Dark Form_Book 1 of the Shadow War Trilogy

by M. A. Da Costa

  Tightly shutting my eye, I allow myself to become the elements. My bones synthesize a perception of utter weightlessness. Minutes pass before I open my eyes and instead of finding myself broken and bloody, I find myself hovering several feet above the ground. No wind, no earth, no water, or even fire holds me up. Just myself.

  Although there is clearly nothing attached to me, I can sense wings have sprouted from my back. I turn my gaze behind me just to confirm my theory and nothing is there. All this means is that I am now better suited to take on Genu! His glare penetrates my soul, he is livid with this turn of events. Ivory wings stretch behind him, casting a deep shadow over me. I’m not scared of him anymore.

  “Let’s finish this already,” I shout.

  “Agreed,” he whispers.

  The vampiric-kaine’s silhouette blurs as he dives for me—knowing full well that he has the upper hand on aerodynamics—I instantly descend just out of reach. This places my feet just inches above the ground. Let’s have some fun. As he passes over me I gather my strength, bend my knees, and push off the air; clouds of dirt rise once I skyrocket into the clouds. Elvendora’s perpetual beauty is immense, however, I am not able to enjoy it longer than a few seconds preliminary to my weightlessness perception gradually slipping away. Then I fall from grace.

  Why can’t I ever just enjoy myself long enough for it to matter? I ask myself, hoping someone will just answer me for once. Not Genu, though. I want him to stay out of my head.

  Now, there is no way I am going to survive a fall from this height, nor am I able to get a firm grasp on the wind around me. So, I am screwed. This time when I close my eyes, I know that I won’t end up hovering above the ground; there is one thing that I am almost positive will happen and I must be ready for it.

  Freefalling in a deadly spiral surprisingly gives my head enough clarity to channel a powerful flame deep within me; tightening my abdomen I hold the fire inside of me with all of my might, making sure that it will not be revealed till the timing is perfect. And sure enough (my previous notion proving right), cold hands grip ahold of my triceps; of course, the vampiric-kaine isn’t gentle with the landing. He throws me to the floor and touches down a few feet from me. As I begin to stand his wings revert into their vest form, seemingly sturdy than usual.

  I am going to have to be predictable if my plan is going to work. So, what is the one thing that he will be expecting? Right. Brute force! Thus, I bum rush Genu focusing an aura of vibrations around me, acting like the force behind a battering ram. Increasing the damage from the inevitable impact, I propel forward on a powerful gust of wind. He obviously decides to meet my idiotic attempt to take him down with his own brute force.

  As we collide, the vibration clashes with his telekinetic shielding causing a mild earthquake that levels the ground. We are knocked back from one another giving me the perfect opportunity to strike; I capture him in an overwhelming sand and whirlwind that throws him completely off balance. Here we go! The fire within me explodes to the surface causing a mighty burst of flame to erupt from my palms, scorching the sand twister. The dust crackles beneath the blazing inferno; hastily, the sand melts into a large rugged glass sphere with Genu trapped within the center like a prize to be won.

  Collapsing to my hands and knees, I stare at my magnificently crafted piece of artwork. I’m thinking of calling it, “Captured Pain”. I am truly impressed with myself, yet I can’t shake the feeling that maybe it was too much. Damn, I’m exhausted.

  “I give you credit for your creativity,” Genu’s telepathic voice reaches beyond his imprisonment, “however, you are still underestimating your opponent.”

  “As if, I can beat you and you know it!” I scream.

  Almost immediately the glass shatters and his golden eyes shine as his pupils narrow again. Raising his hand, he points his index and middle at me; my body tightens right before he throws his hand to the sky. Like a rag doll, I am shot up into the clouds; almost immediately, I am slammed back to the floor as his fingers point to the ground. Rapidly, Genu throws his hand back and forth, forcing my body to impact with rocks and trees; with every hit, I cause vibration waves to disperse, softening the blows.

  Finally, he throws his arm back sending me flying behind him; he then brings his hand forward, throwing me back to my original spot. Lifting his hand a little, I float about three feet off the ground, from which, he speedily separates his fingers forcing my body to make a star shape.

