Dark Form_Book 1 of the Shadow War Trilogy

by M. A. Da Costa

  Why do I always end up being the target of bad events?

  “The only thing that could make matters worse would be if Reaper sho—,” multiple balls of black smoke zip into the mountain range, “dammit.”

  Yup, this is definitely the place. I just have the worst of luck. And will probably die. Great!

  Chapter 19

  (Crystalline)

  Let’s just forget all about having to walk miles and miles until we reach a stupid stone that we have no control of, even after Asvarp got it working again. No, let us focus on the fact that Zarvick was just teleported to Elvendora knows where! I was already irritated with Genu when he decided to get all truthful with me (even if I asked for it), then I was furious with Asvarp because he always seems to leave out all the details until the last minute. And now…now I feel a bit lost without Zarvick. He is completely asinine for walking onto the warp stone (especially after it electrified Genu, which was hilarious) but that doesn’t mean I don’t feel empty on the inside without him making some idiotic comment. Or asking some obvious question.

  The old man hasn’t stopped staring at the stone and my dear ole father is agitated for whatever reason. He’s always brooding. All I want to do is figure out how to use this damn thing so we can find Zarvick.

  “Why did the stone work for Zarvick but not for Genu?” I contemplate

  “The variables could be limitless. There is no actual way to tell why the warp stone worked for him,” Asvarp responds without looking at me.

  If there’s no way to figure out why it worked for him that clearly means we won’t be able to find him. This just gets better and better.

  Staring into the warp stone with all of my might I see him, Zarvick. At first, I think it’s just my imagination but then I actually see him; well, his spirit anyways. I can sense his fractured aura. I can save him. Like always.

  Reaching my hand forward causes a narrow pillar of light to shoot out into the sky. The others are astonishingly oblivious to this. As I enter the beam, a burgundy glimmer fuses with the stone’s surface and pulls my reach closer to him.

  I don’t realize it until it’s too late but I have suddenly been thrust into a mountain range.

  “What the actual f—”

  “Crystalline!” Zarvick runs towards me in a hurry. He embraces me with enough love to choke a bear.

  Pushing away I stare at him, then ask, “where are we?”

  “I believe we are near the Terra Kingdom,” he scratches his head, “but I don’t know where it or we are exactly.”

  Wow, he is a complete idiot. He probably wasn’t paying much attention to Asvarp’s lecture about Elvendora’s kingdoms on the way over here. Typical.

  “Zarvick, the Terra Kingdom is underground. Beneath the very earth of Elvendora.”

  He laughs a little then glances out at the mountains. Zarvick begins to say something but a different voice calls for my attention. It’s faint at first, struggling to be heard. Yet, I manage to make out the words.

  “Crystalline…can you…hear me…?”

  Wait, that’s Genu, “I hear you, barely. Where are you?”

  “We’re still…by the…warp stone. Are you…alright?” Genu’s tone is full of concern. Not sure why, I am more than capable of handling myself.

  “I’m fine. I am here with Zarvick, we are in a mountain range. He thin—”

  I can feel Genu’s telepathy strengthen, “no, Crystalline you’re not with Zarvick. You are still with Asvarp and I. You’ve been blankly staring at the stone for quite some time and you haven’t moved a muscle.”

  “I’m what?” I gasp.

  Zarvick turns to me with a dumbfounded look on his face. It takes me a minute to snap out of my trance to see what he’s so confused about. Now I understand. My body has become transparent, like a ghost. I’ve managed to go into my astral form and project my spirit through the warp stone. Although that was rather neat of me to do, it kind of frustrates me that I couldn’t do it willingly.

  “Zarvick, I will be right back!”

  On cue, my spirit is whisked back into my body. My vision takes several moments to focus onto Genu’s golden eyes, his pupils are thin and uneasy. I take a step back to regain myself and he doesn’t even flinch. It seems that now he is the one in a trance. The mage walks over, studying me for a moment.

  “You may have just answered the problem I have been trying to solve,” Asvarp turns back to the warp stone.

