Stone Dragon (The Painter Mage Book 5)

by D. K. Holmberg

“Yeah, why do you think I’m willing to even try this?” I asked. The sheer scale of what I attempted made it unlikely I’d be able to pull off. I’m not sure I would have considered it had Taylor not pointed out the way the trees were organized around Conlin.

  The ink trailed from the window of the truck, leaving a weak line of ink along the street. The pattern I created with it would be imprecise, but that was the price I paid for the size of the pattern. Had I dared take more time, I would have been able to be a little more exacting but had I dared take more time, I might have learned about the pattern made with the trees.

  I infused the pattern as we went. Doing so took more strength than I was accustomed to using. I wasn’t sure how well this pattern would even hold, or whether it would do what I needed it to. If the Wasdig was already loose, I needed to try something.

  In spite of the pattern, the Wasdig power continued to build around us. It was a steady and rhythmic sense. Even the dryad sensed it. He sat next to Devan, clinging to her leg, arms clattering together and making a strange woody rubbing sound. I wondered if it continued if he might burst into flame, but figured that since he didn’t much care for me, it was best not to ask.

  “You think replacing the signs mattered?” Devan asked.

  I shook my head and kept my eyes fixed straight ahead. Nothing I could do would be stronger than the protections my father placed around Conlin. I might have made a claim at becoming the city’s protector, but there wasn’t anything I could do better than my father, so if the Nizashi and Devan’s father could tear through those protections, what made me think the Wasdig would struggle just because I’d placed them? This pattern I attempted around the streets might help, but I had no real belief it could contain the Wasdig were it to attempt to rampage through the city.

  “Still doesn’t make any sense,” I said. “The Wasdig shows up, but doesn’t go tearing around Conlin like a creature with its power could do. Instead, it goes to the old plant and taps its staff around a few times, waiting for us to show up. And when we do, we blast it a few times with your little buddies and whatever power Nik managed to teach me, and then it tells me it wants to summon me to some Zdrn.”

  “That’s what we know,” Devan agreed.

  “But why? Wouldn’t the Wasdig be able to reach us anywhere it wanted if it could simply bypass the protections around the city? Think about how powerful that thing is. Hell, I can feel what it’s doing, and I’ve got nothing like the power you can sling around. Makes me wonder if there’s something else going on.”

  Devan twisted in her seat and faced me. “Like what?”

  “I still don’t know. Do you think Nik knew the crossing would take more time than we expected, and that we’d miss the three-day window they gave us?”

  “But Nik also wants you to do whatever you can to save Taylor.”

  “Seems like he might be able to help her better if he were able to return to the Druist Mage rather than risking the possibility someone at this Zdrn might owe us a favor,” I said. “Seems like he might not want to risk angering his master.”

  “What are you thinking?” Devan asked.

  I wasn’t sure what I was thinking. If we had been sent to Arcanus, I needed to understand why.

  I jerked the wheel around and spun us so that we would head back to the Rooster. Devan said nothing, letting me drive. I ignored the pressure building, the magical energy that beat against me in a steady rhythm. There wasn’t anything I could do against it anyway. The creature was powerful — possibly more powerful than anything I’d never faced before, even on the other side of the Threshold.

  When we reached the Rooster, I ran into the kitchen and found Nik where we left him.

  The orb was there as well, and I quickly pushed power through the patterns and animated him.

  As he always did, Nik slowly elongated, appearing out of the small stone figurine. I hadn’t pushed much power of will through the orb, not wanting him to become too large.

  As soon as he was animated, he began working a pattern with his hands.

  I tossed him into the metal box to contain him once more. “Why did you send us to Arcanus? Was it your plan to get me out of the city? Did you know that time would pass faster on the other side?”

  He looked up at me, a dangerous smile on his tiny face. “I thought it might. Considering that I feel this power, I suspect you have a bit of a need now, don’t you?”

