Dark Form_Book 1 of the Shadow War Trilogy

by M. A. Da Costa

  * * * * *

  Walking through a blizzard is the furthest thing from pleasant. I want to strangle Zarvick for leaving me here but I get where the ass is coming from. He wants to hurry this thing up so we can kill that bastard, otherwise known as Reaper. Nevertheless, if he thinks that I'm just going to let this go, he’s wrong. Besides, he'll be running back to me in no time begging for my help. In the meantime, I might as well kill the Snow Queen. How hard could it be anyways?

  Now when I think about it, I don’t have to kill her. By removing the soul fragment from her, I could try to save the queen’s life; then again, it doesn’t matter. Those smartass royal spirits will do whatever it takes to protect the spirit realm. Oddly enough, isn’t that supposed to be my job? Can’t believe I’m actually getting annoyed by this.

  This would be the perfect opportunity to soul dash if I could see where I was going. Too bad I don’t have a noble steed to—

  “Oh, Elvendora you are blessing me today!” I announce.

  If I am correct (which I always am), that appears to be a baby frost mantis in the distance. Little to compact to ride but the mama can’t be too far away. All I need to do is lure it into a trap somehow. Nothing comes to mind as I stalk the mantis; it’s only when the baby starts letting out a wail that gives an idea. Which just so happens to include soul dashing towards baby frost, tackling its ass to the ice and closing its mouth shut with a zaffre blue cuff construct. Despite my efforts, I was too late. Grumpy mama mantis just comes bursting out from beneath the ice and she is beyond pissed with me.

  Adult frost mantises have thick lengthy bodies, fully armored. The only thing scarier than its countless legs or the large, and scaly, fins that run along the sides of its neck (like a cobra), is the four huge arms it has; the top two are like scythes while the bottom two are much shorter, however, what they lack in size they make up for by being razor sharp pincers. Elvendora did a good thing and kept these things from developing wings like their forest counterparts.

  Her antennae shift around as the insect tries to find me. Quickly, I sling her baby across the ice and wait for it to call its mother’s attention. As soon as the creature is distracted, I race up its back and cast out reins that wrap around mama mantis’ head. I finally have a steed worth riding!

  Also, I’m not completely emotionless like Genu. I chain the baby on its mother’s thorax for safe keeping. Now it is time to have some fun!

  I pull on the reins and send the frost mantis moving. Assuming all arctic animals know the location of the Ice Kingdom, it shouldn’t be too hard to find. Right?

  * * * * *

  We race across the ice, I constantly have to steer the beast away from turning back. Thus, it takes us awhile to finally locate the kingdom, when we do it’s definitely not quiet. The frost mantis barges through the gates, breaking it into thousands of pieces; its pincers chop through a few of the guards as the animal squirms around. I grab ahold of the baby mantis and fly to the ground. It’s destruction time! I drag the baby behind me (in an energy bubble, of course) as I sprint through the icy streets of the kingdom. His mama mercilessly runs through everyone and everything in her way.

  Stopping to look around I think aloud, “that’s one pissed off mama.”

  The baby frost mantis cries and I attempt to soothe him. The castle is at the farthest end of the kingdom and I must say it’s quite magnificent. Spikes peer out all about its base, providing cover for the rectangular walls. Along those walls lies multiple turrets that make up the castle’s mass. If I can get this cutie’s mother to just cause as much destruction in there as possible, it’ll make this task very simple.

  As I am contemplating a plan of action, a guard charges me with a pike at hand. His white chainmail glistens in the sun and, just like all the kingdoms, this guard has a sash with his kingdom’s symbol on it between his legs. The symbol of which is a yeti slamming his foot down. The craftsmanship for the armor is impressive, too bad it’s about to be covered in blood. I spin around the guard before shoving a dagger into the back of his exposed head. A roar sounds off in the background and I don’t bother wasting time turning around, I just run.