  “What’s going on? And what’s wrong with him?”

  “He’s currently expanding his psyche across Elvendora so he can speak with Zarvick. It’s easier for him to try and concentrate on one thing at a time. Also, I realized out how we are going to use the warp stones.” Asvarp is practically a child with sweets right now. Knowledge is just so delicious to him.

  “How?” I sigh knowing it’s going to be a long ass explanation that I most likely won’t understand but will nod anyways.

  “I am going to tap into the natural energy of Elvendora which will allow me to manipulate the warp stone to our needs, however, there is just a small chance we won’t end up exactly where we want to,” Asvarp responds.

  I actually understood that, “so, when are we doing this?”

  “Now.”

  Thrusting his staff forward, a ray is cast out that courses through my body and strikes the stone. A brilliance of azure swirls as the surface contorts, opening a breach through reality. Once Asvarp is satisfied with the portal he discontinues his spell.

  “Why in oblivion did you not warn me?! What happened to ‘tapping into the natural energy of Elvendora’!” I scream.

  “If I told you that I had to use your spiritual energy as a conduit so I could trail the teleportation residue left behind by Zarvick and open a portal that will lead us to him. Would you have said yes?” Asvarp questions logically.

  “Well…maybe, if I thoroughly understood what the fuck you just said,” I try to shake off the lingering tingle left behind by his magic.

  “My point. It’s about time we start moving.”

  Genu shakes his head and joins our conversation. He tells us that Zarvick can sense one of his soul fragments in the mountains which houses the entrance to the Terra Kingdom, home to the earth elves otherwise known as drow. I am itching for a fight and we heading straight for one.

  * * * * *

  The mountains are even more beautiful when we fly above them. Nonetheless, we are having such a difficult time finding the entrance to the kingdom. Which, annoyingly, shifts its location every hour. We have been flying around attempting to dive into the cave before it shifts somewhere else and, of course, we’ve had no luck. Every time Zarvick gets a lock on its general location we can never get to it in time. Both moons are already high in the starry night sky and I grow weary of this little game.

  “This will never work!” I slam my foot onto the spiritual panel that Asvarp and I are floating around on.

  “Don’t be such a brat. We just need to attune Zarvick’s senses a bit,” his tone is firm.

  “Or we can break apart the mountains until the cave has no choice but to stay in one spot,” Genu says as he approaches us.

  “I like that idea!” Now that’s something I look forward to seeing.

  “We cannot and will not harm Elvendora in such a way,” Asvarp refutes.

  Genu’s wings give a hardy flap before he dives into the rocky abyss below. Zarvick descends onto my platform, frustrated from a lack of results.

  “You’d think I could be able to find a stupid cave with my heightened powers,” he sighs.

  “Don’t worry, it’ll pop up eventually or we might get lucky,” I try to reassure him but he just wants to get this over with. I don’t blame him. Who wouldn’t want to hurry up and fill in all of the missing pieces within their life?

  “There just has to be another way to go about this,” he refutes.

  On cue, Genu speedily torpedos above us. His wings fan out as he lands next to Zarvick.

  “Let’
s just destroy the entire mountain range,” his voice is genuine.

  “I’m not saying it again! These mountains are an essential part to northern Elvendora,” Asvarp despises his persistence, “and, besides, in order to accomplish such a feat you’d need great power to do so.”

  “Which I have.”

  “No, you do not.”

  He’s suddenly outraged, “why do you care so much?! Once we fix the time shift this will all be restored anyways!”

  “You cannot and will not harm Elvendora because you don’t have the capability of doing so!” Asvarp shouts.

  Taken back by the old man’s total lack of faith in him, Genu flies above the nearest mountain after saying, “you don’t know what I’m capable of”. Honestly, I don’t think any of us do. Myself included.

  Large ivory wings shield his body after curling up into a ball. At a slow pace, a golden spherical hue forms around him. His aura grows in intensity, I immediately raise a barrier around us by clasping my hands together as tightly as I can. Asvarp soon follows my lead by adding a barrier of his own to mix with mine. Zarvick is the only one who doesn’t seem fazed by any of this; maybe it’s because, like myself, I truly desire to see what Genu is going to do. And it’s nothing that any of us could’ve expected.