  “Why? I could just leave you —”

  Nik approached the edge of the containment. “You could leave me, but you need me. If you think to defeat this creature, you’re going to need my help. Why else do you think the Druist Mage trained me?”

  “You trained for this?”

  Nik shrugged. “Not this, per se, but the Druist suspected the Zdrn would be called again. The last had been long ago, and it was time for the ancient powers to meddle once more.”

  “But the Protariat doesn’t choose.”

  Nik grinned at me. “Are you so certain?”

  I glanced over to Devan. If the Protariat chose, that meant that her father had been involved. Why would he want me chosen?

  “Don’t ask me. I’ve never heard of any of this.”

  “But your father is involved.”

  She arched a brow at me. “Don’t be an idiot, Ollie. It suits you too well. It doesn’t include me in anything, especially nothing like this.”

  The power building continued to hammer away at my senses. Was it getting stronger?

  There was other power in the city that could help contain it, but doing so would be difficult alone. There was only so much power the shifters could pull, and it might not be enough against the creature like we faced. Even Nik might not be enough.

  I looked over to the freezer door.

  “Ollie—”

  I glanced over to Devan. “What choice do we have?”

  “Will they even help?”

  “I don’t know. I think I have to ask.”

  I ignored Nick’s protestations as I approached the freezer, and pressed power into the doorway. It opened again, and this time, rather than stepping through, I yelled through the opening. “Hey. Masters. I need your help. The Protariat summons you.”

  Nik looked up at me as if I were an idiot. Most likely, I was.

  “I’m not risking stepping back across the threshold, not knowing how much time will pass while I’m away. If the Wasdig has already appeared, we can’t risk any more delays.”

  I stood, not expecting anyone to appear.

  To my surprise, Hard stepped through. And then Shiza.

  I waited, but no one else came. “What, no Mac?”

  “Be thankful either of us is here, Morris,” Hard said. “Now, why did you…” He tilted his head, and his eyes lost focus.

  “You feel it?”

  Hard looked over to me. “How can I not?”

  I grunted. “Good. Because I’m going to need the both of you to help me contain it.”

  13

  I stopped by my home, to grab the small statuette of Taylor. That had been Nik’s requirement for helping. With his knowledge, I had no choice but to agree. In that, he was right. He did know much more than me, and enough that I had to take it seriously. With his help, maybe I could survive the Zdrn. Or better yet, defeat the Wasdig and avoid it completely.

  Hard and Shiza sat in the back of the truck. I hadn’t allowed them into the seat, not wanting to squeeze that many of us in. It had been bad enough when Devan and I tried squeezing Taylor and with us.

  We pulled into the driveway, Hard hopped out. “This is the Elder’s home?”

  “No. This is my home.”

  Hard looked over to me. Shiza had joined him outside of the truck. As I made my way to the house, I had the feeling that I wouldn’t be able to send them away, which meant that they would get to watch me press power through the patterns set into the house. Not what I wanted, but what choice did I have?

  Devan ran to the garage carrying Nik. She claimed she had something
she needed to do while we grabbed Taylor.

  I hurried down the stairs, pressing power into the patterns along the way, ignoring the gasp from behind me. “Yeah. This was all his.”

  I had experience with Taylor in her reaction to seeing everything of my father’s, so wasn’t surprised when both Hard and Shiza had the same response. At the bottom of the stairs, I hurried over to the desk and grabbed the figurine.

  Hard watch me. “Is that —”

  “That’s her.”

  “What happened to her?”

  “A doorway was opened. Hunters crossed the Threshold. One got to her.”

  Shiza gasped. At least now I know who made the sound as we came down the stairs. “How can you speak so casually about this?”

  I shot her as withering a look as I could. “When you’ve seen what I have, you don’t get impressed by all the horrors that are out in the world.” I wasn’t exactly true. Even I was still nervous about hunters. They sucked magical energy.

