Dark Form_Book 1 of the Shadow War Trilogy

by M. A. Da Costa

  “We caution your next action wisely, for we will terminate you,” their voices speak in unison. Everyone backs away at this point.

  Each elf has a mossy green complexion, with brown eyes and slender bodies. Their druid armor consists of a mixture of vines, woods, leaves, etc.. I must say it is rather fine craftsmanship but one can only wonder how much damage can it take before it breaks. I guess I am the perfect person to figure out the answer.

  Putting my index finger and middle finger against their swords, I move them away from my neck.

  “Let me let you in on a little secret,” I lower my voice for impact, “put your blades against my throat again and I will have your heads.”

  A crimson glimmer surges across my skin as I grab the druid’s swords and rip them from their hands. Both are shocked by this sudden turn of events. It is then that I hear the loud cries of fear behind me; shadows have swooped down, cornering us.

  I hand the sickle-swords back to them, “you may need these.”

  Pushing Grom behind me I move back through the crowd. A couple of the shadows have already corrupted elven souls and vanish from the spirit realm. One shadow in particular stares at me with a keen perspective. It recognizes me. Only if I knew how to get out of her without going through a stupid tree.

  The monster darts for me, I meet it with a prompt ‘x’ slash of two sword constructs. More shadows embark on a “kill Crystalline” spree. One of my swords reshapes into a dagger and I hurl it into a shadow’s head; the dagger shatters, purifying the beats. Another creature lunges at me but I slide underneath it on my knees, slicing through it. I spin onto my feet and dig the sword into its back. A single flash of light and the shade is cleansed.

  Fashioning myself a bow, I draw back the string and summon an arrow; releasing the construct detonates the missile into a mass of energy. It punctures into a nearby shadow, unleashing a discharge that vaporizes the creature.

  “Crystalline, behind you!” Grom shouts.

  Turning around, a shade closes in on me and its claws tear through my chest; darkness seeps into my wound. Vines rupture from below the shadow and entangle it; one of the druids emerges from the crowd, his hand glowing. As his fingers balls into a fist, the plants shred apart the dark creature. The other druid runs along a root that has been raised above the ground; she lifts her sickle-sword above her, dives off of the root and cuts through another shadow.

  Getting to my feet, a crimson light runs through my soul and encloses around the darkness; steadily sterilizing my wound, sealing it shut. This time I draw two arrows and fire them at the remaining shadows. They try to elude from my attack but the missiles have locked onto their auras; following closely behind them as laces of energy swirl from the arrowheads. It isn’t long until they are struck and purified.

  The female druid makes her way over to me, “I’m sorry your majesty. We didn’t recognize you in this form.” With that, both of them bow to me.

  “Um…okay, then.”

  Grom walks over and whispers in my ear, “I didn’t know you are royalty.”

  “Neither did I,” I’m just as shocked as he is.

  From here, the druids tell me that they have waited a long time for my arrival and expected me in a different form. I just laugh to myself at the notion of being a queen. However, if being a queen gets me what I want around here then so be it. Especially since I need to get back to my body. Who knows what’s happened since I’ve traveled here.

  After saying goodbye to Grom, the druids open the doors wide enough for me to get through. My energy merges with the vortex inside of the Eomyka. Both the physical and spiritual worlds clash together throughout the empty space until I am gone.

  I end up in, what I assume to be, the Eonuca. My soul has become transparent on the physical Elvendora. Something worth looking into later on. I then fade completely away till I am realigned with my body; slowly I regain feeling in my limbs as I readjust to the changes in environment. My eyes pop open and I frantically look all around me to make sure that nothing hasn’t changed on me. As soon as I am reassured that everything is fine I just sit back in my chair. I stare at Zarvick as he is asleep across from.

  Men are both oblivious and asinine. I tell myself.

  I think back to every single thing that happened in the spirit realm, all I can do is say, “fuck.” Clearly, whatever just happened is not good. Also, I don’t feel like going back to sleep anytime soon.

