Dark Form_Book 1 of the Shadow War Trilogy

by M. A. Da Costa

  “Asvarp!” My scream shakes the entire planet and the storm begins to rupture the sky.

  Flying at the speed of light, I strike Reaper with the collective force of the elements of light and darkness; this blows the evil bastard back but isn’t enough to kill it. Thus I throw stone spikes at the figure, launch fireballs, fling ice shards, cast thunderbolts, shoot vibration waves, and shove forth razor-sharp winds. All of this is futile against Reaper’s power. With a clap of its hands, a multicolored wave annihilates all of my attacks and knocks me on my ass. I can’t let that monster win. Not after everything that we accomplished.

  Genu is the second to attack, slicing through the dark form and drawing out grey ooze. Reaper reaches forth with its left-hand covered in a radiant energy; the zouvx blocks the attack with his sword and blows the dark form back with a psychokinetic thrust. He then leaps over the figure and stabs it in the back; proceeding with the fight, he swirls around and chops its head off. Reaper then reverts to a cloud of smoke that reforms at Genu’s side, all the while synthesizing a sphere of a grey and purple static. Once fired, it zaps him with tremendous force and sends his rolling across the battlefield.

  Crystalline joins in by shooting an arrow through his chest that leaves behind a gaping hole. Nevertheless, Reaper instantly recovers and strikes back with a massive bolt of magicka. She evades the spell and is met with several tentacles. Dancing all around them, till one strikes her calf putting her off balance. Exposed, four other tentacles wrap around her wrist and ankles, attempting to tear her apart.

  I set them ablaze before I unsheathe my glaive. Lunging for the dark form I cut through anything it throws at me; eventually, I slash right through the figure, however, it turns into that annoying cloud of smoke. It expectedly reforms behind me, thus I hit Reaper with a full forced vibration blast. Pushing back the monster; I channel all eight elements into the glaive. Each of the runes along its blades shines as the dragon engravings come to life; spinning my mother’s glaive into a perfect circle transforms the weapon into the very aspect of a dragon. I project forth a rainbow beast with a golden outline.

  The combined power between me and the dragon glaive clashes with that of Reaper’s; it places one hand in front of the other in sideways position. Multiple rings engraved with runes appear before Reaper and hold back the dragon aspect; an aura of magic electrifies around the dark form as we struggle against one another. Finally, my lack of experience brings my downfall. Shoving its hands forward, a beam fires through the dragon that dispels my power. My glaive is blown back behind me. Reaper waves it arms out to its sides and a crescent lace of energy heaves me back several yards, leaving me struggling for my breath on the ground.

  Propping myself on my elbows, I witness the onslaught of both Genu and Crystalline. Genu flies in and swings his cane sword around a few times, then leaps over Reaper as Crystalline lets loose another arrow that dissolves into the spirit of a saber tooth tiger. The monster shields itself from her attack and shoots Genu with a surge of magicka that he blocks with his blade. Their attentions then focus purely on one another.

  The vampiric-kaine transforms into his true form. The combined might of both his bloodlines. He rushes forth through Reaper’s magic only to be met with endless tentacles. A wave of golden light cuts through the shadowy flesh and knocks back the dark form. He then flies forward and stabs his sword into Reaper’s chest. The figure blasts Genu and tosses the blade to the side. Shoving their hands forward causes another power struggle. A wave of golden light conflicts with a wave of black magic; their powers push against each other forming a perimeter about them.

  Inevitably, Reaper overpowers Genu and breaks through his psychokinetic force and leaves him stumbling backwards. Everything just goes south from there. The evil beast shoves him back with a rippling wave. Its demonic hand transforms into a shadowy blade shaped like a scythe that is used to slash right through the vampiric-kaine’s torso. His lifeless body collapses to the floor, I keep expecting him to regenerate yet nothing happens. There’s no heartbeat, no blood flow. Matter, in fact, the golden pupils within his eyes have faded away. He’s dead.

  “You fucking bastard!” Crystalline shouts.

  This time she draws out three arrows and fires them all at once; the missiles fuse together to create the form of a lavender phoenix. This only weakens Reaper but was still futile in its attempt to kill the monster. She charges him with a flurry of punches, kicks, and spiritual pulses; the dark form fends off her attacks and uses its scythe hand to cut through her bow. Going in for another strike, Crystalline rips off her quiver and pushes it towards Reaper’s hand; the super-charged arrows counteract the dark power and detonate on impact. This slides her back and destroys the figure’s right arm beyond repair. Clearly doing some other internal damage hidden beneath its cloak. That’s going to help a lot!

