Dark Form_Book 1 of the Shadow War Trilogy

by M. A. Da Costa

  “Zarvick! I think if we kill the Grey Queen the entire kingdom will fall apart and kill everyone,” I yell.

  “I know,” he’s surprisingly calm about all of this.

  He drops me, then catches me by the arms, swings around, and hurls me through a broken window. I tumble to a squatting position, instantly drawing an arrow. That bastard is going to get it once this is over.

  Across the room sits a bloody Genu covered in an aura of wind that ferociously cuts through his skin faster than he can heal. Standing over him is a petite woman, her brown hair is pushed back by a silver circulate and tied up in a tight bun. Delicate white eyes match her modest lace dress stained red. In her right-hand, she wields a royal blue feathered fan. The Grey Queen is not at all fazed by my presence.

  I release the arrow and she waves her fan through the air summoning a blade of wind; it slices through my attack and forces me to summersault to the side, escaping my possible death yet again. Shooting off another arrow gains her undivided attention, forcing her to synthesize a weak twister to hold back my supercharged missile; her majesty blows away my attack and sends a devilish horizontal tornado my way. Forming scarlet panels above the wind, I soul dash between them and dive for the queen.

  Socking her across the face knocks her ass to the floor, let alone surprising her; she breaks my fall as I land on top of her. Shoving my elbow against her chest I push up; the Grey Queen waves her fan over my face and a gust blows me into the wall. That actually hurt.

  “You really think that you can beat me by just slapping me across the face with a few feathers,” I smirk.

  “No,” her voice is actually pleasant, weird, “I am going to tear your body apart, limb-from-limb, with my wind.”

  With that said, the queen whirls to her feet by morphing into the air. Raising her fan unleashes a barrage of blade-like wind. I roll out-of-the-way at super speed and hop to my feet. Her majesty’s pressurized air slices narrow holes through the wall. It’s not something that I want to chance being hit by.

  I yank an arrow out of my quiver, jerk it against my bowstring and, after aiming, I release it. The arrow glides against the bow, sparking with scarlet energy. The queen summons a cyclone before her, using my willpower, I shove the arrow through her force. My spiritual energy whips against her wind, creating an opening for the missile and it pierces into her shoulder. Just shy of her heart. Damn, now she’s pissed.

  * * * * *

  After throwing Crystalline through the window, I fly down to meet with the panicked grey elves. Many have lost their lives to the growing destruction. Belila’s mother lays on the ground holding onto her daughter, as the storm washes over her it disintegrating them. At least they’re together now. I land in front of the clouds just as they come to a halt; half of the Sky Kingdom is gone. With the death of the Grey Queen, this entire place will be destroyed.

  Lifting my hands out to my sides, the earth begins to tremble; cracks from a line along the ground in front of the storm. I forcefully break the kingdom in half, sending the Storm Kingdom crashing to Elvendora’s surface. The stone stretches out while I begin to rebuild what was lost, however, the black clouds reappear. Consuming whatever I try to replace. This is hopeless…

  I turn around, watching the elves shake in fear as death closes in on them. There is only one way to save them now. I have the earth swallow what’s last of them into a huge sphere and I push it down, out of the Cloud Kingdom. Walking over to the gaping hole, I witness the only salvation the elves had left be enveloped in a massive storm; it shreds through the rock and mutilates those poor people. There wasn’t any hope for them after all.

  * * * * *

  I evade her wind, kick off the wall and stab her behind the knee. The queen whirls around in her air form then swings her fan at my head; I quickly block her attack with my sword construct.

  “Foolish girl, these feathers were plucked from a doldou bird, they’re stronger than steel,” the Grey Queen’s voice wavers as she struggles against my strength.

  “Do I look like I give an actual fuck what bird you got those feathers from?!” Seriously, do I? “I am going to shove your stupid fan so far up your ass, you’ll be able to speak doldou bird!”