  The ground shakes as the cranky frost mantis rampages her way towards me. I come to a halt just outside of the gates leading into the castle; I could easily just fly over this, but there’s no fun in that. So, right when the mama gets close enough, I soul slide beneath her while cradling her son. Together we sit back as the mad mama bust through the wall and shreds her way to the castle.

  “That’s your mama little guy,” I say as I scratch his chin (is he purring?), “she’s one angry bitch.”

  The rampage doesn’t last long before the Snow Queen walks out, shooting a mass of ice shards at the mantis. It’s dark blue blood is splattered everywhere as the ice shreds the animal apart. I actually scream, “NO”! I wasn’t expecting that, at all; thus I place a barrier around the crying baby and charge the queen.

  I fire off multiple arrows at her perky self as a distraction prior to flying high up then descending down with a spinning kick to the face. I stare at her with disgust. Her long white hair, pale skin, bluish eyes, and stupid gold crown. Then there’s her leather armor recreated with ice-like chain mail, worst of all is that spear. A slit runs through the middle of its wide and indented blade-like spearhead. The entire weapon is sky blue and white, the long handle matches her majesty's tall and slender figure. Which she uses to help herself get back onto her feet.

  “That was impressive,” her voice is strong and independent. Also, a bit deep for a lady.

  “Please, just shut up,” I respond.

  I conjure a jagged sword, placing it against the queen’s neck. She knocks away my hand and thrusts her spear forth. I block it with my bow before slapping her with my sword and squatting down to kick her feet from out under her. Her majesty sees this coming and cartwheels over me. Sweeping her weapon forces me to somersault out-of-the-way; she goes in for another strike, yet I parry it with my blade. This only initiates a level of irritation in the queen. Additionally, she activates a hidden ability within her weapon, the spearhead opens up wide enough to slide along the edges of my sword. I push back against her strength and easily overpower her. While she stumbles back I lunge for her, swinging my construct straight for her face. Not only does she ward off my strike but she even breaks my weapon!

  After forming a new blade I go at her again, however, this time the spearhead rapidly spins around, forming a vortex of frost around the metal, just before firing an icy ray that encases my construct. I slam the ice against the floor, it doesn’t break. So, I try again and the same result occurs.

  What the hell?! Why won’t it break?! I scream internally.

  “Haha! Do you like that trick?” She’s smug, “it took generations for my ancestors to perfect a never-melting ice spell. I was the one that figured out the missing component that keeps whatever frozen inside alive. That way, when I freeze you, you’ll be forced to watch me torture your lover for as long as he lives. HAHA!”

  I give her a bitchy look before smacking the absolute shit out of her with my sword. It’s funny looking at the open gash on her face, I can’t help but laugh. Since she’s off balance at the moment, I whack her spear out of her hand then slam the icy blade against her knee.

  “That was for leaving that poor baby mantis without a mother.”

  I go to hit her again but the ice around my sword lashes out and pierces my bicep. Dropping my bow I pull out the ice and throw away my blade; as I turn around I am met with a swift jab to my abdomen. I take a step back and the queen dives for her weapon.

  I duck under her spear, somersault to my bow and flip over her majesty. I conjure another sword construct which I immediately plunge it in-between her majesty’s shoulder blades and whack the back of her head with my bow. As she turns around, I kick that deadly spear out of her hand again. Drawing an arrow, I charge it with immense energy and release it right in front of her face. The missile dissolves into an abundanc
e of light blue power that decapitates the evil bitch. However, her body ferociously throws punches left and right that are effortless to evade.

  Causing my sword within her chest to explode, the Snow Queen’s body collapses with no head and a gaping hole through her chest. Satisfying.

  I begin making my way over to the mama frost mantis. I feel bad for getting her killed. Some hero I am.

  Suddenly, I am struck from behind and launched several yards. The Snow Queen’s body is morphing into an ice golem. That’s just something I don’t feel up to fighting right now.

  Lifting my hand before me, I shout, “attack!”