  Yet, that doesn’t stop Reaper from proceeding with the fight. It pulls out its rugged onyx snake whip with garnet eyes, from long ago, and cracks it against the air; she isn’t fast enough to escape the whip. Thus, the snake’s face phases into Crystalline’s body and sinks into her soul; a death-defying venom rushes through her spiritual and physical forms, killing her immediately.

  “NO!”

  Thousands of emotions and urges flow through me. I pull the Hwevoxa from my belt and sprint for Reaper; it tries to attack me but I push aside its power by distorting the physical properties of reality. No doubt the Hwevoxa’s power at work here. Hurling myself at the dark form, I plunge the metal spike attached to cube directly into its face. The voices of Crystalline’s parent’s screech in agony, the biggest pain in my ass is overcharged with some much power that it explodes into a cloud of ash. Light glistens all about me before I vanish from Elvendora.

  Chapter 40

  I find myself inside of the Rift once again. I must have blown out a fuse in my brain because I can’t feel anything anymore. All emotions have just washed away from me after witnessing the people that I care about die before my eyes all over again. I try to distract myself by looking at the emptiness. Yet, that only brings out the emptiness in me.

  My gaze falls upon a dull light inside of a hole the shape of a cone; I remember it from when I first met the All-Mother. I walk on over to it and jab the Hwevoxa straight into it. The Rift roars with life as a rainbow of energies rush through the void. It’s so much brighter now, in fact, I can actually see humongous chunks of planets and even, what appears to be, a few stars off in the distance.

  As I turn back to the Hwevoxa, it has transformed into a sphere floating between two people. One is, well I can only describe as an elven silhouette of the universe; just glowing eyes while the rest of its body is as if you are looking out into space itself. I can even see galaxies through her body. The other being is similar to her sister but instead made entirely out of crystal, her color is constantly changing and swirling within her structure. At the center of her chest lies an hourglass, slowing turning itself in a circular motion. They both speak to me telepathically.

  “We are grateful for all that you have done for us,” Yiluf’s voice sounds so omniscience.

  “Yes, Zarvick, you have saved all of existence,” Xelom’s voice, on the other hand, is more omnipotence.

  “What is going to happen now?” I contemplate.

  They don’t answer me, most likely talking amongst themselves. I really do hope that this can all be fixed and that I can see Crystalline once again.

  “We will restore the timeline of Elvendora with all the good that it will do,” Xelom’s tone is sarcastic.

  “I-I don’t understand.”

  “Of course you don’t. Simple pathetic minds like yours that abuse free will are bringing an end to the universe,” she sounds pissed.

  Wow, the most powerful beings in existence have an attitude problem. Also, they hate any form of lesser beings. Who would’ve guessed?

  “You must excuse my sister’s anger,” Yiluf seems like nicer of the two, “we have no quarrel with you.
After all, you are one of us. It’s just we believe in a better way of going about all of this.”

  “Which is?”

  “Restarting the universe from scratch,” Oh my Elvendora, they are cynical.

  I am just going to forget about her being the nicer sister. I’m not really sure if bringing back the Hwevoxa was the right thing to do after all. Especially since they have the intention of restarting the universe.

  I ask, “why would you think that?”

  “Look at the facts,” Xelom responds, “free will has caused the need for a balance. If shifted too much is causes overwhelming destruction that in turns led to events like the Hwevoxa being stolen.”

  “I—”

  The All-Mother suddenly appears between the two. Her smiles stretches from ear-to-ear but it doesn’t make me feel any better. I sense that her presence is meant to put an end to our conversation before I learn something that I’m not supposed to find out.

  “My daughters shall restore what has been broken,” not even her voice has any effect on me anymore.

  The sisters place their hands around the sphere, power emits from deep within it, however, a fracture can be heard. I know something isn’t right, I can still feel Elvendora inside of the Rift.

  “Oh…it appears that something isn’t quite fixed,” Yiluf’s words don’t comfort me. In fact, I’m actually feeling anger again.

  “What didn’t quite ‘fix’?” I ask.

  Xelom responds, “that is something that you’ll have to figure out your own.”

  “She’s right Zarvick, you have to take matters into your own hands from here. They have interfered enough already. This is your war to fight.”

  I nearly explode. I want to set the All-Mother on fire but I don’t. I just can’t fight anymore.

  “What now?”

  “I’ll send you back,” the All-Mother says.

  “What? I don’t get something for saving the universe!”

  “I supposed that seems far enough,” the mother reaches out her hands, “take this as a token of my gratitude for all that you’ve done. And I shall allow you to ask any one question from both Xelom and Yiluf as long as it doesn’t mean their interferences in the war.”

  A rose, with translucent petals, floats over to me from the All-Mother’s hands. I grab ahold of it as I contemplate what I wish to ask the sisters of time and space. Better make it count.