  Pushing against her fan, I elbow her in the chest, kick her knee out, and smack her in the face with my bow. Since she’s practically kneeling at my feet, I might as well go for the kill. The Grey Queen regains herself just in time to swing her stupid feathers through my sword and blow me back with an unpleasantly strong twister. I hit the wall hard, amethyst blood trickles down my armor from my fresh wounds.

  I’m tired of her bullshit. I rip the mohawk off my helmet with a terrifying scream and pull it against my bowstring. Letting go, it strikes her majesty’s fan, vaporizing the inferno weapon into ashes. Not exactly what I was aiming for but you satisfying, nonetheless.

  “You bitch!” The queen screams. Now there’s a lack of manners from her royal highness that I doubt her people would appreciate.

  A vicious gale knocks my bow out of my hand and removes the quiver from my back. She just pissed me off! A blade, the size of a dagger, attached to a chain slides down from each of my palms to the floor. Flailing my arms about causes them to whiplash through the distance between us until they reach her majesty. She’s slashed across the cheek, then her arm and finally her leg. Like before, none of her injuries draw blood, they just seal shut with the sound of whistling wind. The queen retaliates by launching bursts of air that pound into me. I can already feel bruises forming along my skin.

  My right chain hooks into her left arm, twisting my wrist, it grapples onto her appendage. Tugging the chain back, I tear her arm out of its socket; earlier than she can react, I send the other chain spiraling through her chest; the blade reshapes into four jagged hooks that gouge into her flesh as I pull on the chain. The Grey Queen fights against my strength but I wrap my foot around my construct, heaving her forward with all of my might. Miraculously, she holds her ground.

  “Ahahahahahahahahahahaha,” The queen’s menacing laugh eats away her gentle demeanor, “is that all you got?!”

  “Huh?”

  Her left arm socket unleashes a sturdy twister that punches me square in the breast, pushing me against the wall. Trying my best to concentrate on my chains, I flick my wrist and whip the queen across the face. She doesn’t even care. Shit!

  I lose focus and my constructs dissolve. Erecting a shield from deep within, I push it against her wind. I’m not going to win this fight by brawling it out apparently, I am going to have to use strategy. I thrust my shield forwards and cartwheel to the side; her majesty’s tornado arm shatters my energy and punctures through the wall. I soul dash right at her, preparing my fist. The soul images glide forth—somehow acting as an extension of my body— and, one after the other, sock her in the face. This certainly astonishes her (entertaining the hell out of me) and knocks her back a few feet. That has done more damage to her than everything else I’ve done combined.

  “That’s not all I got,” I spit out some blood.

  The Grey Queen’s arm rapidly regenerates. Just when I make a move, I am encased in a tremendous vortex that thrashes me about. I can feel my body go limp and my mind fogs the dizzier I become. Fighting back against this isn’t even an option, I wouldn’t know how.

  Out of the blue, an image of a doldou bird pops in my mind and the queen’s words “feathers stronger than steel”. Reaching out to the image, promptly, I notice my body change; a scarlet silhouette of the animal’s body hovers around my body, it’s natural abilities become mine to wield; together I spread out my arms—and its wings—and soar along the tornado’s current. The wind bounces off of my now steel-like flesh. I torpedo towards the queen, strike her in the gut with the combined force of my fist and the doldou’s wing; as she buckles over, I deliver a roundhouse kick to her majesty’s stupid face and the bird’s talons shred some of the ugly off for her.

  With that, the doldou bird’s spirit fades. The adrenaline ru
shing through me helps to conjure the spirit of a boa constrictor, it binds around the queen and bites her neck.

  “W-why can’t I move?!”

  “Honestly, I have no idea what I am doing,” I really don’t, “but if I have to guess, since that is a spirit of a boa it’s grappling not just your body but your soul. Preventing you from using your powers. And entertaining me.”

  I’m impressed, that actually makes sense…Asvarp has got to stop being near me.

  My arm becomes transparent with a scarlet glimmer; I thrust my hand into her chest and pull out her diamond heart. The Grey Queen’s body vanishes as soon as I crush the gem under my grip. A faint sliver of energy wisps away, out of the castle.

