“Look, I didn’t mean anything by it,” I grimace in pain as she continues to strangle my arm. “I just think, we all think, that you’re not using your powers to their fullest potential.”
She lets go, taking a deep breath. Shaking her head irritably. “If you all want to say something might as well say it now.”
Genu steps in front of Asvarp and me, “you’re an irrational child who only sees things one way and doesn’t think of anything else. Your attitude towards everything is bland and barbaric. You lack imagination and purpose. What stands out above everything else is your self-doubt. Crystalline, you are capable of much more than you will ever know; you’re not just some mortal, you’re a being with a destiny. Yet, you only see through a lens that is your own perspective.”
All of us stand there with our jaws anchored to the ground. The unemotional monster just gave an inspiringly hurtful speech. She is so taken back that she can’t find her voice. I must say, Genu did one hell of a job tearing into her because I’ve never seen Crystalline speechless before; he must have held that in for years…or not, knowing him.
“We have to keep moving, shadows have been trailing us for the past three miles. If we waste any more time they’ll catch up to us,” the old man begins walking away. The vampiric-kaine then takes the lead.
I lift the burgundy bar onto my shoulders and catch up with Asvarp; Crystalline trails behind us, keeping her head low. We’ve made her depressed; it actually hurts me a little. What’s been said is said. It’s also what needed to be said. Although it could’ve been done at a different time and place.
* * * * *
By the time the sun sets over the horizon we finally make it out of the jungle. Genu suspects that the shadows have given up on tracking us but Asvarp says otherwise, “they will never give up”. In a way, he’s right, as long as Reaper is chasing us we will always be followed. At least this way I get to adventure Elvendora for the first time.
On the other side of the jungle lies a huge open grassland with many hills, rivers, and animals. I have seen many creatures such as griffins, bears, ghost spiders, and…I believe that’s a troll that just broke out of its cave and is now feasting on that poor, defenseless, elk. Elvendora sure is wonderful.
There have been so many new beast and plants for me to discover. Thus, Asvarp has been teaching me along the way so that I am “educated”. One of the things I learned is that apparently, there are plant people known as dryads who stealthily wander through plant life. It’s all so exciting.
“We should camp out somewhere up ahead,” Genu gestures in front of us, “the hills should provide cover for us.”
Thus, we set out to a perfect little spot in-between the hills; Asvarp conjures up tents for each of us and then gathers some firewood. He prepares himself for a delightful dinner. Paralyzing an elk in the distance he breaks its neck as it floats it over to us; the mage completely skins it and removes its horns with a wave of his hand.
“Do you mind?” Asvarp eyes shift from me to the elk.
I, of course, don’t mind but still give an annoying shrug. I set the animal carcass on fire to evenly cook our meal. Afterwards, we all enjoy the elk flesh, well everyone except for Genu. Something about being half-vampry doesn’t give him much room for what he can eat.
We sit in the dim lighting of an orb Asvarp summoned because Genu didn’t want to give away our position with the smoke from a fire—which he only mentioned after the firewood was gathered by an old man. He is still on edge about the shadows finding us; he’s cautious enough for us all.
While we all get ready to sleep, Genu remains on guard. I never expected him to sleep anyway. I doubt he actually shows any signs of being tired, that said, I’d at least expect him to relax. Then again, I do feel safer knowing that he is on the lookout for anything out of the ordinary.
Slowly making my way into the tent I hear the slight noise of a bow being drawn. Straightaway, I know it’s Crystalline but you can never be too sure. So, I slide out of my tent looking around for her. I don’t notice anyone which puts me on high alert. Now, I’m the paranoid one.
A hand grabs my shoulder and immediately I twist out of its grasp and swing a lightning covered fist; Genu evades my attack, putting his hands out in front of him.
“Calm down, it’s just me.”
“Don’t do that! That’s how you get yourself killed,” I shout quietly.
“We both know you are ill-equipped to kill me.”
