Dark Form_Book 1 of the Shadow War Trilogy

by M. A. Da Costa

  Picking up the pace, I decrease the wind resistance and shove right through the debris. I manipulate the earth to move aside faster than I can fly; eventually, we are right below Elvendora’s surface. It takes a bit more force than expected to push through the remaining earth so we can break through to the surface. Once we are hovering above the giant crater left behind from the destruction of the Terra Kingdom, my body decides that it had enough and we start to fall. Luckily, Genu catches us with his telekinesis and floats us over to him and Asvarp.

  Turning his attention to the old man, he says (sarcastically), “see, Asvarp. Even if I didn’t destroy the mountain range, it would have been destroyed anyway.”

  Rolling his eyes, he makes his way over to the warp stone. Which he apparently teleported to safety during Genu’s “temper tantrum”.

  Crystalline and I carry one another’s weight as we walk towards the stone and the vampiric-kaine trails behind us. Before we can get on the thing, Asvarp slams his staff against the stone spawning a sonic boom of energy; magic circulates from the cracks cast out along its surface prior to losing its azure color. I have to admit, the thought of walking at this moment in time hurts me a little.

  “Before I lose my shit and murder you! You better have a good reason for doing that after everything that we did,” Crystalline tries to contain herself.

  “Reaper used it to track us here and nearly killed us,” Genu responds.

  “Wait…Reaper was here?” I ponder aloud.

  “Yes, and we better get moving before it comes back,” Asvarp looks a bit confused himself, “also, I know the general area of where the closest warp stone is located, it’s not too far.”

  Crystalline and I shrug at one another and start limping away. If it wasn’t for this armor, I don’t think either of us would be standing; we’ve worn ourselves out and that battle was nothing compared to our encounters with Reaper. But so far so good! I got one of eight soul fragments back and can feel the sudden changes in my strength. Although, the increase in power is actually hurting me a bit. Not enough to do severe damage but noticeable.

  Anyways, based on the natural order of things, if I grow stronger so does Crystalline. I wonder how she’s feeling right now…

  “Do you feel stronger, Crystalline?” I ask quietly.

  “Somewhat,” she shrugs, “until I met Asvarp I never realized how much I didn’t know about my powers. I never thought that I too have limitations. So, I’ll just have to find out what’s different later.”

  I nod my head. Not sure how she plans on learning what she can do but I’ll help in whatever way I possibly can. Hopefully, it won’t be as hard as I expect it to be.

  * * * * *

  We finally reach a good resting point by a small lake before the sun completely sets over the horizon. Looking around, I constantly think of the memory that I saw. I don’t remember ever being by a pond in the Sacred Forest, even if it is something so insignificant, it’s still something. Nevertheless, that is the least of my concerns. Either Reaper intentionally sabotaged my memory or someone else was trying to show me something. Genu told us about what happened when he was repairing his psyche but didn’t go into much detail. If Reaper was in his head, it could’ve been in mine, however, it didn’t feel the same like all of those times that Genu was in my head. Just like the bird, it seemed all a part of the memory or vision or whatever that was. One thing is for sure: I need my other soul fragments to piece this puzzle together.

  “What are you looking at?” Crystalline sneaks up behind me and nearly give me a heart attack.

  “In all of the divines! Don’t do that again!” I quietly shout.

  She takes a step back and puts her hands up, “woah, calm down. Just trying to make conversation.”

  Letting my shoulders fall, I sigh and say, “I’m sorry.”

  “It’s alright but you were staring pretty hard at this lake. So, either, A) you were trying to move the water with your mind and failed miserably; or B) you saw, or thought you saw, something or someone and were trying to find them/it;” her voice gets lower before she continues talking (probably just for the impact), “or C) the lake reminded you of something and you were deep in thought.”

  My eyes meet hers and I know she is hinting at what happened in the Terra Kingdom. I’m not ready to talk to her or any of them about it yet. So I must lie.

  “Crystalline, I—”

  “I knew it,” she mouths, “you did see something didn’t you?!”

