Dark Form_Book 1 of the Shadow War Trilogy

by M. A. Da Costa

  As we both laugh, the queen launches a powerful shockwave of stone spikes through the ground at us. I quickly hold it back but she’s stronger; even with the increase in power from my glaive and the armor, she still possesses more control over the earth than I do. That is until Crystalline places her hands on my back—her spiritual energy circulates through me at an alarming rate—that I pose an actual threat to the queen’s earth manipulation.

  Not some peasant now, am I! I yell in my head.

  Shoving back her attack with a shockwave of my own causes a collision of stone barbs and vibrations. This clash between the earth shakes the castle, generating an earthquake throughout the Terra Kingdom; eventually, the castle begins to crumble all around us. My strength commences its depletion as Crystalline’s energy fades from my body. Neither of us can keep this up without completely draining ourselves and I already used up a large portion of my strength when I froze everything.

  “Zarvick, figure out a way to beat her already! I can’t keep expending my energy much longer,” I feel Crystalline struggling.

  Placing both of my hands on the glaive, I thrust it forward with full force. A miniature tsunami of earth rushes forth, in addition to a blast of vibrations radiating through the ground. The Drow Queen immediately counters with her own force and the impact causes an out lash of force. The castle explodes outwards under the pressure of our strength.

  The Terra Kingdom begins to fall as the earthquake intensifies to uncontrollable levels, even for her majesty. Crystalline and I are blown backwards as all of this happens; we get the wind knocked out of us and are practically drained.

  “Are you…alright…?” I ask between breaths.

  For her response, she squeezes my arm. Looking up I see the queen getting to her feet. It’s good to know that not even she was capable of withstanding that much power. Even though the earthquake is subsiding I still sense shaking throughout the kingdom. The damage has already been done…

  “Let’s get this over with,” I say to the queen.

  She nods and we charge each other. Boulders rush towards me and I slice through them; once I am within range of the queen, I stab my glaive into the ground and swing my legs forwards. When my feet make contact with her chest, I manipulate the wind beneath them and kick off with enough force that blows her back to where she started. Her majesty tries to get up but I bump rush her off of the ledge behind her. Thank you, earthquake!

  I slash at her as we fall and she changes her skin into marble, wrapping her legs around my waist. The queen’s left arm morphs into a hammerhead and she knocks the glaive out-of-my-hands; her right arm transforms into a jagged blade. Her attempt to stab me below the ribs fails as her arm breaks against my armor; I grab ahold of her now broken arm, freeze it, and then I crush the ice. Before she can regenerate, I burn her shoulder with as much flame as I can muster. Screaming in agony, the queen’s skin explodes with spikes. All of my open flesh is cut and stabbed. Swiftly, I push off of her and she plunges into the ground, shattering.

  I float down, summoning water in my palms. The Drow Queen reforms her body completely, however, I smack her around with tremendous aqua whips before she can make a move; my arms flail about as the high pressured water continually slams into her, knocking her off balance. Finally, I create a bubble and explode it outwards cooling all of the water droplets into ice shards. As they pierce the queen, I fly straight for her. This time she will die.

  Charging my fist with lightning, I sock her in the gut and punch her in the face. She swiftly uppercuts me and I fall backwards. I try to move but the earth molds over my arms and legs; bringing her hands above her head, they morph into one giant marble pickaxe.

  “Hey, you dumb broad,” Crystalline calls both of our attention to her, “did you miss me?”

  She grabs the mohawk from her helmet and shreds it off of the steal; that energy shapes itself into an arrow. At the same time she draws her bow, the queen turns her undivided attention back to me. While the pickaxe descends, my love releases her arrow. Its entire form becomes a mass of spiritual energy that plunges through the Drow Queen’s heart.

  I witness my soul fragment’s emerald prison disintegrate; her majesty’s body is reduced to dust in an instant. Immense power is sucked into my body leaving me breathless. Rather abruptly, everything goes black and faint images in the distance focus into view.

  Immediately, I find myself back in the Sacred Forest.

