Chapter 1:

"One, two, three, four, and one, two, three, four, and-"

"Pa, how is this suppose to be helping me?" I parted my body from his in confusion.

Pa sighed and handed me my sword. It was had been a gift from Ma for my fifteenth birthday but I never got a chance to learn how to fight with it until now. The sword was a beautiful silver color very light in weight.

He took his own sword and poised. "Come on, hold it up," he waved at my sword that I held lazily to my side.

I obeyed his order and held it up in front of me and copied his stance, still not understanding how dancing was supposed to help me sword fight.

"One," I took a step backwards as he attacked me. "Two," following my dance routine, I took a step forward and blocked his attack. "Three," he untangled his sword from mine and thrust the blade to my right and I stepped to the left as I parried. "Four," he said and I thrust my sword to the right, stopping it from slicing his waist.

We continued this routine for several more minutes, each time getting harder to attack and block his blows. My 40-year-old dad was a Warrior, a male who born with the skill to fight, and he promised that when I turned eighteen he would show me how to fight. Of course, I wasn't as skilled or as fast as him because I was and Enchantress, a female with the power to heal any living organism, but that didn't stop me from wanting to fight like a man.

I was supposed to be learning how to control and use my healing powers in this prestigious academy for the Gifted but my parents were fugitives and so was I now. You see, my dad had married an Ordinair, a person in Talmeria who wasn't "gifted" or "skilled" with supernatural abilities like Warriors and Enchantresses, and the law prohibited a Warrior or an Enchantress to marry and Ordinair because it risked the existence of the Gifted from being revealed after so many years of hiding themselves from the Ordinair.

Suddenly, I heard a high-pitched screech, like nails on a chalkboard, and a huge beast pounced out of the forest. My heart pumped loudly in my ears and my first instinct was to scream.

I opened my mouth to do just that but Pa stopped me, "Hold still and don't make a sound." He slowly and cautiously got his sword and stood amid the crimson creature and I.

"Pa?" my voice trembled as I saw that the Jawpplar carried a human arm in his mouth.

The serpent-skinned monster dropped the bloody arm to the ground and made that awful screeching sound again. I took a good look at the body part that was mostly bone and only had three fingers left on it. The ring on one of its finger caught my attention and my eyes widened as I recognized the ruby red, heart-shaped gem on it.

"No," I whispered in horror as I realized that it was Ma's ring. "No, no!" I cried and moved towards the arm.

Pa yelled my name but it was too late, the Jawpplar had pounced on me. I trembled in fear and I felt like vomiting as I took in the repugnant stench of the beast's breath. His claws dug seep into my waist and I let out a painful scream that only made the Jawpplar's dark eyes shimmer with joy. I don't know how, but I managed to get the horrid beast off of me and my dad took this opportunity to chop the Jawpplar's head off. The creature let out an agonizing screech as the blade penetrated his neck like a knife through a stick of butter. It's blood splattered Pa's face and shirt as the beast's head rolled onto the ground.

"Are you okay?" he asked me.

"Mama!" I remembered the ring on the arm.

I looked at the human arm and Pa pulled the ring off its finger. He wiped the blood off the silver ring with his shirt and let out small tears as he realized it was Ma's.

"Zofia," he started but it was too late, I was already running home. "Zofia!" he called after me but I ignored him.

Everything blurred around me: Pa, the trees, the chirping of the birds, the pain in my waist, my aching legs. I came to a halt when I saw Ma's lifeless body on the ground. My heart dropped to my toes and I knelt down.

"Mama!" I cried as I pulled her to me.

Her left arm was missing and she was bit everywhere except for the face. Pa told me that Jawpplars didn't mess with their prey's face. I pulled her bloody hair, once black, from her face. I bawled harder and hugged her tightly, not caring if she bloodied my clothes. Moments later, I felt an arm on my shoulder and I turned around to see that it was Pa. He had been crying, I could tell.

"We have to bury her," he said and I pulled her cold body away from my sticky clothes and hugged my father.

"Why, Pa?! Why?!" I sobbed loudly.

He stroke my black hair and spoke softly, "I don't know."

"Her ring?" I asked more calmly now.

He pulled it out of his pocket and I took it to put it in Ma's right hand.

"Should we bury her now?" he asked in a shaky voice that threaten for tears to come.

I nodded gently as I kissed her cold cheek, once pink and warm, one last time.

It's been a day since Ma's death. It isn't the same without her. Everything seems so dim and cold now that she's gone. Pa's been telling me to eat and go outside but I won't. I don't do anything but cry and stare at my sword all day in my gloomy room. The sword is the only thing I have left from her, and I'll treasure it 'till the day I die.

I was just putting it back into its dark-blue sheath when I heard a loud banging on the door,

"What's all the raucous about?" I asked Pa as I entered the small living room of our home but I stopped talking when I saw the four Warriors standing by Papa.

He must've noticed my confused expression because he spoke, "Zofia, your time has come to bee taken away to The Academy."

The eldest of the Warriors nodded, "Yes indeed, Mr. Arietta. We have been given strictly orders from Professor McCroy that Zofia Arietta must arrive to The Academy before morning." He said that in such a manner, as if saying, "Or else you will be punished for breaking the law of marrying an Ordinair with death."

Anger rose inside of me and I denied, "No, Pa, I won't go! I can't leave you all alone now that Ma-"

"Zofia, please, don't make things harder than they already are and go with them," he took my head in his strong arms and looked at me with his forest green eyes that only reflected sadness and I understood that I had to go.

If I didn't, they would murder Pa and me both on spot, so with a soft nod and a heavy heart, I went to my room to pack the most valuable things I pocessed. I hugged Papa for a few seconds but they seemed like hours.

Pa began to say goodbye but I stopped him, "There's no need to say goodbye, Pa. I will come back soon and we'll be together again, yes?"

Pa smiled sadly, "Yes, my dear."

With that, the four Warriors walked me out the door and we walked all the way to The Academy, a place that I was sure I would learn to hate with all my being, if I already hadn't.