  “What brought you to that conclusion?”

  “I was raised by a telepath. I picked up a trick or two.”

  Waving away her silly notion I start walking away, yet she forcefully grabs my arm and pulls me back. Crystalline’s demeanor has changed.

  “What did you see? Tell me now or I will beat it out of you,” I know she’s serious and it frightens me a bit (also a little of a turn on) to see her get so aggressive with me.

  “I-I’m not sure what it was. It felt like a memory that I had forgotten or lost but at the same time it was also a vision of some sort.”

  Letting go of my arm she begins to rub the side of her helmet. I haven’t noticed that her mohawk re-energized, it’s lighter now; the spiritual energy is more of a crimson than a burgundy. Intriguing. As I am about to point out the mohawk, she goes all Asvarp on me with philosophy and theories. Ranting on about how sometimes memories can help shape the soul and change a person; since my soul is divided, my past is lost to me until I get the pieces of my soul—blah, blah, blah. It doesn’t mean anything nor will we know what to do until we find the other pieces of my soul. No point in talking about it now.

  It never really occurred to me, until we started our quest, how much I wanted to repair my soul. Even more so now than ever. I’d say it’s the only thing I want to do more than killing Reaper.

  “Crystalline, just don’t tell the others. Not while I don’t have any straight answers,” I plead with her.

  She’s hesitant at first, then agrees, “alright but the next time it happens you better let me know.”

  I nod, knowing full well that I’m not going to tell her any bit about Reaper being in my memory. It would be best not to worry her or the others until this is all sorted out properly. Especially since Asvarp almost died and we know now that Reaper is capable of playing mind games on us; so, I’d hate to start something just to find out that it was all a trick.

  We head into the tent Asvarp set out for all of us. At first, I was thinking that we were going to walk into a giant tent that would fit all of us but it is something entirely different.

  We walk right into his tower.

  “The old man’s tower is located in the nexus, thus the destruction of the swamp did nothing to his precious building,” Genu struts up to us.

  “Considering his reputation with his homes exploding. I’d say it was a good call that he did that,” I reply.

  “How many different homes has he had? I forget,” Crystalline ask.

  “This counts as ten,” Asvarp appears out of thin air, “however, it’s not exactly a home as much as it is a resting point.”

  “Surprisingly enough, each home that he’s had always worked the same way. Some sort of plain building or shelter is a gateway to his tower,” Genu adds.

  Asvarp smiles, with that, we head to the dimension door and into the meeting room. As we sit down nobody speaks, we are all deep in thought. Except for Crystalline who has fallen asleep in her chair. She’s so adorable when she is sleeping; I want to get up and kiss her but I obviously don’t. I’m afraid that if I get up I’ll fall to the ground from exhaustion. That and Genu seems like a protective father.

  “Asvarp, why is it that we get exhausted from fighting? I mean, we aren’t mortals,” I contemplate.

  He looks at me in awe, I’ve impressed him with my question instead annoying him. “That’s because you don’t possess your full strength; you may have enhanced reflexes and senses, along with superior strength and speed. However, until you and
Crystalline are back at full strength the both of you are—for all intents and purposes—mortals.”

  “Which also means that you can die like mortals,” Genu says while rubbing some blood off of my armor.

  I never really thought about that. Crystalline and I can actually die. Hell, we almost have died plenty of times; who knows what will happen when we fight the next king or queen. One of them might get lucky and chop our heads off. This just gets better and better.

  A moment of silence and one loud snore from Crystalline later; Asvarp brings our attention back to the quest. “We should really start discussing our next move.”

  He and Genu start discussing plans and tactics but I doze off; all I hear is the Sky Kingdom and, all at once, my body decides it had enough excitement for one day.

