250,000 years ago there was a genocidal war between the Beasts and the Human races. The Beasts consisted of the Werewolves, Ayakashi, and the Dragons; while the Human races included the normal humans and the Witches and Wizards. Those who possessed the abilities to use magic used their abilities to enchant the weapons and armor of the non-magic users, in an attempt to strengthen them as well as preserve their lives. They wanted to create something that would help the humans win, so they named the sets of armor and weapons the Beast Slayers. During the battle both sides lost countless lives, and the Beasts lost more and more territories, until 10 years after the war started.
Magnis Rex, the Dragon King, and Nightmare, the Ayakashi King, had a meeting with the Human's King of that time, Arthur Picantia. King Picantia was the last living relative of one of the original human settlers of this land, the one that it was named after. The Beasts knew that if this war continued, then both sides would be decimated and the land destroyed. So, the Beasts decided to make a proposal to the Humans. To create a binding contract, one that would link both species together, in order to form a balance between the Beasts catastrophic power and the Humans' dual nature.
King Picantia agreed, so he had a group of his best Witches and Wizards perform a binding spell, creating the first generation of Shifters. There was an unexpected result from this spell, however. After the spell was completed, the residual magic in the air dispersed and changed the rest of the residents. They, too, gained something from this, a special gift that was called a Talent. These people were given the name of Pure Blood, since the magic in their system was pure, raw magic. Not everyone had the same amount of magic in their system, though, so for some families their gifts quickly faded down their family line.
After the spell was over, the newly transformed shifters moved into the Human's society, and just like their original beasts, they found their mates and reproduced. Their offspring was born as a human but when they reached the age of two, they would be able to communicate and shift into their beasts, if they had one. The ones that had no beasts were able to pass on the genes, same with the ones that had a beast side. With this, peace was able to spread throughout Picantia and their civilization was able to expand and grow. However, not everyone was happy about this, and they formed their own special organization, the Hunters Association. Their goal was to kill all the beasts and make the kingdom only for humans. Members of this organization were sworn to keep it secret, so no knowledge of them appears throughout Picantian history.
They had one issue though. Since the beasts were now bonded to humans, it was harder to tell them apart from their normal kinsmen. Except for their Kings. The Kings of the Dragons and the Ayakashi had an issue when bonding to their human counterparts, some of their traits still showed through due to how powerful they were. Whether it was slitted pupils or their slightly prominent fangs, there were still some characteristics that couldn't be hidden. They were the easiest ones to find and kill. Unfortunately, when the Hunters killed the Kings, they didn't know about one important fact. Due to how powerful the Beast Kings were, they could only be reincarnated once every 400 years.
So, whenever the Kings were reincarnated and reached the age to rule, they would be killed in order to keep the rest of the species weak. This was the mission they gave to themselves, to find all of the beasts and eradicate them for the better good of their common man. Though, they didn't expect that one of their own would betray them. Princess Aurora, whose distant grandmother was killed in the war against the monsters and one of the fortunate ones to still have a high concentration of magic in her blood, was fated to be the mate of the newest reincarnation of the Dragon King, and her cousin, Duchess Helen who also had a lot of magic in her blood, was the mate of current reincarnation of the Ayakashi King. Even though they killed the Kings, they didn't kill the women since they were technically human. That was an error on their part, since they were pregnant. It would be an error that they learned from.
Now, in the present day, Picantia's descendants have maintained their rule in the Kingdom. In the past, King Pincantia didn't know how well his line would continue, so he made a decree: If the ruling couple didn't have a prince, then the princess would be able to choose a husband of her choice and rule alongside him. This ensured that his lineage continued to rule, in order to preserve the peace treaty that he made with the shifters. A specific promise to them that didn't make it into the official document, out of fear of a revolt from his subjects. Throughout history, many of the families that had Pure Blood faded due to their concentration decreasing each generation. However, the Royal Family, including the Dukes and Duchesses, were the exception to this. No one understood why, but not only did it help protect their kingdom, but it was another way to protect the treaty. The Royal Families from the past felt that if their magic ever diminished, then the shifters would get out of hand.
The current King and Queen are Bartholomew Richardson and Maria Richardson, my aunt and uncle. Before anyone says anything, I'm not a prince. My mother used to be a princess until she decided to marry my father who is a Duke, then the previous King and Queen disowned her. My dad, Mark Slate, has had the title in his family since his ancient relative Helen. Bartholomew and Maria decided that even if the magic in the Royal Family's blood did vanish, they felt that it shouldn't matter. As long as they showed the respect the shifters deserved, then they would respect those on the throne.
Picantia has four Districts, with the castle in the middle of all of them. The Districts are: Northwood, Southwood, Eastwood, and Westwood. Each District has a Duke and Duchess that report any issues from their respective locations to the Royal Family. Dad has the easiest time doing this since he also works in the Northwood Police Department. Mom works in the local hospital since she has the innate gift of healing. She can't heal major injuries, but minor scrapes and bruises are easy for her, and she has knowledge in other areas of medicine. My family might seem like any other family on the surface, but that's not the case. I am Andrew Arcanum Umbra Slate and I was born with a secret. A secret that has threatened my family since the day that I was conceived.
It is the fact that I am the first Dual Shifter in history, born with both the Dragon King and the Ayakashi King. Throughout my life, I have been kidnapped, tortured, almost killed, and yet my family still expects me to go to school. I am currently 14 and a half years old and this is my life's story.