  Speedily, I grab my bow and quiver, then run over to Genu. This place is going to start falling apart any minute now.

  Chapter 28

  (Zarvick)

  I’m in Meta Village once again. Part of me wants to stand here hoping that all of this will just go away but I know it won’t. I glare at my younger self, playing with two other kids. There was more of them in the last memory, at least five or six. Did the time shift actually stop some people from being born? Apparently, it has affected more than just Crystalline and me.

  Glancing over my shoulder, I spy my mother at the top of the ladder leading to our house. She’s radiant in her floral dress.

  Delphine looks around before levitating to the ground and walks west. An image flashes over the area: Crystalline grabbing me as I almost fall off of Genu in his kaine form. Mother is headed to the cliff where she died. I relentlessly follow after her, for I don’t have much control over myself in these visions.

  Catching up to her, I realize why she’s come to the cliff. She’s come to pray.

  “Ures, I know you can hear me and I plead with you. Protect Zarvick. I went against your wishes but he’s a necessary asset to the universe. Clearly, this was fate,” her voice is on the verge of tears.

  Both of us waited for something to happen but I knew that nothing would. Ures is just one of Reaper’s pawns by now. She should’ve run, saved herself.

  An ear-splitting cry breaks the silence and calls both of our attentions. Lifting her dress, she sprints through the trees. We approach a frazzled woman putting her fruit back into a basket. It has never occurred to me that she, like the others that live here and Asvarp, are all wood elves. The most common elf in Elvendora.

  “Are you alright?”

  “Oh, yes,” her voice is soft, “this little creature came out of nowhere and frightened me.”

  Cute beady black eyes, tiny paws, white fur, and long antennae that stretch above its body. This animal is so adorable. The woman reaches out to pet it.

  “No!” Delphine takes a cautious step forward. “Lauretta, that’s a nexny, they are extremely dangerous. I need you to back away from it.”

  “Nonsense Delphine, this little creature couldn’t possibly harm anyone.”

  When her fingers brush against the nexny’s fur, it transforms into a grotesque monster. My mother swiftly rips off the bottom of her dress and uses it as a muzzle for the beast.

  “Go!” She shouts.

  Twirling around, she ties the cloth around the nexny’s neck and slams its head into the ground. The beast backhands her hard enough to knock her back a few feet away and it tears the dress off its face. Delphine gets to her feet and charges the creature, as it swings, she flips over him; mother punches the monster below the ribs, uppercuts him then kicks him in the chest.

  “Mamma!” The voice of a little boy yells.

  She is distracted just for a moment and that’s all it takes for the nexny to claw her across the back and sending her tumbling to the ground. The creature rushes forward; Delphine moves her hands in front of her, runes circle around her palms just as she brings them together, a shock pulse is cast out that blows the beast away. Blood gushes down its fur but, like my mother, he doesn’t back down.

  A little boy (myself) stupidly runs in front of his mother with his arms extended. A flash of Belila waves over him. Delphine quickly grabs the younger me and curls him under her body, shielding him. The nexny waits for a moment before running off into the woods. Most likely from its injuries.

  “Are you two alright?!” Edon comes sprinting over.

  A few of the villagers gather around. Lauretta (the village nurse) ask, “how did you do that?”

  “I—”

  “She was a former priestess of Ures. Granted with divine powers,” my father almost instantly covers up the truth and suffers a death stare from his wife. “I’ll take care of her wounds.”

  Of course, the people believe this lie and watch as Edon carries her back to the house. I follow closely behind them.

  “More lies…is this the example that we want to set for Zarvick?”

  “Delphine, you know damn well that most, if not all, of the elves that live here, have never left the Sacred Forest. They will believe that you’re a priestess of Ures because they don’t know any better. Besides, I’m not going to tell them that you’re the Angel of Humility. The lies are necessary for their protection and our survival,” he argues.

  “Our survival,” she says it with the most disgusted tone that she can manage.