  Chapter 24

  (Crystalline)

  It’s night time when I wake up. Standing up I stretch and pop all of my bones. It feels nice to release the tension built up in my body. Those assholes didn’t bother to wake me up and just left me in this…broken chair? Actually, when I look around the room it’s awful. The stone ragged and rundown, vines and roots have seeped through the cracks in the walls and floor, the wood is moldy, the window is shattered, and the banners are all burnt. Asvarp really let this place go. My eyes shift to the chair across from me and there is a fractured silhouette sitting there, missing pieces of its body.

  “Zarvick…?” I carefully walk over to the silhouette.

  Its aura is incomplete and there is no doubt in my mind that this is Zarvick…but how…? As I extend my hand out to him the plants begin moving all around me, whispering to me; gradually they reach out, some grip my ankles. That’s when I notice I am wearing my leather armor again.

  Seriously freaked out at this point, I tear through the roots and sprint for the dimension door. Walking through it I find myself outside; Elvendora is gone, dead. I can’t believe my eyes. The trees have rotten, wilted leaves and plants are scattered along the ground, the soil is dry and polluted, beyond the cloudy sky is a white night sky and a black sun; it’s light casts an array of dark colors: scratchy blue, wine red, and deep green. Chunks of the smashed moons can be seen floating beyond Elvendora’s atmosphere.

  Looking behind me, Asvarp’s tent is torn apart. There’s no going back to the tower now.

  I head beyond the rotting stench of the trees and straight for the now frozen lake. A loud clanging noise echoes into the lifeless forest. At the source of the noise is a male elf with a grey complexion, like a cloud. Seeing as how he wields a pickaxe, I remain alerted as I approach him.

  “Excuse me, sir. What are you doing?” I ask, my voice shaking a little.

  He looks up, and smiles, “why hello there young lassie. I am just mining for some essence gems. Is there something that can I do for you?”

  “Can you tell me where am I?”

  “Why you’re in the spiritual plane of existence,” he looks a bit taken back. “The name is Grom. I was once a grey elf but a fight broke out in the market one day, within the Sky Kingdom, while I was trading for some food. Next thing I know my head goes spiraling off my shoulders.”

  There's a nasty scar wrapped around his neck. I rub my own neck a bit before responding, “sorry.”

  “No worries lassie. Say, you don’t give off the same vibe that everyone else gives off. Why is that?” Grom’s accent gives his voice an uplifting and friendly tone.

  “I—”

  Quickly, his demeanor changes when he glances across the lake; as he cowers in fear behind me, I spot the cause of his terror. A shadow has landed on the other side of the lake, its body shifts above the ice. It hasn’t corrupted a host yet and is thus left in a smoky spectral form. Jetting forward, the shadow extends its claws in front of its body.

  Reaching for my bow causes me to panic when there’s nothing there. I feel naked without it. Of course, I am not completely defenseless. Genu did tell me I lack creativity, so, why not prove the bastard wrong?

  Shifting my body to the side, I extend my left-hand and synthesize a crimson bow construct; as I draw the string back an arrow energizes against it. Releasing the arrow does something that has never happened before: the arrow becomes a glittery beam as it fires, piercing through the shadow. The ghostly creature implodes into a cloud and evaporates as a lingering static dissolves it.

  “What are you?!” Grom nearly yells from excitement.

  “Let’s not worry about that right now. Can you tell me how to return to my body? Because I’m not dead,” I shrug.

  “I’ve never met a spirit as powerful as you, I’ve only heard tales of people that are capable of astral projection. Such as the monks.”

  “I can care less about monks and powerful spirits and all of that other bullshit! I just need to get back. Into. My. Body.”

  I can’t believe how much anger I have; Grom is shocked by my outburst. Truly, I don’t mean to yell at him, however, I’m not exactly the nicest ‘lassie’ he’ll ever meet. Yet, I do not have time for this. Zarvick and the others need my help, without me they’d be lost.

  “Sorry for any problems I may have caused you,” he says, “but I don’t know anything about astral projection. Nonetheless, I do know a place where you can get your answers.”

  “Where?!”