  Chapter 21

  Everything looks and feels so real but I know the truth. My home burned to ashes before my eyes. This isn’t some dream or a vision: it’s a memory. Something that I have apparently forgotten and am now remembering. I guess I know why my life didn’t flash before my eyes the day I met Crystalline. It’s because I don’t remember my life.

  Standing up, I notice a familiar pond to my left. A young boy, with lavender eyes and silver hair, splashes a few birds drinking the water. One of the larger birds fades into the tree tops, I can’t make out its feature but I know I’ve seen it somewhere. The boy appears sad when he is left alone like he’s out of place…

  I notice something from the corner of my eyes. Something I sadly know far too well: a shadow. It’s in the form of a wolf and lurks behind the trees. The boy is ill aware of its presence. I want to rush out of the tree line and protect him, however, I just stand still. Waiting.

  “Zarvick!” A familiar feminine voice calls, “where are you?”

  “I-I’m over here!” Younger me replies eagerly.

  Momentarily, a pale women and a dark man emerge from behind the trees. My parents look exactly the same as when I last laid my eyes on them. Just, of course, without the blood and tentacles all around them.

  “Zarvick, you know you’re not supposed to be this far from the village. It’s time to come home,” my mother’s voice is kind but firm.

  As she takes my hand, her eyes meet with my father’s and she nods her head to the right. He glances over and nods back to her. As my mother and myself leave, Edon slowly makes his way along the end of the pond, dressed in blacksmith garbs. A low growling can be heard from behind the trees. I make my way through the forest, keeping out of sight, observing. I have a queasy feeling in my stomach. I’ve always known that my parents had hidden the fact that they killed some kind of monsters in the forest but I would have never guessed it to be shadows.

  Still not clear on what they are exactly but I’m not going to ask for clarification anytime soon. Although, I do know that the Sacred Forest should’ve purified them but now my home is gone. So, what happened?

  “Don’t be shy, I just want to play,” his deep voice gives volume to the silence.

  A giant (and I mean a GIANT) dire wolf makes its way into the light. You can see it flinch a bit under the sun as it burns ever so slowly. Indigo scales shred through my father’s elven form as his appearance alters. Twisted horns, sharp claws and fangs, short black hair, a long pointed tail, dark brown hooves, four leathery wings, and bright red eyes make-up his true form.

  The shadow lunges forward, leaping over the entire width of the pond; in an instant, Edon’s tail wraps around the wolf’s neck and throws him to the ground. I want to cheer him on but refrain from doing so.

  “I am the Lord of Pride! You are nothing but a pest to me abomination.”

  After speaking, the shadow stupidly rushes my father once more. Does it seriously think it will kill him? At blinding speed, Edon grabs ahold of the wolf with one hand and stabs the other in its gut. With ease, he rips it in half and burns the black smoke. I can’t express how ecstatic I am to see him in action. I feel myself tearing up.

  Smoothing back into his mortal form, my father seems to notice something. His eyes shift in my direction and his head tilts. Almost instinctively, I slide behind the biggest tree. There’s no way he could have seen me. This is a memory after all, right…?

  Looking over my shoulder, I see father walking back the way he came. Of course, I follow at a distance. A part of me just wants to en
d this now, I’m not sure if I can bare to look at Meta Village without feeling anguish inside. One hundred years of my life gone in a single night. How in oblivion do I end this nightmare?!

  Suddenly, I hear a snap under my foot. I freeze. Not sure whether or not my father heard it. When I look up at him, he just keeps walking as if everything is just dandy. Fantastic!

  Finally, we reach Meta Village and it's as wonderful as I last remember it. Only this time, it’s not on fire.

  As we make our way through the village to our tree house, I notice the bird from before fading into view. A colorful eagle, just like the one that appeared the day Meta Village burned. It stares at me intensely, a shiny object resides in its beak.

  A pulsating hollow cube attached to a small metal cone. Edon continues to the house but I advance to the bird.

