Stone Dragon (The Painter Mage Book 5)

by D. K. Holmberg

  Still, this was Devan’s father. I couldn’t stand and do nothing, not if there was some way for me to help.

  I had no idea how real any of this was, but after what happened with the hunters, I had to believe there was a shard of truth to it. The Wasdig certainly made it sound like I could die so this might be as real as anything else.

  Terror raged through me as I ran after the demons. I knew of no way to stop them other than to defeat the summoner, but since I had no way of knowing who’d summoned them, I had to figure something out.

  Maybe all I needed to do was notify the Trelking. Doing so risked him drawing me back, forcing me into my nine and ninety years of service. I don’t know how the Wasdig pulled me across the Threshold without me knowing, but somehow I was here.

  And I had thought I’d manage to stay away longer than this.

  I passed from the dry, barren plains of the Druist to the Trelking’s domain. Tall grasses pulled at me, attempting to draw me in with a subtle seduction. Long ago, I’d learned to ignore it. As tired as I was, I struggled, forced to lean on the dryad staff for support as I went.

  The dryad writhed beneath my hand, but not to force me to let go. Rather, it made a strange, twisting motion that separated the grasses in front of me, keeping me free of their pull. Devan would be pleased to know she’d helped me again, even without being here.

  Then I caught the demons.

  Or, more accurately, they waited for me.

  They stood on either side of me, looming taller and more unnaturally than they had seemed from a distance. One had nearly black skin, almost as if charred, and eyes that blazed a bright red. Up close, twisted horns flowed from its forehead. Claws arched out from where fingers should be. The other was different, blunted and plain, skin almost normal in appearance, but there was a malevolent energy from it that radiated toward me. Everything about it felt angry and dark.

  For some reason, that one scared me more than the other.

  I’d faced dark creatures before. Hell, the Wasdig looked more terrifying than the demon. But seeing something that looked like little more than a regular man standing, feeling the hatred and darkness seeping from it, well that frightened me.

  It smiled at me.

  As it did, I tried to clear my mind. The fear and anger I might feel would only empower them. Nothing I could do would work. I couldn’t shake the uneasy sense I had.

  I took steadying breaths, clutching the dryad staff between my knees as I began working the magi pattern. I didn’t know if it would even work, if I had the strength remaining to complete the pattern, but I felt the Trelking not far from where I stood, and I would do what I could to keep the demons from him. The Trelking was needed to keep the balance with the Druist Mage. If he fell to demons… well, I didn’t want to think of what would happen was he to fall to demons.

  The power built and I released it. As it struck the demons, the frighteningly normal one caught it between its hands and pulled it to its mouth, watching me through those glowing red eyes over its hands.

  Now what was I going to do?

  I fumbled at my belt. The least I could do would be to charge the charm in the belt, maybe get a blast away, something that would draw the Trelking’s attention. If I were dead then, at least I wouldn’t have to serve him, and he might be able to be saved.

  My fingers brushed my pocket, and I felt the weight of whatever Devan had given me. I pulled it out and glanced at it, wondering if maybe something she’d given me would be able to fight off the demons. It was a figurine that looked just like her.

  The detail was amazingly precise, down to the upturned nose and the soft twinkle in her eyes. The metal she’d used had a strange sheen to it that caught the light, making it glow. I breathed out with surprise, and the figurine started to writhe, growing and elongating to about the size of my hand. Little Devan twisted and stared up at me. Then she winked.

  As she did, all the fear I’d been feeling vanished. Devan and I had been through much more than this in our time together, and each time we’d faced it together. The Wasdig might have kept me from having my second with me, from bringing Devan along with me, but that didn’t mean I didn’t still have her with me. It brought me peace knowing a part of her was here.

  The demons shifted, their eyes taking in the figurine of Devan. They started toward me. As they did, I raised the dryad staff overhead. The Trelking would be warned, regardless of what happened to me.

