There are two roots, both real: -13 and +13
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The square root of any positive real number (as in this case) is a real number. (Such square roots are usually irrational.)The square root of a negative real number, such as the square root of -15, is an imaginary, and therefore also a complex, number.
The square roots of any positive real number are a positive and a negative real number. The square roots of any negative real number are a positive and a negative imaginary number. The square roots of any imaginary number or any complex number are two complex numbers.
a is a real number since we use just letters to represent real numbers. if a > 0, then its square root is also a real number, so it has two square roots, one positive and one negative. Be careful when you use the radical sign, because it is looking only for the principal square root of a, which is the positive one. if a < 0, then its square root is an imaginary number.
The fourth square root is the 16th root of a number. On a computer, to find the 16th root of a number, say 5.6, enter 5.6^(1/16). If the number you start with is positive, you will have 2 real roots (one positive and one negative) and 14 complex roots. If it is negative, you will have 16 complex roots.
There is no real number [square] root of a negative number. There is a real cube root and a real fiftth root etc, but root, by itself, implies square root.