  Three zaffre blue griffin spirits slam into the golem, distracting it long enough for me to hatch a devious plan. I slide next to mama mantis, placing my hands above her body. I’ve never brought something back from the dead so this might not go well. Then again, practice makes perfect. Now that I think about it, the only person I’ve ever healed is Zarvick. Yeah, this may not work.

  My spiritual energy courses all about me as I close my eyes; I can see the frost mantis’ soul wandering around the flaming arctic of the spirit realm. She’s looking for her little boy. Reaching out to her, I sense longing and confusion; the animal’s body fades into a sparkling glow just before I hear her heartbeat. Rapidly, I stitch her wounds and restore her strength.

  Obviously, she’s not happy with me when her eyes open. Being brought back to life also brought back the emotions she had when she died, so…anger.

  “Woah, woah! Just calm down, girl. I don’t mean you any harm. Look,” I point to her baby, “your son is safe. But I need you to help me kill the Snow Queen before I can give him back to you. What do you say?”

  The beast bows her head, I hop on. Oh, this is going to be fun! Ripping the mohawk from my helmet, I create a gigantic lance construct. Honestly, I’m not even sure why I attempt to maintain such a large construct. The bigger they are the more concentration and stamina they drain from me. Ridiculous but entertaining, nonetheless.

  Once, all three griffin spirits are killed, we charge. I ram the lance right into the Snow Queen’s face, mama mantis stabs her scythe arms into her majesty’s shoulders. Ripping off the queen’s arms with her pincers causes the golem to fire hundreds of shards from her chest; which I swiftly protect us from with a large force field. The mantis pulls back but I lunge forward.

  My lance sinks through the queen’s torso. I fly down to grab her spear and spring back up to stab it square in her face. She screams in agony. Interesting. I descend, then dive straight towards her heart. I pluck it from her icy exterior with my ghostly body and I backflip all the way back down to the kingdom floor. The golem shouts as it attempts to stop me. I stare deep into the eyes of the Snow Queen’s soul right before I crush the pearl beneath my grasp forcing the golem to become a sparkling cloud of frost that rains down on me.

  The Ice Kingdom begins falling apart, I soul dash to the baby mantis before flying back onto mama mantis’ back. Together we escape the sinking kingdom. As I look back I can’t help but feel that I could’ve found a way to save the queen. It wouldn’t have helped anything but saving at least one life could have meant a lot.

  We reach a good distance from the shattered remains of the snow elves before the mantis stops and I part ways from them.

  “Have fun! Don’t get into any unnecessary trouble! Come find me if you need any help!” I wave goodbye to my unusual friends.

  In a blink of an eye, Zarvick is at my side almost completely naked. He blushes when I look him up and down, speedily putting on his armor. I smile at his cuteness before he zaps us out of there and back to Asvarp’s tent. It’s good to be home.

  Chapter 35

  (Zarvick)

  Coming back to the tent, we find Asvarp angrily/worriedly waiting for us. He teleports the three of us to the meeting room without saying a word. Genu slouches in his chair, probably still in the process of repairing his psyche. I take off my helmet and sit down across from him, Crystalline and Asvarp do the same. It’s almost as if we are a family that just got done with an argument but this is a lot more complicated.

  A seemingly endless period of awkward silence passes by before I finally open my mouth just to close it again after I realize that I have no idea what to say. Crystalline is about to say something, however, the old man cuts her off.

  “Would either of you care to explain to me why you didn’t come back here after you killed the Red King?” His voice is firm, yet controlled.

  “I decided that we wasted enough time, this needs to be over and done with already before Reaper kills off Elvendora.”

  This answer doesn’t please Asvarp. On the other hand, he’s not trying to kill me so this conversation could go in any direction.

  My love speaks up, “I know that you are probably angry but I agree with Zarvick on this one. Not only did it prove that we can handle ourselves but I found out some very interesting information that you may want to go over.”

  “As did I,” I say.

  The room is silent. The mage just stares at the two of us prior to looking over at Genu; the vampiric-kaine’s appearance isn’t giving me high hopes of him recovering anytime soon. Asvarp assures us that he's just resting, most likely listening in on our conversation as he does. I focus on his steady heartbeat, listening to the gushing sound of blood rushing in-and-out of its interior.