  At first, I didn’t know what I could do with the staff, but the dryad seemed to sense that and practically guided my hand. I swung the staff in a great circle, drawing power through it. A blast of brilliant white light shot out of the staff, streaking toward the sky.

  The demons raced toward me. As they did, everything tilted again, shifting and tossing me forward.

  I landed on my knees. Nothing but a bright white light surrounded me. I managed to hang onto the dryad staff, but somewhere one of my satchels of ink had gone missing. Only the black ink remained. My other hand clutched the figurine of Devan, afraid to lose her.

  The Wasdig appeared before me, but different than before. Now the creatures—the god—was barely up to my shoulder and slender, nothing more than a wisp of a creature. The dragon still perched atop his arm and stared at me with beady eyes. The staff that he thumped against the ground that had drawn me into whatever this attack was, rested casually in his hand.

  “What is this?” I demanded. “You said that you were taking me to the Zdrn.”

  The Wasdig tipped his head, leaning toward me as if showing me his horns. “You were brought to the Zdrn. You have succeeded. The Threshold will remain.”

  “Why me?”

  “You were the one chosen.”

  “By who?”

  “By the others.”

  I struggled to think straight. “What others? Who would choose me?”

  As I asked, I thought that I knew. The Trelking would have been able to anticipate, wouldn’t he? He had prescience, enough that he would know. What of the Druist? Likely the Druist Mage would have chosen me as well. Anything to get rid of me.

  And Nik would have known.

  “Why is this necessary?”

  “To prove that you remain worthy.”

  “Worthy of what?”

  The Wasdig didn’t answer. Would he say anything?

  I blinked. “Making me face hunters—”

  “You showed strength.”

  “And then forcing me to confront demons. I even had to held the damn Trelking again—”

  “With that, you demonstrated courage.”

  “And now I’m here. Standing with you. Was any of this real?”

  The Wasdig’s mouth split in a horrible expression, one where the long, sharp fangs appeared. The dragon shrieked, though the sound was not quite as shrill or painful as it was before. “All of it was real.”

  The comment had more repercussions than I was prepared to handle, especially considering what I’d seen in my house. If hunters had come, had my father scared them away or had something else happened? My mother wasn’t a painter…was she?

  “And the Trelking?”

  “He lives. You fear for his safety?”

  I shook my head. “Not his safety, I just understand what he does is necessary. I don’t always like it, and I’m not always willing to get caught up in it—especially if there’s another way for things to get done—but he’s needed on the other side of the Threshold.”

  The dragon shrieked and jumped off the Wasdig’s shoulder, flying toward me with amazing speed. It landed on my shoulder with sharp, piercing claws, and sat there, heavier than something as small as it was should be.

  “What is this?” I asked. “Why force me through all of this?”

  “If you are to shape the Protariat, you must be worthy.”

  I wasn’t sure that was what I wanted. I wanted to keep Devan safe. I wanted to learn all I could to keep myself as untangled from the Trelking as possible. And, maybe surprisingly, I wanted to kee
p Conlin safe. There was more to the city than I had ever known and I wanted the chance to find out exactly what that might be. I couldn’t do that if I were dead or the city was destroyed.

  In spite of everything I wanted, anger surged through me.

  “So that’s it? That’s the purpose of this whole thing? To test me to see if I’m worthy of the Protariat? You put everyone in danger for nothing more than a test?”

  The Wasdig took a step toward me. He shimmered, his form changing as he did, growing taller, the horns glowing again, and he struck his staff at the ground. Even though everything around us was little more than a blank whiteness, the staff echoed with power and magic.

  “All must be worthy of the power granted the Protariat. You do not understand the purpose of the Protariat. In time, you will, and you will understand the reason for the testing.” He took another looming step toward me.

  “What would have happened had I failed?”

  “The Protariat had agreed to another.”

  “Who?”

  “It does not matter.”

