The Realm of Regnum: Book One

Chapter 1

Pain erupted up my arm as my elbow slammed into the concrete floor of a cell in the prison at the center of my village, Ero. I quickly jumped up and sprinted back towards the door, back to freedom. Only to have the door slammed in my face. Unable to slow myself, I slammed shoulder first into the metal bars that imprisoned me.

That moment was when I felt one of the worst pains of my life. It felt like fire was running through my veins, incapacitating me until I saw nothing, but black. When I finally woke up, the guards had left and I was lying in a heap on the floor. I quickly stood up and walked back towards the door reaching out for the bars.

"You don't want to do that." A male's voice said from the back of the cell.

I snapped my head towards the voice horrorstruck. I wasn't alone in my cell. What if he attacks me, I'm still sore and groggy from the shock earlier. I saw a man slowly stand in the back corner. He looked to be about my age, and he had dark shaggy unkempt hair, and wore tattered clothes. My eyes widened, even more, when we finally made eye contact.

"Seungchol?" I whispered.

"Yes Jennica, it's me." He answered brushing his hair out of his face. Once he did that I noticed how his skin was much paler than before, and how his almond-shaped eyes had a weary look to them.

"What are you doing in here?" I asked. "You were thought to be the least likely to be Gifted in the village."

His answer came as he opened his right hand. On his palm was a small hand with a star in the center of its palm.

"I'm a Healer, it wasn't that hard to hide." He stated bluntly as he walked towards me.

He came close enough that I had to put my hand on his chest to keep him from coming closer than was comfortable.

He looked down at me."What about you?" he whispered holding my face in his left hand.

Feeling his touch made my breath catch in the back of my throat. I finally choked out, "I'm an Animorph." His eyes looked at me questioningly. I slowly lifted the hem of my shirt, allowing him to see the lone wolf howling to a single star on my left hip. His right hand came up, he looked at me silently asking permission. I nodded and shivered as he traced my mark, then slowly he slid his hand until his palm was resting flush on my symbol. I sighed leaning into him as every ache and pain from my capture faded away.

"Thank you." I murmured. He hummed in reply slowly wrapping his arms around my waist. I wrapped my arms around his neck and hugged him tightly. I quickly buried my face into his chest as unwanted tears fell down my face. We were both going to die, and only because of how we were born. I loved my Animorph powers, they gave me a freedom that Regular people didn't have, yet the minute they found me I was as good as dead.

You see having powers like mine wasn't always a bad thing. Around 300 years ago people like me were called the Gifted, while those without power were called Regulars. The Regulars had their Kings and Kingdoms. The four main Kingdoms were Cerios to the North, Akath to the West, Arin to the South, and Enax to the East.

All four Kingdoms were separated by a large body of water, the Aguana Sea, and at the center of all four was an island. This island was named Center Pointe, and it housed all of the Gifted that were old enough to find their power. While the Regulars were living normal lives tending their cattle, and working on business ventures, the Gifted were trained as warriors for the people.

The Gifted was a strong military force used by all four Kingdoms as a way to keep peace and tranquility throughout the land. Until one King, the King of Enax declared that all Gifted was actually cursed and that all the Gifted wanted was complete power over people they viewed as lesser than themselves. He bolstered the Regular people around him from all four Kingdoms including the other three Kings.

Thus began the massacre. Every Gifted that was registered was murdered. There were few that hid, but the fear of being caught kept them from fighting back. The Gifted though couldn't fight back as they were bound to the Kingdoms and were forced to stand down.

After that, every child who hit the age of nine was looked at and watched closely if they showed an inkling of being a Gifted they would be thrown into prison and then executed. A few of us were able to hide our power to survive longer, but after a while it was inevitable, they always found you.

At that moment there was a dull grinding noise, a noise that I would soon hate with all my might. This was the opening of the prison door. Seungchol and I both looked over, standing there was three guards. The center one was the guard who had captured me, standing on either side of him were two other guards.

"Oh look! How touching. " The middle guard sneered. "They're comforting each other!" The other two guards laughed at us sneering along with the first guard. Seungchol slowly slid in front of me in an attempt to protect me from their disgusting stares.

"Oh, what are you going to do boy? Heal us to death?" The first guard laughed.

I felt Seungchol tense. "Don't, its what they want." I murmured. I felt him slowly relax at that. "Whatever," the guard said, "We need to take the pretty one for questioning. We need to know what secrets she's hiding." I felt a shiver go down my spine, judging from the perverse look on his face, this was going to be a nightmare.