  “Not as strong as you thought, now are you?” Genu chuckles menacingly.

  Placing his other hand on the side of his cheek and straightening out his fingers pushes a sharp pain above my heart. When he pulls his hand back the pain subsides but I know what will come next. If he throws his hand forward, my heart will burst; however, I told him that I can beat him and I will. I must. Dark thoughts haze my mind; I release that energy into the atmosphere and storm clouds circular above. He takes no notice of them. Probably out of overconfidence. My emotions cause the friction in the sky to accelerate at alarming speeds. This is just what I need.

  When the vampiric-kaine throws his hand forward, I summon the deadliest thunderbolt in history. The instant before my heart is pierced by his telekinesis, Genu is roasted by my power. I can smell his burnt skin all the way over here.

  Good thing he isn’t faster than lightning…right?

  I lie unconformably on the ground as his body sinks into the crater formed by my power; struggling to my feet, I witness a fried version of Genu, covered in ashes. Inhaling a deeper whiff from his smoldering flesh makes me gag. This isn’t pleasant.

  “What have I done?”

  His arms shift as he pushes himself up, “you did what you had to in order to survive. That instinct is what will save you in the long haul.”

  Melting skin soon becomes covered by a blanket of fur as the zouvx’s body contorts into a massive silhouette. Dammit, his kaine form, I am so fucked!

  His monstrous hand lashes out, knocking me back a good fifty feet or so. I’m not even sure how many times I’ve had the wind knocked out of me but it’s definitely not healthy. I’m supposed to be a half-angel/half-demon and I am getting my ass handed to me. There is only one way to win this fight, murderous instincts. Like he said, “it’ll save me in the long haul”.

  Getting to my feet, I cool my body to the touch; extending my arms out to the sides, frost pulses through my veins until the outer layer of my skin transforms into an exceptionally thick layer of ice armor. Genu’s eyes are completely black with golden pupils and I can tell that this about to get real serious. I thrust my right-hand forward as my ice talons morph into a mass of spikes, releasing a volley of shards; they get within five feet of him before being instantly obliterated. This isn’t good at all. He races forward, paws thundering against the forest floor. He’s faster than I have ever seen him. I can’t even react by the time he tackles me to the floor and his sturdy jaws bind their way into my shoulder as we collapse.

  Blood pours through the ice, tinting its clear blue color to a lavender; my blood absorbs into the armor before I form a blade out of the spikes on my arm. Piercing it into his gut, it exits through his back. Genu’s blood gushes out of his wound as I pull my blade from his body. I am enjoying this part. I might have a sadistic side to me now that I think about it. My other hand converts into a large ball full of thorns and I smack it across his fat muzzle. Which, thankfully, knocks him off of me.

  We both hop to our feet and his wound rapidly heals. Reforming the frost over my wounds, I realize that my blood has completely merged with the ice; I can feel its empowering influence over the cold. Without another second to spare, I throw my hands towards the ground, reconstructing my fingers into jagged blades that scrape along the dirt as I run; Genu’s lengthy wolf arms help to extend the reach of his monstrous claws but to no avail is he able to strike me. With lightning reflexes, I parry and evade his attacks; formerly, I strike back, barely grazing the side of his face and landing a powerful hit along his back that
leaves him with a nasty gash running across his shoulder blades.

  I’m not sure how but I energize the blood in my ice armor giving me a boost and it’s exhilarating. I change one blade to a hammerhead and the other to an axe head; as I close the short distance between us, I throw a hammer punch his way. The vampiric-kaine’s powerful jaws lock onto the ice breaking through the hammerhead. I swing the axe head down onto his head but my arm stops mid swing as his telekinesis pushes it back. A shift of his eyes launch me into a few trees and deeper into the forest. Not even my frosted skin can completely protect me from the agony of each impact.