A bright light flashes through the sky right before an ear-piercing shriek rips through the quiet wilderness. Both of our eyes gaze upwards to find several shadows flying above our campsite. They found us sooner than I expected them too. Another light glides through the night from the top of a hill; it strikes a shadow and purifies it.
Crystalline.
Genu springs to his tent where he grabs his sword, with a single bound he is above the dark creatures. One of them dives at him, only to meet its quick demise with a single slash of his blade. Crystalline fires another arrow that misses a shadow barreling straight for her. I launch a fireball at the cold spirit, burning it into dust. With my other hand, I release a lightning bolt that chains to a few shadows sneaking behind Genu.
More dark creatures manage to escape all of our eyes and one of them claws Crystalline across her back; losing all of her balance, she tumbles down the hillside.
The monster trails closer behind her until she slams into the base of the hill. Shadows are deadly cold-blooded killers that will stop at nothing until they drain your very essence from you. Or at least that’s what Asvarp tells me. She places her hand inside the shadow, a burgundy light shines through its interior until it burst; white will-o-wisp dissolve as they float up into the sky.
I run over to her, genuinely concerned, “are you alright?”
“I’ll be fine.” As she turns over, the wound on her back stitches itself back together with a faint glow. I didn’t even know she could heal herself like that.
“When did you learn to heal yourself?”
“Just now,” her tone is dull. Guess she’s becoming more creative.
We turn our gaze towards Genu as he fights off the remaining shadows. Watching him brings a thought to my attention that sends me sprinting to Asvarp’s tent. He is nowhere to be seen and I want to know if he’s alright. I open his tent to find him fast asleep and unbothered by all of the commotion. He truly is a very old man.
“Well, Asvarp is fine in case anyone cared,” I sigh.
Genu lands in front of his tent, turns to me, and shrugs before going inside. Crystalline walks over to me and doesn’t speak at first.
“You were right.”
I am dumbfounded, that’s the first time any of them have actually said that to me.
“Right about what exactly?”
“About me and my powers,” she responds, “even if the words came out of Genu’s mouth.”
I create two stone chairs and motion for her to take a seat; she gently presses her back against the rock for her wounds haven’t completely healed yet. It takes a moment for her to relax and look at me. I sense that she has been thinking about this conversation ever since Genu decided to lay out the truth for her.
“I don’t know where to start. I just always assumed that I would be an amazing warrior with these unique abilities. That was until I met you, Zarvick. Before I saved your life at Meta Village, Genu only recently told me about you…about me. You didn’t exactly take the news so well considering that you fainted; I mean, you faint a lot so it wasn’t anything new. Afterwards, you became so accepting of who and what you are. You use your abilities as if you have been your whole life which is the exact opposite. I, on the other hand, have been using my power my entire life, yet I hardly know how to use them. I don't understand them.”
I hesitate, “Crystalline…you are capable of much more than you think. So what if you aren’t using your powers the way they aren’t made to be used. I know that I may think a bit differently about how yo
u use them but your power is your very own after all. You just have to learn how to harness your abilities in all of its various forms; pushing yourself to your limits. I mean, even know you're healing yourself and you couldn’t before. That counts for something, doesn’t it?”
She nods her head and stands up to hug me; happily, I meet the gesture with love. We hold each other for a few seconds but it feels like an eternity to me. Once we release one another, Crystalline returns to her tent and I to mine. This is the start of a wonderful relationship. I hope.
Chapter 18
The next morning we put to a vote on who is going to wake Asvarp. Thankfully, Crystalline and I band together against Genu. The outcome is hilarious. He goes into the tent and is met with a magical blast that sends him flying back outside. Smoke rises off of his chest as he lies there; I doubt Genu is physically hurt but his pride must be. He’s pretty grumpy getting up and the old man doesn’t seem so pleased with being woken up either. This is a great start to our morning.
“That was unnecessary,” the zouvx growls.
“I’m an old man, Genu. You can’t expect to force me to wake up and not suffer the consequences,” Asvarp counters. “Especially, if you’re going to pull the bed out from underneath me!”