  Chapter 25

  (Crystalline)

  I wake up the next morning to find Crystalline staring daggers at me. She is apparently angry with me because I did, “nothing”; she even had the nerve to slap me! It still boggles my mind thinking about how I was supposed to know that her soul left her body and she became trapped in the spiritual plane of existence. Our argument lasted until Asvarp came into the room and zapped us both back into our chairs. He wasn’t having it.

  Waiting for Genu, the old man takes a seat. He clearly doesn’t want us bickering at one another and tries to figure out the problem.

  “Tell me what’s going on here,” he says.

  Taking a deep breath, I prepare my response, “Crystalline is upset with me because I didn’t know that she traveled into the spirit realm and I didn’t come to her aid.”

  My response wasn’t exactly what the mage expected but he is thoroughly intrigued, nonetheless. Even to the point where he cuts Crystalline off. Our argument has now become a development to him.

  “What did you see Crystalline?”

  “I saw lots of things,” she’s clearly annoyed. Asvarp just stares at her till she rolls her eyes, “everything was different there than they are here. Backwards or a reflection, kind of.”

  He considers her words, as do I. She went to the spirit world without trying or knowing, she's even projected her spirit to me a couple times. My beloved Crystalline is putting herself in danger without trying.

  “Also,” she continues, “I meet a grey elf named Grom. And I meet the souls of two druids.”

  “Haha, you had a crazy night,” I laugh because I just need to.

  Both of them glare at me then just agree to ignore me without looking at one another. Elvendora, I hate them.

  “There’s more you’re not telling me,” the mage urges her to open up.

  “…there were these essence gems that were used as currency in the spirit realm; they are pieces of shattered souls that have crystallized over time. It got me thinking about Zarvick and the royal council members, something isn’t right about the whole scenario,” her voice is on the verge of a rant. “When we killed the Drow Queen her heart was an emerald, once it was broken the soul fragment was released. That must mean that Zarvick’s souls have crystallized inside of their bodies—”

  “Now that doesn’t make sense, “ Asvarp strokes his beard, “when two souls merge they are almost absolute, inseparable.”

  “My point!” Crystalline throws her hands in the air, “the kings and queens of Elvendora’s royal council aren’t alive; they’re just pawns, like the shadows. Reaper must have killed them so it can control them.”

  The old man doesn’t agree with her. He stands, grabbing his staff from across the room. Image flicker through the ruvtag; then, with a tap of the staff against the floor, the images expand all around us.

  We witness Reaper standing over six bloody and maimed silhouettes; there are gaping holes in each of their chests where their hearts should be. With a wave of its hands, lights shoot into their chests. They slowly come back to life and my soul fragments glow, crystallizing inside the holes. Asvarp stares at this in horror, this is beyond even his comprehension. Thus the image fades.

  “This isn’t right, Reaper has made them puppets. Hollow shells,” he mutters angrily.

  “I-I’m not sure what any of this means but this just seems all a part of a larger scheme,” I awkwardly speak. Not sure if they are going to bite my head off or not.

  “Hmm, you may be onto something. Separating your soul into dead bodies w
ould ensure that you’d be in a weakened state because their bodies will have to use as much of the energy as possible in order to sustain their life…” Crystalline begins.

  “…yes! That way Reaper could undoubtedly be sure that Zarvick would have to come after the kings and queens in order to gain his strength back,” Asvarp continues.

  “And that would play right into a chain effect; leading him down a path that is required to reach some end game product,” Crystalline is tingling with excitement.

  The mage forcefully strokes his beard, “—the Hwevoxa! That’s the key to fixing the time shift, thus, it’s the key point in Reaper’s overall plan.”

  Oh Elvendora, they’ve gone mad! How am I supposed to follow this thought process? They’re just too much.

  The three of us are all standing by this time, each completely lost in thought. There is some missing key piece of information that’s missing from this whole scenario…but what?

  My darling Crystalline shimmers with realization, “oh, how could I have forgotten about Ures and Culbur?! They’re a part of this too; both of them have a piece of Zarvick’s soul in them. Which makes them all apart of the plan. Right?”