  All at once, his body fans out. Golden pupils pulsate in his black eyes. The hue about him rapidly expands disintegrating anything it comes in contact with: mountains, trees, animals, etc.. We struggle to keep Genu’s telekinetic blast at bay; I thrust my hands forward and Asvarp shoves his staff forward to strengthen our shielding. Together our fields were enough to absorb the initial strike but aren’t doing so well against the constant force of Genu’s mind. It takes Zarvick to unleash thrashing vibration pulses in order to divert some of the telekinetic force so we can continue maintaining our shielding.

  After the golden hue has completely enveloped the entire mountain range, my dear ole adopted father plummets from the sky unconscious. Zarvick quickly dives down, catching him before he crashes into the ground. Asvarp dispels his barrier but I cautiously keep mine up for a moment longer prior to letting it fade.

  “Genu actually did it,” Asvarp mutters.

  “You know, you should have a little more faith in him,” I respond unintentionally.

  Asvarp glances at me then turns away. “I knew Genu before he met his wife and I saw what he became after she died. He lost his way until he began taking care of you. It’s pleasing to see you come to his defense.”

  Before I could say anything (not as if I had anything else to say), Zarvick yells our names. I float us down to him and when we get there we see what he is staring at. The earth has morphed into a large dome with a black gaping hole facing us. Genu’s plan worked, the cave that leads to the Terra Kingdom is right in front of us.

  “Should we go in?” Zarvick ask. He’s literally vibrating with excitement. Which brings a smile to my face.

  “Genu has pushed himself; his psyche is no doubt torn apart and he will have to recover. Until he does I will watch over him,” Asvarp studies him carefully.

  “So, it’s just going to be the two of us?” I must admit I’m a little worried, “are you sure that’s the right move?”

  The mage shakes his head but what choice do we have. This must be done. Zarvick places Genu at his feet and we walk towards the cave’s entrance.

  “A word of advice,” Asvarp calls out, “generations of living underground have changed the drow. Their hearing, smelling, and touch have all been heightened; plus, they can see the heat radiating off of objects and people. Also, royalty are still mortal elves no matter what kind of power they possess, they can still die like anyone else.”

  “No worries, I’ll take care of Zarvick.” I joke a bit because the situation just calls for distractful humor.

  Afterwards, Zarvick and I make our way through the darkness. We delve deep into a giant cavern, he carries me on his back as we hover along the ground to keep our noise level to a minimum. He even goes as far as producing a chilling aura so that our body heat is dampened. If it wasn’t for our night sight I wouldn’t be able to see Zarvick right in front of me. Which makes me wonder how Asvarp would’ve gotten through this place.

  There are stalagmites and stalactites everywhere, jagged rocks, and creatures that I’ve never seen before. Which only makes me nostalgic for Genu’s training room. The farther we go the crazier it gets until we reach an abyss.

  “It’s down there,” Zarvick whispers.

  I can sense the aura he must have felt earlier. It’s faint but distinctive.

  “Well, we can’t see the bottom of this thing and there doesn’t appear to be any other place to go. So, we might as well go down there,” I whisper back.

  Without warning he drops down; pushing the wind away from us, decreasing the resistance and increasing our speed. After an eternity, and several miles later, I finally see the bottom of the abyss; he gradually decelerates before stopping a couple feet above the ground.

  “I hope there is a direct path to the castle,” Zarvick mutters.

  I giggle a bit, then squeeze his arm before he sets off again. It takes us awhile to find the right path after flying across a few trolls, giant moles, and even trenchers (which are large oval-shaped beasts that burrow through the ground, cute in through own terrifying way). We try our best to stay clear from all potential threats but if one gets too close Zarvick will shoot an ice spike or two in order to keep them at bay.