  “Yes, our survival. Because if we die, who’ll raise Zarvick? Speaking of which, why in all oblivion did you get into a fight with a nexny?! You know we no longer possess our immortality since we chose to be together.”

  “Maybe that was a mistake,” she says to herself.

  I stop dead in my tracks and everything becomes black. The faint green river from before flows through the emptiness. The cube is off in the distance, floating above a shimmering hole. Making my way over to it, the cube screws into place; the emptiness is suddenly filled with life, it’s like a whole other universe. The colorful eagle that was killed by Reaper appears before me and morphs into the figure of a woman assembled completely from nature.

  “Who are you?” I ask.

  “In time your endless questions will be answered but, first, you must see past your mortal perspectives and look towards the truth,” her breath smells of soil, water and plants all at the same time. Her eyes are as fierce as thunder and her voice is as gentle as a soft breeze.

  With a wave of her hands, I am flushed back into my body. My life doesn’t even come close to making sense. There has to be someone who can answer these questions. I think…it’s time to tell the others about all of this.

  Chapter 29

  Snapping back to reality, the Sky Kingdom is shrinking as tornados and storm clouds engulf its exterior. My gaze shifts up to find Crystalline jumping out of a hole in the castle with Genu slung across her shoulder, cautiously floating down towards me. She is…flying?! Well, she was bound to eventually. Roughly, she lands by my side and drops Genu on the ground.

  “What happened to him?” I ask.

  Shrugging, she responds, “not really sure what exactly happened but he got his ass handed to him. That, I do know.”

  Our laughter is silenced by a roar of thunder. The clouds are closing in, fast.

  Crystalline rushes over to the hole in the ground. “Well, we can’t use this.”

  I knew that already but I just keep my mouth shut. The only way out now is to jump off, through the clouds, and try not to die. Thus, I meld my armor with my skin until I am a figurine made completely out of metal (I even feel my interior hardening). Turning to face the love of my life, she just gawks at me.

  “I didn’t know that you could do that,” she says stupidly.

  “Neither did I.”

  Rotating my attention to the storm steel tentacles shoot out from my back, curl around my friends and form a spherical cage. Running at lightning speed, I charge through the clouds.

  Synthesizing up a midnight blue barrier, she yells, “dammit Zarvick! Next time, warn me before you start doing some psycho shit!”

  Tornados ram against me but I blow right through them; moving as fast as I am with the extra weight has
made me an immovable force. The electricity in the air conducts across my body, to the cage where it is repelled by Crystalline’s shielding. It takes me a couple minutes to break through the clouds. The entire kingdom has already be devoured within the deadly storm; moments after our escape, the clouds fade away having left nothing behind.

  A jolt of pain surges its way to my heart, causing me to lose control over my powers; instantly, my skin is reverted to normal and I immediately stop moving at the speed of lightning. This forces the three of us to be slingshotted through the air, flailing all about. I hit a few tree tops before multiple portals randomly open up and swallow Genu, then Crystalline, and then myself.

  I’m flung against one of the bookshelves in the meeting room. He’s not too happy that I nearly broke the shelf, yet he didn’t just have half the books fall on top of his head either.

  “You couldn’t just have teleported us into the chairs?!” I ask angrily.

  Shaking his head he sighs, “all of you were moving too fast for the spell to lock onto you.”

  “You can thank Zarvick for that,” Crystalline growls, “he nearly killed us.”

  “Hold on!” I throw the books off of me and jump to my feet, “it wasn’t my fault. Something made me lose control.”

  Asvarp waves his hand over me, cringing a little as he does so. It’s not exactly giving me a vote of confidence.

  “I don’t advise either of you use your powers until you get some more training.”

  “Why?” We ask simultaneously.

  “I’m afraid I didn’t think about what would happen to you both when you strength grows while wearing the armor,” the mage begins. “It appears that the armor is causing you harm because it’s pushing your powers to their limits without you first learning how to tame their growth. If you continue like this, there is a high possibility that you’ll die while wearing the armor.”