  “Who?” When the Wasdig didn’t answer, I pushed. “Why? Why do this to me?” I got no response from the Wasdig. The little figure of Devan writhed in my hand. “And why make me do this alone? Why separate me from Devan? Or from Jakes? We can be so much stronger.”

  The Wasdig took another step, the staff rising and falling faster than I could blink.

  “And you have shown wisdom,” he said. “You have passed the Zdrn. The Protariat remains. And now you will serve us.”

  “What does that mean?”

  Colors flashed, and I fell.

  16

  When I came to, Devan sat cradling me, holding me against her chest. The first wisps of sunlight were streaming above the trees. The cool breeze gusted against the upper branches, sending them swaying. Colors tinted the branches of the trees, the first sign of fall I’d seen. I hadn’t seen fall in Conlin since I was much younger. There was a part of me strangely excited about the possibility.

  “Ollie?” Devan said as I stirred.

  My hand ached, and it took a moment for me to realize I still held the dryad staff. I wondered if it would scurry off now we were away from the Zdrn and now that Devan was back. It seemed partial to her anyway. I don’t know what happened to the other item I’d held, the figurine of Devan.

  “Yeah,” I said, pushing myself up. Exhaustion made me weak and made it difficult for me to prop myself upright, so I let my head rest on Devan’s chest. Not such a difficult decision.

  “What happened? You were here, and then you were gone. When you returned, the Wasdig didn’t. Did you…”

  “I didn’t kill it, if that’s what you’re asking,” I said.

  Devan pushed me to sit. With the streaking light of dawn, I could make out the new cracks running through the concrete parking lot. Sections of the lot had heaved and buckled, leaving chunks of rock. A thin film of dust hung suspended in the air.

  “Where’s Jakes?” I asked.

  Devan pointed to the other side of the lot. There I could barely make out the dark form of Jakes in wolf shape. “He hasn’t moved since you returned.”

  “Was he harmed?”

  “How would he have been hurt?”

  “Jakes took the Wasdig’s staff and then the Wasdig sent your dragon after it.” Damn but that was strange to say.

  “Yeah, about the dragon,” she said.

  “What?”

  She twisted me so I could see Big Red. Perched on the ledge of the bed of the truck was the dragon. It watched me with dark eyes. Swirls of starlight seemed to fill its eyes.

  “You left it animated?” I asked.

  “That’s not me,” Devan said.

  That got me moving, and I managed to sit upright and stared at the dragon. It met my gaze and then shrieked at me. “Wait… that’s not animated anymore?”

  “Whatever the Wasdig did to it brought it here for real.”

  I whistled softly. “Well, shit. What do you suppose we feed it?”

  Devan pushed me away, though much gentler than she once would have. “It’s not supposed to be here. It’s not supposed to be anywhere, Ollie.”

  “What do you mean?”

  Devan nodded toward the dragon. “There was a time when they were seen, but it’s been three or four centuries since my father has even seen a dragon.”

  “Are you sure?”

  “Don’t you think that if he could get his hands on something immune to magic that he would?” she asked.

  “Yeah, knowing your father he definitely would.”

  “And now the Wasdig has managed to simply create one?” she asked.

  “The Wasdig didn’t create it. You did.”

  Devan glared at me. “Not like that, Ollie! Mine was metal and huge and—”

  I cut her off with a kiss. She kissed me back, and we stayed like that for a while. Not as long as I’d like, but I didn’t want to give Jakes and the dragon too much of a show.

  “What happened, Ollie?” Devan asked.

  I thought about what I’d been through, and about what the Wasdig had said. “I’m not sure, but it seems the Protariat will keep the peace a little longer. And the gods want me to serve a greater role.”

  Devan frowned. “And what does that mean?”

  “You got me,” I said.

  “It means you serve a cause greater than Conlin, Morris.”