  We finally figure out which direction to head in after spotting, what I am assuming to be, a drow hunting party. Plum colored skin (verging on black), long white hair, slender bodies, and sharp green eyes. All wearing leather armor and equipped with scimitars and hand-crossbows.

  “Okay we can’t just ask them where to go, so what’s the plan?” Zarvick contemplates what I presume to be every possible scenario in his head. He’s getting better at this. I’m somewhat impressed.

  However, the only thing I do is stare holes in the back of his head. I mean, how could anyone really be that stupid. Of course, we can’t just ask them! We follow them! Yet, like the wonderful lady that I am, I’m not about to ruin Zarvick’s vibes because he’s really pumped.

  “Trail them but don’t let them be aware of us…” I pause knowing I should be a little more specific, “let’s get higher up so it’s harder for them to notice us.”

  With a simple nod, we levitate to a higher altitude but don’t even come close to the ceiling of the Terra Kingdom. After about a mile of following the drow, they stop. At first, I thought it was for a break but then I hear a loud crack. Something has alerted them.

  A herd of velociraptors race towards the earth elves; with lightning reflexes, they jump onto the saddles on the beasts’ backs. Ridding them like horses. Zarvick picks up speed to catch up with the drow, ducking and dodging rocks as we fly by. It doesn’t take long before the disturbance comes bursting out of the ground and barrels towards the fleeting drow. It’s a bull worm. Nasty creatures that live deep underground, only coming to the surface to prey on anything they can get their thirteen rows of rotating teeth around. Long armored bodies and deadly persistence make up for their total lack of limbs; I’ve read many stories of these beast killing entire villages just to fill their huge appetites. They have no eyes but are quite capable of finding their next meal through other means.

  The drow stands no chance against a bull worm. Their velociraptors are barely outrunning it as it slithers along the earth, not even bothering to dodge the rocks in its way.

  “Should we do something?” Zarvick asks concerningly. Such a caring soul he is.

  “No,” I, on the other hand, am not, “we can’t blow our cover. Just keep on following them and let’s see what happens. It could help in the long run.”

  What happens next is astonishing, even to me. The drow nearest to the beast has his steed veer up the side of the tunnel. Once it gets to a good height, he then jumps off the velociraptor and lands onto the bull worm; a single
swift movement and the elf’s blade is lodged deep into the worm’s skin. With its other hand, he withdraws his crossbow. Another drow (female), flings her arms outwards, throwing two blue orbs on the ground ahead of them. The male drow, on the back of the bull worm, shoots a quarrel that sticks into the ground ahead of the orbs creating a triangle shape.

  As the bull worm passes the orbs, the magic within them explodes releasing waves of lightning that force the beast to a halt in front of the quarrel; the sound thunders throughout the cavern. As if the lightning wasn’t enough, the crossbow bolt activates, a jagged stone spike springs from the earth; entering through the mouth and exiting through the back of the worm’s head. Squirming, the monster tries to free itself. I’m not even sure how it’s still alive. Two other male drow move to the sides of the bull worm; pulling out their swords, they each carve a magical rune into its body. The second female drow whips out her crossbow, readying a glowing quarrel. Once the worm breaks the spike, she skillfully shoots the bolt into its mouth.

  Now, I’m not exactly sure what the hell is wrong with the drow but I like their methods. A second later, the runes shine bright red and the worm's body is suddenly ignited from inside out. All of the flesh behind the runes is burnt to crisp.

  Digging hooks into the bull’s giant head, they attach them to ropes that they tie off on the back of the velociraptor's saddles. To think that they were actually the ones hunting the worm is ridiculous; I mean, there’s only five of them and they killed that giant monster with little to no effort. I wonder what that says about the rest of their civilization as a whole. I should think about moving down here sometime in the near future. It suits me.

  It’s slow but as they pick up the pace that hunk of meat slides along the cavern floor. A few more miles and we finally lay our eyes upon the great rocky Terra Kingdom. It expands for as far as my vision can see. The castle, at the center of the kingdom, evidently stands out above everything else for it is the biggest structure here; it’s practically a mountain. This should be fun!