Crystalline and I laugh at the thought of Asvarp’s face after hitting the ground. Priceless.
“We should get a move on,” Genu suggest.
After we regain ourselves, I go to fetch my glaive. When I exit my tent Asvarp has already dispelled our campsite. The two spheres float out in front of him. Both Crystalline and myself walk over to them as Genu lowers his hand, setting them back on the ground.
“Before we can start this adventure, the two of you must put on your armor. It’ll assist you in your future endeavors,” Asvarp says.
With a wave of his hand the cases open. I’m not sure what I am expecting here; knowing Asvarp it must be something good but I don’t see how some armor can suddenly help me become a ruthless opponent.
Nevertheless, I am beyond blown away by the armor’s appearance.
Crystalline slaps on her armor first. The chrome torso has a swirled breastplate (which she disapproves of) and a defined abdomen section. It’s not necessary to point out the abs but is a nice gesture. Connected to the bottom is an open leather skirt with different hieroglyphics etched into each leather strip.
Our gauntlets slide all the way up to our elbows, leaving our biceps exposed. Similar to the chrome gloves, our boots are leather bound around our calves but guard our shins, knees, and feet. Topping off the look is a chrome headgear that only exposes the eye regains and our mouths; an inch of metal sticks out from the top of her helmet in a straight line from front to back. When Crystalline puts on the helmet a burgundy mohawk shines along the metal, an extension of her spiritual power.
I am truly impressed with it. Crystalline is absolutely in love with the armor, despite her total disapproval of wearing a helmet she seems to enjoy this one. Truly astonishing. Mine is similar in many aspects but different in others.
On each piece of armor, there is a symbol for each different element. On my left gauntlet, there is the symbol for light and my right gauntlet has the symbol for darkness; my left boot has the symbol for ice and my right boot has the symbol for fire. My helmet doesn’t have the mohawk like Crystalline’s helmet, instead, it has a smooth and round top. Nevertheless, the symbol for water is engraved into the forehead. My armor’s torso also has a defined abdomen region—including the leather skirt, without the hieroglyphs—however, it has a smooth, more chiseled, chest area with the symbol for earth located at its center. The symbols for wind and lightning are engraved on my shoulder blades.
“Asvarp, this is impressive,” Crystalline grins from ear-to-ear.
“Impressive indeed…” Genu, “also unexpected.”
He looks at Genu questioningly, “I try my best to be prepared.”
After we strip off our leather armor and put on these shiny hunks of metal, the two armor cases vanish. I guess that puts the end to my training for now. I must say, something doesn’t feel right. Amplified even. I sense that I am more attuned with the elements now than before. Wind blowing about a mile away is a breeze against my skin and animals running through the forests are a stamped around me.
“I can feel everything,” I say.
“Oh, yes. I almost forgot to mention that,” Asvarp scratches his head, “your armor wasn’t just designed for your protection but more as a catalyst for your powers. As I am assuming the both of you have already noticed, your strength will be at a higher level; it’s magical properties are pushing your abilities to your current limitations.”
“This means it’s going to be harder for us to control our powers, right?” Crystalline points out.
“Until you are used to the increased strength, yes…just be careful.”
Genu is irritated (like usual), “well, they can’t be careful until we get moving.”
We all nod in agreement and head out. The mage continually assures us that we are getting closer as the sun rises higher into the sky. He still hasn’t told us exactly what we’re doing. It’s all part of his surprise. I just hope that Crystalline and I are doing better. She hasn’t said a word to me since last night and I’m feeling very agitated about the whole thing.
What does she want me to do?! I stupidly shout in my head.
By the time the sun is high in the sky we finally reach our destination. Honestly, I was expecting another weird forest or a lake or another castle. Instead, we are greeted with a giant, reflective, black, circular stone that somehow appears out of place and attuned with the environment at the same time. Asvarp is the only one who is excited about all of this.