  My weapons revert back into talons. I need a strategy. Raising my hands towards the sky I summon a large dome of ice around me. Decreasing the temperature inside, my skin increasingly becomes more and more jagged as it thickens. Spikes go ahead and stretch through to the surface. This is awesome.

  Subsequently, Genu pounces on the dome just in time for my trap; as he breaks through, all the barbs along my silhouette explode like tentacles and puncture through his flesh. I force him to the floor as he snarls in pain; he pushes his jaws forth, trying to bite my leg. I grip his muzzle with my hands, coating his face in a layer of ice so cold it would kill a non-snow elf with severe frostbite. Unfortunately, Genu is no elf.

  Suddenly, all of my barbs shatter and I am sent flying sky high. Honestly, it’s a lot more calming being thrown up this high than one would think if they were blasted into the sky by a psychokinetic vampiric-kaine. It’s the plummeting back down to the ground that is the ugly part. Especially when it’s done by an insane amount of force. Despite the growth in my strength, I doubt I have a better chance of surviving this than your average elf at this point. Well, then again, I do possess powers that they can only dream of. Eh, I can do this…hopefully.

  Spreading out my arms and legs, I let the wind gather around me as I fall. Once I reach a good distance from the ground, I synthesize a mini tornado that roughly floats me to my feet. Placing my arms out to my sides I capture the wind before it fades and chill it to a crisp. Tiny ice crystals break off my body and levitate into the vortex; the frozen blood encased in the shards strengthens them. This enables me to concentrate on the tornado and convert it into a compacted blizzard. I am amazing at this.

  My hands glide forth, casting the blizzard through the forest. He is momentarily distracted as it only causes him minor injuries. I then combine my hands into one and fire an ice spear; the blood boils inside the spear as I concentrate. Genu manages to catch the projectile with his thoughts but only after a small portion of it stabs into his shoulder. This is just enough to put my next step into motion. When he pulls out the spear, I force the tip to break off inside of his wound. Center my strength into the tip; I beget it’s expansion till barbs explode throughout his shoulder. Genu roars before he obliterates the spear tip. However, his efforts were a little too late since the ice has already sewn its way into his body.

  As he claws at the wound trying to prevent my power from spreading through of his shoulder; I charge in, rapidly transforming one hand into an axe and the other into a sword. Once I am within arm’s reach I slice the axe down on his head, despite being distracted, Genu swings his monstrous claws against it, countering my attack. With his chest wide open, I thrust my blade hand forward and he shifts to the side just in time. My strike only scrapes his skin. Moving his other arm in front of him breaks some of the ice in his shoulder. I brace for the impact when he backhands me with his savagery. My feet dig into the soil as I slide backwards.

  “Now it’s time to finish this!” I shout in my head knowing full well that he’s listening.

  Morphing my hands back to normal, I blast him with a spiraling frost; the white color gives a false appearance to a sort of cloudy texture. Nevertheless, the frost’s sting glazes ice along Genu’s silhouette. I sprint forward and flip over him while continuously projecting the vortices onto him. It takes some time before he is completely frozen, yet I don’t fail to let up.

  Obviously, he terminates my attack by ejecting a telekinetic force from his mind; I stumble backwards under its strength. Large wings flutter open from his back before he tackles me into a tree. His appearance is altering but I don’t back down. My knuckles sharpen as I slug Genu across the face, then knee him in the ribs. He claws my chest as he chucks me into the tree behind him. I fight the brink of exhaustion to balance myself. At the same time, the zouvx releases a roar that is riddled with psychic energy. The blood in my ice armor keeps it from being destroyed but cracks form all along its structure nonetheless.

  Thrusting my hands forward I fire two pulsating spheres of snow and, as they strike him, he is pushed back. Blood trickles down his chest, leaving him temporarily immobilized. Game over! I rush in and deliver unto him a swift uppercut him; grabbing his neck and thigh I raise him above my head with all my might. As I scream out, my knee sharpens with jagged spikes and I bring his spine down onto it. A current of vibrations surges through the blow, completely breaking his back, and leaving him limp.