  “Well, I could lecture you on why that was a stupid idea, however, given the outcome. I have no other choice than to congratulate the both of you on your recent victories.” Crystalline and I don’t know how to react. This is new to us. “With that said, we still have much to do before repairing the timeline and defeating Reaper. So, what can the two of you tell me?”

  My mind just blanks when he asked the question. I’m not exactly sure where to begin or what I should disclose with them and what I should keep to myself. Better just let my darling talk first.

  I shrug my shoulders at her and she rolls her eyes. Better than nothing.

  “It’s not much but I figured out two things: A) the shadows don’t need to kill their host in order to corrupt them. If I can just learn how to utilize my power in a similar way, it could be the key to killing Reaper from the inside out. And B) the former kings and queens within the spiritual plane are the ones destroying the royal kingdoms after we break the gems holding Zarvick’s soul fragments. They did this to keep the shadows from entering the spiritual plane of existence.”

  The ole man nods at this information, not uttering a single word. I doubt that he was even listening. Then again, he could just be contemplating how this helps us (if it even does help).

  “To defeat Reaper from the inside out would take skills that you don’t have time to practice for. I’m sorry Crystalline, that’s just not going to work. That beast is far too powerful.

  Now, that other piece of information would have proven quite useful at the beginning of our journey but now it means nothing considering that our next targets aren’t on Elvendora.”

  That’s a bit harsh. Asvarp just shot down her information as if it were a mere insect; the good thing though is that she isn’t bothered by it, she’s too preoccupied with Genu’s current condition. I’m sure he’ll be fine.

  Not necessarily the best time to get distracted. I guess I’ll just have to take matters into my own hands seeing that I finally figured out how to word my response.

  “On that note Asvarp, my recent visions may have given me hints as to how we can fight Ures and Culbur,” I boast a bit knowing that I am quite useful to this team.

  “Which are?”

  I grin, “this first hint was a rock with the symbol of an eye that had a diamond-shaped pupil and a ‘t’ inside of it. The sec—”

  “Oh, Elvendora! That’s the glyph for the Ruins of Cross-Roads,” I’ve certainly got his undivided attention alright. Crystalline doesn’t have a clue what he’s talking about—neither do I—but his excitement got our attention as well.

  She questions him,
“what exactly is the ‘Ruins of Cross-Roads’?”

  “An ancient place where powerful magic-users from both the divine and arcane would gather to open gateways that lead to different worlds or dimensions. It’s basically how we figured out so much about the universe; for example, some beings use a substitute for magic, which they call technology. It’s an abomination that eventually kills off the planet which is all based upon the ideas of science. Although similar to magic it’s just not the same.”

  That doesn’t sound very pleasing. I would love to go in more detail, then again I know how sidetracked we’ll become and we just can’t afford any more distractions.

  “Movin on,” they just shake their heads at me, “my second vision included a quick flash of an anonymous elven silhouette. I don’t believe that is was a particular person, more like just a random individual.”

  “I’m just going to go ahead and assume that a sacrifice will have to be made,” Crystalline chuckles at her own response.

  “You are incorrect,” she stops to stare at the mage, “the ritual spells required to open the portals used nothing more than rare ingredients and incredible magical talents. Then again, there was a rumor—at the Tower of Arcane Magai—of a particular ritual that required a sacrifice of some kind. It sent its caster to an unforgiving environment that most, if not all, never made it back from.”

  I take a moment before responding, “well, you’re going to love this next part…”

  * * * * *

  I’m in the middle of a black void, standing in front of an altered version myself. This is the most recent tragedy that I’ve faced. The moment that I lost control of myself and tried to kill Crystalline, my one true love.

  Half of my body his demonic like Edon, the other half is more celestial like Delphine. Upon closer inspection, it really is one-half of both of my parents fused together. This is already giving me the creeps.