  He points Northwest of us, towards the Eomyka or ‘Tree of the Dead’. Just like everything else in the spirit world, it’s the reflection of the Eonuca or ‘Tree of Life’. The grey elf seems sure that is where we need to go. I’m not jumping to any sort of conclusions here; so, I just give him a puzzled look the entire time he is explaining that the spirits of the deceased druids live in the tree. Not sure how some dead tree huggers can be of any help to us.

  After a bit of waiting and arguing about whether we should go to the monks’ monastery or to the druids. We end up heading to the Eomyka.

  Along the way, I’ve noticed many spirits of animals and elves alike. Behind us, where the mountains, hiding the Terra Kingdom, use to lie are gone. You can’t have a reflection of something if there is nothing to reflect. If that’s even the case with this place.

  We reach a large amber colored circular stone embed in the ground next to a frozen river after walking for endless minutes. It occurs to me that this must be a warp stone. I take a glimpse around, trying to visualize the area in a more lively perspective so I can remember the stone’s exact location.

  “What are you doing, lassie?” Grom asks quietly as if there is danger nearby.

  “Nothing concerning you. Everything is alright,” I reassure him.

  After a moment to himself, he asks, “who and what are you? You don’t look like any elf I’ve ever laid eyes on before.”

  “That’s because I’m not an elf,” my tone is bland, “and my name is Crystalline.”

  With that, he leaves the subject alone and crosses over the river.

  “...Grom, is all of the water frozen?”

  “No, just water that isn’t frozen on the physical Elvendora.”

  I shake my head. Weird.

  “Earlier, you said, you were mining for essence gems…?” I question.

  “Ah, yes,” he reaches into his bag, “they are pieces of dead souls that, over time, crystallized. They are the only object worth value in the spirit realm.”

  Unraveling a bundle of cloth reveals an irregular and colorful stone; its aura is radiant, giving off a peculiar moxie. Something discerns me about this gem.

  “What did you say it was made out of?”

  “Pieces of dead spirits.”

  “Spirits can die?” I am astonished.

  “Yes, of course,” Grom responds confused, “these gems can give spirits the necessary energy to walk amongst the living.”

  Dammit!The answer has been right in front of me this entire time. The Drow Queen’s heart was replaced with one of Zarvick’s soul fragments; it crystallized into an emerald. It became an essence gem! Which means that Reaper had to have killed the royal council members and us
ed his soul to control their bodies. This also means that the archangel and the devil must—

  “Grom, you have to get me back to my body immediately!”

  “We should hurry then, lassie! Time moves much slower here than it does in the physical realm. Mere seconds here is equivalent to hours there,” his tone is calming but his body language is hasty.

  He pulls out an amulet with the image of an eagle surrounded by clouds and lightning (the symbol of the Sky Kingdom) on it. When we walk onto the warp stone, the amulet flashes and we are torn apart by static; refiguring an estimated mile off from the Eomyka. I doubt these stone placements actually had any strategic value. Idiots.

  I grab ahold of him and soul dash our way pass more rotten trees until we reach the edge of the forest circling around the Tree of the Dead. I’m much faster here than in the physical world. I love it.

  The tree is massive, reaching well beyond the clouds. The black bark is rotting like all the other plants and has a few dead leaves hanging from its branches. Spots in the ground are noticeably raised as some roots peer up from beneath the earth. At the base of the trunk is a giant opening sealed off by doors and guarded by, what appears to be the souls of, two druids.

  Many elven spirits have gathered before the doors, each basking in the tree’s compelling aura. They try to bargain with the druids with essence gems but they’re attempts are futile, to say the least.

  Grom and I make our way through the crowd, shoving aside anyone that refuses to get out of our way. Once, I arrive at the doors I realize the reason they are bargaining. Behind the doors is an immense force that draws my attention to it; there’s no doubt about it now. That’s my way back to the physical plane of existence.

  “Excuse me, druids! I need to get back to my body,” I yell above the crowd.

  They shake their heads. Who do they think they are! I take a step forward and they both draw their sickle-swords, raising them to my neck. These weapons are forged from a ghostly metal, no doubt similar to the weapons that the shadow drow possessed.