  “Their attack is fatal,” Hard said, eyeing the figurine.

  “Probably. I’m not sure that this did anything for her other than delay what happened. But if there is anything that can be done, I wanted to give her a chance.” I didn’t say that I hoped Nik would teach me what I needed to know. There had to be something about the mage abilities that could help.

  I’m motioned for them to follow and push them toward the stairs. As we reached the top of the stairs, I pressed power once more through the patterns, ceiling off the basement again. There were arcane patterns here, and I didn’t think that either Hard or Shiza had enough skill — or knowledge — to open them, but I wasn’t about to take my chance.

  Back upstairs, we hurried out of the house, and back into Big Red. Devan was loading an enormous metal object into the back of the truck. I shot her a look, and she shrugged.

  “It’s not done,” she said.

  “That’s what you think my question is?”

  “I didn’t have enough time. I’ll do what I can to finish it when we get there.”

  “Where are we going?” Nik asked.

  The two Arcanus Masters glanced into the box as if seeing him for the first time. Neither said anything. I was for the best. Explaining why I had a miniature talking sculpture that looked like my former best friend would be difficult.

  “We’ll just have to see.”

  Big Red rumbled to life, and I spent out of the driveway, racing along the road.

  “I feel power infused here,” Hard said, yelling into my open window.

  “I feel the pattern that Oliver attempted,” Nik said. “It’s too large. It wouldn’t work.”

  “It didn’t.”

  “Your father —”

  “I know my father would have succeeded. You don’t have to remind me that I’m not the painter that my father is.”

  Devan glanced over to me but said nothing.

  We turned onto the street with the old plant. As another burst of energy surged, the engine hiccupped. I glanced over at Devan and caught her eye.

  “Don’t look at me like that. I’ve done everything I can to keep it running. I can’t help it if the Wasdig can short out the engine. I’ve never even heard of magic able to do that.”

  “Well, there weren’t all that many trucks on the other side,” I said.

  “You’re an idiot.”

  We pulled into the lot, the lights of the truck swinging over the lot. A dark shape appeared out of the darkness. I pointed to it, bringing the truck to a stop and popping the door open. The two Arcanus Masters climbed out of the back of the truck.

  “Jakes. Not expecting to see you here.”

  Jakes crouched in his wolf form. He was unmistakably Jakes. As a wolf, Jakes was massive and had thick, coarse hair. The darkness of the night made the fur look jet black, but with any light, there was a dappled appearance to it. He shifted quickly and stood in front of me wearing jeans and a plain white T-shirt.

  Hard stared. Shiza swore under her breath in a language I didn’t understand. Where had they found her?

  “What is this?” Hard asked.

  I wave my hand. “Jakes, this is Hard and Shiza. Guys, this is Jakes. He’s a shifter.” I said the last with something of a laugh, but neither of them echoed it. I imagine they probably had never imagined there could be anything like a shifter. “He and the rest of the shifters protect the doorways leading into Conlin. They’re the reason hunters can’t cross.”

  I turn my attention back to Jakes, who eyed me strangely.

  “Thought you’d have been back sooner, Morris,” Jakes said. “Then when this thing started hammering out here, figured we needed to come stand watch. Took most of the pack to corral it this far. Whatever this is, it’s powerful. We can keep it mostly contained, but I think that’s because it’s not trying to get past us.”

  “Yeah, Tom didn’t tell me about how much time passed in the transition. How long have we been gone?” From our perspective, it had been only a few hours, but clearly, it had been longer than that here.

  “Two and a half days.”

  For the Wasdig to have returned, I figured it had been at least another day. I hadn’t expected it to be another full day on top of that. “Wait,” I said, turning to Devan as she got out of the truck. “It took us a day each way?” I closed my eyes, pushing back the frustration building within me. Damn that Nik. “What do you think is going to happen now that we’ve delayed the summons?” I asked.

  She shook her head. “Don’t know. Can’t be anything good.”

