Paracia

Chapter 1: Life's Mistakes

I slammed my hand onto the table, earning stares from the humans around us. Well, they were already staring at us.
"You should really stop asking about my family, Conner!" I yelled. "Don't make me say it again!!"

Oh yeah, my kind are called Parahumans,which are part human part animal, basically. My friends (Which are all rebels) are also parahumans. Leo: who's part bald eagle, April: who's part king cobra, or as I call her Queen Cobra, the one we're interviewing, Conner: who's part pit viper, and me: which I'm part peregrine falcon. Each of us have additional body parts that emphasize the animal we're part of. Leo has a bald eagle's tail, April has a frill on the back of her neck, which she typically kept curled around her neck, and she can feel vibrations in the earth, I have the tail of peregrine falcon and my eyesight can change from human to peregrine, and Conner has slightly discoloured skin and slit pupils.

I figured that was why most humans in the restaurant were staring at us.

As you know from the book description (you read that, right?), the world my friends and I live in, Paracia, is ruled by a tyrant, his kingship earned from bloodshed. His name is King Peregrine. As you probably guessed, he's part peregrine falcon, and when he gained control he ordered all other peregrines to be sent into exile and killed. From what I know, I am the last peregrine.

at this moment we were interviewing a (possible) new recruit for our rebel team. He had all the credentials except archery, swordsmanship, blocking/dodging, and physical, but due to him nearly acing it at this stage, I had high hopes.

I raised my hand, and one of the knives I usually carried around was embedded into the table.

"We'll start heading home soon, and --'' I started, but my mind drifted to two men walking through the door, one was probably 30 or so, and the other I had no idea what his age was due to him being covered in fur. His fur was grey with dark grey areas, with giant sideburns on his face (which had a big snout as well), and yellow eyes with red pupils and really, really dark pupils. The other had a scaly green tail that he kept wrapped around his legs, shiny brown hair with golden blond streaks, and every few seconds he stuck out his tongue, which was forked like a lizard's. Both were parahumans, and both were wearing army cloaks.

"Liam! Under the table!" Leo and April shouted,as Leo pushed me under. If i were to be seen I would have been put in prison,then killed, or I would have been killed on the spot.

I watched as the two soldiers sat at the only empty table next to us. At least we weren't being stared at anymore.

Shortly after, the door opened again and Oat (we call him that because he doesn't know his real name), the only human I'm friends with, walked in. He was fumbling with something in his pocket,which I figured was his knife.

"He's following them" I thought.

"Who are those parahumans?" The brown-haired soldier asked. His voice was kind. "Could they be rebels?"

"And zwhat makez you zink zat? The other replied in an accent I couldn't place.

"Their cloaks are the exact opposite of ours."

The army cloaks are typically red with a thin yellow line that borders it and it's black trim. Our cloaks are black with a thin yellow line that borders a red trim. Except for mine, which is black with a thin gold line that borders the red trim, and there's a golden firebird design stenciled on the back. Mebbe zey're undercover agentz!" the accented one theorized, then both burst out laughing.

"Yeah right!"The brown haired one replied, still laughing, "They're here to keep an eye on us!"

I wondered about this, but then I spotted a small area without fur on the accented one's lower leg. I used my peregrine vision to notice that the area was the shape of a kite, and, it was a burn scar. The significance? The king uses that very symbol as a mark to signify a defected soldier returned back to the kingdom! I quickly searched for a similar mark on the brown haired one's leg, and not to my surprise, I found the exact same symbol on his leg!