my name's Nathan. Nathan de Kato," I stuck my hand out formally, "You probably know my father, Roath de Kato. He's one of your necromancers."
Stephanie stood up straighter, and took my hand. Shaking it hard, and then smoothing her hair back with her other hand, she answered me, "It's good to meet you, Nathan. And yes, I do know your father. He's higher up, if you want to talk to him."
"Oh, oh no, no. I came her to talk to you."
"Well, I'm flattered," her blue-gray eyes seemed to catch me in a net, and she smiled sweetly. Slipping her arm into the crook of mine, she directed me towards the Forbidden Wall.
"What're you talking about?" I voiced incredulously. "Everyone must want to talk to you."
"Nah, I'm nothing special."
I snorted derisively. Of course she was! And I was going to tell her this, "Yes, you are special! You're our leader, and our alpha general. You can handle any type of weapon, special or not, and do magic. And, you're a vamp-"
I stopped myself abruptly when I realized my error. But she didn't even flinch. All she did was put Isturil on its place on the Forbidden Wall. Turning around, Stephanie looked at me, and smiled. I could feel the blush rise to my cheeks unbidden."
"I suppose you don't know many vampires. I'm not angry with you. In fact, I wanted to ask you something."
I snapped my head up suddenly, and looked at her inquisitively. She patted my arm, and motioned for me to sit down on the couch in the corner.
"You're an excellent swordsman, Nathan. And I want you to do something for me. I want you to join the ranks of the Numbered."
I couldn't believe my luck. Me, Nathan de Kato, becoming Numbered! Before Elocin!
"Would you like that?"
"Of course! That's what I've always wanted!" I paused. "Well, almost."
Stephanie looked at me, confusion plain. "What else do you want?"
Her eyes showed real compassion, something that was never found in my home, my father being a hard, cold man. I licked my lips and tried to think of a way of wording what I was about to say.
"Well, as you probably already know, my mother's dead. She died when I was seven. I want to find out how she died."
"You mean, you don't remember?"
"No, no I don't," I paused for a moment, pained. "I know I probably should. I have memories of my mother, my last of her being at my seventh birthday, but then they stop, the memories. All of them. My next memory is of starting to learn the art of sword-fighting, which as you know, begins to be taught at six months after the seventh birthday."
I didn't add that I had spent hours putting my memories in chronological order, trying to remember something substantial about my mother, something more than a color, or a fragrance. Something real.
Stephanie patted my hand comfortingly, and said, "I have a proposition for you. I'll help you find out as much as possible about your mother, and how she died, if you'll do something for me."
Stephanie, our leader, blackmailing us? It couldn't be happening.
"I'm not blackmailing you, Nathan."
I hated how vampires could read reactions, no matter how subtle.
"I wasn't thinking that."
She eyed me carefully, "Yeah, well, back to what I was saying. Not only do I need you to become a Numbered, I need you to become a general. You see, Nathan, you have a destiny, one that cannot be denied. You were named Nathan for a reason, your mother knew. It is the human version of the two names, your other two names, Nathi and Nadios."
I knew enough elven to know that Nadios meant "sword", and it wasn't a name. It would be like name a child Mountain or Stream or Arrow. It just didn't happen. I didn't know what Nathi meant, but due to the use of the hard "i", I took it to be vampire.
I shook my head scornfully at her, "What're you talking about? That's not a name."
"Come with me Nathan," she said, but didn't rise.
"Where are we going there, and how are we getting there if we don't get up?"
Stephanie faked distress at my lack of enthusiasm. "We will be traveling the paths of magic. I've found that walking is such a painful task, especially up so many flights of stairs. Oh, sorry, down so many flights of stairs."
She firmly grasped my hands, and closed her eyes. Chanting the words to an elvish spell, I felt winds gather around us, and seemingly pull us out of the room. Squeezing my eyes shut, I heard a dull roaring sound, and behind that, Stephanie singing the magic. All of a sudden, we landed with a thud on cold, hard stone. It seemed to also be wet.
I stood up quickly, and looked down at Stephanie, who was viewing her handiwork with distaste. We obviously weren't where we were supposed to be.
Standing up, she explained, "I just learned that spell, and I haven't quite got the landings right."
"You got that right," I muttered under my breath, as I tried to wipe the dirt off myself.
"What'd you say?"
"Nothing," I recovered quickly, as I always do. It comes from not trusting people.
"We're in the dungeons."
I gazed around me; I had never been in the dungeons, although I've always wanted to. It's off limits to apprentices. Supposedly.
It was dark, and smelled like earth. We were probably out from underneath the main castle. The castle may be symmetrical and easy to follow, but the dungeons were a myriad of twisting corridors. There's even a rumor that it wasn't mappable; passageways actually moved places.
But Stephanie knew exactly where we were, and moved with ease down the passages. I couldn't see any markers, but Stephanie knew. We were soon outside a door that seemed to have protective runes carved in the wall around it. I couldn't comprehend the language they were written in.
Stephanie pulled something out of her pocket, and pressed it against her palm. The runes glowed red, then green, and the door clicked. She turned the knob, and swung it open. There was a soft blue light emanating from inside.
She beckoned for me to follow her inside. I did, and the door shut soundlessly behind me. A sharp tap made my attention turn back to the room. The walls were blue, and could've been made with liquid; its design was so fluid. It matched the floor exactly, and seemed to create the round piece of furniture in the middle of the room. I couldn't tell if it was a couch or a bed. There was no immediate light source, so I supposed the blue light came right off the walls. They were decorated with runes that seemed to move around the walls. Statues of indistinguishable shapes covered the floor.
Stephanie sat down on the round thing, and patted the seat next to her. I took the seat, and waited for her to say something.
"This is the parlor to the Water room. Only anyone true to the goddess Meileigha may enter this sacred chamber. You're mother was a true follower, and she gave you that honored status when you were born. It makes you one of the Triplets.
I gasped involuntarily. The Triplets was a prophecy. Three people, one in offensive magic, one in defensive magic, and one with a sword, made up the Triplets. Now I knew why my other name was Nadios. I would be the sword part.
"Now I understand why I have the name Nadios," I started, "but I still don't know what Nathi means."
She nodded, "Nathi is the vampire word for "third", meaning you're the third installment of the Triplets. You get a necklace, and the charm is primarily blue, marking that. I have one also."
Lifting a chain from around her neck, Stephanie showed me the charm. It was three jewels, one red, one purple, and one olive green, but had a large blue one in the middle. Curving lines connected them all. It glowed purple. She tucked it back in her dress, and produced another from the same pocket that had had the charm that opened the door. This one glowed red.
"Turn," she commanded me.
"Okay," I did as she asked, and turned my back to her. Stephanie slipped the necklace around my throat, and clasped it. Then reaching around, she tucked it into my tunic.
"You shouldn't let it hang out," she said as she turned me back around by my shoulders. "I'm the offensive magic part. My names are Stephanie, which is obviously human, Cristae, which is elven, and means "pain", and Crithni, which is vampire, and means "first." The other is the elf Faye, which is her human name. Her elven name is Fiarae, meaning "life", and her vampire name is Fiathni, and that means "second."
"That's great, but how are you going to help me find out what happened to my mother?"
"Well," Stephanie said slyly, "You fulfill your part of the prophecy, and I'll do some special sleuthing."
I could feel a smile break over my lips that were so used to frowning, and I impulsively hugged Stephanie. When we broke apart, I frowned again, and said, "Hey, can you send me back? I gotta tell Rico the good news."

A/N: this story goes with my other story, Shadow and Ice. If you liked it, please tell me and I will write more chapters. Thanks!