  “Of course! It all makes sense now! I’ve known that they had pieces of Zarvick’s soul in them but now I know why he can’t use the elements of light or darkness. They are the symbolic representations of those two elements. With his soul fragments, they can control them in all of their various forms. Thus, leaving Zarvick with no control over them at all,” Asvarp is just starting to unload all of his knowledge on us.

  “But wouldn’t that mean that Reaper killed them too?” I question.

  Crystalline looks at me with impressed expressions on their faces. Way to go me!

  “Yes and no, Zarvick. Ures and Culbur aren’t so easily killed but Reaper must have used some other method of mind control by implanting pieces of your soul in them. That would make sure that neither of them intervenes with its plans,” Asvarp responds.

  “Now all we have to do is repair Zarvick’s soul,” Crystalline says as if it is just that simple.

  But it’s not. It never will be. Perhaps this is all a part of Reaper’s trap too.

  “We’re missing something,” I announce.

  “What?” They ask simultaneously.

  “What happens when we do repair my soul and fix the timeline? And what is Crystalline’s importance in all of this?”

  Neither of them can answer me right away. They don’t know the answer to those questions any more than they know what Reaper’s true intentions are.

  “…I am the only one who can, without a doubt, harm that beast,” her response is vague. Well, to me anyways.

  Before I can pursue the issue any further, Genu steps into the room. He rushes us to get a move on and we do. It’s good that we start moving. Crystalline tells us that she knows where the other warp stone is and we follow her. I, of course, will follow her without question. Most of the time anyways. I must say, I am eager to be done with this, nonetheless, I still can’t shake the fact that the most important piece of information is missing. As if it is just staring me in the face and I am looking past it.

  All of us leave the tent and head over to the warp stone. Asvarp stays behind claiming, “someone has to watch after the stone”. Thus, Genu, Crystalline and I enter a portal cast through my body by Asvarp. It’s not the greatest feeling in the world. Besides that, we exit into the Sky Kingdom and it is…amazing!

  Chapter 26

  Clouds foam all about the underside of the Sky Kingdom. A large white castle stands before the three of us. Behind us is multiple stone buildings with crowds of grey elves wondering about. They are unaware of us, for now. Everything just seems too…easy.

  “We should make haste for the castle,” Genu urges us forward after stabbing the warp stone. I would’ve advised against that, then again I don’t want Reaper following us.

  Crystalline takes off with him but I’m not so quick to get this over with. I lag behind, watching the people. If we fight the Sky Kingdom’s ruler, it could be just as bad of a battle like it was with the Drow Queen. Which will possibly lead to the destruction of this kingdom; that’ll kill thousands upon thousands of innocent lives that have no part in this growing war. So many have already lost so much, I can’t stand by and watch more die.

  Turning around, I head for the elves. I reach the edge of, what appears to be, the marketplace; the people are chattering, bargaining, roaming, and just living out another day of their lives. To the left of me, I spot a girl coming around the corner, wiping her eyes with the backs of her hands. I walk over to her and kneel down.

  “Are you alright?” I ask.

  The girl is shocked by my presence. “I’ve lost my mommy,” she responds while sobbing.

  “Oh,” I look around, “let’s go find her then.”

  Extending my hand out, she hesitantly grabs it; together, we make our way through the market. The grey elves exchange looks as I walk by. I don’t look anything like them and I doubt they’ve had outsiders walk through the kingdom lately. I have no idea what I am doing but something inside me is telling me to just keep going. This can’t all be about saving myself.

  “What’s your name?” The girl is much calmer now.

  “I’m Zarvick. What’s your name?”

  Before she can answer me, a voice shouts out, “Belila!”

  Belila runs to her mother and meets her embrace. I feel a little accomplishment. She’ll be alright now.

  “Mommy! Mommy! This man helped me find you!” She is now crying joyfully.

  The woman gets to feet and shoves her daughter behind her; a motherly response has kicked in and she is now in a protective mode.