  I stop dead in my tracks when Reaper appears behind it. Tentacles pierce into the bird and blacken its body until it implodes into a cloud of darkness. The object floats before Reaper, it’s menacing eyes shine. The cube quivers, overloading with power. Out of place just like the boy at the pond.

  “You won’t win this Reaper,” I say.

  “Neither will you,” it responds with the voices of Crystalline’s parents.

  I take a step back. It spoke to me. A flash emits from the cube and I detect a missing piece of me sliding into place. Then I am gone and so is my home once again.

  Chapter 22

  (Genu)

  I am floating in complete darkness. As I move my hands freely in a weightless environment, memories fly by me and piece themselves together like a puzzle. My mind has broken itself apart at the expense of utilizing so much power. It wouldn’t be the first time this has happened and it definitely won’t be the last. Honestly, this isn’t even that bad compared to the last time I used the full extent of my power. Repairing my psyche won’t take me long, it’s just…every time I do, I have to see the fragments of my past. I have to see her. Szwanie.

  Piecing together my mental state burns worse than any fire. I basically relive her death over and over again until my psyche is restored. Nonetheless, this is what I deserve. I act without thinking and, in return, have to experience the voidless agony of watching my one and only true love die before my eyes all over again.

  Forgetting that day would be like forgetting how to swing a sword: impossible. More memories fly by and I spot the instrument of all of my misfortune. The singular cause of my present being. The Blade of Judgement. It brought the death of my dear Szwanie all because I wanted to be normal. I fought my destiny and paid the price.

  When my past is entirely molded back together, I begin to mentally rebuild my home. The castle’s walls gradually form around a sphere of golden light that is my psyche. Then I notice it. A memory fragment that wasn’t restored with the rest, something that I don’t remember seeing in my life. But here it is, resting within my mind. Upon closer inspection, I witness an image that makes me explode with rage.

  A dark form stands over my wife’s dead body; an unknown aura eludes from Reaper’s cloak. Its gaze looks up from her to me and I stare into the emptiness of its hood. This is Reaper prior to killing Crystalline’s parents but I did not witness this.

  “What trickery is this?”

  It doesn’t move or respond. I begin phasing into the memory fragment to get a closer look, that’s when a barrage of ebony tentacles shoot forth from its cloak and swarm around me; I push through them and back into my own mind. Yet, it’s too late, I stupidly let the figure in. The tentacles race towards my castle, towards my psyche. As if this monster is capable of out battling a telepath in his own environment.

  In a blink of an eye, I am between my psyche and the tentacles. Reaper emerges from the fragment as it fades away. I won’t let that monster take Szwanie away from me! I wave hands out to my sides and a crescent blast of psychic energy is projected forth; my power obliterates Reaper’s appendages and continues going until it slices the dark form in half.

  “What? You’re not up for a good battle!” I humor myself.

  The dark form doesn’t respond, just stitches itself back together. I fly straight for Reaper. I am going it shred it to pieces. Once I am within swinging range, it shapeshifts into Szwanie. Short blond hair, big hazel eyes, a tan complexion, beckoning red lips, and a luscious body; she’s wearing her favorite blue dress that she wore the first time I met her and the last time I saw her. I stop dead in my tracks. I can’t and won’t harm her. Even if it isn’t truly her.

  Instantly, Szwanie’s image disappears and Reaper is back. This time in all of its glory, with one red and one blue eye. Its fingers glide around my neck and tighten; I sense the full force of the figure’s power coursing through my mind as it tries to overpower me. And it’s not impressive

  “How dare you use Szwanie against me!” I shout.

  “I will break you before I kill you Genu,” Reaper speaks with two familiar voices.

  I feel myself electrify. Something is wounding my physical body. I have to break free of this mental game before I die. Quickly, I wrap my hands around its arms and pry its hands from my neck. It is time to show Reper what it means to be a telepath.

  My body grows ten times in size and I release a tremendous roar. My psyche has fully recovered now and I am not going down just yet. Looking down I fire a beam from my forehead that incinerates Reaper; breaking through its spell.