  “Nothing good,” Nik said. “Other than it might destroy everything around here until you engage it.”

  I glanced over at Hard and Shiza. Both of them would be true artists, Masters of traditional patterns. “Anything you could do to set up a protective ring?”

  Hard glanced at Shiza. “This is what you wanted us for?”

  “I face this thing before. If it gets out, it’s going to do a hell of a lot of destructive damage. We need to do whatever we can to contain it. I figure the two Masters here might be able to create a protective circle. Unless I’m wrong…”

  Hard glared at me. “Escher, when this is over, we’re going to have a few words about your father. And I think we will have to do so in Arcanus.”

  I didn’t like the way that sounded but nodded anyway. I needed their help.

  They started off, and I could feel the circle beginning to form. It was strange that I could.

  I looked over to Jakes. “What’s happened while we were gone?”

  He shrugged. “The creature has made it quite clear he is disappointed you have not returned. It seems to blame us. I managed to get the pack drawn together, but there’s not much more we can do.”

  I didn’t like the sound of that. What had it meant for Jakes and the rest of the shifters in Conlin? “Anyone get hurt?”

  Jakes shook his head. “But it’s still here.”

  “Has it tried going anywhere else?”

  “Even had it tried, I do not think it would have been able to. There is something that binds it to this place.”

  “Why here? What is it about this old plant that holds the Wasdig here?”

  “Were my father still here, he might have been able to answer your questions, but he did not have the opportunity to share everything I needed to know and I seem to be missing some of his records would have helped.”

  It was the first time Jakes sounded like he missed his father. I knew he missed him, but he’d always acted like he was strong enough it didn’t matter. There was a hint of vulnerability to him I’d never heard from him before.

  “Yeah, it would have helped to have my father around as well,” I said. “Instead we’re going to have to just fumble along and hope we don’t end up dead.”

  Power suddenly exploded, forcing us back.

  “It seems this creature is not a fan of your attempt to contain it,” Nik said.

  I sighed. “What can you do to help?”

  “Little in this form
.”

  “You’re not getting a different form. I’ve already brought you Taylor. Are you going to help or not?”

  “I will do what I can.”

  I glanced over at Jakes. “Can you keep an eye on him? If he gets out of hand, eat him.”

  Jakes nodded seriously.

  I started away from him and toward the plant. There wasn’t any other way to stop the Wasdig other than going in and dealing with it. Devan came along my side, and surprisingly the dryad was with her, scurrying along on the spindly wooden legs that seem too fragile to support it, but it managed to keep up with us.

  “You think it’s a good idea to let him come along?” I asked.

  The dryad looked over at me, its dark sockets staring up and then blinking. He seemed to say something, but I couldn’t make out any of the words. Devan could, and I didn’t know whether that stemmed from the fact that she had better hearing or that she was simply more attuned to the dryad and its magic.

  “He gets to choose whether he wants to come or not. So far he’s decided to follow us.”

  “Hmm.”

  In the darkness, the Crastor plant was even creepier than it was during the day. The trees sweeping around the edges of the building gave it this haunted appearance. The shadows of the building twisted around it, making it seem to move. No light came from the windows, nothing that would make it seem like the Wasdig was here.

  “Where do you think it went?” I asked Devan.

  Power exploded once more, but this time it bulged, hitting a barrier. At least Hard and Shiza were helping. I didn’t know how much longer that would last.

  The building was still locked up, closed tightly without any sign of a way in, but I felt the power building around us, the way the Wasdig’s energy hummed steadily, much as I felt it when I was standing atop Settler Hill when I first realized he had come to Conlin.

  “Don’t know. I’m not sure it’s in the plant like it was before.”

  The power was different than before. Angrier. Waves of it came quickly, threatening the city. My city.

  “Yeah, I was getting that sense. What other little friends might you have?”

  “If you give me a little more time, I’ll have something.”