Crystalline speaks after a while, “what exactly is this thing? Because as far as I can tell this has been a huge waste of time.”
“No, no it’s far from that,” Asvarp mutters. “This is a warp stone, it was created thousands of years ago by the second era of the royal council members as a means of transportation/trade. Each kingdom had one built within their walls and a few were built around Elvendora; however, the Great War that occurred a couple of centuries after their creation forced the banshee queen at the time to cast a seal over the stones. Her actions ended the war but helped to exile the fey.”
Genu sighs, “nice history lesson, yet I don’t see how it’s going to help us.”
“I believe he intends on using it,” I say.
Aside from the petty glares that I am receiving from both Crystalline and Genu, Asvarp nods in agreement. Planting his staff in the ground, he walks forward until he reaches the silver ring around the stone. Raising his hands into the air magic swirls all around him forming three circles in front of him. Between the outer, middle, and inner circles runes carve themselves into the empty spaces. At the center of the inner circle is one big rune that appears to be the symbol for “breaking”. Not really sure how I know that.
Moving his hands in graceful formations causes the runes to sparkle, energy lashes out as they dissolve; once they do, the old man channels that energy and unleashes a burst of magic. His spell strikes the warp stone, adding color to its black shine. Different symbols glimmer across the stones as a force field forms over its surface, clashing with his spell.
“Extrom legot velem, totalose osot bergrom navuse!” Asvarp shouts.
Gradually, yet unwillingly, the enchantment shatters. Afterwards, he takes a step back, using his staff to maintain his balance. With the spell lifted, the stone glows a radiating azure. I sense something on the other side. I don’t know how to explain it but I feel drawn to it.
Could it be one of my soul fragments?
“That has to be the first time I’ve heard you speak the spell that you’re casting,” Genu says.
Asvarp responds, “I eventually learned to use magic without saying the words of power that energize the spell, however, when I do speak the words of power the spell becomes much stronger. That's what happens when you spe
nd most of your life seeking the forbidden knowledge Elvendora has to offer.”
I don’t think he really needs the increase in power but it’s still interesting to know that, despite his old age, Asvarp is very capable of utilizing the full potential of his power. He’s no doubt the most powerful out of the four of us. But why hasn’t he killed Reaper already? With that much power, the old man could annihilate anyone in his path.
Nonetheless, I seem to be the only one thinking about this because the other two are growing impatient. She may not be his biological daughter, yet they act so much alike.
“What do we do now?” Crystalline ask.
“I’m not really sure,” Asvarp struggles to regain himself, “the Great War happened long before I was born. I never had a chance to use a warp stone.”
“So, you have no idea how to use it?” Genu is dumbfounded.
“Not exactly,” the mage straightens his back. “I can cast a spell that will activate the magic within the stone but we won’t have any way of controlling where we end up. You see, those who used the warp stones had special medallions given to them by the kings and queens which allowed them to control where they needed to go, however, those medallions were either destroyed or lost after the war.”
Genu grows furious and jumps on top of the warp stone; its magic condemns his actions with defiance and zaps him onto his ass. Crystalline laughs and goes to help him up. Asvarp begins carefully examining it. I, on the other hand, decide to do something completely idiotic (already seeing the outcome), I walk onto the azure platform. Why? I have no idea.
I can’t shake the feeling that there is something calling me on the other side. I just can’t sit around and wait anymore; thus, I stand on top of the warp stone and the sensation is exhilarating. In a blue flash, I am disintegrated and reformed onto another stone surrounded by giant mountains.
A certain awareness comes about me, I can feel what was calling me here. It’s definitely one of my soul fragments and by the looks of it, this must be the Terra Kingdom. Although, I don’t see a castle anywhere nor do I see a way out of here. Matter of fact, I don’t even know where here is. I could be on the other side of Elvendora and this warp stone doesn’t want to send me back. Of course, it would have a mind of its own.
Dark Form_Book 1 of the Shadow War Trilogy Page 17