  I looked up at Jakes. I hadn’t heard him approach, but then I’d been pretty busy with Devan. “Heya, Jakes. You doing okay? I can’t believe you’d let a little bird get the best of you.”

  Jakes surprised me: he laughed. “Your little bird will either be very dangerous or very helpful.”

  “What do you mean by mine?”

  Jakes grunted and settled to the ground next to me. “The creature has not moved since you returned. It watches over you.”

  I glanced at the dragon to see it still staring. Creepy. But Jakes was right: either the dragon would be dangerous or helpful. I could only hope it was the latter.

  “You didn’t answer yet,” Devan said. “You still haven’t said what happened when the Wasdig took you.”

  So I told them about the hunter attack, leaving out the detail about the date and how it was the same night as my mother disappeared. That was something for me to chew over later. Was there more to her death than I’d realized? Was that the reason my father had shut and buried the gate in the park? I don’t remember when Agony first appeared—or the other sculptures—but what if they were all connected?

  And why show me that? For me to realize there was some way my mother could have been saved…or was it different? Maybe the Wasdig had shown me something that would help Taylor.

  The possibilities made my head spin, and I needed to be better rested to understand them. For now, I needed to rest.

  Then I told Devan about the demon attack. Her eyes narrowed as I described what happened. “You helped my father?”

  “Well, I didn’t want to let him die if that’s what you’re asking. If he were to fall and the Druist were to get the upper hand…”

  I didn’t want to consider it, but anyone willing to unleash two demons and could control them well enough to send them to attack harbored a different type of darkness than anything I’d ever experienced. We needed the Trelking to hold his power.

  “What of…” I trailed off, noticing Hard limping toward us. Shiza was gone.

  “Where’s your partner?” I asked him.

  He shook his head. “There was an attack.”

  “I know. Sorry about that. The creature has power.”

  “Not the creature. The little one.”

  I glanced at Jakes. “Nik—”

  Jakes nodded. “He managed to escape. He brought the other one with him.”

  That meant Taylor.

  And now he had an Arcanus Master with him.

  How much of his help had been planned this way, all a way of gaining his freedom?

  More than I
wanted to admit.

  We would have to capture him again, but that would come later. First, there was another priority, one that I wanted to make certain I addressed before too much time had passed. Would the others come with me?

  “And the Wasdig?” Jakes asked, drawing my attention back to him. “What happened to that creature?”

  I sighed. “You know he’s more than another magical creature, right? The Wasdig is one of the ancient gods.”

  “That is what I feared.”

  “Why fear it? At least you know why there wasn’t anything you could have done to stop him from reaching us.”

  Jakes faced the dragon, his eyes shifting briefly into his wolf form and then back again. “There is so little I understand about the Protariat,” he said. “My father didn’t share much, though I’m not sure he was allowed to share much. But when I realized one of the ancient gods was involved, it tells me the Protariat serves a much greater cause than any I ever understood.”

  I pushed myself to stand and leaned on the dryad staff. I wondered how long the creature would let me use it like this. “Yeah, well I guess we’re going to have to figure it out.”

  Devan stood and slipped her arm around me. “How do you propose we do that?”

  I smiled at her and glanced back at Jakes. I could see from his expression he already knew what I was thinking. “The Wasdig told me what happened was real.”

  “And?” Devan said.

  “Well, it seems to me your father owes me one. I think it’s time we take a little trip across the Threshold and ask him a few questions.”

  “You think that’s wise, Morris?” Jakes jumped up, making the movement look unnaturally fluid. Damn shifter. “Weren’t you the one who feared to let De’avan cross the Threshold knowing the bargain the Trelking struck? Do you think you should risk the crossing like that?”

  Devan met my eyes, and I winked. “That was different. And I don’t intend to cross alone.” Devan arched a brow at me. “We’re all going. Even you, big guy. Besides, we’ve got something the Trelking doesn’t.” I looked at Hard. I doubted he’d go, but he surprised me by nodding.