  “Yiluf, what will happen when I return?” I hope that’s not too vague for her.

  The hourglass within her chest sparkles for a few seconds before she responds, “my best possible answer would be that your life will start at a point before the time shift occurred; only you will have memory of both realities. Do note this piece of advice, time itself is a stream. You can never stop it, only change its directions. Nonetheless, ripples always find their way in every possible curre—”

  All-Mother interrupts her, “enough Yiluf. Go on with your question for Xelom.”

  I scold her before proceeding, “Xelom, why do you hate the idea of free will so much?”

  She laughs at me, “that’s your question? Alright then, you try being trapped within a void that you can never escape from despite your power. Watching as the universe and worlds crumble under the useless minds of those who think they are almighty powerful. Yet, you can’t do anything to save the universe because your ability to interfere with the outside existence is limited through an ORB!

  You may think of me as bitter but I only wish for a universe where the idea of harmony and control is the foundation of all. You know Zarvick, you should really try to take a closer look at what you are rather than who you are.”

  I can’t believe that. They aren’t at all what I expected them to be. Actually, this entire scenario is completely different from what I thought about. I hoped they would end all of the conflicts for me, guess not. It does annoy me that even they leave me with more questions, however, the All-Mother and the sisters say goodbye.

  I am then sucked through a portal and thrown into reality; I fall down as Elvendora readjust itself. Collapsing on the ground soothes all my aches and pains.

  Opening my eyes, I peer up into the vastness of the sky. I’m back home…back in the Sacred Forest.

  Glossary

  All-Mother: the physical embodiment of the planet Elvendora.

  Asvarp: a very old wood elf who has surpassed the life expectancy of the average elf. He has obtained a collection of knowledge over his lifetime that makes him the most power magic-user in the history of Elvendora.

  Crystalline: a zouvx whose sole purpose is to be the living embodiment of the spiritual realm and the counterpart to Zarvick.

  Culbur (COAL-burr): as the devil, he is the twin brother to Ures. He is also the living aspect of evil and the ruler of the Underworld.

  Eomyka (e-MY-ka): “Tree of the Dead” is the central core for the spiritual version of Elvendora and the doorway back into the world of the living.

  Eonuca (e-NEW-ca): “Tree of Life” is the home to the druids and the singular purpose for all magic/life on Elvendora.

  Fuloque (fu-LOCK): explained as the life-force inside organism which is made of a trio of components: mind, body, and soul.

  Genu: a vampiric-kaine born with enhanced brain capabilities and psychic powers. Trained by both monks and Asvarp to harness his powers.

  Hwevoxa (he-BOC-ah): the single most powerful object in existence. It allows for the sisters of time and space to interact with the universe outside of the Rift.

  Levouay (lev-o-WAY): the banshee queen of the Fey Kingdom and the last of her bloodline.

  Pneuma (NEW-ma): an individual who is capable of wielding spiritual energy like a mage wields magic.

  Reaper: a being wrapped in mystery. It’s true appearance and sex are unknown; all that is known is that it’s powers are far beyond any threat Elvendora has ever faced.

  Rift: a place between reality, otherwise known as the home to the sisters of time and space. Some say this is where black holes lead.

  Ruvtag (ru-TANG): said to be the first crystal ball in existence that has no limitations.

  Sins: seven demons that rule under Culbur, they spread their specific nature across Elvendora (Envy / Sloth / Lust / Greed / Gluttony / Wrath / Pride).

  Shadows: corrupt essences that require a host body (whether it be dead or living) in order to thrive in the physical plane. They are somehow attached to Reaper.

  Ures (your-EZ): as the archangel, she is the twin sister to Culbur. The living aspect of good and the ruler of the Overworld.

  Virtues: seven angels that rule under Ures, they spread their specific nature across Elvendora (Kindness / Diligence / Chastity / Charity / Temperance / Humility / Mercy).

  Volkanu (VOC-ah-new): a type of mortal elf imbued with tremendous powers that can rival that of the archangel and devil themselves. Only three can ever exist at any one point in time.

  Xelom (ZI-lum): her name translates to “space” and she is responsible for maintaining balance amongst the universe in all of its various dimensions until it’s time to re-start it all from scratch.

  Yiluf (IL-if): her name translates to “time” and she is responsible for preserving the timeline throughout the universe in all of its various dimensions until it’s time to re-start it all from scratch.

  Zarvick: a zouvx whose sole purpose is to be the living embodiment of the physical realm and the counterpart to Crystalline.

  Zouvx (ZAH-ph): “Half-breed” which is a being who is born from two or more bloodlines (ex. Genu, Zarvick, and Crystalline).

 

 

 
: grayscale(100%); " class="sharethis-inline-share-buttons">share