  Pulling my knee out from his torso, I throw Genu’s body to the ground and he reverts to his mortal form. My icy skin finally gives up and shatters. I walk away with a smile on my face. Can’t wait to brag about this to the others.

  An unbearable pain races through my head. Dropping to my knees I sense Genu probing my mind and unleashing deadly telepathic attacks on my psyche.

  “Defeating me won’t be that easy!”

  “Enough!”

  I conjure a stone spike that pierces through his skull. When that doesn’t stop the pain, I make his body combust into an outrageous flame. I scream with so much agony but it all fades with a simple touch on my shoulder. I throw a punch and Genu catches it, then slaps me across the face.

  “Calm down. None of this is real, remember?”

  I rub the side of my face and get to my feet. I look around and everything is perfectly fine: the trees are all standing, my leather armor is intact, all my injures—including Genu’s—are gone. And I’m not even exhausted.

  “Does this mean that everything I did wasn’t real?”

  “No, not exactly,” Genu smirks, “you still know how to use vibration waves, how to…semi-fly, and how to summon a thunderstorm. Nevertheless, all of the damage that was done from and to the both of us wasn’t real. Despite how it felt. Which is the point of Asvarp’s white room.”

  I shake my head again. It’s still all a bit confusing as to how our environment was able to change around us and how we continuously moved around, yet the white room we were all in couldn’t have been this big. Could it?

  The wonders of the world.

  Getting to my feet I look around, I can’t help but wonder where Asvarp and Crystalline are. They are nowhere to be found. Until they suddenly swirl into existence before my very eyes. Which makes me jump back.

  “You two seemed to have quite the brawl, didn’t you,” the mage chuckles.

  “Why are you here, Asvarp? Shouldn’t the two of you be off training somewhere else?”

  Genu is infuriated but the only thing I focus on is Crystalline who hasn’t broken eye contact with me. Looks like I’m growing on her.

  “I finished my training a while ago,” she still maintains eye contact, “we were going to continue but a rather peculiar thunderstorm formed over the forest so I convinced Asvarp for us to go check it out.”

  I smile, “I’m fine, in case you were wondering.”

  Genu ignores our flirting, “Zarvick summoned that lightning a while ago, how long were you watching?”

  “Since that point on. I shrouded us so the two of you wouldn’t be distracted,” the old man nods at me, “and good job to you.”

  Crystalline smiles, “did you learn anything new? Because I certainly did!”

  “Multiple things actually! I can sort of fly.”

  Her eyes widen and Asvarp glances at me. Before either of them can say anything else, the vampiric-kaine stares daggers at the mage until he finally gives in. H
e taps the end of his staff on the ground and the simulation blurs before completely vanishing. Leaving us back in the white room. Fascinating.

  Chapter 15

  It’s been a few days since our training session and I still don’t feel prepared to face Reaper. I have been practicing my new found skills in the white room and they aren’t getting any stronger. Although, it turns out that flying isn’t that difficult nor is controlling vibrations, yet I already had the latter under control. Crystalline, at first, was a bit jealous because she can’t fly, however, she does have an alternative; by focusing her powers she is able to create square panels in the air that she can run or stand on. Plus, her new speed ability or as Asvarp calls it: soul dashing. Basically, levels the playing field between the two of us.

  I’ve manifested stone targets for Crystalline to practice her archery on. It’s not as if she needs it. Honestly, the woman could hit an apple off the head of a hawk while it’s flying several dozen yards away. Nonetheless, I wanted to spend some alone time with her. Every since our souls became one the other day; I know that there’s a passionate connection between us. It’s all still weird to me how everything is unfolding the way it is.

  “Crystalline, do you ever feel that our lives aren’t how they are supposed to be?”

  My words are lost, hidden by her concentration; spiritual energy envelops her arrow as she releases it at one of the shifting targets. The missile curves it’s direction just enough to pierce the target’s center, causing it to explode.

  “Hmph…that was weak. Pathetic even. I have to get stronger if I’m ever—” she suddenly stops and turns to me with a raised eyebrow, “I forgot you were standing there, Zarvick. Did you say something?”