  I wake-up and spot Asvarp covered in blood. He is holding onto his staff for death life with on hand and is casting a spell with the other; Reaper is at the receiving end of his spell and appears to be in a lot of pain. The old man screams as his magic intensifies; darkness shrouds the figure before expelling that power from its body. Asvarp is blown back and the monster vanishes.

  “Asvarp,” I rush to his side, “are you alright?”

  “I…held Reaper off…as long as…I could,” blood drips out of his mouth.

  Part of me wants to do whatever I can to save him but the other part wants to taste his blood. It’s just streaming down his body waiting for me, calling to me.

  Ignoring that side of me, I spread my telekinesis to all of his wounds, adding pressure to keep him from bleeding out. Some of the minor wounds I manage to close but I am no healer, I can’t save him. Unless I…

  “Asvarp, I must get Crystalline. Where is she?”

  He points to the cave behind me, as I stand an earthquake trembles beneath my feet and the cave’s entrance collapses.

  “Elvendora, dammit!”

  There is only one way that I can save him. He won’t like it and neither will I but he must drink my blood. It’s healing properties can save him…or kill him.

  “Genu, it’s alright. My time has come,” his voice is fading.

  “Asvarp shut the hell up! You’re not dying today or anytime soon,” I respond while cutting open my arm and using my telekinesis to keep the wound open. “This is the only way I can save you from dying without Crystalline’s help. You must drink my blood.”

  I force his mouth open after he shakes his head. And Asvarp has the nerve to say I’m stubborn. Let me save your life dammit! Turning my wrist above his head, my blood drips into his mouth. Gradually, his wounds begin to close and, once they are all shut, I let myself heal.

  “You damn fool!” Asvarp yells. He grabs his staff and hits me with a powerful lightning bolt that nearly melts right through my body. Rapidly, my burns heal as I lay down a few feet from him.

  The mage gets to his feet as fast as an old man can and a shimmering light warps over him until his appearance is returned to normal. He clenches his staff, his veins begin to shine through his skin as energy flows throughout his interior. The old man is now a dazzling gleam. Through the spaces between my fingers I see a red liquid—obviously blood—oozing out of him and it swirls into a sphere. Next, the light fades from his veins and sparkles around the sphere of blood. With a snap of his fingers, the light swallows the liquid and vanishes into thin air.

  “How did you do
that?!” I am dumbstruck.

  “You sir, deserve to be vaporized. Next time you do something that reckless, I will make your head explode!”

  Despite my laughter, I know he is serious. I’m just glad the old man didn’t die on me. Although, I’m not sure how my blood didn’t kill him either.

  I am knocked back down while I try to get to my feet; the earth is trembling severely. This can’t be good.

  “Hurry, my apprentice! To the warp stone!”

  I scold him, “I’m no longer your apprentice you old fool.”

  Chapter 23

  (Zarvick)

  I am greeted back into reality with a hearty slap across the face. Crystalline apparently was trying to snap me out of my trance, however, I came back to my senses right when she hit me. Thus, I felt the full force of her hand and it wasn’t pleasant.

  “You didn’t have to slap me!” I say.

  “You fainted again and I had to wake you. Considering that this isn’t an ideal time for you to pass out, I slapped you. So stop being a brat about it and woman up,” she responds.

  She is right about this not being an ideal time to pass out. When she killed the Drow Queen, the Terra Kingdom began falling apart. If we don’t get a move on, we’ll be buried alive! After I grab my glaive and place it back in my waist belt, Crystalline jumps onto my back. I soar through falling stalactites and debris, heading back the way we came.

  Upon arrival, the earthquake collapsed our only exit. Well, not our only exit. Just the more practical one.

  I glance up and before Crystalline objects, I bolt upwards. Using my newly obtained control over the earth, I create a covering above us as I push through the falling minerals. It takes me several minutes until I can get to the top considering that the surface is far above us and is also coming down all around us. I wonder if Genu and Asvarp are alright because I can feel the earth, where the mountains should be, starting to cave in.