The Guardians of Cameline

Chapter 1: The Battle of the Goddesses

"Five hundred years ago, there was a shrine called the shrine of purity. The shrine was the source of the animal shifter race's abilities. The animal shifters are beings who have the ability to shift between human form and their spirit animal form at will. There were two beautiful goddesses that were in charge of protecting the shrine's power. Their names were Lady Caméline and Lady Absinthe, they were sisters, Lady Caméline was the oldest and she protected Lady Absinthe. But one day, Lady Absinthe grew tired of sharing the shrine's power, so she decided to take the shrine for herself. This action began what is now known as 'The Battle of the Goddesses'. Lady Caméline and Lady Absinthe fought, one fighting to protect, the other fighting to take. They both fought hard, but sadly, Lady Caméline was defeated. But, before she lost her strength, she managed to condemn Lady Absinthe to the underworld. Out of hatred and revenge, Lady Absinthe became the Empress of the underworld. She is now known as Empress Absinthe, and she is raising an army of shadows so that she may return once more for the shrine's power.

"As Lady Caméline laid dying, she used the last of her power to split her soul into six parts. The six parts of her soul became the albino guardians of the shrine, which was renamed 'The Shrine of Caméline'. The albino guardians are six animal shifter warriors who are responsible for protecting the shrine and its power from Empress Absinthe, they also bear the mark of Caméline, which is a special mark representing either their animal or their ability. Lady Caméline's soul is passed down from generation to generation, so that the shrine will stay protected. Coincidentally, we have one of the six guardians in this room as we speak." Ms. Scott said as she pointed at a student sitting in the back of the class, which just happened to be, me.

"Jessica, would you be willing to show us your mark?" My name is Jessica Panthera, I go by Jessye, I'm fifteen years old, I have long wavy dark brown hair and brown eyes, and if you weren't paying attention to what Ms. Scott said, I'm one of the six albino guardians of the Caméline shrine. I let out a loud sigh and slowly stood up from my seat and took off my coat, then I lifted up the right side of my shirt to reveal a mark that looked more like a tattoo, located just below my right kidney. It was a giant lion paw print with flames behind it.

"Liar! That's probably just a tattoo that she got to make people think she's a guardian. Jessye's way too lame to be a warrior for a goddess." A kid yelled from across the room. That's Kyle Smith, he's also fifteen years old, he has orange hair and blue eyes, he's the kind of person who always wants attention. He's such an ass, I'm always in half form, can't he see my white ears and tail? Being in half form means part of my body is an animal, I could make any part of my body a lion, but I enjoy leaving my ears and tail. A lot of the animal shifters do it, of course, it does depend on the type of animal you are. I mean, if Kyle was in half form he'd just look stupid, tiny ears on top of his head and a thin rat like tail.

"You want more proof? I'll give you more proof." I put my shirt back down and started to shift into my albino lioness form. I fell down to my knees and I felt my body changing, before I knew it, I had completely shifted and was standing right in front of Kyle. I stared at him with my now red eyes, my white fur seemed to glow, reflecting the light coming in from the window.

"Is this good enough proof for you?" I said. Kyle was visibly terrified, Kyle is also an animal shifter, but he's a ferret.

"Jessica, that's enough. You know the rules, no shifting during class." Ms. Scott said, I chuckled then shifted back to my half form. I sat back down at my desk and I felt someone tap my shoulder.

"That was cool and really funny. Just the look on his face, priceless!" That's Mark Williams, he's also fifteen, he has dark brown hair and green eyes, he's alright, he's not an animal shifter, he's just a regular old human.