  “Stay away from her you outsider,” as she speaks, the crowded market now focuses on me.

  I take a step back. These grey elves have no idea what they’re in for. I could level the city but I don’t want to hurt them. Especially not when there are children around. Either way, this isn’t going to end well for anyone. Hopefully, they’ll listen to reason.

  “Look, I don’t want to hurt anybody,” I glance at Belila, “I’m just here to help you. Your lives are in danger.”

  Murmurs spread amongst them. All I have to do is find a way to get them off of the Sky Kingdom.

  “Why should we have any reason to believe you?!” Someone in the crowd shouts and all of the murmurs stop.

  Now, they are all shouting and arguing. This draws the attention of the guards. They are covered from head-to-toe in spiked blue and white plate armor; the Sky Kingdom’s symbol is sewed into a blue sash outlined in gold that hangs from their hips. Each wields a pike or sword, reading to strike at the first sign of aggression.

  “How did you get here outsider?! Are you alone?!” One of the more stocky guards asked. The pink scar over his right eye proves that he means business. Presumably their captain.

  I slowly take a step back as to not alarm them but they raise their weapons anyways.

  “I’m just here to save your lives,” I respond.

  “Lies!” Another guard says.

  At this point, the crowd goes crazy and some of the guards are forced to form a perimeter. The guard with the scar thrusts his pike forward and I catch it. This is pointless, I tell myself. Since they won’t listen to reason I need to take a different approach.

  Setting his weapon I fire, I pull it out of his grip and throw it to the ground. Another guard comes at me with his sword aimed for my chest; I spin around him, carefully grabbing his shoulder plates and slam him to the floor.

  An archer pushes his way through the crowd, drawing back his bow. Belila stupidly runs in front of me with her arms stretch outwards.

  “Don’t hurt him!”

  It all happens so fast, the arrow spirals through the air and straight into the little girl. Her efforts to protect me were in vain. I catch her limp body as she falls, watching the blood drip from her mouth. She was dead before I caught her. Why didn’t I protec
t her?

  “…no…,” I don’t know how to react.

  Everyone has stopped, they all stare at her. Belila’s mother pushes her way through the guards and runs over to her little girl. Tears pour down her face. I reluctantly hand the girl to her mother. This demands justice! A stone spike pierces through the archer’s head. The grey elves are startled by his sudden death.

  After closing Belila’s eyes, I stand to face the guards. Fire blazes all about my silhouette as my right shin heats up. The kingdom’s people hastily flee the market and the guards circle around me. The captain takes the woman to safety, blood forms a trail behind them as she continues to clutch her limp daughter.

  “S-surrender or else we will—”

  “You will what? Kill me?! I doubt it, you are too weak.” Their fear fills my rage.

  With that said, I throw a few fireballs in every direction. As mad as I am, I still don’t want to kill anybody else; so, I try to aim around the guards to scare them but if they get hit I just ignore it. Three of the guards are scorched and a couple others suffer mild wounds, nevertheless, they hold their ground. I have to admit they are determined.

  I release my anger with a loud scream, “aaaahhhhh!” The fire intensifies and lightning touches down somewhere behind me. This, of course, causes the guards to practically shit their armor and flee. My flaming body cools down and I can’t help but smile.

  “That was easy,” I say to myself.

  Turning around I am met with a forceful lightning bolt that knocks me off of my feet. Propping myself up on my elbows, I stare at the figure before me. A dark grey jeweled crown covers most of his short brown hair. From the corner of his blue eyes, electricity statics towards his pupils. His face is slender, to the point where it looks as if the youth has been drained from his body. Yet, it works for him. Despite this, the rest of his body has a more stocky build, possibly an illusion given away by his garments. He wears a fancy yellow and sky blue plate armor that spikes upwards from the shoulder guards; although it is similar to the guards’ armors, it’s far more endowed. Basically, a mixture of high quality embroidered clothing and metal. Attached to each gauntlet are four long blades that come out above his knuckles and curve at the ends. Great, he has claws.